lay thee softly on her siluer teame And bring thee to me to the quiet shore That with her teares thou might'st haue some teares more VVhen suddainly doth rise a rougher gale vvith that me thinks the troubled waues looke pale And sighing with that little gust that blowes vvith this remembrance seemes to knit her browes Euen as this suddaine passion doth 〈◊〉 mee The cheerfull sunne breakes from a clowde to light mee Then doth the bottom euident appeare As it would tell mee that thou 〈◊〉 not there VVhen as the water flowing where I stand Doth seeme to tell mee thou 〈◊〉 safe on land Did Bulloyne once a festiuall prepare For England 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Nauarre VVhen Fraunce enuied those buildings onely blest Grac'd with the Orgies of my bridall feast That English Edward should refuse my bed For that incestuous shamelesse Ganimed And in my place vpon his regall throne To set that girle-boy wanton Gaueston Betwixt the feature of my face and his My glasse assures me no such difference is That a foule witches bastard should thereby Be thought more worthy of his loue then I. VVhat doth auaile vs to be Princes heires vvhen we can boast our birth is onely theirs VVhen base dissembling flatterers shall deceaue vs Of all our famous Auncestors did leaue vs And of our princely iewels and our dowers vvee but enioy the least of what is ours when Minions heads must weare our Monarches crownes To raise vp dunghills with our famous townes VVhen beggers-brats are wrapt in rich perfumes And sore aloft impt with our Eagles plumes And ioynd with the braue issue of our blood Alie the kingdome to theyr crauand brood Did Longshanks purchase with his conquering hand Albania Gascoyne Cambria Ireland That young Carnaruan his vnhappy sonne Should giue away all that his Father wonne To backe a stranger proudly bearing downe The braue alies and branches of the crowne And did great Edward on his death-bed giue This charge to them which afterward should liue That that proude Gascoyne banished the land No more should tread vppon the English sand And haue these great Lords in the quarrell stood And seald his last will with their deerest blood That after all this fearefull massaker The fall of Beuchamp Lasey Lancaster Another faithlesse fauorite should arise To cloude the sunne of our Nobilities And gloried I in Gauestons great fall That nowe a Spenser should succeede in all And that his ashes should another breed vvhich in his place and Empire should succeed That wanting one a kingdoms wealth to spend Of what that left thys now should make an end To wast all that our father wonne before Nor leaue 〈◊〉 sword to conquer more Thus but in vaine we 〈◊〉 doe resist vvhere power can doe euen all things as it list And with vniust men to debate of lawes Is to giue power to hurt a rightfull cause VVhilst parliaments must still redresse their wrongs And we must 〈◊〉 for what to vs belongs Our wealth but fuell to theyr fond excesse And we must fast to feast their wantonnesse Think'st thou our wrongs then insufficient are To moue our Brother to religious warre And if they were yet Edward doth 〈◊〉 Homage for 〈◊〉 Guyne and Aquitaine And if not that yet hath he broke the truce Thus all accur to put backe all excuse The Sisters wrong ioyn'd with the Brothers right Me thinks might vrge him in this cause to fight Be all those people sencelesse of our 〈◊〉 vvhich for our Country oft haue manag'd Armes Is the braue Normans courage now forgot Or the bold Brittons lost the vse of shot The big-bon'd Almaines and stout Brabanders Their warlike Pykes and sharp edg'd Semiters Or doe the Pickards let theys 〈◊〉 lie Once like the Centaurs of olde Thessalie Or if a valiant Leader be theyr lack vvhere thou art present who should driue them back I doe coniure thee by what is most deere By that great Name of famous Mortimer By auncient VVigmors honourable Crest The 〈◊〉 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 witlesse woman why should I desire To adde more spleene to thy immortall fire To vrge thee by the violence of hate To shake the pyllars of thine owne estate VVhen what soeuer 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 Tarlton 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 staie the more I striue to goe As accents issue forth griefes enter in And where I end mee thinks I but begin Then till faire tyme some greater good affords 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 birth-day as he pretended and inuiting there-vnto Sir Stephen Segraue Constable of the Tower with the rest of the officers belonging to the same hee gaue them a sleepie drinke prouided him by the Queene by which meanes hee 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 gotte out of the Tower swamme the riuer of Thames into Kent whereof shee 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 Naudrre 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 Englande which marriage vvas there solemnized with exceeding pompe and magnificence And in my place vpon his regall throne To set that girle-boy wanton Gaucston Noting the effeminacie and luxurious wantonnes 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 Gaueston that his mother was conuicted of
witchcraft and burned for the same and that Piers had bewitched the King Albania Gascoyne Cambria Ireland Albania Scotland so called of Albanact the seconde sonne of Brutus and Cambria Wales so called of Camber the third sonne the foure 〈◊〉 and Countries brought in subiection by Edward Longshanks When of our Princely iewells and our dowers We but enioy the least of what is ours A complaynt of the prodigalitie of King Edward giuing vnto Gaueston the iewells treasure which was left him by the auncient Kings of England and enriching him with the goodly Manor of Wallingforde assigned as parcell of the dower to the Queenes of this famous Ile And ioynd with the braue issue of our blood Alie our kingdome to theyr crauand brood Edward the second gaue to Piers Gaueston in marriage the daughter of Gilbert Clare Earle of Glocester begot of the Kinges sister Ioane of Acres married to the said Earle of Gloster Should giue away all that his Father wonne 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 bee 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 commaunded young 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 Lasey Lancaster Thomas Earle of Lancaster Guy Earle of VVarwicke Henry Earle of Lincolne who had taken theyr oathes before the deceassed King at his death to withstand his sonne Edward if he should call Gaueston from exile beeing a thing which hee much feared