treason Th'vnlawfull meanes doth make his lawfull gaine Hee speakes most true when he the most doth faine Pardon the faults that haue escap'd by mee Against fayre vertue chastitie and thee If Gods can theyr owne excellence excell It is in pardoning mortalls that rebell VVhen all thy tryalls are enroul'd by fame And all thy sexe made glorious by thy name Then I a captiue shall be brought hereby To adorne the tryumph of thy chastitie I sue not now thy Paramore to be But as a husband to be linck'd to thee I am Englands heyre I thinke thou wilt confesse VVert thou a Prince I hope I am no lesse But that thy birth doth make thy stocke diuine Else durst I boast my blood as good as thine Disdaine me not nor take my loue in scorne vvhose brow a crowne heereafter may adorne But what I am I call mine owne no more Take what thou wilt and what thou wilt restore Onely I craue what ere I did intend In faithfull loue now happily may end Farewell sweet Lady so well maist thou fare To equall ioy with measure of my care Thy vertues more then mortall tongue can tell A thousand thousand times farewell farewell Notes of the Chronicle Historie Receaue these papers from thy wofull Lord. BAndello by whom this history was made famous being an Italian as it is the peoples custome in that climbeâ— rather to faile sometime in the truth of circumstance then toforgoe the grace of their 〈◊〉 in like manner as the Grecians of whom the Satyrist Et quicquid Graecia mendax Audet in historia Thinking it to be a greater tryall that a Countesse should be sude vnto by a King then by the sonne of a King and consequently that the honor of her chastitie should be the more hath causd it to be generally taken so but as by Polidore Fabian and Froisard appeares the contrarie is true Yet may Bandello be very well excused as beeing a stranger whose errors in the truth of our historie are not so materiall that they should neede an inuectiue least his wit should be defrauded of any part of his due which were not lesse were euery part a fiction Howbeit least a common errour should preuaile against a truth these Epistles are conceiued in those persons who were indeed the actors to wit Edward surnamed that Black Prince not so much of his complexion as of the dismall battels which he fought in Fraunce in like sence as we may say a black day for some tragicall euent though the sunne shine neuer so bright therein And Alice the Countesse of Salisbury who as it is certaine was beloued of Prince Edward so it is as certaine that many points now current in the receiued story can neuer hold together with likelihood of such enforcement had it not been shewed vnder the title of a King And when thou let'st downe that transparent lid Not that the lid is transparent for no part of the skin is transparent but for the gemme which that closure is sayd to containe is transparent for otherwise how could the mind vnderstand by the eye should not the images slide through the same and replenish the stage of the fantasie but this belongs to Opticks The Latines call the eye lid cilium I will not say of celande as the eye brow supercilium and the haire on the eye lyds palpebra perhaps quod palpitet all which haue their distinct and necessary vses Alice Countesse of Salisburie to the blacke Prince AS one would grant yet gladly would denie Twixt hope and feare I doubtfully reply A womans weakenes least I should discouer Answering a Prince and writing to a louer And some say loue with reason doth dispence And wrest our plaine words to another sence Thinke you not then poore women had not neede Be well aduis'd to write what men should reede vvhen being silent moouing but awry Giues cause of scandall and of obloquy vvhilst in our harts our secret thoughts abide Th'inuenom'd tongue of slaunder yet is tide But if once spoke deliuered vp to fame Hers the report but ours returnes the shame About to write yet newly entring in Me thinks I end ere I can well begin VVhen I would end then somthing makes me stay And then me thinks I should haue more to say And some one thing remaineth in my brest For want of words that cannot be exprest vvhat I would say and said to thee I faine Then in thy person I reply againe Then in thy cause vrge all I can obiect Then what againe mine honour must respect O Lord what sundry passions doe I try Striuing to hate you forcing contrarie Being a Prince I blame you not to proue The greater reason to obtaine your loue That greatnes which doth challenge no deniall The onely rest that doth allow my triall Edward so great the greater were his fall And my offence in this were capitall To men is granted priuiledge to tempt But in that charter women be exempt Men win vs not except we giue consent Against our selues except our selues are bent VVho doth impute it is a fault to you You proue not false except we be vntrue It is your vertue being men to trie And it is ours by vertue to denie Your fault it selfe serues for the faults excuse And makes it ours though yours be the abuse Beauty a begger fie it is too bad vvhen in it selfe sufficiencie is had Not made a lure t' intice the wandring eye But an attire t' adorne sweet modestie If modestie and women once doe seuer Farewell our fame farewell our name for euer Let Iohn and Henry Edwards instance be Matilda and faire Rosamond for me A like both woo'd alike â—u'd to be wonne Th' one by the Father th' other by the Sonne Henry obtaining did our weakenes wound And layes the fault on wanton Rosamond Matilda chaâ—t in life and death all one By her deniall layes the fault on Iohn By these we proue men accessarie still But women onely principals of ill VVhat prayse is ours but what our vertues get If they be lent so much we be in debt vvhilst our owne honours vertue doth defendâ— All force too weake what euer men pretend If all the world else should suborne our fame T is we our selues that ouerthrow the same And how so ere although by force you win Yet on our weakenes still returnes the sin You are a vertuous Prince so thought of all And shall I then be guiltie of your fall Now God forbid yet rather let me die Then such a sinne vpon my soule should lie VVhere is great Edward whether is he led At whose victorious name whole Armies fled Is that braue spirit that conquer'd so in France Thus ouercome and vanquish'd with a glance Is that great hart that did aspire so hie So soone transpersed with a womans eye He that a King at Poycters battell tooke Himselfe led captiue with a wanton looke Twice as a bride to Church I haue beene led Twice haue two Lords enioy'd
