Part 16

I grete you wele; letyng you wete that on Saterday last past within nyght the felesshep at Cayster tokyn ought of Mawtby Cloos xvj. shep of diverse mennes that were put therein to pasture, and thei ledde them a wey, so that every man ferith to put any bestis or catell therin, to my grete hurt and discoragyng of my fermour that is now of late come theder. And the seid evill disposed persones affraid my seid fermour as he came from Yarmoth this weke and shotte at hym that if he had not had a good hors he had belike to have ben in joparte of his lyfe; so that be thes rewle I am like to lese the profite of the lyfelode this yere but if there be purveyed the hastyere remedy. Thei threte so my men I dar send non theder to gader it. Thei stuffe and vetayll sore the place, and it is reported here that my Lady of Norffolk seth she wull not leas it in no wyse. And the Duchesse of Suffolkis men sey that she wull not departe from Heylesdon ner Drayton,--she wuld rather departe from money; but that shuld not be wurchepfull for you; for men shull not than set be you. There for I will avyse you to have rather the lyvelod than the money; ye shall mown excuse you be the College which must contynue perpetuall, and money is sone lost and spent whan that lyfelode abideth. Item, I lete you wete that Hastyngis hath entred ageyn in to his fee of the Constabyllshep of the Castell of Norwich be the vertu of his patent that he had of Kyng Harry; and I here sey he hath it graunted to hym and his heyeris. There was at his entres your unkill William and other jentilmen dwellyng in Norwich. This was do be fore that ye sent me the letter be Pers I had forgetyn to have sent you word ther of. God kepe you. Wretyn the Friday next after Sent Luke.

Be your moder.

[Footnote 154-2: [Add. MS. 34,889, f. 108.] This letter was clearly written between the surrender of Caister in 1469 and its recovery by Sir John Paston after the death of the Duke of Norfolk in 1476. The year 1472 may be considered very probable from what Margaret Paston writes in June of that year (No. 803).]

812

SIR JOHN PASTON TO JOHN PASTON[155-1]

_A Johan Paston, Esquyer, soit done._

[Sidenote: 1472 / NOV. 4]

Worshypfull and weell belovyd brother, I recomand me to yow, letyng yow weet that I sente yow a letter and a rynge with a dyamond, in whyche letter ye myght well conceyve what I wold ye scholde do with the same rynge, with menye other tydyngs and thyngs whyche I prayed yowe to have doon for me, whyche letter Botoner[156-1] had the beryng off. It is so nowe that I undrestond that he is owther deed or ellys harde eskapyd, wheroff I am ryght hevye, and am not serteyn whethyr the seyd lettyr and rynge come to yowr handys or nott. I wolde nott that letter wer seyn with some folkys; wherffor I praye yow take good heede hoghe that letter comythe to yowr handys, hooll or brokyn, and in especiall I praye yow gete it, iff ye have it nott.

Also I praye yow feele my Lady off Norfolks dysposicion to me wards, and whethyr she toke any dysplesur at my langage, or mokkyd, or dysdeyned my words whyche I hadd to hyr at Yarmothe, be twyen the place wher I ffyrst mett with hyr and hyr lodgyng, ffor my Lady Brandon and Syr William[156-2] also axhyd me what words I had had to hyr at that tyme. They seyd that my Lady seyde I gaff hyr ther off,[156-3] and that I sholde have seyde that my Lady was worthye to have a Lords soon in hyr belye, ffor she cowde cheryshe itt, and dele warlye with it; in trowthe owther the same or words moche lyke I had to hyr, whyche wordys I ment as I seyde. They seye to that I seyde she toke hyr ease. Also I scholde have seyde that my Ladye was off satur [_stature_] goode, and had sydes longe and large, so that I was in goode hope she sholde ber a fayr chylde; he was nott lacyd nor bracyd ine to hys peyn, but that she left hym rome to pleye hym in. And they seye that I seyde my Lady was large and grete, and that itt sholde have rome inow to goo owt att; and thus whyther my Lady mokk me, or theye, I woote nott. I mente weell by my trowthe to hyr, and to that she is with, as any he that owythe heer best wyll in Ingelond.

