tendeth to the same Wherof it came and is disposed like Downe sinkes the mold by mountes the fiery flame With horne the hart with hoofe the horse doth strike The Wulfe doth spoyle the suttle For doth pyke And generally no fish flesh fowle or plant Doth any property that their dame had want But as for men sith seuerally they haue A mind whose maners are by learning made Good bringing vp alonly doth them save In vertuous dedes which with their parentes fade So that true gentry standeth in the trade Of vertuous life not in the fleshly line For blud is Brute but Gentry is diuine Experience doth cause me thus to say And that the rather for my countreymen Which vaunt and boast their selues aboue the day If they may strayne their stocke for wurthy men Which let be true are they the better than Nay farre the wurse if so they be not good For why they steyne the bewty of theyr blood How would we mocke the burden bearing mule If he would brag he wer an horses sunne To presse his pride might nothing els him rule His boast to proue no more but byd him runne The horse for swiftenes hath his glory wunne To which the mule could neuer the more aspier Though he should prove that Pegas was his sier Ech man may crake of that which is his own Our parentes vertues theirs are and not oures Who therfore wil of noble kind be knowen Ought shine in vertue like his auncestors Gentry consisteth not in landes and towers He is a Churle though all the world be his He Arthurs heyre if that he liue amys For vertuous lyfe doth make a gentleman Of her possessour all be he poore as Iob Yea though no name of elders shewe he can For proofe take Merlyn fathered by an Hob. But who so settes his mind to spoyle and rob Although he cum by due discent fro Brute He is a Chorle vngentle vile and brute Well thus dyd I for want of better wyt Because my parentes noughtly brought me vp For gentle men they sayd was nought so sy As to attaste by bolde attemptes the cup Of conquestes wyne wherof I thought to sup And therfore bent my selfe to rob and ryue And whome I could of landes and goodes depryue For Henry the fourth did then vsurpe the crowne Despoyled the kyng with Mortimer the heyre For whych his subiectes sought to put him downe And I whyle Fortune offred me so fayre Dyd what I myght his honour to appeyre And toke on me to be the prynce of Wales Entiste therto by many of Merlines tales For whych such Idle as wayte vpon the spoyle From euery parte of Wales vnto me drew For loytring youth vntaught in any toyle Are redy aye all mischiefe to ensue Through help of these so great my glory grew That I defyed my Kyng through lofty hart And made sharp warre on all that tooke his part See lucke I tooke lord Reynolde Grey of Rythen And him enforst my doughter to espouse And so vnraunsomed held him still and sithen In Wygmore land through battayle rygorous I caught the ryght heyre of the crowned house The Erle of March syr Edmund Mortymer And in a dungeon kept hym prysoner Then al the marches longyng vnto Wales By Syverne west I did inuade and burne Destroyed the townes in mountaynes and in vales And riche in spoyles did homward safe retourne Was none so bold durst once agaynst me spurne Thus prosperously doth Fortune forward call Those whom she mindes to geue the forest fall Whan fame had brought these tidinges to the king Although the Skots than vexed him ryght sore A myghty army agaynst me he dyd bryng Wherof the French Kyng beyng warned afore Who mortall hate agaynst kyng Henry bore To greve our foe he quyckely to me sent Twelve thousand Frenchmen armed to war bent A part of them led by the Erle of Marche Lord Iames of Burbon a valiaunt tryed knyght Withheld by winds to Wales ward sorth to marche Tooke lande at Plymmouth pryuily on a nyght And when he had done al he durst or myght After that a mayny of his men were slayne He stole to shyp and sayled home agayne Twelve thousand moe in Mylford dyd aryue And came to me then lying at Denbygh With armed Welshmen thousandes double fiue With whom we went to wurcester well nigh And there encampte vs on a mount on high To abide the kyng who shortly after came And pitched his feild on a Hyll hard by the same Ther eyght dayes long our hostes lay face to face And neyther durst the others power assayle But they so stopt the passages the space That vitayles coulde not cum to our auayle Wherthrough constrayned our hartes began to fayle So that the Frenchmen shrancke away by night And I with mine to the mountaynes toke our flight The king pursued vs greatly to his cost From Hyls to wuds fro wuds to valeyes playne And by the way his men and stuf he lost And whan he see he gayned nought saue payne He blewe retreat and got him home agayne Then with my power I boldly came abrode Taken in my cuntrey for a very God Immediatly after fell a Ioly Iarre Betwene the king and Percies worthy bluds Which grew at last vnto a deadly warre For like as drops