In the early winter, Sir Robert de Leybourne[1] took command of a fleet against the Scots; a large army for Ireland was placed under Roger, Lord Mortimer of Wigmore; Sir Nicholas Kyriel[2] was appointed admiral of the fleet, drawn from the Cinque Ports and other ports to the westward. that was destined to convey the expedition. and Bristol and the adjacent ports were directed to send twenty large ships to Haverfordwest, apparently for employment under Kyriel, by February 2nd following.
In 1317, Edward sent to Genoa to hire or purchase five fighting galleys, fully manned and equipped.[3] The fleets in the Narrow Seas were under John de Perbroun, of Yarmouth,[4] who commanded in the north; Sir Robert de Leybourne, who commanded in the west; and John de Athy,[5] who commanded in the Irish Sea and on the west coast of Scotland. In November. the authorities of the Cinque Ports were forbidden to allow any noble or other eminent person to quit the realm without the king's licence.[6]
In 1318, the Irish rebellion was crushed, on October 5th, at Dundalk, where Edward Bruce fell: but the country was left in a state of ruin, and the moral, even of the English settlers. suffered so severely that a few years afterwards William and Edward de Burgh, scions of a great Norman house, and sons of an English viceroy, so far forgot themselves as to deliberately renounce their allegiance, divide Connaught between them, and adopt the Irish language, apparel, and laws.
In Scotland, Robert Bruce was more successful. He took
- ↑ Sir Robert de Leybourne was probably a near relative of William, Lord Leybourne. He served in Scotland in 1308, and was member of Parliament for Cumberland and Westmoreland in succession. In 1322 he was Sheriff of Chester. He held high naval command in 1316, 1317, 1322, and 1326, and died early in the reign of Edward III.—Scots Rolls, i. 166; Pat. Rolls, 15 Edw. II. m. 15; 'Fœdera,' ii. 187; Pat. Rolls, 20 Edw. II. m. 20.
- ↑ Sir Nicholas Kyriel, or Criol, younger son of a knight of the same name, was born in 1283, and served with the army in 1319. His only years of high command at sea were 1316, 1325, and 132.—'Fœdera,' ii. 305; Walsingham, 100; 'Fœdera,' ii. 637; Pat. Rolls, 19 Edw. II. 1, m. 10, 11; 20 Edw. 11. m. 15.
- ↑ 'Fœdera,' ii. 313.
- ↑ John de Perbroun, of Yarmouth, was member of Parliament for that place in 1322 and 1324. He held high command at sea in 1317, 1322, 1323, 1327, and 1333.—Pat. Rolls, 15 Edw. II. m. 18; 16 Edw. II. m. 11, etc.
- ↑ John de Athy, apparently an Irishman, had l custody of the county and castle of Limerick in 1309. He held high command at sea in 1315, 1317, 1319, and 1335, but in 1337 was reprimanded for cowardice and neglect of duty.—Scots Rolls, i. 146: Pat. Rolls, 10 Edw. II. m. 22; Abb. Orig. Rolls, 248a etc.
- ↑ 'Fœdera,' ii. 347.