THE BARRONS WARS in the raigne of Edward the second VVITH ENGLANDS Heroicall Epistles ¶ By Michaell Drayton AT LONDON Printed by I. R. for N. Ling. 1603. To the worthy and his most honored friend Ma. VValter Aston I vvill not striue m' invention to inforce vvith needlesse words your eyes to entertaine T' obserue the formall ordinarie course That euery one so vulgarly doth faine Our interchanged and deliberate choice Is with more firme and true election sorted Then stands in censure of the common voyce That with light humor fondly is transported Nor take I patterne of anothers praise Then what my pen may constantly avow Nor walke more publique nor obscurer waies Then vertue bids and iudgement will alow So shall my loue and best endeuours serue you And still shall studie still so to deserue you Michaell Drayton To the Reader The Quadrin doth neuer double or to vse a word of Heraldrie neuer bringeth foorth Gemells The Quinzain too soone The Sestin hath Twinnes in the base but they detaine not the Musicke nor the Cloze as Musitions terme it long enough for an Epick Poem The stanza of seauen is touched before This of eight both holds the tune cleaue through to the base of the columne which is the couplet at the foote or bottom closeth not but with a full satisfaction to the eare for so long detention Briefely this sort of stanza hath in it maiestie perfection soliditie resembling the piller which in Architecture is called the Tuscan whose shaft is of sixe diameters bases of two The other reasons this place will not beare but generally all stanzas are in my opinion but tyrants and torturers when they make inuention obey theyr number which sometime would otherwise scantle it selfe A fault that great Maisters in this Art striue to auoyde Concerning the deuision which I vse in this Poem I am not ignorant that antiquitie hath vsed to distinguish workes into Bookes and euery one to beare the number of theyr order Homers Iliads and Vlysiads indeede are distinguished by seuerall letters of the Greeke Alphabet as all the world knowes and not by the numerall letters onely which to Iota are digit and afterward compound the Alpha beeing our vnit for the Greekes had no figures nor cyphers in their Arithmeticke Virgils AEneis Statius Thebais Silius worke of the Carthagenian war Illyricus Argonauticks Vidas Christeis are all deuided into books The Italians vse Cantos so our first late great Reformer Ma. Spenser that I assume another name for the sections in this volum cannot be disgratious nor vnauowable Lastly if I haue not already exceeded the length of an Epistle I am to intreat that he who wil as any man may that wil make himselfe a party to this of ours would be pleased to remeÌ„ber that Spartan Prince who beeing found by certaine Embassadors playing among his children requested them to forbeare to censure til also they had some of their owne To such I giue a sample power and priuiledge as euer Ius liberorum could in Rome crauing backe againe at their hands by a regrant the like of that which I impart for great reason there is that they should vndergoe the licence which themselues challenge suffer that in their fames which they would wrongly put vpon others according to the most indifferent law of the Talio Fare you well To Ma. Michaell Drayton WHat ornament might I deuise to fit Th' aspiring height of thy admired spirit Or what faire Garland worthy is to sit On thy blest browes that compasse in all merit Thou shalt not crowned be with common Bayes Because for thee it is a crowne too low Apolloes tree can yeeld thee simple prayse It is too dull a vesture for thy brow But with a wreath of starres shalt thou be crown'd vvhich when thy working temples doe sustaine vvill like the Spheares be euer moouing round After the royall musick of thy braine Thy skill doth equall Phoebus not thy birth He to heauen giues musick thou to earth Thomas Greene. To Ma. Michaell Drayton THose painfull wits which natures depth admire And view the causes of vnconstant strife Doe tremble least the Vniuerse expire Through lasting iarres the enemies of life On earthly signes let not such Sages looke Nor on the cleere aspects of hopefull starres But learne the worlds continuance from thy booke vvhich frames past Natures force eternall warres vvherein the Muses shewing perfect glory Adorne it so with gracefull harmonie That all the acts of this lamented storie Seeme not perform'd for peoples liberty Nor through the awe of an imperious King But that thy verses their deepe wounds might sing Iohn Beumont THE FIRST BOOKE of the Barrons warres The Argument The grieuous plagues and the prodigious signes That this great warre and slaughter doe foreshow Th' especiall cause the Barronage combines The Queenes strong griefe whence many troubles grow The time by course vnto our fall inclines And how each country doth to battell goe VVhat cause to yeeld the Mortimers pretend And their commitment perfecting the end 1 THe bloody factions and rebellious pride Of a strong nation whose vnmanag'd might Them from their naturall Soueraigne did diuide Their due subiection and his lawfull right VVhom their light error loosely doth misguide Vrg'd by lewd Minions tyrannous despight Me from soft layes and tender loues doth bring Of dreadfull fights and horred