engendre mighty fluds And litle seedes sprut furth great leaves and buds Euen so small strifes if they be suffred â—un Brede wrath and war and death or they be don The kyng would haue the raunsum of such Scots As these the Percyes had â—ane in the feeld But see how strongly Luker knits her knottes The king will haue the Percies wil not yeeld Desire of goodes soone craves but graunteth seeld Oh cursed goodes desire of you hath wrought All wyckednes that hath or can be thought The Percies deemed it meter for the king To haue redeemed theyr cosin Mortymer Who in his quarel all his power did bryng To fight with me that tooke him prisoner Than of their pray to rob his Souldier And therfore willed him see sum mean wer found To quit furth him whom I kept vily bound Because the king misliked their request They came them selves and did accord with me Complayning how the kyngdome was opprest By Henries rule wherfore we dyd agre To put him downe and part the realme in three The North part theirs Wales wholy to be mine The rest to rest to therle of Marches line And for to set vs hereon more agog A prophet came a vengeaunce take them all Affirming Henry to be Gogmagog Whom Merlyn doth a Mouldwarp euer call Accurst of god that must be brought in thrall By a wulf a Dragon and a Lyon strong Which should deuide his kingdome them among This crafty dreamer made vs thre such beastes To thinke we were these foresayd beastes in deede And for that cause our badges and our creastes We searched out whych scarcely wel agreed Howbeit the Haroldes redy at such a neede Drew downe such issues
downe Bellona rang the bell at home and all abrode With whose mishaps amayne fel Fortune did me lode In Fraunce I lost my fortes at home the soughten fielde My kindred slaine my frendes opprest my selfe enforste to yelde Duke Richard tooke me twise and forst me to resigne My crowne and titles due vnto my fathers ligne And kept me as a warde did all thinges as him list Til time my wife through bluddy sword had â—ane me from his fyst But though she slew the duke my sorowes did not slake But like to hiders head stil more and more awake For Edward through the ayde of Warwick and his brother From one field drave me to the Skots and toke me in another Then went my freÌ„des to wracke for Edward ware the crowne For which for nine yeres space his prison held me downe Yet thence through Warwikes wurke I was againe releast And Edward driven fro the realme to seke his frendes by East But what prevayleth payn or prouidens of man To helpe him to good hap whom destiny doth ban Who moyleth to remove the rocke out of the mud Shall myer him selfe hardly skape the swelling of the flud This al my frendes have found and I have felt it so Ordayned to be the touche of wretchednes and woe For ere I had a yeare possest my seat agayne I lost both it and liberty my helpers all were slayne For Edward first by stelth and sith by gadered strength Arrived and got to Yorke and London at the length Tooke me and tyed me vp yet Warwike was so stout He came with power to Barnet fyelde in hope to helpe me out And there alas was slayne with many a wurthy knight O Lord that ever such luck should hap in helping right Last came my wife and sonne that long lay in exyle Defyed the King and fought a fyelde I may bewalle the whsle For there mine only sonne not thirtene yere of age Was tane and murdered strayte by Edward in his rage And shortly I my selfe to stynt al furder strife Stabbed with his brothers bluddy blade in prison lost my life Loe here the heauy happes which happened me by heape See here the pleasaunt fruytes that many princes reape The payneful plagues of those that breake their lawful bandes Their mede which may wil not save their frendes fro bluddy handes God graunt my woful haps to greuous to rehearce May teache all states to know how depely daungers pearce How frayle al honours are how brittle worldly blisse That warned through my feareful fate they feare to do amys THis tragedy ended an other said eyther you or king Henry are a good philosopher so narowly to argue the causes of misfortunes but ther is nothing to experience which taught or might teach y e king this lesson but to procede in our matter I finde mencion here shortly after y e death of this king of a duke of Excester found dead in the sea betwene Dover and Calays but what he was or by what adventure he died master Fabian hath not shewed and master Hall hath overskipped him so that excepte we bee frendlier vnto him he is like to be double drowned both in the sea and in the gulfe of forgetfulnes About this matter was much talke but because one tooke vppon him to seeke out that story that charge was coÌ„mitted to him And to be occupied the meane while I found the storye of one drowned likewise and that so notably though priuily that al the world knew of it wherfore I sayd because night approcheth and that we wil lose no time