[Sidenote: 1460 / [before Easter]]
Jesu mercy, Marie help, cum Sanctis omnibus, trewe menyng executorys
ffro fals terrauntes and alle tribulacyonys. Amen. Ryte reverent Sire,
&c., W. Y.[209.2] Judex and hise wyf were here with here meny and here
hors in our ladyes place, &c. on Saterday at evyn, and yedyn hens on
Monday after none, whan summe had drunkyn malvyseye and tyre,[209.3] &c.
And I prechid on the Sonday byfore hem, not warnyd tyl after mete. And
than for lak of M. Vergeant, or our wardeyn Barnard, I sodeynly seyd the
sermon. And byfore I had ryte ovyr and soleyn chere of hem bothe, &c.;
but after the sermon he seyd opely to the prior, heryng myche folk in
the chirch, ‘I haf herd hym oftyn here and ellys where, but
[this][209.4] is the best that ever I herd hym sey,’ &c., and at evyn
drank to me, and made me good chere, half on the splene, &c.
But on Moneday, whan he had ny etyn and drunkyn a now, he gan to rollyn
hym in hise relatyvis, and we eldyd hym, as many men thowtyn, ryte
ongayly in hise gere, &c.; hise wyf begynnyng the communicacyon with
rite a sootyr (?) chere. And he heeld on so sore he cowd not cese, &c.
tyl he went to his hors, &c. And the pryor demenyd hym gentylly in hise
talkyng. And there was not forgetyn non unkyndnesse of my Mayster J. P.,
zour brother, of sleyn [_slaying_] of hise man Wormegey, and of mariage
of hise dowghtyr, whiche now schal solempnely be maryed to
Conerys,[210.1] a knytes sone, &c. And now last at Seynt Benettes, where
he so worschipful a justise and as kunnyng in lawe as ever was zour
fadyr, &c. as alle men knowyn, &c. And zour brother J. P. brokyn owt be
occasyon of zour langage, and takyn wytnesse of Malmysbury, a man of my
Lord of Caunterbury, whiche hath spokyn with the seyd justise the last
terme in Westmyster Halle. And there he seyd more tymes than one, ‘Sire,
this the fyrst tyme that ever I spake with zour Lordschip, &c.’ And
sythe after ze weryn at Seynt Benettys forseyd, ze komyn not gentylly
but ryte malicyously disposid to myn Lady Felbrygg, and dede your devoyr
to haf put hym out of hir conceyt, and it wolde not be, &c. And what
vyolens my Mayster J. P., germanus vester, dede to W. Wayt,[210.2] &c.
up on hise owne grownd at Musshold, &c. And after al these materys, bare
me on hand[210.3] that I had seyd to on of the worthiest of the schyre
that the seyd justise be gan the brekyng at Seynt Benettes; for I
suppose I seyd thus to my Lord Fyz Water, _alias_ my Mayster Radclyff,
to whos in I went to, and zaf hym a potel of swete wyne, he demaundyng
me of that brekyng, &c., as I remembre me, and suppose I seyd, ‘W. Y.,
justise, began to myn knowlache and understondyng.’ Whan he seyd so
fumowsly, ‘Who so ever sey that of me, he lyeth falsly in hise hede,
&c.’ And my Mayster Radclyff rode forthe with owt of towne to Dokkyng
and Brumham, and with hym rode W. Y., sone to the justise. And yf the
seyd Radclyff teld this to W. Y., I wote never. And yf he dede I
merveyle sore. But and al go to al, as is like to go, I may not sey nay,
but I trow I seyd so. Radclyf and ze bene grete frendes. I wold ze wold
lat hym knowe the trowth, &c.
This mater mevyd the justisis wyf, and than he be gan hise mater more
boldly, seying to me be fore the pryour and miche pepyl, that it was
told hym the same day that I seyd, as for the brekyng, the justise
began. ‘Forsothe’ seyd I, ‘whan I came into the chambre there, the fyrst
word I hard was this, that ze seyd to my mayster J. P., “Who that ever
seyth so, I sey he lyeth falsly in hise hede,” &c.’ ‘Ya,’ quod the
justise, ‘ze schuld haf told what mevyd me to sey so to hym.’ And I seyd
I cowde not tellyn that I not herd, &c. Et Judex-- ‘Ze schuld haf
examyned the mater,’ &c. And I seyd, ‘Sire, it longyd not to me to
examyne the mater, for I knew wele I schuld not be juge in the mater,
and alonly to a juge it longyth to sene and stodyen illam Sacræ
Scripturæ clausulam, whiche holy Job seyd, _Causam quam nesciebam
diligentissime investigabam_.’
