Chronicle of the rebellion in Lincolnshire, 1470

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CHRONICLE

THE REBELLION IN LINCOLNSHIRE,

1470.

EDITED BY

JOHN GOUGH NICHOLS, ESQ,

F.S.A. LOND. AND NEWC.

PRINTED FOR THE CAMDEN SOCIETY.
M.DCCC.XL.VII.

INTRODUCTION.

The Rebellion in Lincolnshire was one of the occurrences of that
troubled period of the reign of Edward the Fourth, when he was
struggling with the machinations of his overgrown subject, Richard
Neville, earl of Warwick, through which he was at length com-
pelled to leave his kingdom, and seek personal safety in flight. He
had already suffered a period of unkingly restraint, from the time
he was seized by the archbishop of York at Honiley, near War-
wick,* until his escape from the castle of Middleham ; and he had
also already been troubled with the insurrection of the Yorkshire-
men, who had defeated his army under the earl of Pembroke near
Banbury, and beheaded his father-in-law and brother-in-law, earl
Rivers and sir John Wydville. For these matters he had granted
a pardon, with the mention of which the present narrative com-
mences.

That weak and worthless prince, George duke of Clarence, the
king's next brother, had virtually deserted his allegiance on accept-
ing the hand of Warwick's elder daughter and coheir ; and it was
now the project of the King-maker to depose Edward, and place
the duke of Clarence on the throne. This intention was first made
apparent by the disclosures which ensued upon the suppression of
the Lincolnshire rebellion, as related in the following pages.

* N6t Olney, as in the notes to Warkworth^s Chronicle, p. 46. See the Gentleman *s
Magazine for Dec. 1839, vol. XII. p. 616.

4 INTRODUCTION

The immediate consequence of king Edward's victory near
Stamford was the flight of the duke and earl to France, where they
concluded a treaty* with the queen of Henry VI., and married the
lady Anne Neville, Warwick's younger daughter, to her son
Edward prince of Wales : the duke of Clarence thereupon post-
poning his claim to the crown to that of the house of Lancaster.
On their return to England, fortified by this alliance, the king was
in his turn forced to leave the realm, and take refuge with his
brother of Burgundy ; and the temporary restoration of king
Henry the Sixth ensued. King Edward's return, and almost
magical recovery of the crown, forms the subject of the first publi-
cation produced by the Camden Society.

The present Chronicle, extending only over the brief space of a
few weeks, will not require further illustration, beyond what a few
notes will supply. Any contribution to so obscure a portion of
English history cannot fail to be welcome ; and the present is of
importance, not only because it relates circumstances not elsewhere
recorded, but also because it evidently proceeded from one who
wrote under the immediate influence of the royal authority, and
had consequently the best means of information : appealing, in-
deed, to documents throughout his narrative. It has been pre-
served in one of the volumes of the College of Arms (Vincent^
No. 435), and for its communication the Society is indebted
to William Courthope, Esq. Rouge Croix Pursuivant.

* On this portion of the history of the period, see " The manner and guiding of the Earl
of Warwick at Angiers," published by Sir Henry Ellis in his Original Letters, Second
Series, vol. I. p. 132.

CHRONICLE

OF

THE REBELLION IN LINCOLNSHIRE,
1470.

A Remembrance of suche acte} and dedc} as oure souveraigne
lorde the king hadde doon in his journey begonne at London

the vi. day of Marche in the x. yere of his moost

reigne, for the repression and seting down of the rebellyon
and insurreccion of his subgettes in the shire of Linccolne,
commeaved by the subtile and fals conspiracie of his grete
rebellc3 George due of Clarence, Richarde erle of Warrewike,
and othere, &c.

(Vincent, No. 435, art. IX. in Coll. Ann.)

First, how be it that our saide souveraigne lorde, as a prince
enclined to shew his mercy and pite to his subgettes, raither then
rigure and straitenesse of his lawe}, pardonned of late to his saide
rebelles all tresons and felone}, trespasse} and offence} committed
and doon by theym ayeinst his highenese afore the fest of Crist-
enraes last past, (1) trusting that therby he shuld have coraged,
caused, and induced theym from that tyme furthe to have been of
good, kynd, and lovyng demeanyng ayeinst his highenesse ; yit they
unnaturally and unkyndly, withoute cause dr occacion yeven to
theym by our saide soveraigne lorde, falsly compassed, conspired,
and ymagened the final destruccion of his most roiall personne,
and of his true subgettes taking parte with him in assisting his
highnesse, in so moche as whan he was coromen unto Waltham the

6 CHRONICLE OF THE

vj. day of Marche, on the morue after, the vij. day of Marche,
there was brought unto him worde that Robert Welle}, calling
hym self grete eapteyn of the comons of Linccolne shire, (2) had doo
made proclamacions in all the churche} of that shire the sonday the
iiij. daye of Marche in the kinges name, the due, erle, and his
owne name, every« man to come to Ranby hawe (3) upon the tuesday
the vj. day of Marche, upon payne of dethe, to resist the king in
comyng down into the saide shire, saying that his comyng thidre
was to destroie the comons of the same shire, as apperethe by
the copie of the same. And theruppon, the vij. daye of Marche,
the king sent to London for the late lorde Welles, (4) sir Thomas
Dymmoke, (5) and othere, whiche were come thidre by the kinges
prive scale} (6).

Upon the thursday the viij. day of Marche, the king, ryding
betwixt Bu[n]ttyngforde and Roiston, toke in the way a childe
whiche was sent from John Morling, steward to the lorde Crome-
well(7). Wherby appered clerely the gadering of the saide comons,
and parte of theire entente}, whiche letres purportith that by the
tyme thay came to Stoneford thare shulde be of theym and of
Yorkeshyr and other cuntrees that wolde falle to thaym C. m^ men.
And the same lettre was written at Tottersale, (8) the vj. day of
Marche, and is redy to be shewed.

