ndies, had landed with arms and stores, and had fortified a port at
Smerwick, on the south-western coast of Kerry. The North was deep in
treason, restless, and threatening to strike. Round Dublin itself, the
great Irish Lords of the Pale, under Lord Baltinglass, in the summer of
1580, had broken into open insurrection, and were holding out a hand to
the rebels of the South. The English garrisons, indeed, small as they
were, could not only hold their own against the ill-armed and
undisciplined Irish bands, but could inflict terrible chastisement on
the insurgents. The native feuds were turned to account; Butlers were
set to destroy their natural enemies the Geraldines, and the Earl of
Ormond their head, was appointed General in Munster, to execute English
vengeance and his own on the lands and people of his rival Desmond. But
the English chiefs were not strong enough to put down the revolt. "The
conspiracy throughout Ireland," wrote Lord Grey, "is so general, that
without a main force it will not be appeased. There are cold service and
unsound dealing generally." On the 12th of August, 1580, Lord Grey
landed, amid a universal wreck of order, of law, of mercy, of industry;
and among his counsellors and subordinates, the only remedy thought of
was that of remorseless and increasing severity.

It can hardly be doubted that Spenser must have come over with him. It
is likely that where he went, his Secretary would accompany him. And if
so, Spenser must soon have become acquainted with some of the scenes and
necessities of Irish life. Within three weeks after Lord Grey's landing,
he and those with him were present at the disaster of Glenmalure, a
rocky defile near Wicklow, where the rebels enticed the English captains
into a position in which an ambuscade had been prepared, after the
manner of Red Indians in the last century, and of South African savages
now, and where, in spite of Lord Grey's courage, "which could not have
been bettered by Hercules," a bloody defeat was inflicted on his troops,
and a number of distinguished officers were cut off. But Spenser was
soon to see a still more terrible example of this ruthless warfare. It
was necessary, above all things to destroy the Spanish fort at Smerwick,
in order to prevent the rebellion being fed from abroad: and in
November, 1580, Lord Grey in person undertook the work. The incidents of
this tragedy have been fully recorded, and they formed at the time a
heavy charge against