now seeing Edward to violate his Fathers commaundement rise in Armes against the King which was the cause of the ciuile war and the ruine of so many Princes And gloried I in Gauestons great fall That nowe a Spenser should succeed in all The two Hugh Spensers the Father the sonne after the death of Gaueston became the great fauorites of the King the sonne being created by him Lord Chamberlaine and the Father Earle of Winchester And if they were yet Edward doth detaine Homage 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 subbornation of Mortimer to ceaze those Countries into his hands By auncient Wigmors honourable Crest Wigmore in the marches of Wales was the ancient 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 counsells should direct Thys 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 saluts 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 mee I giue it backe to you Nere my escape had I aduentur'd thus As did the skye-attempting Daedalus And yet to giue more safetie to my flight Haue made a night of day a day of night Nor had I backt the proude aspyring wall vvhich held without my hopes within my fall Leauing the cordes to tell where I had gone For gazing eyes with feare to looke vpon But that thy beautie 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 skyes The heauens did seeme the charge of me to take And sea and land be friend mee for thy sake Thames stopt hen tide to make me way to goe As thou had'st 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 mee This stroue to helpe me and that stroue to saue mee The brisling Reedes mou'd with the ayre did chide mee As they would tell me that they moant to hide mee The pale-fac'd night beheld thy heauie cheere And would not let one little starre appeare But ouer all her smoakie mantle hurl'd And in thick vapours muffled vp the world And the pure ayre became so calme and still As it had beene obedient to my will And euery thing disposd vnto my rest As when one Seas the Alcion buildes her nest And those rough waues which late with furie rusht Slide smoothlie on and suddainly are husht Nor Neptune lets his surges out so long As Nature is in bringing forth her yong Nor let the Spensers glory in my chaunce That thus I liue an exile now in Fraunce That I from England banished should be But England rather banished from me More were her want Fraunce our great blood shold beare Then Englands losse should be to Mortimer My Grandsire was the first since Authurs raigne That the Round-table lastly did ordaine To whose great Court at Kenelworth did come The peerlesse knighthood of all Christendome VVhose princely order honoured England more Then all the conquests shee 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 fielde were borne Nor euer did the valiant English doubt VVhilst our braue battailes guarded them about Nor did our wiues and wofull mothers mourne The English blood that stained Banocksburn VVhilst with his Minions sporting in his Tent VVhole dayes and nights in banquetting were spent Vntill the Scots which vnder safeguard stoode Made lauish hauock 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 farre As many Nations wast with ciuill warre vvhere the disheuel'd gastly Sea-nymphe sings Or well-rigd shyps shall stretch theyr swelling wings And dragge theyr Ankors through the sandie foame About the world in euery Clime to roame And those vnchristned Countries call our owne vvhere scarce the name of England hath been knowne And in the Dead-sea sinck our houses fame From whose sterne waues we first deriu'd our Name Before foule black-mouth'd infamie shall sing That
seemeth here to prophecie of the subuersion of the Lande the Pope ioyning with the power of other Princes against Edward for the breach of his promise Charles by inuasiue Armes againe shall take Charles the French King mooued by the wrong done vnto his sister ceazeth the Prouinces which belonged to the King of England into his hands stirred the rather 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 their attaints Canonized amongst the English Saints After the death of Thomas Earle of Lancaster at Pomfret the the people imagined great miracles to be done by his reliques as they did of the body of Bohun Earle of Herford slaine at Borough bridge 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 united hath long since deuoted my true and zealous affection to your honourable seruice and my Poems to the protection of my noble Lady 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 he was whose patience pleased to beare with the imperfections of my beedlesse and vnstaied youth That excellent and matchlesse Gentleman was the first cherisher of my Muse which had been by his death left a poore Orphane to the worlde had hee not before bequeathed it to that Lady whom he so deerly loued Vouchsafe then my deere Lord to accept this Epistle which I dedicate as zealously as I hope you will patronize willingly vntill some more acceptable seruice may be witnes of my loue towards your honour Your Lordships euer Michaell Drayton Queene Isabell to Richard the second * The Argument Queene Isabell the daughter of Charles king of Fraunce being the second wife of Richard the second the sonne of Edward the blacke Prince the eldest sonne of King Edward the third After the said Richard her husband was deposed from his crowne and kingly dignitie by Henry Duke of Herford the eldest sonne of Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster the fourth sonne of Edward the third this Lady beeing then very young was sent backe againe into Fraunce without dowre at what time the deposed King her husband was sent from the Tower of London as a prisoner vnto Pomfret Castle VVhether this poore Lady bewayling her husbands misfortunes writeth this Epistle from Fraunce AS doth the yeerely Augur of the spring In depth of woe thus I my sorrow sing VVords tun'd with sighs teares falling oft among A dolefull burthen to a heauie song VVords issue forth to finde my griefe some way Teares ouer-take them and doe bid them stay Thus whilst one striues to keepe the other backe Both once too forward now are both too slack O how I flatter griefe and doe intreate it Griefe flatters me so oft as I repeate it And to it selfe hath sorrow chang'd mee so That woe is turn'd to mee I turn'd to woe If fatall Pomfret hath in former times Nourish'd the griefe begot in hoter Clymes Thether I send my woes there to be fed But where first borne where fitter to be bred They vnto Fraunce be aliens and vnknowne England from her doth challenge these her owne They say all mischife commeth from the North It