my counsell yet this comfort is It cannot hurt although I thinke amisse Then liue in hope in tryumph to returne vvhen cleerer dayes shall leaue in clowdes to mourne But so hath sorrow girt my soule about That that word hope me thinks comes slowly out The reason is I know it heere would rest vvhere it would still behold thee in my brest Farewell sweete Pole faine more I would indite But that my teares doe blot as I doe write Notes of the Chronicle Historie Or brings in Burgoyne to ayde Lancaster PHillip Duke of Burgoyne and his sonne were alwayes great fauorites of the house of Lancaster howbeit they often dissembled both with Lancaster and Yorke Who in the North our lawfull claime commends To win vs credite with our valiant friends The chiefe Lords of the North-parts in the time of Henry the 6. withstoode the Duke of Yorke at his risingâ— giuing him two great ouerthrowes To that allegeance Yorke was bound by oath To Henries heyres and safetie of vs both No longer now he meanes records shall beare it He will dispence with heauen and wil vnsweare it The duke of Yorke at the death of Henry the fift at this kings coronation tooke his oath to be true subiect to him and his heyres for euer but afterward dispensing therewith claymed the crowne as his rightfull and proper inhearitance If three sonnes faile shee 'le make the fourth a King The duke of Yorke had foure sonnes Edward Earle of March that afterward was duke of Yorke and king of England when he had deposed Henry the sixt and Edmond Earle of Rutland slaine by the lord Clifford at the battell at Wakefield George duke of Clarence that was murthered in the Tower and Richard duke of Glocester vvho was after he had murthered his brothers sonnes King by the name of Richard the third 〈◊〉 that 's so like his Dam her youngest Dicke That foule â—fauoured crookback'd Stigmaticke c. Till this verse As though begot an age c. This Richard whom ironically she here calls Dicke that by treason after his Nephewes murthered obtained the crowne was a man low of stature crookeback'd the left shoulder much higher then the right of a very crabbed sower countenaunce his mother could not be deliuered of him he was borne toothed with his feete forward contrarie to the course of nature To ouershadow our vermilian Rose The redde Rose was the badge of the house of Lancaster and the white Rose of Yorke which by the marriage of Henry the seauenth with Elizabeth indubitate heyre of the house of Yorke was happilie vnited Or who will muzzell that vnrulie beare The Earle of Warwicke the setter vp and puller downe of Kings gaue for his Armes the white Beare rampant the ragged staffe My Daysie flower which erst perfum'd the ayre Which for my â—auour Priâ—â—â—es once did were c. The Daysie in French is called Margaret which was Queene Margarets badge where-withall the Nobilitie and chiualrie of the Lande at the first arriuall were so delighted that they wore it in theyr Hats in token of honour And who be starres but Warwicks bearded slaues The ragged or bearded staffe was a part of the Armes belonging to the Earledome of Warwick Slaundring Duke Rayner with base baggary Rayner Duke of Aniou called himselfe King of Naples Cicile and Ierusalem hauing neither inhearitance nor tribute from those parts was not able at the marriage of the Queene of his owne charges to send her into England though he gaue no dower with her which by the Dutches of Glocester was often in disgrace cast in her teeth A Kentish Rebell a base vpstart Groome This was Iacke Cade which caused the Kentish-men to rebell in the 28. yeere of Henry the sixth And this is he the white Rose must prefer By Clarence daughter match'd to Mortimer This Iacke Cade instructed by the Duke of Yorke pretended to be descended from Mortimer which married Lady Phillip daughter to the Duke of Clarence And makes vs weake by strengthning Ireland The Duke of Yorke being made Deputy of Ireland first there beganne to practise his long pretended purpose strengthning himselfe by all meanes possible that he might at his returne into England by open warre claime that which so long he had priuily gone about to obtaine Great Winchester vntimely is deceas'd Henry Beuford Bishop and Cardinall of Winchester sonne to Iohn of Gaunt begot in his age was a proude ambitious Prelate fauouring mightily the Queene the Duke of Suffolke continually heaping vp innumerable treasure in hope to haue beene Pope as himselfe on his death bed confessed With Fraunce t' vpbrayd the valiant Somerset Edmund Duke of Somerset in the 24. of Henry the sixt was made Regent of Fraunce and sent into Normandie to defend the English territories against the French inuasions but in short time hee lost all that King Henry the fifth won for which cause the Nobles and the Commons euer after hated him T' endure these stormes with wofull Buckingham Humfry duke of Buckingham was a great fauorite of the Queenâ— Faction in the time of Henry the sixt And one fore-told by water thou should'st die The Witch of Eye receiued aunswer by her spirit that the duke of Suffolke should take heede of water which the Queene forwarnes him of as remembring the Witches prophecie which afterward came to passe FINIS To the Right Worshipfull Sir Thomas Munson Knight SIR amongst many which most deseruedly loue you though â— the least yet am loth to be the last whose endeuours may make knowne howe highly they esteeme of your noble and kind disposition Let this Epistle Sir I beseech you which vnworthily weares the badge of your woorthy name acknowledge my zeale with the rest though much lesse deseruing which for your sake doe honour the house of the Mounsons I know true generositie accepteth what is zealously offered though not euer deseruingly excellent yet for loue of the Art froÌ„ whence it receiueth resemblance The light Phrigian harmony stirreth delight as well as the melancholy Doricke moueth passion both haue theyr motion in the spirit as the liking of the soule moueth the affection Your kinde acceptance of my labourâ— shall giue some life to my Muse which yet â—ouers in the vncertainetie of the generall censure Mich Drayton Edward the fourth to Shores wife ¶ The Argument This Mistres Shore king Edward the fourths beautious paramour was so called of her husband a Goldsmith dwelling in Lombard streete Edward the fourth sonne to Richard Duke of Yorke after hee had obtained the crowne by deposing Henry the sixth which Henry was after murthered in the Tower by Richard Crookeback after the battel fought at Barnet where the famous Earle of VVarwicke was slaine and that King Edward quietly possessed the crowne hearing by report of many the rare and wonderfull beautie of the aforesaid Shores wife commeth himselfe disguised to London to see her where after he had once beheld her he was so
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
on to draw them vp the hill That by his strength they might get power to rise Thus they in all things are before him still This perfect steersman of their policies Hath cast to walke whilst Edward beares the light And take that ayme that must direct his sight 66 And by th'alowance of his liberall will Supposd his safety furthering their intent Stands as a rest to iustifie their ill Made sound and currant by this late euent And what yet wanting lastly to fulfill Things in theyr course to fall in true consent Giues full assurance of that happy end On which they now laboriously attend 67 Nor finding reason longer to protract Or in suspence their home-left friends to hold By beeing now so absolutely back'd And thereby waxing confident and bold By their proceedings publishing their act vvhen as their power was ripened as they would Now with an armed and erected hand To abet their faction absolutely stand 68 VVhen now the fearefull fainting Exceter A man experienc'd in their counsels long vvhether himselfe thought his way to prefer Or mou'd in conscience with King Edwards wrong Or t' was his frailty forc'd him thus to erre Or other fatall accident among The onely first that backe to England flew And knowing all discouered all he knew 69 The plot of treason lastly thus disclos'd And Torletons drift by circumstances found vvith what conueyance things had beene dispos'd The cunning vsd in casting of the ground The meanes and apt aduantages he chos'd vvhen better counsell coldly comes to sound Awakes the King to see his owne estate vvhen the preuention comes too vaine and late 70 And whilst the time she daily doth adiourne Charles as a brother by perswasions deales Edward with threats to hasten her returne And Iohn of Rome with papall curse assailes T is but in vaine against her will to spurne Perswasions threats nor curses ought preuailes Charles Edward Iohn doe th' vtmost of your worst The Queene fares best when she the most is curst 71 The subtile Spensers which French humors felt And with their Soueraigne had deuisd the draught vvith Prince and Peeres now vnderhand had delt vvith golden bayts that craftily were caught vvhose flexed temper soone begins to melt On which they now by flights so throughly wrought As with great summes now lastly ouer-way'd The wretched Queene is desperate of ayde 72 Nor can all this amaze this mighty Queene vvith all th'affliction neuer yet contrould Neuer such courage in her sexe was seene Nor was she cast in other womens mould Nor can rebate the edge of her hie spleene But can endure warre trauaile want and cold Strugling with fortune ne're with greefe opprest Most cheerfull still when she was most distrest 73 And thus resolu'd to leaue ingratefull Fraunce And in the world her fortune yet to try Changing the ayre hopes time may alter chance As one whose thoughts were eleuate more hie Her weakned state still seeking to aduaunce Her mighty mind so scorneth misery Yet ere she went her grieued hart to ease Thus to the King this grieued Lady saies 74 Is this a King and Brothers part quoth she And to this end did I my griefe vnfold Came I to heale my wounded hart to thee vvhere slaine outright I now the same behold Proue these thy vowes thy promises to me In all this heate thy faith become so cold To leaue me thus forsaken at the worst My state more wretched then it was at first 75 My frailty vrging what my want requires To thy deere mercy should my teares haue ty'd Our bloods maintained by the selfe-same fires And by our fortunes as our birth aly'd My sute supported by my iust desires All arguments I should not be deny'd The grieuous wrongs that in my bosome be Should be as neere thy care as I to thee 76 Nature that easly wrought vpon my sex To thy vile pleasure thus mine honour leaues And vnder colour of thy due respects My setled trust disâ—oially deceaues That me and mine thus carelesly neglects And of all comfort wholy me bereaues Twixt recreant basenes and disord'nate will To expose my fortunes to the worst of ill 77 But for my farwell this I prophecie That from my wombe thaâ— glorious fruit doth spring vvhich shall deiect thy neere posteritie And lead a captiue thy succeeding King That shall reuenge this wretched iniury To fatall