warres to sing 2 VVhat hellish furie poysned your hie blood Or should bewitch you with accursed charmes That by pretending of the generall good Rashly extrudes you to tumultuous armes And from the safety wherein late you stood Reft of all taste and feeling of your harmes That Fraunce and Belgia with affrighted eyes vvere sad beholders of your miseries 3 Th'inueterate ranckor in their boosoms bred vvho for their charter wag'd a former war Or through your vaines this raging venom spred vvhose next-succeeding Nephewes now you are Or that hote gore your bowes in conquest shed Hauing enlarg'd your countries bounds so far Ensigne to ensigne furiously oppose vvith blades of Bilbo dealing English blowes 4 O thou the great director of my Muse On whose free bounty all my powers depend Into my breast a sacred fire infuse Rauish my spirit this great worke to attend Let the still night my laboured lines peruse That when my Poems gaine their wished end They whose sad eyes shall read this tragique story In my weake hand shall see thy might and glory 5 VVhat care would plot discentions quickly crosse vvhich like an earthquake rends the tottering state By which abroade we beare a publique losse Betrayd at home by meanes of priuate hate vvhilst vs these strange calamities doe tosse The daily nurse of mutinous debate Confusion still our Countries peace confounds No helpe at hand and mortall all our wounds 6 Thou Church then swelling in thy mightinesse Tending the care and safety of the â—oule O nurse not factions flowing in excesse That vvith thy members shouldst theyr griefe condole In thee rests
her vaine dietie to get By him whose birth did beare her omenous seale VVinning occasion from this very howre In him to proue and manifest her power 47 As when we see the early rising sunne vvith his faire beames to emulate our sight And when his course but newly is begun The humerous foggs depriue his wished light Till through the moist clouds his cleere forehead run Climing the noonsted in his gorgious height His bright beginning fortune hindreth thus To make the rest more rich more glorious 48 The King discreetly that considered The space of earth whereon the Barrons stand vvhat were their powers to them contributed Now being himselfe but partner of his Land And of the strength and Army that he led Gainst them that doe so great a power commaund In which t' was well he did so wisely looke The taske was great that now he vndertooke 49 And warn'd by danger to misdoubt the worst In equall scales whilst ethers fortune hung Must now performe the vtmost that he durst Or vndergoe the burthen of his wrong As good to stirre as after be inforst To stop the head whence many euills sprong Now with the marcâ—ers thinks it best beginne vvhich first must loose ere he could hope to winne 50 The Mortimers beeing men of greatest might vvhose name was dreadfull and commaunded far Sturdy to manage of a haughty spright Strongly aly'd much followed popular On whom if thus he happily could light He hopes more easly to conclude this war vvhich he intendeth speedily to try To quit that first which most stood in his eye 51 For which he expeditiously prouided That part of land into his power to get vvhich if made good might keepe them still deuided Their combination cunningly to let vvho beeing conioyn'd would be too strongly sided Two so great strengthes together safely met The face of warre would looke so sterne and great As well might threat to heaue him from his seate 52 VVherefore from London strongly setting forth vvith a faire Army furnish'd of the best Accompany'd with friends of greatest worth vvith whom ther 's many a gallant spirit is prest Great Lancaster the Lord of all the North The Mortimers are Maisters of the VVest He towards mid England makes the way twixt either vvhich they must crosse ere they could come together 53 And thus inueagled with delightfull hope Stoutly to front and shoulder with debate Knowing to meet with a resolued â—â—oupe That came prepar'd with courage and with hate vvhose stubborne Crests if he inforc'd to stoope He now must tempt some great and powerfull fate And through sterne guards of swords â—efull flame Make way to peace and propagate his name 54 VVhen now the Marchers well vpon theyr way Expecting such should promisd succour bring vvhich all this while abusd them by delay Are suddainly encounted by the King And now perceiue theyr dilatory stay To be the causer of their ruining How neere theyr bosoms blacke destruction stood vvith open iawes prepared for their blood 55 And by the shifting of inconstant wind Seeing what weather they were like to meet vvhich euen at first so aukwardly they find Ere they could yet giue sea-roomth to their fleet Cleane from their course and cast so far behind And yet in perrill euery hower to split Some vnknowne harbor suddainly must sound Or runne theyr fortunes desperatly on ground 56 The elder peere graue politique and wise vvhich had all dangers absolutely scand Finding high time his Nephew to aduise Since now their state stood on this desperate hand And from this mischiefe many more to rise vvith long experience learnd to vnderstand Nephew saith he t is longer vaine to striue Counsell best serues our safety to contriue 57 The downe-right perrill present in our eye Not to be shund what certaine end t'assures The next the weight that on our fall doth lie And what our life to our designe procures Each hope and doubt that doth arise thereby Prouing with iudgement how the same indures For who obserues strict pollicies true lawes Shifts his proceeding to the varying cause 58 To hazard fight with the Emperiall powers May our small troupes vndoubtedly appall A desperate end vs willingly deuours Yeelding our selues by this we loose not all VVe leaue our friends this little force of ours Reseru'd for them though haplesly we fall That shew of weaknes hath a glorious hand That falls it selfe to