To my most beloued sonne William Paston
of Corpus Christie Colledge Cambridge
My good chilld the Lord his sweet mercy and bleasinge be evermore vppon the and vs all: I thanke the for thy many letters. thay can neuer be too many: Now least I shold forget to be thankefull for a sorte of tokens. bothe for booke and candell : ther want but a bell ; coold you not haue parswaded your Cosine mun bell. to haue com this way: then I shold haue bine fully suplyed of bell booke and candell: I say least I shold forgett to thanke the) I will begine with it: (as allso for the pote of oliues:). lohn Gowld was to trew a prophsier for more then ten days did he giue out that younge Koks child was buried. befor it was sike: but that littel younge child was quite cast away: as we may I thinke say willingly and foolishly, for it is sayd for certine that when the owld man was sike of two sors: the younge folks sent the child to his grandfather: and the owld man did keepe the child and made it lie with him a nights when he was at that poor pase him selfe. so the child was buried on munday was seunenight and on sunday was younge koks wiffe prayed for at church: but I heer she is now on the mendinge hand: of 12 of them. ther are but 5: leafft aliue. and 4. of them haue bine sike. so now my hops and thoughts: be at an ende for goinge to paston vntill it shold please god to remoue his heavie hand: al the towne is very well ells: and so are the nayghbour towns Phillups quartine Ague is corn to a Cotidian ague it takes him in the night. yett is he now more cheerly with his every day fitts. then when thay cam every third day and now farwell my good chilld the Lord send vs a Ioyf ull meetine at paston this is my sixt letter. and I assure the I am very weary: Sir Charll grose haue sente to borow horses of thy father agaynst the Asises: so by that means I can not so soone sende to Cambridge as otherwis I wold: but affter the Assies weeke, I will not fayll to send to the: farwell my good chilld for this time: thy father remember his loue to the and so doe I .
thy most Louinge mother Katherine Paston
To my most beloued sonne William Paston
of Corpus Christie Colledge Cambridge
My good chilld the Lord his sweet mercy and bleasinge be evermore vppon the and vs all: I thanke the for thy many letters. thay can neuer be too many: Now least I shold forget to be thankefull for a sorte of tokens. bothe for booke and candell : ther want but a bell ; coold you not haue parswaded your Cosine mun bell. to haue com this way: then I shold haue bine fully suplyed of bell booke and candell: I say least I shold forgett to thanke the) I will begine with it: (as allso for the pote of oliues:). lohn Gowld was to trew a prophsier for more then ten days did he giue out that younge Koks child was buried. befor it was sike: but that littel younge child was quite cast away: as we may I thinke say willingly and foolishly, for it is sayd for certine that when the owld man was sike of two sors: the younge folks sent the child to his grandfather: and the owld man did keepe the child and made it lie with him a nights when he was at that poor pase him selfe. so the child was buried on munday was seunenight and on sunday was younge koks wiffe prayed for at church: but I heer she is now on the mendinge hand: of 12 of them. ther are but 5: leafft aliue. and 4. of them haue bine sike. so now my hops and thoughts: be at an ende for goinge to paston vntill it shold please god to remoue his heavie hand: al the towne is very well ells: and so are the nayghbour towns Phillups quartine Ague is corn to a Cotidian ague it takes him in the night. yett is he now more cheerly with his every day fitts. then when thay cam every third day and now farwell my good chilld the Lord send vs a Ioyf ull meetine at paston this is my sixt letter. and I assure the I am very weary: Sir Charll grose haue sente to borow horses of thy father agaynst the Asises: so by that means I can not so soone sende to Cambridge as otherwis I wold: but affter the Assies weeke, I will not fayll to send to the: farwell my good chilld for this time: thy father remember his loue to the and so doe I .
