Part 20
Ryght wyrshypfull and hertyly belovyd brother, I comand me to yow, letyng you wet that I receyvyd a letter that come from yow, wretyn circa viij. Mychaelys,[196-3] wherin ye leet me weet off the decesse off Syr James, and that my moodre is in purpose to be at Norwyche, and I am ryght glad that sche wyll now doo somwhat by yowr advyce; wherffor be war fro hense forthe that noo suche felawe crepe in be twyen hyr and yow, and iff ye lyst to take a lytell labore, ye may lyff ryght well, and she pleasyd. It is as good that ye ryde with a cople off horse at hyr cost as Syr James or Richard Calle.
Ye sende me worde also that she in noo wyse wyll purveye thyr C_li._ for the redemyng off Sporle. Late it goo. As towchyng that mater, John Osbern tolde me that he comonyd with yow at Sporle of that mater; ferr he devysed that Kokett, or suche an other man, sholde, to have it the better cheppe, leye owt the valewe off vj. yere for to have it vij. yere, wherto I wolde agre; and for Goddys sake, if thatt maye be browt abowt, late it be doon. As ye woot of, it is laten for xxij_li._ be yere, yit the fermor graunt but xxj.; but to Kokett it wolde be worthe xxv_li._, yea and better. Neverthelesse, if Kokett wyll delyver vj^xx._li._, I wolde he had it for vij. yeer, with thys that my moodre be agreable to the same, by cawse of th’entresse that she hathe for my brother William, whyche shall nott be off age thys vij. yeer; neverthelesse, as ye know myn olde entent, I purpose to purvey for hym in an other plase better than theer; whyche graunte off my moodre I praye yow to be my solycytor in, whyche [and] it be browt abowt, Sporle shall be in as goode case as evyr he was.
John Osbern willyd me to make yow a sufficiaunt waraunt to selle and felle wood at Sporle, whyche I remembre ye have in as ample forme as can be; neverthelesse iff thys meane above wretyn off letyng to ferme maye be hadde, it shall, I hope, nat nede to felle ner selle moche. But I remytte that geer to yowr dyscrescion, but iff ye have suche comforte, I praye yow sende me worde. I maye seye to yow, John Osbern flateryd me, for he wolde have borowyd mony off me.
Item, in retaylyng of woode theer, it weer harde to tryst hym; he is nedye. If Kokett, or whoo so evyr had that maner to ferme for vij. yere, and payd therffor but vj^xx._li._, he sholde, to lete it ageyn, wynne xxxvj_li._, whyche we[re] moche; wherffor, iff it myght bee, yt wer more resenable vj^xx. vij_li._ to be reseyvyd, and yit is ther lost xxix_li._, or ellys iff ye take lesse mony and fewer yerys, so it be aftre the rate, so ther be purveyd C_li._ at the lest; send worde.
Item, ye wroot that lyke a trewe man ye sende me xviij_s._ by Richarde Radle. Ye weer to trewe; but he semys to be a false shrewe, for he browt me noon yitt. Whethyr he be owt of town or nott, kan I nott seye.
Ye prayed me also to sende yow tydynges how I spedde in my materis, and in cheff of Mestresse Anne Hault. I have answer ageyn fro Roome that there is the welle of grace and salve sufficiaunt for suche a soore, and that I may be dyspencyd with; neverthelesse my proctore there axith a m^l. docatys, as he demythe. But Master Lacy, another Rome renner heer, whyche knowyth my seyde proctor theer, as he seythe, as weell as Bernard knewe hys sheeld, seythe that he menyth but an C. docates or CC. at the most; wherffor afftre thys comythe moor. He wrote to me also, _quod Papa hoc facit hodiernis diebus multociens_.
Item, as towchyng Caster, I tryst to God that ye shall be in it to myn use or Crystmesse be past.
Item, yowr ost Brygham recomand hym to yow, and when he and I rekenyd, I gave hym ij. noblis for yowr borde, whyll ye weer theer in hys absence; but in feythe he wolde, for nowth that I kowde doo, take j_d._ Wherffor ye most thanke hym or charge me to thanke hym on yowr behalve in some nexte epystyll that ye wryght to me to Caleys. He leete me weet that he wolde do moor for yow than soo.
Item, my Lady Bowgcher was almost deed, but she ys amendyd. I trowe they come in to Norffolk.
