Falkiner — The Irish Quarda. 21 



the Dutch War, and two companies, of which Lord Avran's was one, 

 were sent to Chester, and appear to have taken part in the action at 

 Solebay.^ 



The military annals of the Restoration still remain veiy scrappy 

 and imperfect ; and even the achievements of the British Guards, have 

 been insufficiently recorded. Little or nothing is known of the career 

 of the Irish Guards from 1675 to 1685, when, as already mentioned, 

 the colonelcy passed to the young Lord Ossory on the death of his 

 uncle Lord Arran, although very full lists of its officers for several 

 years of this obscure decade are still extant. The changes in the 

 regiment within this period do not seem to have been many ; the most 

 important being the appointment of Sir Charles JFielding — a member of 

 the ancient family of which the Earl of Denbigh is the head — to be 

 Lieutenant-Colonel on the death, in 1680, of Sir William Flower. 

 The Guards appear, however, to have been maintained in vigorou, 

 -efficiency. On April 23, 1685, Major Billingsley reported to his 

 Colonel, that he " drew out the Regiment to solemnise the corona- 

 tion, which was performed after the usual way on state days."- 

 Lord Clarendon, who superseded Ormond in the Irish Government in 

 1685, reported very favourably of theii' appearance in a letter to 

 James II.: — "The other day," he wi'ote, "I saw your Majesty's 

 Regiment of Guards drawn out ; and though I am no soldier, yet I 

 may assui'e your Majesty they exercise and perform all their duty 

 as well as your Guards in England can do. If they had the honour 

 to be in your presence you would have no cause to be ashamed of 

 them. "3 



But the regiment was now about to become involved in those far- 

 reaching changes which shortly after the accession of James II. became 

 so universal in every department of the public service, and were 

 ere long to lead to such startling results. The King resolved on a 

 drastic reform of the personnel of the army, and Tyrconnel came 

 to Ireland to superintend and carry out the changes which had been 

 resolved upon. This is not the occasion on which to discuss the policy 

 of James the Second's dealing with his Irish forces prior to the events 

 which obliged him to rely upon their services in his unsuccessful 

 effort to retain his Crown. It must suffice here to observe, that under 

 Tyrconnel' s direction a sweeping reform was rapidly and even violently 



1 SirF. Hamilton's "History of the Grenadier Guards," vol. i., p. 163. 

 - Ormonde MS. 

 " Clareadon Correspondence," i. 231. 



