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
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
exceeding great fauour with the Commons With Salisbury his vile ambitious Sire In Yorks sterne brest kindling long hidden fire By Clarence title working to supplant The Eagle Ayrie of great Iohn of Gaunt Richard Plantaginet Duke of Yorke in the the time of Henrie the sixt claymed the Crowne beeing assisted by this Richard Neuell Earle of Salisburie and Father to the great Earle of Warwicke who fauoured exceedingly the house of Yorke in open parliament as heyre to Lionell Duke of Clarence the third sonne of Edward the third making his title by Anne his mother wife to Richard Earle of Cambridge sonne to Edmond of Langley Duke of Yorke which Anne was Daughter to Roger Mortimer Earle of March which Roger was sonne and heyre to Edmond Mortimer 〈◊〉 married the Lady Phillip Daughter and heire to Lionell Duke of Clarence the third sonne of King Edward to whō the crowne after Richard the seconds death lineally discended he dying without issue And not to the heires of the Duke of Lancaster that was younger Brother to the Duke of Clarence Hall cap. 1. Tit. 〈◊〉 or Lanc. Vrg'd by these enuious Lords to spend their breath Calling reuenge on the Protectours death Humfrey Duke of Glocester and Lorde Protectour in the 〈◊〉 yeare of Hen. 6. was by the meanes of the Queene and the Duke of Suffolk was atested by y e Lord Beumond at the Parliament 〈◊〉 at Berry and the same night after murthered in his bed If they would know who rob'd him c. To this verse To know how Humfrey dyed and who shall raigne In these verses her iests at the Protectours wife who being 〈◊〉 and conuicted of treason because with Iohn Hun a Priest Roger Bollingbrooke a Negromancer and Margery Iordane called the Witch of Ely shee had consulted and agreed by Sorcery to kill 〈◊〉 King was adiudged to perpetuall pryson in the Ile of Man and 〈◊〉 doo penaunce openly in three publique places in London For twenty yeares and haue I seru'd in Fraunce In the 6. yeare of Hen. the 6. the Duke of Bedford being deceased then Lieutenant generall and Regent of Fraunce this Duke of Suffolke was promoted to that dignity hauing the L. Talbot 〈◊〉 Scales and the Lord Mountacute to assist him Against great Charles and Bastard Orleance This was Charles the seauenth that after the death of Henry the 〈◊〉 obtained the crowne of Fraunce recouered againe much of that his Father had lost Bastard Orleance was sonne to the Duke of Orleance begotten of the L. Cawnies wife preferred highly to many notable offices because he being a most valiant Captaine was continuall enemy to the Englishmen daylie infesting them with diuers incursions And haue I seene Vernoyla's batfull fields Vernoyle is that noted place in Fraunce where the great battell was fought in the beginning of Hen. 6. his raigne where the most of the French cheualry were ouercome by the Duke of Bedford And from Aumearle with-drew my warlike powers Aumearle is that strong defenced towne in Fraunce which the Duke of Suffolke got after 24. great assaults giuen vnto it And came my selfe in person first to Towers Th'Embassadours for truce to entertaine From Belgia Denmarke Hungary and Spaine Towers is a Citty in Fraunce built by Brutus as he came into Britaine where in the 21. of Henry the 6 was appoynted a great dyet to bee kept whether came th'Embassadours of th'Empire Spaine Hungary and Denmarke to intreate for a perpetuall peace to be made betweene the two Kings of England and Fraunce By true descent to weare the Diadem Of Naples Cicile and Ierusalem Rayner Duke of Aniou Father to Queene Margarit call'd him selfe King of Naples Cicily and Ierusalem hauing the title alone of King of those Countries A fifteenes taxe in Fraunce I freely spent The Duke of Suffolke after the marriage concluded twixt King Henry and Margarit Daughter to Duke Rayner asked in open Parliament a whole fifeteenth to fetch her into England Seeue thee for England but imbark't at Deepe Deepe is a Towne in Fraunce bordering vpon the Sea where the Duke of Suffolke with Queene Margarit tooke shippe for England As when ariu'd in Porchesters faire Roade Porchester a Hauen Towne in the South-west part of England where the King taried expecting the Queenes ariuall whom from thence he conueyed to South-hampton Queene Margarit to William de la Pole Duke of Suffolke WHat newes sweet Pole look'st thou my lines should tell But like the sounding of the dolefull bell Bidding the deaths-man to prepare the graue Expect from me no other newes to haue My brest which once was mirths imperiall throne A vast and desart wildernes is growne Like that cold Region from the world remote On whose breeme