Item, as for W. Berker, I heer no worde from hym. I praye yow comon with Berney ther in, he knoweth myn conceyt; and also I praye yow hast Berney ageyn. I wold not that he played the fooll, ner wastyd hys tyme ner hys sylver.
Item, as for the brace of growndes [_greyhounds_], or one verry goode, or in especiall the blak of Germynes, I can nott seye but ye be a trewe man, but William Mylsent isse a false shrewe, so mote I thee, and I trow hys master ys too.
Item, I most have myn instrumentes hydder, whyche are in the chyst in my chambre at Norwyche, whyche I praye yow and Berney to gedre joyntly, but natt severally, to trusse in a pedde,[199-1] and sende them me hyddre in hast, and a byll ther in how many peces. Thys most be had to avoyde idelnesse at Caleys.
Item, I preye yow take heed among thatt my stuffe take noon harme, ner that myn evydence, wher ye wott of, be owt of joperte.
Item, I praye yow doo for Berneye as ye kan, so that he maye be in sewerte for hys annywyte, and that it be nott costious fro hense forthe to hym any mor to come, or sende for it. I pray yow wynne yowr sporys in hys mater.
Item, I purposed to have sent heer with the testament off my fadre and the scytacions to my moodre to yow and Arblaster; but they be nott redy. Within ij. dayes aftre the comyng of thys, I suppose they shall be with yow, and than I shall wryght mor to yow.
As for other tydynges, I trust to God thatt the ij. Dukes of Clarans and Glowcester shall be sette att one by the adward off the Kyng.
Item, I hope by the means of the Duke of Glowcester that my Lord Archebyshop[199-2] shall come home.
Item, as towchyng my sustre Anne,[199-3] I undrestand she hathe bene passyng seek; but I wende that she had ben weddyd. As for Yelverton, he seyde but late that he wold have hyr, iff she had hyr mony, and ellis nott; wherffor me thynkyth that they be nott verry sewre. But, amonge alle other thynges, I praye yow be ware that the olde love of Pampyng renewe natt. He is nowe fro me; I wott nat what he woll doo.
No more. Wretyn at London, the xxij. daye of Novembre Anno R. R. E. iiij^ti xiij^{o}.
JOHN PASTON, Kt.
[Footnote 196-2: [From Paston MSS., B.M.]]
[Footnote 196-3: i.e. _circa octabas Michaelis_--about the Octaves of Michaelmas, or 6th October.]
[Footnote 199-1: A kind of basket.]
[Footnote 199-2: George Neville, Archbishop of York, though formerly pardoned, had been accused of holding correspondence with the Earl of Oxford, for which he was imprisoned at Guines.]
[Footnote 199-3: Anne Paston married William Yelverton, grandson of Sir William Yelverton, the Judge.]
843
SIR JOHN PASTON TO JOHN PASTON[200-1]
_To John Paston, Esquier._
[Sidenote: 1473 / NOV. 25]
Ryght wyrshypfull and well belovyd brother, I recomaund me to yow, letyng yow weet that I sende yow her with j. sitacion, where in ben my moodre and yee, wheroff I praye yow that I maye have hasty answeer. The effecte theroff is no moor, but ye bothe most sende answer, and make yow a proctor heer, and that most come hyddre ondre a notaryes syngne, affermyng that ye make suche a man, Master John Halsnothe, or ellis, yf ye will do the cost, to sende some other hyddre; yowr proctor to take admynystracion or to reffuse, and what so he dothe, ye to holde it for ferme and stable. Than most my moodre and ye wryght a lettre, undre my moodre seall and yowr syngne manuell, to me and Master John Halsnothe in thys forme:--‘We gret yow well, letyng yow weet that we have made yow, Master John Halsnothe, our proctor in the testament of John Paston, husband and fadre to yow, wherin we wyll that on owr behalff ye refuse the admynestracion of the seyde testament. And thys wryghtyng is to yow warantt and dyscharge, and also the verry wyll of usse.’ Thys most we have for owr dyscharge.
Item, I pray yow take good hedde to my soster Anne, lesse the old love atwyen hyr and Pampyng renewe.
Item, I pray yow sende me worde howe my moodre is dysposyd to hyr wardes, and iffe so weer that a good mariage myght be had, what she wolde depart with.
Item, I praye yow that ye remembre hyr for the tombe off my fadr at Bromholme, and also the chapell at Mauteby, and sende me worde how she is dysposyd her in.