make the cause to stand 59 Twixt in expected and so dangerous ills That 's best wherein we smallest perrill see A course that reason necessary wills And that doth most with pollicy agree The idle vulgar breath it nothing skils T is sound discretion must our Pyloâ— be He that doth still the say rest meane preferre Answers opinion how so ere he erre 60 And to the worlds eye seeming yet so strong By our descending willingly from thence May vrge the shew of our opposed wrong Rather b'inforcement then fore-thought pretence Leauing th' aduantage doth to vs belong May quallifie the nature of th' offence Men are not alwaies incident to losse vvhen Fortune seemes their forward cause to crosse 61 Nor giue we enuy absolute accesse To lay our fall vpon thy forward mind Ther 's neerer meanes this mischiefe to redresse And make succesfull what is yet behind Nor of our hope vs wholy dispossesse Fortune is euer variously inclind And a small vantage to the course of Kings Guides a slight meanes to compasse mighty things 62 vvhich speech so caught his Nephewâ— plyant youth Fastning vpon a dutifull respect vvhich he with such celerlty pursu'th vvell could he counsell well could he direct Proceeding from integrity and truth And working with such prosperous effect Shews wisemens counsels by a powerfull fate Seeming from reason yet proue fortunate 63 To which they awfull Maiestie enuite By the most due and ceremonious way vvith circumstance and each conditi'nall rite Might winne respect vnto this new essay Or might opinion any way excite To which the King doth willingly obayâ— VVho as themselues in finding danger neere Rather accepts doubt then a certaine feare 64 VVhich he receaues in presage of his good To his successe auspiciously apply'd vvhich cooles the heate of his distempred blood Before their force in doubtfull Armes was try'd In his protection when they onely stood At his disposing wholy to abide vvhereon in safety he dismist their power Sends them away as prisoners to the Tower 65 O all-preparing prouidence Diuine In thy large Booke what secrets are enrold VVhat sundry helps doth thy great power assigne To stay the course thou stedfastly doost hold vvhat mortall sence is able to define Thy mysteries thy counsels manifold By these digressions strangely that extends Thy obscure proceedings to aparent ends 66 This was the meane by which the Fates dispose More threatned plagues vpon that age to bring Vtter confusion on the heads of those That were before the Barrons ruining vvith the subuersion of so many foes The murther of the miserable King And
this place vnseeming of the rest vvhere onely sacred solitude is blest 67 Her presence frees th' offender of his ill And as the Essence makes the place diuine VVhat strong Decree can countermaund the will That gaue to thee the power that now is thine And in her armes preseru'd in safety still As the most pure inviolable shrine Though thou thus irreligiously despise And daâ—'st prophane these hallowed liberties 68 But as when Illion fatally surpriz'd The Grecians issuing from the woodden horse Their rage and fury proudly exercis'd Opening the wide gates letting in their force Putting in act what was before deuis'd vvithout all sence of pitty or remorce vvith cryes shreekes rumors in confused sound vvords are broke of complaints abruptly drown'd 69 Dissolu'd to drops she followes him ô teares Elixar like turne all to pearle you touch To weepe with her the building scarse forbeares The sorrowes that she vttereth are such Able to wound th'impenitrabl'st eares Her plaints so piercing and her woes so much VVhen with th' abundance words would hardly come Her eyes in silence spake when lips were dumbe 70 Sweetsonne quoth she let not that blood be spilt Once priz'd so deare as did redeeme thy Crowne vvhose purity if taynted now with guilt The cause thereof efficiently thine owne That from the ruines of thy country built Raz'd with dissentions thy substanciall throne And broke those bounds thy kingdoms once confind Into large France to exercise thy mind 71 For the deere portion of that naturall blood vvhich lends thee heate and nutriment of life Be not a niggard of so small a good vvhere bounty should be plentifully rife Beg'd on those knees at which thou oft hast stood In those armes cercles might coniure this strife O God that breath from such a bosome sent Should thus in vaine be prodigally spent 72 VVhen in this vprore with the suddaine fright vvhilst eu'ry one for safety seekes about And none regarding to preserue the light vvhich beeing wasted sadly goeth out Now in the mid'st and terror of the night At the departutre of this Armed rout The Queene alone at least if any neâ—re Her wretched women yet halfe dead with feare 73 VVhen horror darknes and her present woe Begin to worke on her afflicted mind And eu'ry one his tyranny doth show Euen in the fulnes of his proper kind In such excesse her accusations flow This liberty vnto their power assignd Racking her conscience by this torture due It selfe t' accuse with what so ere it knew 74 O God to thinke that not an howre yet past Her greatnes freedome and her hopes so hie The sweet content wherein her thoughts were plac'd Her great respect in eu'ry humbled eye How now she is abused how disgrac'd Her present shame her after misery VVhen eu'ry woe could by dispaire be brought Presents his forme to her distracted thought 75 To London now a wretched prisner led London where oft he tryumph'd with the Queene And but for spight of no man followed Scarcely thought on who had for many beene Of all regard and state impoâ—'rished VVhere in excesse he often had beene seene vvhich at his fall doth make them wonder more vvho saw the pompe wherein he liu'd before 76 O misery where once thou doost infest How soone thy vile contagion alters kind That like a Circe meta morphisest The former habite of the humane mind That euen from vs doo'st seeme our selues