No. X.

“This Inventory made the XXVI^th Day of July in the Yere of the Reigne of Kynge Edwarde the IIII^th after the Conqueste the XV^th Yere of divers Goodes and Juelles beynge in the Gildehalle of Stratforde uppon Avon delivered the seide Day and Yere in kapynge to John Hoggekyns and John Samwell then Proketours of the seide Gilde In the Tyme of Roger Pagette then Maister yf the seide Gilde.

“In the furste. In the Pantery and Botery A Stondynge Cuppe of Selver with A Kevercle of Selver gylded by the Bordurs. Item A Grete Maser callud Pardon Maser A Boude with Selver and overgylte with IIII Oches in the Bothom gylded A Grete Owche in the Myddes graven with a Crucyfix our Lady and Seynt John Baptiste.— Item a nodur Maser broken at John Oxton Weddynge with a Bonde of Selver and overgylt with a Nowche in the Botom of our Lady Selver and overgylte with IIII Hedes of Selver and overgilte and IIII Small thyn plats of Selver and overgylte in the same Maser. Item a nodur Maser with a Nowche in the Botom with a Beeste therein of Selver and overgilte and II Plates of Selver and overgilte and the Bonde of Selver and overgylte. Item a nodur Lasse Maser, with a brode Bonde of Selver and overgilte, and a Nowche in the Botom with a Rose of

Selver and overgilte. Item II Dosen Spones of Selver with flatte gyldyn Knottes at the Ende. Item III flatte Bason of Laten with II Lavers of Laten one withoute a Lydde. Item II Salte Salers. Item a Brason Morter with a pestolle of Bras. Item a Longe Cofur in the Countynghouse. Item too Laduls of Bras. Item II Skymers of Bras. Item a Flech Hooke. Item III Steyned Clothes for the Halle. Item a Grater for Brede. Item for the Halle a Borde Clothe conteynyng IX Elles and more. Item a nodur Clothe conteynynge VI Elles and a halfe. Item a nodur Borde Clothe conteynynge VIII Elles and a Quarter. Item a nodur Borde Clothe conteynynge X Elles. Item a nodur Borde Clothe conteynynge V Elles and a halfe. Item a Borde Clothe of Dyapre Werke conteynynge IIII Elles and a halfe. Item a nodur playne olde Borde Cloth conteynynge IIII Elles and halfe a Quarter. Item a nodur Mete Clothe conteynynge VI Elles. Item a nodur Borde Clothe conteynynge VII Elles and III Quarters. Item a nodur Borde Clothe conteynynge VIII Elles. Item IIII Olde Towelles one of them conteynyge III Elles and III Quarters. Item A nodur conteynynge II Elles. Item a nodur conteynynge III Elles. Item a nodur conteynynge II Elles and III Quarters. Item IIII. Item II Panttery Clothes newe bougt. Item IIII Grete Chargers. Item XIII Dosen Platers and II Peces. Item XIX Dosen Potengers of Pewtur and VII Peces. Item X Dosen Sawcers and VIII Peses of Pewter. Item II Cofurs with Evydences in the Botery. Item II Awndyrons in the Countynghouse. Item a Grete Standarde Potte of Bras. in the Store House. Item IX odur Grete Potts of Bras in the seid House. Item III small brason potts. Item IIII Grete Pannys thre of them conteynynge &wblank; Galnes a nodur conteynynge &wblank; Galnys. Item a panne broken. Item II Pannys one of them conteynynge IIII. G. a nodur III. G. & di. Item II odur Lytell pannys on of them broken near the Bordur. Item a nodur panne yeven by Alson Thorne conteynynge VII Gallnos in the Kychen.

Item II Meles, a more and a lasse. Item II Tren. Plats. Item II rounde Grete Broches. Item IIII Grete Square Broches. Item II odur Square Broches. Item II Peyre of Yron Rakkes. Item a Grete Brand Yron. Item II Trowes of Tree. Item a Peyre of Grete Cobertes yeven by Sir Nycolas Leke stondynge in the Kychyn. Item thre Theles. Item III Bordes in the Store House. Item a Spynnynge Whele for Flax. Item a Brasen potte broken by the Egge by the queste of Alson Thorne. Item VII Bordes in the Over Halle. Item III Farmes. Item IIII Tressulles. Item a potte yeven by Mawde Furbour by John Gilberts Tyme conteynynge III G. Item I Sawyng Ax of John Lever, Bocher. Item II Clevers in the Countyng House of the seid John.

“Item delyvered to the seide Procutors beynge in the Gilde Chapelle videlit Vestiments, Awter Clothes, Chaleys, with odur Goodes beynge in the seyde Chapelle.

“Furste. A Peyre of Vestmentes of Blake Velvet newe bougte by Roger Pagette with all the Reparelle. Item a newe blac Coope bought by the seide Roger. Item a nodur Peyre of Blake Vestymentes with all the Reparelle yeven by Sir William Bischoppeston Knygte of Clothe of Golde. Item a nodur Peyre Vestimentes of blewe with all the Reparelle to them with Kateryn Wheles. Item a nodur Peyre rede Vestymentes with the Reparell to them with Lyons. Item a peyre of blac Damaske Vestimentys with all the Reparelle to them. Item a nodur Peyre of Vestiments of Grene Domasay with the Reparell at Seynte John Awter in the Chapelle. Item a nodur Peyre to the seide Awter of Grene and Ray with all the Reparelle to them. Item a White Chasepull of Bordalysaunder. Item II Chaleys one overgylte and the odur Gyldud in the Bordur and within. Item II Masse Bokes. Item II Frontelles one of the Trinite and a nodur rede and blewe. Item a Frontell to Seynt Jouhn Awter with Roses and Letters of Golde. Item a nodur Frontell to the seid Awter steyned with Seynte John Baptiste and the Ymage of our Lady. Item a nodur Frontell to the

seide Awter steyned with the Trinite and Seynt John Baptiste. Item VII Awter Clothes to the Hye Awter. Item V Towelles to the seide Awter. Item a Frontell steyned with the Lyfe of Seynte Elyn. Item IIII Awter Clothes to Seynte John Awter. Item II Towelles to the seide Awter. Item V Corporoos with III Kevlyngs. Item V Cofurs. Item II Tynacles of Blewe with Lylyes and Potts with the Vestyments of the same Sute. Item V Baners and a Stremer, one of the Trinite. Item a blac Coope by Sir William Bysshoppeston Yfte. Item a Crosse of Selver and overgylte. Item a nodur Crosse of Coper and gyldud with a Foote therto. Item a nodur Crosse broken of Copur and overgylte. Item II Palles one of Selke of White and a nodur rede beton with Goolde. Item II blewe Clothes to kover the Awters withall. Item II Pelowes of Selke. Item a Grete Glas. Item II Paxes. Item II Grete Candelstykes of Laten. Item II smalle Candelstykes of Laten for the Awters. Item A Sorpleys.