is too true my fall doth set it forth And where bleake winters stormes do euer rage There should my sighes finde surest anchorage Except that breeme ayre holds the Northerne part Doe freese that Aetna which so burnes my hart But why should I thus limmit griefe a place vvhen all the world is fild with our disgrace And we in bounds thus striuing to containe it The more abounds the more we doe restraine it O how euen yet I hate my loathed eyes And in my glasse oft call them faythlesse spyes That were so haplesse with one louing looke To grace that Traytour periur'd Bullenbrooke But that of sence ioy had all sence bereau'd They neuer should haue beene so much deceau'd Proude was the Courser which my Lord bestrid vvhen Richard like his conquering Grandsire rid For all the world in euery looke alike The Rosie Ilands in his Lilly cheeke His silken Amber curles so would he tie So carried he his princely Eagle eye From top to toe his like in euery lim All looke on Edward that did looke on him The perfit patterne Nature chose alone VVhen at the first shee fram'd proportion Reseru'd till then that all the world should view it And praise th'insample by the which she drew it O let that day be guiltie of all sin That is to come or euer yet hath bin VVherein great Norfolks forward course was staid To proue the treasons he to Herford layd VVhen with sterne furie both these Dukes enrag'd Their gauntlets then at Couentry engag'd vvhen first thou didst repeale thy former grant Seal'd to braue Mowbray as thy Combatant From tymes vnnumbred howers let time deuide it Least in his minutes he should hap to hide it Yet on his browes let wrinckled age still beare it That when it comes all other howers may feare it And all ill-boading Planets by consent That day may hold their wicked parliament And in heauens large Decrees enrole it thus Blacke dismall fatall inauspitious For then should he in height of all his pride Vnder great Mowbrays valiant hand haue died Nor should not nowe from banishment retire The fatall brand to set our Troy on fire O why did Charles relieue his needy state A vagabond and stragling runnagate And in his Court with grace did entertaine This vagrant exile this abiected Caine That with a thousand mothers curses went Mark'd with the brands of ten yeeres banishment VVhen thou to Ireland took'st thy last farewell Millions of knees vpon the pauements fell And euery where th'applauding ecchoes ring The ioyfull shouts that did salute a King Thou went'st victorious crown'd in triumph borne But cam'st subdu'd vncrown'd and laugh'd to scorne And all those tongues which tit'led thee theyr Lord Grace Henries glorious stile with that great word And all those eyes dyd with thy course ascend Now all too few on Herford to attend Princes like sunnes be euermore in sight All see the clowdes which doe eclipse their light Yet they which lighten all downe from their skyes See not the clowdes offending others eyes And deeme their noone-tide is desir'd of all VVhen all expect cleere changes by theyr fall VVhat colour seemes to shadow Herfords claime vvhen law and right his Fathers hopes doth maime Affirm'd by Church-men which should beare no hate That Iohn of Gaunt was illigittimate vvhom his reputed mothers tongue did spot By a base Flemish Boore to be begot vvhom Edwards Eglets mortally did shun Daring with them to gaze against the
returne And was I forc'd t'abridge his banish'd yeares vvhen they bedew'd his footsteps with theyr teares Yet could not see mine owne insuing fall Not seeing that which sauing that saw all Neuer our treasure stuft with greater store Neuer our strength neuer our power was more Neuer more large bounds to our Emperie Neuer more counsaile wisedome policie Neuer did all so suddainly decline But iustice is the heauens the fault is mine Kings pallaces stand open to let in The soothing Traytor and the guide to sin Many we haue in tryumphs to attend vs But few are left in perrill to defend vs Amongst the most the worst we best can chuse Tis easie to desire but hard to vse Oh famous Gloster thou fore-saw'st my end The curse that did my lawlesse youth attend His death is newe and I in sinne am old vvho my destruction Prophet-like fore-told And like Laocan crying from his tower Foreshow'd the horse which hid the Grecian power Is this the thing for which we toyle and sweat For which the great doe kneele vnto the great Is thys the thing in seeking to attaine All payne is pleasure and all losse is gaine Is thys the iewell which we prize so hie At heauen at fame at life at libertie And vnto thys in striuing to aspire Are we made slaues vnto our fond desire Yet on steepe Icie banks heere still we dwell And if we slip our fall is into hell Sweet Queene Ile take all counsell thou canst giue So that thou bid me neither hope nor liue Counsell that comes when ill hath done his worst Blesseth our ill but makes our good accurst Comfort is now vnpleasing to mine eare Past cure past care my bed is now my Beere Since thus misfortune keepes vs heere so long Till heauen be growne vnmindfull of our wrong VVe may in warre some-time take truce with foes But in dispaire we cannot with our woes O let this name of Richard neuer die Yet still be fatall to posteritie And let a Richard from our line arise To be the scourge of many families And let the Crowne be fatall that he beares And wet with sad lamenting mothers teares Thy curse on Percy heauen doth now preuent vvho hath not one curse left on me vnspent To scourge the world now borrowing of my store As rich in plagues as I in wealth am pore 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 griefes be mortall and infectious Yet better fortunes thy faire youth may trie That follow thee which still from me doth flie Notes of the Chronicle historie This tongue which first denounc'd my kingly state RIchard the second at the resignation of the Crowne to his Cosin Henry in the Tower of London at the deliuery of the same with his owne hand confessed himselfe to be vnable to gouerne denounced all kingly dignitie so that hee might onely haue his life And left'st great Burbon for thy loue to mee Who sued in marriage to be linck'd to thee Before the Princesse Isabell was married to Richard the second Lewes Duke of Burbon sued to haue had her in marriage which it was thought he had obtained if this motion had not 〈◊〉 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 Let Herford vaunt of our atchiuements done Henry the eldest sonne of Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster which at the first was Earle of Darbie then created Duke of Herford but after the death of