ye shall heare what I have noted concerning the duke of Clarens king Edwardes brother who al to be washed in wine may bewayle his infortune after this maner Hovv George Plantagenet third sonne of the Duke of Yorke vvas by his brother King Edvvard vvrongfully imprisoned and by his brother Richard miserably murdered THe foule is fowle men say that files the nest which maketh me loath to speak now might I chuse But seing time vnburdened hath her brest And fame blowen vp the blast of all abuse My silence rather might my life accuse Than shroud our shame though fayne I would it so For truth wil out though all the world say no. And therfore Baldwin hartely I the beseche To pause awhile vpon my heauy playnt And though vnneth I vtter spedy spech No fault of wit or folly maketh me saynt No heady drinkes have geven my tounge attaynâ—e Through quaffing craft yet wine my wits confouÌ„d Not which I dranke of but wherin I dround What prince I am although I nede not shewe Because my wine bewrayes me by the smell For never was creature sowst in Bacchus dewâ— To death but I through Fortunes rigour fel Yet that thou mayst my story better tell I will declare as briefly as I may My welth my woe and causers of decay The famous house sournamed Plantagenet Wherat dame Fortune frowardly did frowne White Bolenbroke vniustly sought to set His lord king Richard quite beside the crowne Though many a day it wanted due renowne God so preserved by prouidens and grace That lawful heires did never faile the race For Lionell king Edwardes elder childe Both vncle and haire to Richard yssulesse Begot a doughter Philip whom vnfilde The earle of March espousde and god did blesse With fruyte assinde the kingdome to possesse I mean sir Roger Mortimer whose hayer The earle of Cambridge maried Anne the fayer This earle of Cambridge Richard clept by name Was sonne to Edmund Langley duke of Yorke Which Edmund was fift brother to the same Duke Lyonel that al this line doth korke Of which two houses ioyned in a forke My father Richard prince Plantagenet True duke of Yorke was lawful heire beget Who tooke to wife as you shal vnderstand A mayden of a noble house and olde Raulfe Nebels daughter Earle of Westmerland Whose sonne Earle Richard was a baron bolde Aâ—d had the right of Salysbury in bolde Through mariage made with good Earle Thomas hayer Whose earned prayses never shal appaire The duke my father had by this his wife Fower sonnes of whom the eldest Edward hight The second Iohn who lost in youth his life At wakefield slayne by Clifford cruell knight I George am third of Clarence duke by right The fowerth borne to the mischiefe of vs all Was duke of Glocester whom men Richard call Whan as our syer in sute of right was slayne Whose life and death him selfe declared curst My brother Edward plyed his cause amayne And got the crowne as Warwick hath rehearst The pride wherof so depe his stomacke pearst That he forgot his frendes dispisde his kin Of oth or office passing not a pinne Which made the earle of Warwike to maligne My brothers state and to attempt a waye To bring from prison Henry selly king To helpe him to the kingdome if he may And knowing me to be the chiefest staye My brother had he did me vndermine To cause me to
same We thre tryumphed in king Richards time Til Fortune ought both him and vs a spite But chiefly me whom clere from any crime My king did banish from his favour quite And openly proclaymed trayterous knight Wherethrough false slaunder forced me to be That which before I did most deadly flee Let men beware how they true folke defame Or threaten on them the blame of vices nought For infamy bredeth wrath wreke foloweth shames Eke open slaunder oftentimes hath brought That to effect that erst was neuer thought To be misdemed men suffer in a sort But none can beare the griefe of misreport Because my king did shame me wrongfully I hated him and in dede became his foe And while he did at war in Ireland lye I did conspire to turne his weale to woe And through the duke of Yorke and other moe All royall power from him we quickely tooke And gaue the same to Henry Boleynbroke Neyther dyd we this alonely for this cause But to say truth force drave vs to the same For he dispising god and all good lawes Slew whom he would made sinne a very game And seing neither age nor counsayle could him tame We thought it wel done for the kingdomes sake To leaue his rule that did al rule forsake But whan sir Henry had attaynde his place He strayt becam in all poyntes wurse than he Destroyed the piers slewe kyng Rychards grace Agaynst his othe made to the lordes and me And seking quarelles how to disagre He shamelesly required me and my sonne To yeld him Scottes which we in field had wun My Nephew also Edmund Mortymer The very heyre apparaunt to the Crowne Whom Owen Glendour held as prisoner Uilely bound in dungeon depe cast downe He would not raunsum but did felly frowne