Item, iff I have Caster ageyn, whethyr she wolle dwelle ther or nott, and I wyll fynde hyr a prest towardes at my charge, and geve hyr the dovehowse and other comodytes ther; and if any horsekeper on myn lye ther, I wolle paye for hys borde also, as weell as for the prestes.
Item, iff my modre sholde have a new prest, I thynk that my brother Syr J. Goos weer a metly man to be ther. He wolde also doo, as ye wolde have hym nowe, ber the cuppe evyn, as What-calle-ye-hym seyde to Aslake.
Be war of Myneres fro hense forthe, and sende me worde how ye trist Doctor Pykenham. I wolde, if he wolde doo owght for my moodre, that he hastyd the soner to paye me the C_li._, so that I myght pledge owt Sporle.
Item, as for other tydynges, the Erle of Oxenforthe is stille besegyd. Neverthelesse, onys he issued owt, and toke a jentylman, and hant [_dragged_] hym within; but now off late he was besye, and one espyed hym, and shott at hym and strake in the verry fase with an arowe. I sye thys daye the same man, and theere I leef hym.
Iff Arblaster come to yow, ye maye see hys letter sente to hym by me, wherin I have wretyn that he scholde take yowr advyce; but I praye you, above all thynges, that me make hast so that I heer from yow ageyn by thys day vij. nyght.
At London, the xxv. daye of Novembre.
JOHN PASTON, K.
[Footnote 200-1: [From Paston MSS., B.M.] The year in which this letter was written is clearly shown, partly by the allusions made in it to several matters mentioned in previous letters, and more especially by what is said of the Earl of Oxford. That nobleman was besieged in St. Michael’s Mount, Cornwall, by Sir Henry Bodrugan during October and November 1473.]
[[... and hant [_dragged_] hym within _final italic “d” misprinted as “a”_]]
844
THE TENANTS OF SPORLE TO SIR JOHN PASTON[201-1]
_To oure specyall good lord and mayster, Syr John Paston, Knyght, be this delivered in hast._
[Sidenote: Date uncertain]
Right worchepfull and oure specyall good mayster and loord, after our dewe recomendacion with owre servyce. Please it yow to knowe that we arn grevously troubled, and not lyke to kepe oure tenourys, the whiche we holde of you, but yf ye helpe us; for we wer bete at the boordourys syde, and afterwarde our servauntes wer bete at the plowe in Spoorle felde, and somme of them be lyke to dey. And we redyn to Maister Shereve and to Mayster Southwell for remedye, and thei advysed us to ryde to Mayster Wyngfeld; and thenne we understode that Mayster Wyngfeld was reden to London, &c. And so we stonden withoute remedye, and in grete doute of our lyves, and losse of our goodys. Wherfor we beseche you to socoure us accordyng to your right and owres. And ellys we kan nott abyde it, &c. Cryst kepe your good lordshep.
Be your poore tenauntes of Spoorle.
[Footnote 201-1: [From Paston MSS., B.M.] The date of this letter is very uncertain, but as a good deal is said about this time of the manor and wood of Sporle, we insert it here for convenience.]
845
NOTE
[Sidenote: 1474 / FEB. 9]
It appears by the Early Chancery Proceedings printed by the Record Commission (vol. i. p. xc.), that a decree was given in Chancery in Hilary term, 13 Edw. IV. compelling William Paston and other trustees to fulfil a covenant between Richard, Duke of Gloucester and Elizabeth, Countess of Oxford. On the Close Roll, 13 Edw. IV. memb. 1, is a release by William, Bishop of Ely, Sir Thomas Montgomery, John Wentworth, clk., William Paston, Esq., Roger Townesend and Jas. Arblaster to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, of all their right in Ocle Magna and Parva, etc., in Essex, which they have by enfeoffment of Eliz., Countess of Oxford, and in other manors in Norfolk and Suffolk which they lately had of the gift of the same. This release is dated 9th Feb. 13 Edw. IV., and was acknowledged in Chancery on the 11th Feb. Below it are enrolled three other deeds by the Countess and her feoffees to the Duke, dated 9th June, 12 Edw. IV., and acknowledged in Chancery, 25th June, 14 Edw. IV.
