_To Mestresse Margrete Paston, be thys delyveryd._
[Sidenote: Date uncertain]
Please it yow to weete that I sende yow by Barker, the berer heroff,
iij. tracle pottes of Geane [_Genoa_] as my potecarie swerytht on to me,
and mooreovyr that they weer never ondoo syns that they come from Geane.
Wheroff ye shalle take as many as pleasyth yow; neverthe lesse my
brother John sente to me for ij., therfor I most beseche yow that he
maye have at the lest on. Ther is on potte that is morkyn ondre the
bottome ij. tymes with thyes letteris M. P., whyche potte I have best
truste on too, and nexte hym to the wryghe potte; and I mystruste moost
the potte that hathe a krotte abovyn in the toppe, lesse that he hathe
ben ondoone. And also the other ij. pottys be prentyd with that
marchauntys marke too tymes on the coveryng, and that other pott is butt
onys morkyn but with on prente, notwithstondyng I hadde lyke othe and
promyse for on as well as for alle.[258.1]
[Footnote 257.2: [From Fenn, iv. 264.] This and the two letters
following are without any certain date, but they are all addressed
to Margaret Paston, most probably after her husband’s death.]
[Footnote 258.1: The signature of this letter, Fenn says, is torn
off the original MS.]
653