Iff ye can by any meed weete whethyr my Ladye take it to dysplesur or nowt, or whether she thynke I mokkyd hyr, or iff she wyght it but lewdnesse off my selffe, I pray yow sende me worde; ffor I weet nott whethyr I maye trust thys Lady Brandon or nott.

Item, as ffor tydyngs nowe, heer be but ffewe, saff that, as I undrestande, imbassators off Bretayne shall come to London to morawe, and men seye that the Lorde Ryverse[157-1] and Scayls, shall hastelye come home; and men seye that ther is many off the sowders that went to hym into Bretayne been dede off the fflyxe, and other ipedemye [_epidemics_], and that the remenant sholde come hom with the Lorde Skalys. And som seye that thees imbassators come ffor moor men. And thys daye rennyth a tale that the Duke of Bretayne[157-2] sholde be ded. I beleeff it not.

I sent yow worde off an hawke; I herde nott from yow syns; I do and shall doo that is possible in suche a neede.

Also I canne nott undrestand that my Lord off Norffolk shall come heer thys tyme; wherffor I am in a greet agonye howe is best ffor me to sue to hym ffor rehavyng off my place; that goode Lorde weet full lytell how moche harme he doothe me, and how lytell goode or worshyp it dothe hym. I praye yow sende me yowr advyce. No moor to yow at thys tyme, but God have yow in Hys kepyng.

Wretyn at London the iiij. daye off Novembre, anno E. iiij^ti xij^{o}. I feer me that idelnesse ledyth yowr reyne; I praye yow rather remembre Sir Hughe Levernoys tyll yowr hauke come.

JOHN PASTON, K.

[Footnote 155-1: [From Fenn, ii. 112.]]

[Footnote 156-1: William Botoner, otherwise Worcester. He certainly was alive some years later than this.]

[Footnote 156-2: Sir William Brandon, Knight, was standard-bearer to the Earl of Richmond, and was slain in Bosworth Field by Richard III. He was father to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.--F.]

[Footnote 156-3: Meaning apparently, as Fenn suggests, ‘I paid her off, or treated her with unceremonious language.’]

[Footnote 157-1: Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, etc., went to endeavour to obtain the possession of the Earls of Pembroke and Richmond, who were detained as prisoners by the Duke of Brittany.--F.]

[Footnote 157-2: Francis II., the last Duke of Brittany, was born in 1435, and died in 1488.--F.]

813

SIR JOHN PASTON TO JOHN PASTON[158-1]

_A John Paston, Esquyer, soyt done._

[Sidenote: 1472 / NOV. 8]

Brother, I comend me to yow, letyng yow weet, &c.[158-2]

As for the delyverance off the rynge to Mestresse Jane Rothone, I dowt nott but it shall be doon in the best wyse, so that ye shall geet me a thank moor than the rynge and I ar worthe or deserve.

And wheer ye goo to my Laydy off Norffolk, and wyll be theer att the takyng off hyr chambre, I praye God spede yow, and our Ladye hyr, to hyr plesur, with as easye labor to overkome that she is abowt, as evyr had any lady or gentyllwoman, saff our Lady heer selffe, and soo I hope she shall to hyr greet joye, and all owres; and I prey God it maye be lyke hyr in worship, wytt, gentylnesse, and every thynge excepte the verry verry thynge.[158-3]

No moor to yow at [this] thyme, but I woll sleepe an howr the lenger to-morrow by cawse I wrote so longe and late to nyght.

Wretyn betwen the viij. and the jx. daye off Novembre anno xij^o E. iiij^{ti}.

J. P., K.

[Footnote 158-1: [From Fenn, ii. 118.]]

[Footnote 158-2: The first part of this letter treats of some money transactions of no consequence, etc.--F.]

[Footnote 158-3: Fenn, in his modernised text, makes this ‘except the sex.’]