“Item delyvered to the Procutours all the Vestymentes Awters Clothes Chaleys with odur Goodes beynge in the Churche for our Lady Awter and Seynte John Awter.

“Furste II Coopes of Rede and Grene with Lyons of Golde. Item a nodur Coope of rede Bawkyn with Byrdes of Golde. Item a nodur Coope of Grene Bawkyn with Swannys. Item a nodur Coope Grene and Blewe with Lylyes in Pottes. Item a Vestement with Lylyes in Pottes. Item a Vestemente of Blac Clothe of Gold. Item a Vestement of white Damaske. Item a Palle braunched with Roses and Flowers. Item a Awter Clothe of Dyapre Werke. Item II Towell of Dyapre Werke. Item Awter Clothe of playne Threde. Item II shorte Towelles of Samplyry Werke. Item an Olde Towell of Dyapre Werke. Item an Awter Clothe with a Frontell of Selke sowed to hit. Item a Clothe to honge afore our Lady in Lente. Item III Pelowes of Selke. Item a Chales gylded. Item a Masse Booke. Item a Brussh of Pekoks Fedurs. Item a Case of Selke browdered with Perles for a Corporos. Item a

Pax. Item II Standerdes of Laten. Item II smalle Candelstykes of Laten. Item an Olde Glas. Item a Cheseble of Grene with Serpentes Hedes. Item an Olde Towelle. Item a Cheseble of Grene and White Cadas with an Awbe and the Reparell to hit. Item an Awter Clothe of Dyapre Werke with a Frontell sowed thereto Item a Awter Clothe of white Threde. Item a Clothe of blewe Carde to cover the Awter. Item a Peyre of Cruetts of Pewter. Item II steyned Clothes to honge afore the Awter one of our Lady with thre Maryes a nodur of the Coronacon of our Lady All thes Perteyneth to our Lady Awter. Item II Cofurs. Item to the Roode Awter a Peyre of Vestimentes of rede powdered Selke. Item a Peyre of Vestimentes of sangwen Cadas. Item an Awter Clothe with a Frontell sowed thereto. Item II odur Awter Clothes on of them of Dyapre Werke. Item a Clothe of Blewe Bokeram to cover the Awter. Item a Clothe steyned with the Trinite and a Crucifyx. Item a Pax. Item a lytell Frontell steyned. Item a Peyre of Cruetts. Item a Clothe of Herre nex the Awter. Item a small Cofur. Item a Candlesteke of Laten. Item at Seyns John Awter II Peyre of Vestyments, on Peyre of rede Selke, a nodur of Grene Trede. Item a Palle with Bests and Branches. Item II Candelstykes of Laten. Item a Masse Booke with a Chaleys overgylte. Item an Awter Clothe with a Frontell sowed to hit. Item a Towell of Dyapre Werke. Item a Towell of playn Clothe. Item a steyned Clothe of Seynte Gregory. Item a Clothe of Frene and Blewe for Lente to honge afore the Ymages. Item II odur Awter Clothes one of them with a Frontell beten with Goolde. Item a steyned Clothe hongyng afore the Awter with Seynte John Baptiste with odur. Item a Pax. Item a Corporos with a Case of Selke. Item a Case of Twyggs to bere the Chaleys yn. Item II Cofurs. Item II Cruetts. Item II Cofurs in the Rode Lofte.”

On the back of the inventory:

“Item IX Plates in the Kychyn. Item IIII Potengers. Item IIII Sawcers.”

No. XI.

The Will of Ralph Shawe, a friend of Mr. John Shakspeare, and the father of Julius Shawe, our poet's friend, which was proved before the Rev. Mr. Bramhall, Oct. 15, 1592, (the Vicar there having a peculiar jurisdiction, as the Warden of the College of Stratford had before its dissolution), begins thus:

“In the name of God, Amen, the xviiith daye of March in the yeare of our Lord God 1591,—I, Ralph Shawe of Stratford upon Avon in the county of Warwick, Wool-driver, being weake in body,” &c. His stock of wool, as appears from his inventory, was twenty-one tods, which were estimated at 20l.—In a distringas issued by Mr. Thomas Greene, town-clerk of Stratford, to the serjeants at mace, to summon a jury for the approaching Quarter Sessions, 25 May, 1608, the name of George Shackleton, wool-driver, occurs. To drive feathers, is a term still in use.

Several branches of the woollen manufacture appear to have flourished at Stratford in the reign of Queen Elizabeth: Thus, I find frequent mention of dyers, wool-winders (see Stat. 23 Henry VIII. c. 17), card-makers, broad-weavers, fullers, and shearmen or cloth-workers: but towards the end of her reign it seems to have somewhat declined; for in A Supplication from the Bailif and Burgesses to the Lord Treasurer Burghley, dated Nov. 9, 1590, and preserved in the Chamber of Stratford, is the following paragraph:

“And whereas the said towne is now fallen much into decay, for want of such trade as heretofore they had by clothinge and makinge of yarne, ymploying and mayntayninge a number of poore people by the same, which now live in great penury and miserie, by reason they are not set at worke as before they have ben.”

That they had a hall for the sale of wool appears from the following order:

“Stratford. Burgus.

