_To hys rythe worchypfwll broder, John Paston._
[Sidenote: 1461 / JAN. 23]
Rythe reverent and worchypfwl broder, I recomawnde to yow, certyfyyng
yow that yowr letter was delyveryd to me the xxiii. day of Januar
abowthe none seasson, and Rychard Calle rode in the mornyng, and therfor
I brak [_opened_] yowr letter, if ther wer any aftr mater; and I dede
Christofer Hauswan goo to my Lord of Cawnterbure[249.2] to tell him, as
yowr letter rehersyd, and my Lord seyd he hadde spokyn with yowr man
ther of the day be fore, and if the Byshop of Norwyche wod not doo so
mwche for him, he hys the les behold to him. Notwithstandyng, he sayd,
he wold save yow harmles agens John Yowng; but and ye do well remember
thys Lord have many maters to thynge on, and if it be forgeten, the harm
is yowrs, and also if the word [_world_] torn, John Yong will not doo at
hys prayer.
And my Lord Fitzwater[249.3] is ryden northewards, and it is sayd in my
Lord of Cawnterberys howse that he hethe takyn ij^c. [200] of Andrew
Troloppys[249.4] men. And as for Colt,[249.5] and Sir Jamys Strangwysse,
and Sir Thomas Pykeryng, they be takyn or ellys dede. The comyn voysse
is that they be de dede. Hopton[249.6] and Hastyngs[249.7] be with the
Erle of Marche, and wer no at the fewlde.[249.8] Wat word that ever he
have fro my Lords that be here, it is well doo, and best for yow, to see
that the contre be allweys redy to come bothe fote men and hors men,
qwen they be sent for; for I have herd seyde the ferthere Lords will be
here soner that men wen, I have arde sayde, er iij. weks to an ende; and
also that ye xwld come with more men, and clenlier arayed than anoder
man of yowr cwntre xwld, for it ly the more up on yowr worchyp, and
towcheythe yow more nere than odermen of that cwntre, and also ye be mor
had in favor with my Lords here. In this cwntre every man is well
wyllyng to goo with my Lords here, and I hope God xall helpe hem, for
the pepill in the northe robbe and styll, and ben apoyntyd to pill all
thys cwntre, and gyffe a way menys goods and lufflods in all the sowthe
cwntre, and that wyll ask a myscheffe. My Lords that ben here have as
moche as they may do to kep down all thys cwntre more than iiij. or v.
schers, for they wold be up on the men in northe, for it ys for the
welle of all the sowthe.
I pray yow recomawnde me to my moder, and that I prayed her of her
blyssyng. I pray yow exscwse me to her that I wryte her no letter, for
thys was y now a doo. I dare not pray yow to recomawnde me to my swster
yowr wyff, and the masenger I trow be so wysse he can not doyt. Ye mwst
pay him for hys labor, for he taryd all nyt in thys town for thys
letter.
Wrytyn the xxiij. day of Janware in haste, wan I was not well at hesse.
God have [you] in Hys keping.
By CLEMENT PASTON,
Yowr broder.
[Footnote 249.1: [From Fenn, i. 202.] This letter appears to
have been written after the battle of Wakefield, when the
victorious army, led on by Margaret of Anjou, was marching
southwards.]
[Footnote 249.2: Archbishop Bourchier.]
[Footnote 249.3: Sir John Radcliff of Attleborough, styled Lord
Fitzwalter in right of his wife, only daughter and heiress of
Walter Fitzwalter, seventh lord. This John was at the battle of
Ferrybridge on the 29th March 1461, and died, probably of his
wounds, on the 6th April following. --_See_ G. E. C.’s _Complete
Peerage_.]
[Footnote 249.4: Andrew Trollope, whose desertion of the Duke of
York at Ludlow in 1459 caused the dispersion of the Yorkist
leaders. He was killed at the battle of Towton in March 1461,
fighting on the Lancastrian side.]
[Footnote 249.5: Thomas Colt.--See _Rolls of Parliament_,
v. 348.]
[Footnote 249.6: Walter Hopton.--See _Rolls of Parliament_,
v. 368.]
[Footnote 249.7: William, son of Sir Leonard Hastings.--See
_Rolls of Parliament_, _ib._]
[Footnote 249.8: The battle of Wakefield.]
431