A Rose Amongst The Woodwose

by

John Presco

Copyright 2021

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

CHAPTER TWO

The Irish Rose of Windlesore

“ And the king of Connaught shall accept hostages from all whom the lord king of England has committed to him, and he shall himself give hostages at the will of the king.“

Not but an hour had passed, and John Wilson is picking out his kinfolk in the crowd. They are all represented in the New World, the children of the founders of New Windsor, that was called ‘Windlesore’. Owning a love for words, John saw this name….ROSEWINDLE! His father and grandfather, both named William, talked endlessly about the treaty King Henry the Second made with the High King of Ireland, Hostages were exchanged. Henry could not keep his eyes off her the princess named Rose, and he rode to his camp at Woodstock. Ruaidhrí Ó Conchobhair had tried to hide his sixteen-year-old daughter as King Henry strolled amongst his children choosing this one, then that one. Henry spotted her right away. There was a glow about her even though she moved like the moon around the earth doing her best to not be seen. She fought back her tears as King Ruasidhri chose one of Henry’s daughters, for this was getting very serious. This is why the King of England chose Rose, last. He signaled to his men to hasten the retreat. Everyone could hear the crying of the Rose Princess, who would be captured in a clever labyrinth made for the Irish Hostages at Windlesore, lest the High King change his mind, and come for his daughter.

William Wilson the first, was granted a cote of arms after coming into a large inheritance from his father, Sir Thomas Wilson, who was a close councilor to Queen Elizabeth. Legend had it that the Protestant Queen made Thomas her Master Spy because he knew many languages. Elizabeth was determined to destroy the Habsburg Emperor who had found NEVER-ENDING TREASURE in the New World and had built a monolithic structure from where his Papal Knights would set out to overcome the world. Elizabeth wanted her own capitol, and thus she bid Thomas to see if he could intercept, or capture a Spanish ship laden with gold. Thomas allowed himself to be captured, and tortured. He was chained to an ore on a Spanish Gallion. The captain overheard Thomas giving lessons in English Rhetoric in perfect Spanish, and made Wilson his confidant. They became fast friends. When Sir Francis Drake captured the ship, he was hearing a wealth of un-ending information that led to the capture of two gold laden vessels heading to Spain from the New World.

Appearing before the Queen, Thomas was bid to elevate his kinfolk, and marry as many allies as possible. The Webb family is kin to the Wilson family in many ways – as well as the Shakespear family. It is alleged Thomas began the play ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ that his son William inherited. Then it was passed on the Willaim Shakespeare for finishing touches. John was told as a teenager the character in this play, are his close relatives who have to remain anonymous until it is safe to reveal them. It is alleged they all shared a NEVER-ENDING TREASURE and thus these words are written on the copperplate of John’s father in Saint Georges Cathedral. What was written on his great-grandfather’s plate, was lost, for no sooner was it laid with a great stone set, a gang of robbers broke into the cathedral, removed the Wilson Stone, and did extensive digging.

As John Wilson shook the hand of Alexander Webb, he beheld the gling in his eye, that asked;

“Did Thomas found a lost colony in New England, or, did he go to California with Drake?”

———————————–

The key to all these mysteries, and lost treasures, is identifying the character Falstaff. After World War One there was an Anti-German Crusade in America that eradicated most of the German worlds from the play that Shakespeare, loathed. Is it possible he did not write the Merry Wives of Windsor? While researching the history of Windsor I discovered another ROSE LINE amongst the Royals of Ireland, from where my Rosamond ancestors, hail. I made this discovery this morning on 12-30-21. For over twenty-five years I have been searching for the reason why Joan Clifford was called Rosamond. I have wondered why the Clifford family have not really – owned her. The English have a long history of making – everything their own – especially if they have failed to overcome peoples and their history. Queen Elizabeth was a master at this as she was The Leader of the Protestant Heresy in the Isles.

I am going to try to sell ‘A Rose Amongst The Woodwose’ as a series. There is too much here for one movie. Perhaps a Trilogy? I will contact Barbara Broccoli. I would like to SERALIZE my story in my newspaper-blog Royal Rosamond Press, because there is a Never-ending Treasure of Information.

John Presco

President Royal Rosamond Press.