to wrest Striking our fraile and fading glories blind And with thy vicious presence in a breath Chain'st vs as slaues vnto pale fainting death 77 At VVestminster a Parliment decreed To th'establishing the safety of the crowne vvhere to his end they finally proceede All laying hand to dig this Mountaine downe To which time wills they haue especiall heede Now whilst the Fates thus angerly doe frowne The blood of Edward and the Spensers fall For their iust vengeance hastily doe call 78 The death of Kent that foule and lothsome blot Th'assuming of the wards and liueries vvith Ione the Princesse maried to the Scot The summes oft seazed to his treasuries And that by this might well haue beene forgot The signe at Stanhope to the enemies Or what else rip'd from the records of time That any way might agrâ—uate his crime 79 O dire Reuenge when thou in time art rak'd From the rude ashes which preseru'd thee long In the dry cindars where it seem'd as slak'd Matter to feed it forc'd with breath of wrong How soone his hideous fury is awak'd From the small sparks what flames are quickly sprong And to that top doth naturally aspire vvhose weight and greatnes once represt his fire 80 And what auailes his aunswere in this case vvhich now the time doth generally distast vvhere iudgement lookes with so seuere a face And all his actions vtterly disgrac'd vvhat fainting bosome giues him any place From out the faire seate of opinion cast VVith pen and incke his sorowes to deceaue Thus of the fayre Queene takes his latest leaue 81 Most mighty Empresse s'daine not to peruse The Swan-like dirges of a dying man Vnlike those raptures of the fluent Muse In that sweet season when our ioyes began That did my youth with glorious fire infuse vvhen for thy gloue at tylt I proudly ran VVhereas my startling Courser strongly seâ— Made fire to flie from Hartfords-Burgonet 82 The King your sonne which hastneth on my death Madam you know I tendred as myne owne And when I might haue grasped out his breath I set him gently on his Fathers throne vvhich now his power too quickly witnesseth vvhich to this height and maiestie is growne But our desert forgot and he forgiuen As after death we wish to liue in heauen 83 And for the sole rule whereon thus he stands Came bastard VVilliam but himselfe on shore Or borrowed not our fathers conqu'ring hands vvhich in the field our auncient Ensignes bore Guarded about with our well-ordred bands vvhich his proud Leopards for their safety wore Raging at Hastings like that omenous Lake From whose dread waues our glorious name we take 84 Had I beene charg'd vpon mine Armed horse As when I came vnto the walls of Gaunt Before the Belgick and Burgonian force There challenging my Countries Combattant Borne from my seate in some robustious course That of my spoiles the enemy might vaunt Or had I falne vnder my battered shield And lent mine honor to some conquered field 85 I haue not followed fortune like a slaue To make her bounty any whit the lesse By my desart her iudgement to depraue Nor lent me ought I freely not confesse And haue return'd with intrest what shee gaue A minde that suted with her mightinesse He twice offends which sinne in flattry beares Yet eu'ry howre he dies that euer feares 86 I cannot feare what forceth others quake The times and I haue tug'd together so vvonting my way through sword and fire to make So oft constrain'd against the streame to row To doubt with death a couenant to
sencelesse stones were with such musick drownd As many yeeres they did retaine the sound Let not the beames that greatnes doth reflect Amaze thy hopes with timerous respect Assure thee Tudor maiestie can be As kinde in loue as can the mean'st degree And the embraces of a Queene as true As theyrs might iudge them much aduaunc'd by you vvhen in our greatnes our affections craue Those secret ioyes that other women haue So I a Queene be soueraigne in my choyse Let others fawne vpon the publique voyce Or what by this can euer hap to thee Light in respect to be belou'd of mee Let peeuish worldlings prate of right and wrong Leaue plaints and pleas to whom they doe belong Let old men speake of chaunces and euents And Lawyers talke of titles and discents Leaue fond reports to such as stories tell And couenaunts to those that buy and sell Loue my sweet Tudor that becomes thee best And to our good successe referre the rest Notes of the Chronicle Historie Great Henry sought to accomplish his desire Armed c. HEnry the fift making clayme vnto the Crowne of Fraunce first sought by Armes to subdue the French and after sought by marriage to confirme what he got by conquest the heate and furie of which inuasion is alluded to the fixtion of Semele in Ouid which by the craftie perswasion of Iuno requested Ioue to come vnto her as he was wont to come vnto his wife Iuno who at her request hee yeelding vnto destroyed her in a tempest Incamp'd at Melans in wars hote alarmes First c. Neere vnto Melans vpon the Riuer of Scyne was the appoynted place of parley betweene the two Kings of England and Fraunce to which place Isabell the Queene of Fraunce and the Duke of Burgoyne brought the young Princesse Katherine where King Henry first saw her And on my temples set a double Crowne Henry the fift and Queene Katherine vvere taken as King and Queene of Fraunce and during the life of Charles the French King Henry was called King of England and heire of Fraunce after the death of Henry the fift Henry the sixt his son then being very young was crowned at Paris as true and lawfull king of England Fraunce At Troy in Champaine he did first enioy Troy in Champayn was the place where that victorious king Henrie the fift maried the Princesse Katherine in the presence of the chiefe nobilitie of the Realmes of England and Fraunce Nor these great tytles vainely will I bring Wife daughter Mother c. Few Queenes of England or Fraunce were euer more princelie alied then this