Agaynst my brother and me that for him spake And him proclaymed traytour for our sake This sowle despite did cause vs to conspire To put him downe as we did Richard erst And that we might this matter set on fyre From Owens â—ayle our cosin we remerst And vnto Glendour all our griefes reherst Who made a bonde with Mortymer and me To pryue the king and part the realme in thre But whan king Henry heard of this devise Toward Owen Gleudour he sped him very quyck Mynding by force to stop our enterprise And as the deuell would then fell I sick Howbeit my brother sonne more politike Than prosperous with an oast fro ScotlaÌ„d brought Encountred him at Shrewsbury wher they fought The one was tane and kild the other slayne And shortly after was Owen put to flight By meanes wherof I forced was to fayne That I knew nothing of the former fight Fraude oft avayles more than doth sturdy might For by my fayning I brought him in belief I knew not that wherin my part was chief And while the king thus tooke me for his frend I sought all meanes my former wrong to wreake Which that I might bring to the sooner ende To the bishop of Yorke I did the matter breake And to Therle Marshall likewise did I speake Whose father was through Henries cause exyled The bishops brother with trayterous death defiled These strayt assented to do what they could So did lorde Hastinges and lord Fauconbridge Which altogether promised â—hey would Set all their power the kinges dayes to abridge But se the spite before the byrdes wer flidge The king had woord and seysoned on the nest Wherby alas my frendes wer al opprest The bluddy tyrant â—â—ought them all to ende Excepted me which into Scotland skapte To George of Dunbar therle of March my frend Who in my cause al that he could ey skrapte And when I had for greater succour gapte Both at the Frenchman and the Flemminges hand And could get none I toke such as I sand And with the helpe of George my very frend I did invade Northumberlande ful bold Whereas the folke drew to me stil vnend Bent to the death my party to vphold Through helpe of these ful many a fort and hold The which the king right manfully had manâ— I easely wunne and seysed in my hand Not so content for vengeaunce drave me on I entred Yorkeshire there to waste and spoyle But ere I had far in the countrey gon The shirif therof Rafe Rekesby did assoyle My troubled hoost of much part of our toyle For he assauting freshly tooke through power Me and lord Bardolph both at Bramham more And thence conueyed vs to the towne of Yorke Until he knew what was the kinges entent There loe Lord Bardolf kinder than the Storke Did lose his head which was to London sent With whom for frendshippe urine in like case went This was my hap my forâ—une or my fawte This life I led and thus I came to naught Wherfore good Baldwin wil the pyers take hede Of slaunder malyce and conspiracy Of couetise whence al the rest procede For couetise ioynt with contumacy Doth cause all mischief in mens hartes to brede Ad therfore this to Esperance my wurd Who causeth bludshed shall not skape the swurd BY that this was ended I had found out the storie of Richard earle of Cambridge and because it conteyned matter in it though not very notable yet for the better vnderstanding of the rest I thought it mete to touche it and therfore sayd as foloweth You haue sayd wel of the Percies and favourably For in dede as it should appere the chyefe cause of theyr conspiracie agaynst kyng Henry was for Edmund Mortimer theyr cosins sake whom the king very maliciously proclaymed to haue yelded hym selfe to Owen colourably whan as in deede he was takeÌ„ forcibly against his wil very cruelly ordered in prison And seing we are in haÌ„d with Mortimers matter I wyll take vppon me the person of Richard Plantagenet Earle of Cambridge who for his sake likewise died And therfore I let passe Edmund Holland erle of Kent whom Henry the fowerth made Admirall to skoure the Seas because the Buttons were abrode whiche Earle as many thynges happen in warre was slayne with an arrowe at the assaulte of Briake shortly after whose death thys king dyed and his sonne Henry the fyft of that name succeded in his place In the beginning of this Henry the fyfts rayne dyed this Rychard and with him Henry the lord Scrope others in whose behalfe this may be sayd Hovv Richard erle of Cambridge entending the kinges destruction vvas put to death at Southhampton HAst maketh wast hath commonly ben sayd And secrete mischiefe seeld hath lucky spede A murdering mind with proper pryze is wayd Al this is true I find it in my Crede And therfore Baldwin warne all states take hede How they conspire any other to betrappe Least mischiefe meant light in the miners lappe For I lord Richard heyre Planâ—agenet Was Erle of Cambridge and right fortunate If I had had the grace my wit to set To have content me with mine owne estate But o false honours broders of