thy most Louinge mother Katherine Paston
To my most beloued sonne William Paston
of Corpus Christie Colledge Cambridge
My good chilld the Lord his sweet mercy and bleasinge be evermore vppon the and vs all: I thanke the for thy many letters. thay can neuer be too many: Now least I shold forget to be thankefull for a sorte of tokens. bothe for booke and candell : ther want but a bell ; coold you not haue parswaded your Cosine mun bell. to haue com this way: then I shold haue bine fully suplyed of bell booke and candell: I say least I shold forgett to thanke the) I will begine with it: (as allso for the pote of oliues:). lohn Gowld was to trew a prophsier for more then ten days did he giue out that younge Koks child was buried. befor it was sike: but that littel younge child was quite cast away: as we may I thinke say willingly and foolishly, for it is sayd for certine that when the owld man was sike of two sors: the younge folks sent the child to his grandfather: and the owld man did keepe the child and made it lie with him a nights when he was at that poor pase him selfe. so the child was buried on munday was seunenight and on sunday was younge koks wiffe prayed for at church: but I heer she is now on the mendinge hand: of 12 of them. ther are but 5: leafft aliue. and 4. of them haue bine sike. so now my hops and thoughts: be at an ende for goinge to paston vntill it shold please god to remoue his heavie hand: al the towne is very well ells: and so are the nayghbour towns Phillups quartine Ague is corn to a Cotidian ague it takes him in the night. yett is he now more cheerly with his every day fitts. then when thay cam every third day and now farwell my good chilld the Lord send vs a Ioyf ull meetine at paston this is my sixt letter. and I assure the I am very weary: Sir Charll grose haue sente to borow horses of thy father agaynst the Asises: so by that means I can not so soone sende to Cambridge as otherwis I wold: but affter the Assies weeke, I will not fayll to send to the: farwell my good chilld for this time: thy father remember his loue to the and so doe I .
thy most Louinge mother Katherine Paston
To my most beloved son William Paston
of Corpus Christie College Cambridge
My good chilld the Lord his sweet mercy and bleasinge be evermore vppon the and vs all: I thanke the for thy many letters. thay can neuer be too many: Now least I shold forget to be thankefull for a sorte of tokens. both for booke and candell : there want but a bell ; coold you not have parswaded your Cosine mun bell. to have come this way: then I shold have bine fully suplyed of bell booke and candell: I say least I shold forgett to thanke the) I will begine with it: (as allso for the pote of oliues:). lohn Gold was to true a prophsier for more then ten days did he giue out that young Koks child was buried. before it was sike: but that littel young child was quite cast away: as we may I think say willingly and foolishly, for it is sayd for certine that when the owld man was sike of two sors: the young folks sent the child to his grandfather: and the owld man did keepe the child and made it lie with him a nights when he was at that poor pase him self. so the child was buried on Monday was seunenight and on sunday was young koks wiffe prayed for at church: but I hear she is now on the mendinge hand: of 12 of them. there are but 5: leafft aliue. and 4. of them have bine sike. so now my hops and thoughts: be at an ende for goinge to Paston vntill it shold please god to remoue his heavie hand: al the towne is very well ells: and so are the nayghbour towns Phillups quartine Ague is corn to a Cotidian ague it takes him in the night. yett is he now more cheerly with his every day fitts. then when thay cam every third day and now farewell my good chilld the Lord send vs a Ioyf ull meetine at paston this is my sixt letter. and I assure the I am very weary: Sir Charll grose have sente to borow horses of thy father agaynst the Asises: so by that means I can not so soone send to Cambridge as otherwis I would: but affter the Assies weeke, I will not fayll to send to the: farewell my good chilld for this time: thy father remember his loue to the and so do I .
thy most Loving mother Katherine Paston
To my dear son William Paston, of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
My good child, the Lord's sweet mercy and blessings be always upon you and upon us all. Thank you for all your letters. There can never be too many. Lest I forget, I thank you for what you have sent – the book and candle. Now I am only lacking a bell. Could you not have persuaded your cousin Mun Bell to have come this way? Then I would have been fully supplied with bell, book and candle. I am mentioning this first in case I forget to thank you – as I thank you also for the pot of olives.
John Gould spoke only too prophetically when he was saying for more than ten days that young Coke's child was buried, before the child was even ill. But that little child was quite without hope, I think I may say of their own volition and quite foolishly, because I am reliably informed that when the old man was taken ill and had two sores, the young parents sent the child to his grandfather, and the old man kept the child with him and made it lie with him at night when he was in such a poor state himself. So the child was buried a week ago on Monday, and on Sunday young Coke's wife was prayed for in church, though I hear she is now getting better. Of 12 of them, there are only five left alive, and four of them have been ill. So now my hopes and thoughts of going to Paston must be set aside until God grants them respite.
Other than that, the town is well, as are the neighbouring towns. Phillips has been in quarantine with daily fever and shivering, which he gets at night – yet he is now more alert and cheerful than when they came every third day.
Now farewell, my good child. I hope the Lord will allow us to meet at Paston soon. This is the sixth letter I have written, and I can assure you I am very weary. Sir Charles Grose has sent to borrow horses from your father for the Assizes; so I cannot for that reason send to Cambridge as soon as I would like. But after Assize week I will not fail to send a message to you. Farewell, son, for now. Your father sends his love to you, and so do I.
Your most loving mother, Katharine Paston.