The same thursday the king come to Roston, whyther come
to hym a servaunt of the due of Clarence with a letter lattyng
hys highnes wyt that, notwithstonding that he had taken hys
ly ve ^ of hym at London, to have goone westward, yit, for to doo
hym service in this his journey, he wolde arredye hym self to com
towardes his highenes at suche tyme and place appointed as therle
of Warrewike shulde also come, as he hadde promysed the king at
London. Wherunto the king then answered, that he was glad, and
wrote hym a letre of thanke of hys own hande ; whiche message
so sent by the due was fals dissimulacion, as by the warkej
aftre it appered. Nevertheles the king, not undrestanding no suche

» leave.

REBELLION IN LINCOLNSHIRE. 7

doublenesse, but trusting that they ment truly as thay shewed,
sent unto the saide due and erle incontinent his severall comis-
sions (9) for to arreise the people in diverse shires, and to bring
theym unto the king to doo hym service ayeinst his rebelles. And
soo on the friday the ix. day of Marche the king com to Hunt-
yngdon.

The kyng being at Huntyngdoon did the saide lorde Welle} to
be examined, and sir Thomas Dymmoke and other severally, in
whiche examinacion it was knowleged that in the lorde Welle} alle
suche counceille} and conspiracions were taken and made betwixt
his son, the saide sir Thomas Dynmoke, the commons, and othere ;
and that he and the saide sir Thomas Bynmoke were prive and
knowing of there communicacions, and thay might have lett it and
did not, but verray provocars and causers of the same, with othere
circumstance} touching it. Wheruppon the king yave hym an
inunccion that he shulde send to his sonne, commaunding him to
leve hys felaship, and humbly submitte hym, or elles thay for theire
seide treasons shulde have dethe, as they had deserved. The king
thernne* being, com eftsone} tydinge} that the saide Robert Welle}
and commouns were in grete nowmbre, and passed Linccolne
towardes Grantham.

Upon the sonday the vj. day of Marche, the king com to
Fodrynghay, (10) where he had newe knowlege that his rebelles
were passed Grantham towardes hym, but sum what thay beganne to
chaunge thaire way towards Leycestre; which, as it was aftre
clerely confessed, was doon by the stirring and message sent from
the due of Clarence and erle of Warrewike unto the saide late
sir Robert Welle} and other pety captayne}, desiring thaym to
have [been] by the monday at Leycestre, where thay promised to
have joyned with theym with xx. m^ men, as it appered aftre in
effect and by severall confessions (11) of the saide captayne}.

Where it appereth clerely that by all this tyme the saide due
and erle dissimiled falsly with the king, for there,^ or he went to

• So the MS. •• So the MS,: read the earl.

8 CHRONICLE OF THE

London, promysed that he woolde have comen to the king in
resistence of the saide rebelles ; uppon trust wherof the king by
his knowlage and assent appoynted his gyste},^ and the nombre
of the people that he wolde com withe [to] the king. Also upon the
same trust aftre sent to the saide due and hym his commissions to
arrise and bring with hym the people of certein shire} to doo hym
service. Also the saide due dissimiled right untruly with the
king, for als soon as the lord Welle} was comen to London to
the king he come also thidre, undre coloure that he wolde have
toke his leve to have goon westward, whedre he had sent his
wyfe. And certeinly he entended principally always to hym
possible to have delaied the kinges comyng forth, sendyng worde
to the saide sir Robert Welle} that he so wold doo ; desiryng
hym not to be ferre, but to com forwardes ; the whiche porpose
if he had brought aboute, without eny faile the king, by all
literaly^ presumpcion, had be distressed and alle his felaship, as
clerely may appere by the warkes aftre.

That the due thus dissimiled it shewethe ; for on the morowe
aftre the king departed owte of London the said due, the lorde
Welle}, the prioure of Saint Johanne}, (12) and othere divers per-
sons, kept theire counseill secretly at Saynt Johanne}, (13) and
forthwith he departed towards Warrewike, contrary to his saying
afore to the king ; and upon the way sent the king a plesaunt
letre as above, whiche letre his highenesse receyved at Roiston,
where he wrote ayein, thanking and trusting verely he wolde so
have doon ; and soo diverse other tyme} thay bothe sent to the
king suche plesaunt mesage}, ever wenyng the king thare writting
and message} had been feithefulle and true, to the xiiij. day of
Marche, whiche day the king came to Granthame ; whiche alle
notwithstonding, falsly and subtylly dissimiled with his highe-
nes ; for undre this they sent theire messages daily to the kinges
rebelles, bidding thayme to be of good chere and comforthe, and
hold forthe theire way towardes Leycestre, where they promised to

• The stages of his march. »> So the MS. qu. likely.

REBELLION IN LINCOLNSHIRE. »

have joined with theym and utterly to have taken theire parte,
wherby theire unnaturelle and fals double treason apperethe.

And if God ne had put in the kinges mynde at Huntyngdon to
put the lorde Wellc} in certeynte of his dethe for his fals conspi-
racions and concelementes as is afore shewed, onlasse then his sonne
wolde have left his felliship, and submutted as above, and ther-
uppon a message sent to the saide sir Robert from his fadre, they
had be certeynly joyned with the saide due and erle ar the king
might have had to doo with theym ; but as God of his grace pro-
vided for the kinges wele, the same late sir Robert Welles being
onwardes on his way towards Leycestre, undrestonding his fadre
life to be in joperdie, by a message brought hym from his fadre,
knowing also that the king was that Sunday at nyght at Fodring-
hay, and demyng that he wolde not have passed Stanford the same
monday, not entending to make eny submission ne beyng in his
felaship, but disposing him to make his parte good ayeinst the king,
and traytourly to levie where « ayeinst his highnes, arredied hym
and his felaship that day to have sett uppon the king in Staunford
the monday nyght, and so to have destrest hym and his oost,
and so rescued his fadre lyf ; and for that entent turned with his
hoole oost oute of Leicestre wey and toke his wey towardes Stan-
ford upon that same pourpose.