seas the Icie mountaines flote vvhere those poore creatures banish'd from the light Doe liue imprison'd in continuall night No ioy presents my soules internall eyes But diuination of sad tragedies And care takes vp her solitarie Inne vvhere youth and ioy theyr Court did once begin As in September when our yeere resignes The glorious sunne vnto the watry signes vvhich through the clowdes lookes on the earth in scorne The little Byrd yet to salute the morne Vpon the naked branches sets her foote The leaues now lying on the mossy roote And there a silly chirripping doth keepe As though shee faine would sing yet faine would weepe Praysing faire Sommer that too soone is gone Or mourning VVinter too fast comming on In this sad plight I mourne for thy depart Because that weeping cannot case my hart Now to our ayde who stirres the neighbouring Kings Or who from Fraunce a puissant Armie brings VVho moues the Norman to assist our warre Or brings in Burgoyn to ayde Lancaster VVho in the North our lawfull claime commends To winne vs credite with our valiant friends To whom shall I my secrete thoughts impart VVhose brest is now the closet of my hart The auncient Heroes fame thou didst reuiue And didst from them thy memory deriue Nature by thee both gaue and taketh all Alone in Pole she was too prodigall Of so diuine and rich a temper wrought As heauen for him perfections depth had sought Peables and Flints we finde in euery path The Diamond rich India onely hath VVell knew King Henry what he pleaded for vvhen thou wert made his sweet-tong'd Orator vvhose Angell-eye by powrefull influence Imparteth wonders passing eloquence That when loue would his youthfull sports haue tryde But in thy shape himselfe would neuer hide vvhich in his loue had beene of greater power Then was his Nymph his flame his swanne his shower To that allegiance Yorke was bound by oath To Henries heyres and safetie of vs both No longer now he meanes record shall beare it He will dispence with heauen and will vnsweare it Hee that's in all the worlds blacke sinnes forlorne Is carelesse now how oft hee be forsworne And now of late his title hath set downe By which he claimes the right of Englands Crowne And now I heare his
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
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-wales From her great Grandam faire Guenellian Guenellian the daughter of Rees ap Griffeth ap Theodor Prince of 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 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
This Richard whom ironiacally shee heere calls Dicke that by treason after his Nephewes murthered obtained the Crowne was a man lowe of stature crooke-back'd the left shoulder much higher then the right and of a very crabbed and sower countenance his Mother could not be deliuered of him vncut and he was borne toothed and with his feete forward contrary to the course of nature To ouershadow our vermilion Rose The red Rose was the badge of the house of Lancaster and the white Rose of Yorke which by the marriage of Henry the seauenth with Elizabeth indubitate heire of the house of Yorke was conioyned and vnited Or who doth muzzle that vnruly Beare The Earle of Warwicke the setter vp and puller downe of Kings gaue for his Armes the white Beare rampant and the Ragged staffe His glorious conquest got at Agyncourt Agincourt is a Teritory in Fraunce where King Henry the fifth discomfited the whole French puissance beeing 60000. horsemen besides foote-men and Pages and slewe at the same battell 8000 of their Nobility Knights and Gentlemen And almost all the Princes of Fraunce besides such as were taken prisoners Who fill'd the ditches of besieged Caen With mangled bodies c. Caen is a meruailous strong Towne of Normandy which after long famine and extreame misery was yeelded vp to King Henry the fifth who fortified the Towne and Castle to the vse of the English My Daysie flower which erst perfum'd the ayre Which for my fauour Princes once did weare c. The Daysie in French is called Margarit which was Queene Margarits badge where-with all the Nobility and chiualry of the Land at the first ariuall were so delighted that they wore it in their Hats in token of honour And who be Starres but Warwicks bearded staues The ragged or bearded staffe was a part of the Armes belonging to the Earldome of VVarwicke Slaundering Duke Rayner with base beggery Rayner Duke of Aniou called himselfe King of Naples Cicile and Ierusalem hauing neither inheritance nor tribute from those parts and was not able at the marriage of the Queene of his owne charges to send her into England though he gaue no dower with her which by the Dutches of Glocester was often in disgrace