Fraunce I as a Sybel sing Her Cittie 's sack'd the slaughter of her men vvhen of the English one shall conquer ten 78 Bewmount in Fraunce that had this shuffling seene vvhose soule by kindnes Isabell had wonne For Henault now perswades the greeued Queene By full assurance what might there be done Now in the anguish of this tumerous spleene Offring his faire Neece to the Prince her sonne The surest way to gaine his brothers might To back young Edward and vphold her right 79 This gallant Lord whose name euen fild report To whom the souldiers of that time did throng A man that fashion'd others of his sort As that knew all to honour did belong And in his youth traynd vp with her in Court And fully now confirmed in her wrong Crost by the faction of th'emperiall part In things that sat too neerly to his hart 80 Sufficient motiues to inuite destresse To apprehend the least and poorest meane Against those mischiefes that so strongly presse vvhereon their low deiected state to leane And at this season though it were the lesse That might awhile their sickly power sustaine Till prosperous times by mild and temperate dayes Their drooping hopes to former height might raise 81 VVhere finding cause to breathe their restlesse state vvhere welcome look'd with a more milder face From those dishonours she receau'd of late vvhere now she wants no due officious grace Vnder the guidance of a gentler fate vvhere bountious offers mutually embrace And to conclude all ceremonies past The Prince affies faire Pâ—illip at the last 82 All cou'nants sign'd with wedlocks sacred seale A lasting league eternally to bind And all proceeding of religious zeale And suting right with Henaults mighty mind That to his thoughts much honor doth reueale vvhat ease the Queene is like thereby to find The sweet contentment of the louely bride Young Edward pleasd and ioy on eu'ry side The end of the third Canto The fourth Booke of the Barrons warres The Argument The Queene in Henault mightie power doth wiâ—â— In Harwich hauen safely is arriu'd Great troubles now in England new begin The King of friends and safety is depriu'd Flieth to VVales at Neath receiued in Many strange acts and outrages contriu'd Edward betray'd deliu'red vp at Neath The Spensers and his friends are put to death 1 NOw seanen times Phoebus had his welked waine Vpon the top of all the Torpick set And seauen times discending downe againe His fiery wheeles had with the fishes wet In the accurrents of this haplesse raigne Since treason first these troubles did beget vvhich through more strange varieties hath runne Then
it that time celestiall signes hath done 2 VVhilst our ill thriuing in those Scottish broyles Theyr strength and couâ—age greatly doth aduaunce That beeing made fat and wealthy by our spoyles vvhen we still weakned by the iarres in Fraunce And thus dishartned by continuall foyles Yeelds other cause whereat our Muse may glaunce And Herckleys treasons lastly brings to view vvhose power of late the Barrons ouerthrew 3 Now when the Scot with an inuasiue hand By daily inroads on the borders made Had spoyld the Country of Northumberland The buildings leuell with the ground weare layd And finding none that dare his power withstand vvithout controlement eu'ry where had pray'd Bearing with pride what was by pillage got As our last fall appointed to theyr lot 4 For vvhich false Herckley by his Soueraigne sent T' intreate this needfull though dishonored peace Cloking his treasons by this fayn'd intent Kinling the warre which otherwise might cease And with the Scot new mischiefes doth inuent T' intrap King Edward and their feare release For which their faith they constantly haue plight In peace and warre to stand for eithers right 5 For which the King his sister doth bestow Vpon this false Lord which to him affy'd Maketh too plaine and euident a show Of what before his trust did closely hide But beeing found from whence this match should grow By such as now into their actions pry'd Displayes the treasons which not quickly crost vvould shed more blood then all the warres had cost 6 VVhether the Kings weake counsels causes are That eu'ry thing so badly forteth out Or that the Earle did of our state despaire vvhen nothing prosper'd that was gone about And therefore carelesse how these matters fare I le not define but leaue it as a doubt Or some vaine title his ambition lackt Hatch'd in his breast this treasonable act 7 VVhich now reueal'd vnto the iealous King For apprehension of this tray't rous Peere To the Lord Lucy leaues the managing One whose knowne faith he euer held so deere By whose dispatch and trauell in this thing He doth well worthy of his trust appeare In his owne Castell carelesly defended The trecherous Herckley closely apprehended 8 For which ere long vnto his tryall led In all the roabes befitting his degree VVhere Scroope chiefe Iustice in King Edwards sted vvas now prepar'd his lawfull Iudge to be Vrging the proofes by his enditement red vvhere they his treasons euidently see vvhich now themselues so plainly doe expresse As might at first declare his bad successe 9 His honor'd title backe againe restord Noted with tearmes of infamie and scorne And then disarmed of his knightly sword On which his faith and loyaltie was sworne And by a varlet of his spurres dispur'd His coate of Armes in peeces hal'd and torne To tast deserued punishment is sent T'a trayterous death that trayterously had ment 10 VVhen such the fauorers of this fatall war vvhom this occasion doth more sharply whet Those for this cause thet yet impris'ned are Boldly attempt at liberty to set vvhose purpose frustrate by the others care Doth greater wounds continually beget vvarning the King more strictly looke about These secret fires still daily breaking out 11 And Hereford in Parlement accusd Of treasons which apparantly were wrought That with the Queene and Mortimers were vsd vvhereby subuersion of the Realme was sought And both his calling and his trust abusd vvhich now to aunswere when he should be brought Ceaz'd by the Clergy in the Kings despight Vnder the colour of the Churches right 12 VVhilst now the Queene from England day by day That of these troubles still had certaine word vvhose friends much blam'd her tedious long delay vvhen now the time occasion doth afford vvith better hast doth for herselfe puruay Bearing prouision presently abord Ships of all vses daily rigging are Fit'st for inuasion to transport a warre 13 The Earle of Kent by 's soueraigne brother plac'd As the great Generall of his force in Gwine vvho in his absence here at home disgra'st And frustrated both of his men and coyne By such lewd persons to maintaine theyr wast From the Kings treasúres ceas'd not to proloyne Th'lasciuious Prince though mou'd regardlesse still Both of his owne losse and his brothers ill 14 VVhos 's discontentment beeing quickly found By such as all aduantages await That still apply'd strong corsiues to the wound And by their sharpe and intricate deceit Hindred all meanes might possibly redound This fast-arising mischiefe to defeate Vntill his wrongs vvere to that fulnesse growne That they haue made him absolute their owne 15 VVhose selfe-like followers in these faithlesse warres Men most experienc'd and of worthiest parts vvhich for their pay receaued onely scarres vvhilst the inglorious reap'd their due desarts And Mineons hate of other hope debarres vvith too much violence vrg'd their grieued harts On Iohn of Henault wholy doe rely vvho led a great and valiant company 16 That in this conquest doe themselues combine The Lords Pocelles Sares and Boyseers Dambretticourt the young and valiant Heyn Estoteuill Comines and Villeers Others his Knights Sir Michaell de la Lyne Sir Robert Balioll Boswit and Semeers Men of great power whom spoile and glory warmes Such as were wholly dedicate to Armes 17 Three thousand souldiers mustred men in pay Of French Scotch Almaine Swiser and the Dutch Of natiue English fled beyond the Sea vvhose number neere amounted to asmuch VVhich long had look'd for this vnhappy day vvhom her reuenge did but too neerely tuch Her friends now ready to receaue her in And new commotions eu'ry day begin 18 VVhen she for England fitly setting forth Spreading her proud sayles on the watry plaine Shaping her course directly to the North vvith her young Edward Duke of Aquitaine vvith th' other three of speciall name and worth The destain'd scurges of his lawlesse raine Her souldier Beumount with the Earle of Kent And Mortimer that mighty malcontent 19 A for-wind now for Harwich fitly blowes Blow not too fast to kindle such a fire vvhilst with full saile and fairer tide she goes Turne gentle wind and force her to retire The fleet thou driu'st is fraughted with our woes But winds and seas doe Edwards wracke conspire For when iust heauen to chastice vs is bent All things conuert to our due punishment 20 Thy coasts be kept with a continuall ward Thy Beacons watch'd her comming to discry O had the loue of subiects beene thy guard T 'had beene t' effect that thou didst fortifie But whilst thou stand'st gainst for raine foes prepard Thou art betrayd by thy home enemy Small helpe by this thou art but like to win Shutting death out thou keep'st destruction in 21 VVhen Henry brother to that haplesse Prince The first great engine of this ciuill strife Deere Lancaster whom law did late conuince And that at Pomfret left his wretched life This Henry in whose great hart euer since Reuenge lay couer'd smoother'd vp in griefe Like fire in some fat