The king, not undrestonding thee} fals dissimilacions, but, of
his most noble and rightwise courage, with alle spede pourposing to
goo upon his saide rebelles, eerly on the monday afore day drew
hym to felde ^ and addressed hym towardes Stanford ; and at
his thidre comyng sett furthe his foward towardes his saide
rebellion, and bayted hym self and his felaship in the town,
whethere com eftsons a message from the saide due and erle by a
prest called sir Richard , and Thomas Woodhille, which

brought letres from theym, certefying the king that thay were
comyng towardes him in aide ayeinst his rebelles, and that nyght
thay were at Coventrie, and on the monday nyght they wolde

* war. •* To the field ; i, e. to the march onward.

CAMD. SOC. B

10 CHROMCLE OF THE

be at Leycestre ; wherof the king delivered theym with letres of
thankes of his own hand^ and incontinent toke the felde, where he
undrestoode the saide sir Robert Welles to be in arme} with
baniers displaied ayeinst hym, disposed to fight ; thought it nott
according with his honoure ne surtied* that he shulde jeoparde his
most roialle person upon the same to leve the fadre and the saide
sir Thomas Dymmoke of live that suche treason had conspired
and wrought, as soo it was thought to alle the lordes, noblemen and
othere that tyme being in his oost ; wherfore his highnesse in the
felde undre his banere displaied comaunded the said lorde Welles
and sir Thomas Dymmoke to be executed; and soo furthwith
preceding ayeinst his saide rebelles^by the helpe of alle mighty God,
acheved the victorie (14) and distressed mo then xxx. m^. men,
usyng therewithe plentyvoufly his mercy in saving of the live3 of
his poure and wreched commons (15).

Where it is soo to be remembred that, at suche tyme as the ba-
taile3 were towardes joynyng, the kyng with [his] oost seting uppon
[the rebels] , and they avaunsyng theymself, theire crye was, A Cla-
rerwe ! a Clarence ! a Warrewike ! that tyme beyng in the feelde
divers persor^ in the due of Clarence livery, and especially sir
Robert Welle} hymself, and a man of the duke} own, that aftre
was slayne in the chase, and his casket taken, wherinne were
founden many mervelous billc}, conteining matter of the grete
■seduccion, and the verrey subversion of the king and the common
wele of alle this lande, with the most abhominable treason that
ever were seen or attempted withinne the same, as thay be redy to
be shewed ; and in the same chase was taken the late sir Thomas
Delalande (16'). This victorie thus hadde, the king returned to Stan-
forde late in the nyght, yeving laude and praising to almighty God.

Uppon the tewsday the xiij. day of Marche, the king, yit no
thing mystrusting the saide due and erle, sent from Stanford to-
warde theym John Down, oon of the swiers for his body, (17) with ij.
letres of his own hand, signefyeing unto theym the victorye that

" So the MS. q. suretyhood.

REBELLION IN LINCOLNSHIRE. 11

God hadde sent hym, and desired theym to com towarde hym
with convenient nowmbre for thaire astates, commaunding theym
to departea the people of the shire} (18) that were arraysed by
thaymeby virtue of his commyssion, for hym semed full necessarye
to sett good direccions in Linccolne shire, for he was thereinne,
wherinne the advises were to hym right behovfulle, the king
supposing verily that thay had been that monday nyght at Ley-
cestre, as they afore soo had written to his highnes that thay
wolde have been. And it is to deme soo they shulde have been,
or at the leest upon tewsday, ne had be the kinges victorie on the
monday, and that thay had no suche nowmbre of people as thay
loked aftre, whiche caused theym to staker and to tary stille at
Coventre, where the saide John Down founde theym. It is also
to undrestand that ne had be the turnyng backe of the seide late
Robert Welles with his oost towards Stanforde, for his fadre}
reskue, the king couthe not by hklyhode halve hadde at doo with
theyme the monday, ne of liklyhode til thay hadd be joyned with
the saide due and erle, as afore written.

Uppon the wednisday and thursday the xiiij. (19) and xv. day
of Marche, the king being at Grantham, were taken and brought
thidre unto hym alle the captayne} in substance, as the saide late
sir Robert Welles, Richarde Warine, and othere, severally exa-
myned of there free wille} uncompelled, not for fere of dethe ne
otherwyse stirred, knowleged and confessed the saide due and erle
to be partiners and chef provocars of all theire treasons. And this
plainely, theire porpos was to distroie the king, and to have made
the saide due king, as they, at the tyme that thei shulde take theire
dethes, openly byfore the multitude of the kinges oost afFermed to
be true.

And what tyme the saide John Down had delivered the kinges
letres to theim^ at Coventre, thay saide and promysed to hym
playnely thay wolde in alle haste com towardes the king, leving theire
fotemen, with a m^ or at the most x\^ men ; whiche notwithstond-

• i. e. disband. •> Clarence and Warwick.

12 CHRONICLE OP THE

ingjthe said John Down being present, they departed, with alle theire
fellaship, towardes Burton-uppon-Trent ; and when the saide John
Down remembred theym that hym semed they toke not the right
way towardes the king, theire aunswere was, that they toke that
way for certein fotemen were byfore theym, with whom they wolde
speke, and curtesly departed from thens, to thentent thay shulde be
the more redy and the better- wele willed to doo hym service here-
aftre ; and undre colour thereof they went to Burton, and sithen
to Darby, for to gadre more people unto theym, to enforce theym
self ayeinst the king in all that they couthe or myght soo ever,
continually using theire accustumed fals dissimilacion.

In this season, the king undrestonding that the commocion in
meoving of people in Richemond shire by the stirring of the lorde
Scrope and othere, sent by the saide due and erle there for that
cause with many lettres, his highness sent into Northomerland
and Westmoreland to arredie certein felaship to a filowed * uppon
theym if they had com forwarde, and to therle that tyme of
Northomerland, nowe markes Mowntague, with his felaship, to
have countred theym in theire faces, thay that understanding and
havyng tithinges also [of] the kinges victorie, and, as divers gentil-
men of that felaship saide, thinkyng by the maner of the saide erle
of Warrewike writing sent thidre in his own name oonly, to
arreise the people, that theire stirring shulde be ayenst the king, and
fering his spedy comyng unto thei3 parties with his oost, left theire
gadering, and satt still.

