Dame Agnes Plumpton to Sir Robert Plumpton

188 Dame Agnes Plumpton to Sir Robert Plumpton, 12 April [1504]           (No.
     89, p. 49)

[p. 50] Right worshipfull Sir, In my most hartiest wyse I recomend me
vnto you, desiring to here of your prosperitie & welfayre, & good spede
in your matters, the which I marvell greatly ?at I haue no word from
you. Sir, I marvell greatly ?at ye let the matter rest so long, & labors
no better for your selfe; for it is sayd with them ?at count ?at ye myght
haue had one hend, and ye wold labor it deligently. But it is sayd ?at
ye be lease forward and they underworketh falsly; & it is sene and
known by them, for they thinke to dryve it ?at they may take the
Whitsonday ferme; & so it is sayd all the country about.¹ Sir, I besech
you to remember your great cost & charges, & myne, and labor the
matter ?at it myght haue anend, <for they haue taken on> capias and
deliuered for certayne of your tenants. And so they have taken Edmund
Ward at Knaresbrough and arest him, the which is a great nossen in
the country,² ?at they shall get such prosses, and ye dow none them,
but let them haue there mynd fullfilled in every case. And the other
tenaunts cannot pays there housses, but they shalbe cagid;³ & also
<willing> none of your servants shall not pas the dowers, but they
mon be trobled.

     And also they haue stopped the contry, that there will no man deale
with any of your servants, nether to bye wod, no nor nothing els.
Therfore, I pray you ?at ye will get some comandment to the scherefe
?at the prosses my be stoped. Also, Sir, I send you the copy of the
letter ?at came from vnder sherefe,⁴ & the copy of the cases, & the
letter ?at came from William Elison, the which I had mynd in for
lyssing of Edmund Ward, for I haue gotten him forth by the wayes of
William Ellyson. And also, Sir, I am in good health, & all your children,
blessed be Jesu, & all your servants is in good health, & prayes
delygently for your good speed in your matters. And also it is sayd ?at
they haue cagments⁵ for them ?at hath bought the wood, ?at they dare
not deals therwith, for without ye get some comaundement I wott not
how your house shalbe kept, for I know not whereof to levy one
pennyworth. No more at this tyme, but the Trenietie keepe you. From
Plompton, in hast, the xij day of Aprill.

By your wyfe     Dame Agnes Plompton^a

Endorsed (p. 49): To the [right deleted] worshipfull Robart Plompton
knight be these deliuered in hast

     ^a Appended: Copied ?e 21 day of March 1612.

     ¹ Surely unfair. As Sir John Fastolf found in his legal battle with Edward Hull, ?Law
went as it was favoured?, P.S. Lewis, ?Sir John Fastolf?s Lawsuit over Titchwell, 1448?
1455?, Historical Journal, i (1958), 1?2.

     ² The writer may be taken to mean not the ?county?, but rather the community of
?them that count? in the neighbourhood, see R. Virgoe, ?Aspects of the County Community
in the Fifteenth Century?, in M. Hicks (ed.), Profit, Piety and the Professions in Later Medieval
England (Gloucester, 1990), 4?6; J.R. Maddicott, ?The County Community, and the
Making of Public Opinion in Fourteenth-Century England?, TRHS, 5th ser., xxvii (1978),
38.

     ³ Cagid = confined, NED.

     ⁴ 187, 189. The letter from Elleson has not survived.

     ⁵ Cagments = insults, affronts, NED.

LETTER CLI.

To the worshipfull Robart Plompton, knight, be these delivered in
hast.

    Right worshipfull Sir, in my most hartiest wyse I recomend me
unto you, desiring to here of your prosperytie and welfare, and
good spede in your matters, the which I marvell greatly that
I have no word from you. Sir, I marvell greatly that ye let
the matter rest so long, and labors no better for your selfe, and
ye wold labor it deligently. But it is sayd that ye be lesse for-
ward, and they underworketh falsly; and it is sene and known
by them, for they thinke to drive it that they may take the Whit-
sonday ferme: and so it is sayd all the country about. Sir, I be-
sech you to remember your great cost and charges, and myne, and
labor the matter that it myght have an end, for they have taken
on capias and delivered for certayne of your tenants. And so they
have taken Edmund ward at Knarsbrough and arrest him; the
which is a great nossen in the country, that they shall get such
prosses, and ye dow none to them, but lett them have there
mynd fullfilled in every case. And the other tenaunts cannot
pays ther housses, but they shalbe cagid; and also willing none
of your servants shall not pas the dowers, but they mon be tro-
bled. And also they have stopped the country, that ther will no
man deale with any of your servants, nether to bye wod, no nor
nothing els. Therfore, I pray you that ye will get some command-
ment to the Scherefe that the prosses may be stoped. Also, Sir,
I send you the copy of the letter that came from the Undershe-
refe, and the copy of the causes, and the letter that come from
William Elison; the which I had mynd in for loyssing of Ed-
mund Ward, for I have gotten him forth by the wayes of William
Ellyson. And also, Sir, I am in good health, and all the children
(blessed be Jesu), and all your children prayes you for your daly
blessing. And all your servants is in good health, and prays dely-
gently for your good speed in your matters. And also it is sayd,
that they have cagments for them that hath bought the wood, that
they dare not deale therwith. For without ye get some comaunde-
ment, I wott not how your house shalbe kept, for I know not
wherof to levy one penyworth. No more at this tyme, but the
Trenietie keepe you. From Plompton in hast, the xii day of
Aprill.
                                                    By your wyfe,
        (12 April 1504.)                         Dame AGNES PLOMPTON.