Iohn of Gaunt his Father was Duke of Lancaster and Herford Earle of Darby Leicester and Lincolne and after he had obtained the Crowne was called by the name of Henry of Bullenbrooke which is a towne in Lincolne shiere as vsually all the Kings of England bare the name of the places where they were borne Of famous Cressy where his keene sword lopp'd The flowers of Fraunce which all had ouertopp'd Remembring the famous victory Edward the third their Grandfather obtained at Cressy where were almost slaine all the Nobilitie of Fraunce where the Frenchmen lost all their ancient glory And with their Flower-delices set the walke Where our c. Edward the third by the conquest of Fraunce ioyned the Lillies or Flower-delices which is the Armes of Fraunce with the Lyons the Armes of England which coate first came from Normandie by the Conquerer remaining in the right of his possession Seauen goodly syens from one stocke began Edward the third had seauen sonnes his eldest Edward Prince of Wales after called the blacke Prince William of Hatfielde his second Lionell Duke of Clarence the third Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster the fourth Edmond of Langley Duke of Yorke the fift Thomas of Woodstocke Duke of Gloster the sixt and William of Windsore the seauenth My princely Father was the straightest stem Truely boasting himselfe to bee the eldest sonne of the eldest Brother which was Edward the blacke Prince Yet after Edward Iohn the young'st of three By this disabling Henry Bullenbrooke beeing the sonne but of a fourth brother William Lionell being both before Iohn of Gaunt When that vsurping bastard sonne of Spayne Noting the courage of his Father which set Petro the King of Castile in his kingdome when hee was expulsed by his bastard brother A conquered King from Fraunce to England led The blacke Prince tooke King Iohn of Fraunce prysoner at the battaile of Poycters and brought him into England where hee dyed at the Sauoy And by a home-nurst begger ouer-borne By this reprouing his owne weakenes and cowardize who had suffered himselfe to be expulsed his kingdome by a subiect and one so much inferior to himselfe in greatnes And proues our acts of parliaments vniust In the first parliament that Henry called after Richard had resigned the Crowne hee anihilated all the lawes that were made in the parliament called the wicked parliament held in the 20. yeere of King Richards raigne Saw I the loue the Zeale the faith the care The Commons still c. When the Combat shoulde haue beene at Couentry betwixt Henry Duke of Herford and Mowbray Duke of Norfolke the Cōmons mourned exceedingly after they heard that Herford was adiuged by the King to be banished for tenne yeeres so greatlie was he alwaies fauoured of the people And was I forc'd to abridge his banish'd yeeres When Henry Duke of Herford came to Eltham to take his leaue of King Richard the King to please the Commons rather then for any loue he bare to Herford plucked backe foure yeeres of his banishment O famous Gloster thou fore-saw'st the end Thomas of Woodstocke Duke of Gloster the Kings vnckle who had oftr reproued this youthfull Kings insolence was put to death at Callice by the commaundement of this Richard his vnnaturall
VVarwicke the pride of Neuels haughtie race Great Salsbury so fear'd in euery place That valiant Poole whom no atchiuement dares And Vere so famous in the Irish warres VVhom though I were a mighty Princesse borne Yet of the worst no whit I neede to scorne But Henries rare perfections and his parts As his sword kingdoms so those conquer'd harts As chast was I to him as Queene might bee But freed from him my chast loue vow'd to thee Beauty doth fetch all fauor from thy face All perfit courtship resteth in thy grace If thou discourse thy lipps such accents breake As loue a spirit forth of thee seem'd to speake The Brittish language which sweet vowels wants And iarrs so much vpon harsh consonants Comes with such grace srom thy mellifluous tongue As doe the sweet notes of a well set song And runnes as smoothly from those lypps of thine As the pure Thuskan from the Florantine Leauing such seasoned sweetnes in the eare As the voyce past yet still the sound is there Like Nisus Tower where once 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 Had he which dar'd proud Perseus to the field Caried my Tudors picture in his shield The sight there of should haue subdu'd alone That Gorgons head which turn'd men to a stone If Ioue should take my Tudors louely eye And with heauens lights should place it in the skye The wandring starrs would leaue theyr endlesse maze And fixe themselues vpon that starre to gaze If faire Alcmenas three nights-gotten sonne vvhen he his twelue great labours first had done Had knowne one lock of thy delicious ore Kept by the Dragon Lyon Serpent Bore Twelue labours more for that he would sustaine And where he ended would begin againe Yet let not this make thee thy selfe forget Nor my affection now so firmely set Nor with repulse my forwardnes reproue To boast the conquest of a princely loue No my sweet Tudor I will aunswer no Thy gentle brow doth mildly warrant so VVhen Nature shew'd her wonders in thy face Shee made that mount Loues royall sporting place vvhere sweet content doth banquet all the yere Nor coy disdaine yet euer dwelled there Let peeuish worldlings speake of right and wrong Leaue plaints and pleas to whom they doe belong Let old men speak of chaunces and euents And Lawyers talke of titles and discents Leaue fond reports to such as stories tell And couenaunts to such as 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 〈◊〉 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 aluded to the fiction 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 he yeelding vnto destroyed her in a tempest Incamp'd at Melans in warres hote alarmes First c. Neere vnto Melans vpon the riuer of Seyne was the appointed place of parley between the two Kings of England 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 were taken as King and Queene of Fraunce during the life of Charles the French king Henry was called King of England and heire of Fraunce and after the death of Henry the fift Henry the sixt his sonne then beeing very young was crowned at Paris as true and lawfull King of England and Fraunce At Troy in Champayne he did first enioy Troy in Champayne was the place where that victorious king Henry the fift married the Princesse Katherine in the presence of the chiefe Nobilitie of the Realmes of England and of Fraunce Nor these great titles vainely will I bring Wife daughter mother c. Fewe Queenes