The friday the xvj. day of Marche, the king com to Newerke,
and the setyrday, as the king was towardes Horebake, there com
to hym from the saide due and erle RuiFord and Herry Wrotesley,
and with theym brought pleasaunte writinges, dissimiling eftsonej
that thay wolde com to hym at Ratforde. The king delivered theym
the same day, the xvij. of Marche; and on sonday the king sent
garter king of arme3 with ij. prive scale} of summons to theym,
that tyme being at Chestrefelde, commaunding theym to com to

* i. e. have followed.

REBELLION IN LINCOLNSHIRE. 13

theire aunswere and declaracion upon suche thinges as theforsaide
captayns of Linccolneshire had accused theym of, as apperethe by
the same seide summons, (20) whereof the tenure filowethe.

" Brothere, we ben enfourmed by sir Robert Welles, and othere,
how ye labowred contrarie to naturalle kyndenes and dutie of lige-
aunce divers matiers of grete poise ; and also how proclamations
have be made in your name and owre cosyn of Warrewike to as-
semble oure liege people, noo mencion made of us. Furthermore,
letres missive sent in like maner for like cause. How be it we
woUe foryete that to us perteynethe. And that is to calle you to
your declaracion on the same, and to receyve you therunto, if ye
woUe com as fittethe a liege man to com to his soveraigne lorde in
humble wise. And if ye soo doo, indifiference and equite shalbe by
us wele remembred, and soo as no resonable man goodly disposed
shalle move thinke but that we shalle entrete you according to your
nyghenes of oure bloode and oure lawe}. Wherfore, our disposicion
thus playnly to you declared, we wolle and charge you, upon the
feithe and trouthe that ye naturelly owe to here unto us, and upon
payne of your ligeaunce, that ye, departing your felaship, in alio
hast aftre the sight herof addresse you to our presence, humbly
and mesurably accompayned, and soo as it is convenient for the
cause abovesaid, lating you wite if ye soo do not, but contynue
that unlefuU assemble of our people in perturbacion and contempe
of our peas and commandement, we most procede to that we were
lothe to doo, to the punyshement of you, to the grevous example of
alle othere our subgettes, uppon the which if there filowe eny efFu-
cion of Christen bloode of our subgettes of this our realme, we take
God, our blissed Lady, saynt George, and all the saintes to our
wittenesse that ye be oonly to be charged with the same, and not
we. Yeven undre our signet, at Newerke, the xvij. day of Marche,
the X. yere of our reign.'' And a like letre, undre prive seale,
was sent to the erle of Warrewike.

The sonday the xviij. day of Marche, the king com to Don-
castre, where com to hym from the saide due and erle a chapleyn

14 CHRONICLE OF THE

of the saide erle} called maister Richarde, bryngyng pleasaunt
letres from theym, signefyeing in the begynyng of his message,
that thay wolde com humbly to the king ; but the conclucion was
that, or thay shulde com, thay wolde have suretie for they me and
theire felaship, with pardonne} for theym and alle the lordes and
othere that had take theire partie ; wherunto the king aunswered,
that of late, in trust of theire hede* demeanyng he had graunted
theym his pardon, and at theire ins tans and pray our made it
extended to asmoche ferrer day then he had furst graunted it;
and therefore, and the writing and message} to his highnes sent
byfore remembred, he mervailed that thay delaied theire comyng,
and sent eny suche message} for theire excuse}, and sithe his
highnes had sent his forsaide summons by the saide garter, his
highnes supposed to have worde from theym the same nyght of
theire comyng, and for that his saide entent shulde more clerely
appere unto theym, he wolde send to theym of newe his prive
scale} of his saide sumons ; as soo he dide by the saide maister
Richarde, chargeing hym to deliver theym to the seide due and
erle.

The monday the xix. day of Marche, before noon, come ayene
from the saide due and erle unto the king at Doncastre the saide
RufFord, and with hym sir William Pare, (21) with letres creden-
ciales, the credence in efFecte conteynyng the saide message
that the saide maister Richarde had brought on sonday afore,
expressing that they wolde not onlesse then they myght have
suretie} of theire comyng, abiding, and departing, to have the
kinges pardon in fourme afore rehersed, whiche suretie shulde
have be that the king shuld have be sworne to theym solemply
and theruppon they to be sworne unto hym ayein ; wherunto the
king, aftre advise and assent taken with alle his lordes and noble-
men being there with hym, openly, thay being present, aunswered,
that he wolde use and entreate theym as a souveragne lord owethe
to use and entreate his subgettes, for his auncient enemye} of

• So MS.

RKBELLION IN LINCOLNSHIRE. 15

France wolde not desire so large a suretie for their comyng to his
rialle presens ; and he doubt it not but it was wele in theire re-
membraunce how he of late had graunted theym his pardonne,
and sithe that what insurreccions and rebellions were in his shire
of Linccolne comitted ayenst hym and the common wele of his lande,
and as his highnesse hathe knowlage by the confessions of sir
Robert Welles called grete capteigne of Linccolneshire, Waryn
capteyn of the fotemen, and other, they were styrers and provokers
and causers of the same ; and if he shulde be to liberalle of his
pardonne, considering the hanyous accusacions, and thay not harde
what they couth say for their declaracions, it shulde be to perlioux
and to evel example to alle other his subgettes in like case, and to
gret an unsurtie to his personne and comon wele of his realme ;
whiche meaved his highnej to telle theym his aunswere}, and if
they couthe have a declared theym self, and shewed the saide
accusacions van and untrue, he wolde have be therewith as
gladde as theym self, and so have taken theym in his grace and
favour. And thoughe thay couthe not so have doon, yit his
highnesse wolde not have forgoten the nyghnesse of blode which
they were of to hym, ne the olde love and alFeccion whyche of
long tym he had borne to theym, but wolde have mynistred to
theym rightwisseness with favour and pite. And where sedi-
cious langage} have be shewen, as it is saide, by theire meanes in
the northe partie} and elle} where to stir his subgettes ayeinst hym,
in that he wolde not abide by his saide pardon late graunted, if
thay or eny other knyght withinne his saide realme would soo
say, he wolde in his own personn, as j knyght, make it goode
uppon hym that he saide falsly and untruly ; and furthermore, he
bad the saide sir William and Rufford say to the saide due and
erle, that if thay wolde com to his presence, according to his
saide summons, he wolde therewith be plesed; and if thay ne
wold, but refused so to do, he wolde repute, take, and declare
theym, as reason wolde, aftre as theire demerites, obstinacy, and
unnaturelle demeanyng required, and charged the saide sir William

