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
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
all good fortune giue me happy thrift As I should ioy t'absolue thee after shrift But see how much I doe my selfe beguile And doe mistake thy meaning all this while Thou took'st this vow to equall my desire Because thou wouldst haue me to be a Fryer And that we two should comfort one another A holy Sister and a holy Brother Thou as a Votresse vnto me alone She is most chast that's but enioy'd of one Yea now thy true deuotion doe I finde And sure in this I much commend thy minde Else heere thou do'st but ill insample giue And in a Nunry heere thou shouldst not liue Is't possible the house that thou art in Should not be tucht though with a veniall sin vvhen such a she-Priest comes her masse to say Twenty to one they all forget to pray VVell may we wish they would their harts amend vvhen we be witnes that their eyes offend All creatures haue desires or else some lye Let them thinke so that will so will not I. Doest thou not thinke our Ancestors were wise That these religious Cells did first deuise As Hospitalls were for the sore and sick These for the crook'd the hault the stigmatick Least that theyr seede mark'd with deformitie Should be a blemish to posteritie VVould 〈◊〉 her beauty should be hid from sight Nere would she thus herselfe adorne with light vvith sparkling lamps nor would she paint her throne But she delighteth to be gaz'd vpon And when the golden glorious sunne goes downe vvould she put on her star-bestuded crowne And in her masking sute the spangled skie Come forth to bride it in her reuelrie And gaue this gift to all things in creation That they in this should imitate her fashion All things that faire that pure that glorious beene Offer themselues of purpose to be seene In sincks and vaults the vgly Toades doe dwell The deuils since most vgly they in hell Our mother earth nere glories in her fruite Till by the sunne clad in her Tinsell sute Nor doth shee euer smyle him in the face Till in his glorious armes he her imbrace VVhich proues she hath asoule sence and delight Of generations feeling appetite VVell hypocrite infaith wouldst thou confesse vvhat ere thy tongue say thy hart saith no lesse Note but this one thing if nought els perswade Nature of all things male and female made Shewing her selfe in our proportion plaine For neuer made shee any thing in vaine For as thou art should any haue been thus She would haue left insample vnto vs. The Turtle that's so true and chast in loue Shewes by her mate something the spirit doth moue Th'arabian Bird that neuer is but one Is onely chast because shee is alone But had our mother Nature made them two They would haue clone as Doues and Sparrowes doe But therefore made a martyr in desire And doth her pennance lastly in the fire So may they all be rosted quicke that be Apostataes to nature as is shee Finde me but one so young so faire so free vvoo'd su'd and sought by him that now seekes thee But of thy minde and heere I vndertake Straight to erect a Nunry for her sake O hadst thou tasted of those rare delights Ordaind each where to please great Princes sights To haue theyr beauties and theyr wits admird VVhich is by nature of your sexe desird Attended by our traynes our pompe our port Like Gods ador'd abroad kneeld to in Court To be saluted with the cheerefull cry Of highnes grace and soueraigne maiestie But vnto them that know not pleasures price All's one a pryson and a Paradice If in a Dungion closd vp from the light There is no difference twixt the day and night VVhose pallate neuer tasted daintie cates Thinks homely dishes princely delicates Alas poore girle I pittie thine estate That now thus long hast liu'd disconsolate VVhy now at length let yet thy hart relent And call thy Father backe from banishment And with those princely honors heere inuest him That aukeward loue and hate hath disposest him Call from exile thy deere alies and friends To whom the furie of my griefe extends And if thou take my counsaile in this case I make no doubt thou shalt haue better grace And leaue that 〈◊〉 that accursed Cell There let blacke night and melancholie dwell Come to the Court where all ioyes shall receaue thee And till that howre yet with my griefe I leaue thee Notes of the Chronicle historie THis Epistle of K Iohn to Matilda is much more poetical then historicall making no mention at all of the occurrents of the time or state touching only his loue to her the extremity of his passions forced by his desires rightly fashioning the humo of this King as it hath been truly noted by the best most autenticall Writers whose nature and disposition is truliest discerned in the course of his loue first resting at the ceremonies of the seruices of those tymes then going about by all strong and probable arguments to reduce her to pleasures and delights next with promises of honour which he thinketh to be last and greatest meane and to haue greatest power in her sexe with promise of calling home of her friends which he thought might be a great inducement to his desires Matilda to King