[188.1] [From Fenn, iv. 90.] From the mention of ‘this cold winter’ at the beginning of this letter we might naturally suppose that the feast ‘of Sent Mathe,’ on or about which it was written, was that of St. Matthias, which occurs on the 24th of February. But we believe the day of St. Matthew to have been intended, so that the expression must have had reference to some unusually cold weather in September. It is clear from the contents of the letter that Margaret Paston had recently been with her husband in London, and had just left him in company with Richard Calle on her return towards Norfolk. Letters for her and Richard Calle had arrived from her two sons since they departed. Now the only time, so far as I can find, that Margaret Paston ever visited her husband in London—at all events when her sons were grown up—was in September 1465; and on that occasion Calle was with her, and everything else agrees. Indeed, no one can doubt that the latter portion of the letter immediately following was written in answer to this letter.
[188.2] Worsted is a small market-town in the most east part of the county of Norfolk, formerly famous for the manufacture of those stuffs which still bear its name, and of which, for the worship of Norfolk, J. Paston desired his doublet to be made.—F.
[188.3] Jaquetta, daughter of Peter of Luxembourg, Earl of Saint Pol, was the second wife of John, Duke of Bedford, the Regent of France during Henry VI.’s minority. She was married to him in 1433, and after his decease, in 1435, she became the wife of Sir Richard Wydvile, and died in 1472.
[189.1] Anne, eldest daughter of John Montacute, third Earl of Salisbury, married, 1st, Sir Richard Hankford, Knight; 2ndly, Sir Lewis John, Knight (whose will was proved in 1442); and 3rdly, John Holland, who was created Duke of Exeter 6th January 1443, and died in 1446. Fenn erroneously supposed the lady to have been the widow of Thomas Beaufort, a previous Duke of Exeter, who died in 1426. This Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, married Margaret, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas Nevill, but his wife did not survive him, as Fenn supposed, for at his death he was found to have been tenant of her lands for life by the law of England. Fenn’s note on this passage is, however, so interesting that we must quote a part of it. Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, was buried in the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds. ‘On digging,’ he says, ‘amongst the ruins of this Abbey, the body of the Duke was found, on the 20th of February 1772, wrapt in lead, and entire. The face, hair, and every part were perfect, and the flesh solid, but being exposed to the air, the body soon became offensive . . . . . I procured some of the hair, which was of a fine brown colour, and very flexible.’
[189.2] Sir Richard Wydvile, in 1448, was created Baron Rivers of Grafton, in Northamptonshire, and elected a Knight of the Garter. His daughter Elizabeth afterwards became the Queen of Edward IV., who then advanced her father to the dignity of Earl Rivers. He was seized by the Lancaster mutineers, and beheaded at Banbury in 1469.—F.
[190.1] Male, or Mail, is a trunk or portmanteau. It is to be observed that in the original letter the verses do not finish the line but are written as prose.—F.
[190.2] Pieces of money.
[190.3] I do not understand this line.—F. Surely ‘ours’ must be a misreading of ‘curs’ (curse)?
[190.4] Henry, Lord Percy, son and heir of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, who was killed at the Battle of Towton in 1461, by Eleanor, granddaughter and heir of Robert, Lord Poynings.
His father having been attainted, he continued to be called Lord Percy; but he was afterwards fully restored both in blood and title.