Treaty of Windsor (1386) – Wikipedia

The Treaty of Windsor (1175) was a territorial agreement made during the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland.^[1] It was signed in Windsor, Berkshire by King Henry II of England and the High King of Ireland, Rory O’Connor.

titles were changed and given more English-sounding names, including the royal family’s from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor. Kaiser Wilhelm II (who as Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s eldest grandson was a member of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha through his mother, and who had been in line of succession to the British throne)[17] countered this by jokingly saying that he wanted to see a command performance of “The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

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https://rosamondpress.com/2019/03/05/wilson-and-webb/

Treaty of Windsor (1175) – Wikipedia

Overall, the agreement left O’Connor with a kingdom consisting of Ireland outside the provincial kingdom of Leinster (as it was then), Dublin and a territory from Waterford Dungarvan, as long as he paid tribute to Henry II, and owed fealty to him. All of Ireland was also subject to the new religious provisions of the papal bull Laudabiliter and the Synod of Cashel (1172).[citation needed]

O’Connor was obliged to pay one treated cow hide for every ten cattle. The other “kings and people” of Ireland were to enjoy their lands and liberties so long as they remained faithful to the kings of England, and were obliged to pay their tribute in hides through O’Connor.[2]

The witnesses were Richard of Ilchester, Bishop of Winchester; Geoffrey, Bishop of Ely; Laurence O’Toole, Archbishop of Dublin; William, Earl of Essex; Justiciar Richard de Luci; Geoffrey de Purtico, Reginald de Courtenea (Courtenay) and three of Henry’s court chaplains.

The Annals of Tigernach recorded that: “Cadla Ua Dubthaig came from England from the Son of the Empress, having with him the peace of Ireland, and the kingship thereof, both Foreigner and Gael, to Ruaidhrí Ó Conchobhair, and to every provincial king his province from the king of Ireland, and their tributes to Ruaidhrí.” The Annals also listed the ongoing violence in Ireland at the time.[3] The text reveals a misunderstanding of the scope of the treaty and the matters agreed by the two kings that soon proved fatal to the peace of Ireland. Henry saw O’Connor as his subordinate within the feudal system, paying him an annual rent on behalf of all his sub-kings; O’Connor saw himself as the restored High King of Ireland, subject only to a very affordable annual tribute to Henry

“This is the agreement which was made at Windsor in the octaves of Michaelmas [October 6] in the year of Our Lord 1175, between Henry, king of England, and Roderic [Rory], king of Connaught, by Catholicus, archbishop of Tuam, Cantordis, abbot of Clonfert, and Master Laurence, chancellor of the king of Connaught, namely: The king of England has granted to Roderic [Rory], his liegeman, king of Connacht, as long as he shall faithfully serve him, that he shall be king under him, ready to his service, as his man. And he shall hold his land as fully and as peacefully as he held it before the lord king entered Ireland, rendering him tribute. And that he shall have all the rest of the land and its inhabitants under him and shall bring them to account [justiciet eos], so that they shall pay their full tribute to the king of England through him, and so that they shall maintain their rights. And those who are now in possession of their lands and rights shall hold them in peace as long as they remain in the fealty of the king of England, and continue to pay him faithfully and fully his tribute and the other rights which they owe to him, by the hand of the king of Connaught, saving in all things the right and honour of the king of England and of Roderic. And if any of them shall be rebels to the king of England and to Roderic and shall refuse to pay the tribute and other rights of the king of England by his hand, and shall withdraw from the fealty of the king of England, he, Roderic, shall judge them and remove them. And if he cannot answer for them by himself, the constable of the king of England in that land [Ireland] shall, when called upon by him, aid him to do what is necessary. And for this agreement the said king of Connaught shall render to the king of England tribute every year, namely, out of every ten animals slaughtered, one hide, acceptable to the merchants both in his land as in the rest; save that he shall not meddle with those lands which the lord king has retained in his lordship and in the lordship of his bat:ons; that is to say, Dublin with all its appurtenances; Meath with all its appurtenances, even as Murchat Ua Mailethlachlin [Murchadh 0′ Melaghlin] held it fully and freely [melius et plenius] or as others held it of him; Wexford with all its appurtenances, that is to say, the whole of Leinster; and Waterford with its whole territory from Waterford to Dungarvan, including Dungarvan with all its appurtenances. And if the Irish who have fled wish to return to the land of the barons of the king of England they may do so in peace, paying the said tribute as others pay it, or doing to the English the services which they were wont to do for their lands, which shall be decided by the judgment and will of their lords. And if any of them are unwilling to return and their lords have called upon the king of Connaught, he shall compel them to return to their land, so that they shall dwell there in peace. And the king of Connaught shall accept hostages from all whom the lord king of England has committed to him, and he shall himself give hostages at the will of the king. The witnesses are Robert, bishop of Winchester; Geoffrey, bishop of Ely; Laurence, archbishop of Dublin; Geoffrey Nicholas and Roger, the king’s chaplains; William, Earl of Essex; Richard de Luci; Geoffrey de Portico, and Reginald de Courteney.”