Iohn NO sooner I receiu'd thy letters heere Before I knew from whom or whence they were But suddaine feare my bloodlesse vaines doth fill As though diuining of some future ill And in a shyuering extasie I stood A chyllie coldnes runnes through all my blood Opening thy letters I shut vp my rest And let strange cares into my quiet brest As though thy hard vnpittying hand had sent mee Some newe deuised torture to torment mee VVell had I hop'd I had beene now forgot Cast out with those things thou remembrest not And that proude beautie which inforst mee hether Had with my name now perrish'd both together But ô I see our hoped good deceaues vs But what we would forgoe that sildome leaues vs Thy blamefull lines bespotted so with sin Mine eyes would clense ere they to reade begin But I to wash an Indian goe about For ill so hard set on is hard got out I once determind still to haue beene mute Onelie by silence to 〈◊〉 thy sute But thys againe did alter mine intent For some will say that silence doth consent Desire with small incouraging growes bold And hope of euery little thing takes hold I set mee downe at large to write my minde But now nor pen nor paper can I finde For dread and passion are so powerfull ore mee That I discerne not things that stand before mee Finding the pen the paper and the waxe This at commaund and nowe inuention lacks This sentence serues and that my hand out-strikes That pleaseth well and this asmuch mislikes I write endite I point I raze I quote I enterline I blot correct I note I hope dispaire take courage faint disdaine I make alledge I immitate I
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
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
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
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
from this pleasing dreame vvhen passion some-what leaues to be extreame My longing eyes with theyr fayre obiect meet VVhere euery letter's pleasing each word sweet It was not Henries conquests nor his Court That had the power to winne mee by report Nor was his dreadfull terror-striking name The cause that I from VVales to England came For Christian Rhodes and our religious truth To great atcheeuements first had wonne my youth Before aduenture did my valour proue Before I yet knew what it was to loue Nor came I hether by some poore euent But by th'eternall Destinies consent vvhose vncomprised wisedoms did fore-see That thou in marriage should'st be linck'd to mee By our great Merlin was it not fore-told Amongst his holy prophecies enrold vvhen first he did of Tudors fame diuine That Kings and Queenes should follow in our line And that the Helme the Tudors auncient Crest vvith Lillies fetch'd from Fraunce should be possest And that our Leeke our Countries chiefe renowne Should grow with Roses in the English Crowne As Charles faire daughter thou the Lilly wear'st As Henries Queene the blushing Rose thou bear'st By Englands conquest and by Fraunce's oth Thou art the true made dowager of both Both in thy Crowne both in thy cheeke together Ioyne Tethers loue to thine and thine to Tether Then make no future doubts nor feare no hate vvhen it so long hath beene fore-told by Fate And by the all-disposing doome of heauen Before our births vnto one bed were giuen No Pallas heere nor Iuno is at all vvhen I to Venus giue the golden ball Nor when the Grecians wonder I enioy None in reuenge to kindle fire in Troy And haue not strange euents diuin'd to vs That in our loue we should be prosperous VVhen in thy presence I was call'd to daunce In loftie tricks whilst I my selfe aduaunce And in my turne my footing faild by hap vva'st not my chaunce to light into thy lap VVho would not iudge it Fortunes greatest grace Sith he must fall to fall in such a place His birth from heauen thy Tudor not deriues Nor stands on typ-toes in superlatiues Although the enuious English doe deuise A thousand iests of our hiperbolies Nor doe I claime that plot by auncient deedes vvhere Phoebus pastures his fire-breathing steeds Nor doe I boast my God-made Grandsires skarres Nor Giants trophies in the Tytans warres Nor faine my birth your princely eares to please By three nights getting as was Hercules Nor doe I forge my long decent to runne From aged Neptune or the glorious sunne And yet in VVales with them most famous bee Our learned Bards doe sing my pedigree And boast my birth from great Cadwallader From faire Cair-Septon in Mount Palador And from Eneons line the South-wales King From Theodor the Tudors name doe bring My royall mothers princely stocke began From her great Grandame faire Gwenellian By true decent from Leolin the great As well from North-wales as faire Powslands seate Though for our princely Genealogie I doe not stand to make Apologie Yet who with iudgments true vnpartiall eyes Shall looke from whence our name at first did rise Shall find that Fortune is to vs in debt And why not Tudor as Plantaginct Nor that terme Croggen nick-name of disgrace Vsd as a by-word nowe in euery place Shall blot our blood or wrong a VVelchmans name vvhich was at first begot with Englands shame Our