commanded to return to Ireland to assist in
bringing about a cessation of hostilities, he
was immediately on his landing near Newcastle, in co. Down,in May 1643, again taken
prisoner by Monro and confined in Carrickfergus Castle. Certain letters relating to the
cessation which were discovered on his person
were sent by Monro to the privy council of
Scotland and the commissioners for Irish
affairs in England, with comments suggesting a terrible conspiracy against the
peace of Scotland and the Scottish forces in
Ireland, and by them were immediately
published (see particularly A Declaration of the Commons assembled in Parliament concerning the Rise and Progress of the Grand Rebellion in Ireland, London, 25 July 1643). However, with the assistance of Captain
George Gordon, who had quite recently
married his sister Rose, he again, after about
eight months' imprisonment, managed to
escape (Spalding, Hist. of the Troubles in Scotland, p. 858) to Charlemont, where he
was well received by Owen Roe O'Neill
[q. v.], and thence to Kilkenny. But being
desired by the supreme council of the confederates to take the oath of association and some command in their army, he for the present declined, hoping, apparently, to get
himself chosen lieutenant-general of all the catholic forces in the kingdom ; and continuing his journey, arrived at Oxford on 16 Dec. 1643. Here he magnified his influence with the confederates, boasting of his ability to raise ten thousand men for service in England, with the object of increasing his importance in Ireland. But his offer to
transport two thousand men to co-operate with Montrose in Scotland was gladly accepted by that nobleman. The king, who at first was doubtful as to the policy of the scheme, and also as to Antrim's ability to fulfil his promise, finally, and after having, at the earnest solicitation of the duchess, agreed to make him a marquis, consented to
give it a trial.
Accordingly, having received instructions to persuade the confederates to send ten thousand men to England, or, if their terms for religious liberty were too high, to get two thousand men for Scotland (Clarendon State Papers, ii. 165), Antrim left Oxford about 21 Jan. 1644 'in company with Daniel O'Neill [q. v.], who, being agreeable to him, was thought the properest person to keep him steady in his resolution and prevent him falling into follies and extravagances in the management of the affair' (Carte, Ormonde, i. 479; cf. also Clarendon, Rebellion, ii. 798-812). He arrived at Kilkenny on 23 Feb., and at once appealed to the supreme council for their assistance in carrying out his scheme. In order to increase his influence he, with the verbal permission of the king, took the oath of association, was sworn a member of the council, and received a commission as lieutenant-general of all the catholic forces. But finding there was no prospect of realising his extravagant hopes in regard to the ten thousand men to be sent into England, he laid down his commission and busied himself in raising the soldiers intended for Scotland (Bellings in Desid. Curiosa Hibernica, ii. 249-51) ; and with the assistance of the Marquis of Ormonde was so far successful that about the end of June 1644 he sent over about sixteen hundred men fully equipped, under the command of Alaster MacColl MacDonnell, to the assistance of the Marquis of Montrose. Having done this, he shortly afterwards returned to Oxford, and in the beginning of 1645 was sent by the king with letters to the queen at St. Germains in France. From France he proceeded to Flanders, where, with Spanish assistance, he obtained two frigates and a considerable quantity of arms and ammunition, which he intended to use in transporting fresh supplies from Ireland into Scotland. He declined the company of the papal nuncio, Rinuccini, and coming to Falmouth, he offered his assistance to the Prince of Wales, who distributed his arms and ammunition among the troops and garrisons in Cornwall, and shortly afterwards made use of one of the frigates to escape to Jersey (Clarendon, Life, ii. 247).
After first visiting Cork, Antrim proceeded to Scotland, where he arrived in July 1646. Within ten days after his arrival he was expressly ordered by the king to lay down arms. But it was not until the command had been more than once repeated that he reluctantly, towards the close of the year, withdrew from Cantire, which he had hoped to recover by force from Argyll. Argyll had expelled the MacDonnells in 1607. On bis return to Ireland he occupied himself in making preparations to renew the struggle in Scotland at the earliest opportunity, and 'laboured,' according to his own account, to effect a peace between the Ormondists and extreme catholics on terms of obtaining religious equality for the latter. About the close of 1647 the confederates, having resolved to come to terms with the crown, appointed Antrim, Lord Muskerry, and Geoffrey Browne to proceed to France, in order to negotiate a peace, and if possible to persuade the Prince of Wales to take the government of Ireland on himself. But Antrim, who inclined to the nuncio's party,
