Thomas Ormond returned in November 15 58.
Elizabeth was announced as Queen at that date.
She was pleased to see him and a debt was erased
and she granted Tom lands and estates.

Tom was trustworthy and reliable,
an Irish contact who was dependable.
They could their acquaintance then renew.
Even Cecil said her good opinion of him grew.

Then an appointment as Lord Treasurer of Ireland
with a Privy Council place – somewhat grand.
He wasn’t only for her a personal friend,
but an Irish Protestant on whom to depend.

Whoever was invited to Elizabeth’s bower,
she wanted no man to usurp her power.
From experience and what she had seen,
it would be best to remain a virgin queen.

For those who have been abused,
it’s a case of use or be used.
Bess knew that, in exchange for a sexual thrill,
men will disappoint, betray or even kill.

She had been heard by Dudley at the age of eight,
saying that marriage was something she did hate.
Her mother, Anne, had married a King
but was betrayed when he stopped loving.

She expressed a fear in 1565
that if married she might not survive.
That marriage could be so easily undone –
he could “carry out some evil wish if he had one.”

She told Archbishop Parker the same,
that marriage was some twisted game.
He was horrified to hear of her controversy –
“to speak in bitterness of the holy estate of matrimony.”

But she would not to him confess
the reason for her bitterness.
She would not “. . . divulge the reasons to a twin soul,
. . . much less a living creature”, not her goal.

In 1566 Tom was new court favourite.
The Queen determined Dudley to spite.
She punished him for his indiscretions
and gave Tom pet names, with her expressions.

She called him “black husband”, “Lucas”, “Tom Duff”;
that first one would have been quite enough!
They did not only share intimacies,
he accompanied her to state ceremonies.

This lasted several months, after Dudley was restored.
It was well known that Bess was easily bored.
Dudley acknowledged Tom as “clever and ingenious”;
it would be foolish to try to undermine this cuss.

The Queen in Oxford, 1566, to be bestowed by her –
an MA for Cecil, Ormond and de Vere.
You have to question why those three were chosen that day
to personally receive from her the title of MA?

Tom was much disliked for his candour and honesty
by English courtiers, not as upstanding as he.
For this Irishman they only had hatred and envy;
sycophantic men who only knew jealousy.

Ormond said to Burghley, “I will never use treachery to any man.”
The writer – “is fitter to execute such a service than I am.”
This was in response to betraying the Gaelic chiefs,
a tactic that Burghley had as a belief.