Middle English Literature

litere pertinentes manerio de Gresh:
30
Ryt wurchypful hosbond, I recommawnd me to you, desyryng hertyly to
heryn of yowr wele-fare, be-seching you that ye be not displesyd thow I be
com fro that place that ye left me in for, be my trowth, ther were browth
me seche tydyngys be dyverys personys qhiche ben yowre wele-willerys and
myn that I durst no lengere abyd there, of qhyche personys I xall late you
have wetyng qhan ye com hom. It was done me to wete that dyverys of the
Lord Moleynys men saydyn if thei myt gete me, they xuld stele me and kepe
me wyth-inne the kastell, and than they seyd thei wold that ye xuld feche
me owth. An thei seydyn it xuld ben but a lytyll hert-brenny[n]g to you.
And after that I herd these tydyngys, I kowd no rest have in myn hert tyl I
was here, nere I durst nowt owt of the place that I was in tyll that I was
redy to ryden; nere ther was non in the place wist that I xul com thens save
the godewyf not an owre be-fore that I kam thens. And I told here that I
xuld com hedder to don maken seche gere as I wold have made for me and
for the childer and seyd I sopposyd that I xuld be here a fowrtennythe or
three wekys. I pray you that the caws of my komyng away may ben kownsell
tyl I speke wyth you, for thei that lete me have warnyng ther-of wold not
for no good that it were diskuryd.
31
I spac wyth yowr modyr as I kam hidderwardys, and sche profyrd me, if
ye wold, that I xuld abydyn in this town. Sche wold wyth rytgh a good will
28
September 28, probably 1443.
29
John Paston II.
30
“letter pertaining to the manor at Gresham,” 10 miles northwest of Paston in Norfolk.
31
disclosed.

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that we xul abyde in here place and delyveryn me seche gere as sche myt
for-bere to kepen wyth hwsold tyl ye mytgh ben purvayd of a place and stuff
of yowr owyn to kepe wyth howsold. I pray you send me word be the
brynger of this how ye wil that I be demenyd.
32
I wol ben rytgh sory to
dwel so nere Gressam as I dede tyl the mater were fully determynyd be-twix
the Lord Moleynis and you.
Barow
33
told me that ther ware no better evydens in I[n]glond than the
Lord Moleynys hathe of the maner of Gressam. I told hym I sopposyd that
thei were seche evydens as Willyam Hasard
34
seyd that yowr were. He seyd
the sellys
35
of hem were not yett kold. I seyd I sopposyd his lordys evydens
were seche. I seyd I wost wele, as for yowr evydens, ther mytgh no man
have non better than ye have, and I seyd the selys of hem were to hundred
yere elder than he is. The seyd Barow sayd to me if he com to London qhil
ye were there, he wold drynk wyth you for any angyr that was be-twyx yow.
He seyd he dede but as a servaw[n]t and as he was commawndyd to don.
Purry
36
xall tell you qhat langage was be-twyx Barow and me qhan I kam
fro Walsy[n]gham. I pray you hertyly, at the reverens of God, be ware of
the Lord Moleynys and his men; thow thei speke never so fayr to you, trost
hem not, ne ete not, nere drynk wyth hem, for thei ben so fals it is not for
to trost in hem. And also I pray you be ware qhat ye eten ar drynk wyth any
othere felaschep, for the pepyll is ful on-trosty.
I pray you hertylye that ye wil vowche-save to send me word how ye don
and how ye speden in yowr materis be the brynger of this. I merveyl meche
that ye send me nomore tydyngys than ye have sent.
Rogere Foke of Sparham
37
sent to me and seythe that he dare nott gon
owt of his hows for be kawse of the sewte that Heydon
38
and Wymdam
39
have agens hem, for he is thrett that if he may be gette, he xal be ladde to
preson. Heydon sent Spendlove and other to wayte qhere he were and to
arest hym to the kastell, and the forseyd Roger is so aferd that his drede
makyth hym so seke that but if he have sokowr sone, it is lyke to ben his
dethe. Qhere-for I pray you, and he bothyn, that ye wil purvay a remedy for
hym that he may gon at large, for it hurtit bothen yowr katel and hym.
32
ruled.
33
Walter Barrow, one of Lord Moleyns’s men.
34
Another of the lord’s men.
35
seals.
36
One of the Pastons’ men.
37
The Pastons’ man at Sparham, one of their manors.
38
John Heydon of Baconsthorpe, a lawyer for Lord Moleyns.
39
John Wyndham of Felbrigg.
Women: Margaret Paston
131

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132
Gender, Sexuality, and Difference
Yowr closys and yowr pastowr lythe all opyn be-kawse he may not gon
abrodde to don hem amendyn, and yowr schep ar not lokyd at as they xuld
ben for ther is no schepeherd but Hodgis sonys, for other schepherd dare
non abyd ther ner com up-on the comown be-kause that Wichyngham men
thretyn hem to bete if thei comen on here komon. And but if yowr bestys
mown comown ther, it xall ben grette hurt to hem but if the have more
pasture than thei have be-syd thatt.
Watkyn Schipdam recommawndyth hym to you and prayt you that ye
woll speke to Sere Jon Fastolf for the harneys that ye hadden of hym and
tellyn hym how it is that som ther-of is gon and speke to hym that thei that
arn bownd ther-for nere thei that delyveryd it ben no hurt.
40
I have yove Purry a gown. I pray you take heed qhat it is and send me
word if ye wil that I purway all yowr leverés
41
of the same. The pris of a yerd
ther-of is thirteen and a half pence, and so me semyt it is wele worth.
The parson of Sparrammys dowter and other talkedyn largely and seydyn
that ye have hadde on schote and, but if ye ben ware, ye xall have more or
Estern. Ye xall for-bere
42
Sporyl and Sweynysthorp
43
also but if ye bere you
wele er ye have do wyth the mater of Gressam. It is told me as for Gressam,
the Lord Moleynys xuld not cleym it now nother be tayl
44
nere be evydens
but be infefment of on of his anseteris, qhiche dyid sesynnyd,
45
and in the
same wise it is seyd that Sweynysthorp xul be cleymyd. In qhat wyse Sporyl
xuld ben cleymyd I wote not but, if ther be any seche thing to-ward, I send
you wor[d] here-of that ye may taken hede the . . .
46
Thomas Skipping seyd
qhan he kam fro London to a man that he wend xuld not a dis[kuryd] it
that th . . . yke to for-gon the maner of Sporyll wyth-in rytgh schort tym. As
for the pleyntys in the hundred . . . Purry xall tell . . . you qhat is don and of
other thingys more.
The Holy Trynyté have you in his keping. W[retyn at] Norwyche on the
Fryday nexst after Puver Weddenysday.
47
40
Margaret knew Sir John Falstof through her family. John, her husband, came to act for
Falstof in business matters which, after Falstof ’s death in 1459, embroiled him in complicated
legal matters.
41
clothes.
42
forego.
43
Two Paston properties.
44
entail (to heirs).
45
confer legal possession of.
46
The manuscript page starts to deteriorate here.
47
February 28, 1449.

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