She was sole hayer by due discent of line Wherby her rightes and titles al wer mine But marke me now I pray thee Baldwin marke And see how force oft overbeareth right Waye how vsurpers tyrannously warke To kepe by murder that they get by might And note what troublous daungers do alight On such as seke to reposses their owne And how through rigour right is overthrowen The earle of Herford Henry Bolenbrooke Of whom duke Mowbray tolde thee now of late Whan voyde of cause he had king Richard tooke He murdred him vsurped his estate Without all right or title sauing hate Of others rule or love to rule alone These two excepted title had he none The realme and crowne was Edmund Mortimers Whose father Roger was king Richardes hayre Which caused Henry and the Lancasters To seeke all shiftes our housholdes to appayre For sure he was to sit beside the chayre Wer we of power to clayme our lawfull right Wherfore to stroye vs he did all he might His cursed sunne ensued his cruel path And kept my giltles cosin strayt in duraunce For whom my father hard intreated hath But liuing hopeles of his liues assuraunce He thought it best by politik procuraunce To prive the king and so restore his frend Which brought him selfe to an infamous ende For whan king Henry of that name the fift Had tane my father in this conspiracy He from Sir Edmund all the blame to shift Was fayne to say the French king his ally Had hyred him this trayterous act to trye For which condemned shortly he was slayne In helping right this was my fathers gayne Thus whan the linage of the Mortimers Were made away by this vsurping line Sum hanged sum slayne sum pined prisoners Because the crowne by right of law was mine They gan as fast agaynst me to repine In feare alwayes least I should sturre them strife For gilty hartes have never quiet life Yet at the last in Henryes dayes the sixt I was restored to my fathers landes Made duke of Yorke wherthrough my minde I firt To get the crowne and kingdome in my handes For ayde wherin I knit assured bandes With Nevels stocke whose doughter was my make Who for no wo would ever me forsake O lord what happe had I through mariage Fower goodly boyes in youth my wife she boore Right valiaunt men and prudent for their age Such bretherne she had and nephewes stil in store As none had erst nor any shal haue more The erle of Salisbury and his sonne of Warwike Wer matchles men from Barbary to Barwike Through helpe of whom and Fortunes lovely looke I vndertooke to clayme my lawful right And to abash such as agaynst me tooke I raysed power at all poyntes prest to fight Of whom the chiefe that chiefly bare me spite Was Somerset the Duke whom to annoy I alway sought through spite spite to vistroy And maugre him so choyse loe was my chaunce Yea though the quene that all rulde tooke his part I twise bare stroke in Normandy and Fraunce And last liuetenant in Ireland where my hart Found remedy for euery kind of smart For through the love my doinges there did brede I had their helpe at all times in my nede This spiteful duke his silly king and quene With armed hostes I thrise met in the â—ield The first vnfought through treaty made betwene The second ioynde wherin the king did yeeld The duke was slayne the quene enforst to shylde Her selfe by flight The third the quene did fight Where I was slaine being overmacht by might Before this last were other battayles three The first the erle of Salisbury led alone And fought on Bloreheth and got the victory In the next was I and my kinsfolke euerythone But seing our souldiers stale vnto our foen We warely brake our cumpany on a night Dissolved our hoaste and tooke our selues to flight This boye and I in Ireland did vs save Mine eldest sonne with Warwicke and his father To Caleys got whence by the reade I gave They came againe to London and did gather An other hoast wherof I spake not rather And met our foes slew many a lord and knight And tooke the King and drave the Queene to flight This done came I to England all in haste To make my claime vnto the realme and crowne And in the house while parliament did last I in the kinges seat boldly sat me downe And claymed it wherat the lordes did frowne But what for that I did so wel procede That al at last confest it mine in dede But sith the king had rayned now so long They would he should continue til he died And to the ende that than none did me wrong Protectâ—ur and heire apparant they me cryed But sith the Quene and others this denied I sped me toward the North where than she lay In minde by force to cause her to obey Wherof she warnde prepared a mighty power And ere that mine were altogether ready Came bold to Boswurth and besieged my bower Where like a beast I was so rashe and heady That out I would there could be no remedy With skant fiue thousand souldiers to assayle Fower times so many encampt to most avayle And so was slayne at first and while my childe Skarce