Friar Brackley to [William Paston]

403

FRIAR BRACKLEY TO [WILLIAM PASTON]¹

    JESU mercy, Marie help, cum Sanctis omnibus, trewe
       menyng executorys ffro fals terrauntes and alle tribu-
        lacyonys. Amen. Ryte reverent Sire, &c., W. Y.²
Judex and hise wyf were here with here meny and here hors
in our ladyes place, &c. on Saterday at evyn, and yedyn hens
on Monday after none, whan summe had drunkyn malvyseye
and tyre,³ &c. And I prechid on the Sonday byfore hem, not
warnyd tyl after mete. And than for lak of M. Vergeant, or
our wardeyn Barnard, I sodeynly seyd the sermon. And
byfore I had ryte ovyr and soleyn chere of hem bothe, &c.;
but after the sermon he seyd opely to the prior, heryng myche
folk in the chirch, ‘I haf herd hym oftyn here and ellys where,
but [this]⁴ is the best that ever I herd hym sey,’ &c., and
at evyn drank to me, and made me good chere, half on the
splene, &c.

     But on Moneday, whan he had ny etyn and drunkyn a
now, he gan to rollyn hym in hise relatyvis, and we eldyd
hym, as many men thowtyn, ryte ongayly in hise gere, &c.;
hise wyf begynnyng the communicacyon with rite a sootyr (?)
chere. And he heeld on so sore he cowd not cese, &c. tyl
he went to his hors, &c. And the pryor demenyd hym
gentylly in hise talkyng. And there was not forgetyn non
unkyndnesse of my Mayster J. P., zour brother, of sleyn
[slaying] of hise man Wormegey, and of mariage of hise
dowghtyr, whiche now schal solempnely be maryed to Conerys,¹
a knytes sone, &c. And now last at Seynt Benettes, where
he so worschipful a justise and as kunnyng in lawe as ever
was zour fadyr, &c. as alle men knowyn, &c. And zour
brother J. P. brokyn owt be occasyon of zour langage, and
takyn wytnesse of Malmysbury, a man of my Lord of
Caunterbury, whiche hath spokyn with the seyd justise the
last terme in Westmyster Halle. And there he seyd more
tymes than one, ‘Sire, this the fyrst tyme that ever I spake
with zour Lordschip, &c.’ And sythe after ze weryn at
Seynt Benettys forseyd, ze komyn not gentylly but ryte
malicyously disposid to myn Lady Felbrygg, and dede your
devoyr to haf put hym out of hir conceyt, and it wolde not
be, &c. And what vyolens my Mayster J. P., germanus
vester, dede to W. Wayt,² &c. up on hise owne grownd at
Musshold, &c. And after al these materys, bare me on hand³
that I had seyd to on of the worthiest of the schyre that the
seyd justise be gan the brekyng at Seynt Benettes; for I
suppose I seyd thus to my Lord Fyz Water, alias my Mayster
Radclyff, to whos in I went to, and zaf hym a potel of swete
wyne, he demaundyng me of that brekyng, &c., as I remembre
me, and suppose I seyd, ‘W. Y., justise, began to myn know-
lache and understondyng.’ Whan he seyd so fumowsly, ‘Who
so ever sey that of me, he lyeth falsly in hise hede, &c.’ And
my Mayster Radclyff rode forthe with owt of towne to
Dokkyng and Brumham, and with hym rode W. Y., sone to
the justise. And yf the seyd Radclyff teld this to W. Y.,
I wote never. And yf he dede I merveyle sore. But and
al go to al, as is like to go, I may not sey nay, but I trow I
seyd so. Radclyf and ze bene grete frendes. I wold ze
wold lat hym knowe the trowth, &c.

     This mater mevyd the justisis wyf, and than he be gan
hise mater more boldly, seying to me be fore the pryour and
miche pepyl, that it was told hym the same day that I seyd,
as for the brekyng, the justise began. ‘Forsothe,’ seyd I,
’whan I came into the chambre there, the fyrst word I hard
was this, that ze seyd to my mayster J. P., “Who that ever
seyth so, I sey he lyeth falsly in hise hede,” &c.’ ‘Ya,’ quod
the justise, ‘ze schuld haf told what mevyd me to sey so to
hym.’ And I seyd I cowde not tellyn that I not herd, &c.
Et Judex—’Ze schuld haf examyned the mater,’ &c. And I
seyd, ‘Sire, it longyd not to me to examyne the mater, for I
knew wele I schuld not be juge in the mater, and alonly to a
juge it longyth to sene and stodyen illam Sacrae Scripturae
clausulam, whiche holy Job seyd, Causam quam nesciebam
diligentissime investigabam.’