of England or Fraunce were euer more princely alied then this Queene as it hath beene 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 from Iohn Duke of Lancaster the fourth sonne of Edward the third which Duke Iolm was surnamed Gaunt of the Cittie of Gaunt in Flaunders where he was borne Nor stirre the English blood the Sunne and Moone T'repine c. Aluding the greatnes of the English line to Phoebus and Phoebe fained to be the children of Latona whose heauenly kinde might scorne to be ioyned with any earthly progenie yet withall boasting the blood of Fraunce as not inferior to theirs And with this allusion followeth on the history of the strife betwixt Iuno the race of Cadmus whose issue was afflicted by the wrath of heauen The chyldren of Niohe slaine for which the wofull mother became a Rocke gushing forth continually a fountaine of teares And Iohn and Longshanks issue both affied Lhewellin or Leolin ap Iorwerth marryed Ioan daughter to King Iohn a most beautifull Lady Some Authors affirme shee was base borne Lhewellin ap Gryfith maried Ellinor daughter to Simon Montfort Earle of Leicester and Cosin to Edward Longshankes both which Lhewellins were Princes of Wales Of Camilot and all her Penticosts A nephewes roome c. Camilot the auncient Pallace of King Arthur to which place all the Knights of that famous order yeerely repayred at Penticost according to the law of the Table most of the famous home-borne Knights were of that Country as to this day is perceaued by theyr auncient monuments When bloody Rufus sought your vtter sacke Noting the ill successe which that William Rufus had in two voiages he made into Wales in which a number of his chiefe Nobilitie were slaine And oft return'd with glorious victory Noting the diuers sundry incursians that the Welchmen made into England in the time of Rufus Iohn Henry the second and Longshanks Owen Tudor to Queene Katherine WHen first mine eyes beheld thy princely name And found from whence these friendly letters 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 proceed My dazeled eye inuites my tongue to reed 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 been long exil'd vvith tender armes his gentle necke doth straine Now kissing him now clipping him againe And yet excessiue ioy delndes her so As still shee doubts if this be hers or no At length awak'ned
sun VVhere lawfull right and conquest doth allow A triple crowne on Richards princely brow Three kingly Lyons beares his bloody field No bastards marke doth blot his conquering shield Neuer durst he attempt our haplesse shore Nor set his foote on satall Rauenspore Nor durst his slugging Hulks approch the strand Nor stoop'd a top as signall to the Land Had not the Percyes promisd ayde to bring Against theyr oath vnto theyr lawfull King Against theyr fayth vnto our Crownes true heyre Theyr valiant kinsman Edmond Mortimer VVhen I to England came a world of eyes vvere there attending on my fayre arise vvhen I came back those fatall Plannets frowne And all are set before my going downe The smooth-fac'd Ayre did on my comming smile But with rough stormes are driuen to exile But Bullenbrooke deuisd we thus should part Fearing two sorrowes should possesse one hart That we should thus complaine our griefes alone Least one should liue in two two liue in one Inflicting woe and yet doth vs denie But that poore ioy is found in miserie Hee hath before diuors'd thy Crowne and thee vvhich might suffice and not to widdow mee Nor will one place our pouertie containe vvhich in our pompe both in one bed haue laine VVhich is to proue the greatnes of his hate How much our fall exceedeth our estate VVhen England first obtaind mee by thy loue Nor did a kingdome my affection moue Before a Crownes sad cares I yet did try Nor thought of Empire but loues Emperie Before I learn'd to sooth a publique vaine And onely thought to loue had been to raigne I would to God that princely Anne of Beame Might still haue worne the English Diademe That shee whose youth first deck'd thy bridall bed Had kept that fatall wreath vppon her head VVould God shee still might haue enioy'd her roome Possest my throne and I haue had her Toombe Or would Aumerle had sunck when he betrayd The complot which that holy Abbot layd VVhen he infring'd the oath which he first tooke To end that proude vsurping Bullenbrooke And been the ransome of our friends deere blood Vntimelie lost and for the earth too good And we vntimely mourne our hard estate They dead too soone and we doe liue too late Death seuers them and life doth vs inclose Their helpe decreased doth augment our woes And though with teares I from my loue depart This curse on Herford fall to ease my hart If the foule breach of a chast lawfull bed May bring a curse my curse light on his head If murthers guilt with blood may deeply staine Greene Scroope and Bushie die his fault in graine If periurie may heauens pure gates debar Damn'd be the oath he made at Doncaster If the deposing of a lawfull King Thy curse condemne him if no other thing If these disioyn'd for vengeance cannot call Let them vnited strongly curse him all And for the Percies heauen yet heare my prayer That Bullenbrooke now plac'd in Richards chayre Such cause of woe vnto their wiues may bee As those rebellious Lords haue been to mee And that proude Dame which now controleth all And in her pompe triumpheth in my fall For her great Lord may water her sad eyne vvith as salt teares as I haue done for mine And mourne for Henry Hote-spurre her deere sonne As I for my sweet Mortymer haue done And as I am so succourlesse be sent Lastly to taste perpetuall banishment Then loose thy care where first thy crowne was lost Sell it so deerely for it deerely cost And sith they did of libertie depriue thee Burying thy hope let not thy care out-liue thee But hard God knowes with sorrow doth it goe vvhen woe becomes a comforter to woe Yet much mee thinks of comfort I could say If from my hart pale feare were rid away Some-thing there is which tells mee still of woe But what it is that heauen aboue doth know Griefe to it selfe most dreadfull doth appeare And neuer yet was sorrow voyde of feare But yet in death doth sorrow hope the best And with this farewell wish thee happy rest Notes of the Chronicle historie If fatall Pomfret hath in former times POmfret Castle euer a fatall place to the Princes of England most ominous to the blood of Plantaginet O how euer yet I hate my lothed eyes And in my glasse c. When Bullenbrooke returned to England from the West bringing Richard a prisoner with him the Queene who little knewe of her husbands hard successe