twelve yere olde sought secretly to part That cruell Clifford lord nay Lorell wilde While the infant wept and praied him rue his smart Knowing what he was w t his dagger claâ—e his hart This doen he came â—o the campe where I lay dead Dispoylde my corps and cut away my head And whan he had put a paper crowne theron As a gawring stocke he sent it to the Queen And she for spite commaunded it anon To be had to Yorke where that it might be seen They placed it where other traytours been This mischiefe Fortune did me after death Such was my life and such my losse of breath Wherfore see Baldwin that thou set it furth To the ende the fraude of Fortune may be knowen That eke all princes well may way the wurth Of thinges for which the sedes of warre be sowen No state so sure but soone is overthrowen No worldly good can counterpeyze the prise Of halfe the paynes that may therof arise Farre better it wer to loose a piece of right Than limmes and life in sousing for the same It is not force of frendship nor of might But god that causeth thinges to fro or frame Not wit but lucke doth wield the winners game Wherfore if we our follies would refrayne Time would redres all wronges we voyd of payne Wherfore warue princes not to wade in warre For any cause except the realmes defence Their troublous titles are vnwurthy farre The blud the life the spoyle of innocence Of frendes and foes behold my foule expence And never the nere best therfore tary time So right shall raigne and quiet calme ech crime WIth this mayster Ferrers shooke me by the sleve saying why how now man do you forget your selfe
the charter â—â—lled Râ—gman That of the Skots he bribed pryuy gayne That through his meanes syr Edward of Carnaruan In Barkley castell trayterously was slayne That with his princes mother he had layne And fynally with pollyng at his pleasure Had robde the kyng and commons of theyr treasure For these thynges loe whiche erst were out of minde He was condemned and hanged at the last In whom dame Fortune fully shewed her kynde For whom she heaves she hurleth downe as fast If men to cum would learne by other past This cosen of myne myght cause them set asyde High clymyng brybyng murdring lust and pryde The fynall cause why I this processe tell Is that I may be knowen from this other My lyke in name vnlyke me though he fell Whiche was I thinke my graund sier or his brother To counte my kyn dame Philip was my mother Deare doughter and heyre of douty Lyonell The seconde sonne of a kyng that dyd excell My father hyght syr Edmunde Mortimer True erle of Marche whence I was after erle By iust discent these two my parentes wer Of whiche the one of knighthoode bare the ferle Of womanhoode the other was the perle Throughe theyr deserte so called of euery wight Tyll death them tooke and left in me theyr ryght For why the attaynder of my elder Roger whose shamefull death I tolde you but of late was founde to be vniust and passed ouer Agaynst the lawe by those that bare hym hate For where by lawe the lowest of free estate Should personally be heard ere iudgement passe They barred hym this where through distroyed he was wherfore by doome of courte in parlyament whan we had proued our cosen ordred thus The Kyng the Lordes and Commens of assent His lawles death vnlawfull dyd discus And both to blood and good restored vs. A Presydent most worthy shewed and left Lordes lyues to saue that lawles might be rest whyle Fortune thus dyd furder me amayne Kyng Rychardes grace the seconde of the name whose dissolute lyfe dyd soone abridge his rayne Made me his mate in earnest and in game The Lordes them selues so well allowed the same That throwe my tytles duely cummyng downe I was made heyre apparaunt to the crowne who then but I was euery where estemed well was the man that myght with me acquaynte whom I allowed as Lordes the people demed To what so euer folly had me bente To lyke it well the people dyd assente To me as prince attended great and small In hope a daye would cum to paye for all But seldome ioye continueth trouble voyde In greatest charge cares greatest do ensue The most possest are ever most anoyed In largest seas sore tempestes lyghtly brue The fresshest colours soonest fade the hue In thyckest place is made the depest wounde True proofe wherof my selfe to soone haue founde For whyles that Fortune lulde me in her lap And gaue me gyftes mo than I dyd requyre The subâ—yll qucan behynde me set a trap whereby to dashe and laye all in the myre The Iryshe men against me dyd conspyre My landes of Ulster fro me to haue reft whiche herytage my mother had me left And whyles I there to set all thinges in stay Omyt my toyles and troubles thitherwarde Among myne owne with my retinue lay The wylder men whom lytell I dyd regarde And had therefore the recheles mans rewarde When least I thought set on me in suche number That fro my corps my lyfe they rent a sunder Nought myght auayle