To my ryght wyrshypfull husband, John Paston, be thys delyveryd in hast.
1465
MAY 3
Ryght wyrshipful husbond, I recomaunde me unto you. Drayton tenaunts bony, perter ij. Pleasyd you to wyte that I have spokyn thys wyke with dyvers of youre tennaunts of Drayton and put hem in comfort that all shalbe well hereafter by the grace of God; and I fyle well by hem that they wylbe ryght glad to have ayen there olde mayster, and so wold they all except j. or ij. that be fals shrewys. And thys next wyke I purpose on Wensday or Thursday to be at Haylesdon, and to a byde ther a wyke or ij., and send oure men aboute to gedere money at Drayton and Haylesdon; and yf ye wyll I woll do kepe a corte at Drayton or I com thens. I pray yow send me word how ye wyll that I doo there in. Malt, barly. I recevyd ij. letters from you of Nicholl Tolman yesterday, werin ye desyre that we shuld purvey for your malte and barley; and soo shall we doo as well as we cann, and send you word howe that we may doo therewith in hast.
Item, yesterday Master Phylyp[132.1] toke Dorlets hors uppon Drayton lond as they went to the plowe for the hole yere ferm; and as it ys told me the tenaunts of Drayton tolde hym that he dyde hym wrong to make hym pay for the hole yere, Dorlat et verba M.P. for non of the tenaunts had payd hym but for the di’ [half] yere and he say thohg they had not payd but for the di’ yere, Paston shuld pay for the other di’ yere, and for moo yers also yf he lyvyd. But I trow to gyte Dorlet ayen hys hors or els Mr. Phylyp ys lyke to be unhorssyd ons, and we lyve all. Your son[132.2] shall com hom to moryn, as I trowe, and as he demenyth hym hyr after I shall lete you have knowlych; J. P., sen. and I pray you thynk not in me that I wyll supporte hym ne favour hym in no lewdnesse, for I wyl not. As I fynd hym hereafter, soo I wyll lete you have knowlych. I have put your evydens that com owte of the abbay[132.3] in a seck and enseylyd hem under Ric. Call ys seall that he shal not say but they eryn as he left hem; Rotuli prioris (?) but as for the place where they ern kypt he hath no knowlych . . . . . . . . . . . As for the gentylwoman that ye wrote to me for yn youre lettere, I . . . . . . . . . . . . there, yf it lykyd all folks as well as it shold doo me, I trow . . . . . . . a bowte yf her frends were as well a gryed therto, and as they . . . . . . . . parte, yf ye wyll that it be movyd of more hereafter I wyll . . . . . . . . wyll make a newe parson, at Drayton. Also it ys sayd that . . . . . . . . there, by cause it hath stond so long voyd; yet and any sh. . . . . . . had lever that he com in by the Byshop then by a . . . . . . . . doo therein yf ye wyll send hom any presentacion selyd . . . . . . . . we shall a say to gyte som gode priste and sette hym . . . . . . . . Wryten in haste at Caster on Holy Rode Day &c.
As . . . . . . . doo therein as well as I cann. I have gyte a replevyn . . . . . . . . CC shype, and yf they may not be hadde ayen, then he grau[nteth] . . . . . . . . Data obligacione (?) pro ovibus. We fynd hym ryght gode in that we desyre of him for you, and therfore yf it lyke you I wold he were th . . . . . .
[131.2] [From Paston MSS., B.M.] Holy Rood Day, on which this letter is dated, commonly means the 14th of September (feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross). Here I suspect it is the 3rd May (Invention of the Holy Cross), as the contents of the letter suit that date in the year 1465. It will be seen that Margaret Paston dates from Caister, and proposes next week to be at Hellesden. Her next letter, dated the 10th May, is from Hellesden, and shows that she carried out the intention here expressed of sending men to collect money at Drayton, and had left her eldest son at Caister to keep the place. There is also a close agreement between that letter and this, in what is said about the demeanour of the tenants and Mr. Philip’s conduct. The apostyle of this letter, as of the preceding, is in the hand of John Paston, very ill written, and occasionally ambiguous.
[132.1] Philip Lipgate, the Duke of Suffolk’s bailiff.
[132.2] Sir John Paston.