Dame Isabel Plumpton to Sir Robert Plumpton

199 Dame Isabel Plumpton to Sir Robert Plumpton, [?1506] (No. 90, p.
         50)

[p. 51] Sir, in the most hartyest wyse ?at I can, I recomend me vnto
you; Sir, I haue sent to Wright of Idell for ?e money ?at he promyst
you, & he saith he hath it not to len, & makes choses; & so I can get
none nowhere; & as for wood, ther is none ?at will bey, for they know
ye want money, & without they myght haue it halfe for nought they
will bey none. For your son, William Plompton, & Thomas Beckerdyke¹
hath bene euery day at wood sence ye went, & they can get no money
for nothing, for tha will bey none without they haue tymmer trees &
will giue nothinge for them: & so shall your wood be distroyed & get
nought for it. Sir, I told you this or ye went, but ye wold not beleue
me. Sir, I haue taken of your tymmer as much as I can get of, or
Whitsonday farme, forehand, & ?at is but litle to do you any good, for
ther is but some ?at will len so long afor^a ?e tyme; & your Lenten
stoufe is to bey, & I wote not what to do, God wote, for I am ever left
of thes fachions.

     Sir, ther is land in Rybston feild ?at Christofer Chambers wold bey,
if ye will sel it, but I am not in a suerty what he will giue for it. But if
ye will sel it, send word to your son what ye will doe, for I know
nothinge els wherwith to helpe you with. Sir, for God sake take anend,
soe we are brought to begger staffe, for ye haue not to defend them
withall. Sir, I send you my mare & iijs iiijd by the bearer herof, & I
pray you send me word as sone as ye may. No more at this tyme, but
the holy Trenyttie send you good speed in all your matters, & send
you sone home. Sir, remember your chillder bookes.

Be your bedfellow     Isabell Plompton^b

Endorsed (p. 50): To Sir Robart Plompton kt be this letter deliuered

     ^a MS it for.

     ^b Appended: Copied the 23 day of March 1612.

     ¹ 171.

LETTER CLXII.

To Sir Robart Plompton, kt. be thes letter delivered.

    Sir, in the most hartyest wyse that I can, I recomend me unto
you. Sir, I have sent to Wright of Idell for the money that he pro-
myst you, and he saith he hath it not to len, and makes choses
(excuses) and so I can get none nowhere. And as for wood, ther
is none that will bey, for they know ye want money, and without
they myght have it halfe for nought, they will bey none; for your
son, William Plompton, and Thomas Bickerdyke hath bene every
day at wood sence ye went, and they can get no money for no-
thing, ? for tha will bey none without they have tymmer tres, and
will give nothinge for them: and so shall your wood be distroyed
and get nought for it. Sir, I told you this or ye went, but ye
wold not beleve me. Sir, I have taken of your tymmer as
much as I can get of, or Whitsonday farme forehand; and
that is but litle to do you any good, for ther is but some that will
len so long afor the tyme. And your Lenten stoufe is to bey, and
I wote not what to do, God wote, for I am ever left of thes
fachion. Sir, ther is land in Rybston feild, that Christofer Cham-
bers wold bey, if ye will sel it; but I am not in a suerty what he
 

will give for it. But if ye will sel it, send word to your son what
ye will doe, for I know nothing els wherwith to help you with.
Sir, for God sake take an end, for we are brought to begger staffe,
for ye have not to defend them withall. Sir, I send you my mare,
and iijs iiijd by the bearer herof, and I pray you send me word as
sone as ye may. No more at this tyme, but the Holy Trenyttie
send you good speed in all your matters, and send you sone home.
Sir, remember your chillder bookes.

                                                Be your bedfellow,

                                                                         ISABELL PLOMPTON.^a

    ^a This letter from the grand-daughter of a mighty Earl of Westmoreland feelingly
exhibits the straits to which she and her husband were not reduced. No lands of
the ancient inheritance of the Plumptons and Foljambes could be sold, where the title of
all was impeached, or if a purchased presented himself, it was only upon obtaining a
collateral security fixing lands purchased by Sir Robert Plumpton in his own lifetime,
or which had come to him under another title, as through his mother; unless indeed
some substantial person could be found to become bound for their peaceable enjoyment.
Thus John Slingsby the younger, esq. bought, 10 Oct. 20 Hen. VII. 1504, lands in
Studley Roger of Sir Robert Plumpton, kt. and William, his eldest son and heir appa-
rent, but with a condition annexed, that Richard Mauliverey, esq. and Walter Baildon
should be at the same time enfeoffed by the vendors in lands in Wetton and Huby
near Harwood, to be conveyed to the purchaser, "if the said lands in Studley Roger be
recovered from the possession of the said John Slingsby." (Chartul. No. 823.) Of
the annoyances to which Germayn Pole, who bought the lands at Combridge in Staf-
fordshire, was subject, his letters which follow bear testimony. To make head against
the expenses of this protracted struggle with the more legal claims of the heirs general,
the rents of such tenants as did not yet refuse to own Sir Robert Plumpton as their
landlord were forestalled, and the wood on the estate was felled. But this last re-
source failed him: the dealers held back in order to drive an usurious bargain with a ne-
cessitous man. The sum f 3s. 4d. was, it seems, all that could be mustered on the
present occasion; meanwhile, the store-rooms at Plumpton were empty and the season
of Lent was approaching, when the usage of the time made it a sin to taste flesh, and
therefore needful to lay in stock-fish and other like provision. Well might Lady
Plumpton tell her husband "we are brought to begger-staffe;" ere long she became
with him the inmate of a gaol.    (See Memoirs.)