Queene as it hath been noted by Historiographers Nor thinke so Tudor that this loue of mine Should wrong the Gaunt-borne◠c. Noting the descent of Henry her husband frō Iohn Duke of Lancaster the fourth son of Edward the third which Duke Iohn was sirnamed Gaunt of the citty of Gaunt in Flaunders where he was borne Nor stir the English blood the sunne and Moone T'repine c. Alluding the greatnes of the English line to Phoebus Phoebe fained to be the children of Latona whose heauenly kind might scorne to be ioyned with any earthlie progenie yet withall boasting the blood of Fraunce as not inferiour to theirs And with this allusion followeth on the historie of the strife betwixt Iuno and the race of Cadmus whose issue was afflicted by the wrath of heauen The chyldren of Niobe slaine for which the wofull mother became a Rock gushing forth continually a fountaine of teares And Iohn and Longshanks issue both affied Lhewellin or Leolin ap Iorwerth married Ioane daughter to King Iohn a most beautifull Lady Some Authours affirme that shee was base borne Lhewellin ap Gryfith maried Ellenor daughter to Simon Montfort Earle of Leicester and Cosin to Edward Longshanks both which Lhewellins were Princes of Wales Of Camilot and all her Pentecosts A Nephewes roome c Camilot the auncient Pallace of King Arthur to which place all the Knights of that famous order yeerely repaired at Penticost according to the lawe of the Table and most of the famous home-borne Knights were of that Countrie as to this day is perceiued by theyr auncient monuments When bloody Rufus sought your vtter sacke Noting the ill successe which that William Rufus had in two voyages he made into Wales in which a number of his chiefe Nobilitie were slaine And oft return'd with glorious victorie Nothing the diuers sundry incursions that the Welchmen made into England in the time of Rufus Iohn Henry the second Longshankes Owen Tudor to Queene Katherine WHen first mine eyes beheld your princely name And found from whence this friendly letter came As in excesse of ioy my selfe forgot vvhether I saw it or I saw it not My panting hart doth bid mine eyes proceede My dazeled eye inuites my tongue to reede Mine eye should guide my tongue amazed mist it My lips which now should speake are dombe and kist it And leaues the paper in my trembling hand vvhen all my sences so amazed stand Euen as a mother comming to her child vvhich from her presence hath beene long exil'd vvith tender armes his gentle necke doth straine Now kissing him now clipping him againe And yet excessiue yoy deludes her so As still she doubts if this be hers or no At length awak'ned from this pleasing dreame vvhen passion som-what leaues to be extreame My longing eyes with their faire obiect meete vvhere euery letter 's pleasing each word sweete It was not Henries conquests nor his Court That had the power to win me by report Nor was his dreadfull terror-striking name The cause that I from VVales to England came For Christian Rhodes and our religious truth To great atchieuements first had wone my youth Before aduenture did my valour proue Before I yet knew what it was to loue Nor came I hether by some poore euent But by th' eternall Destinies consent vvhose vncomprised wisedomes did fore-see That you in marriage should be linck'd to mee By our great Merlin was it not fore-told Amongst his holy prophecies enrold vvhen first he did of Tudors fame diuine That Kings and Queenes should follow in our line And that the Helme the Tudors auncient Crest Should with the golden Flower-delice be drest And that the Leeke our Countries chiefe renowne Should grow with Roses in the English Crowne As Charles fayre daughter you the Lilly weare As Henries Queene the blushing Rose you beare By Fraunce's conquest and by Englands oth You are the true made dowager of both Both in your crowne both in your cheeke together Ioyne Tethers loue to yours and yours to Tether Then make no future doubts nor feare no hate vvhen it so long hath beene fore-told by Fate And by the all-disposing doome of heauen Before our births vnto one bed were giuen No Pallas heere nor Iuno is at all vvhen I to Venus giue the golden ball Nor when the Graecians wonder I enioy None in reuenge to kindle fire in
is shewed in this verse following Brabant nor Burgoyne claimed me by force Nor su'd to Rome to hasten my deuorce Caused great warres by reason that the Duke of Burgoyne tooke part with Brabant against the Duke of Glocester which being arbittated by the Pope the Ladie was adiudged to be deliuered backe to her former husband Nor Bedfords spouse your noble sister Anne That Princely issued braue Burgunian Iohn Duke of Bedford that scourge of Fraunce and the glory of the Englishmen married Anne sister to the Duke of Burgundy a vertuous and beautifull Ladie by which marriage as also by his victories attained in Fraunce he brought great strength to the English nation Where 's Greenewich now thy Elnors Court of late That faire and goodly Pallace of Greenewich was first builded by that famous Duke whose rich and pleasant situation might remaine an assured monument of his wisedome if there were no other memorie of the same They say the Druides once liued in this I le It would seeme that there were two Ilands both of them called Mona though now distinquished the one by the name of Man the other by the name of Anglesey both which were full of many infernall ceremonies as may appeare by Agricolaes voyage made into the hither most Man described by his sonne in law Cornelius Tacitus And as superstition the daughter of bararisme and ignorance so amongst these northerly nations like as in America Magicke was most esteemed Druidae were the publique ministers of their religion as throughly taught in all rites thereof their doctrine concerned the immortalitie of the soule the contempt of death and all other points which may conduce to resolution fortitude and magnanimitie