my courage nor my force Nor strength of men whiche were alas to sewe The cruell folke assaulted so my horse That all my helpes in pieces they to hewe Our blood distayned the grounde as drops of dewe Nought myght preuayle to flee nor yet to yelde For whom they take they murdre in the fyelde They know no lawe of armes nor none wil lerne They make not warre as other do a playe The lorde the boye the Calloglas the kerne Yelde or not yelde whom so they take they slay They save no prysoners for raunsom nor for pay Theyr chiefest boote they counte theyr bodohs heade Theyr ende of warre to see theyr enmye deade Amongest these men or rather savage beastes I lost my lyfe by cruell murder slame And therfore Baldwin note thou well my geastes And warne all princes rashnes to refraine Bid them beware their enmies when they saine Nor yet presume vnequally to strive Had I thus done I had ben man alive But I dispysed the naked Iryshmen And for they flewe I feared them the lesse I thought one man ynough to matche with ten And through this careles vnadvisednesse I was destroyed and all my men I gesse At vnawares assaulted by our foen Whiche were in numbre fourty to vs one Se here the staye of fortunate estate The vayne assuraunce of this britell lyfe For I but yong proclaymed prince of late Right fortunate in children and in wife Lost all at once by stroke of bloody knife Wherby assurde let men them selues assure That welth and lyfe are doubtfull to endure AFter that this Tragedy was ended mayster Ferrers sayde seyng it is best to place eche person in his ordre Baldvvin take you the Chronicles and marke them as they cum for there are many wurthy to be noted though not to be treated of First the lord Morif a Scotishman who tooke his deathes wounde through a stroke lent him by the erle of Notingham whom he chalenged at the tilte But to omit him also the fatte Prior of Tiptre preaced to death with throng of people vpon London bridge at the Quenes entry I wil cum to the duke of Glocestre the kinges vncle a man muche mynding the common weale yet at length miserably made away In whose person yf ye wyll gyue eare ye shall heare what I thinke mete to be sayd Hovve syr Thomas of VVudstocke Duke of Glocester vncle to king Richarde the seconde vvas vnlavvfully murdred WHose state is stalysht in semyng most sure And so far from daunger of Fortunes blast As by the compas of mans coniecture No brasen pyller maye be fyxte more fast Yet wantyng the staye of prudent forecast Whan frowarde Fortune lyst for to frowne Maye in a moment tourne vpsyde downe In proofe whereof O Baldwin take payne To hearken awhyle to Thomas of Wudstocke Addrest in presence his fate to complayne In the forlorne hope of the Englysh flocke Extracte by discent from the royall stocke Sonne to kyng Edward third of that name And seconde to none in glory and fame This noble father to maynteyne my state With Buckyngham Erldom dyd me indowe Both Nature and Fortune to me were grate Denyeng nothing which they myght allowe Theyr sundry graces in me did so flowe As bewty strength high fauour and fame Who may of God more wysh than the same Brothers we were to the numbre of seuen I beyng the syxt and yongest but oneâ— A more royall race was not vnder heauen More stowte or more stately
Which of the king at home had gouernaunce Whose roume the earle of Warwike then supplied And I tooke his and sped me into Fraunce And hauing a zeale to conquer Orlyaunce With much a do I gat the regentes ayde And marched thither and siege about it layde But in the way I tooke the towne of Yayn Wher murdred wer for stoutnes many a man But Baugency I tooke with litle payne For which to shew them fauour I began This caused the townes of Mewne and Iargeman That stoode on Loyer to profer me the keyes Ere I came nere them welny by two dayes See here how Fortune forward can allure What baytes she layeth to bring men to their endes Who having hap like this but would hope sure To bring to bale what euer he entendes But soone is sowre the sweete that Fortune sendes Whan hope and hap whan helth and welth is hyest Than wo and wracke desease and nede be nyest For while I suing this so good successe Layd siege to Orlyaunce on the river syde The Bastard Cuckold Cawnyes sonne I gesse Tho thought the dukes who had the towne in gide Came fearcely forth when he his time espide To raise the siege but was beat backe agayne And hard pursued both to his losse and payne For there we wan the bulwarke on the bridge With a mighty tower standing fast therby Ah cursed tower that didst my dayes abridge Would god thou hadst bene furder eyther I. For in this tower a chamber standes on hie From which a man may view through al the towne By certayne windowes yron grated downe Where on a day now Baldwin note mine ende I stoode in vewing where the towne was weake And as I busily talked with my frend Shot fro the towne which al the grate did breake A