846
SIR JOHN PASTON TO MARGARET PASTON[203-1]
_Mestresse Margrett Paston, at Norwyche._
[Sidenote: 1474 / FEB. 20]
Ryght honorable and most tendr good moodr, I recomand me to yowe, besechyng yow to have, as my tryst is that I have, yowr dayly blessyng; and thanke yow off yowr good moderhood, kyndenesse, cheer, charge, and costes, whyche I had, and putte yow to, att my last beyng with yow, whyche God gyffe me grace her afftr to deserve!
Please it yow to weet, that I thynge longe that I heer nott ffrom yow or ffrom Pekok yowr servaunt, ffor the knowlege howe he hathe doon in the sale off my fferme barlye, ner whatt is made theroff; wherffor I beseche yowe, if it be not answeryd by that tyme that thys bylle cormythe to yowe, to hast hym and itt hyddre wards; ffor iff that had nott taryed me, I deme I had been at Caleys by thys daye; ffor it is soo, as men seye, that the Frense Kynge with a gret hoste is at Amyans, but iij^xx. myle from Caleys; and iff he, or hys, roode byffor Caleys, and I nott theer, I wolde be sorye.
Item, men seye that the Erle of Oxenfford hathe ben constreynyd to sewe ffor hys pardon only off hys lyffe; and hys body, goodes, londes, with all the remenaunt, at the Kynges wyll, and soo sholde in all haste nowe come in to the Kyng; and some men seye that he is goon owt off the Mounte,[203-2] men wot not to what plase, and yit lefte a greet garnyson theer, weell ffornysshyd in vytayll, and all other thynge.
Item, as ffor the havyng ageyn off Castre, I trust to have good tydyngs theroff hastelye.
Item, my brother John ffarethe weell, and hathe doon ryght delygentlye in my cosyn Elizabet Berneys mater, wheroff hastely I trust he shall sende hyr tydyngs that schall please hyr; and as to morow he purposyth to take hys jurneye to Walys warde to the Lorde Ryverse. No mor at thys tyme, but Jeswe have yow in Hys kepyng.
Wretyn at London the xx. daye off Feverer, Anno E. iiij^ti xiij^{o}.
Yowr sone,
J. PASTON, K.
[Footnote 203-1: [From Fenn, ii. 154.]]
[Footnote 203-2: St. Michael’s Mount in Cornwall.]
847
LORD HASTINGS TO JOHN PASTON[204-1]
_To my right trusty and welbeloved servaunt, John Paston, Squier._
[Sidenote: 1474(?) / APRIL 26]
John Paston, I recommaunde me unto you. And whereas I appointed and desired you to goo over unto Guysnes to yeve youre attendaunce and assistaunce upon my brother Sir Rauf Hastings in all suche things as concerne the suretie and defense of the Castell of Guysnes during his infirmyties; it is shewed unto me that ye have full truely and diligently acquyted you unto my saide brother, in all his besynesses sithe your comyng thider. Whereof I thanke you hertly. And as I conceive to my grete comfort and gladnesse, my saide brother is wele recovered and amended, thanked be God. And soo I truste he may nowe spare you. Wherupon I have writen unto him, if he may soo doo, to licence you to come over unto me ayen. Wherefore I woll and desire you, th’assent of my saide brother had, to dispose you to come over in all goodly haste, as well for suche grete maters, as I fele by youre ffrends, ye have to doo here, as to yeve youre attendaunce upon me. And your retourne ye shall be to my welcome.
From London, the xxvj. day of Avrill.
[204-2]I pray you in no wise to depart as yet without my brother Roaf asent and agrement; and recommaund me to my syster, all my nieces, to the constabyll, and to all Ryves [_reeves_].
Your tru frend,
HASTYNGES.
[Footnote 204-1: [From Fenn, ii. 296.] I cannot discover in what year John Paston could have been staying at Guisnes during the month of April at the request of Lord Hastings, unless it was in the year 1474. There seems no other probable year in which we have not distinct evidence of his being elsewhere.]
[Footnote 204-2: This postscript is in the writer’s own hand, the preceding part of the letter being in that of a clerk. A fac-simile of the postscript is given by Fenn.]