euen all things as it list And with vniust men to debate of lawes Is to giue power to hurt a rightfull cause vvhilst parlements must still redresse theyr wrongs And we must starue for what to vs belongs Our wealth but fuell to theyr fond excesse And we must fast to feast theyr wantonnesse Think'st thou our wrongs then insufficient are To moue our brother to religious war And if they were yet Edward doth detaine Homage for Pontiu Guyne and Aquytaine And if not that yet hath he broke the truce Thus all accur to put backe all excuse The sisters wrong ioynd with the brothers right Me thinks might vrge him in this cause to fight Be all those people sencelesse of our harmes vvhich for our country ought haue manag'd armes Is the braue Normans courage now forgot Or the bold Brittaines lost the vse of shot The big-bon'd Almaines and stout Brabanders Theyr warlike Pikes and sharp-edg'd Semiters Or doe the Pickards let theyr Crosbowes lie Once like the Centaurs of old Thessalie Or if a valiant Leader be theyr Lacke vvhere thou art present who should driue them backe I doe coniure thee by what is most deere By that great name of famous Mortimer By auncient VVigmors honourable Crest The Tombes where all thy famous Grandsires rest Or if then these what more may thee approue Euen by those vowes of thy vnfained loue That thy great hopes may moue the Christian King By forraine Armes some comfort yet to bring To curbe the power of traytors that rebell Against the right of princely Isabell. Vaine vvitlesse woman why should I desire To adde more heate to thy immortall fire To vrge thee by the violence of hate To shake the pillers of thine owne estate vvhen whatsoeuer we intend to doe To our misfortune euer sorts vnto And nothing els remaines for vs beside But teares and coffins onely to prouide VVhen still so long as Burrough beares that name Time shall not blot out our deserued shame And whilst cleere Trent her wonted course shall keepe For our sad fall her christall drops shall weepe All see our ruine on our backs is throwne And to our selues our sorrowes are our owne And Torlton now whose counsell should direct The first of all is slaundred with suspect For dangerous things dissembled sildome are vvhich many eyes attend with busie care VVhat should I say my griefes doe still renew And but begin when I should bid adiew Few be my words but manifold my woe And still I stay the more I striue to goe As accents issue forth griefes enter in And where I end mee thinks I but begin Till then fayre time some greater good affoords Take my loues payment in these ayrie words Notes of the Chronicle Historie O how I feard that sleepie drinke I sent Might yet want power to further thine intent MOrtimer beeing in the Tower and ordayning a feast in honour of his byrth-day as hee pretended and inuiting there-vnto sir Stephen Segraue Constable of the Tower with the â—est of the officers belonging to the same he gaue them a sleepie drinke prouided him by the Queene by which meanes he got libertie for his escape I steale to Thames as though to take the ayre And aske the gentle streame as it doth glide Mortimer being got out of the Tower swam the riuer of Thames into Kent whereof she hauing intelligence doubteth of his strength to escape by reason of his long imprisonment being almost the space of three yeeres Did Bulloyne once a festiuall prepare For England Almaine Cicile and Naeuarre Edward Carnaruan the first Prince of Wales of the English blood married Isabell daughter of Phillip the faire at Bulloyne in the presence of the Kings of Almaine Nauarre and Cicile with the chiefe Nobilitie of Fraunce and England which marriage was there solemnized with exceeding pompe and magnificence And in my place vpon his regall throne To set that girle-boy wanton Gaueston Noting the effeminacie luxurious wantonnesse of Gaueston the Kings Minion his behauiour and attire euer so womanlike to please the eye of his lasciuious Prince That a foule Witches bastard should thereby It was vrged by the Queene and the Nobilitie in the disgrace of Piers Gauestone that his mother was conuicted of witchcraft burned for the same and that Piers had bewitched the King Albania Gascoyne Cambria Ireland Albania Scotland so called of Albanact the second sonne of Brutus and Cambria Wales so called of Camber the third son the foure Realmes countries brought in subiection by Edward Longshankes When of our princely Iewels and our dowers We but enioy the least of what is ours A complaint of the prodigalitie of King Edward giuing vnto Gaueston the iewels treasure which was left him by the auncient Kings of England and enriching him with the goodly Manor of Wallingford assigned as parcel of the dower to the queens of this famous I le And ioyn'd with the braue issue of our blood Alie our kingdome to their crauand brood Edward the second gaue to Piers Gaueston in mariage the daughter of Gilbert Clare Earle of Glocester begot of the Kings sister Ione of Acres maried to the said Earle of Glocester Should giue away all that his Father won To backe a stranger King Edward offered his right in Fraunce to Charles his brother in law and his right in Scotland to Robert Bruse to be ayded against the Barrons in the quarrell of Piers Gaueston And did great Edward on his death-bed giue Edward Longshanks on his death-bed at Carlile commanded yong Edward his sonne on his blessing not to call backe Gaueston which for the misguiding of the Princes youth was before banished by the whole counsell of the Land That after all this fearefull massaker The fall of Beuchamp Lasy Lancaster Thomas Earle of Lancaster Guy Earle of Warwick Henry Eaâ—le of Lincolne who had taken their oaths before the deceased King at his death to withstand his sonne Edward if hee should call Gauestone from exile being a thing which he much feared now seeing Edward to violate his Fathers coÌ„maundement rise in Armes against the king which was the cause of the ciuill war the ruine of so many Princes And gloried I in Gauestons great fall That now a Spenser should succeed in all The two Hugh Spensers the Father the sonne after the death of Gaueston became the great fauourites of the King the sonne beeing created by him lord Chamberlaine the father Earle of Winchester And if they were yet Edward doth detaine Homaage for Pontiu Guyne and Aquitaine Edward Longshanks did homage for those Citties and Territories to the French King which Edward the second neglecting moued the French King by the subornation of Mortimer to cease those Countries into his hands By auncient Wigmors honourable Crest Wigmore in the marches of Wales was the auncient house of the Mortimers that noble and couragious familie That still so long as Borrough beares that name The Queene remembreth the great
ouerthrowe giuen to the Barrons by Andrew Herckley Earle of Carlill at Borrough bridge after the battaile at Burton And Torlton now whose counsels should direct This was Adam Torlton Bishop of Herford that great Polititian who so highly fauoured the faction of the Queene and Mortimer whose euill counsell afterward wrought the destruction of the King Mortimer to Queene Isabell. AS thy salutes my sorrowes doe adiourne So backe to thee their interest I returne Though not in so great bountie I confesse As thy heroicke princely lines expresse For how should comfort issue from the breath Of one condemn'd and long lodg'd vp in death From murthers rage thou didst me once repriue Now in exile my hopes thou doost reuiue Twice all was taken twice thou all didst giue And thus twice dead thou mak'st me twice to liue This double life of mine your onely due You gaue to me I giue it back to you Nere my escape had I aduentur'd thus As did the skie-attempting Daedalus And yet to giue more safety to my flight Haue made a night of day a day of night Nor had I backt the proud aspiring wall vvhich held without my hopes within my fall Leauing the cords to tell where I had gone For gazing eyes with feare to looke vpon But that thy beauty by a power diuine Breath'd a new life into this spirit of mine Drawne by the sunne of thy celestiall eyes vvith fiery wings made passage through the skies The heauens did seeme the charge of me to take And sea and land befriend me for thy sake Thames stopt her tide to make me way to go As thou hadst charg'd her that it should be so The hollow murmuring winds their due time kept As they had rock'd the world whilst all things slept One billow bore me and another draue me This stroue to helpe me and that stroue to saue me The brisling Reedes mou'd with the ayre did chide me As they would tell me that they meant to hide me The pale-fac'd night beheld thy heauie cheere And would not let one little starre appeare But ouer all her smokie mantle hurl'd And in thick vapours muffled vp the world And the pure ayre became so clame and still As it had beene obedient to my will And euery thing disposd vnto my rest As when on Seas the Alcâ—on builds her nest VVhen those rough waues which late with fury rusht Slide smoothly on and sodainly are husht Nor Neptune lets his surges our so long As Nature is in bringing forth her yong Nor let the Spensers glory in my chance That I should liue an exile heere in France That I from England banished should be But England rather banished from me More were her want France our great blood should beare Then Englands losse should be to Mortimer My Grandsire was the first since Arthurs raigne That the Round-table rectifi'd againe To whose great Court at Kenelworth did come The peerelesse knighthood of all Christendome vvhose Princely order honoured England more Then all the conquests she atchiu'd before Neuer durst Scot set foote on English ground Nor on his backe did English beare a wound vvhilst VVigmore flourisht in our Princely hopes And whilst our Ensigne march'd with Edwards troupes vvhilst famous Longshanks bones in fortunes scorne As sacred reliques to the field were borne Nor euer did the valiant English doubt vvhilst our braue battailes guarded them about Nor did our wiâ—es and wofull mothers mourne The English blood that stained Banocksburne vvhilst with his Minions sporting in his Tent vvhole dayes and nights in banquetting were spent Vntill the Scots which vnder safegard stood Made lauish hauocke of the English blood And battered helmes lay scattered on the shore vvhere they in conquest had beene borne before A thousand Kingdoms will we seeke from far As many Nations wast with ciuill war vvhere the disheuel'd gastly Sea-nimph sings Or well-rigd ships shall stretch their swelling wings And drag their ankors through the sandy foame About the world in euery Clime to roame And those vnchristned Countries call our owne vvhere scarce the name of England hath beene knowne And in the dead-sea sinke our houses fame From whose sterne waues we first deriu'd our Name Before foule black-mouth'd infamie shall sing That Mortimer ere stoop'd vnto a King And we will turne sterne-visag'd furie backe To seeke his spoile who sought our vtter sacke And come to beard him in our natiue Ile Ere he martch forth to follow our exile And after all these boistrous stormie shocks Yet will we grapple with the chaulkie Rocks Nor will we come like Pyrats or like theeues From mountaine Forrests or sea-bordering Cleeues But fright the ayre with terror when we come Of the sterne trumpet and the bellowing drum And in the field aduance our plumy Crest And martch vpon faire Englands flowrie brest And Thames which once we for our life did swim Shaking our dewy tresses on her brim Shall beare my Nauie vaunting in her pride Falling from Tanet with the powerfull tide vvhich fertile Essex and faire Kent shall see Spreading her flags along the pleasant lee vvhen on her stemming poope she proudly beares The famous Ensignes of the Belgicke peeres And for the hatefull sacreligious sin vvhich by the Pope he stands accursed in The Cannon text shall haue a common glosse Receits in parcels shall be paid in grosse This doctrine preach'd who from the Church doth take At least shall treble restitution make For which Rome sends her curses out from farre Through the sterne throate of terror-breathing warre Till to th' vnpeopled shores she brings supplies Of those industrious Romaine Colonies And for his homage by the which of old Proud Edward Guyne and Aquitaine doth hold Charles by inuasiue armes againe shall take And send the English forces o're the Lake vvhen Edwards fortune stands vpon this chaunce To loose in England or expuls'd from Fraunce And all those townes great Longshanks left his son Now lost againe which once his father won VVithin their strong perculliz'd Ports shall lie And from their walls his sieges shall defie And by that firme and vndissolued knot Betwixt the neighbouring French and bordering Scot Bruse now shall bring his redshanks from the seas From th'Iled Orcad's and the Hebrydes And to his VVesterne Hauens giue free passe To land the vvarlike Irish Galiglasse Marching from Tweede to swelling Humber sands vvasting along the Northerne netherlands And wanting those which should his power sustaine Consum'd with slaughter in his bloody raigne Our warlike sword shall driue him from his throne vvhere he shall lie for vs to tread vpon And those great Lords now after theyr attaints Canonized amongst the English Saints And by the superstitious people thought That by their Reliques miracles are wrought And thinke that flood much vertue doth retaine vvhich tooke the blood of famous Bohun slaine Continuing the remembrance of the thing To make the people more abhor theyr King Nor shall a Spenser be he nere so great Possesse our VVigmore