The treaty broke down very quickly, as O’Connor was unable to prevent Norman knights carving out new territories on a freelance basis, starting with assaults on Munster and Ulaid in 1177. For his part Henry was by now too distant to suppress them and was preoccupied with events in France. In 1177 he replaced William FitzAldelm with his 10-year-old son Prince John and named him as Lord of Ireland.

One of Ruadhrí’s first acts as King was to invade Leinster and expel its king, Dermot Mac Morrough. He then received hostages from all the major lordships and kings of Ireland to show their submission. However, his power base was still in his home Province of Connacht. Dublin was under the rule of Ascaill mac Ragnaill who had submitted to Ruadhrí.[10]

Children and descendants[edit]

The last of Ruaidrí’s descendants to hold the kingship of Connacht, Aedh mac Ruaidri Ua Conchobair, died in 1233. The Annals of Connacht give the following reason for this:Aed mac Ruaidri had been five years King of Connacht, as the poet said: ‘Aed mac Ruaidri of the swift onslaught, five years his rule over the province, till he fell— a loss on every frontier— by the hand of Fedlimid.’ Here ends the rule of the children of Ruaidri O Conchobair, King of Ireland. For the Pope offered him the title to [the kingship of] Ireland for himself and his seed for ever, and likewise six wives, if he would renounce the sin of adultery henceforth; and since he would not accept these terms God took the rule and sovranty from his seed for ever, in punishment for his sin.

[13]

The annals and genealogies list thirteen children fathered by Ruaidrí. There may have been more.

• Conchobar Ua Conchobair
• Muirchertach Ua Conchobair
• Aedh Muimhnech Ua Conchobair. Had a son, Conchobar, alive in 1236.
• Domnall Mór Ua Conchobair. Had a son, Niall, killed 1242.
• Aed mac Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, died 1159.
• The daughter of Ruaidhri Ua Conchobair, wife of [F]laithbertach Ua Maeldoraidh, was killed by the sons of Ua Cairella[i]n in 1176.
• Rose Ní Conchobair, married Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath about 1180, and had descendants.
• Conchobar Máenmaige Ua Conchobhair, died 1189.
• Diarmait mac Ruaidrí Ó Conchobair, died 1221. Had sons Diarmait (fl. 1237), Donnchad (fl. 1237), Muirchertach (k. 1237) and Cormac.
• Muirghis Cananach Ua Conchobhair, died 1224.
• Nuala Ní Conchobair, died 1226.
• Aedh mac Ruaidri Ó Conchobair, died 1233.
• Toirdhealbhach mac Ruaidhrí Ó Conchobhair, died 1239. Had sons Conchobar Buide and Brian.

Rose Ní Conchobair, Princess of Connacht and Ireland, Lady of Meath, fl. 1180.

Rose was one of some thirteen children of King of Ireland, Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair. About 1180 she married Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath (before 1179 to 1186). De Lacy had five daughters and two sons by his first wife Rose de Monmouth. Rose Ní Conchobair was the mother of two more children, William Gorm de Lacy and Ysota de Lacy.

Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath – Wikipedia

King Henry’s ostensible grant of Meath to Lacy was not accepted by Tighearnán Ó Ruairc, King of Bréifne, who ruled it at that time. Ó Ruairc refused to concede, but parleyed with Lacy on the Hill of Ward, in Meath. After negotiations stalled, a dispute ensued in which an interpreter was killed by a blow aimed at Lacy, who fled; Ó Ruairc was killed by a spear-thrust as he mounted his horse, and he was decapitated. His head was impaled over the gate of Dublin Castle and was later sent to Henry II. The Annals of the Four Masters say that Ó Ruairc was treacherously slain. From the account given by Giraldus Cambrensis, it would appear that there was a plot to destroy Ó Ruairc.[3]

The Monk Gerald of Wales related the following legend of Féchín and Hugh de Lacy:

” Chapter LII (Of the mill which no women enter)

• “There is a mill at Foure, in Meath, which St. Fechin made most miraculously with his own hands, in the side of a certain rock. No women are allowed to enter either this mill or the church of the saint; and the mill is held in as much reverence by the natives as any of the churches dedicated to the saint. It happened that when Hugh de Lacy was leading his troops through this place, an archer dragged a girl into the mill and there violated her. Sudden punishment overtook him; for being struck with infernal fire in the offending parts, it spread throughout his whole body, and he died the same night”.

