[Sidenote: 1454 / OCT. or NOV.]
Please your maistreship to wete, for as mych as the wryt directed to the
exchetor cam not tyl in the Vigil of Symond and Jude,[5.2] at viij. of
the clocke at evyn, whiche coude in no wyse profit us that day;
notwithstondynge we had a yoman of my Lords chamber, and were at Cowhaw,
havyng Bertylmeu Elys with us, and ther was Long Bernard sytting to kepe
a court. And we at the furst Noy come in the court, and Bertylmeu
havynge this termys to Bernard, seying, ‘Sir, forasmych as the Kyng
hathe grauntyd be hese lettres patent the wardship with the profites of
the londes of T. Fastolf duryng hese nun age to you[5.3] and T. H.,
wherfor I am comyn as ther styward, be ther comaundement, upon ther
pocession to kep court and lete, whiche is of old custum usyd upon thys
day; wherfor I charge you, be the vertu herof, to seas and kepe nouthir
court nor lete, for ye have non autoryte.’ Quod Bernard, ‘I wyll kepe
bothe court and lete, and ye shal non kepe here; for there is no man
hath so gret autoryte.’ Than quod Bertylmeu, ‘I shal sytte by you, and
take a reconysaunce as ye do.’ ‘Nay,’ quod Bernard, ‘I wyl suffre you to
sytte, but not to wryte.’ ‘Well,’ quod Bertylmeu, ‘thanne forsybly ye
put us from our pocession, whiche I doute not but shalbe remembryd you
anothir day,’ &c. ‘But, Seres,’ quod he, ‘ye that be tenaunts to this
manoyr, we charge you that ye do nowthir seute nor servise, no[r] paye
ony rents or fermys but to the use of John Paston and T.; fo[r] and ye
do, ye shal paye it ageyn; and as for on yeer past, we have sewyrte of
Skylly, whiche hath resevid it of you to ther use.’ And thus we
departid, and Bernard kept court and lete.
And ther was Ser P. Wentworth and hise brothir, yong Hopton, yong
Brewse, yong Calthorp, with xxiiij. horse; and we spoke with non of hem,
nor they with non of us, for we wold not seke upon hem. And we have
enteryd in all othir plasis undir this forme. I wold we had had the
wryte betymes lever than xx_s._ of myn owne, but it farith thus in many
othir maters, God amende hem.
Memorandum.--To sende hom wyn and ij. quart botelys.
[Footnote 5.1: [From Paston MSS., B.M.] This letter is
anonymous, but appears to be in the handwriting of Thomas Howes.
It must belong to the year 1454, when the wardship of Thomas
Fastolf of Cowhaw was granted to Howes and John Paston.]
[Footnote 5.2: St. Simon and St. Jude’s day is the 28th October.
The Vigil is the 27th.]
[Footnote 5.3: So in MS. The writer seems to be confusing the
direct and indirect mode of reporting a speech.]
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