stayd to behold his comming in little thinking to haue seene her husband thus led in triumph by his foe and now seeming to hate her eyes that so much had graced her mortall enemie Wherein great Norfolkes forward course was staid She remembreth the meeting of the two Dukes of Herford and Norfolke at Couentry vrging the iustnes of Mowbrayes quarrell against the Duke of Herforde and the faithfull assurance of his victory Oh why did Charles releeue his needy siate A vagabond c. Charles the French King her father receiued the Duke of Herford into his Court and releeu'd him in Fraunce being so neerly alied as Cosin german to King Richard his sonne in Lawe which hee did simply little thinking that hee shoulde after returne into England and dispossesse King Richard of the crowne When thou to Ireland took'st thy last fare-well King Richard made a voyage with his Armie into Ireland against Onell and Mackemur which rebelled at what time Henry entred heere at home and rob'd him of all kingly dignitie Affirm'd by Church-men which should beare no hate That Iohn of Gaunt was illigitimate William Wickham in the great quarrell betwixt Iohn of Gaunt the Clergie of meere spight and mallice as it should seeme reported that the Queene confessed to him on her death-bed being then her Confessor that Iohn of Gaunt was the sonne of a Flemming that she was brought to bed of a woman child at Gaunt which was smothered in the cradle by mischance and that shee obtained this child of a poore woman making the King beleeue it was her owne greatly fearing his displeasure Fox ex Chron. Albani No Bastards marke doth blot our conquering shield Shewing the true and indubitate birth of Richard his right vnto the Crowne of England as carrying the Armes without blot or difference Against their fayth vnto the Crownes true heyre Theyr noble kinsman c. Edmond Mortimer Earle of March sonne of Earle Roger Mortimer which was sonne to Lady Phillip daughter to Lionell Duke of Clarence the third sonne to King Edward the third which Edmond King Richard going into Ireland was proclaimed heyre apparant to the Crowne whose Aunt called Ellinor this Lorde Percie had married I would to God that princely Anne of Beame Richard the second his first wife was Anne daughter to the K. of Beame which liued not long with him and after hee married this Isabell daughter to Charles King of Fraunce This Princesse was very young and not marriageable when shee came
kinsman And let a Richard from our line arise A prophecie of Richard Crookebacke the Tyrant which after was the onely scourge and plague of both the houses of Yorke Lancaster and the death of many great Princes FINIS To the Right Honourable the Lord Henrie Howard LEarned and noble Lord custome and continuance haue sealed this priuiledge to Poetry that sometime the light subiect of a laboured Poem is graced with the title of a learned and iudiciall censor your Lordship sufficiently knoweth what I but put you in remembrance off your wisedome and experience know what hath beene most vsuall in the course of times your iudgement makes me doubtfull being what I am your honor giues me some comfort beeing what you are Counsell is not euer conuersant with seueritie and I know true vertue loueth what is neuer so little like herselfe howe vnseasoned so euer my rymes seeme to the worlde I am pleased if you peruse them with patience Thus wishing my lines may bee as acceptable as I desire I leaue them to your learned censor Michaell Drayton Queene Katherine to Owen Tudor * The Argument After the death of that victorious Henry the fift Queene Katherine the 〈◊〉 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 Tudor a VVlechman a braue and gallant Gentleman of the VVardrop to the young King her sonne yet greatly fearing if her loue should be discouered the Nobilitie would crosse her purposed marriage or fearing that if her faire and princely promises should not assure his good successe this high and great attempt might perhaps daunt the forwardnesse of his modest and shame fast youth wherfore to breake the Ice to her intent shee wryteth vnto him this Epistle following IV dge not a Princesse worth impeach'd hereby 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 kneel'd vnto Nor thinke that this submission of my state Proceeds from frailtie rather iudge it fate Alcides nere more fit for loues 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 Ioues great commaund was neuer more obay'd Then when a Satyrs antick parts he play'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 yet thou art what's Henries Tudors is My loue to Owen him my Henry giueth My loue to Henry in my Owen liueth Onely in Henry was my Tudor then Onely in Tudor Henry now agen Henry woo'd mee whilst warres did yet increase I wooe my Tudor now in calmest peace To win affection hee did conquest proue And I on conquest doe make warre with loue Great Henry soughtt ' accomplish his desire Armed with tempests thunder-boults of fire As once when Iunos treasons forced Ioue T'imbrace the beautious Semele his loue I to my loue as once the Ciprian Queene On Simois banks was with the Troyan seene Incampt at Melans in warres hote alarmes First saw I Henry clad in princely Armes At pleasant VVindsore there these eyes of mine Iudg'd Tudor first for wit and shape diuine Henry abroad with puissance and with force Tudor at home with courtship and discourse Hee 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 aduaunced 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 Champayne he did first enioy My bridall-rites to England brought from Troy In England now that honour thou shalt haue vvhich once in Champayne famous Henry gaue I seeke not wealth three kingdoms in my power If these suffice not where shall be my dower Sad discontent may euer follow her vvhich doth base pelfe before true loue prefer If titles still could oure affections tie vvhat is so great but maiestie might buy As I seeke thee so Kings 〈◊〉 mee desire To what they craue thou easily may'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 thy vertue this at first did gaine it vvill I by reason now seeke to restraine it Nor these great titles vainely will I bring VVife daughter mother sister to a King Of grandsire father husband sonne and brother More thou alone to mee then all the other Nor thinke so Tudor that this loue of mine Should wrong the Gaunt-borne great Lancastrian line Nor stirre the English blood the Sunne and Moone T'repine at Lorayne Burbon Alansoon Nor doe I thinke there is such different ods That they alone should counted be for Gods If Cadmus earthly issue reckoning vs And