The Paston Letters Volume Iv Part 26

Ryght wyrs.h.i.+pful husbond, I recomaunde me unto you.

[Sidenote: Drayton tenaunts bony, perter ij.]

Pleasyd you to wyte that I have spokyn thys wyke with dyvers of youre tennaunts of Drayton and put hem in comfort that all shalbe well hereafter by the grace of G.o.d; and I fyle well by hem that they wylbe ryght glad to have ayen there olde mayster, and so wold they all except j. or ij. that be fals shrewys. And thys next wyke I purpose on Wensday or Thursday to be at Haylesdon, and to a byde ther a wyke or ij., and send oure men aboute to gedere money at Drayton and Haylesdon; and yf ye wyll I woll do kepe a corte at Drayton or I com thens. I pray yow send me word how ye wyll that I doo there in.

[Sidenote: Malt, barly.]

I recevyd ij. letters from you of Nicholl Tolman yesterday, werin ye desyre that we shuld purvey for your malte and barley; and soo shall we doo as well as we cann, and send you word howe that we may doo therewith in hast.

Item, yesterday Master Phylyp[132.1] toke Dorlets hors uppon Drayton lond as they went to the plowe for the hole yere ferm; and as it ys told me the tenaunts of Drayton tolde hym that he dyde hym wrong to make hym pay for the hole yere, for non of the tenaunts had payd hym but for the di' [_half_] yere and he say thohg they had not payd but for the di'

yere,

[Sidenote: Dorlat et verba M.P.]

Paston shuld pay for the other di' yere, and for moo yers also yf he lyvyd. But I trow to gyte Dorlet ayen hys hors or els Mr. Phylyp ys lyke to be unhorssyd ons, and we lyve all. Your son[132.2] shall com hom to moryn, as I trowe, and as he demenyth hym hyr after I shall lete you have knowlych;

[Sidenote: J. P., sen.]

and I pray you thynk not in me that I wyll supporte hym ne favour hym in no lewdnesse, for I wyl not. As I fynd hym hereafter, soo I wyll lete you have knowlych. I have put your evydens that com owte of the abbay[132.3] in a seck and enseylyd hem under Ric. Call ys seall that he shal not say but they eryn as he left hem;

[Sidenote: Rotuli prioris (?)]

but as for the place where they ern kypt he hath no knowlych ... .

... ... . As for the gentylwoman that ye wrote to me for yn youre lettere, I ... ... ... ... there, yf it lykyd all folks as well as it shold doo me, I trow ... ... . a bowte yf her frends were as well a gryed therto, and as they ... ... . . parte, yf ye wyll that it be movyd of more hereafter I wyll ... ... . . wyll make a newe parson, at Drayton. Also it ys sayd that ... ... . . there, by cause it hath stond so long voyd; yet and any sh... ... . had lever that he com in by the Byshop then by a ... ... . . doo therein yf ye wyll send hom any presentacion selyd ... ... . . we shall a say to gyte som G.o.de priste and sette hym ... ... . . Wryten in haste at Caster on Holy Rode Day &c.

As ... ... . doo therein as well as I cann. I have gyte a replevyn ... ... . . CC shype, and yf they may not be hadde ayen, then he grau[nteth] ... ... . .

[Sidenote: Data obligacione (?) pro ovibus.]

We fynd hym ryght G.o.de in that we desyre of him for you, and therfore yf it lyke you I wold he were th ... ...

[Footnote 131.2: [From Paston MSS., B.M.] Holy Rood Day, on which this letter is dated, commonly means the 14th of September (feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross). Here I suspect it is the 3rd May (Invention of the Holy Cross), as the contents of the letter suit that date in the year 1465. It will be seen that Margaret Paston dates from Caister, and proposes next week to be at h.e.l.lesden. Her next letter, dated the 10th May, is from h.e.l.lesden, and shows that she carried out the intention here expressed of sending men to collect money at Drayton, and had left her eldest son at Caister to keep the place. There is also a close agreement between that letter and this, in what is said about the demeanour of the tenants and Mr. Philip's conduct. The apostyle of this letter, as of the preceding, is in the hand of John Paston, very ill written, and occasionally ambiguous.]