16 CHRONICLE OF THE

Parre and Rufford, that sith they were gentilmen borne of his
realme, if they self ^ theym of such contumacy, they then shulde
leve theym and com to hym, according to theire duty and Ugeance,
and to yeve hym'^ assistence ayenst theym, and that thay shulde
give ^ like charge to all other knyghtes, swiers, and other subgettes
being there with the saide due and erle to do the same, upon the
payne of ligeance ; wheruppon the saide sir William Par and
RufFord, fering that they shuld not be sufFred to opyn the kinges
commandment, humbly besought the kinges gode grace that it
might please the same to send an officer of armes with theym to
doo it^ as he soo did, sendyng with theym Marche, oon of his kinges
of arme3 .

The monday nyght, whan his message was commen to the saide
due and erle at Chestrefelde, they, taking noo regarde therunto,
but presumptuosly refusing by the same obstinacy, withdrew
theymself and their felliship into Loncastre shire, trusting there to
have encresing their strenghe} and by the comforthe that thay
shulde have had there, and oute of Yorkshire to [have] assembled
so gret a puyssaunce that thay might have be able to have fought
with the kinges highnes in plein felde.

The tewsday, in the mornyng, the king, uncerteined how they
wolde demean theym upon the saide summons and message,
addressed hym self to the felde, and there put his hoole oast in ^
noble ordre of bataille, awowching his baner towardes Chestrefelde,
undrestonding noon othere but that thay [should] be there, and then
their aforeryders were com to Rotherham to take theire lod[ging],
therefore the night filowing he came to Rotherham, where he
loged [that ny]ght, and there had certeyn tidinges of their departing,
and that knawlege had [for as mo]che as it was thought by his
highnes, his lordes, and other noble [men there bei]ng with hym, that
he might not conveniently p [roceed] with soo [great an] host, for
that the saide due and erle, with their felaship [had consum]ed the
[vitaile] afore hym, and the contrey afore hym self wa . . not

» So apparently the MS. q. found ? •» MS. them. e j/^_ jf^ d j^jg^ and.

REBELLION IN LINCOLNSHIRE. I?'

able to susteyn so gret an oost as the kinges highnesse had
with him withowt a newe refresshing ; the king for that cause, and
for that he shulde he betwene them and the strongest of the
north parte, wheruppon thay hoped and wolde have beene fayne
joyned with, addressed hym with his saide oost towardes his
citie of Yorke, fully determyned there to have refresshed and
vitailed his saide oast, and so vitailed to have entered into Lanc-
eastreshire that wey, and there, if they wold have biden, to have
recountred theire malice; and that night he loged at his castelle of
Powmfrett; and from thens the next day, thursday the xxij. day
of Marche, he cam to his saide citie of Yorke. And at Yorke
the king taried friday, (23) Saturday, sonday, and monday the
xxvj. day of Marche, esta[blishing] suche rule} and direccions
as were and might be for the surtie of alle the northe partic}
and for sufficient provicion of vitaile for his oost for thaccom-
plishing of his pourpose into Lanccastreshire. And there com
to the king the lorde Scrope (24), sir John Conyers (25), yong
Hilyard of Holdrenes (26), and other, which had laboured, spe-
cially provoced, and stirred the people in thie} partie} to have
[made] commocion ayeinst the king, wherinne they frely submitted
them to the kinges grace and mercy, and humbly by sought
hym of his pardone and grace ; and also of ther fre wille},
unconstreyned and undesired, they clerely confessed that so to
make commocions they were specially laboured and desired by the
saide due and erle, th[r] oughe theire writing and messages, by their
own servauntes deUvered and opened, and at they shulde [have]
assembled as many as they couthe have made in thie} partie}, and
have drawen to Rotherham, and there to have countred the king,
and to have doon asmuche as in them had been to have distressed
hym and his ost ; which alle they afFermed to be true by theire
othe}, solemply made upon the blissed sacrament, and by they[m]
receyved upon the same. And the said late sir Robert Welle},
Waryn, and other, confessed pleinly at theire dethe} taking afore the
multitude of the kinges oost at Donccastre, that they were specially

CAMD. see. C

IS CHRONICLE, ETC.

laboured, provoked, and stirred, by writing and messaige3 sent to
theym from the saide due and erle,and by their servauntes delyvered,
that they shuld have comen to Leycestre, and there have joyned
with theym, and not to have countred the king, but to have
suiFred hym to have passed northwardes to thentent that * soo the
saide duo and erle, and they, with theire powers soe joyned, myght
have been betwen the king and the southe parties, and enclosed
hym betwixt theym and the power of the northe, to the likly
uttur and finalle distruccion of his rialle person, and the subversion
of alle the land, and the common wele of the same.

» In MS. that he.

NOTES.

(1.) The king's pardon. " This yere, soone after Alhalowe tyde, proclamacyons were
made thorough the cytie of London, that the kynge had pardoned the Northym men
of theyr riot, and as well for the deth of the lorde Ryvers, as all displeasures by theym
before that tyme done." Fabyan's London Chronicle.

(2.) Sir Robert Welles. Very few particulars are on record respecting this captain
of the rebels, whom it is impossible not to regard as having been, in some measure,
the victim of filial duty. He was the only son of his parents, who are noticed in Note 4.
He had married Elizabeth, daughter of John Bourchier lord Berners ; she made her will
on the 10th October following her husband's death, and therein bequeathed her body to
be buried in the church of the Friars at Doncaster, where that of her husband lay
interred. As they had no children, the inheritance devolved on his sister Joane, the wife
of Richard Hastings esquire, brother to William lord Hastings, lord chamberlain ; which
Richard was afterwards summoned to Parliament as lord Welles.

