Wood — The Court of Castle Chamber or Star Chamber of Ireland. 165 



punishments seem to us, with our more humane ideas, to be too cruel and 

 barbarous to be possible. Nicholas Terrell, in 1579, for perjury, was ordered 

 to be delivered to the sheriff, to be by him set in the pillory for two hours, 

 with a writing in great letters upon his head " for wilful perjury," and at 

 the first time, his right ear, and at the second time, his left ear, to be nailed 

 to the pillory, " and to deliver him a knife with the same, to cut or other- 

 wise to tear off the same." However, the nailing in his case was to be 

 omitted if he paid £40. A similar fate befell Alex. Pluncket, of the Bawne, 

 Co. Louth, gent., in 1587-8 for seditious speech. In 1590 John Delahide of 

 Bellantree was ordered to stand in the pillory on three market days, with 

 one of his ears nailed to the pillory, " not to be unloosed until it be cut off, or 

 himself do tear it off." In 1608 Jas. Sherlocke, Co. Tipperary, gent., con- 

 victed of forgery, was condemned to stand in the pillory in Waterford on a 

 market day, to lose his ears, and to have his nose slit and seared. After 

 these sufferings, the poor wretches were returned to gaol. Nor can we flatter 

 ourselves that these punishments were not carried out, as in one case a 

 sheriff was prosecuted for allowing a prisoner to escape, who, after having his 

 ears cut off, had been sent down to him to be exhibited in the town where his 

 crime had taken place. 



It would appear that all those condemned to imprisonment by this Court 

 were handed over either to the custody of the constable of Dublin Castle, or 

 to that of the Marshal of the Court, who had a prison of his own. A dispute 

 arose between these two as to the custody of the prisoners ; and it was decided 

 in 1604-5 by three Judges of the Court that " all Barons, and persons pre- 

 cedent unto Barons, Counsellors of Estate, Justices of the Benches, Barons of 

 the Exchequer, Lords of Irish Counties, Sheriffs of Counties, Mayors, Knights, 

 Deans of Cathedral Churches, and Justices of the Peace " committed by the 

 Court, were to be in the custody of the Constable of the Castle, and other 

 persons in the custody of the Marshal." 



The fines received upon sentences of the Court formed, at least in the 

 reigns of James I and Charles I, an important part of the casual revenue. 1 

 As we have seen, in some of the more important cases, the fines were very 

 heavy. It is true that they were often reduced, even to the extent of two- 

 thirds or more, in the case of the recusants who submitted; but they were 

 large enough to be regarded with covetous eyes by the Government, and 

 instructions were given to see that they really did come into the King's 

 hands. Even the Lord Deputy was forbidden to reduce the fines ; and such 

 authority was given only to the Treasurer, Barons, and Chancellor of the 



1 Letters of Thos., Earl of Strafford, vol. ii, p. 293. 