[Footnote 132.1: Philip Lipgate, the Duke of Suffolk's bailiff.]

[Footnote 132.2: Sir John Paston.]

[Footnote 132.3: _See_ No. 561.]

580

JOHN RUSSE TO JOHN PASTON[133.1]

_To the right worshypfull sir, my right honourabyll maister, John Paston, at London._

[Sidenote: 1465 / MAY 6]

Right wors.h.i.+pfull sir and my right honorabyll maister, I recomaund me to you in the most humble wise. And please youre maistir s.h.i.+p to wete that my maistresse hathe dyverse tymes spokyn to me to helpe to purvey a merchaunt for sum of youre malt; but in good feyth I can gete no man that wyll geve at the most more than xxij_d._ for a quarter, for soo men selle dayli at the moste, and sumtyme xx_d._ a combe. My maistresse is right hevy therfor, but I can not remedy it; if ony good marchaunt were there, after my sympil conseyt it were good to take hym, for the yeer pa.s.sith faste and the [feldes][133.2] be right plesaunt to wards, &c.

Sir, at the reverence of Jesu, laboure the meanys to have peas; for be my trowth the contynwaunce [of this] trobill shall short the dayez of my maistresse, and it shall cause you to gret losse, for serteyn she is in gre[t hevi]nesse as it apperith at ... ... ... . . ll covertly she consederith the gret decay of youre lyflode, the gret detts that hange in detours hands and h ... ... ... ... . [she speaket]h not thus to me, but I conceyfe this is cause of here gret hevynesse; me semyth of ij. hurts the leste is mos[t] ... ... ... ... ... . well the dayli contynewyng maleyse of youre insessiabyll enemyes, how they contryve and seke occacions to ... ... . informyd, more wyll doo every foot of grownd withinne fewe dayez, and rather to geve it awey for nowght tha[n] ... ... it. Where as they many tymes have meovyd a trety and never it taketh to noo conclucion, and as they have seyd in youre d ... ... Sir, after my sympyll conseyt it were well doon to agree to a trety, and be that ye shuld knowe ther desyre and the uttir ... ... . the lond were dubyll the valwe that it is. Worsestyr shewyth hem presedents what every maner cost at the fyrst byeng, and ther ... ... . . rekne the bargeyne shuld avayle you foure tymes mor than it shall; and in thys they be gretly blyndyd; my maister the parson hathe ... . to rellesse in serteyn londs whiche he refus[eth to] doo, but I conseyve, and ye drawe not to a conclucion thys terme that he wyll be as redy to rellesse ... . men, truste ye thys for serteyn; and soo he [told] me serteynly. He hathe be meovyd to revoke Maister Roberd Kente and to take the avoket or proctor [that] Maister Yelwirton hathe.

What it myght hurtyn if he soo dede I knowe not, but they have made gret labour to hym therfor. He gaf me a gret reb[uke] ... . the bill that was put in ayens Elyse Davy and otheris, to whiche I answeryd hym as me thowght and soo in maner made my peas, &c. Maister ... . was here and in presence of men of the most substance in Jeremuth he be havyd hym to you wards in full goodly termys, soo G.o.d helpe ... . and after my conseyt he wyll not be redy to relesse in ony of the londs. A man of hyse teld me secretly that Maister Yelwyrton and otheres blamyd hym and seyd ... . to hym be cause he was so redy be hym self to agree to trete and make hyse peas with yow, neyther he seyd to me to trete nor the contrary nor had but langwage to me as he had to othyr. I askyd my maister the parson if he undyrstod that Maister Yelwyrton yaf ony favour to my Lord of Suffolk in Drayton, and he seyd he supposyd Maister Yelwyrton was not cler of that mater, but Mayster Jenney was in nowyse pleasyd with all, &c. Sir, as for the wytnesse that were desyred to be redy whan nede requirith in thys mater, R. Calle can avertise youre maistirshyp. Sir, at the reverence of Jesu consedre how many yeers it is past that my good lord and maister deseasyd and how lytill is doon for ... . of the grete substaunce that he hade it is hevy to remembre; ye sey the defaute is not in yow after your conseyt, but I can here no ... . in that of youre openyon, for thys I knowe for serteyn and it had pleasyd you to have endyd be the meanys of trety, ye had ma[de]

