_To my ryght wyrshypfull mayster, John Paston, be thys letter delyveryd
in haste._
[Sidenote: 1465 / AUG. 18]
Ryght wyrshypfull husbond, I recomaund me to you. Please it you to wyte
that the cause that I wrote to you non er [_earlier_] than I dyde after
the sessyons was by cause that Yelverton held sessyons at Dyrham and
Walsyngham the next wyke after the assyses, and to have knowlech what
labour that was made ther, and to have send yow werd therof. Ther was
grete labours made by the bayly of Coshay and other for to have endytyd
your men both at Dyrham and at Walsyngham, but I purvayd a mene that her
[_their_] purpose was lettyd at thos ij. tymes.
Hugh a Fen ys in Flegge. Richard Call spake with hym thys wyke, and he
sayd to Richard that he and his wyff wold be with me here thys wyke
toward a place of hys that he hath purchasyd of Godehreds. Yf he come I
shall make hym gode chyre, for it ys told me of dyvers folks that have
spoke with hym sythen he com in to Norffolk as thay fele by hys sayng
that he awyth you ryght gode wyle.
Item, as for my comyng to you, yf it please you that I come, y hope I
shull purvey so for al thyngs or I com that it shull be sayff y nogh by
the grace of God tyll I com ayen; but at the reverens of God, yf ye may
purvey a mene that ye may com hom your sylf; for that shall be most
profortabell to you, for men cut large thongs here of other mens lether.
I shull wryte to you ayen as hastely as I may. God have you in Hys
kypyng. Wryten in haste at Haylesdon, the Sonday next after the
Assumpsyon of our Lady.
Item, my cosyn Elysabeth Clere ys at Ormesby and your moder purposyth to
be at her place at Caster thys wyke, for the pestylens ys so fervent in
Norwych that thay ther [_dare ?_] no lenger abyde ther, so God help; me
thynkyth by my moder that she wold ryght fayn that ye dyde well and that
ye myght spyde ryght well in your mater. And me thynkyth by my cosyn
Clere that she wold fayn have youre gode wyll, and that she hath sworyn
ryght faythfully to me that ther shall no defaute be founde in her, nor
noght hath be yf the trogh myght be understond, as she hopyth it shull
be herafter. She sayth ther ys no man a lyff that she hath put her
truste in so moch as she hath doon in you. She sayth she wote well such
langage as hath be reportyd to you of her other wyse then she hath
deservyd causyth you to be other wyse to her then ye shuld be. She had
to me thys langage wypyng, and told me of dyvers other thyngs the whych
ye shall have knowlych of herafter.
As for the hygh shyrf [_sheriff_] he demenyd hym ryght well her to me,
and he sayd to me, as for replevyns he wold aske counseyll of lernyd men
what he mygt doo therin, and as largely as he mygt do ther in, or in any
other mater touchyng you, savyng hymsylf harmlys, he wold doo for you
and for yours that he mygt do.
Item, I have do layd in [_caused to be laid in_] the presentacyon of
Drayton, and have presentyd Sir Thomas Hakon, parson of Felthorp, the
whych is hold ryght a gode man and wel dysposyd, and the Duck of Suffolk
hath layd in a nother; and ther shall be take an inquisicyon ther uppon,
and Mr. Styven ys your a voked [_your advocate_] therin. Mr. John
Estgade ys passyd to God on Thursday last passyd, whos sawle God
assoyle! Wherof in gode feyth I am ryght sory, for I fynd hym ryght
fayth full to you. They deyy ryght sore in Norwych.
John Rus sayth the profets that hath be take of the maner of Caister syn
Sir John Fastolf deyd hath be take by Sir Thomas Howys and Jenney.
By yours, M. P.
I mervayll that ye had no tythyngs from me at that tyme that your letter
was wryten, for I send you a letter by Chytockys son that ys prenteys in
London, and the seyd letter was of the demenyng at the assyes at Norwych
and of divers other maters. I pray you send me word yf ye have it. As
for the replevyns Richard Calle sayth he hath send you a awnswere of
hem, and also the copys of them.
[Footnote 179.1: [From Fenn, iii. 370.] That this letter was
written in the year 1465 appears clearly by the reference to the
Assizes held at Walsingham (_see_ No. 599), and the intention
which the writer intimates of visiting her husband in London.
Moreover, the first sentence of the letter, and also the
postscript, are evidently written in answer to her husband’s
complaint in No. 600, that she had not written to him what she had
done at the Assizes.]
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