they from Ioue Mars Neptune Eolus Of great Latonas of-spring onely they And we the brats of wofull Niobe Our famous Grandsires as their owne bestrid That horse of fame that Ioue-begotten steed VVhose bounding hoofe plow'd that Boetian spring vvhere those sweet Maydes of memorie doe sing Not onely Henries Queene but boast aswell 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 tied Shewing the greatnes of your blood heereby Your race and royall consanguinitie And VVales as well as haughty England boasts Of Camilot and all her Penticosts A nephewes roome in great Pendragons race At Arthurs Table held a princely place If of the often conquests of our Land They reare the spoyles of their victorious hand If these our auncient Chronicles be true They altogether are not free from you VVhen bloody Rufus sought 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 Shrewsbury 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 bloody warres 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 Fraunce had robd all Christendome of men And Englands flower remain'd amongst vs then Glaster whose counsells Nestor like assist Couragious Bedford that great martiallist VVarwicke for vertue honour'd of his foes And Yorke whose fame yet daily greater growes
birth Ordaind by heauen here to adorne the earth Ad faythfull loue vnto thy princely state And then alike in all things fortunate A King might promise more I not denie But yet by heauen he lou'd not more then I. And thus I leaue till time my fayth approue I cease to write but neuer cease to loue Notes of the Chronicle historie O that the Helme the Tudors aundient Crest THe Armes of Tudor was the Helmes or mens heads whereof he speaketh as a thing prophetically fore-told of Merlin When in thy presence I was call'd to daunce Owen Tudor beeing a courtly and actiue Gentleman cōmaunded once to daunce before the Queene in a turne not beeing able to recouer himselfe fell into her lap as shee sate vpon a little stoole with many of her Ladies about her And yet with them in Wales most famous be Our learned Bards c. This Berdh as they call it in the Brittish tongue or as we more properly say Bard or Bardus be theyr Poets which keepe the records of Pedigrees and descents and sing in oades and measures to theyr Harps after the old manner of the Lirick Poets And boast my blood from great Cadwallader Cadwallader the last King of the Brittaines descended of the noble and auncient race of the Troyans to whom an Angell appeared commaunding him to goe to Rome to Pope Sergius where he ended his life Since faire Cair-Septon in mount Palador Cair-Septon now called Shaftsbury at whose building it was sayd an Eagle prophecied or rather one named Aquilla of the fame of that place and of the recouery of the Ile by the Brittains bringing backe with them the bones of Cadwallader from Rome And from Eneons line the South-wales King From Theodor c. This Eneon was slaine by the Rebells of Gwentsland he was a noble and worthy Gentleman who in his life did many noble acts and was father to Theodor or Tudor Maur of whom descended the Princes of south-South-wales From her great Grandam faire Guenellian Guenellian the daughter of Rees ap Griffeth ap Theodor Prince of south-South-wales maried to Edniuet Vahan auncestor to Owen Tudor My true descent from Leolin the great This is that Lewhelin called Leolinus magnus Prince of north-Northwales Nor that word Croggen nickname of disgrace In the voyage that Henry the second made against the Welchmen as his souldiers passed Offas ditch at Croggen Castell they were ouerthrowne by the Welchmen which word Croggen hath since been vsed to the Welchmens disgrace which was at first begun with theyr honour And old Caer Merdin Merlins famous Towne Caer Merdin or Merlins Towne so called of Merlins beeing sound there This was Ambrose Merlin whose prophecies vvee haue There was another of that name called Merlin Siluestris borne in Scotland surnamed Calidonius of the Forrest Calidon where he prophecied And kept our nature Language now thus long The Welchmen be those auncient Brittaines which when the Picks Danes and Saxons inuaded heere were first driuen into those parts where they haue kept theyr language euer since the first without commixtion with any other language FINIS To my honoured Mistres Mistres Elizabeth Tanfelde the sole Daughter and heire of that famous and learned Lawyer Lawrence T anfelde Esquire FAire and vertuous Mistresse since first it was my good fortune to be a witnes of the many rare perfections where-with nature and education haue 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 Sweete is the French tongue more sweet the Italian but most sweet are they both if spoken by your admired selfe If Poesie were prayselesse your vertues alone were a subiect sufficient to make it esteemed though amongst the barbarous Getes by how much the more your tender yeres giue scarcely warrant for your more then womanlike wisedom by so much is your iudgement and reading the more to be wondred at The Graces shall haue one more Sister by your selfe and England by your birth shall add one Muse more to the Muses I rest the humbly deuoted seruant 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 Margarit * The Argument VVilliam de la Pole first Marques and after created Duke of Suffolke beeing sent into Fraunce by King Henry the fixt concludeth a marriage betweene the King his Maister and Margarite daughter to Rayner Duke of Aniou who onely had the title of the King of Cicily and Ierusalem This marriage beeing made contrary to the liking of the Lords counsell of the Realme by reason of the yeelding vp Aniou Maine into the Dukes hands which shortly after proued the losse of all Aquitaine they euer after cotiuually hated the Duke and after my meanes of the Commons banished him at the parliament at Bery where after he had the iudgment of his exile beeing then ready to depart hee 〈◊〉 backe to the Queene this Epistle IN my disgrace deere Queene rest thy content And Margarits health from Suffolks banishment Not one day seemes fiue yeeres exile to mee But that so soone I must depart from thee VVhere thou not present it is euer night All be exil'd that liue not in thy sight Those Sauages which worshyp the sunnes rise vvould hate theyr God if they beheld thyne eyes The worlds great light might'st thou be seene abroad vvould at our noonestead euer make aboade And force the poore Antipodes to mourne Fearing least he would neuer more returne VVere't not for thee it were my great'st exile To liue within this Sea-inuirond Ile Poles courage brooks not limitting in bands