Ad aulam ibm. tent. xv.^o die Julii, a^o regni d&nbar;æ Elizabethe, &c. vicesimo primo [1579]:

“At this hall it was agreed that Mr. Petoo's should be aunswered in maner and forme followinge.

“The West-hall to be proclaimed.”

Registr. Burg. Stratf. A.

I am not, however, sure, that these two paragraphs are connected with each other. Mr. Peto was a gentleman of a very ancient family who lived at Chesterton, a few miles from Warwick. What the subject of his letter was, I have not been able to discover.

In February, 3 & 4 Ph. & Mar. [1556] an action on the case was brought by William Whatley, clothier, against Thomas Gilbert, dyer, relative to 442 yards of broad-cloth and thirty pounds of wool and yarn, which the latter undertook to dye for 10l. 13s. 4d. And a similar action was brought in July, 1589, by George Pyrrye against Frances Wheeler, dyer, relative to a charge made by the defendant for dying a certain quantity of woollen cloth, which the plaintiff alleged was exorbitant.

In the inventory of William Holmes, weaver, taken at Stratford the 22d of May, 1590, I find “one piece of medley;” in that of Michael Shackleton, weaver, 1595, “20 ells of Hurden cloth;” and in the inventory of Hugh Aynge, 1606, twelve pounds of woollen yarn.

At a subsequent period, however, in a petition of the mercers and drapers of Stratford to Sir Edward Coke about the latter end of the year 1615, praying to be relieved from certain exactions made by Lodowick Duke of Lenox, or persons employed by him, under colour of a royal patent, it is stated that there were then “no clothes or stuffs made at Stratford, but bought at London or elsewhere:” but as I find that several of the trades above-mentioned subsisted there at that time, I suspect this statement not to be rigidly correct. The exactions of the Duke of Lenox were made a subject of parliamentary

complaint some years before. See “A Record of some worthie Proceedings in the parliament holden in the yeare 1611 [1610, it should have been] 4to. 1641, p. 35.”

No. XII.

Among Camden's funeral certificates is the following:

“The 7 of August, 1600.

[After mentioning the lady whom he married,] “Sir Thomas Lucy departed this transitory life the 7th of July, 1600, whose funerall was worshipfully solemnized according to his degree, at the parish of Charlecott, the 7th of August then next following; the preacher M^r Hill, parson of Hampton. The standart borne by M^r Edward Newport, gent.; the penner borne by M^r William Walter; the helm and crest by Thomas Lant, alias Windsor, for Chester herald; the sword and targe borne by Nicholas Paddie, alias Lancaster herald; the cote of armes borne by William Camden Esq^re alias Clarentcieux; the body borne by vi of his servants. The chief mourner Thomas Lucy Knight, sonne and heir to the defunct. The assistaunts Sir Richard Fynes, M^r Jerome Farmer, and M^r Tymothie Lucy, Esquiers. In witness of the truth the executor hath hereunto subscribed his name the daye and yeare above-mentioned. Tho. Lucy.”

There is no will of Sir Thomas Lucy the elder in the Prerogative Office; but that he made one, appears from the concluding words of this certificate. It was probably proved at Stratford.

Sir Thomas Lucy had a sister, Joan, married to George Verney, Esq. and a daughter, Anne, married to Sir Edward Aston, of Tickshall, in the county of Stafford. Neither of these are mentioned by Dugdale in the pedigree of the Lucy family.

His son, Sir Thomas, who, according to the inquisition above quoted, was born in 1557 or 1558, was knighted in 1592. His first wife, who is not noticed by Dugdale, was Dorothy, the daughter of Rowland Arnold of Gloucestershire,

Esq. His second, Constantia, the daughter of Richard Kingsmill, surveyor of the Court of Wards, whom he appears to have married in 1594 [Esc. 4 Jac. p. 2, n. 75]. From his will, which is in the Prerogative Office (Heyes, qu. 77), and was made shortly after his father's death (Aug. 13, 1600), it is probable that he had travelled into foreign parts, for he bequeaths to his eldest son (beside “all his household stuff at Sutton, the gilt bason and ewer graven which was his father's together with two girdles engraved, livery pots, a nest of gilded boles with a cover, a gilded saulte and a dozen of gilded spoones”), all his “French and Italian Books.” To each of his unmarried daughters he gives one hundred marks “to be made eyther in a chayne, carkanett, or jewell, as they or their nearest friends shall think meete.” And he recites that he had made leases to certain good friends for the payment of his debts, and for the preferment of his natural daughters. He died July 16, 1605, and was buried at Charlecote (as appears from the registers), on the 20th of the same month. At his death, his eldest son, Sir Thomas Lucy (for he also was then a knight), was “nineteen years and fifty weeks old.” Esc. ut supra.

No. XIII.

Pat. 11 Hen. 8, p. 1, m. 9. Pro Wilielmo Compton, milite.

Rex. omnibus ad quos, &c. salutem. Cum dilectus et fidelis serviens noster Willielmus Compton miles, quandam parcellam terre, bosci et pasture in Overcompton et Nethercompton, alias Compton Vyneyatys in comitatu Warr. ad presens fossis sepibus et palis inclusit, ea intencione ad inde parcum cum licencia nostra regia faciendum, Nos de gratia nostra speciali ac ex certa scientia et mero motu nostris concessimus ac per presentes concedimus dicto Willielmo Compton quod idem Willielmus Compton gaudeat et teneat sibi et heredibus et assignatis suis predictam parcellam terre pasture et bosci sic ut premittitur inclusam, ut unum parcum, ac cum