cast in her teeth A Kentish Rebell a base vpstart Groome This was Iack Cade which caused the Kentish-men to rebell in the 28. yeare of Henry the 6. And this is he the white Rose must prefer By Clarence Daughter match'd to Mortimer This Iack Cade instructed by the Duke of Yorke pretended to be decended from Mortimer which married Lady Phillip Daughter to the Duke of Clarence And makes vs weake by strengthning Ireland The Duke of Yorke beeing made Deputy of Ireland first there began to practise his long pretended purpose strengthning himselfe by all meanes possible that he might at his returne into England by open warre to claime that which so long he had priuily gone about to obtaine Great Winchester vntimely is deceas'd Henry Beuford Bishop and Cardinall of Winchester Sonne to Iohn of Gaunt begot in his age was a proud and ambitious Prelat fauouring mightily the Queene and the Duke of Suffolke continually heaping vp innumerable treasure in hope to haue beene Pope as himselfe on his death-bed confessed With Fraunce t'vpbraide the valiant Somerset Edmond Duke of Somerset in the 24. of Henry the 6 was made Regent of Fraunce and sent into Normandy to defend the English Territories against the French inuasions but in short time he lost all that King Henry the fifth wone for which cause the Nobles and the Commons cuer after hated him T'endure these stormes with wofull Buckingham Humfrey Duke of Buckingham was a great fauorite of the Queenes Faction in the time of Henry the 6. And one foretold by water thou shouldst dye The Witch of Eye receaued aunswer by her spirit that the Duke of Suffolke should take heede of water which the Queene forwarnes him of as remembring the Witches prophecie which afterward came to passe FINIS To the Right Worshipfull Sir Thomas Mounson Knight SIR amongst many which most deseruedly loue you though I the least yet am loth to be the last whose endeuours may make knowne how highly they esteeme of your noble and kinde disposition let this Epistle Sir I beseech you which vnwoorthily weares the Badge of your woorthy name acknowledge my zeale with the rest though much lesse deseruing which for your sake doe honour the house of the Mounsons I knowe true generositie accepteth what is zelously offered though not euer deseruingly excellent yet for loue of the Art from whence it receiueth resemblance The light Phrigian harmony stirreth delight as well as the melancholy Doricke moueth passion both haue their motion in the spirit as the lyking of the soule moueth the affection Your kinde acceptance of my labour shall giue some life to my Muse which yet houers in the vncertaintie of the generall censure Michaell Drayton Edward the fourth to Shores wife * The Argument This Mistresse Shore King Edward the fourths beautious paramore was so called of her husband a Goldsmith awelling in Lumbard street Edward the fourth sonne to Richard Duke of Yorke after hee had obtained the Crowne by deposing Henry the sixt which Henry was after murthered in the Tower by Richard Crookebacke and after the battell fought at Barnet where that famous Earle of VVarwicke was slaine and that King Edward quietly possessed the Crowne hearing by report of many the rare and wonderfull beauty of the afore-said Shores wife commeth himselfe disguised to London to see her where after he had once bebeld her he was so surprised with her admirable beautie as not long after he robbed her husband of his deerest iewel but first by this Epistle he writeth vnto her VNto the fayr'st that euer breath'd thys ayre From English Edward to that fairest faire Ah would to God thy title were no more That no remembrance might remaine of Shore To countermaund a Monarchs high desire And barre mine eyes of what they most admire O why should Fortune make the Citty proude To giue that more then is the Court alow'd VVhere they like wretches hoard it vp to spare And doe engrosse it as they doe theyr ware VVhen fame first blaz'd thy beauty heere in Court Mine eares repulsd it as a light report But when mine eyes sawe what mine eare had hard They thought report too niggardly had spard And strooken dumbe with wonder did but mutter Conceiuing more then shee had words to vtter Then thinke of what thy husband is possest vvhen I enuy that Shore should so be blest vvhen much abundance makes the needy mad And hauing all yet knowes not what is had Into fooles bosoms thys good fortune creepes And wealth comes in the whilst the miser sleepes If now thy beauty be of such esteeme vvhich all of so rare excellencie deeme vvhat would it be and prized at what rate vvere it adorned with a kingly state vvhich beeing now but in so meane a bed Is
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