... peas to the gret well of the dede with the forthe part of the mony that hathe be spent, and as men sey only of very wylful[nesse of your]

owyn person. For the mercy of G.o.d remembre the onstabylnesse of thys wold hou it is not a menut s.p.a.ce in comparyson to ever ... ... .

leve wylfullnesse whyche men sey ye occupye to excessifly. Blyssyd be G.o.d ye had a fayre day laste whiche is noysyd cost yow ... . to iiij.

lords, but a newe mater anewe cost and many smale growe to a gret summe, and summe mater on recurabyll, formen seyd ... . is lyk to stonden in a perplextif if ye take not a conclucion in haste, and if it were doo it were hard to have recovery; but as my [maister] the parson seyd, thys terme they wyll prove if ye wyll agree to trete, and if ye refuse they all wyll do the uttirmest. I conseyve well [your] maistirshyp hathe a conseyt that if a man of good will meove yow or remembre you to trete, that that man, what soo ever he be, shuld be meovyd be youre adversaryez to meove you in that mater, and soo in that it hertyth you gretly that they shuld seke to you for peas. Be my trowth, sir, there was nor is no man, savyng onys, as I teld you, Maister Jenney spake to me, that ever I knewe wold seke or feythefully desyre to have peas with yow, savyng because of the exspence of the good so onprofitably in the lawe, and that is the prynsypal cause of meovyng of ther peas, &c. I wold well G.o.d helpe me soo it grevyth me to here that ye stonde in no favour with jentylmen nor in no gret awe with the comowns. Ye truste the jury of Suffolk; remembre what promyse Daubeney hade of the jury and what it avaylid; it is a dethe to m[e] to remembre in what prosperite and in what degre ye myght stonde in Norfolk and Suffolk and ye had peas and were in herts ease, and what wors.h.i.+p my maisters your sones and my maistresse youre douters myght have be preferryd to if ye had be in reste. A day lost in idyll can never be recoveryd, &c. Sir, I beseke youre maistershyp for yeve me that I wryte thus boldly and homly to you; me thynkyth my hert ... . not be in ease but if I soo doo, for ther was, nor never shal be, no mater that ever was soo ner myn herte, that knowy[th G.o.d,] whom I beseke for Hese infenyt mercy preserve you and my maistresse and all youres from all adversyte and graunt yow ... .

herts desyre. Wretyn at Jernemuthe the vj. day of may.

Your contynw[al bedesman]

and servaunt, JOHN [RUSSE].

[Footnote 133.1: [From Paston MSS., B.M.] As this letter refers to the Duke of Suffolk's claim to the manor of Drayton, the date must be 1465. The original MS. is mutilated to some extent in both margins.]

[Footnote 133.2: The tops of the letters f, l, d visible.]

581

MARGARET PASTON TO JOHN PASTON[136.1]

_To my mayster, John Paston the oldest be thys delyveryd in hast._

[Sidenote: 1465 / MAY 10]

Ryght wyrshypfull husbond I recomaund me unto you. Pleysed you to wyte that on Wensday last pa.s.syd Dabeney, Naunton, Wykes and John Love werr at Drayton for to speke with your tenaunts ther to put hem in comfort and for to aske money of hem also.

[Sidenote: Distr' Petr'. Warin.]

And Pyrs Waryn, otherwyse callyd Pyrs at Sloth, whych ys a flykeryng felowe and a besy with Mr. Phylyp and the Bayly of Cosshay, he had a plowe goyng in your lond in Drayton, and ther your seyd servaunts at that tyme toke hys plowe ware, that ys to say ij. marys, and broght hem to Heylysdon, and ther they be yet. And on the next mornyng after Mr.