omnibus et singulis libertatibus et liberis consuetudinibus ad parcum et libertatem arci pertinentibus sive spectantibus. Et ulterius de uberiori gratia nostra speciali, ac ex certa scientia et mero motu nostris, concessimus et licentiam dedimus eidem Wilielmo Compton heredibus et assignatis suis pro nobis et heredibus nostris quantum in nobis est, quod ipse heredes et assignate sui et eorum quilibet predictam parcellam terre et bosci ad presens inclusam ac duo mille acre terre et bosci suorum cum pertinentibus in predicte ville de Overcompton et Nethercompton, alias Compton Vynegatys in predicto comitatu Warr., simul cum predicta parcella ad presens inclusa, aut separatim per se imparcere includere et parcum aut parcos inde aut de qualibet inde parcella de tempore in tempus facere possit et valeat, possint et valeant, et terras et boscos illos sic inclusos et parcum aut parcos inde factos habere et tenere possit ac habeat et teneat, possint et habeant et teneant sibi heredibus et assignatis suis in perpetuum, una cum omnibus libertatibus privilegiis et liberis consuetudinibus quibuscunque ad parcum et ad libertatem parci pertinentibus sive spectantibus. Absque perturbacione impeticione impedimento molestatione seu gravamine nostri heredum vel successorum nostrorum seu aliquorum forestariorum aut Justiciariorum officiariorum, aut ministrorum nostrorum aut aliorum quorumcumque. Dumtamen terre et bosci predicti non sint infra metas sive bundas alicujus foreste sive chacee nostre; et hoc absque persecucione de breve de ad quod dampnum sive aliquo alio brevi inde fiendo. Et volumus et concedimus pro nobis heredibus et successoribus nostris dicto Willielmo Compton heredibus et assignatis suis, quod postquam idem Willielmus Compton heredis vel assignati sui predicte parcelle terre ad presens incluse ac de et in predictis duobus millibus acris terre et bosci et in qualibet inde parcella parcum inde aut de aliqua inde parcella fuit aut fieri fecerit quod ex tunc idem Willielmus heredis et assignati sui habeant teneant gaudeant et utentur infra parcum illum sive parcos illos sic inclusos

omnia et singula libertatis franchisias privilegia et liberas consuetudines ac omne id quod ad libertatem parci pertineant spectant et incumbant. Volentes firmiterque mandantes quod nullus in parco illo ad presens incluso nec in aliqua inde parcella terre et bosci predictorum postquam inclusum et factum fuerit sine licentia et voluntate dicti Willielmi Compton heredum aut assignatorum suorum in parco illo aut parcis illis aliquas feras fugat aut capiat vel aliquod ibidem capere aut facere presumat sive intermittat quod est vel erit contra libertatem aut privilegium parci aut contra formam aliquorum sive quorumcumque actuum sive ordinacionem de parcis et venatoribus in parcis concernentium editorum, et provicisorum sub pena forisfacture quadraginta librarum et sub pena imprisonamente et punicionis in eisdem actibus et ordinacionibus et eorum quolibet specificata et contenta. Et ulterius damus et licentiam concedimus pro nobis heredibus et successoribus nostris eidem Wilielmo quod ipse heredes et assignati sui habeant et teneant sibi heredibus et assignatis suis liberam Warrennam in omnibus predictis duobus millibus acris terre et in qualibet inde parcella nec non in omnibus dominicis terris suis in vellis predictis, cum omnibus quae ad liberam Warrennam pertinent absque inpeticione molestacione impedimento seu gravamine nostri heredum seu successorum nostrorum seu aliquorum officiariorum vel ministrorum nostrorum heredum vel successorum nostrorum aut aliorum quorumcumque; Ita quod nullus intret in Warrenam illam ad fugandum aut aliquod ibidem faciendum sine licentia ipsius Wilielmi heredum vel assignatorum suorum sub pena forisfacture decem librarum. Dum tamen terre ille non sint infra metas sive bundas alicujus foreste sive chacee sive Warrenne nostre.

No. XIV.

Pat' 4 & 5 Phil' & Mar', p. 8. m. 21.—Dec. 22.

Rex et Regina omnibus ad quos &c. salutem Sciatis

quod nos pro summa ducentarum quinquaginta quatuor librarum et quindecim solidorum legalis monete Anglie ad receptam Scaccarij nostri ad manus dilecti servientis nostri Nicholai Brigham unius numeratorum ejusdem Scaccarij ad usum nostrum per predilectum et fidelem consiliarium nostrum Franciscum Englefyld militem magistrum curie wardorum et liberationum nostrorum premanibus bene et fideliter solutorum unde fatemur nos plenarie fore satisfactos et persolutos Eundemque Franciscum Englefyld heredes executores et administratores suos inde acquietatos et exoneratos esse per presentes De gratia nostra speciali ac ex certa scientia et mero motu nostris Dedimus et concessimus ac per presentes pro nobis heredibus et successoribus nostrum prefate Regine^{1 note} Damus et concedimus prefato Francisco Englefyld (inter alia) Totum illum parcum n&rtilde;m vo&ctilde; Fulbroke &Pab;ke modo disparcatam ac li&bab;tatem &pab;ci n&rtilde;i de Fulbroke Ac o&mbar;es illas &tab;ras n&rtilde;as voca&ttilde; seu cogni&ttilde; &pab; nomen vel &pab; n&obar;ïa de Fulbroke &Pab;ke in Fulbroke cum &pab;tiñ in co&mtilde; n&rtilde;o War&rtilde; quondam &pab;cella &tab;ras possession&ubar; & hereditamentos olim ducis Bed&dab; & dudum Jo&hab;is nu&pab; ducis Northumb&rtilde; de alta &pab;dicõe attinc&ttilde; & convic&ttilde; existeñ aut eos al&tab;ius Aceciam o&mbar;es illas viginti & unam acras &tab;re & prati ñras unde una acra jacent infra bun&dab; d&ctilde;i dis&pab;cati parci & viginti acras inde adjacent extra & &pab;pe bun&dab; ejusdem dis&pab;cati parci quon&dab; &pab;cel&lab; &tab;ras possession&ubar; & hereditamentos d&ctilde;i quondam ducis Bed&dab; & dudum &pab;ce&lab;&lab; &tab;ras possession&ubar; & hereditamentos d&ctilde;i nu&pab; ducis Northumb&rtilde; aut eos al&tab;ius Aceciam o&mbar;es illas octoginta acras &tab;re & pasture n&rtilde;as cum &pab;tiñ jaceñ infra bun&dab; d&ctilde;i nu&pab; dis&pab;cati parci ac nu&pab; &pab;ce&lab;&lab; &tab;ras possession&ubar; & hereditamentos d&ctilde;i quondam ducis Bed&dab; & dudum &pab;d&ctilde;i nu&pab; ducis Northumb&rtilde; existeñ aut eos al&tab;ius Necnon o&mbar;es illas quadraginta^{2 note} acras &tab;re brue&rtilde; & vas&ttilde; ñras unde quadraginta acre inclundun&tab; in duabs clausu&rtilde; &tab;re eidem nu&pab; parco adjaceñ & trescen&ttilde; & sexaginta acre inde adjaceñ infra limites ejusdem nup parci ac nu&pab; &pab;ce&lab;&lab; &tab;ras possession&ubar; & hereditamentos

