carried his throwing spears while the other carried his provisions. Shakespeare mentions gallowglasses in Macbeth, although along with other aspects of the play it is an anachronism, as the historical Macbeth lived in the 11th century: The merciless Macdonwald, Worthy to be a rebel, for to that The multiplying villainies of nature Do swarm upon him, from the Western isles Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied In the paper "A Description of the Power of Irishmen", written early in the 16th century, the Irish forces of Leinster are numbered at 522 horses and five battalions of gallowglass (gallóglaigh) and 1,432 kerne, and those of the other provinces were in like proportion. Mac Cárthaigh Mór commanded 40 horses, two battalions of gallowglass, and 2,000 kerne; the Earl of Desmond 400 horses, three battalions of gallowglass, and 3,000 kerne, besides a battalion of crossbowmen and gunners, the smaller chieftains supplying each their quota of men. In 1517, "when the reformacion of the countrye was taken in hand", it was reported that the Irish forces in Thomond were 750 horses, 2,324 kerne, and six "batayles" of gallowglass, the latter including 60 to 80 footmen harnessed with spears; each of these had a man to bear his harness, some of whom themselves carried spears or bows. Every kerne had a bow, a "skieve" or quiver, three spears, a sword, and a skene or sgian (Irish scian or Scottish Gaelic sgian), each two of them having a lad to carry their weapons. The horsemen had two horses apiece, some three, the second bearing the "knave" or his attendant. The 16th century in Ireland saw an escalation in military conflict, caused by the Tudor conquest of Ireland. Gallowglass fighters were joined by native Irish mercenaries called buanadha (literally "quartered men") and by newer Scottish mercenaries known as "redshanks". During the First Desmond Rebellion, Lord President of Munster Sir William Drury ordered the execution of 700 captured gallowglasses. Despite the increased use of firearms in Irish warfare, gallowglasses remained an important part of Hugh Ó Neill's forces in the Nine Years' War. After the combined Irish defeat at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601, recruitment of gallowglasses waned, although Scottish Highland mercenaries continued to come to Ireland until the 1640s (notably Alasdair Mac Colla). They fought under the Irish general Owen Roe O'Neill at the Battle of Benburb when O'Neill had an overwhelming victory in 1646. The