valiant swords our right did still maintaine Against that cruell proude vsurping Dane And buckled in so many dangerous fights vvith Norwayes Swethens and with Muscouits And kept our natiue language now thus long And to this day yet neuer chang'd our tongue vvhen they which now our nation faine would tame Subdu'd haue lost theyr Country and theyr name Nor neuer could the Saxons swords prouoke Our Brittaine necks to beare theyr seruile yoke vvhere Cambrias pleasant Countries bounded bee vvith swelling Seuerne and the holy Dee And since great Brutus first arriu'd haue stood The onely remnant of the Troyan blood To euery man is not alotted chaunce To be the glorious conqueror of Fraunce Yet if my titles may be raisd by thee If heauen say this heauen saith yet more may be And our S. Dauid in the Brittaines right May ioyne with George the sainted English Knight And old Caer-marden Merlins famous towne Not scorn'd by London though of such renowne Ah would to God that howre my hopes attend vvere with my wish brought to desired end Blame mee not Madame though I thus desire vvhen Kings doe wonder what I doe admire Should'st thou but touch swart Melas with thy hand His Ietty grauell would be Tagus sand Nature to shew more skill in thy curles stroue Then did Arachne in the web shee woue VVhere thou wilt sit vnto thy Lute to sing There shall another faire Pirene spring The Gods wish Hebe had no other Cup But thy sweet lip for Nectar when they sup The sweet calme odor thy breath doth respire Might coole that all which Phaeton set on fire VVonder not Madam though all eyes doe gaze vvhen such a Comet doth begin to blaze Till now your beauty in nights bosome slept vvhat eye durst looke where awfull Henry kept VVho durst attempt to saile but neere the bay vvhere that all-conquering great Alcides lay But beauty now is set a Princes prize And kings now come to cheapen merchandize If thou but walke to take the breathing ayre Orithia makes mee that I Boreas feare If to the fire loue once in lightning came And fayre Egina makes me feare the flame If in the sunne then sad suspition dreames Phoebus should spred Lucothoe in his beames If in a Fountaine thou doost coole thy blood Neptune I feare which once came in a flood If with thy maides I dread Apollos rape vvho cusned Chion in an old vviues shape If thou doost banquet Bacchus makes me dread vvho in a Grape Erigone did feede And if my selfe thy Chamber doore should keepe Yet feare I Hermes comming in a sleepe Pardon sweet Queene if I offend in thys In these delayes loue most impatient is And youth wants power his hote spleene to suppresse vvhen hope already banquets in excesse Though Henries fame in me you shall not find Yet that which better shall content your mind VVhat helps a Crownes adorning of the head vvhen comfort wanteth in a princely bed But onely in the title of a King vvas his aduantage in no other thing If in his loue more pleasure you did take Neuer let Queene trust VVelchman for my sake Yet iudge mee not from modestie exempt That I another Phaetons charge attempt My mounting thoughts which thus to heauen aspire Shewes that my spirit's tuch'd with celestiall fire For had it been of grosse and earthly mud It neuer durst presume to such a good If loue a fault the more is beauties shame vvhen she herselfe is Author of the same All men to one peculiar vice incline Onely to loue is naturally mine Thou art by beauty famous as by
hatefull Dutches chatts And rips vp theyr decent vnto her brats And blesseth them as Englands lawfull heyrs And tells them that our Diadem is theyrs And if such hap her Goddesse fortune bring If three sonnes faile she'le make the fourth a King Hee that's so like his Dam her youngest Dick That foule ilfauored crookback'd stigmatick That like a carkase stolne out of a Tombe Came the wrong way out of his mothers wombe vvith teeth i'ns head his passage to haue torne As though begot an age ere he was borne VVho now dare curbe proude Yorke if he doe rise And stoope that haggard which so threats the skyes To crop that bastard weede which daily growes To ouer-shadow our vermilion Rose Or who will muzzell that vnruly Beare From whose sterne presence all doe flie for feare vvhilst on his knees the silly King is downe To saue theyr labour reaching at his Crowne VVhere like a mounting Cedar he should beare His plumed top aloft into the ayre And let these shrubs sit vnderneath his shrowdes vvhilst in his armes he doth imbrace the clowdes But he with error in deuotion led Lets others rase the Crowne from of his head And like a woman sits him downe to weepe VVhere hee in Armes his kingly right should keepe As ill beseeming Henries royall sonne As when Alcides at the distaffe spunne O that he should his Fathers right inherit Yet by an alien to that mightie spirit That field the VVesterne world with his report His glorious conquest got at Agyncourt VVhose name to Fraunce dyd greater terror bring Then to the foule the presence of theyr King VVho fild the ditches of besiged Cane vvith mangled bodyes of our Nation slaine And made the Normans eate theyr horse for foode Yet staru'd for