In 1186 Hugh de Lacy was killed by Gilla-Gan-Mathiar O’Maidhaigh, while he was supervising the construction of a Motte castle at Durrow at the instigation of An tSionnach and O’Breen.[4] Prince John was promptly sent over to Ireland to take possession of his lands.

Rohese of Monmouth (Rohese de Monemue in Anglo-Norman; born about 1135/1140; died in or near 1180) was the daughter of Baderon fitzWilliam, lord of Monmouth, and of his wife Rohese de Clare. About the year 1155 Rohese married Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath. They had eight children

Rohese de Clare (bef. 1166) was a member of the wealthy and powerful de Clare family and a strong patron of Monmouth Priory.

Rohesia (Clare) de Monmouth (abt.1110-1149) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

Rohesia (Rohese) “Rose” de Monmouth formerly Clare aka de Clare

Born about 1110 in Clare, Suffolk, England

Gilbert, born before 1066, was the second son and an heir of Richard Fitz Gilbert of Clare and Rohese Giffard.[1] He succeeded to his father’s possessions in England in 1088 when his father retired to a monastery;[2] his brother, Roger Fitz Richard, inherited his father’s lands in Normandy.[3] That same year he, along with his brother Roger, fortified his castle at Tonbridge against the forces of William Rufus. But his castle was stormed, Gilbert was wounded and taken prisoner.[4] However he and his brother were in attendance on king William Rufus at his death in August 1100.[4] He was with Henry I at his Christmas court at Westminster in 1101.[4]

Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville, Normandy (a.k.a. ‘Giffard of Barbastre’), was a Norman baron, a Tenant-in-chief in England, a Christian knight who fought against the Saracens in Spain during the Reconquista and was one of the 15 or so known companions of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Rose Ní Conchobair, Princess of Connacht and Ireland, Lady of Meath, fl. 1180.

Rose was one of some thirteen children of King of Ireland, Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair. About 1180 she married Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath (before 1179 to 1186). De Lacy had five daughters and two sons by his first wife Rose de Monmouth. Rose Ní Conchobair was the mother of two more children, William Gorm de Lacy and Ysota de Lacy.

Rose Ní Conchobair – Wikipedia

The traditional story recounts that King Henry adopted her as his mistress. To conceal his illicit amours from his queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, he conducted them within the innermost recesses of a complicated maze which he caused to be made in his park at Woodstock, Oxfordshire. Rumours were heard by Queen Eleanor, and she contrived to penetrate the labyrinth, confronted her rival, and forced her to choose between the dagger and the bowl of poison; Rosamund chose the latter and died.[4][5]

Rosamund Clifford – Wikipedia

Eventually the wives tell their husbands about the series of jokes they have played on Falstaff, and together they devise one last trick which ends up with the Knight being humiliated in front of the whole town. They tell Falstaff to dress as “Herne, the Hunter” and meet them by an old oak tree in Windsor Forest (now part of Windsor Great Park). They then dress several of the local children, including Anne and William Page, as fairies and get them to pinch and burn Falstaff to punish him. Page plots to dress Anne in white and tells Slender to steal her away and marry her during the revels. Mistress Page and Doctor Caius arrange to do the same, but they arrange Anne shall be dressed in green. Anne tells Fenton this, and he and the Host arrange for Anne and Fenton to be married instead.

The title page from a 1565 printing of Giovanni Fiorentino’s 14th century tale, Il Pecorone.

The wives meet Falstaff, and almost immediately the “fairies” attack. Slender, Caius, and Fenton steal away their brides-to-be during the chaos, and the rest of the characters reveal their true identities to Falstaff.

The play’s date of composition is unknown; it was registered for publication in 1602, but was probably several years old by that date. In the Fairy pageant in Act 5 Scene 5 (lines 54–75), Mistress Quickly, as the Queen of the Fairies, gives a long speech giving an elaborate description of the Order of the Garter. The play also alludes to a German duke, who is generally thought to be Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg, who had visited England in 1592 and was elected to the Order of the Garter in 1597 (but was eventually only installed in Stuttgart on 6 November 1603).[3] These facts led commentators starting with Edmond Malone in 1790 to suggest that the play was written and performed for the Order of the Garter festival.[4] William Green suggests that the play was drawn up when George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon, as Lord Chamberlain and patron of Shakespeare’s company, was elected Order of the Garter in April 1597.[5] If this is so, it was probably performed when Elizabeth I attended Garter Feast on 23 April.