(3.) Ranly JSawe. The principal estates of the family of Welles were the manors of
Hellowe, Aby, Welle, and Alford, in the county of Lincoln, in the first of which they
also possessed the advowson of the free chapel of Wellys. (Act 19 Hen. VII.) By con-
sulting the map of Lincolnshire, the town of Alford will be found near the eastern coast,
and the other places mentioned in its immediate vicinity. Ranby, where sir Robert
Welles mustered his forces, is about fifteen miles east of Alford, and towards the city of
Lincoln ; to which city he afterwards marched, and thence to Grantham, as noticed in
more than one passage of the present narrative. The commencement of the rebellion is
thus described in Warkworth's Chronicle : " In the moneth of March, the lorde Willowby,
the lorde Welles his sonne, Thomas de la Lend knyght, and sere Thomas Dymmoke
knyght the kynges champyon, droff out of Lyncolnschyre sere Thomas a Burghe, a knyght
of the kynges howse, and pullede downe his place, and toke alle the comons of the shyre,
to the nowmbre of xxx.mI., and cryed, Kynge Henry! and refused kynge Edwarde.'* Sir
Thomas Burgh was obnoxious to the partizans of Warwick, because, in conjunction with
sir William Stanley, he had recently assisted king Edward in escaping from durance at
Middleham Castle. He resided in the ancient manor-house of Gainsborough, which he
partly rebuilt ; but it does not appear probable that the rebels went so far north.

(4.) Richard lord Welles had married Joane daughter and heir of Robert lord
Willoughby of Eresby, who died in 1462, by his first wife Elizabeth Montacute,
daughter of John earl of Salisbury. (Collectanea Topogr. et Geneal. vii. 155.) Thus it

20 NOTES TO THE

will be found that the earl of Warwick and sir Robert Welles (the Lincolnshire
" captain ") were second-cousins, John earl of Salisbury having been the great-grand-
father of both. There had also been another connection between the families of Neville
and Willoughby ; for sir Thomas Neville, one of the earl of Warwick's younger brothers
(he was slain at the battle of Wakefield in 1460), had married Maud dowager lady
Willoughby, the second wife of Robert, and cousin and co-heir of Ralph lord Cromwell,
lord treasurer. She survived to the 30th Aug. 1497. In consequence of his marriage,
sir Richard Welles was summoned to parliament during his father's lifetime, by writ
directed " Ricardo Welles de Willoughby militi," from the 26th May, 1455. His father,
Lionel lord Welles, K.G. was slain at the battle of Towton in 1461, fighting on the Lan-
castrian side, and was consequently attainted ; but the son was restored in blood in 1468
(Nicolas 's Synopsis of the Peerage), and then became entitled to the barony of Welles,
which was of older date than that of Willoughby. By an act passed in the parliament
of 1475 Richard Welles late of Hellowe in the countie of Lincolne knyght, Robert Welles
of the same place knyght, and Thomas Delalaunde late of Horblyng in the same shire
knyght, were declared attainted of high treason, for the present rebellion. (Rot. Pari,
vol. vi. p. 144.) The attainder of the two Welles, father and son, was reversed in the first
parliament of Henry VII. (Ibid. 286.) It may here be noticed that the author of
Heame's Fragment was under a misapprehension when he wrote, " And anon there-
upon the lord Welles (that had married Margaret duchess of Somerset) began a new
commotion in Lincolnshire ;" for that had been a second marriage made by his father,
Lionel. It was to John, the son of that marriage, that Henry the Seventh gave the lady
Cecily Plantagenet, his queen's sister, together with the dignity of a viscount and the order
of the garter, he being the king's uncle, viz. half-brother, ex parte matemd, of Margaret
countess of Richmond.

(5.) Sir Tliomas DymmoJcey of Scrivelsby, son of sir Philip who officiated as champion at
the coronation of king Henry VI., had married Margaret, daughter of Lionel lord
Welles by his first wife Joane daughter and heir of sir Robert Waterton : and was thus
implicated with his brother-in-law and nephew. He was not, however, included in their
subsequent attainder.

(6.) The hinges privy seals. Polydore Vergil (Camden Society's edition, p. 127)
represents that lord Welles and sir Thomas Dymmoke had taken sanctuary at Westminster ;
that " king Edward gave his faith and promise for their safeties, and called them out of
sanctuary." Afterwards, when the king beheaded them, the same historian remarks that
it was ** contrary to faith and promise given, and to the worst example that might be." —
After perusing the present narrative, it may be fairly questioned whether this statement,
which is that adopted by most subsequent writers, is not exaggerated in some of the
attendant circumstances.

(7.) Lord Cromwell. This was Humphrey Bourchier, third son of Henry earl of
Essex, by Isabel daughter of Richard of Coningsburgh earl of Cambridge, king Edward's

REBELLION IN LINCOLNSHIRT

grandfather. Having married Joane Stanhope, neice and co-heir of Ralph lord Cromwell,
of Tattershall, he was summoned to parliament by that title in 1461. It is not to be
supposed that he had any concern in the rebellion. He died the next year at Bamet
field, fighting on the side of the king, his cousin.

(8.) Tattershall, lord Cromwell's castle, was in the immediate vicinity of the insur-
rection. The remaining tower, built by the lord treasurer Cromwell temp. Hen. VI. is a
remarkably fine specimen of brick architecture, views of which will be found in Britten's
Architectural Antiquities, and elsewhere ; and its chimney-pieces, curiously carved with
heraldic insignia and lord treasurer's purses, are represented in Gough's Sepulchral
Monuments, and in Weir's Homcastle.