[[every thynge excepte the verry verry thynge. _text unchanged: duplication at line break, but Fenn has the same text at mid-line_]]

814

MARGARET PASTON TO JOHN PASTON[159-1]

_To John Paston, Esquyer._

[Sidenote: 1472 / NOV. 19]

I grete you wele and send you Goddes blyssyng and myn, letyng you wete that I have sent to Doctor Aleyn wyffe to have spoke with her as ye desired me, and she was so syke that she myght not comyn; but she sent her broder elaw to me, and I lete hym wete the cause why that I wuld have spoke with her as ye desired me. And he told me that he shuld have brought me wrytyng this day from her be vij. of the belle, how that she wull that ye shuld have labored or do for her; but he came no mor at me. Nevertherlesse she sent me an nother massenger, and lete me wete[159-2] that her husband had sent her the same nyght from London that she shuld come up as fast as she cowde to labor to the Lordes there in her propre person; wherfor she myght geve me non answer, ner send you word how that ye shuld do till [that] she had spokyn with her husband, or had other writyng from hym.

Therfore I thynk t[hat s]he hath other councell that avyseth her to labour to other than to you. I wuld not that [you be] to besy in no such maters [ty]ll the werd [_world_] were mor suer, and in any wyse that w[hile my] Lord the Chaunceller is in [occu]pation, labore to have an ende of your grete materes and . . . macion, and abide not up [on] trost of an nother seson, for so shall ye be disseyved a[s ye hav]e ben befor this tyme. I have understand sith that ye departed that ther . . . . . mad to subplant you; therfore, for Goddes sake, in this onstabill werd [_world_] labore er[nestly your] maters that thei may have summe good conclusion, and that shall make y[our enemies] fere you, and elles thei shall . . kepe you low and in trobill. And if any mater . . . . . be Act of Parlement and pro . . . . . lete your bill be mad redy, and lese not your [ma]teres for other mennes; for if your elmyse [_enemies_] may profight now at this tyme, ye shall be [in] wers case than ever ye were befor. All the cou[ntry] wenyth that ye shuld now overcomyn all your trobill, which if ye do not ye shall fall o[ug]ht of conceyte. I write as well this to your brother as to you; therfore lete no diffaught be in you nowther.

Item, it was lete me to wete syth ye departed of such as were your frendes and were conversaunte with the toder parte that ther was mad labor and like to be concluded, that the eleccion of the knyghtes of the shire shuld be chaunged, and new certificat mad and John Jenney set there in; ther for do your devoir to understond the trought as sone as ye can, for the seid Jenney this day rideth up to London ward, and I suppo[se be]cause of the same. I pray you remembre your brother to send me the evydence and remembrance towchyng the maner of Gresham, which that I wrote to hym be Juddy, and send them be sum suer man.

Item, take hede to the labour of your unkyll, for he hath had right straunge langage of your brother of late to right wurchepfull persones; therfor werk wysely and bewar wham that ye lete know your councell.

Item, remembre Lomnors mater as ye may do therin, and send me werd in hast. Mayster Roos shall be at London the next weke; therfore ye shall not nede to make my Lord to write, but whan that he comyth, if my Lord can make hym to put it in indifferent and wurchepfull men, than that it pleasith my Lord to write to them that thei shuld take it upon them to set a rewle therin, with ought better advyse, me semyth it wer wele do. The Holy Gost be your gyde and send yow good spede and councell, and delivere you ought of all trobill and disseas to his pleser.

Wretyn the Thursday next be for Sent Kateryn,[160-1] in hast.

Recomaund me to my Mastres Kateryn, and send me werd how ye don, &c.

Be your Moder.

Do my Lord[161-1] on Sonday send for the shereffes debute [_deputy_] to wete how thei be disposid for certificate of the knyghtes, and I shall understand if thei be eschaunged; for on Sonday at nyght, or on Monday, it shall be put in, and [if i]t is put in, ther is no remedy. Geney seth he wull attempt the law therin.

[Footnote 159-1: [From Paston MSS., B.M.] From the time of year and other circumstances, it seems probable that the election here referred to was that of the year 1472. A circumstance which confirms this date will be found noticed in a footnote. The original letter is mutilated in the middle by the decay of the paper, in more than one place.]

[Footnote 159-2: The words after ‘Neverthelesse’ originally stood ‘her seid brother-in-law told me that tyme that he was with me,’ but are crossed out.]

