_To my Cosyn Margret Paston._
[Sidenote: 1465 / SEPT. [21]]
Myn owne dere sovereyn lady, I recomaund me to yow, and thank yow of the
gret chere that ye mad me here to my gret cost and charge and labour. No
more at thys tyme, but that I pray yow ye woll send me hedir ij. clue of
worsted[188.2] for dobletts, to happe me thys cold wynter; and that ye
inquere where William Paston bought his tepet of fyne worsted, whech is
almost like silk, and if that be mech fyner thanne that he shuld bye me
after vij. or viij.^s., thanne by me a quarter and the nayle therof for
colers, thow it be derer thanne the tother, for I wold make my doblet
all worsted for worship of Norffolk, rather thanne like Gonnores doblet.
Item, as for the mater of the ix.^{xx.}_li._ askyd by my Lady of
Bedford[188.3] for the maner of Westthirrok, where as Sir Thomas Howes
saith that he hath no wrytyng therof, but that Sir John Fastolf
purchased the seid maner, and payd serteyn money in ernest, and
aftirward graunted his bargeyn to the Duc of Bedford, and so the money
that he toke was for the mony that he had payd. Peraventure Sir Thomas
hath writyng therof, and knowyth it not; for if ther be any such mony
payd upon any bargeyn he shall fynd it in Kyrtlyngs bocks that was Sir
John Fastolfs reseyver, and it was abought such tyme as the Duc of
Bedford was last in Inglond, whech, as it is told me, was the viij. yere
of Kyng Herry the fift, or the viij. yere of Kyng Herry the sext, and
the somme that he payd for the seid bargeyn was CCC. marks. Also he
shall fynd, the xxij. yere of Kyng Herry or ther abought, in the acompts
of on of Fastolfs Reseyvors at London, that ther was take of Sir Thomas
Tyrell, and of the Duchesse of Excestre,[189.1] that was wif to Sir
Lowes John, fermours of the seid maner, serteyn mony for repayment of
part of the seid CCC. marks. Also he shall fynd in yeres after that, or
in that yere, or ther aboutes, that Sir John Fastolf reseyved mony of my
Lord Revers[189.2] that now is, by the name of Richard Wydevile, for his
owne dette dew to Sir John Fastolf; wherfore, if Sir Thomas be trewe to
his master, lete hym do his devoir to make that Worseter, whech is
uphold be hym with the deds goods, to be trewe to his master, or ellis
it is tyme for Sir Thomas to forsake hym, and helpe to punyssh hym, or
men mast sey that Sir Thomas is not trewe; and more over lete Sir Thomas
examine what he can fynd in this mater that I sent hym werd of, whech
mater he shall fynd in the seid Reseyvours bocks, if he list to seke it.
Item, on the day after your departyng, I reseyved letters by Will. Ros
from your sones to me, and to yow, and to Ric. Calle, &c.
Item, I shall telle you a tale,
Pampyng and I have picked your male[190.1]
And taken out pesis[190.2] v.,
For upon trust of Calles promise, we may soon onthryve;
And, if Calle bryng us hedir xx_li._,
Ye shall have your peses ayen, good and round;
Or ellis, if he woll not pay yow the valew of the peses, there
To the post do nayle his ere;
Or ellis do hym some other wrongs,
For I will no nore in his defaut borough;
And but if the reseyvyng of my livelod be better plyed
He shall Crists ours and mine clene tryed;[190.3]
And loke ye be mery and take no thought,
For thys ryme is cunnyngly wrought.
My Lord Persy[190.4] and all this house
Recomaund them to yow, dogge, catte, and mowse,
And wysshe ye had be here stille,
For the sey ye are a good gille.[190.5]
No more to you at this tyme,
But God hym save that mad this ryme.
Wret the of Sent Mathe,[190.6]
Be yowr trew and trustie husband, J. P.
[Footnote 188.1: [From Fenn, iv. 90.] From the mention of ‘this
cold winter’ at the beginning of this letter we might naturally
suppose that the feast ‘of Sent Mathe,’ on or about which it was
written, was that of St. Matthias, which occurs on the 24th of
February. But we believe the day of St. Matthew to have been
intended, so that the expression must have had reference to some
unusually cold weather in September. It is clear from the contents
of the letter that Margaret Paston had recently been with her
husband in London, and had just left him in company with Richard
Calle on her return towards Norfolk. Letters for her and Richard
Calle had arrived from her two sons since they departed. Now the
only time, so far as I can find, that Margaret Paston ever visited
her husband in London--at all events when her sons were grown
up--was in September 1465; and on that occasion Calle was with
her, and everything else agrees. Indeed, no one can doubt that the
latter portion of the letter immediately following was written in
answer to this letter.]
[Footnote 188.2: Worsted is a small market-town in the most east
part of the county of Norfolk, formerly famous for the manufacture
of those stuffs which still bear its name, and of which, for the
worship of Norfolk, J. Paston desired his doublet to be made.--F.]
[Footnote 188.3: Jaquetta, daughter of Peter of Luxembourg, Earl
of Saint Pol, was the second wife of John, Duke of Bedford, the
Regent of France during Henry VI.’s minority. She was married to
him in 1433, and after his decease, in 1435, she became the wife
of Sir Richard Wydvile, and died in 1472.]
[Footnote 189.1: Anne, eldest daughter of John Montacute, third
Earl of Salisbury, married, 1st, Sir Richard Hankford, Knight;
2ndly, Sir Lewis John, Knight (whose will was proved in 1442); and
3rdly, John Holland, who was created Duke of Exeter 6th January
1443, and died in 1446. Fenn erroneously supposed the lady to have
been the widow of Thomas Beaufort, a previous Duke of Exeter, who
died in 1426. This Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, married Margaret,
daughter and heir of Sir Thomas Nevill, but his wife did not
survive him, as Fenn supposed, for at his death he was found to
have been tenant of her lands for life by the law of England.
Fenn’s note on this passage is, however, so interesting that we
must quote a part of it. Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, was buried in
the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds. ‘On digging,’ he says, ‘amongst the
ruins of this Abbey, the body of the Duke was found, on the 20th
of February 1772, wrapt in lead, and entire. The face, hair, and
every part were perfect, and the flesh solid, but being exposed to
the air, the body soon became offensive . . . . . I procured some
of the hair, which was of a fine brown colour, and very
flexible.’]
[Footnote 189.2: Sir Richard Wydvile, in 1448, was created Baron
Rivers of Grafton, in Northamptonshire, and elected a Knight of
the Garter. His daughter Elizabeth afterwards became the Queen of
Edward IV., who then advanced her father to the dignity of Earl
Rivers. He was seized by the Lancaster mutineers, and beheaded at
Banbury in 1469.--F.]
[Footnote 190.1: Male, or Mail, is a trunk or portmanteau. It is
to be observed that in the original letter the verses do not
finish the line but are written as prose.--F.]
[Footnote 190.2: Pieces of money.]
[Footnote 190.3: I do not understand this line.--F. Surely ‘ours’
must be a misreading of ‘curs’ (curse)?]
[Footnote 190.4: Henry, Lord Percy, son and heir of Henry Percy,
Earl of Northumberland, who was killed at the Battle of Towton in
1461, by Eleanor, granddaughter and heir of Robert, Lord Poynings.
His father having been attainted, he continued to be called Lord
Percy; but he was afterwards fully restored both in blood and
title.]
[Footnote 190.5: An agreeable companion.--F.]
[Footnote 190.6: St. Matthew’s Day is the 21st September.]
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