1 5 75-] THE DESMOND REBELLION. 529 the ruins of the church which bears Saint Columba's name. Bruce's castle was then standing, and was oc- cupied by a detachment of Scots, who were in charge of the women. But Norris had brought cannon with him. The weak defences were speedily destroyed, and after a fierce assault, in which several of the garrison were killed, the chief who was in command offered to surrender, if he and his people were allowed to return to Scotland. The conditions were rejected; the Scots yielded at discretion, and every living creature in the place except the chief and his family, who were probably reserved for ransom, was immediately put to the sword. Two hun- dred were killed in the castle. It was then discovered that several hundred more, chiefly mothers and their little ones, were hidden in the caves about the shore. There was no remorse, not even the faintest shadow of perception that the occasion called for it. They were hunted out as if they had been seals or otters, and all destroyed. Surleyboy and the other chiefs, Essex coolly wrote, had sent their wives and children into the island, ' which be all taken and executed to the number of six hundred.' Surleyboy himself, he continued, ' stood upon the mainland of the Glynnes and saw the taking of the island, and was likely to have run mad for sorrow, tear- ing and tormenting himself, and saying that he there lost all that ever he had.' l The impression left upon the mind by this horrible story is increased by the composure with which the news 1 Essex to "Walsingham, July 31, 1575 : MSS. Ireland. Essex to the Queen, July 31 : Carew Papers. VOL. x. 34