d&ctilde;i quon&dab; ducis Bed&dab; & d&ctilde;i nu&pab; ducis Northumb&rtilde; existeñ seu eos al&tab;ius Aceciam totam piscariam & li&bab;tatem piscan&dab; n&rtilde;am eidem parco &pab;tineñ in aqua & rivulo de Avoñ in d&ctilde;o co&mtilde; War&rtilde; accurren&ttilde; &pab; bun&dab; & limites d&ctilde;i nu&pab; parci quond &pab;ce&lab;&lab; possession&ubar; & reven&ctilde;on&ubar; d&ctilde;i quondam ducis Bed&dab; & dudum &pab;ce&lab;&lab; possession&ubar; & reven&ctilde;on&ubar; d&ctilde;i nu&pab; ducis Northumb&rtilde; existeñ seu eos al&tab;ius Quiquidem &pab;arcus de Fulbroke modo dis&pab;ca&ttilde; ac ce&tab;a &pab;mis&stilde; in eodem parco & &pab;pe eundem parcum jaceñ modo sunt in possessione d&ctilde;i Francisci Englefelde seu tenenci&ubar; vel assigñ suos.

No. XV.

This letter was written, in the year 1598, to Mr. Quiney, when he was in London, engaged in the business of the borough of Stratford. It is as follows:

“Quam possum brevissime; sed quam amantissime, nec possum literis exprimere neque mente concipere quidem. Multifarias tuas ante et post Nativitatem epistolas accepi: etiam magistro Wendaio datas et Westo ejus clerico Cantabrigiæ vidi, et magna voluptate animi perlegi ad Sessiones pacis. Sed quomodo ad te rescriberem propter itinerationis tuæ incertitudinem, facile conjectari non potui. Per quas ad nos proxime dedisti et Magistro Wendaio scripsisti, opinor te Londinum perventum se [esse] et illic te hiis meis obviam dare et de rebus omnibus iis, quantum memoriæ dabitur recordari, sic habeto. Tui tuæque omnes bene valent. Res tuæ domesticæ patris curâ, conjugis industria, ancillarum labore, benedicente Domino, succedunt pene ad votum. Le&obar; Ben.^t [Leonard Bennet] mutuo dedit 50^ta libras stipulatore Joh. Sadlero tantum. M^r Th. Brbr [Barber] nec ego ullas. M^r Ballivus, Aldermannus, et consociatio nostra omnis valet. Robertus Bedell deest; et org [George] Badger dissociatus (uti accepi) ad Camerariorum computationem, agente me ipso Bedfordiæ et Cantabrigiæ. Quibus locis quid a me actum sit, cum domum veneris (si interim non illic) accipies. Cantabrigiæ

dies solum datus est; Bedfordiæ partim ad manus venerunt, partim in expectatione pendent. Quæ in illis comitatibus vel expectationibus vel optionibus nostris responderunt, eorum omnium laudes magistro nostro Burgoino debentur meritissime secundum Deum. Jam tuo peregrinationis socio me commendatum habe; cujus uxor ac familia valetudine fruuntur desiderata, rebus aliquanto arctioribus et pressioribus. Utcumque bene sit vobis in negotiis vestris, valde imo pervalde desiderati estis. Quare omni jam excusatione cessante, domum celeriter advolate. Johannis Rogerus promisit se omni rationi promptum et alacrem, sed nihil adhuc prestitum est. Cognatus dominus Combe vasa argentea et aureata pro vado tenet, ex suasione et deliberatione Danielis Baker quo cum etiam valde succensebat tua gratia, sed illius concitationis et iracundiæ illum pœnituisse puto: sed quidem ignoro an in gratiam rediit adhuc. Sed ne verbum unum addam amplius. Sed incolumem te servet Deus omnipotens ut te sospitem mittet ad nos omni festinationi festinantius. Quia jam ad me venit soror ut litteras ad te exarem, suo nomine, illius igitur et nostri reliqua habebis vernaculo sermone; hæc enim hebetiora. Stretfordiæ Januarii 18 vpe [vespere] dat.^as 1597 [1597–8].

“Tuus utcunque suus
“Abrah. Sturley.

“Si otium dabitur, siste lites inter Magistrum Clopton et me, ac etiam inter Dominum Burtonum. Metuo non sine multo timore a mgra [magistra] warda.

“To his most lovinge Brother, M^r Richard Quiney att London geve these.”

The Mr. Comb mentioned in the foregoing Latin letter was, without doubt, Mr. John Combe. Mr. George Badger was a woollen-draper in Stratford.

In a letter, dated at Stratford, Oct. 27, 1598, and directed thus: “To his most loving brother M^r Richard Quiney att the bell in Carter Lane give these with speed,” I find the following passages:

In many other of his letters to Mr. Quiney, sentences of Latin are occasionally intermixed.

No. XVI.

“Patri suo amantissimo Mro. Richardo Quinye Richardus Quinye filius S. P. D.

“Ego omni officio ac potius pietate erga te (mi pater) tibi gratias ago pro iis omnibus beneficiis quæ in me constulisti; te etiam oro et obsecro ut provideres fratri meo et mihi duos chartaceos libellos quibus maxime caremus hoc presenti tempore; si enim eos haberemus, plurimus profecto iis usus esset nobis: et præterea gratias tibi ago quia a teneris, quod aiunt, unguiculis, educasti me in sacræ doctrinæ studiis usque ad hunc diem. Absit etiam verbulis meis vana adulationis suspicio, neque enim quenquam ex meis amicis cariorem aut amantiorem mei te esse judico; et vehementer obsecro ut maneat semper egregius iste amor tuus sicut semper anteahac; et quanquam ego non possum remunerare tua beneficia, omnem tamen ab intimis meis præcordiis tibi exoptabo salutem. Vale.