our renowned seate To raze the auncient Trophies of our race vvith our deserts theyr monuments to grace Nor shall he leade our valiant marchers forth To make the Spensers famous in the North Nor be the Gardants of the Brittish pales Defending England and preseruing VVales At first our troubles easily recul'd But now growne head-strong hardly to be rul'd vvith grauest counsell all must be directed vvhere plainest shewes are openly suspected For where mishap our error doth assault There doth it easiliest make vs see our fault Then sweet represse all fond and wilfull spleene Two things to be a woman and a Queene Keepe close the cyndars least the fire should burne It is not this which yet must serue our turne And if I doe not much mistake the thing The next supply shall greater comfort bring Till when I leaue my Princesse for a while Liue thou in rest though I liue in exile Notes of the Chronicle Historie Of one condemn'd and long lodg'd vp in death ROger Mortimer Lorde of Wigmore had stoode publiquely condemned for his insurrection with Thomas Earle of Lancaster and Bohun Eale of Herford by the space of three moneths and as the report went the day of his execution was determined to haue beene shortly after which he preuented by his escape Twice all was taken â—twice thou all didst giue At what time the two Mortimers this Roger Lord of Wigmore and his vncle Roger Mortimer the elder were apprehended in the West the Queene by meanes of Torlton Bishop of Hereford and Becke Bishop of Duresme and Patriarke of Ierusalem being then both mightie in the state vpon the submission of the Mortimers somewhat pacified the King and now secondly she wrought meanes for his escape Leauing the cords to tell where I had gone With strong ladders made of cords prouided him for the purpose he escaped out of the Tower which when the same were found fastened to the walls in such a desperate attempt they bred astonishment to the beholders Nor let the Spensers glory in my chance The two Hugh Spensers the Father and the Sonne then beeing so highly fauoured of the King knew that their greatest safety came by his exile vvhose high and turbulent spirit could neuer brooke any corriuall in greatnes My Grandsire was the first since Arthurs raigne That the round-table rectifi'd againe Roger Mortimer called the great Lorde Mortimer Grandfather to this Roger which was afterward the first Earle of March reerected againe the Round-table at Kenelwoorth after the auncient order of King Arthurs table with the retinue of a hundred Knights a hundred Ladyes in his house for the entertayning of such aduentures as came thether from all parts of Christendome Whilst famous Longshanks bones in Fortunes scorne Edward Longshanks willed at his death that his body should bee boyled the flesh from the bones and that the bones should be borne to the warres in Scotland which he was perswaded vnto by a prophecie which told that the English should still be fortunate in conquest so long as his bones were carried in the field The English blood that stained Banocksburne In the great voyage Edward the second made against the Scots at the battell at Stâ—iueling neere vnto the riuer of Banocksburne in Scotland where there was in the English campe such banquetting excesse such riot and misorder that the Scots who in the meane time laboured for aduantage gaue to the English a great ouerthrow And in the Dead-sea sincke our houses fame From whose c. Mortimer so called of Mare Mortuum and in French Mortâ—mer in English the Dead-sea which is said to be where Sodome Gomorra once were before they were destroyed by fire from heauen And for that hatefull sacriligious sin Which by the Pope he stands accursed in Gaeustelinus and Lucas two Cardinalls sent into England froÌ„ Pope Clement to appease the auncient hate betweene the King and Thomas Earle of Lancaster to whose Embassy the King seemed to yeeld but after theyr departure he went back from his promises for which hee was accursed at Rome Of those industrious Romaine Colonies A Colony is a sort or number of people that come to inhabite a place before not inhabited whereby hee seemeth heere to prophecie of the subuersion of the Land the Pope ioyning with the power of other Princes against Edward for the breach of his promise Charles by iâ—uasiue Armes againe shall take Charles the French King mooued by the wrong done vnto hys sister ceazeth the Prouinces which belonged to the King of England into his hands stirred the ratheâ— thereto by Mortimer who solicited her cause in Fraunce as is expressed before in the other Epistle in the glosse vpon this poynt And those great Lords now after theyr attaints Canonized among the English Saints After the death of Thomas Earle of Lancaster at Pomfret the people imagined great miracles to be doone by his reliques as they did of the body of Bohun Earle of Herford slaine at Borough bridge FINIS ¶ To my worthy and honoured friend Maister VValter Aston SIR though without suspition of flatterie I might in more ample and freer tearmes intymate my affection vnto you yet hauing so sensible a tast of your generous and noble disposition which without this habit of ceremony can estimate my loue I will rather affect breuitie though it shoulde seeme my fault then by my tedious complement to trouble mine owne opinion setled in your iudgement and discretion I make you the Patron of this Epistle of the Black-Prince which I pray you accept till more easier howers may offer vp from me some thing more worthy of your view and my trauell Yours truly deuoted Mich Drayton Edward the blacke Prince to Alice Countesse of Salisburie ¶ The Argument Alice Countesse of Salisburie remaining at Roxborough Castle in the North in the absence of the Earle her husband who was by the Kings commaund sent ouer into Flaunders and there deceased ere his returne This Lady being besieged in her Castle by the Scots Edward the blacke Prince being sent by the King his Father to relieue the North-parts with an Armie and to remoue the siege of Roxborough there fel in loue with the Countesse when after she returned to London hee sought by diuers and sundry means to winne her to his youthfull pleasures as by forcing the Earle of Kent her Father her Mother vnnaturally to become his Agents in his vaine desire where after a long and assured trial of her inuincible constancie hee taketh her to his wife to which end hee onelie frameth this Epistle REceiue these papers from thy wofull Lord vvith far more woes then they with words are stor'd vvhich if thine eye with rashnes doe reproue They 'le say they came from that imperious loue In euery Letter thou maist vnderstand vvhich Loue hath sign'd and sealed with his hand And where no farther processe he refers In blots set downe for other Characters This cannot blush although you doe refuse it Nor will reply
my Bridall bed How can that beauty yet be vndestroy'd That yeeres haue wasted and two men enioy'd Or should be thought fit for a Princes store Of which two subiects were possess'd before Let Spaine let Fraunce or Scotland so prefer Their infant Queenes for Englands dowager That blood should be much more then halfe diuineâ— That should be equall euery way with thine Yet Princely Edward though I thus reproue you As mine owne life so deerely do I loue you My noble husband which so loued you That gentle Lord that reuerend Mountague Nere mothers voice did please her babe so well As his did mine of you to heare him tell I haue made short the houres that time made long And chain'd mine eares vnto his pleasing tong My lips haue waited on your praises worth And snatch'd his words ere he could get them forth vvhen he hath spoke and somthing by the wayâ— Hath broke off that he was about to say I kept in mind where from his tale he fell Calling on him the residue to tell Oft he would say how sweet a Prince is hee vvhen I haue prais'd him but for praising thee And to proceed I would entreat and wooe And yet to ease him helpe and prayse thee too Must she be forc'd t'exclaime th'iniurious wrong Offred by him whom she hath lou'd so long Nay I will tell and I durst almost sweare Edward will blush when he his fault shall heare Iudge now that time doth youths desire asswage And reason mildly quench'd the fire of rage By vpright iustice let my cause be tride And be thou iudge if I not iustly chide That not my Fathers graue and reuerent yeeres His bending knee his cheeke-bedewing teares His prayers perswasions nor entreats could win To free himselfe as guiltlesse of my sin My mothers cries her shreeks her pittious mones Her deepe-fetch'd sighs her sad hart-breaking grones Thy lustfull rage thy tyranny could stay Mine honours ruine further to delay Haue I not lou'd you say can you say no That as mine owne preseru'd your honour so Had your â—ond will your foule desires preuail'd vvhen you by them my chastitie assail'd Though this no way could haue excus'd my fault True vertue neuer yeelded to assault Yet what a thing were this it should be said My parents sin should to your charge be laid And I haue gain'd my liberty with shame To saue my life made shipwrack of my name Did Roxborough once vaile her towring sane To thy braue ensigne on the Northerne plaine And to thy trumpet sounding from thy Tent Often replie with ioy and merriment And did receiue thee as my soueraigne liege Comming to ayde thou shouldst againe besiege To raise a foe but for my treasure came To plant a foe to take my honest name Vnder pretence to haue remou'd the Scot And wouldst haue wone more then he could haue got That did ingirt me readie still to flie But thou laid'st batterie to my chastitie O modestie didst thou me not restraine How I could chide you in this angrie vaine A Princes name heauen knowes I doe not craue To haue those honours Edwards spouse should haue Nor by ambitious lures will I be brought In my chast brest to harbour such a thought As to be worthy to be made a Bride An Empresse place by mighty Edwards side Of all the most vnworthy of that grace To waite on her that should enioy that place But if that loue Prince Edward doth require Equall