hunger made them drunke with blood Nor can he come from Lancasters great line Or from the wombe of beautious Katherine All other creatures follow after kind But man alone doth not beget the minde My Daysie-flower which erst perfum'd the ayre vvhich for my fauours Princes once did weare Now in the dust lyes troden on the ground And with Yorks garlands euery one is crownd Those flattering starrs which followed our faire rise Now towards our set are vanish'd from our eyes Yorks rising sonnes now altogether shine And our light dim towards euening doth decline Now in the skyes his dreadfull Comet waues And who be starrs but VVarwicks bearded staues And all those knees which bended once so low Grow stiffe as though they had forgot to bow And none like them pursue me with despite vvhich most haue cryde God saue Queene Margarite VVhen fame shall brute thy banishment abroade The Yorkish faction then will lay on loade And when it comes once to our VVesterne Coast O how that hagge Dame Elinor will boast And labour straight by all the means shee can To be calld home out of the Ile of Man To which I know great VVarwicke will consent To haue it done by acte of Parliament That to my teeth my birth she may defie Slaundring Duke Rayner with base beggery The onely way she could deuise to grieue mee vvanting sweet Suffolke which should most releeue 〈◊〉 And from that stocke doth sprout another bloome A Kentish Rebell a base vpstart groome And this is hee the VVhite-Rose must prefer By Clarence daughter match'd with Mortimer Thus by Yorks meanes this rascall pesant Cade Must in all hast Plantaginet be made Thus that ambitious Duke sets all on worke To sound what friends affect the claime of Yorke VVhilst he abroade doth practise to commaund And makes vs weake by strength'ning Ireland More his owne power still seeking to encrease Then for King Henries good or Englands peace Great VVinchester vntimely is deceas'd That more and more my woes should be encreas'd Beuford whose shoulders proudly bare vp all The Churches prop that famous Cardinall The Commons bent to mischiefe neuer let vvith Fraunce t'vpbrayd that valiant Somerset Rayling in tumults on his souldiers losse Thus all goes backward crosse comes after crosse And-nowe of late Duke Humfreys old alies vvith banish'd Elnors base accomplices Attending theyr reuenge grow wondrous crouse And threaten death and vengeaunce to our house And I alone the wofull remnant am T'endure these stormes with wofull Buckingham I pray thee Pole haue care how thou dost passe Neuer the Sea yet halfe so dangerous was And one fore-told by vvater thou should'st die Ah foule befall that foule tongues prophecie And euery night am troubled in my dreames That I doe see thee tost in dangerous streames And oft-times shipwrackt cast vpon the land And lying breathlesse on the queachie sand And oft in vision see thee in the night vvhere thou at sea maintain'st a dangerous fight And with thy proued Target and thy sword Beat'st backe the Pyrate which would come abord Yet be not angry that I warne thee thus The truest loue is most suspitious Sorrow doth vtter what vs still doth grieue But hope forbids vs sorrow to belieue And in my counsell yet this comfort is It cannot hurt although I thinke amisse Then liue in hope in tryumph to returne vvhen cleerer dayes shall leaue in clowdes to mourne But so hath sorrow girt my soule about That that word hope mee thinks comes slowly out The reason is I know it here would rest vvhere it may still behold thee in my brest Farewell sweet Pole faine more I would endite But that my teares doe blot as I doe write Notes of the Chronicle historie Or brings in Burgoyn to ayde Lancaster PHillip Duke of Burgoyn and his sonne were alwaies great fauorites of the house of Lancaster howbeit they often dissembled both with Lancaster and Yorke Who in the North our lawfull claime commends To winne vs credite with our valiant friends The chiefe Lords of the North-parts in the time of Henry the 6. withstoode the Duke of Yorke at his rysing giuing him two great ouerthrowes To that aleageance Yorke was bound by oath To Henries heires and safety of vs both No longer now he meanes records shall beare it He will dispence with heauen and will vnsweare it The Duke of Yorke at the death of Henry the fifth and at this Kings coronation tooke his oath to be true subiect to him and his heires for euer but afterward dispensing there-with claimed the Crowne as his rightfull and proper inheritance If three Sonnes faile shee'l make the fourth a King The Duke of Yorke had foure Sonnes Edward Earle of March that afterward was Duke of Yorke and King of England when he had deposed Henry the 6. and Edmond Earle of Rutland slaine by the Lord Clifford at the battell at Wakefield and George Duke of Clarence that was murthered in the Tower and Richard Duke of Glocester who was after he had murthered his Brothers sons King by the name of Richard the third He that's so like his Dam her youngest Dicke That foule ill fauoured crookback'd Stigmaticke c. Till this verse As though begot an age c.
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