848
SIR RALPH HASTINGS TO JOHN PASTON[205-1]
_To my feithful lovyng gode cousyn, Johan Paston._
[Sidenote: 1474(?) / MAY 9]
Cousyn Paston, I recommaunde me to you in as speciall wise as I cane. And like you to witte, on Sondaye at even last I hadde writing and evedence frome my lorde by Punche of tidyngis and have understonde them wel al a longe. And on Monday erly in the mornyng I came to Calais to have spoken with you, but I came to late. Praying you to advertise my lord[205-2] to se wel to him self, etc. And at my comyng home the same nyght I felle doune syke, and have ever sith kept my bedde and yitte do. And, as you knowe wel, the Connestable sykened with you in his goyng to Calais, of whome I doubt me, and so I do of my self bothe. So that here amongis us nowe is no man to stirre about and see quykly to alle thingis as ther aught to be and is nede to be, which hevieth me gretly; and though I were up and might somwhat stire myself, yitte I am not seure so to contynue ij. daies to-geder, etc. As for moo men, my Lord hathe praied me and advised me to holde me content with thoo that I have, and that I shulde make as litel coste in reparacions as I maye, because he cannot se wel howe the monney cane be goten to content them. Cousyn, as for moo men ye knowe right wel thoo that we have are to fewe, and we have nede; notwithstonding I shal do as wel as I may with thoo that I have. But as [for][205-3] eny ferther reparacions, might I ones for oure seurte have this fournisshed that I am about, I kepe not to make moo, for I doubt me that this we are about, that parte therof wil reste in my nekke, because we cane not be seure of oure assignement. I pray you, cousyn, brekes to my Lord all suche maters that ye cane remembre and thinke[205-4] may be for the wele of us and the seurte of this place, as my ful speciall truste and alle othir mennes here is in you. I hadde thought to have writton to my lord to have sente some othir seure man hidre to have assisted and holpen us during oure infirmitees, but I fele by Punche that my Lord saith I write always so plainly to him that hit fereth him, and therfore I dar not but shal forbere to write any more so; howe be hit, it were ful necessarye and behofful so to do, that knoweth God, Who ever preserve you. Writton at Guysnes, the ix^e daye of May.
I praye you to sende us some of your tidingis by this berer as oft as ye may. And if ther be anything I may do to your plesir, I shal do it with as good hart as ye cane desire.
Your tru luffuyng coussen,
RAUFF HASTYNGIS.
[Footnote 205-1: [Add. MS. 34,889, f. 122.] This letter was clearly written in the same year as No. 847, which was apparently 1474.]
[Footnote 205-2: Lord Hastings.]
[Footnote 205-3: Omitted in MS.]
[Footnote 205-4: ‘thinke’ repeated in MS.]
849
ABSTRACT[206-1]
[Sidenote: 1474 / JULY 24]
Letters patent, dated at Westminster, 24 July, 14 Edw. IV., for levying a subsidy in the county of Norfolk for a war against France.
[Footnote 206-1: [Add. Charter 14,973, B.M.]]
850
JOHN PASTON TO SIR JOHN PASTON[206-2]
_To Sir John Paston, Knyght, or to hys brodyr Edmund in hys absence, lodgyd at the George by Powlys Wharff, in London._
[Sidenote: 1474 / JULY 25]
Ryght worchepfull sir, I recomand me to yow, preying yow to remembyr, or ye depert ought of London, to spek with Herry Ebertonys wyf, draper, and to enforme hyr that I am profyrd a maryage in London, whyche is worth vj^c. [600] mark and bettyr; with whom I preyid yow to comone, in as myche as I myght not tery in London myself, alweys reservyng that if so be that Mastresse Eberton wyll dele with me, that ye shold not conclud in the other place, thow so wer that Eberton wold not geve so moche with Mastress Elyzabet, hys dowghtyr, as I myght have with the other, for syche fantazy as I have in the seyd Mastress Elyzabet Eberton. And that it lyek yow to sey to Ebertons wyff that syche as I spak to hyr of shalbe bettyrd rather then enpeyred as for my part; and if it lyek hyr to deale with me, I wylbe at London for that cawse only with in xiiij. dayis aftyr the wryghtyng of thys byll, with Godes grace, Who preserve yow and yours.
Wretyn at Norwyche, on Seynt Jamys Day.
* * *
Also, sir, I prey yow that ye wyll, as I desyerd yow, comon with John Lee or hys wyf, or bothe, and to undyrstond how the mater at the Blak Freerys dothe, and that ye wylle see and spek with the thyng your sylf, and with hyr fadyr and modyr, or ye depert; and that it lyek yow to desyer John Lee is wyff to send me a byll in all hast possybyll, how fer forthe the mater is, and whedyr it shalbe necessary for me to come up to London hastyly or not, or ellys to kast all at the Kok.