1565.] DEATH OF a NEIL. 541 the beginning of December. E v r ery hour's delay i i i x-u v p i December. had increased the necessity for his presence. Alarmed at the approach of another deputy, and ex- cited on the other hand by the Queen of Scots' successes, Shan O'Neil had attached himself eagerly to her fortunes In October he offered to assist her against Argyle, who was then holding out against her in the Western High- lands. 1 His pleasure was as great as his surprise when he found Argyle ready to allow the Western Islanders to join with him to drive the English out of Ireland,
- and punish Elizabeth for her treachery to Murray. So
far Argyle carried his resentment, that he met Shan somew T here in the middle of the winter, and to atone for the disgrace of his half sister, he arranged marriages between a son and daughter which she had borne to Shan, and two children of James M'Connell, W 7 hom Shan had killed; O'Neil undertook to settle on them the disputed lands of Antrim, and Argyle consented at last to the close friendship in the interest of the Queen of Scots for which the Irish chief had so long been vainly suing. No combination could be more ominous to England. Foul weather detained Sidney for six weeks at Holy- liead. In the middle of January, but not without ' the loss of all his stuff and horses/ which were wrecked on the coast of Down, he contrived to reach Dublin. The .state of things which he discovered on his arrival was worse than the w r orst which he had looked for. The 1 Adam Loftus to Leicester, November 20 : Irish MSS Rolls House.