[Footnote 160-1: St. Catherine’s Day is the 25th of November.]

[Footnote 161-1: The Duke of Norfolk. It will be seen by the preceding letter that John Paston was going to Framlingham in the beginning of November 1472.]

[[Footnote 159-2 and body text: Nevertherlesse she sent me an nother massenger ... The words after ‘Neverthelesse’ ... _mismatched spelling unchanged_

... in this onstabill werd [_world_] labore _italic “d” misprinted as “a”_]]

815

SIR JOHN PASTON TO MARGARET PASTON[161-2]

_To Mestresse Margret Paston, or to John Paston, Esquier, or to Roose dwyllyng affor ther gate, to delyver to them._

[Sidenote: 1472 / NOV. 22]

Please it yow to weete that I have opteyned letterys from the Kynge to my Lorde off Norffolke, to my Lady of Norffolk, and to ther concell, whyche letter to ther concell is nott superscrybyd, for cawse we wyst nott serteyn whyche of the councell sholde be present when the massenger cowme. I therffor thynke that thoos namys most be somwhatt by yowr advyce; and for get nott Gornaye, nor yitt Brome, iff ye thynke so best, nor Sowthewelle. I trust to my cosyn Gornaye, and on to Brome and Barnard in cheffe; and as to Bernarde, brother, I praye yow to take hys advyce, for I hope he is my welwyller, as ye know, and iffe he do me perffyght ease in thys mater, I thynke verrely in tyme to come to gyff him xx. scutys, and yit a goode turne whan so ever it lythe in my power.

The Kynge hathe specially doon for me in thys case, and hathe pitte me, and so have the Lordys, in ryght greete comfort, that iff thys fayle, that I shalle have ondelayed justyce; and he hathe sente a man of worship and in greet favor with hym on thys massage, whyche hathe nott ofte ben seyne, whyche gentylman kan well do hys mastrys massage and brynge trywe reporte. I have gevyn hym v_li._ for hys costes: God sende hym and yow goode spede in thees werkes. I feer thatt he shall nott speke with my Lady, for that she hathe takyn hyr chambre. Iff she be my verry goode Ladye, as she hathe seyde hertoffor that she wolde be, I hope that she wolle speke with hym. Neverthelesse I praye yow by the meanes of Mestresse Jahne Rothen that [you][162-1] will have my Ladye mevyd for me, and wher that herr to fore I wolde have departyd with C. marke to have hadde hyr goode helpe and to be restoryd to my place; whyche nott acceptyd, I tolde my seyde Lady that I feeryd that my power sholde natt be ther aftre to gyff so large a plesyr, for at that tyme I was in hope that the Bysshop of Wynchester sholde have payd it, thoghe it hadde drawen a C_li._ Yet for as moche as men may nott lure none hawkes with empty handys, I wolde yitt agre to gyffe my Lady xx_li._ for an horse and a sadell, so that I be restoryd to my place, and that doone, to have a relesse of my Lorde, and my gounes and bokes to be restoryd, iff it maye bee. Neverthelesse thys mony is nott yit redy with me. I remytte thys to yowr dyscressyons.

Item, iff it be soo that itt be thowte behovefull, I thynke that thoghe nowther Slyfelde, nor ye, brother John, maye come in to my Ladyes chambre, that my moodre, iff she weer at Norwyche, she myght speke with hyr, for that she is a woman and off worshyppe. I thynke that my moodre sholde meve my Lady moche. I thynke that ther most be some body for me, havyng auctoryte to conclude for me, or ellys knowyng myn entente, they myght make delaye, and seye they wolle at the Kynges enstance comon with me; never the lesse I was nott ther present. Wherffor, rather than fayle, yff neede be, I wolle with owte any abode, iff I heer from yow, come home; and Slyfelde is agreyd to tary the a vij. nyghte for my sake, so that the mater take effecte. I praye yow make hym goode cheer, and iff it be so that he tarye, I most remembre hys costes; therffor iff I shall be sent for, and he tery at Norwyche ther whylys, it wer best to sette hys horse at the Maydes Hedde, and I shalle content for ther expences.

