Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
Letters from Colonel William Wolseley, 1690. Pursuit of Irish Tories (Author: William Wolseley)

letter 2

From their majesties' camp near Mullingar, August 11th, 1690.

Honoured sir—I hope you will receive my last before this comes to you. I send this to give you an account of the designs of the raparees I met with here. The chief man among them was one Gerald Nugent, the present sheriff for king James for the county of Westmeath, and Molady (who is prisoner). They summoned in all the

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country last Thursday to appear at this town, upon pain of death and to have their houses burned, declaring they would die before they would submit to king William's government, and when they came so near my camp at Tyrrell's pass they knew nothing of my being there, but were marching a party round that way to come behind colonel Babington, who lay with his regiment at Kinnegad; and having forced that pass, they intended to have marched towards Dublin and have pillaged and burned the country; so that I came in good time. I find sir Anthony Molady is deeply engaged in this business, and was with them upon Thursday when they sent out the summons to the country to join them. The Papists come in hourly to me for protection, but not one of them will own they have arms when required to bring them in. I am of opinion that fair means will never oblige these people to a true submission to his majesty William III.. I have sent a garrison to Longford castle and Bellimore, Forbis castle having men in it that came from Belturbet; but these detachments make the regiments very thin. I wish his majesty would send some of the provoes hither, for no part of the army has so much need of them as have. Those raparees have stripped the whole country of all the sheep and cattle, so that we are like to have no provisions but what we have out of the stores. I do not find but that this rabble are all dispersed, but the bogs and woods are full of small parties of them, which I hope in small time to suppress. I was ordered to send a garrison to Rathcline, but the enemy are possessed of it.

I am, honoured sir, your most faithful humble servant,—

William Wolseley.


Addressed: For his majesty's service. For the honourable sir Robert Southwell, his majesty's principal secretary of state for Ireland, at the head quarters, these. Free.