_To my ryght wyrshypfull husband, John Paston, be thys delyveryd in
hast._
[Sidenote: 1465 / MAY 3]
Ryght wyrshipful husbond, I recomaunde me unto you.
[Sidenote: Drayton tenaunts bony, perter ij.]
Pleasyd you to wyte that I have spokyn thys wyke with dyvers of youre
tennaunts of Drayton and put hem in comfort that all shalbe well
hereafter by the grace of God; and I fyle well by hem that they wylbe
ryght glad to have ayen there olde mayster, and so wold they all except
j. or ij. that be fals shrewys. And thys next wyke I purpose on Wensday
or Thursday to be at Haylesdon, and to a byde ther a wyke or ij., and
send oure men aboute to gedere money at Drayton and Haylesdon; and yf ye
wyll I woll do kepe a corte at Drayton or I com thens. I pray yow send
me word how ye wyll that I doo there in.
[Sidenote: Malt, barly.]
I recevyd ij. letters from you of Nicholl Tolman yesterday, werin ye
desyre that we shuld purvey for your malte and barley; and soo shall we
doo as well as we cann, and send you word howe that we may doo therewith
in hast.
Item, yesterday Master Phylyp[132.1] toke Dorlets hors uppon Drayton
lond as they went to the plowe for the hole yere ferm; and as it ys told
me the tenaunts of Drayton tolde hym that he dyde hym wrong to make hym
pay for the hole yere, for non of the tenaunts had payd hym but for the
di’ [_half_] yere and he say thohg they had not payd but for the di’
yere,
[Sidenote: Dorlat et verba M.P.]
Paston shuld pay for the other di’ yere, and for moo yers also yf he
lyvyd. But I trow to gyte Dorlet ayen hys hors or els Mr. Phylyp ys lyke
to be unhorssyd ons, and we lyve all. Your son[132.2] shall com hom to
moryn, as I trowe, and as he demenyth hym hyr after I shall lete you
have knowlych;
[Sidenote: J. P., sen.]
and I pray you thynk not in me that I wyll supporte hym ne favour hym in
no lewdnesse, for I wyl not. As I fynd hym hereafter, soo I wyll lete
you have knowlych. I have put your evydens that com owte of the
abbay[132.3] in a seck and enseylyd hem under Ric. Call ys seall that he
shal not say but they eryn as he left hem;
[Sidenote: Rotuli prioris (?)]
but as for the place where they ern kypt he hath no knowlych . . . .
. . . . . . . As for the gentylwoman that ye wrote to me for yn youre
lettere, I . . . . . . . . . . . . there, yf it lykyd all folks as well
as it shold doo me, I trow . . . . . . . a bowte yf her frends were as
well a gryed therto, and as they . . . . . . . . parte, yf ye wyll that
it be movyd of more hereafter I wyll . . . . . . . . wyll make a newe
parson, at Drayton. Also it ys sayd that . . . . . . . . there, by cause
it hath stond so long voyd; yet and any sh. . . . . . . had lever that
he com in by the Byshop then by a . . . . . . . . doo therein yf ye wyll
send hom any presentacion selyd . . . . . . . . we shall a say to gyte
som gode priste and sette hym . . . . . . . . Wryten in haste at Caster
on Holy Rode Day &c.
As . . . . . . . doo therein as well as I cann. I have gyte a replevyn
. . . . . . . . CC shype, and yf they may not be hadde ayen, then he
grau[nteth] . . . . . . . .
[Sidenote: Data obligacione (?) pro ovibus.]
We fynd hym ryght gode in that we desyre of him for you,
and therfore yf it lyke you I wold he were th . . . . . .
[Footnote 131.2: [From Paston MSS., B.M.] Holy Rood Day, on which
this letter is dated, commonly means the 14th of September (feast
of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross). Here I suspect it is the 3rd
May (Invention of the Holy Cross), as the contents of the letter
suit that date in the year 1465. It will be seen that Margaret
Paston dates from Caister, and proposes next week to be at
Hellesden. Her next letter, dated the 10th May, is from Hellesden,
and shows that she carried out the intention here expressed of
sending men to collect money at Drayton, and had left her eldest
son at Caister to keep the place. There is also a close agreement
between that letter and this, in what is said about the demeanour
of the tenants and Mr. Philip’s conduct. The apostyle of this
letter, as of the preceding, is in the hand of John Paston, very
ill written, and occasionally ambiguous.]
[Footnote 132.1: Philip Lipgate, the Duke of Suffolk’s bailiff.]
[Footnote 132.2: Sir John Paston.]
[Footnote 132.3: _See_ No. 561.]
580