Item, ye maye largely sey on my behalve for suche servyse that I sholde do to my Lorde and Lady hereaffter, whyche by my trowthe I thynke to doo; neverthelesse to sey that I woll be hys sworyn man, I was never yitt Lordys sworyn man, yit have I doone goode servyce, and nott leffte any at hys most neede ner for feer. But as Gode helpe me, I thynke my Lady shalle have my servyce above any lady erthely, wheche she scholde weell have knowyn, had I been in suche case as I hadde nott been alweye the werse welkome; for that on of my herandes alweye was undrestande that it was for Caster, wnyche was nott acceptable, and I evyr the werse welkome.

Item, brother, I ame concludyd with my Lorde for yow, that ye shalle be at Caleys if ye list, and have iij. men in wages undre yow, wheroff my Lorde seythe that William Lovedaye most be on, tyll tyme that he have purveyed other rome for hym. Iff ye be dysposyd to goo, as I tolde hym that ye weer, yett wer it nott best that ye lete it be knowe tyll thys mater be doone, and then ye maye acordyng to yowr promyse lete my Ladye have knowleche ther off. Never the lesse my Lorde shalle be here with in xx. dayes or ther abowt; iff ye come thys weye ye maye speke with hym; neverthelesse ye shall nott lose no tyme, iff ye weer at Caleys at thys owr, for my Lorde promysed me that he wolde wryght to Elkenhed the tresorer at Caleys for yow by the next massenger thatt went.

Item, ther hathe Perauntes wyffe wryte to me that Bernaye servyth hyr onkyndely. He owythe hyr xxxij_s._ and she is in noon hope that evyr he will come ther ageyn; sende me worde iff he wyll. He shall nott lyf so weell and trywly to geedre, I trowe, but iffe he goo thyddre.

I hadde comen home, butt that I ame nott yitt verrely purveyd for payment for my oncle William the xxvj. daye of thys monythe, and he dothe me harme. He delythe so oncurteysly with Towneshende, for he wille nott yitt paye hym the C. marke, payable at Halowmesse, whyche he hadde a monythe affore; wherffor I feer that Towneshende wille nott do for me ageyn. I shall doo as I kan.

Wretyn on Sondaye next Seynt Clement.

JOHN PASTON, K.

[Footnote 161-2: [From Paston MSS., B.M.] In this letter, as in the last, allusion is made to the visit paid by John Paston to the Duchess of Norfolk in November 1472.]

[Footnote 162-1: Omitted in MS.]

[[Slyfelde is agreyd to tary the a vij. nyghte _text unchanged: error for “ther(e)”?_

Footnote 162-1: Omitted in MS. _final . missing or invisible_]]

816

MARGARET PASTON TO JOHN PASTON[164-1]

_To John Paston, Esquyer, be this delivered._

[Sidenote: 1472 / NOV. 23]

I grete you wele, letyng you wete that Doctor Aleyns wyffe hath be with me and desired me to write to you to desire you to be good mayster to her husband and to her in her materes, for she tellith me that her trost is full in you, and if she myght have walked she shuld have come to have spoke with you or than ye departed; therfor, I pray you do your devoir for her, for I conceyve that she feyneth not, notwithstandyng that I had her in suspecion as I have wretyn to you before, be cause that she came not, but I conceyve now the trought and that sikenesse caused thatt she absent her. Therfore I pray you help her, for, so God help me, I have right gret pete on her, and it is right grete almes to help her, and I trow she wull put her most trost and sewe specialle to you. Also I wuld ye shold desire your brother to be good mayster on to her, for I suppose be that tyme ye have herd her excuse in such materes as he shuld be displeased with her husband, ye shall hold you pleased. God kepe you and send you Hes blyssyng, with myn. Wretyn on Sent Clementes Day at nyght, in hast,

Be your Moder.

[Footnote 164-1: [From Paston MSS., B.M.] It is evident that this letter was written in the same year as No. 814.]

817

JOHN PASTON TO SIR JOHN PASTON[165-1]

_To Master Sir John Paston, Knyght._

[Sidenote: 1472 / NOV. 24]