But that great Queene thy soueraigntie commands Our Falcons kinde cannot the cage indure Nor buzzard-like doth stoope to euery lure Their mounting broode in open ayre doth roue Nor will with Crowes be coop'd within a groue VVee all doe breath vpon this earthly ball Likewise one heauen encompasseth vs all No banishment can be to him assign'd vvho doth retaine a true resolued minde Man in himselfe a little world doth beare His soule the Monarch euer ruling there vvhere euer then his body doth remaine He is a King that in himselfe doth raigne And neuer feareth Fortunes hot'st alarmes That beares against her Patience for his Armes This was the meane proude VVarwicke did inuent To my disgrace at Leister parliament That onely my base yeelding vp of Maine Should be the losse of fertile Aquitaine vvith the base vulgar sort to winne him fame To be the heire of good Duke Humfreys name And so by treason spotting my pure blood Make this a meane to raise the Neuells brood VVith Salesbury his vile ambitious Syer In Yorks sterne brest kindling long hidden fyer By Clarence title working to supplant The Eagle ayrie of great Iohn of Gaunt And to this end did my exile conclude Thereby to please the raskall multitud Vrg'd by these enuious Lords
as thy trayne 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 starres Attending on her as her Torch-bearers And all the lesser lights about her throne vvith admiration stand as lookers on VVhilst she 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 beauty I esteem'd no prize That large-limd Almaine of the Gyants race vvhich bare strength on his breast feare in his face vvhose senewed 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 vainly boast And tell thee that which thou already knowest No sacred Queene my valure I deny It was thy beauty not my chiualry One of thy tressed Curles which 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 twayne 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 starre had shot My vp-turnd eye pursues it with my sight The which againe redoubleth all my might Tis but in vaine of my descent to boast vvhen heauens Lampe shines all other lights be lost Faulcons looke not the Eagle sitting by vvhose broode doth gaze the sunne with open eye Else might my blood finde issue from his force In Bosworth plaine beat 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 sight To his last breath stood fast in Henries right Then beautious Empresse thinke thys safe delay Shall be the euen to a ioyfull day Fore-sight doth still on all aduantage lye vvise-men must giue place to necessitie To put backe ill our good we must forbeare Better first feare then after still to feare Tweare 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 tell I come receaue 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 betweene England and Fraunce was deliuered and married the Princesse Mary for Lewes the French King his Maister How in a storme thy well-rigd 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 and was seuered some driuen vpon the Coast of Flaunders some on Britaine the ship wherein the Queene was was driuen into the Hauen at Bullen with very great danger When thou to Abuile heldst th'apoynted day King Lewes met her by Abuile neere to the Forrest of Arders and brought her into Abuile with great solemnity Appear'dst vnto him like the Queene of Light Expressing the sumptuous attire of the Queene and her traine attended by the cheefe of the Nobility of Kngland with 36. Ladies all in cloath of siluer theyr Horses trapped with Crimson veluet A Cripple King layd bedrid long before King Lewes was a man of great yeares troubled much with the goute so that he had had of long time before little vse of his legs When Marques Dorset and the valiant Grayes The Duke of Suffolke when the proclaimation came into England of Iusts to be holden in Fraunce at Paris he for the Queenes sake his Mistres obtayned of the King to goe thether with whom went the Marques Dorset and his foure Brothers the Lord Clynton Sir Edward Neuill Sir Gyles Capell Tho. Cheyney which went all ouer with the Duke as his assistants When thou in tryumph didst through Paris ride A true discription of the Queenes entring into Paris after her 〈◊〉 performd at Saint Denis Then fiue great Dukes as did their places fall The Dukes of Alansoon Burbon Vadome Longauile Suffolke with fiue Cardinalls That large-limd Almayne of the Gyants race Frauncis Valoys the Dolphin of Fraunce 〈◊〉 the glory that the English-men had obtayned at the tilt brought in an Almayne secretly a man thought almost of incomparable strength which incountred Charles Brandon at Barriers but the Duke 〈◊〉 with him so beate him about the head with the pomell of his sword that the blood came out of the sight of his Caske Else might my blood finde issue from his force In Bosworth c. Sir William Brandon standerd-bearer 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 after Duke of Suffolke FINIS To the modest and vertuous Gentlewoman Mistres Frauncis Goodere Daughter to Sir Henry Goodere Knight and wife to Henry Goodere Esquire My very gracious and good Mistres the loue and duty I bare to your Father whilst hee liued now after his decease is to you hereditary to whom by the blessing of your birth he left his vertues Who bequeathed you those which were hit gaue you what so euer good is mine as deuoted to his he being gone whom I honored so much whilst he liued which you may iustly chalenge by al lawes of thankfulnes My selfe hauing been a witnes of your excellent education and milde disposition as I may say euer from your Cradle dedicate this Epistle of this vertuous and goodly Lady to your selfe so like her in all perfection both of wisedom and learning which I pray you accept till time shall enable me to leaue you some greater monument of my loue Michaell Drayton The Lady 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 eyght Iane the daughter of Henry Gray Duke of Suffolke by the consent of Iohn Dudley Duke of Northumberland was proclaimed Queene of England beeing married to Gilford Dudley the fourth sonne of the foresayde Duke of Northumberland which match was concluded by theyr ambitious Fathers who went about by this meanes to bring the Crowne vnto theyr Children and to dispossesse the Princesse Mary eldest daughter of King Henry the eyght heire to King Edward her Brother Queene Mary rising in Armes to clayme her rightfull Crowne taketh the sayd Iane Gray and the Lorde Gilford her husband beeing lodged in the Tower for theyr more safety which place being lastly theyr Pallace by this meanes becomes their prison where