his vertues and my chast desire If it be such as we may iustly vaunt A Prince may sue for and a Lady graunt If it be such as may suppresse my wrong That from your vaine vnbridled youth hath sprong That faith I send that I from you receaue The rest vnto your Princely thoughts I leaue Notes of the Chronicle Historie Twice as a Bride I haue to Church beene led THe two husbands of which she maketh mention obiecting Bigamay against her selfe as beeing therefore not meete to be maried with a Batcheler-Prince were Sir Thomas Holland Knight Sir William Mountague afterward made Earle of Salisburie That not my Fathers graue and reuerent yeeres A thing incredible that any Prince should be so vniust to vse the Fathers meanes for the corruption of the daughters chastitie though so the historie importeth her Father being so honourable and a man of so singuler desert though Polidore would haue her thought to be Iane the daughter to Edmund Earle of Kent Vncle to Edward the third beheaded in the Protectorship of Mortimer that daungerous aspirer And I haue gain'd my libertie with shame Roxborough is a Castle in the North mistermed by Bandello Salisburie Castle because the king had giuen it to the Earle of Salisburie in which her Lord being absent the Countesse by the Scots was besieged who by the coÌ„ming of the English Armie were remoued Heere first the Prince saw her whose liberty had been gained by her shame had she been drawne by dishonest loue to satisfie his appetite but by her most prayse-worthy constancie she conuerted that humor in him to an honourable purpose obtained the true reward of her admired vertues The rest vnto your princely thoughts I leaue Least any thing be left out which were worth the relation it shall not be impertinent to annex the opinions that are vttered concerning her whose name is said to haue been Aâ—lips but that beeing reiected as a name vnknowne among vs Froisard is rather belieued who calleth her Alice Polidore contrariwise as before is declared names her Iane who by Prince Edward had issue Edward dying young and Richard the second King of England though as he saith she was deuorced afterwards because within the degrees of consanguinitie prohibiting to marrie the truth whereof I omit to discusse her husband the Lord Montague being sent ouer with the Earle of Suffolke into Flaunders by King Edward was taken prisoner by the French not returning left his Countesse a widow in whose bed succeeded Prince Edward to whose last and lawfull request the reioycefull Ladie sends this louing aunswere FINIS To the Right Honourable and my very good Lord Edward Earle of Bedford THrice noble and my gracious Lord the loue I haue euer borne to the illustrious house of Bedford and to the honourable familie of the Harringtons to the which by marriage your Lordship is happily vnited hath long since deuoted my true and zealous affection to your honourable seruice and my Poems to the protection of my noble Ladie your Countesse to whose seruice I was first bequeathed by that learned and accomplished Gentleman Sir Henry Goodere not long since deceased whose I was whilst hee was whose patience pleased to beare with the imperfections of my heedlesse and vnstated youth That excellent and matchlesse Gentleman was the first cherrisher of my Muse which had beene by his death left a poore Orphan to the world had hee not before bequeathed it to that Lady whoÌ„â—e so deerly loued Vouchsafe then my deere Lord
As many minutes as in the houres there be So many houres each minute seemes to me Each houre a day morne noone-tide and a set Each day a yeare with miseries complet A vvinter spring-time sommer and a fall All seasons varying but vnseasoned all In endlesse woe my thred of life thus weares By minutes houres dayes monthes and ling'ring yeares They praise the Sommer that enioy the South Pomfret is closed in the Norths cold mouth There pleasant Sommer dwelleth all the yeere Frost-starued-winter doth inhabite heere A place wherein dispaire may fitly dwell Sorrow best suting with a clowdie Cell VVhen Herford had his iudgement of exile Saw I the peoples murmuring the while Th' vncertaine Commons touch'd with inward care As though his sorrowes mutually they bare Fond women and scarse speaking children mourne Bewaile his parting wishing his returne Then being forc'd t' abridge his banish'd yeeres vvhen they bedew'd his footsteps with their teares Yet by example could not learne to know To what his greatnes by this loue might grow vvhilst Henry boasts of our atthieuements done Bearing the trophies our great fathers wone And all the storie of our famous warre Now grace the Annalls of great Lancaster Seuen goodly siens in their spring did flourish vvhich one selfe root brought forth one stocke did nourish Edward the top-braunch of that golden tree Nature in him her vtmost power did see vvho from the bud still blossomed so faire As all might iudge what fruit it meant to beare But I his graft of eu'ry weede ore-growne And from the kind as refuse forth am throwne From our braue Grandsire both in one degree Yet after Edward Iohn the young'st of three Might princely VVales beget an Impe so base That to Gaunts issue should giue soueraigne place That leading Kings from Fraunce returned home As those great Caesars brought their spoyles to Rome vvhose name obtayned by his fatall hand vvas euer fearefull to that conquered land His fame increasing purchasd in those warres Can scarcely now be bounded with the starres VVith him is valour quite to heauen fled Or else in me is it extinguished vvho for his vertue and his conquests sake Posteritie a demie God shall make And iudge this â—ile and abiect spirit of mine Could not proceed from temper so diuine VVhat earthly humor or what vulgar eye Can looke so low as on our miserie VVhen Bulling brook is mounted to our throne And makes that his which we but call'd our owne Into our Counsels he himselfe intrudes And who but Henry with the multitudes His power disgrad's his dreadfull frowne disgraceth He throwes them downe whom our aduancement placeth As my disable and vnworthie hand Neuer had power belonging to command He treads our sacred tables in the dust And proues our acts of Parlament vniust As thougâ— he hated that it should be said That such a law by Richard once was made VVhilst I depresd before his greatnes lie Vnder the waight of hate and infamie My back a foot-stoole Bulling brook to raise My loosenes mock'd and hatefull by his praise Out-liu'd mine honour buried my estate And nothing left me but the peoples hate Sweet Queene I le take all counsell thou canst giue So that thou bid'st me neither hope nor liue Succour that comes when ill hath done his worst But sharpens greefe to make vs more accurst Comfort is now vnpleasing to mine eare Past cure past care my bed become my Beere Since now misfortune humbleth vs so long Till heauen be growne vnmindfull of our wrong Yet they forbid my wrongs shall euer die But still remembred to posteritie And let the crowne be fatall that he weares And euer wet with wofull mothers teares Thy curse on Percie angry heauens preuent vvho haue not one cuise left on him vnspent To scourge the world now horrowing of my store As rich of woe as I a King am poore Then cease deere Queene my sorrowes to bewaile My wounds too great for pittie now to heale Age stealeth on whilst thou complainest thus My greefes be mortall and infectious Yet better fortunes thy fayre youth may trie That follow thee which still from me doth flie Notes of the Chronicle Historie This tongue which first denounc'd my regall flate RIchard the second at the resignation of the Crowne to the Duke of Herford in the Tower of London deliuering the lame with his owne hand there confessed his disabilitie to gouerne vtterly denouncing all kingly dignitie And left'st great Burbon for thy loue to me Before the Princesse Isabell was married to the King Lewes Duke of Burbon sued to haue had her in mariage which was thought hee had obtained if this motion had not fallen out in the meane time This Duke of Burbon sued againe to haue receiued her at her comming into Fraunce after the imprisonment of King Richard but King Charles her Father then crost him as before and gaue her to Charles sonne to the Duke of Orleance When Herford had his iudgement of exile When the combate should haue beene at Couentrie betwixt Henâ—ie Duke of Herford and Thomas Duke of Norfolke where Herâ—ord was adiudged to banishment for tenne yeares the Commons exceeding lamented so greatly was he euer fauoured of the people Then being forc'd t' abridge his banish'd yeeres When the Duke came to take his leaue of the King being then at Eltham the King to please the Commons rather then for any louâ— he beare to Herford repleaded foure yeeres of his banishment Whilst Henry boasts of our atchieuements done Henry the eldest Sonne to Iohn Duke of Lancaster at the first Earle of Darby then created Duke of Herford after the death of the Duke Iohn his Father was Duke of Lancaster and Hereford Earle of Darby Leicester and Lincolne and after he had obtained the Crowne was called by the name of Bullingbrooke which is a towne in Lincolneshire as vsually all the Kings of England bare the name of the places where they were borne Seauen goodly syens in their spring did flourish Edward the third had seuen Sonnes Edward Prince of Wales after called the blacke Prince William of Hatfield the second Lionell Duke of Clarence the third Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster the fourth Edmond of Langley Duke of Yorke the Fifth Thomas of Woodstocke Duke of Gloster the sixth William of Windsore the seuenth Edward the top-branch of that golden tree Truly boasting himselfe to bee the eldest Sonne of Edward the blacke Prince Yet after Edward Iohn the young'st of three As disabling Henry Bullingbrooke being but the sonne of the fourth brother William and Lionell beeing both before Iohn of Gaunt That leading Kings from Fraunce returned home Edward the black Prince taking Iohn King of Fraunce prisoner at the battell of Poictâ—â—s brought him into England where at the Sauoy he died Whose name atchiued by his fatall hand Called the black Prince not so much of his complexion as of the famous battell hee fought as is shewed before in the Glosse vppon the Epistle of Edward