     And than, ‘No,’ seyth he hardyly, ‘ze schal not be juge,
but yf ze had owt me as good wil as ze dede and do to Paston,
ze wold than have sergyd the cause of my gret greef, why I
seyd as I seyd, &c. But I haf sey the day, ze lovyd me beter
than hym, for he yaf zow never cause of love as I haf done,’
&c. ‘Sire,’ I sey, ‘he hath yovyn me cause swyche as I am
behold to hym for,’ &c. ‘Ya,’ seyth he, ‘ze schal bere wyt-
nesse, &c., and the other Mayster Clement and W. Schipdham.’
Cui ego—’As for the wytnesse I schal bere, I schal say and
writyn as I knowe,’ &c. Cui ille—’I made hise testament,¹
and I knowe,’ &c. Cui ego—’I saw nevir testament of your
makyng; and as for on testament that he made, and I knowe
bothe the writer and maker, after hise wyl and intent, ze stonde
stille there in as ze dede than,’ &c. Et tune gavisus est, &c.
Et ille—’I knowe ze haf a gret hert, &c., but I ensure zow, the
Lordes above at London arn infoormyd of zow, and they schal
delyn with zow wele anow.’ Cui ego—’He or they that hafe
infoormyd the Lordes wele of me, I am behold to hem; and
yf they be otherwyse infoormyd, I schal do as wele as I may.
But be myn trowthe I schal not be aferd to sey as I knowe for
none Lord of this lond, if I may go saf and come, quod non
credo, per Deum, propter evidencias multas,’ &c. Tunc prior
—’Domine, non expedit nec rationi seu verae conscientiae con-
gruit, quod vos contendatis cum Magistro Paston, vel ipse
vobiscum, pro bonis defuncti, quae solum sua et non vestra
sunt. Miror valde,’ inquit, ‘cum prioribus temporibus tam
magni fuistis amici, et non sic modo, quare valde doleo.’ Cui
Judex—’ There is no man besy to bryng us to gyder, &c., so
that I kan wele thynk it were lytil maysteri.’ But in feyth I
knowe wele the Juge, W. Wayte his mawment [i.e. puppet],
hise boy Yimmys, with here hevedy and fumows langage, have
and dayly do uttyr lewd and schrewd dalyauns, &c.

     I sent zow bode of dyvers thinges be M. Roger Palle, and
I haf no answer, &c. I schuld go to Castre, and a man of my
Lordes Norfolk told here he came fro London, and there he
had commonly voysid that the Duke of Norfolk schuld be the
Kynges comaundement kepe hise Esterne at Castre for safe
gard of the cuntre ayens Warwyk and other swich of the Kinges
enmyes whiche may lytely be lyklynesse aryve at Waxham, &c.
My mayster zour brother, J. P., ne ye, ne M. T. Howys, ne I
may not esily be brokyd in the Jugys conscyens, &c. Sir Jon
Tatirshales man spake with yow at London, and than ye seyd
to hym to hafe comyn in your owne persone to our Lady
or this tyme, whiche was cause of myn abidyng here, &c. I
schal, be the grace of Jesu, be at Castre on Soneday next, &c.
W. W., J. B., junior, Colinus Gallicus, et T. Upton multum,
ut suppono, fuerunt assidui ad informationem malam dandam
dominis diversis hujus regni contra vestrum germanum J. P.,
M. T. Howes, me, etc.; sed confido in vobis quod vos con-
fiditis in Christo Jesu et Sanctis omnibus, qui vos vestros et
vestra dirigat in agendis. Recommendetis me, si placeat,
Magistro meo Johanni P., uxori, et matri, cum filiis suis
nepotibus vestris, et Thomae Playtere vestro dilecto amico.
Et quare vobis jam scribo et non vestro germano J. P. alias
scietis, etc.

                               Vester orator continuus,

                                                       F. J. B., Minorum minimus.

     ¹ [From Paston MSS., B.M.] From what is said of the expectation of a descent
of Warwick upon the coast, it appears that this letter was written in the spring
of 1460.

     ² William Yelverton.

     ³ Tier; a bitter drink or liquor.—Halliwell.

     ⁴ Omission in MS.

   ¹ John, son of Sir Robert Conyers, knight, married Eleanor, daughter of William
Yelverton, Justice of the King’s Bench.—Blomefield, i. 483.

     ² Judge Yelverton’s clerk, the writer of No. 142. See vol. ii. p. 174, Note 3.

     ³ See vol. ii. p. 110, Note 1.

     ¹ This seems to refer to the will of Sir John Fastolf, though he is not named.

1460
[before
Easter]

1460
[before
Easter]

1460
[before
Easter]

1460
[before
Easter]