THE EARL OF OXFORD TO JOHN PASTON[258.6]
_To owre right Trusty and welbeloved John Paston_
Right Trusty and welbeloved we grete yow well. And where as it is not unknowen to you that we wrot a bille to Maister Brakle, and yaf hym in comaundement to delyver yow a bille indentyd of x. mark owyng to John of Fen, as it apperith by a bille indentyd under the seall of Robert Reppis, jentylman, wich by the will of John of Fen is due un to us, wher of the sayd Robert shuld paye v. mark by his owne instaunce at Lammesse next comyng; We pray yow that ye woll receyve the forsayd money for us and delyver it un to Maister Brakle as we trust yow. Wretyn in owr manor of Wevenho the xxv^ti. day of Julij.
[Footnote 258.6: [Add. MS. 34,888, f. 166.]]
438
THE EARL OF OXFORD TO JOHN PASTON[259.1]
_To my right trusty and right welbeloved John Paston._
Right trusty and right welbeloved, I grete you wele. And I am enfourmed that William Mathew of Norwich, Bocher, hath brought an accion of dette agayn Nicholas Hert, a tenaunt of myn, berer hereof, and hath supposid by his accyon that my said tenaunt shuld ow hym lxx_s._ for his hire of tyme that he shuld a ben servaunt to my said tenaunt; wher it is said to me for trouthe that he was aprentyce to my said tenaunt, and never othrwise with holde but as aprentice, and owith no mony to haf of hym.
I send to yow my said tenaunt to gif yow clere informacyon of the mater, and I pray you that ye wole calle the jurry before yow that arn impanellid betwen thaym, and opne thaym the mater at large at myn instaunce, and desire thaym to do as concyens wole, and to eschue perjury. And the Trinite kepe yow. If ye take the mater in rule, I pray therof, and wole be content.
Wretyn at Wevenho, the xxviij. day of Decembr.
THE ERLE OF OXENFORD.
[Footnote 259.1: [From Fenn, iii. 138.]]
439
SIR JOHN WINGFIELD TO JOHN PASTON[259.2]
_To my welbelovyd brother, John Paston, Squier._
Brother Paston, I recomaunde me unto you, praying you that ye take the labour to speke with Thomas Ratclef of Frammesden for the delyveraunce of part of an hous which lythe in his wode at Fraumesden, which hous the owener hath caryed part therof to Orford, which so departed, the remenant that remayneth ther in his wode schall do hym lytell good, and yt schall hurte gretly the warkeman and the owener therof also, which is my tenaunt, and [_i.e._ if] the hous schuld be set upon my ground.
I wright unto you in this be halfe, be cause I understood he woll be moche avised by you, and yf he do ony thynge at my request, I schall do as moche that schall plese hym; and also the pore man schall gef hym ij.
nobles or xx_s._ rather than fayle. I pray you be as good a mene for hym as ye may in this be halfe, as my verry trust is in you, and I schal be redy at all tymes to doo that may be to your plesur. I trust to Jesu, who have you in His kepyng, and sende you joy of all your ladyes.
Wretyn at Lederyngham, the Tewesday in Whisson weke.
Your brother and frende,
WYNGEFELD J.
[Footnote 259.2: [From Fenn, iii. 140.]]
440
[JOHN PASTON?] TO [RICHARD] SOUTHWELL[260.1]
Brother Suthwell, I comand me to yow, sertifiing yow that, on Thursday be the morwe, I spak with my cosine Wichingham at London, where he lete me wet of the letter sent to Lee, wherby I conseyve the stedfast godlordship and ladiship of my Lord and my Lady[260.2] in this mater, &c., whech gevith cause to all her servaunts to trost verily in them and to do hem trew servise. I lete yow wete that the seid Wychyngham, when I departid from hym, had knowleche that Jane Boys shuld that nyght be come to London, and he put in a bylle to the Lordis for to have delyverauns of hyr and to have hese adversarys arestid. And this nyght at Norwiche was told me newe tydyngges that she shuld on Thursday after my departyng a be before the Lordis and there asaide untrewly of her selff, as the berer hereof shal informe yow if ye know it not before; of wheche tydyngges, if they be trew, I am sory for her sake, and also I fere that her frendys schuld sewe the more feyntely, wheche Godde defende. For her seyng untrewly of her selff may hurt the mater in no man but her selff; and thow she wol mescheve her selff, it wer gret pete but if the mater were laborid forth, not for her sake, but for the worchepe of the estatys and other that have laboryd therin, and in ponyshing of the gret oryble dede. Wherfore I send yow dyvers articlis in a bill closid herin, wheche preve that she was raveshid ayens hyr wel, what so ever she sey.
Thes be provis that Jane Boys was ravischig [_sic_] ageyn her wil, and not ber awn assent.