(9.) Commissions. These commissions had been prepared the day before, being dated
" Apud Waltham Abbatis septimo die Martii. " They were addressed, 1 . to George duke
of Clarence, Richard earl of Warwick and Salisbury, sir Walter Senile, Richard Crofte
senior, Thomas Throgmerton, Thomas Everton, and Thomas Lygon, for the county of
Worcester ; and 2. to George duke of Clarence, Richard earl of Warwick and Salisbury,
sir Thomas Ferrers, sir Simon Mountford, sir William Catesby, sir Richard Vemey, sir
John Greyville, Thomas Burdyt, Thomas Hygford, John Hygford, Henry Botyller, Thomas
Muster, and John West, for the county of Warwick ; and are printed from the Patent
Rolls in Rymer, xi. 652.

(10.) Fotheringay, This, as is well known, was a royal castle, and at this time was
one of the customary residences of Cecily duchess of York, the king's mother. The
bodies of Richard duke of York and his second son Edmund earl of Rutland had been
brought hither from Pontefract, and re-interred with great pomp on the 22nd July, 1466,
the king and duke of Gloucester being present.

(11.) Confessions. The confession of sir Robert Welles was published in the Excerpta
Historica, 1831 ; but its close relation to the present narrative will justify its repetition
here :—

Confession of Sir Robert Welles,
(MS. Harl. 283, f. 2.)

" Aboute Candelmasse last, a chapelein of my lordes of Clarence, called maister John
Bamby, and with him sir John Clare, prestes, came to my lord my fadir and me to
Hellow, with letres of credence yeven to the sayd maister Johan, which he opned in this
wyse : that my lorde of Warwike was at London with the kinge, wherupon for thaire
bothe suerties he praied us in bothe thaire names to be redy with alle the felaship we couth
or might make and assemble of the comons, what tyme so ever my sayd lord of Clarence
shuld send us word. Nathelesse he willed us to tary, and nott stur, to suche time as my
lord of Warwike were come agayne from London, for doubte of his destruccion. And

22 NOTES TO THE

anone after my lorde of Clarence sent me a patent of the stewerdship of Cawlesby in
Lincolnshire by the saide sir John Clare.

" The cause of oure grete risinge at this time was grounded upon this noise raisid
amonges the people, that the kinge was coming downe (and with him sir Thomas Bo-
rogh*), with grete power, into Lincolnshire, where the kinges jugges shulde sitte, and
hang and draw grete noumbre of the comons. Wherfore, with as many as we might
make be alle meanes possible, we came to Lincolne upon the Tuseday ; and upon theWenes-
day a servaunt of my said lord of Clarence, called Walter , yoman of his chawmbre, by
his commaundment, told us the same, and that the gentilmen of the centre shuld passe
upon us in such wyse that nedely gret multitud must dye of the comons ; therupon
desiring us to arise and precede in oure purpose, as we loved ourselfes. And for that my
lord my fadir was att London, and peraventure shuld there be endaungered, which he ne
wold, for that cause him self wold go to London to help excuse my sayd lord my fadir,
and to delaye the kinges coming forth.

" The said Walter , servaunt of my lorde of Clarence, went with me to the

feld, and toke grete parte of guiding of our boost, nott departing from the same to the
end. And afore that, as sone as I came to Lincolne, I sent sir John Clare to my lord of
Warwike, to have understanding from him how he wold have us guidid forthwardes ; but,
for us semed he taried long, we sent hastily after him oon John Wright, of Lincolne, for
the same cause ; and thereupon I departed with oure boost towardes Grantham ; and in
the way, aboute Temple Brewere, sir John Clare mett with me, saing of my lord of War-
wikes behalfe, that he grett us welle, and bad us be of gode comforth, for he and my said
lord of Clarence wold araise alle the peple they couth in alle hast, and come towardes us,
and utterly take suche parte as we shuld take, saing over, that he saw my sayd lord of War-
wike lay his hand on a boke that he wold so do. And so the said sir John Clare often
times declared aforn the peple.

" The Sunday after came John Wright to Grantham, and broght me a ring from my said
lord of Warwike, and desired me to go forward, bidding me and us alle be of gode com-
fort, for he was in araising alle that he might make, and wold be at Leycestre on Monday
night with xx. Ml. men, and joyne with us. Wherefore he willed me to suffre the felaship
that came with the king fro by south to passe northwardes, and yeve him the way, to
th'entent he and we might be betwix them and the south.

" Also, when my lord my fadir went to London, he charged me that if I understode
him att eny tyme to be in jupartye, I shuld with alle that I might make come to socoure
him.

*' Also, my lord of Clarence servaunt Walter , that cam to us to Lincolne,

stured and meved often times our boost, and in many places of the same, that att such
tyme as the matir shuld come nerre the point of batelle they shuld calle upon my lord of
Clarence to be king, and to distroye the kinge that so was aboute to distroye them and
alle the realme : so ferforthly that, at such tyme as the king was beforne us in the feld he

* These words are erased with a pen.

REBELLION IN LINCOLNSHIRE. 23

toke a spere in his hand, and said he wold therwith as frely renne agains the king as
agains his and his maister's mortalle enemy.

** Also, I have welle understand by many mesagges, as welle fro my lord of Clarence as
of Warwike, that they entended to make grete risinges, as forforthly as ever I couth under-
stand, to th'entent to make the due of Clarence king : and so it was oft and largely noised
in our hoost.

" Also, I say that ne had beene the said due and erles provokinges, we at this tyme
wold ne durst have maid eny commocion or sturing, but upon there comfortes we did
that we did.

" Also, I say that I and my fadir had often times lettres of credence from my said lordes
of Clarence and Warwike, of thankinges for our devoires, and praied us to continue our
gode hertes and willes to the above sayd purpose. One that broght fro my lord of
Clarence was called William Uwerke ; oone that broght lettres from my lord of Warwike
was called Philip Strangways ; * of the other I remembre nott the names. The credence in
substance rested onely in this, yevyng of thankes, praing to continue, and to sture and
meve the peple to do the same ; which lettres be to be broght forth."