pellet came and drove a mighty fleake Agaynst my face and tare away my checke For payne wherof I dyed within a wecke See Baldwin see the vncertaynty of glory How sodayne mischief dasheth all to dust And warne all princes by my broken story The happiest Fortune chiefly to mistrust Was neuer man that alway had his lust Than such be fooles in fancy more then mad Which hope to haue that neuer any had THis straunge aduenture of the good erle drave vs al into a dumpne inwardly lamenting his wofull destynye out of which we wer awaked after this sort To what ende ê™ one muse we so much on this matter This Earle is neyther the first nor the last whom Fortune hath foundered in the heyth of their prosperitye For all through the raine of this vnfortunate king Henry we shall find many whych haue bene likewise serued whose chaunces sith they be marâ—â—â—l and therfore honorable may the better be omitted And therfore we wil let go the lordes Mâ—rlmes and Poyninges slayne both at the siege of Orleans shortly after the death of this earle Also the valiaunt earle of Arundle destroyed with a bowlet at the assault of Gerbory whose storyes nevertheles are wurth the hearyng And to quicken vp your spirites I wil take vpon me a tragicall person in deede I meane kyng Iamy slayne by his seruauntes in his pryvy chamber who although he be a Skot yet seing he was brought vp in Englande where he learned the language hys example also so notable it were not meete he shoulde be forgotten And therfore marke Baldwin what I thinke he may say Hovv king Iames the first for breaking his othes and bondes vvas by gods suffrauns miserably murdred of his ovvne subiectes IF for examples sake thou write thy booke I charge the Baldwin thou forget me not Whom Fortune alwayes frowardly forsooke Such waâ— my lucke my merite or my lot I am that Iames king Roberts sonne the Skot That was in England prisoner all his youth Through mine vncle Walters trayterous vntruth For whan my father through disease and age Unwieldy was to gouerne well his land Because his brother Walter semed sage He put the rule therof into his hand Than had my father you shall vnderstand Of lawfull barnes me and one only other Nempt Dauy Rothsay who was mine elder brother This Dauy was prince of Scotland and so take Till his aduoutry caused men complayne Which that he might by monyshment forsake My father prayed mine vncle take the payne To threaten him his vices to refrayne But be false traytour butcherly murdring wretch To get the crowne began to fetch a fetch And finding now a proffer to his pray Deuised meanes my brother to deuower And for that cause convayed him day by day â–ª From place to place from castell vnto tower To Faulkland fort where like a tormentour He starmd him and put to death a wife Whom through a reede he sukt to saue his life O wretched death â–ª fye cruel tiranny A prince in prison lost for fault of foode Was â—â—nce enmy wrought such villany A trusted brother stroye his brothers blood Wo wurth foe frendly fye on double hood Ah wretched father see thy sonne is lost Sterved by thy brother whom thou trustedst most Of whom whan sum began to find the fraud And yet the traytor made him selfe so clere That he should seeme to haue deserued laud So wofull did he for his death appeare My doubtful father louing me ful deere To auoyde all daunger that might after chaunce Sent me away but nine yeres olde to Fraunce But windes and wether wer so contrary That we wer driuen to the English coast Which realme with Skotland at that time did vary So that they tooke me prisoner not as oste For which my father fearing I wer lost Conceiued shortly such an inward thought As to the graue immediatly him brought Than had mine vncle all the regiment At home and I in England prisoner lay For to him selfe he thought it detryment For my releace any raunsum for to pay For as he thought he had possest his pray And therfore wisht I might in durauns dure Till I had dyed so should his rayne be sure But good king Henry seing I was a child And heyre by ryght vnto a realme and crowne Dyd bring me vp not lyke my brother wylde But vertuously in feates of high renowne In libeâ—all artes in instrumentall sowne By meane wherof whan I was after king I did my realme to ciuil order bring For ere I had been prisoner eyghtene yere In which short space two noble princes dyed Wherof the first in prudence had no peere The other in warre most valyant throwly tryed Whose rowme his sonne babe Henry eke supplyed The pyers of England which did gouerne all Did of their goodnes helpe me out of thrall They maried me to a cosin of their king The Duke of Somersets daughter rich fayre Releast my raunsome saue a trifling thing And after I had done homage to the hayer And sworne my frendship neuer should appayre They brought me kingly furnisht to my lande Which I recâ—yued at mine vncles hand Wherof my lordes and commons wer ful glad So was