Phylyp and the Baylly of Cosshay com to Haylysdon with a grete nomber of pepell, that ys to say viij.^xx. men and mor in harnysse, and ther toke from the persons plowe ij. hors, pris iiij. marc and ij. hors of Thomas Stermyns plowe, pris xl_s._,

[Sidenote: Distr' Sturmyn et rectoris de Heylisdon.]

saying to hem that ther was taken a playnt ayenst hem in the hunderd by the seyd Pyrs for takyng of the forseyd plowarre at Drayton, and but they wold be bond to com to Drayton on Tewysday next comyng to awnswer to such maters as shalbe sayd to them ther they shold not have ther bests ayens; whych they refusyd to do on to the tyme that they had an awnswer from you; and so they led the bestes forth to Drayton, and from Drayton forth to Cosshay. And the same after none folwyng the parson of Haylesdon send hys man to Drayton with Stermyn for to speke with Mr.

Phylyp to know a way yf they shuld have ayen ther cattell or not; and Master Phylyp awnsweryd them yf that they wold bryng home ther destresse ayen that was taken of Pyrs Waryn, that then he wold dylyver hem thers, or els not;

[Sidenote: Crak.]

and he lete hem playnly wyte that yf ye or any of your servaunts toke any dystresse in Drayton that were but the valew of an hen, they wold com to Haylesdon and take ther the valew of an ox therefore, and yf they cannot take the valew therof there, that then they wyll do breke your tenaunts howsys in Haylesdon, and take as moch as they cowd fynd therein; and yf they be lettyd therof, wych shall never lye in your power for to do, for the Duck of Suffolk ys abyll to kepe dayly in hys hows more men then Dabeney hadde herys on hys hede, yf hym lyst; and as for Dabeney he ys a lewde felowe, and so he shalbe servyd herafter, and I wold he were here. And therfore yf ye take uppon you to lette them so for to do, that then they wold goo in to any lyflode that ye had in Norfolk or Suffolk, and to take a destresse in lykewysse as they wold do at Haylysdon. And other awnswerr cowde they non gyte, and so they departyd.

[Sidenote: Accio rectoris et Sturmyn.]

Ric. Calle axid the parson and Stermyn yf they wold take an accyon for ther catell, and the parson[138.1] seyd he was agyd and syklow, and he wold not be trobelyd herafter; he sayd he had lever lose hys catell, for he wyst well yf he dyde so he shold be endytyd, and so vexid with hem that he shold never have rest by hem. As for Stermyn, he sayd at that tyme he durst not take no sute ayenst hem nother; but after that Ric.

was rydyn, I spake with hym, and he sayd he wold be rulyd as ye wold have hym, and I fond hym ryght herty and wel dysposyd in that mater; and he is bownde to you an obligacyon of x_li._ sengyll with outen condycyon that he shall abyde by such accyons as shalbe takyn by your advyse in hys name; wherfore I have send you a tytelyng therof in a byll closyd herin. I axyd Thomas Gryne avyse when they had take the dystresse hyre, and he avysyd me that herre destresse shold be delyveryd a yen to them so that we myzt have ayen ours; and me thoght it was non awnswer after myn entent, and wold not therof but axyd avyse of Skypwith what hym thoght that were best to doo there in, and most wyrshypfull. He seyd by hys avyse that I shold send to you in al the hast that I cowde, and that ye shuld fynde a mene therfore above, by the avyse of youre lernyd counsell to have a wrytte from above for to delyver yt of lesse then the undershyrff werre other wysse dysposyd to you then we fynde hym, for it symyth that he ys made of the other party. And as for the replevyn for the CC. shype ys not yet servyd.

[Sidenote: Replevin.]

Skypwyth thynkyth that ye myzt have a wrytte both for the shype and the destresse now taken at Haylysdon, I pray you that ye wyll send word in hast how [ye] woll that we doo in thys maters.