The Paston Letters
Chapter 280 : saunce Mercye_, _the Parlement off Byrd[es_, _the Temple of] Gla.s.se_, _Palatyse and

saunce Mercye_, _the Parlement off Byrd[es_, _the Temple of] Gla.s.se_, _Palatyse and Scitacus_, _the Me[ditations of ... . ] the Greene Knyght_; valet,--

4. Item, a Boke in preente off the Pleye off the [Chess].

5. Item, a Boke lent Midelton, and therin is _Bele Da[me sans] Mercy_, _the Parlement of Byrds_, _Balade ... ... off Guy and Colbronde_, _off the Goos th ... . . _, _the Dysputson bytwyen Hope and Dyspeyr_, ... ... _Marchaunts_, _the Lyffe of Seynt Cry[stofer]_.

6. A reede Boke that Percyvall Robsart gaff m[e] ... ... . . _off the medis off the Ma.s.se_, _the Lamentacion ... ... . . off Chylde Ypotis_, _a Preyer to the Vernyclr_ ... ... . . callyd _the Abbeye off the Holy Goost_, ... ... . .

7. Item, in quayers:--Tully _de Senectute_ in ... ... ... .

wheroff ther is no mor cleer wretyn ... ... .

8. Item, in quayers:--Tully, or Cypio,[66-1] _de Ami[citia]_[66-2]

leffte with William Worcester; valet ... ...

9. Item, in qwayers, a Boke of the Polecye of In ... . .

10. Item, in qwayers, a Boke _de Sapiencia_ ... ... wherin the ij.

parson is liknyd to Sapi[ence] ... . .

11. Item, a Boke de Othea,[66-3] text and glose, valet ... ... in quayers.

Memorandum,[66-4] myn olde Boke off Blasonyngs off a[rms].

Item, the nywe Boke portrayed and blasoned.

Item, a copy off Blasonyngs off armys and th ... names to be fownde by letter.

Item, a Boke with armys portrayed in paper ... . .

Memorandum, my Boke of Knyghthod and the man[er] off makyng off Knyghts, off Justs, off Tor[neaments] ffyghtyng in lystys, paces holden by so[ldiers] ... . . and chalenges, statuts off weer, and de _Regim[ine Principum]_, valet ... ... ...

Item, a Boke off nyw Statuts ffrom Edward the iiij.

[Footnote 65-2: [From Fenn, ii. 300.] This is a catalogue of the books either of John Paston the younger or of John Paston, Knight, most probably the former, drawn up in the reign of Edward IV., but owing to the decay of the original MS. we cannot tell in what year. It certainly could not have been earlier than 1475, when _The Game and Play of the Chess_ was first printed by Caxton. It is in itself a remarkable thing that the expression 'in print'

should have got into use even during the reign of Edward IV.; but one may suppose that such an expression could hardly have been current for at least a year or two after the first printed book appeared. We therefore, without deciding the year, place the paper at the end of King Edward's reign.]

[Footnote 66-1: _Quaere_, if Cypio is not a mistake from 'Somnium Scipionis,' a piece which is usually printed with the 'de Amicitia,' and probably accompanied it in this ma.n.u.script.--F.]

[Footnote 66-2: It is a curious circ.u.mstance that this book should be here mentioned as left with William Worcester, who with the a.s.sistance of John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, and John Phrea or Free, a monk of Bristol, translated it.--F.]

[Footnote 66-3: _See_ vol. v. p. 3, Note 1.]

[Footnote 66-4: These further memoranda seem to have been added at a later period, probably in the reign of Henry VII., as the last entry is of 'a book of new statutes from Edward IV.']

[Transcriber's Note: In the lists of book t.i.tles, all commas are editorial (Gairdner) but the t.i.tles are separately underlined in the MS.]

[[3. _... the Greene / Knyght_; valet,-- _"valet" printed in italic type: corrected to match MS_

5. _... saunce Mercye_, _the Parlement off ..._ _comma missing_

_... Marchaunts_, _the Lyffe of Seynt Cry[stofer]_ _text has "Marehaunts": corrected from Fenn and MS_]]

988

VERSES BY A LADY[67-1]

_Verses written by a Lady in the reign of Henry VI. or Edward IV. to an absent Lord with whom she was in love._

My ryght good lord, most knyghtly gentyll knyght, On to your grace in my most humbyll wyse, I me comand, as it is dew and ryght, Besechyng yow at leyser to advise Upon thys byll, and pardon myn empryse, Growndyd on foly, for lak of provydence, On to your lordshep to wryght with owght lycence.

But wher a man is with a fevyr shake, Now hot, now cold, as fallyth by aventure, He in hys mynd conjecte wyll, and take The nyghest meane to worche hys cuyre, More pacyently hys peynys to endure; And ryght so I, so it yow not dysplease, Wryght in thys wyse my peynys to apease.

For when I cownt and mak a reknyng Betwyx my lyfe, my dethe, and my desyer, My lyfe, alas! it servyth of no thyng Sythe with your partyng, depertyd my plesyer.

Wyshyng your presence setyth me on fyer; But then your absence dothe my hert so cold, That for the peyne I not[68-1] me wher to hold.

O owght on absence, ther foolys have no grace, I mene mysylf, nor yet no wytt to gwye Theym owt of peyne to com on to that place, Wher as presence may shape a remedye; For al dysease, now fye on my folye, For I dyspeyryd am of your soone metyng, That G.o.d I prey me to your presence bryng.

Farwell, my lord, for I may wryght no more, So trowblyd is my hert with hevynesse; Envye also, it grewyth me most sore, That thys rude byll shall put hym sylf in presse[68-2]

To se your lordshepe of hys presumptuousnesse Er I my sylf; but yett ye shall not mysse To have my hert to for my byll, I wys.

Whyche I comytt and all my hole servyse Into your hands, demeane it as you lyst; Of it I kepe[68-3] to have no more franchyse Then I hertlesse swyrly me wyst, Savyng only that it be as tryst,[68-4]

And to yow trew as evyr was hert, and pleyn Tyll cruell dethe depart yt up on tweyn.

Adew dysport, farwell good companye, In all thys world ther is no joye I weene; For ther as whyleom I sye with myn iee, A l.u.s.ty lord leepyng upon a grene, The soyle is soole, no knyghts ther be seen, No ladyse walk ther they wer wont to doone; Alas, some folk depertyd hense to soone.

Some tyme also men myght a wageor make, And with ther bowys a ffeld have it tryed, Or at the Paame ther, ther plesure for to take, Then wer they loose, that now stand as tyed, I not[69-1] wher to thys world may be aplyed; For all good cher on evyn and on morow, Whyche then was made, now tornyth me to sorow.

[Footnote 67-1: [From Fenn, ii. 304.] It is not apparent by whom these verses were written, or to what lord they were addressed.

They may have been from the Countess of Oxford to her husband after he escaped abroad in 1471 (_see_ vol. v., No. 775). Or they may have been the production of Lydgate writing in the name of a lady parted from her lord. We place them, as Fenn did, for convenience, at the end of the letters of Edward's time.]

[Footnote 68-1: 'I not' stands for 'I ne wot,' or 'I wot not,'

that is, _I know not_.]

[Footnote 68-2: Readiness.--F.]

[Footnote 68-3: I care.--F.]

[Footnote 68-4: _Quaere_, whether this means _sorrowful_ or _trusty_.--F.]

[Footnote 69-1: _See_ Note 1 on last page.]

989-991

ABSTRACTS[69-2]