“Filiolus tuus tibi obedientissimus,

“Richardus Quinye.”

No. XIX.

Nov. 4. 1598. All health happines of suites and wellfare be multiplied unto u & u^r. labours in G^d o^r. ffather by Cr. o^r L^d.

Y^r l'er of the 21 of octobr came to mj handes the laste of the same at night &pab; Grenwai, w^c. imported a staj of suites bj S^r E^d. G^r. [Edward Grevill's] advise, until &c^r. & y^t only u should follow on for tax & sub.^{4 note} &pab;ntly and allso u^r. travell & hinderance of answere therein, bj u^r. longe travell & thaffaires of the Courte: And that o^r countrim&abar; M^r W. Shak. [Shakspeare] would &pab;'cure us monej, w^c. I will like of, as I shall heare when, & wheare, & howe; and I praj let not go that occasion, if it maj sorte to anj indifferent condicions. Also y^t if monej might be had for 30 or 40^l. a lease, &c. might be &pab;'rocured Oh howe can you make dowbt of monej, who will not beare xxx^tie or xl^s. towards such a match! The latter end of u^rl'er w^c concerned u^r houshold affaires I dd [delivered] &pab;ntly: nowe to u^r other l'er of the l^o. of novmber received the 3^d of the same.

I would I weare with u; naj if you continue with hope of those suites u wrghte of, I thinke I shall w^t [without] concent; & I will most willinglj come unto u; as had u but advise & companj & more monej &pab;'nte [present] much might be done to obtaine o^r Ccr [charter] enlarged, ij faires more, with tole of corne bests and sheepe and a matter of more valeu th&ebar; [than] all that; for (say u) all this is nothing y^t is in hand, seeinge it will not rise to 80^l. & the charges wilbe greate. What this matter of more valeu meaneth I cannot undrstand; but me thinketh whatsoever the good would be, u are afraid of want of monej. Good things in hand or neare hand can not choose but be worth monei to bring to hand, and being assured, will if neede be, bringe monej in their mouthes; there is no feare nor dowbte. If it be the rest of the tithes & the College houses and lands in o^r towne u speake of, the one half weare abundantly ritch for us; and the other halfe to increase S^r E^d [Grevill's] rialties would both beare the charge & set him sure on: the w^c I take to be your meaninge bj the latter &pab;'te of u^rl'er, where u write for a copie of the &pab;'ticulars (w^c. allso u shall have accordingly) Oh howe I fear whe I se what S^r E^d can do, & howe neare it sitteth to his selfe: leaste he shall thinke it to [too] good for us, & &pab;'cure it for himselfe, as he s'ved us the last time. for it seemeth by u^r owne words theare is some of hit [it] in u^r owne conceite, when u write if S^r E^d be as forward to do as to speake, it will be done: a dowbt I assure you not w'hout doubt to be made:—whearto allso u ad notw^tstanding y^t doubt, no want but monej. Somewhat must be to S^r E^d & to each one y^t dealeth somewhat & great reason. And me thinketh u need not be affraid to &pab;'mise that as fitt for him, for all the [them] and for u^r selfe. The thinge obtained no dowbte will paj all. For &pab;'sent advice and encouragmte u have by this time M^r Bailj; and for monej, when you certifie what u have done, & what u have spent, what u will do, & what u wante, somewhat u knowe

we have in hand, & G^d will p'vide that w^c shall be sufficient. Be of good courage. Make fast S^r E^d. bj all meanes, or els all our hope & u^r travells be utterlj disgraced Consider and advise if S^r Ed. will be faste for us, so y^t bj his goodwill to us & his meanes for us these things be brought about. What weare it for the fee farme of his rialties, nowe not above xii or xiij^l. he weare assured of the double, when these things come to hand, or more, as the goodnes of the things &pab;r'cured p'veth. But whj do I travill in these things, whe [when] I knowe not certainly what u intende, neither what u^r meanes are, nor what are u^r difficulties &pab;'ciselj & by name all w^c must be knowe' by name & speciallj w^th an estimate of the charge before anj thing can be added either for advise or supplie. I leave these matters therefore unto the allmighties mercifull disposition in u^r hand untill a more neare possibilite or more leisure will encourage u or suffer u to write more plainly & &pab;'ticularly. But w^thall the Chancell must not be forgotte' w ^c allso obtained would yeald some&pab;'ettj gub of monej for u^r &pab;'sent busines as I thinke. The &pab;'ticulars u write for shalle this morninge be dispatched & sent as soon as maj be.—All is well att home; all your paiments made & dispatchd, mj sister saith if it be so y^t u can not be &pab;'vided for M^rs Pendllbur. [Pendlebury] she will, if you will, send you up x^l. towards that by the next after, or if u take it up paj it to who u appointe. W^m Wallford sendeth order and monej &pab; W^m Court nowe cominge who hath some cause to feare, for he was newelj s'ved w^th p'ces [process] on Tusday last at Ale^r. [Aleeber] &pab; Rog'r S[adler].

