Chaucer and Henry's Relatives 187 



is conclusive evidence that Chaucer could not have then been in 

 the service of Lionel in Ireland. But this is to suppose that leaves 

 of absence would, in the course of nearly six years, never be 

 granted. That leaves of absence were granted, at least to the 

 viceroy, is evident from the fact that robes were prepared for 

 Lionel against the Feast of St. George, April 23, 1364, show- 

 ing that he must have been, or been expected, in England at 

 that time^ ; moreover, we have independent evidence that Lionel 

 was absent from Ireland during portions of 1364-5-6,-. when he 

 left the Earl of Ormond and Sir Thomas Dale as his deputies.^ 

 It is by no means unlikely, then, that he should, on one or more 

 of these occasions, have taken with him the capable squire whom 

 he had had occasion, several years previously, to employ in a 

 position of trust.* Nor is it impossible that Lionel may have 

 sent him to England at least once during his residence in Ireland.'^ 

 If Chaucer had thus returned to England, he might easily have 

 taken opportunity to wed Philippa, or even have had time for a 

 preliminary wooing. 



It is no objection to this hypothesis that we ought to find 

 Chaucer's name in the royal account-books for 136 1-6, since we 

 know that Lionel received lump-sums for the payment of his 



' Beltz, p. 7. 



" Ireland was then regarded by the English nobles, and the nroprietors 

 of lands in that island, as a place of exile (Gilbert, pp. 216, 218, 220, 

 233, 234, etc.), and Richard de Pembridge, for declining to accept the 

 viceroyalty in 1371, was stripped of all the lands and offices which he 

 held of the Crown (Gilbert, p. 232; cf. p. 233). 



'Gilbert, p. 220. He was absent from April 22 to Dec. 8, 1364 {Chartu- 

 laries of St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, ed. Gilbert, 2. 396; Cal. Pat. Rolls 

 1364-7, PP- 11-13, 19, 21, 25, 34). On the other hand, it is clear that he 

 was in Ireland (Ramsay i. 453) when he was made Duke of Clarence in 

 November, 1362. 



* That Lionel traveled with a considerable retinue in 1364 is clear from 

 the fact that on July 5 eighty ships were ordered to be got ready at Liver- 

 pool for his conveyance to Ireland (Rymer; ; according to a later 

 order (Aug. 8), the vessels were to be between 30 and 80 tons. Some 

 of the persons accompanying him are named in the Calendar of the 

 Patent Rolls for 1364 (p. 34). 



" On June 4, 1363, John Comyn receives a release, as being in the 

 retinue of Lionel's wife; and on March 5, 1364, Lionel's daughter 

 Philippa is sent to England (Rymer), of course with an appropriate 

 escort. 



