Deposition of Margaret Taylor

fol. 361v

634
And this deponent and Elizabeth Walcott Late wife of Samuell Walcott late souldie r in the ffort of Leix (& kild n ere the same vpon service against the Rebells ) (shee the said Elizabeth being alsoe sworne & examined) Jointly further sayth That whenas the Rebellion was begun in the Queens Countie & that this Deponent Marg re t t Taylor and her said husband then alive for shuning the danger of the Rebells hadd Left their howse att Mountrath and were comen with their Carrs & horses laden with goods and within a myle or thereabouts of the fort aforesaid One Patrick Mulhaly Late ofwithin twoe myles of the ffort of Leix came with at least thirteene or fowrteene Lustie Rebells vnto this deponent Marg rett and her said husband to the place aforesaid being an Inn kept by Ann Mosby widow tennant to Sir William Gilbert knight of Kilminshaw in the same County knight Hee the <A> the said Patrick Mulhally being and the rest of his Company (being then and there armed an with skeanes dartes swords & other weapons), did suddenly assault and sett vpon this deponent and those that drive the carriages aforesaid And then and from thence forceibly and Rebelliously tooke & carryed away the goodes & Chattells of you r this deponent and her said husband worth 30 li. formerly in this her the said Margrets deposicion mencioned And they alsoe then and the by force and armes tooke and carried away divers goods belonging to Mr Holmstidd alias Vmstidd this deponent one Elizabeth W a l cott widow also likewise sworne Jointly say Left att that howse And further say sai th that about three months afterwards some of the souldjers of the said ffort. Whereof William Gilbert sonn of the said Sir William was one) sallying out of the said fort, apprehended and tooke the said Patrick Mullhally and brought him before the said Sir William Gilbert, being one of his Maiesties Justices of the peace of & for the said County: Before whom the said Patrick Mulhaly being then examined confessed the takeing of the said goods (some of them being fownd about him:) and freely & publiquely offered to make full satisfaccion for them: Wherevpon the said Sir William Gilbert comitted him prisoner to the fort where hee was boulted at first to prevent his escape Hee haveing beene formerly brought to the gallowes to have beene hanged vnto & [ ] the deponent Marg ret knoweth & the o ther deponent was informed by h er husband th at when he came there hee offering three hundreth pownds for his Liffe vizt one

fol. 362r

635
One hundreth powndes to the said Sir William Gilbert: one hundreth powndes more to the souldjers of the fort, and one hundreth more powndes to the said Thomas Taylor, & vnto the said Mr Joseph Olmstid alias Vmstidd & one Thomas Lawrence (whom he had alsoe robbed) Then He the said Patrick Mulhaley: was brought from the gallowes preserved from hanging; & laid in boults in the fort as aforesaid vntill Ester 1642 or about that tyme, when the honorable Sir Charles Coote knight now deceased came with an army to the fort aforesaid: All which And the deponent Marg ret saith that at the time the the said Patrick Mulhalley sent to her this deponent s husband five shillinges & desired him not to peticion against him to Sir Charles: for the his wife was gone for the mony promissed to her frends in Ossery & would bring it: & that then hee & the other robbed people; Sir William Gilbert, & the souldjers should bee satisfyed all that was promissed them: But although the said Tho: Taylor (as both theis deponents are verely perswaded) would have acquainted the said Sir Charles Coote therewith: yet hee and others in the fort was soe overawed by the said Sir William that hee rather resolued to acquaint the said Sir Charles Coote att some other tyme then to doe it att that tyme: becawse (as the said Sir William might bee displeased therewith & soe vse him more cruelly then before And the said Patrick Mulhalley still contynued a Prisoner there vntill the said Sir Charles was dead & then first the said Sir William Gilbert tooke bonds or Recognizance for his apparance att a tyme after before him the said Sir William Gilbert in the said fort from one Stephen Powell & Peremin Gosling of the penaltie of 20 or 30 li. a peece (as Sir William himself tould this [ ] deponente & his the souldiers) & soe the said Sir William suffered him the said <A> Patrick Mulhally to goe at Librtie into the Cuntrie which hee did, & never returned: nor gave nor cawsed any recompence to bee given either to the said Tho: Taylor or to any other the parties soe by him robbed: Although the said Sir William promissed that hee the said Patrick should make them full satisfaccion or els be hanged: And theis Deponente hath heard, and doeth verely beleeve that both the said Powell and Gosling were somtymes at the fort of Mariborrow of Leix & somtymes amongst the Rebells & were suffered by the said Sir William to passe too and fro betwixt them the Rebells & the fort att their pleasures

fol. 363v

636
And thise Deponente further sayth That whilest the said Patrick <A> Mulhally was soe in prison the said Sir William suffered the said Patricks wiffe to come and lye with the said Patrick in the nights & to goe out & returne at her pleasure: & suffered alsoe divers others (conceived to bee rebells) to come vnto him alsoe & converse with him: and to goe away when they pleased. And thise deponente further sayth That shey hath credibly heard by Mris [ ] Ester Gilbert one of the daughters of the said Sir William that her mother the Ladie Gilbert since the Rebellion be hadd sent 2 of her granchildren & one of her owne to and one Mr Moore (whoe lived & doth or did Lately dwell amongst the Rebells) to bee kept; And that other Rebells afterwards tooke those children from thence: & brought them before the gates of Kilminshaw the said Sir William Gilberts howse; & there houlding them vpp: sayd to Mr Henry Gilbert (one of the said Sir Williams sonns & his mother, that if they would not deliver vpp that howse, they th would presently kill those children And yet that althoughe the <B> said howse was not deliuered vpp (as they required) yet they carried away the children saffe & sound: and afterwards by the meanes of the said Powell & Gosling those children together with a great parcell of plate which (as was said) the said Lady Gilbert sent amongst the Rebells to bee kept) were all redeliuered & amongst vizt the Children to him the said Sir William Gilbert at the said ffort and the plate (as thise deponente hath credibly heard) to the said Ladie Gilbert
Signum predicte [mark] Margarete taylor
Signum predict e [mark] Elizabeth Walcott
Jur 21 Aprilis 1643
Joh Watson
John Sterne
Intw

<Q C
Margret Taylor Jur 21 Apr 1643
Intw
Intw>