M^r Parsons supposeth that Wenlock came the same day w^th M^r Bailj y^t u writt u^r l'er. he saith he supposeth u maj use yt x^l. for our br'winge matters. W^m Wiatt answered M^r Ba [Bailif] and us all y^t he would neither b'rwe him selfe, nor submit him selfe to the order; but (bj those very wordes) make against it w^th all the strength he could

possibly make, yeat we do this day begin M^r Bar[ber] and my selfe a littel for assai. My bro. D. B. [Daniel Baker] att Shrewsburj or homeward from thence. But nowe the bell hath runge my time spent. The L^d of all power, glorj, mercj, grace and goodnes, make his great power & mercie knowe towardes us in u^r weaknes Take heed of tabacco whereof we heare &pab; W^m Perrj against ani longe iournei u maj undertake on foote of necessity, or wherein the exercise of u^r bodj must be implored, drinke some good burned wine or aq'avita and ale strongly mingled w^thout bread for a t[oast] & above all keepe u warme. Farewell mj dare heart, and the L^d increase o^r loves & comforts one to an other that once it maj be such as becomethe christianity purity & sincerity w^thout staine or blemishe. Fare you well, all u^r & o^rs well. ffrom Stratford, Novem. 4^th 1598.

u^rs in all love in the best bond

M^rs Coomb^{5 note} whe Gil'ert Charnocke paid the there monej as he told me, said y^t if anj but he had brought it she would not receve it, because she had not hir gowne; & that she would arrest u for hit as soon as u come home; & much twattle; but at the end so y^t youe would pai 4^ll. towards hit, she would allow u xx^s & we shall heare at some leasure howe fruits are & hopps & sutch knakks. At this point came W^m Sheldon the silkma with a warrant to serve W^m Walford againe upon a trespasse of 500l.

To his most lovinge brother M^r Richard Quiney, at the Bell in Carter Lane att London, give these.

No. XX.

Sir Walter Ralegh, at the time Colin Clout was written,

was forty years old. His acquaintance with Spenser, we may presume, commenced in Ireland, where he first distinguished himself in military service, during the years 1580 and 1581; Spenser being, at that time, secretary to Arthur Lord Grey, who assumed the government of Ireland, as Lord Deputy, in September, 1580. At the assault on the Golden Fort, near Dingle, in the county of Kerry, a few days after Grey's arrival, where the inhuman office of putting the garrison to the sword, in cold blood, after they had surrendered at discretion, was assigned to Ralegh and another officer; Spenser, as he has himself told us, was near the scene of action, in the train of the Lord Deputy; for whose conduct, on that occasion, he has made an elaborate defence. In 1582, Ralegh returned to England; and after the death of Gerald, the sixteenth Earl of Desmond, and the consequent confiscation of his immense estate, consisting of near 600,000 acres, which produced a revenue of about 7000l. per annum, Ralegh's services were rewarded, in 1585, with a grant of 12,000 acres of land, in the counties of Waterford and Cork. “He had these lands,” according to a manuscript in the Lambeth Library (No. 617), “by expresse words of warranty in a special letter from her Majestie at a hundred marks &pab;ann. rent.” Till the year 1590, however, neither he, nor any other of the undertakers, as they were called, paid any rent. From Michaelmas, 1591, to Michaelmas, 1594, he paid only fifty marks a-year; and from that time, for ever, his rent was fixed at one hundred marks annually. In 1587, as appears from a letter written by himself to Sir Robert Cecil (Burghley Papers, p. 658), he built a castle on this estate, and established on it a colony brought from England; but before May, 1593, he had been “driven to recall all his people.” And, about the year 1600, he sold this estate to Richard Boyle, afterwards the great Earl of Corke, who, by means of its woods, and the iron-works which he erected on it, made

a great accession to his fortune. In the summer of 1589, as has been stated in the text, having been chased from the court, by Essex, he repaired to his estate in Ireland, and, doubtless, then spent some time with Spenser, at his Castle of Kilcolman, which was not far distant from Ralegh's estate: and the poet appears to have afterwards accompanied his friend to England.

Dr. Birch, in his Life of Ralegh, and others after him, have stated that Ralegh “obtained, of the crown, a grant, in 1594, of some church lands; a course of reward usual, with Queen Elizabeth, towards such as had performed any considerable service to the state....Dr. John Caldwell, upon his election to the see of Salisbury, having consented to alienate the manor of Sherborne in Dorsetshire, Sir Walter requested and procured it from her Majesty.” This statement is wholly inconsistent with the history of his disgrace at court; for it cannot be supposed that the Queen would grant him any favour at the very time he was forbid to appear in her presence. To avoid that inconsistency, therefore, it has been supposed that, in 1594, he was restored to her Majesty's favour, which he had lost by seducing one of her maids of honour, Elizabeth, a daughter of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton. But the truth is, that Dr. Caldwell, after he was elected to the see of Salisbury, and before he was confirmed in the bishoprick, on the 18th of January, 1590–91, made a lease of the manor of Sherborne to the Queen, for ninety-nine years, at the annual rent of 200l. 16s. 1d.^{6 note}; and, nine days afterwards, the Queen assigned it over to Ralegh, for the remainder of her term. His disgrace took place near eighteen months afterwards, July 1592, when he was, for some time, committed to the custody of Sir George Carew, Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance; and on the 31st of July, he was committed

to the Tower, where he was confined for two months. See a letter, from Sir Edward Stafford, to Anthony Bacon, July 30, 1592, Birch's Memoirs of Elizabeth, part i. p. 79. From other letters in the same collection, and from Camden, we learn, that he was not admitted into the Queen's presence before the end of the year 1595; if even then. In the summer of 1596, he was so far forgiven, as to be allowed a command in the expedition against Cadiz; but he was not allowed to resume the exercise of his office of Captain of the Guard till 1597. The disgrace, therefore, which Spenser so pathetically laments, continued for nearly five years. About two years after his restoration to the Queen's favour, and while his rival, Essex, was absent from the court, September 11, 1599, he obtained, from her, a grant of the manor of Sherborne to him and his heirs for ever^{7 note}, of which he had before only a lease. At what time his marriage with Elizabeth Throckmorton took place, has not been ascertained. It appears that she accompanied him to the Tower, in July, 1592; but a letter written by him to Cecil, and dated March 10, 1592^{8 note}, about three months before he and that lady were confined (for Ralegh reckoned the year as we now do), contains these remarkable words: “I meane not to come away, as they say, I will, for feare of a marriage, and I know not what. If any such thing weare, I would have imparted it unto your sealf, before any man living; and therefore I pray, believe it not; and I beseech you to suppress what you can, any such malicious report; for I protest before God, there is none on the face of the yearth, that I would be fastned unto.”