to the Countesse of Salisburie And proues our acts of Parlement vniust In the next Parlement after Richards resignation of the Crowne Henry caused to be annihilated all the lawes made in the Parlament called the wicked Parlement helde in the twenty yeere of king Richards raigne FINIS Queene Katherine to Owen Tudor The Argument After the death of that victorious Henry the fift Queene Katherine the dowager of England and Fraunce daughter to Charles the French King holding her estate with Henrie her sonne then the sixt of that name falleth in loue with Owen Tuder a VVelshman a braue and gallant Gentleman of the VVardrope to the young King her son yet greatlie fearing if her loue shoulde bee discouered the Nobilitie would crosse her purposed marriage or fearing that if her faire princely promises should not assure his good successe this high and great attempt might perhaps daunt the forwardnesse of his modest and shamefast youth wherefore to breake the Ice to her intent shee writeth vnto him this Epistle following IVdge not a Princesse worth impeach'd heereby That loue thus tryumphs ouer maiestie Nor thinke lesse vertue in this royall hand vvhich now intreats that wonted to commaund For in this sort though humbly now it wooe The day hath beene thou would'st haue kneeld vnto Nor thinke that this submission of my state Proceedes from frailty rather iudge it fate Alcides nere more fit for wars sterne shock Then when for loue sate spinning at the rock Neuer lesse clowdes did Phoebus glory dim Then in a clownes shape when he couered him â—oues great commaund was neuer more obey'd Then when a Satyres anticke parts he plai'd He was thy King that sued for loue to mee Shee is thy Queene that sues for loue to thee VVhen Henry was what 's Tudors now was his vvhilst vet thou art what 's Henries Tudors is My loue to Owen him my Henry giueth My loue to Henry in my Owen liueth Henry woo'd me whilst wars did yet increase I wooe my Tudor in sweet calmes of peace To force affection he did conquest proue I fight with gentle arguments of loue Incampt at Melans In warres hote alarmes First saw I Henry clad in princely Armes At pleasant VVindsore first these eyes of mine My Tudor iudg'd for wit and shape diuine Henry abroade with puissance and with force Tudor at home with courtship and discourse He then thou now I hardly can iudge whether Did like me best Plantaginet or Tether A march a measure battell or a daunce A courtly rapier or a conquering Launce His princely bed hath strengthned my renowne And on my temples set a double crowne vvhich glorious wreath as Henries lawfull heire Henry the sixt vpon his brow doth beare At Troy in Champaine he did first enioy My bridal-rites to England brought from Troy In England now that honour thou shalt haue vvhich once in Champaine famous Henry gaueâ— I seeke not wealth three kingdoms in my power If these suffise not where shall be my dower Sad discontent may euer follow her vvhich doth base pelfe before true loue prefer If â—itles still could our affections tie vvhat is so great but maiestie might buy As I seeke thee so Kings doe me desire To what they would thou easily mai'st aspire That sacred fire once warm'd my hart before The fuell fit the flame is now the more And meanes to quench it I in vaine doe proue vve may hide treasure but not hide our loue And since it is thy fortune thus to gaine it It were too late nor will I now restraine it Nor these great titles vainely will I bring vvife daughter mother sister to a King Of grandsire father husband sonne brother More thou alone to me then all the other Nor feare my Tudor that this loue of mine Should wrong the Gaunt-borne great Lancastrian linâ— Nor stir the English blood the Sunne and Moone T'repine at Loraine Burbon Alansoon Nor doe I thinke there is such different ods They should alone be numbred with the Gods Of Cadmus earthly issue reckoning vs And they from â—oue Mars Neptune Eolus Of great Latonas of-spring onely they And we the brats of wofull Niobe Our famous Grandsires as theyr owne bestrid That horse of fame that God-begotten steed vvhose bounding hoofe plow'd that Boetian spring vvhere those sweet maides of memory doe sing Not onely Henries Queene but boast as well To be the childe of Charles and Isabell. Nor doe I know from whence their griefe should grow They by this match should be disparag'd so vvhen Iohn and Longshanks issue both affied And to the Kings of VVales in wedlocke tyed Showing the greatnes of your blood thereby Your race and royall consanguinitie And VVales as well as haughty England boasts Of Camilot and all her Penticosts A nephewes roome in great Pondragons race At Arthurs table held a princely place If by the often conquest of your land They boast the spoyles of theyr victorious hand If these our auncient Chronicles be true They altogether are not free from you VVhen bloody Rufus fought your vtter sack Twice entring VVales yet twice was beaten back VVhen famous Cambria wash'd her in the flood Made by th' effusion of the English blood And oft return'd with glorious victorie From VVorster Herford Chester Shrowesbury vvhose power in euery conquest so preuailes As once expuls'd the English out of VVales Although my beautie made my Countries peace And at my bridall former broyles did cease Yet more then power had not his person beene I had not come to England as a Queene Nor tooke I Henry to supply my want Because in Fraunce that time my choise was scant vvhen we had robd all Christendome of men And Englands flower remain'd amongst vs then Gloster whose counsels Nestor-like assist Couragious Bedford that great martiallist Clarence for vertue honoured of his foes And Yorke whose fame yet daily greater growes VVarwicke the pride of Neuels haughtie race Great Salisburie so fear'd in euery place That valiant Poole whom no atchiuement dares And Vere so famous in the Irish warres vvho though my selfe so great a Prince were borne The worst of these my equall neede not scorne But Henries rare perfections and his parts As conquering kingdoms so he conquer'd harts As chast was I to him as Queene might bee But freed from him my chast loue vow'd to thee Beautie doth fetch all fauour from thy face All perfect courtship resteth in thy grace If thou discourse thy lips such accents breake As loue a spirit foorth of thee seem'd to speake The Brittish language which our vowels wants And iarrs so much vpon harsh consonants Comes with such grace from thy mellifluous tongâ—e As doe the sweet notes of a well set song And runnes as smoothly from those lips of thine As the pure Thuskan from the Florantine Leauing such seasoned sweetnes in the eare As the voyce past yet still the found is there In Nisus Tower as when Apollo lay And on his golden viall vs'd to play vvhere
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
for those sums the wealthy Church should pay Vpon the needie Commentie to lay His ghostly counsels onely doe aduise The meanes how Langleys progenie may rise Pathing young Henries vnaduised waies A Duke of Yorke from Cambridge house to raise vvhich after may our title vndermine Grafted since Edward in Gaunts famous line Vs of succession falfely to depriue vvhich they from Clarence fainedly deriue Knowing the will old Cambridge euer bore To catch the wreath that famous Henrie wore VVith Gray and Scroope when first he laid the plot From vs and ours the garland to haue got As from the march-borne Mortimer to raigne vvhose title Glendour stoutly did maintaine vvhen the proud Percies haughtie March and he Had shar'd the Land by equall parts in three His Priesthood now sterne Mowbray doth restore To stir the fire that kindled was before Against the Yorkists shall their claime aduaunce To steele the poynt of Norfolks sturdie Launce Vpon the brest of Herfords issue bent In iust reuenge of auncient banishment He doth aduise to let our prisoner goe And doth enlarge the faithlesse Scottish foe Giuing our heires in marriage that their dowres May bring inuasion vpon vs and ours Ambitious Suffolke so the helme doth guide vvith Beufords damned policies supplide He and the Queene in counsell still confer How to raise him who hath aduanced her But my deare hart how vainely do I dreame And flie from thee whose sorrowes are my theamâ— My loue to thee and England thus deuided vvhich the most part how hard to be decided Or thee or that to whether I am loth So neere are you so deere vnto me both Twixt that and thee for equall loue I finde England ingratefull and my Elnor kinde But though my Country iustly I reproue For Countries sake vnkinde vnto my loue Yet is thy Humfrey to his Elnor now As when fresh beautie triumph'd on thy brow As when thy graces I admired most Or of thy fauours might the frankli'st boast Those beauties were so infinite before That in abundance I was onely poore Or which though time hath taken some againe I aske no more but what doth yet remaine Be patient gentle hart in thy distresse Thou art a Princesse not a whit the lesse VVhilst in these breasts we beare about this life I am thy husband and thou art my wife Cast not thine eye on such as mounted be But looke on those cast downe as low as we For some of them which proudly pearch so hie Ere long shall come as low as thou or I. They weepe for ioy and let vs laugh in woe vve shall exchange when heauen will haue it so VVe mourne and they in after time may mourne vvoe past may once laugh present woe to scorne And worse then hath beene we can neâ—er â—ast vvorse cannot come then is already past In all extreames the onely depth of ill Is that which comforts the afflicted still Ah would to God thou would'st thy grieâ—â—s denie And on my backe let all the burthen lie Or if thou canst resigne make thine mine owne Both in one carridge to be vndergone Till we againe our former hopes recouer And prosperous times blow these misfortunes ouer For in the thought of those forepassed yeeres Some new resemblance of old ioy appeares Mutuall our care so mutuall be our loue That our affliction neuer can remoue So rest in peace where peace hath hope to liue vvishing thee more then I my selfe can giue Notes of the Chronicle Historie At Agincourt at Crauant and Vernoyle THe three famous battels fought by the English men in Fraunce Agincourt by Henry the fift against the whole power of Fraunce Grauant fought by Mountacute Earle of Salisburie and the Duke of Burgoyne against the Dolphine of Fraunce William Stuart Constable of Scotland Vernoyle fought by Iohn Duke of Bedford against the Duke of Alanson and with him most of the Nobilitie of Fraunce Duke Humfry an especiall Counsellour in all these expeditions In Flaunders Almaine Boheme Burgundie Heere remembring the auncient amitie which in his Embassics he concluded betwixt the King of England and Sigismond Emperour of Almaine drawing the Duke of Burgoyne into the same league gyuing himselfe as an hostage for the Duke of Saint Omers while the Duke came to Calice to confirme the league With his many otheâ— imployments to forraine kingdoms That crosier staffe in his imperious hand Henry Beuford Cardinall of Winchester that proude and haughty Prelate receiued his Cardinals haâ—te at Calice by the Popes Legate which dignitie Henry the fift his nephewe forbad him to take vpon him knowing his haughtie and malicious spirit vnfit for that robe and calling The meanes how Langleys progenie may rise As willing to shew the house of Cambridge to bee descended of Edmund Langley Duke of York a yonger brother to Iohn of Gaunt his Grandfather as much as in him lay to smother the title that the Yorkists made to the crowne from Lâ—onell of Clarence Gaunts â—lder brother by the daughter of Mortimer His priesthood now sterne Mowbray doth restore Noting the ancient grudge betweene the house of Lancaster and Norfolke euer since Mowbray Duke of Norfolke was banished for the accusation