make any claim upon us, however unfounded, they were sure to recover. After some little experience, I put a stop to this system of cheatery and false swearing, by appealing from the decision of the Barony to the County Assizes.”
Fontaine made himself conspicuous as a Justice of the Peace, in endeavouring to break up the connection between the Irish robbers[1] and the French privateersmen. This came to a height in June 1704, when a French privateer entered the bay, and attacked his settlement, but was signally discomfited.
Fontaine, as a Justice of the Peace who did his duty, had been introduced to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the Duke of Ormonde, in the autumn of 1703. The Duke was then at Kingsale on an official tour. Fontaine, with the secret support of Lord-Chancellor Cox, represented to His Excellency that a fort should be erected at Bear Haven. The Duke, finding that Fontaine was a refugee, conversed with him in French in the kindest manner; but seeing that his petition was to be enlarged upon by some of the company, he abruptly closed the interview, saying, in a jocular tone, “Pray to God for us, and we will take care to defend you in return.”
After the fight with the privateer, Fontaine wrote to the Duke; and an extract from his letter, and a valuable public document which was obtained, will give the reader some idea of the circumstances. The letter began thus:—
“Since I had the honour of paying my respects to your Grace at Kinsale, I have not failed to pray for you daily, in conformity with the request you then made; but you must allow me to complain that your grace has not been equally true to the promise you then made of defending me; for without your assistance I have had to defend myself from the attack of a French corsair.” . . . .
The following is the public document addressed “To our right trusty and right entirely beloved cousin and councillor, James, Duke of Ormond, our Lieutenant-General, and General Governor of our kingdom of Ireland, and to our Lieutenant-Deputy, or other chief governor or governors of that our kingdom for the time being:” —
“Anne R.
“Right trusty and right entirely beloved Cousin and Councillor, we greet you well. Whereas, James Fontaine, clerk, did by his humble petition to us pray that we would be graciously pleased to bestow on him a pension of five shillings a day on our establishment of our kingdom of Ireland, in consideration of his good services in his defence against a French Privateer, and the great charge he is at in securing the remote port he lives in against the insults of the French, and whereas our High Treasurer of England hath laid before us a report made by you upon said petition, wherein you testify that the petitioner is settled in a very remote port, in Bear Haven in our said kingdom, which place is very much infested with the privateers — that he hath built a very strong house with a small sort of sod fort on which he hath the permission of our said government to mount five guns, — that he hath often been in danger of being attacked by the privateers, and that by the continuance of the said fort he hath protected several merchant ships, — that there hath been produced to you several very ample certificates from the merchants of Dublin and of Cork, of the commodiousness of that place for securing merchant ships, as also from the captains of our ships, the ‘Arundel’ and the ‘Bridgevvater’ — and that upon the whole you are of opinion that the said James Fontaine very well deserves our favour and encouragement, in consideration of his said services and expenses. And in regard he is a French Refugee you propose that a pension of five shillings a day may be inserted for him on the establishment under the head of French Pensioner, to commence from Michaelmas 1705. Now we, having taken the premises into our Royal consideration, are graciously pleased to consent thereunto, and accordingly our will and pleasure is, and we do hereby direct, authorise and command, that you cause the said pension or allowance of five shillings a day to be paid to him the said James Fontaine, or his assignees, from Michaelmas last 1705 as aforesaid, for maintaining the said fort for the better preservation of our subjects of the said kingdom against the insults of French Privateers, the same to continue during our pleasure, and to be placed for him in the list of French Pensioners on the establishment of our expenses in our said kingdom, and paid in like manner as others, the pensions within the said list, are or shall be payable. And this shall be as well as to you for so doing, as to our Lieutenant Deputy or other chief governor or governors of our said kingdom for the time being, and to our Receiver-General and all others concerned in making the- ↑ It is amusing to observe that Irish robbers were then called Tories. Fontaine uses that word, and his editor remarks, “The word tory having been long known as a cant term applied to a political party, it may not be amiss to remark that it is here used according to its original signification. It is derived from the Irish word TORUIGHIM, to pursue for purposes of violence, and in the days of Queen Elizabeth we discover it first used to signify the lawless banditti who were so troublesome in Ireland during her reign.”