their abode was in Groues and Woods whereupon they haue their name their power extended it selfe to maister the soules of men diseased and to confer with Ghosts and other spirits about the successe of things Plutarch in his profound and learned discourse of the defect of Oraâ—les reporteth that the outmost Brittish Iles were the prison of I wote not what Demigods but it shall not need to speake any farther of the Druidae then that which Lucan doth Et vos barbaricus ritus moremque sinestrum Sacrorum Druidae positis repetistis ab armis Did not the heauens her comming in withstand Noting the prodigious and fearefull signes that were seene in England a little before her comming in which Elinor expresseth in this Epistle as fore-shewing the dangers which should casue vpon this vnlucky marriage The hallowing of the magique instruments The instruments which Bullenbrooke vsed in his coniurations according to the deuillish ceremonies and customes of these vnlawfull Artes were dedicated at a Masse in the Lodge in Harnsey Parke by Southwell Priest of Westminster Hauing procur'd by hopes of golden gaine This was one of the Articles that Duke Humfrey vrg'd against the Cardinall Beuford that conspired the death of Henry the fift by conuaying a villaine into his chamber which in the night should haue murthered him but what ground of truth he had for the same I leaue to dispute Duke Humfrey to Elinor Cobham ME thinks thou should'st not doubt I could forget Her whom so many doe remember yet No no our ioyes away like shadowes slide But sorrowes firme in memory abide Nay I durst answere thou doo'st nothing lesse But moou'd with passion vrg'd by thy distresse No Elnor no thy wooes thy greefe thy wrong Haue in my breast beene resident too long Oh when report in euery place had spred My Elnor was to sanctuarie fled with cursed Onley and the vvitch of Eye As guilty of their vile conspiracie The dreadfull spirits when they did inuocate For the succession and the Realmes estate vvhen Henries Image they in waxe had wrought By which he should vnto his death be brought That as his picture did consume away His person so by sicknes should decay Griefe that before could nere my thoughts controule That instant tooke possession of my soule Ah would to God I could forget thine ill As for mine owne let that instruct me still But that before hath taken too sure hold Forget it said I would to God I could Of any woe if thou hast but one part I haue the whole remaining in my hart I haue no neede of others cares to borrow For all I haue is nothing else but sorrow No my sweet Nell thou took'st not all away Though thou went'st hence here still thy woes doe stay Though from thy husband thou wert forst to goe Those still remaine they will not leaue me so No eye bewailes my ill moanes my distresse Our greefe is more but yet our debt is lesse vve owe no teares no mourning daies are kept For those that yet for vs haue neuer wept vve hold no obijts no sad exequies Vpon the death-daies of vnweeping eyes Alas good Nell what should thy patience moue T' vpbraid thy kind Lord with a forraine loue Thou might'st haue bidd all former ils adue Forgot the old we haue such store of new Did I omit thy loue to entertaine vvith mutuall griefe to answere griefe againe Or think'st thou I vnkindly did forbeare To bandy woe for woe and teare for teare Did I omit or carelesly neglect Those shewes of loue that Ladies so respect In mournefull blacke was I not seene to goe By outward shewes to tell my inward woe Nor drerie words were wasted in lament Nor clowdy brow bewraid my discontent Is this the cause if this be it know then One griefe conceal'd more grieuous is then ten If in my breast those sorrowes sometimes were And neuer vtter'd still they must be there And if thou know'st they many were before By time increasing they must needs be more England to me can challenge nothing lent Let her cast vp what is receiu'd what spent If I her owne can she from blame be free If she but proue a stepdame vnto me That if I should with that proud bastard striue To plead my birth-right and prerogatiue If birth alow I should not need to feare it For then my true nobility should beare it If counsell ayde that Fraunce will tell I know vvhose townes lie wast before the English foe vvhen thrice we gaue the conquered French the foyle At Agincourt at Crauant and Vernoyle If faith auaile these armes did Henry hold To claime his crowne yet scarcely nine month 's old If Countries care haue leaue to speake for me Gray haires in youth my witnes then may be If peoples tongues giue splendor to my fame They adde a title to Duke Humfreys name If toyle at home French treason English hate Shall tell my skill in managing the state If forraine trauell my successe may try In Flaunders Almaine Boheme Burgundy That Robe of Rome proud Beuford now doth weare In euery place such sway should neuer beare The crosier staffe in his imperious hand To be the Scepter that controules the land That home to England despensations drawes vvhich are of power to abrogate our lawes That