of Henry Duke of Herford after the King of England Father to Duke Humfry which accusation he came as a Combatant to haue made good in the Lists at Couentry And giues our heiresin marriage that their dowers Iames Stuart King of Scots hauing beene long prisoner in England was released and tooke to wife the daughter of Iohn Duke of Sommerset sister to Iohn Duke of Somerset neeâ—e to the Cardinall and the Duke of Excester and Cosin germaine remou'd to the king this King broke the oath he had taken and became after a great enemie to England FINIS To my honoured Mistres Mistres Elizabeth Tanfelde the sole daughter and heyre of that famous and learned Lawyer Lawrence Tanfelde Esquire FAire and vertuous Mistres since first it was my good fortune to be a witnes of the many rare perfections wherewith nature and education â—aue adorned you I haue been forced since that time to attribute more admiration to your sexe then euer Petrarch could before perswade mee to by the prayses of his Laura Sweet is the Frâ—â—ch tongue more sweet the Italian but most sweet are they both if spoken by your admired selfe If poesie were praiselesse your vertues alone were a subiect sufficient to make it esteemed though among the barbarous Getes by how much the more your tender yeres giue scarcely warrant for your more then woman-like wisedome by so much is your iudgment and reading the more to be wondred at The Graces shall haue one more Sister by your selfe and England to herselfe shall adde one Muse more to the Muses I rest the humble deuoted seruaunt to my deere and modest Mistresse to whom I wish the happiest fortunes I can deuise Michaell Drayton William de la Pole Duke of Suffolke to Queene Margaret ¶ The Argument VVilliam de la Pole
he conuayed to South-hampton Queene Margaret to William de la Pole Duke of Suffolke WHat newes sweet Pole look'st thou my lines should tell But like the tolling of the dolefull bell Bidding the deaths-man to prepare the graue Expect from me no other newes to haue My brest which once was mirths imperiall throne A vast and desart wildernes is growne Like that cold Region from the world remote On whose breeme seas the Icie mountaines flote vvhere those poore creatures banish'd from the light Doe liue imprison'd in continuall night No ioy presents my soules eternall eyes But diuination of sad tragedies And care takes vp her solitarie In vvhere youth and ioy their Court did once begin As in September when our yeare resignes The glorious Sunne vnto the watrie signes vvhich through the clouds lookes on the earth in scorne The little bird yet to salute the morne Vpon the naked branches sets her foote The leaues now lying on the mossie roote And there a silly chirripping doth keepe As though she faine would sing yet faine would weepe Praysing faire Sommer that too soone is gone Or sad for VVinter too fast comming on In this strange plight I mourne for thy depart Because that weeping cannot ease my hart Now to our ayde who stirs the neighbouring Kings Or who from Fraunce a puissant Armie brings VVho moues the Norman to abet our war Or stirs vp Burgoyne to ayde Lancaster VVho in the North our lawfull claime commends To win vs credite with our valiant friends To whom shall I my secret griefe impart vvhose breast I made the closet of my hart The ancient Heroes fame thou didst reuiue And didst from them thy memory deriue Nature by thee both gaue and taketh all Alone in Pole shee was too prodigall Of so diuine and rich a temper wrought As heauen for him perfections deepe had sought VVell knew King Henry what he pleaded for vvhen he chose thee to be his Orator vvhose Angell-eye by powrefull influence Doth vtter more then humaine eloquence That when Ioue would his youthfull sports haue tride But in thy shape himselfe would neuer hide VVhich in his loue had beene of greater power Then was his nimph his flame his swan his shower To that allegiance Yorke was bound by oath To Henries heires and safety of vs both No longer now he meanes record shal beare it He will dispence with heauen and will vnsweare it He that 's in all the worlds blacke sinnes forlorne Is carelesse now how oft he be forsworne And now of late his title hath set downe By which he makes his claime vnto the crowne And now I heare his hatefull Dutches chats And rips vp their descent vnto her brats And blesseth them as Englands lawfull heires And tels them that our Diadem is theirs And if such hap her Goddesse fortune bring If three sonnes faile she 'le make the fourth a King He that 's so like his Dam her youngest Dicke That foule ill-fauoured crook-back'd stigmaticke That like a carcas stolne out of a Tombe Came the wrong way out of his mothers wombe VVith teeth in 's head his passage to haue torne As though begot an age ere he was borne VVho now will curbe proud Yorke when he shall rise Or Armes our right against his enterprize To crop that bastard weede which dayly growes To ouer-shadow our vermilian Rose Or who will muzzell that vnrulie Beare vvhose presence strikes our peoples harts with feare VVhilst on his knees this wretched King is downe To saue them labour reaching at his Crowne vvhere like a mounting Cedar he should beare His plumed top aloft into the ayre And let these shrubs sit vnderneath his shrowdes vvhilst in his armes he doth embrace the clowdes O that he should his Fathers right inherit Yet be an alien to that mightie spirit How were those powers disperc'd or whether gone Should sympathize in generation Or what apposed influence had force To abuse kinde and alter natures course All other creatures follow after kinde But man alone doth not beget the minde My Daysie-flower which erst perfum'd the ayre vvhich for my fauours Princes once did weare Now in the dust lyes troden on the ground And with Yorkes garlands euery one is crownd VVhen now his rising waytes on our decline And in our setting he begins to shine Now in the skies that dreadfull Comet waues And who be starres but VVarwicks bearded staues And all those knees which bended once so low Grow stiffe as though they had forgot to bow And none like them pursue me vvith despite vvhich most haue cryde God saue Queene Margarite VVhen fame shall brute thy banishment abrode The Yorkish faction then will lay on loade And when it comes once to our VVesterne coast O how that hag Dame Elinor will boast And labour straight by all the meanes she can To be call'd home out of the I le of Man To which I know great VVarwicke will consent To haue it done by act of Parlement That to my teeth my birth shee may defie Slaundring Duke Rayner with base beggerie The onely way she could deuise to grieue me vvanting sweet Suffolke which should most relieue me And from that stock doth sprout another bloome A Kentish Rebell a base vpstart groome And this is hee the vvhite-rose must prefer By Clarence daughter match'd with Mortimer Thus by Yorkes meanes this rascall pesant Cade Must in all hast Plantaginet be made Thus that ambitious Duke sets all on worke To sound what friends affect the claime of Yorke VVhilst he abroad doth practise to commaund And makes vs weake by strengthning Ireland More his owne power still seeking to increase Then for King Henries good or Englands peace Great VVinchester vntimely is deceas'd That more and more my woes should be encreas'd Beuford whose shoulders proudly bare vp all The Churches prop that famous Cardinall The Commons bent to mischiefe neuer let vvith Fraunce t' vpbraid that valiant Sommerset Rayling in tumults on his souldiours losse Thus all goes backward crosse comes after crosse And now of late Duke Humfreys old alies vvith banish'd Elnors base accomplices Attending theyr reuenge grow wondrous crouse And threaten death and vengeance to our house And I alone the wofull remnant am â— endure these stormes with wofull Buckingham I pray thee Pole haue care how thou doost passe Neuer the Sea yet halfe so dangerous was And one fore-told by water thou should'st die Ah foule befall that foule tongues prophecie And euery night am troubled in my dreames That I doe see thee tost in dangerous streames And oft-times shipwrackt cast vpon the land And lying breathlesse on the queachy sand And oft in visions see thee in the night vvhere thou at Sea maintain'st a dangerous sight And with thy proued Target and thy sword Beat'st backe the Pyrate which vvould come abord Yet be not angry that I warne thee thus The truest loue is most suspitious Sorrow doth vtter what vs still doth grieue But hope forbids vs sorrow to belieue And in
should touch the halowed shrine To surfet sicknes on the sound mans diet To rob Content yet still to liue vnquiet And hauing all to be of all beguild And yet still longing like a little childâ— VVhen Marques Dorset and the valiant Grayes To purchase fame first crost the narrow Seas vvith all the Knights that my associates went In honour of thy nuptiall turnament Thinkst thou I ioy'd not in thy Beauties pride vvhen thou in triumph didst through Paris ride vvhere all the streets as thou didst pace along vvith Arras Bisse and Tapestry were hong Ten thousand gallant Cittizens prepar'd In rich attire thy princely selfe to guard Next them three thousand choise religious men In golden vestments followed on agen And in procession as they came along vvith Hymeneus sang thy marriage song Then fiue great Dukes as did theyr places fall To each of these a Princely Cardinall Then thou on thy imperiall Chariot set Crown'd with a rich imperled Coronet vvhilst the Parisian Dames as thy traine past Their precious Incence in aboundance cast As Cinthia from the waue-embatteld shrouds Opening the west comes streaming through the clouds vvith shining troupes of siluer-tressed stars Attending on her as her Torch-bearers And all the lesser lights about her throne VVith admiration stand as lookers on vvhilst shee alone in height of all her pride The Queene of light along her spheare doth glide VVhen on the tylt my Horse like thunder came No other signall had I but thy name Thy voyce my trumpet and my guide thine eyes And but thy beautie I esteem'd no prize That largeâ— limd Almaine of the Gyants race vvhich bare strength on his breast feare in his face vvhose sinewed armes with his steele-tempered blade Through plate and male such open passage made Vpon whose might the French-mens glory lay And all the hope of that victorious day Thou saw'st thy Brandon beate him on his knee Offring his shield a conquered spoile to thee But thou wilt say perhaps I vainely boast And tell thee that which thou alreadie know'st No sacred Queene my valour I denie It was thy beautie not my chiualry One of thy tressed curles vvhich falling downe As loth to be imprisoned in thy Crowne I saw the soft ayre sportiuely to take it To diuers shapes and sundry formes to make it Now parting it to foure to three to twaine Now twisting it and then vntwist againe Then make the threds to dally with thine eye A sunny candle for a golden flie At length from thence one little teare it got vvhich falling downe as though a star had shot My vp-turnd eye pursues it with my sight The which againe