One is that she, the tyme of her takyng, whan she was set upon her hors, she revyled Lancasterother[261.1] and callid hym knave and wept, and kryid owte upon hym pitewly to her, and seid as shrewdly to hym as coud come to her mende, and fel doune of her hors unto that she was bound, and callid him fals t[r]aytor that browth her the rabbettes.
Item, whan she was bounde she callid upon her modyer, wheche folwyd her as far as she myght on her feet, and whan the seid Jane sey she myght goo no ferther, she kryid to her modyer and seid that what so ever fel of her, she shuld never be weddyd to that knave, to deye for it.
Item, be the weye, at Shraggarys hous in Kokely Cley, and at Brychehamwell, and in all other places wher she myght see any people, she kryid owte upon hym, and lete people wete whos dowtyr she was, and how she was raveshid ayens her wyll, desyeryng the people to folwe her and reskew her.
Item, Lancasterotherys prest of the Egle in Lyncolne shire, wheche shroff her, seid that she told hym in confession that she wold never be weddyd to hym, to deye for it; and the same prest seid he wold not wedde hem togedyr for M{^l.}_li._
Item, she sent divers tokenes of massage to Sothwell be Robert Inglose, wheche previth welle at that tyme she lovyd not Lancasterother.
Item, a man of the master of Carbrokes come dyvers tymes in the weke before she was raveshid to Wychynghams hous, and inquerid of her mayde whedyr her mastras was insuerid to Sothwell or nay, the wheche prevyth well that Lancasterother was not sure of her godwill ne knew not of her counseyl, for if he had, he ne nedid not to have sent no spyes.
Whech seen, I avyse yow to move my Lord and my Lady to do in this mater as affettualy as they have do before, for this mater touchyth hem, consideryng that they have begonne; and dowt not, what so ever falle of the woman, well or evel, my Lord and my Lady shal have worchep of the mater if it be wel laborid, and also ye shall have avayl therof and the advers parte chall gret trobil.
Also it were necessarie that Wychyngham were sent to and cofortyd in hese seute, and that he avysid hym of seche articlis and preves of the mater as I have sent to yow and put hem in writing, but not to disclose non tho preves to non creature unto that tyme that it fortune the mater to be tried be enquest, or other wyse take end, but avyse hym for to seye to the Lords and all (?) in generall termes that what so ever Lancasterother or hese douter seyn nowh, it shal be wel prevyd she was reveshid ayens her wyll; and let him desire of the Lordis that his dowter mith be in his kepyng, and at large fro Lancasterother un tylle the mater were duly examynd. I wold this mater sped the bety[r] be cause my Lady spoke so feythefully to me therin, and that mevyth me to wryte to yow this long symple lettyr of myn intent. [262.1][Also wher ye be informyd that vj. men of Osbern Monforthes shuld a be at the seid raveshing, I certifie yow verily it was not soo; for Osbern Mondeford wol do in the mater all that ever he can or may to help to punisse the doer, and desirith to know the grownd of that tale, of whech I pray send me word if and what ye will ellis.] God kepe yow.
Wret at Norwich the Soneday nex before the fest of Sent Margret.
Item, [if] she had be of hes assent affter the time she was in hes possescion in Lynkoln shire, hit had be bett--[262.2]
[Footnote 260.1: [From Paston MSS., B.M.] This letter is printed from a corrected draft in a hand which may be that of Margaret Paston, writing in her husband's name. The beginning may perhaps refer to the impending marriage of Richard Southwell with Amy, daughter of Sir Edmund Wichingham, which took place, according to Blomefield (x. 274), about the beginning of Edward IV.'s reign. From the mention made of Osbert Mundford, however, the letter cannot be later than 1460. The ravishment of Jane Boys, as here related, corresponds so closely with that of Dame Joan Beaumont, of which notice will be found in the _Rolls of Parl._, v. 269, that we might almost surmise the same person is spoken of; but this can hardly be.]
[Footnote 260.2: Probably the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk.]
[Footnote 261.1: According to Blomefield (viii. 299) Joan (or Jane), one of the four daughters of Edmund de Wichingham, married, first, Robert Longstrather, and afterwards Robert Boys of Honing, in Norfolk.]
[Footnote 262.1: This passage is crossed out in the MS.]
[Footnote 262.2: Sentence left incomplete.]
441-448
ABSTRACTS[263.1]
The following letters and papers cannot be referred to any certain date, though probably of the reign of Henry VI. Being of very little interest, they are noticed as briefly as possible merely for the sake of completeness.
[Footnote 263.1: [From Paston MSS., B.M.]]
441.-- W., Bishop of Norwich, to William Yelverton, steward of his lands, and John Intwode, his surveyor. --Desires them to inquire at Bacton into the demand made by Richard Blake in a bill enclosed, and minister to him as right and law will. --London, 8 Nov.
442.-- Memoranda of John Berney against Simon Corbrygg, who obtained lands by a charter forged by Broke, a scrivener, late owner of Weggs, and has injured Berney for eight years past or more in the possession of the manor of Cleyhall.