combine And Yorks sweet branch with Lancasters entwine And in one stalke did happily vnite The pure vermilion Rose with purer white I the vntimely slip of that rich stem vvhose golden bud brings forth a Diadem But oh forgiue me Lord it is not I Nor doe I boast of this but learne to die vvhilst we were as our selues conioyned then Nature to nature now an alien The purest blood polluted is in blood Neerenes contemn'd if soueraignty withstood A Diadem once dazeling the eye The day too darke to see affinitie And where the arme is stretch'd to reach a Crowne Friendship is broke the deerest things throwne downe For what great Henry most stroue to auoyde The heauens haue built where earth would haue destroyd And seating Edward on his regall throne He giues to Mary all that was his owne By death assuring what by life is theyrs The lawfull claime of Henries lawfull heyres By mortall lawes the bound may be diuorc'd But heauens decree by no meanes can be forc'd That rules the case when men haue all decreed vvho tooke him hence foresaw who should succeede In vaine be counsels statutes humaine lawes vvhen chiefe of counsailes pleades the iustest cause Thus rule the heauens in theyr continuall course That yeelds to fate that doth not yeeld to force Mans wit doth build for time but to deuoure But vertu's free from time and fortunes power Then my kinde Lord sweet Gilford be not grieu'd The soule is heauenly and from heauen relieu'd And as we once haue plighted troth together Now let vs make exchange of mindes to eyther To thy faire breast take my resolued minde Arm'd against blacke dispayre and all her kinde And to my bosome breathe that soule of thine There to be made as perfect as is mine So shall our faith as firmely be approued As I of thee or thou of me beloued This life no life wert thou not deere to mee Nor this no death were I not woe for thee Thou my deere husband and my Lord before But truly learne to die thou shalt be more Now liue by prayer on heauen fixe all thy thought And surely finde what ere by zeale is sought For each good motion that the soule awakes A heauenly figure sees from whence it takes That sweet resemblance which by power of kinde Formes like it selfe an Image in the minde And in our faith the operations bee Of that diuinenes which by fayth we see vvhich neuer errs but accidentally By our fraile fleshes imbecillitie By each temptation ouer-apt to slide Except our spirit becomes our bodies guide For as our bodies prisons be these towers So to our soules these bodies be of ours vvhose fleshly walls hinder that heauenly light As these of stone depriue our wished sight Death is the key which vnlocks miserie And lets them out to blessed libertie Then draw thy forces all vnto thy hart The strongest fortresse of this earthly part And on these three let thy assurance lie On fayth repentance and humilitie Humilitie to heauen the step the staire Is for deuotion sacrifice and Prayer The next place doth to true repentance fall A salue a comfort and a cordiall He that hath that the keyes of heauen hath That is the guide that is the port the path Faith is thy fort thy shield thy strongest ayde Neuer controld nere yeelded nere dismaid vvhich doth dilate vnfold fore-tell expresseth vvhich giues rewards inuesteth and possesseth Then thanke the heauen preparing vs this roome Crowning our heads with glorious martirdome Before the blacke and dismall dayes begin The dayes of all Idolatry and sin Not suffering vs to see that wicked age vvhen persecution vehemently shall rage vvhen tyrannie new tortures shall inuent Inflicting vengeance on the innocent Yet heauen forbids that Maries wombe shall bring Englands faire Sceptâ—r to a forraine King But vnto faire Elizabeth shall leaue it vvhich broken hurt and wounded shall receaue it And on her temples hauing plac'd the Crowne Roote out the dregs Idolatry hath sowne And Syons glory shall againe restore Layd ruine wast and desolate before And from black sinders and rude heapes of stones Shall gather vp the Martyrs scattred bones And shall extirpe the power of Rome againe And cast aside the heauy yoke of Spayne Farewell sweet Gilford know our end is neere Heauen is our home we are but strangers heere Let vs make hast to goe vnto the blest vvhich from these weary worldly labours rest And with these lines my deerest Lord I greete thee Vntill in heauen thy Iane againe shall meete thee Notes of the Chronicle Historie They which begot vs did beget this sin SHewing the ambition of the two Dukes their Fathers whose pride was the cause of the vtter ouerthrow of theyr chyldren At Durham Pallace where sweet Hymen sang The buildings c. The Lord Gilford Dudley fourth sonne to Iohn Dudley Duke of Northumberland married the Lady Iane Gray daughter to the duke of Suffolke at Durham house in the Strand When first mine eares were persed with the fame Of Iane proclaimed by a Princesse name Presently vpon the death of King Edward the Lady Iane was taken as Queene conueyed by water to the Tower of London for her safetie and after proclaimed in diuers parts of the Realme as so ordained by King Edwards Letters-pattents and his will My Grandsire Brandon did our house aduaunce By princely Mary dowager of Fraunce Henry Gray Duke of Suffolk married Frauncis the eldest daughter of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk by the French queene by which Frauncis he had this Lady Iane this Mary the French Queene vvas daughter to king Henry the seauenth by Elizabeth his Queene which happy mariage coÌ„ioyned the two noble families of Lancaster York For what great Henrie most stroue to auoyde Noting the distrust that King Henry the eyght euer had in the Princesse Mary his daughter â—earing she should alter the state of Religion in the Land by matching with a stranger confessing the right that King Henries issue had to the Crowne And vnto faire Elizabeth shall leaue it A prophecy of queene Maries barrenâ—es of the happy glorious raigne of Queene Elizabeth her restoring of Religion the abolishing of the Romish seruitude casting aside the yoke of Spayne The Lord Gilford Dudley to the Lady Iane Gray AS Swan-like singing at thy dying howre Such my reply returning from this tower O if there were such power but in my verse As in these woes my wounded hart doe pierce Stones taking sence th' obdurate flint that heares Should at my plaints dissolue it selfe to teares Lend me a teare I le pay thee with a teare And interest to if thou the stocke forbeare vvoe for a woe and for thy interest lone I will returne thee frankly two for one And if thou thinke too soone one sorrow ends Another twice so long shall make amends Perhaps thow'lt iudge in such extreames as these That words of comfort might far better please But such strange power in thy perfection