And than, ‘No,’ seyth he hardyly, ‘ze schal not be juge, but yf ze had
owt me as good wil as ze dede and do to Paston, ze wold than have sergyd
the cause of my gret greef, why I seyd as I seyd, &c. But I haf sey the
day, ze lovyd me beter than hym, for he yaf zow never cause of love as I
haf done,’ &c. ‘Sire,’ I sey, ‘he hath yovyn me cause swyche as I am
behold to hym for,’ &c. ‘Ya,’ seyth he, ‘ze schal bere wytnesse, &c.,
and the other Mayster Clement and W. Schipdham.’ Cui ego-- ‘As for the
wytnesse I schal bere, I schal say and writyn as I knowe,’ &c. Cui
ille-- ’I made hise testament,[211.1] and I knowe,’ &c. Cui ego-- ‘I saw
nevir testament of your makyng; and as for on testament that he made,
and I knowe bothe the writer and maker, after hise wyl and intent, ze
stonde stille there in as ze dede than,’ &c. Et tunc gavisus est, &c. Et
ille-- ‘I knowe ze haf a gret hert, &c., but I ensure zow, the Lordes
above at London arn infoormyd of zow, and they schal delyn with zow wele
anow.’ Cui ego-- ‘He or they that hafe infoormyd the Lordes wele of me,
I am behold to hem; and yf they be otherwyse infoormyd, I schal do as
wele as I may. But be myn trowthe I schal not be aferd to sey as I knowe
for none Lord of this lond, if I may go saf and come, quod non credo,
per Deum, propter evidencias multas,’ &c. Tunc prior-- ‘Domine, non
expedit nec rationi seu veræ conscientiæ congruit, quod vos contendatis
cum Magistro Paston, vel ipse vobiscum, pro bonis defuncti, quæ solum
sua et non vestra sunt. Miror valde,’ inquit, ‘cum prioribus temporibus
tam magni fuistis amici, et non sic modo, quare valde doleo.’ Cui
Judex-- ‘There is no man besy to bryng us to gyder, &c., so that I kan
wele thynk it were lytil maysteri.’ But in feyth I knowe wele the Juge,
W. Wayte his mawment [_i.e._ puppet], hise boy Yimmys, with here hevedy
and fumows langage, have and dayly do uttyr lewd and schrewd dalyauns,
&c.
I sent zow bode of dyvers thinges be M. Roger Palle, and I haf no
answer, &c. I schuld go to Castre, and a man of my Lordes Norfolk told
here he came fro London, and there he had commonly voysid that the Duke
of Norfolk schuld be the Kynges comaundement kepe hise Esterne at Castre
for safe gard of the cuntre ayens Warwyk and other swich of the Kinges
enmyes whiche may lytely be lyklynesse aryve at Waxham, &c. My mayster
zour brother, J. P., ne ye, ne M. T. Howys, ne I may not esily be brokyd
in the Jugys conscyens, &c. Sir Jon Tatirshales man spake with yow at
London, and than ye seyd to hym to hafe comyn in your owne persone to
our Lady or this tyme, whiche was cause of myn abidyng here, &c.
I schal, be the grace of Jesu, be at Castre on Soneday next, &c. W. W.,
J. B., junior, Colinus Gallicus, et T. Upton multum, ut suppono, fuerunt
assidui ad informationem malam dandam dominis diversis hujus regni
contra vestrum germanum J. P., M. T. Howes, me, etc.; sed confido in
vobis quod vos confiditis in Christo Jesu et Sanctis omnibus, qui vos
vestros et vestra dirigat in agendis. Recommendetis me, si placeat,
Magistro meo Johanni P., uxori, et matri, cum filiis suis nepotibus
vestris, et Thomae Playtere vestro dilecto amico. Et quare vobis jam
scribo et non vestro germane J. P. alias scietis, etc.
Vester orator continuus,
F. J. B., Minorum minimus.
[Footnote 209.1: [From Paston MSS., B.M.] From what is said of
the expectation of a descent of Warwick upon the coast, it
appears that this letter was written in the spring of 1460.]
[Footnote 209.2: William Yelverton.]
[Footnote 209.3: Tier; a bitter drink or liquor.--Halliwell.]
[Footnote 209.4: Omission in MS.]
[Footnote 210.1: John, son of Sir Robert Conyers, knight,
married Eleanor, daughter of William Yelverton, Justice of the
King’s Bench.--Blomefield, i. 483.]
[Footnote 210.2: Judge Yelverton’s clerk, the writer of No. 142.
_See_ vol. ii. p. 174, Note 3.]
[Footnote 210.3: _See_ vol. ii. p. 110, Note 1.]
[Footnote 211.1: This seems to refer to the will of Sir John
Fastolf, though he is not named.]
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