Item, the tenauntys at Sweynysthorp prayid me for to wryte to yow for to pray yow for Goddys sake that ye wole help for to get hem a good baly of the hundyryd that they be in; for they sey that they have be gretly hurte by swyche offyserys as they have had ther be fore tyme. Folk wold fayne in thys contre that Heydon scholde be purveyd for, that he goo not so at large as he dothe, for he is in thys towne nere every wek, and hathe be ever syne ye yd hens. And also it is seyd in thys towne that ye have be good maister thys terme to Yatys, and many be ryth sory ther of, and that he dothe so well as it [is] seyd here that he dothe. It is seyd that he is scapyd all dangerys, and he hathe tak new accionys ageyns hys neyborys, as it is seyd. Othyr tydyngys have we none here but that ye have more pleynly there. And the Blyssyd Trinyte have yow in Hys kepyng, and send yow good sped in all yowyr materys. Wretyn in haste at Norwyche the Monday next be fore Seynt Edmunde the Kynge. Be yowyr, M. P.
My modyr wold ryth fayne know how that ye and my brodyr Wyllam wer acordyd, sche wold ryth fayne that all wer well betwene yow.
[222.1] [From Paston MSS., B.M.] I find no very satisfactory evidence touching the date of this letter. Allusion is made to John Paston having been at Lincoln. The occasion referred to might have been in 1458, when, as we know by No. 373, he went into the North as far as Doncaster; or it may have been in the spring of 1461. (See Nos. 452 and 458.) It is not probable, however, that this letter was earlier than the latter date, as there is no appearance at that time of any dispute having arisen between John Paston and his brother William. On the contrary, William Paston is in correspondence with his brother in April 1461 (No. 450). On the other hand, if the occasion referred to when John Paston was at Lincoln was in the spring of 1461, this letter could hardly have been written in the same year; for it cannot be supposed that he left books at Caister on his return south, when Caister was in the possession of the Duke of Norfolk. The date, however, being so uncertain, I prefer to place this letter at the end of John Paston’s correspondence rather than assign it doubtfully to any particular year.
and he desyiryd me that the swte that ye have
text has “be desyiryd me”
[631]
B. D. M. S. TO JOHN PASTON[224.1]
Be this delyvered to Mastyr John Paston.
I recomaunde me unto you as unknowyn. And as for the wryting I send unto you, the cause why yt was nate endossed was, for the berer ther of knew yow wel i now. And as for youre Cossyn Mary, she ys no longer with us, as a pon Seynt Mathewys Evyn she departyd from me, and went to Awdry Croxeston, and she told me that ye wold pay for her borde ther. But on thyng I let you know; she hathe demenyd her ful symply bothe for youre worship and also for her awne. Ther ys but few within oure plasse but they know how yt is with her, and al by her awne bessynes of her tunge. And I had knowyn as myche at the begynnyng as I have don sythe, I wold not have delt in the mater nat for xl. pound; for I wys she ys no thyng so sadde as I wold she wer.
No more to you at thys tyme, but the Holy Gost have you in His kepyng, and send you youre hertys esse. I pray you hertly that I may sp[e]ke with you. B. D. M. S.
[224.1] [From Fenn, iv. 262.] There is no evidence of the date either of this or of the four following letters beyond the fact that this and the two next are addressed to John Paston, while the two last are addressed to Margaret Paston during her husband’s life. None of them, therefore, can be later than 1466.