William Paston to the Bailiff of Mautby

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Reference

Add. 34889, f. 137

Date

1489

Library / Archive

Transcript location(s) in printed volume(s)

Gairdner, Vol VI, item 1033; Fenn, Vol IV, Edward IV item 79

Transcript from John Fenn, 'Original Letters, written during the reigns of Henry VI., Edward IV., and Richard III…. Volume IV' (1st transcript)

LETTER LXXIX.

To the Baly
of Mawlteby.

MAYSTER Baly I recomaunde me on to yow Praynge
yow that ye woll sende me be wyll'm Hokkys berer
he of iiij nobylles in golde putt in to the same boxe that thys
byll is in as thow it were euydens for I haue tolde the masen-
gere that he schulde brynge me nothyng but euydens for he is
in a manere deprtyng owt of my s'uyse wherfore J wold nott he
knew so myche of my counsell and as for the remenaunte I
wellde ze wchulde kepe it tyll I come my selfe And if bayard be
onsolde I pray yow late hym be made fatte ageyns the Kynge
Come in to the contre what so eur I pay for the kepyng of hym
and I schall wete how goode a corser I schall be my selfe at my
comyng in to the Contre be the grace of god who haue yow in
kepyng Wretyn at Henyngh'm.

Be yo^r

Wrll'm Pasrou.

12 by 3 1/2.

The curiosity of this Letter consists in the cautions given by W. Paston to the Bailiff
for the safe and secret conveyance of the money, and in his attention to the good keep-
ing of his horse Bayard.

William Paston was Brother to John Paston, and Uncle to Sir John, and probably
wrote this Letter in the reign of Edward IV. Autograph. PI. II. No 21.

Edward IV. was in Norsolk in 1469, and again in 1474.

Transcript from John Fenn, 'Original Letters, written during the reigns of Henry VI., Edward IV., and Richard III…. Volume IV' (2nd transcript)

LETTER LXXIX.

To the Bailiff of Mawteby.

MASTER Bailiff I recommend me unto you, praying you
that ye will send me by william Cocks bearer hereof
four Nobles in gold, put into the same box that this bill is in,
as though it were evidence, for I have told the messenger that
he should bring me nothing but evidence, for he is in a manner
departing out of my service, wherefore I would not he know
so much of my counsel, and as for the remanent I would ye
should keep it till I come myself.

And if Bayard be unsold, I pray you let him be made fat
against the King come into the country, whatsoever I pay for the
keeping of him, and I shall weet how good a courser I shall be
myself, at my coming into the country, by the grace of God,
who have you in keeping. Written at Heveningham.

By your

WILLIAM PASTON.

Heveningham, Suffolk,

Perhaps 1469. 9 E IV.

William Paston was Brother to John Paston, and Uncle to Sir John, and probably
wrote this Letter in the reign of Edward IV. Autograph. PI. II. No 21.

Edward IV. was in Norsolk in 1469, and again in 1474.

Transcript from James Gairdner, 'The Paston Letters, A.D., 1422-1509, New Complete Library Edition, Volume VI'

1033

WILLIAM PASTON TO THE BAILIFF OF MAUTBY¹

To the Baly of Mawlteby.

       MAYSTER Baly, I recomaunde me on to yow, praynge
           yow that ye woll sende me be Wylliam Kokkys²
           berer her of, iiij. nobylles in golde, putt in to the
same boxe that thys byll is in, as thow it wer evydens; for I
have tolde the masengere that he schulde brynge me nothyng
but evydens, for he is in a manere departyng owt of my
servyse, wherfore I wold nott he knew so myche of my
counsell. And as for the remenaunte, I wellde ze schulde
kepe it tyll I come my selfe.

And if Bayard be onsolde, I pray yow late hym be made
fatte ageyns the Kynge come in to the contre, what so ever I
pay for the kepyng of hym, and I schall wete how goode a
corser I schall be my selfe, at my comyng in to the contre, be
the grace of God, Who have yow in kepyng.

Wretyn at Henyngham.

Be your, WYLLIAM PASTON.

¹ [From Fenn, iv. 310.] This letter is dated from Heningham, or Hedingham,
one of the places which, as we have seen in No. 1031, the King was to have visited on
his intended journey northwards in 1489. I have little doubt, therefore, that it was
written in that year. The writer, according to Fenn, was William Paston, Sir
John’s uncle; but it is remarkable that in this same year William Paston, Sir John’s
brother, writes to him from Heningham, and as the signatures of the two Williams
were not very unlike each other, one may fairly suspect that Fenn has here made an
error. This suspicion is, moreover, confirmed by the fact that Mautby was the pro-
perty of Margaret Paston, who died in 1484, and that it could not possibly have
descended to her brother-in-law William, though her son William may have had an
interest in it.

² Fenn prints the name ‘Hokkys,’ but as the reading in the modernised version is
Cocks, I presume this is a printer’s error.

1489