_To John Paston, Esquier, at Norwyche, be thys delyveryd._
[Sidenote: 1476 / JAN. 27]
I recomaunde me to yow, letyng yow weete that I was infformyd by Ric.
Radle, that on Scarlett, that was undrescheryff to Hastyngs,[248-2]
wolde sywe to me on yowr behalff, ffor that ye weer dyspleasyd with a
returne off Nichill[248-3] uppon yow in the seyde Hastyngs tyme;
wherffor Ric. Radle thoghte that the seyde Scarlett wolde be gladde to
gyff yow a noble or a riall ffor a sadell to amends, so that ye wolde
sease and stoppe the bylle, whyche ye entende to putt into the corte
ageyn hys Master Hastyngs.
Wherffor the seyde Scarlett com to me, and prayed me to helpe in the
same, and so I have don my devoir to ffeele off hym the most that he can
ffynde in hys stomake to depart with to please yow; and in conclusyon I
trowe, he shall gyff yow a doblett clothe off sylke, price xx_s._ or
therabout; whyche uppon suche answeer as I heer ffrom yowe, I deme that
Bysshop the atornye shall, iff I conclude with hym on yowr behalve, paye
in mony or otherwyse, to whom that ye woll assynge heer.
I shall by the means of Raddele weet at whoys sywte it was takyn owte;
I deme it som thynge doon by craffte, by the means off them that have
entresse in your lond, to th’entent to noyse itt therys, or to make yow
past shame off the sellyng theroff.
Item, I have receyvyd a letter ffrom yowe wretyn on Tywesdaye last.
Item, wher that som towards my Lady of Norffolk noyse that I dyd
onkyndely to sende so hastely to Caster as I dyd; there is no dyscrete
person that so thynkyth, ffor iff my lorde hade ben as kynde to me as he
myght have ben, and acordyng to suche hert and servyce as my
grauntffadr, my ffadr, yowr selff, and I, have owght and doon to my
Lords of Norffolk that ded ben, and yitt iff I hadde weddyd hys dowghtr,
yitt most I have doon as I dydde.
And moor ovyr, iff I had hadde any demyng off my lordys dethe iiij.
howrs or he dyed, I most neds, but iff I wolde be knowyn a ffoole, have
entryd it the howr byffor hys dycesse; but in effecte, theygh that in
that mater have alweys ment onkyndely to me, they ffeyne that rumor
ageyn me; but ther is noon that ment truly to hym that dede is, that
wolde be sory that I hadde itt, and in especiall suche as love hys
sowle.
Item, wher it is demyd that my lady wolde herafftr be the rather myn
hevy lady ffor that delyng, I thynke that she is to resonable so to be,
ffor I did it nott onwyst to hyr cowncell; there was no man thoght that
I sholde doo otherwysse; an as to seye, that I myght have hadde my
ladyes advyce or lyve [_leave_], I myght have teryed yitt, or I cowde
have speken with hyr, or yitt have hadde any body to have mevyd hyr
there on my behalve, as ye wote I dydde what I cowde. Moreovyr I taryed
by the advyce off Sir Robert Wyngffelde iij. dayes there, ffor that he
putte me in comffirt that the Lord Howard,[249-1] and hys brother Sir
John, sholde have comen to Norwyche, att whoys comyng he dowtyd nott but
that I sholde have a goode dyrection takyn ffor me in that mater, they
leyhe to me onkyndenesse ffor ovyrkyndenesse.
Item, as ffor my mater heer, itt was thys daye beffoor alle the lordes
off the cowncelle, and amonge them all, it was nott thowght, that in my
sendyng off Whetley thyddr, in mediately afftr the dycesse off the Duke,
that I dalt onkyndly or onfyttyngly, but that I was moor onresonably
dalte with; wherffor, late men deme what they wylle, grettest clerkys
are nott alweye wysest men; but I hope hastely to have on weye in it or
other.
Item, I wende [_expected_] to have ffownde a gowne off myn heer, but it
come home the same daye that I come owte, browght by Herry Berker, loder
[_carrier_]. I wolde in alle hast possible have that same gowne off puke
ffurryd with whyght lambe.
Item, I wolde have my longe russett gowne off the Frenshe russett in
alle hast, ffor I have no gowne to goo in here.
Item, I praye yow recomande me to my moodr, and lat us alle prey God
sende my Lady off Norffolk a soone, for uppon that restythe moche mater;
ffor if the Kyngys soone[250-1] mary my lords dowghtr, the Kynge wolde
that hys soone sholde have a ffayr place in Norffolk, thowhe he sholde
gyffe me ij. tymes the valywe in other londe, as I am doon to weete.
I praye yow sende me worde off my ladyes spede as soone as ye kan.
Item, as ffor Bowen I shall ffele hym, and sholde have doon, thowghe ye
hadde nott sente.
Item, ther is offryd me a goode marriage for my suster Anne Skypwithys
sone and heyr off Lynkolneshyre, a man v. or vj. mrke by year. No mor.
Wretyn at London, the xxvij. daye off Janyver, anno E. iiij^ti xv^{o}.
Item, my Lady off Excester[250-2] is ded, and it was seyde that bothe
the olde Dywchesse off Norffolk,[251-1] and the Cowntesse off
Oxenfforde[251-2] weer ded, but it is nott soo yitt.
Item, I shall remembr Caleyse bothe for horse and alle, &c.
[Footnote 248-1: [From Fenn, ii. 190.]]
[Footnote 248-2: John Hastyngs was Sheriff of Norfolk the
preceding year.--F.]
[Footnote 248-3: Nihils, or Nichils, are issues which the sheriff
that is apposed in the Exchequer says are _nothing worth_ and
illeviable, through the insufficiency of the parties from whom
due.--F.]
[Footnote 249-1: Afterwards Duke of Norfolk.--F.]
[Footnote 250-1: Richard, Duke of York, second son of King Edward
IV., in or before January 1478, married Anne, sole daughter and
heir of John Mowbray, late Duke of Norfolk.--_Rolls of
Parliament_, vi. 168. She was at that time only in her sixth year,
and she died early.]
[Footnote 250-2: Anne, daughter of Richard, Duke of York, sister
of Edward IV., and widow of Henry Holland, the last Duke of
Exeter, her first husband; she died 14th of January 1475, and lies
buried with Sir Thomas Saint Leger, Knight, her second husband, in
a private chapel at Windsor.--F.]
[Footnote 251-1: Ellenor, only daughter of William Bourchier, Earl
of Ewe, in Normandy, and widow of John Mowbray, Duke of
Norfolk.--F.]
[Footnote 251-2: Margaret, daughter of Richard Nevile, Earl of
Salisbury, and wife of John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, now a
prisoner in the Castle of Hammes, in Picardy; or it may refer to
Elizabeth, widow of the late Earl of Oxford, and daughter and heir
of Sir John Howard, Knight.--F.]
885