During the period above-mentioned, it was, that he poured forth those piteous complaints at being excluded from the presence of his “love's Queen, and the goddess of his life;” to which Spenser alludes in the following verses of the poem which has given rise to these observations.

Thestylis having asked what was the subject on which the shepheard of the ocean descanted, Colin replies,

That the colouring of this picture is not overcharged, appears from Ralegh's own words, and also from a very curious letter written by Arthur Gorges, and already alluded to.

In a letter, written by Ralegh to Cecil, in July 1592, and, as it should seem, on the day when he was sent to the Tower, are the following passages:

“My heart was never broken till this day, that I hear the Queen goes away so farr of [on her progress], whom I have followed so many years with so great love and desire, in so many journeys, and am now left behind her in a dark prison all alone. When she was at hand, that I might hear of her once in two or three dayes, my sorrowes were the lesse; but even now my heart is cast into the depth of all misery. I that was wont to behold her riding like Alexander, hunting like Diana, walking like Venus, the gentle wind blowing her hair about her pure cheeks, like a nymph; sometimes sitting in the shade like a goddess; sometimes singing like an angel; sometimes playing like Orpheus; behold the sorrow of this world, once [one] amiss hath bereaved me of all.....All those times past, the loves, the sythes, the sorrows, the desires, can they not weigh down one frail misfortune! Cannot one drop of gall be hidden in so great heaps of sweetness? I may then conclude, spes et fortuna, valete.”

Mr. Gorge's letter to Sir Robert Cecil, on this subject, is so curious, and so well illustrates Spenser's verses, that I shall give it entire. Dr. Birch says, “it has no date of month or year, but the indorsement is 26th July.” The indorsement, however, in the copy in the Museum (MSS. Birch, 4106) is as follows: “Mr. A. Gorge's letter to my Mr. July 26, 1592;” which doubtless was written by Cecil's secretary. This letter was written five days before that above quoted, while Ralegh was in the custody of Sir George Carew (afterwards Earl of Totness), then Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance:

From the following postscript, added on a slip of paper, and fastened by wax to the letter, it appears that the writer's principal object was, that it should be shown to the Queen, in order to serve Ralegh, who was his kinsman:

“If you let the Qs. Majestie know heareof, as you thinck good, so be it; but otherwyse, good Sir, keepe it secrett, for theyr credyttes, for they know not of my discourse, which I could wyshe her Majestie knewe.”

It remains only to add a few words concerning Ralegh's poetry. Puttenham, in 1589, says, “for dittie and amorous ode I finde Sir Walter Raleyghs vayne most loftie insolent and passionate;” and in another place he classes him in “the crewe of courtly makers, noblemen and gentlemen of her Majesties own servauntes, who have written excellently well, as it would appeare, if their doings could be found out and made publicke with the rest.” Of the doings of Ralegh in this way, very few remain; but yet more than is generally known. It is extraordinary that his Cynthia, a poem written expressly in honour of Elizabeth, should not have been preserved. It is alluded to by Spenser, in his letter expounding the scheme of the Faery Queen, and again more particularly mentioned in the conclusion of his verses addressed to Ralegh, at the end of the third book of that poem. Gabriel Harvey, in his MSS notes on Chaucer, already quoted, denominates Ralegh's Cynthia, “a fine and sweet invention.” Puttenham, in p. 168, and elsewhere, has quoted lines from some of Ralegh's ditties. The little poem, entitled sometimes The Farewell, and sometimes The Lie, beginning—“Go, soul, the body's guest,” which has been attributed to Ralegh, I believe, first appeared in Davison's Poetical Rhapsody. 1608; but it is not subscribed with even the initial letters of his names. It may, therefore, be doubted whether it be his. Whosoever was its author, it must have been written as early as 1595, for a manuscript copy of it with that date is in

my possession. On the other hand, the poem subscribed W. R., and published by Davison, in the first edition of the same miscellany, 1602, beginning with the words—“Conceipt begotten by the eyes,” and the verses prefixed to the translation of Lucan, by his friend Sir Arthur Gorges, folio, 1614, and subscribed with the same initial letters, were doubtless written by Ralegh.

Among the epitaphs on Sir Philip Sidney, collected by Spenser at the close of his Astrophel, that which commences “To praise thy life or waile thy worthie death,” was certainly Sir Walter's production, as appears from the notes subjoined to the 16th book of Harrington's translation of Ariosto: “Our English Petrarche, Sir Philip Sidney, or, as Sir Walter Ralegh in his Epitaph worthely calleth him, ‘the Scipio and the Petrarche of our time,’” &c. See the last stanza of the epitaph in question. Indeed, the authors of all the anonymous epitaphs on Sidney, subjoined to Spenser's Astrophel, may, in like manner, be ascertained. The first epitaph, by Clorinda, as Spenser himself intimates, was written by Mary Countess of Pembroke. The second, entitled The Mourning Muse of Thestylis, was written at Dublin, in 1587, by Spenser's friend, Lodowick Bryskett, the initial letters of whose names are subscribed to the following Æglogue, with the same motto, which is prefixed to his Treatise of Civil Life, 4to. 1606. See also an entry in the Stationers' books, by John Wolfe, in 1587: “The Mournfull Muses of Lod. Bryskett upon the Death of the most noble Sir Phillip Sidney, Knight.” The third anonymous epitaph, beginning—“As then no wind at all there blew,” was the production of Mathew Roydon, a poet who was living in 1611 (see Davies's Scourge of Folly, p. 201), and whose “comick inventions” are highly praised by Nashe, in his epistle prefixed to Greene's Menaphon, 4to. 1589, ad finem, where there is a reference to this elegy. The fourth, we have seen, is Sir Walter Ralegh's; and the fifth, beginning, “Silence augmenteth grief, writing encreaseth

rage,” may be safely attributed to Sir Edward Dyer. It had previously appeared in a miscellany entitled The Phœnix Nest, 4to. 1593, where it is said to be “excellently written by a most worthy gentleman.” He was an intimate friend of Sidney; and these verses were evidently dictated by sincere grief and affection. The measure, too, is that which Dyer has employed in other compositions^{2 note}