d with him to Dublin. It
was in Ireland, probably about this time, that he made
or renewed his acquaintance with Sir Walter Raleigh.
In 1581 he was appointed Clerk of Degrees and
Recognizances in the Irish Court of Chancery, a post
which he held for seven years, at the end of which time
he received the appointment of Clerk to the Council of
Munster. In the same year in which he was assigned the
former clerkship, he received also a lease of the lands
and Abbey of Enniscorthy in Wexford county. It is to
be hoped that his Chancery Court duties permitted him
to reside for a while on that estate. 'Enniscorthy,'
says the _Guide to Ireland_ published by Mr. Murray,
'is one of the prettiest little towns in the Kingdom,
the largest portion of it being on a steep hill on the
right bank of the Slaney, which here becomes a deep and
navigable stream, and is crossed by a bridge of six
arches.' There still stands there 'a single tower of
the old Franciscan monastery.' But Spenser soon parted
with this charming spot, perhaps because of its
inconvenient distance from the scene of his official
work. In December of the year in which the lease was
given, he transferred it to one Richard Synot. In the
following year Lord Grey was recalled. 'The Lord
Deputy,' says Holinshed, 'after long suit for his
revocation, received Her Majesty's letters for the
same.' His rule had been marked by some extreme,
perhaps necessary, severities, and was probably
somewhat curtly concluded on account of loud complaints
made against him on this score. Spenser would seem to
have admired and applauded him, both as a ruler and as
a patron and friend. He mentions him with much respect
in his _View of the Present State of Ireland_. One of
the sonnets prefixed to the _Faerie Queene_ is
addressed 'to the most renowmed and valiant lord the
lord Grey of Wilton,' and speaks of him with profound
gratitude:--

Most noble lord the pillor of my life,
And patrone of my Muses pupillage,
Through whose large bountie poured on me rife,
In the first season of my feeble age,
I now doe live, bound yours by vassalage:
Sith nothing ever may redeeme, nor reave
Out of your endlesse debt so sure a gage,
Vouchsafe in worth this small guift to receave,
Which in your noble hands for pledge I leave,
Of all the rest, that I am tyde t' account.

Lord Grey died in 1593. Spenser may have renewed his
friendship with him in 1589, when, as we