Considering the Falstaff of The Merry Wives of Windsor in contrast to the Falstaff portrayed in the two Henry IV plays, Mark Van Doren states: “Only the husk of Falstaff’s voice is here.”[11] Harold Bloom refers to this Falstaff as “a nameless impostor masquerading as the great Sir John Falstaff.”[12] He adds:No longer either witty in himself or the cause of wit in other men, this Falstaff would make me lament a lost glory if I did not know him to be a rank impostor. His fascination, indeed, is that Shakespeare wastes nothing upon him. The Merry Wives of Windsor is Shakespeare’s only play that he himself seems to hold in contempt, even as he indites it.

[13]

That Shakespeare would so stumble with one of his greatest creations is puzzling and a satisfactory reason for this remains to be found. The most obvious explanation is that it was written very quickly. Leslie Hotson wrote that “it is certain that the play bears the earmarks of hasty writing.

During the period of anti-German feelings in England during World War I, many German names and titles were changed and given more English-sounding names, including the royal family’s from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor. Kaiser Wilhelm II (who as Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s eldest grandson was a member of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha through his mother, and who had been in line of succession to the British throne)[17] countered this by jokingly saying that he wanted to see a command performance of “The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Francis Drake – Wikipedia

With the success of the Panama isthmus raid, in 1577 Elizabeth I of England sent Drake to start an expedition against the Spanish along the Pacific coast of the Americas. Drake acted on the plan authored by Sir Richard Grenville, who had received royal patent for it in 1574. Just a year later the patent was rescinded after protests from Philip of Spain.

Diego was once again employed under Drake; his fluency in Spanish and English would make him a useful interpreter when Spaniards or Spanish-speaking Portuguese were captured. He was employed as Drake’s servant and was paid wages, just like the rest of the crew.[46] Drake and the fleet set out from Plymouth on 15 November 1577, but bad weather threatened him and his fleet. They were forced to take refuge in Falmouth, Cornwall, from where they returned to Plymouth for repair.[53]

Rathlin Island massacre

Drake was present at the 1575 Rathlin Island massacre in Ireland. Acting on the instructions of Sir Henry Sidney and the Earl of Essex, Sir John Norreys and Drake laid siege to Rathlin Castle. Despite their surrender, Norreys’ troops killed all the 200 defenders and more than 400 civilian men, women and children of Clan MacDonnell.[51] Meanwhile, Drake was given the task of preventing any Gaelic Irish or Scottish reinforcements reaching the island. Therefore, the remaining leader of the Gaelic defence against English power, Sorley Boy MacDonnell, was forced to stay on the mainland. Essex wrote in his letter to Queen Elizabeth’s secretary, that following the attack Sorley Boy “was likely to have run mad for sorrow, tearing and tormenting himself and saying that he there lost all that he ever had.”[52]

Drake’s first raid was late in July 1572. Drake formed an alliance with the Cimarrons. Drake and his men captured the town and its treasure. When his men noticed that Drake was bleeding profusely from a wound, they insisted on withdrawing to save his life and left the treasure. Drake stayed in the area for almost a year, raiding Spanish shipping and attempting to capture a treasure shipment.

The most celebrated of Drake’s adventures along the Spanish Main was his capture of the Spanish Silver Train at Nombre de Dios in March 1573. He raided the waters around Darien (in modern Panama) with a crew including many French privateers including Guillaume Le Testu, a French buccaneer, and Maroons, enslaved Africans who had escaped from their Spanish slaveowners. One of these men was Diego, who under Drake became a free man; Diego was also a capable ship builder.[46] Drake tracked the Silver Train to the nearby port of Nombre de Dios. After their attack on the richly laden mule train, Drake and his party found that they had captured around 20 tons of silver and gold. They buried much of the treasure, as it was too much for their party to carry, and made off with a fortune in gold.[47][48] (An account of this may have given rise to subsequent stories of pirates and buried treasure). Wounded, Le Testu was captured and later beheaded. The small band of adventurers dragged as much gold and silver as they could carry back across some 18 miles of jungle-covered mountains to where they had left the raiding boats. When they got to the coast, the boats were gone. Drake and his men, downhearted, exhausted and hungry, had nowhere to go and the Spanish were not far behind.