redoubleth all my might T is but in vaine of my descent to boast vvhen heauens Lampe shines all other lights be lost Faulcons gaze not the Eagle sitting by vvhose broode suruayes the sunne with open eye Else might my blood finde issue from his force In Bosworth plaine beate Richard from his horse vvhose puissant Armes great Richmond chose to weeld His glorious colours in that conquering feeld And with his sword in his deere soueraignes fight To his last breath stood fast in Henries right Then beautious Empresse thinke this safe delay Shall be the euen to a ioyfull day Fore-sight doth still on all aduantage lie vvise-men must giue place to necessity To put backe ill our good we must forbeare Better first feare then after still to feare T were ouer-sight in that at which we ayme To put the hazard on an after-game vvith patience then let vs our hopes attend And till I come receiue these lines I send Notes of the Chronicle Historie When Longauile to Mary was affied THE Duke of Longauile which was prisoner in England vpon the peace to be concluded between England France was deliuered and maried the Princesse Mary for Lewes the French king his masterâ— How in a storme thy well rigg'd ships were tost And thou c. As the Queene sayled for Fraunce a mighty storme arose at sea so that the Nauy was in great danger was seuered some driuen vpon the coast of Flanders some on Brittaine the ship wherin the queene was was driuen into the Hauon at Bullen with very great danger When thou to Abuile heldst th' appointed day King Lewes met her by Abuile neere to the Forrest of Arders and â—rought her into Abuile with great solemnitie Appear'dst vnto him like the Queene of Light Expressing the sumptuous attire of the Queene her traine attended by the chiefe of the Nobilitie of England with 36. Ladies all in cloth of siluer their horses trapped with Crimson veluet A cripple King laid bedrid loâ—g before King Lewes was a man of great yeeres troubled much with the gout so that he had of long time before little vse of legs When Marques Dorset and the valiant Grayes The Duke of Suffolk when the proclamation came into England of Iusts to be holden in Fraunce at Paris he for the Queenes sake his Mistres obtained of the King to goe thither with whom went the Marques Dorcet and his foure brothers the Lord Clynton Sir Edward Neuell Sir Gyles Chappell Tho. Cheyney which went all ouer with the Duke as his assistants When thou in triumph didst through Paris ride A true description of the Queenes â—ntring into Paris after her coâ—onation performd at S. Dennis Then fiue great Dukes as did their places fall The Dukes of Alansoon Burbon Vandome Longauile Suffolke with fiue Cardinals That large-limd Almaine of the Gyants race Frauncis Valoys the Dolphin of France enuying the glory that the Englishmen had obtained at the tilt brought in an Almaine secretly a man thought almost of incomparable strength which encountred Charles Brandon at Barriers but the Duke grappling with him so beaâ— him about the head with the pomel of his sword that the blood came out of the sight of his Caske Else might my blood find issue from his force In Bosworth c. Sir William Brandon standard-beater to the Earle of Richmond after Henry the 7. at Bosworth field a braue and gallant Gentleman who was slaine by Richard there this was Father to this Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolke FINIS To my most deere friend Maister Henry Lucas sonne to Edward Lucas Esquire SIR to none haue I beene more beholding then to your kind parents far I must truly confesse aboue the measure of my deserts Many there be in England of whom for some particularitie I might iustly challenge greater merit had I not beene borne in so euill an houre as to be poisoned with that gaule of ingratitude to your selfe am I ingaged for many more curtesies then I imagined could euer haue beene found in one of so few yeares nothing doe I more desire then that those hopes of your toward and vertuous youth may prooue so pure in the fruite as they are faire in the bloome long may you liue to their comfort that loue you most and may I euer wish you the encrease of all good fortunes Yours
much desaced by that impure rable Betwixt the hill and the Citie as Alexander Neuell describes it the Riuer of Yarmouth runnes hauing West and South thereof a wood and a little Village called Thorp and on the North the pastures of Moushol which containes about sixe miles in length and breadth So that besides the stately greatnes of Mount-Surrey which was the houses name the prospect and site thereof was passing pleasant and commodious and no where else did that encreasing euill of the Norfolke furie enkennell it selfe but then there as it were for a manifest token of their intent to debase all high things and to prophane all holy Like Arras worke or other imagerie Such was he whom Iuvenall taxeth in this manner truncoque similimus Herme Nullâ— quippe alio vincis discrimine quamquod Illi marmoreum caput est tua viuit imago Beeing to be borne for nothing else but apparell and the outward appearance intituled Complement with whom the ridiculous fable of the Ape in Esope sorteth sitly who comming into a Caruers house and viewing many Marble works tooke vp the head of a man very cunningly wrought who greatly in praising did seeme to pittie it that hauing so comly an outside it had nothing within like emptie figures walke and talke in euery place at whom the noble Geraldiâ—e modestly glanceth FINIS To the vertuous Ladie the Lady Frauncis Goodere wife to Sir Henry Goodere Knight MY verie gracious and good Mistres the loue and dutie I bare to your Father whilst hee liued now after his deceasase is to your hereditarie to whom by the blessing of your birth he left his vertues VVho bequeathed you those which were his gaue you whatsoeuer good is mine as deuoted to his he being gone whom I honoured so much whilst hee liued which you may iustly challenge by all lawes of thankefulnes My selfe hauing beene a witnes of your excellent education and mild disposition as I may say euer from your Cradle dedicate this Epistle of this vertuous and goodly Ladie to your selfe so like her in all perfection both of wisedome and learning which I pray you accept til time shall enable me to leaue you some greater monument of my loue Mich Drayton The Ladie Iane Gray to the Lord Gilford Dudley The Argument After the death of that vertuous young Prince King Edward the sixt the sonne of that famous King Henry the eight Iane the daughter of Henry Gray Duke of Suffolke by the consent of Iohn Dudley Duke of Northumberland was proclaimed Queene of England being married to Gilford Dudley the fourth sonne of the fore-said Duke of Northumberland which match was concluded by their ambitious Fathers who went about by this meanes to bring the Crowne vnto their children and to dispossesse the Princesse Mary eldest daughter of King Henry the eight â—eire to King Edward her brother Queene Mary rising in Armes to claime her rightfull crowne taketh the said Iane Gray and the Lord Gilford her husband beeing lodged in the Tower for their more safetie which place being lastly their Pallace by this meanes became their prison where being seuered in sundry prisons they write these Epistles one to another MIne own deere Lord sith thou art lock'd from mee In this disguise my loue must steale to thee Since to renue all loues all kindnes past This refuge scarcely left yet this the last My Keeper comming I of thee enquire vvho with thy greeting aunswers my desire vvhich my tongue willing to returne againe Griefe stops my words and I but striue in vaine vvhere-with amaz'd away in hast he goes vvhen through my lips my hart thrusts forth my woes vvhen as the doores that make a dolefull sound Driue backe my words that in the noyse are drownd vvhich some-what hush'd the eccho doth record And twice or thrice reiterates my word vvhen like an aduerse winde in Isis course Against the tyde bending his boystrous force But when the flood hath wrought it selfe about He following on doth head-long thrust it out Thus striue my sighes with teares ere they begin And breaking out againe sighes driue them in A thousand formes present my troubled thought Yet proue abortiue when they forth are brought From strongest woe we hardly language wrest The depth of griefe with words are sounded least As teares doe fall and rise sighes come and goe So doe these numbers ebb so doe they flow These briny teares doe make my Incke looke pale My Inck clothes teares in this sad mourning vaile The letters mourners weepe with my dim eye The paper pale greeu'd at my misery Yet miserable our selues why should we deeme Sith none is so but in his owne esteeme VVho in distresse from resolution flies Is rightly said to yeeld to miseries They which begot vs did beget this sin They first begun what did our griefe begin vvee tasted not t' was they which did rebell Not our offence but in theyr fall we fell They which a Crowne would to my Lord haue linck'd Aâ—ll hope all life all libertie extinct A subiect borne a Soueraigne to haue beene Hath made me now nor subiect nor a Queene Ah vile ambition how doost thou deceaue vs vvhich shew'st vs heauen and yet in hell doost leaue vs Sildome vntouch'd doth innocence escape vvhen error commeth in good counsailes shape A lawfull title counterchecks proude might The weakest things become strong props to right Then my deere Lord although affliction grieue vs Yet let our spotlesse innocence relieue vs. Death but an acted passion doth appeare vvhere truth giues courage and the conscience cleere And let thy comfort thus consist in mine That I beare part of vvhatsoere is thine As when we liu'd vntouch'd with these disgraces vvhen as our kingdome was our sweet embraces At Durham Pallaceâ— where sweet Hymen sang vvhose buildings with our nuptiall musick rang vvhen Prothalamions praysd that happy day vvherein great Dudley match'd with noble Gray vvhen they deuisd to linck by wedlocks band The house of suffolke to Northumberland Our fatall Dukedom to your Dukedome bound To frame this building on so weake a groundâ— For what auailes a lawlesse vsurpation vvhich giues a scepter but not rules a nation Onely the surfeit of a vaine opinion vvhat giues content giues what exceeds dominion VVhen first mine eares were persed with the fame Of Iane proclaimed by a Princesse name A suddaine fright my trembling hart appalls The feare of conscience entreth yron walls Thrice happy for our Fathers had it beene If what we fear'd they wisely had fore-seene And kept a meane gate in an humble path To haue escap'd these furious tempests wrath The Cedar-building Eagle heares the wind And not the Faulcon though both Hawkes by kind That kingly bird doth from the clowdes commaund The fearefull foule that moues but neere the Land Though Mary be from mightie Kings descended My blood not from Plantaginet pretended My Gransire Brandon did our house aduaunce By princely Mary Dowager of Fraunce The fruite of that faire stocke which did
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