(12.) PHor of saint Johannes. Sir John Longstrother, bailiff of the Eagle and
seneschal of the reverend the high master of Rhodes, was elected prior of the hospital of
saint John of Jerusalem in England, in the year 1469, and swore fealty to king Edward
on the 18th November that year, and again to king Henry on the 20th Oct. 1470; see
the documents recording both ceremonies in Rymer, vol. xi. pp. 650, 664, derived from
the Close Rolls : and repeated at p. 670 from the Patent Rolls. Being a zealous Lan-
castrian, he was on the same day as last mentioned appointed treasurer of the exchequer
(ibid. 665). On the 16th Feb. following king Henry sent him to conduct the queen and
prince from France to England, and granted him " of cure tresoure cc. marc to have of
oure yefte by way of rewarde, for his costs and expences in that behalve " (ibid. 693) ;
and on the 24th of the same month, in conjunction with John Delves esquire, he was
appointed warden of the mint (ibid. 698.)

He returned out of France with queen Margaret in April 1471, being " at that time
called treasurer of England " (Fleetwood's MS.); and he was one of those who were be-
headed after the battle of Tewkesbury.

(13.) At SairU Johannes. That is, at the preceptory of the order at Clerkenwell near
London.

(14.) The victorie. The battle was fought " at Empyngham, in a felde called Horne-

* A younger son of sir James Strangways, by Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Philip
lord Darcy and Meynell. His sister Margaret had for her second husband Richard
Hastings lord Welles and Willoughby. See the Collectanea Topogr. et Genealogica,
ii. 162.

t4 NOTES TO THE

felde/' (Act of Attainder of Richard Welles, &c. 14 Edw. IV.) " The place where it
was fought, about five miles north-west of Stamford, near the road to York, retains the
name of Bloody Oaks to this day. We are told that some of the Lancastrians who fled
from the battle threw off their coats, that they might not be incumbered by them in their
flight ; and that the field called Losecote-field, between Stamford and Little Casterton,
which, by erroneous tradition, has been fixed upon as the field of battle, received its name
from that circumstance. Perhaps that was the place where some of them were severely
pressed by their pursuers." Blore's History of Rutland, fol. 1811, p. 142.

(15.) His poor and wretched commons. Edward's vindictive conduct towards all the
nobility who opposed him is conspicuous throughout the history of his reign. Philip de
Comines alludes to his practice in battle to call out to spare the common soldiers, and kill
only the gentlemen ; but states that at the battle of Barnet he did so no more, having con-
ceived a mortal hatred against the commons of England, for the favour they had mani-
fested towards the Earl of Warwick.

(16.) Sir Thomas Delalande, of Horbling in Lincolnshire, was a brother-in-law of lord
Welles, as well as sir Thomas Dymmoke, having married his sister Katharine. In Nicolas 's
Testamenta Vetusta is the following brief extract of a will. " John De la Laund knight,
being very aged, this 4th day of Feb. 1465 make my will. My body to be buried in the
convent of the Augustine friars, London. Thomas my son. Proved April 4th, 1471."
This, therefore, seems to have been the father's will, proved in consequence of the son's
death.

Sir Thomas is, however, termed a Gascon both by Olivier de la Marche and by William
of Wyrcestre, in their notices of the tournaments performed in London on the visit of the
bastard of Burgundy (see the Excerpta Historica, 1831, pp. 213, 214). The bastard came
accompanied by sire Jehan de Chassa and sir Philippe Bouton. The bastard himself was
encountered by the lord Scales ; sire Jehan de Chassa by Loys de Bretailles, a Gascon
esquire, servant to lord Scales ; and " on the morrow (says Olivier de la Marche) messire
Philippe Bouton, (who was chief esquire to the comte de Charoloys,) did arms against an
esquire of the king. This esquire was a Gascon, and was named Thomas de la Lande ;
and this Thomas was a fine companion, and a good man." The words of Wyrcestre are,
** Et alio die sequenti (it was the 15th June 1467) congressi sunt in campo ibidem equites
cum acutis lanceis Thomas de la Launde Gascon' contra .... Boton' Burgund' idem-
que Thomas de la Launde magis audacter et honorabiliter [not horribiliter, as in the
Hxcerpta Historical se habuit."

(17.) John Down, one of the esquires of the 1cing''s body. This was probably John
Dwnn, of Kydweli, co. Carmarthen, who married Elizabeth, sister to William lord
Hastings, the lord chamberlain; and whose portrait and that of his lady, both of them
wearing king Edward's livery collar of roses and suns, is one of the most curious pictures
in the duke of Devonshire's collection at Chiswick (and described in the Gentleman's Maga-

REBELLION IN LINCOLNSHIRE. 25

zine, Nov. 1840, vol. XIV. p. 489). His brother Harry Dwnn had fallen at the battle
of Banbury; and there was another of the name there killed, who is styled " John Done
of Kydwelli " in Warkworth's Chronicle : but from William of Worcestre's list of the
slain, in which that person is described as " Henr. Don de Kedwelly : filius Ewin Don,"
combined with the present passage, it may probably be concluded that John Dwnn of Kid-
welly, whose father's name was Griffith, did not fall in that battle. He is stated to have
been buried at Windsor, or at Westminster. (Gent. Mag. ubi supra.)

(18.) The Hng''s 'proclamation to this effect, dated at Stamford the 13th of March, has
been printed, from the Close Rolls, in the notes appended to Warkworth's Chronicle,
p. 52.

(19.) Coventry. This city, lying in the immediate vicinity of the castles of Warwick
and Kenilworth, was a place entirely under the control of the earl of Warwick. Here it
was that earl Rivers and his son sir John Widville had lost their lives ; and in the same
neighbourhood the king himself had been seized and rendered a prisoner (as noticed in
the Introduction). In order to ascertain whether the archives of Coventry contained any
record of the commotions of the year 1470, I applied to Mr. William Reader, who when
a resident there devoted much time to their investigation, and he has favoured me with
the following document, which is a royal mandate, issued before the king's departvire
from Westminster, commanding the citizens to send their contingent to meet the king,
and it is remarkable that the day on which they were appointed to meet him at Grantham,
was the same on which the battle was fought near Stamford. Of course they had not
reached him : in all probability, their march was altogether stayed through the influence
of the earl of Warwick.

" This lettre was brought to the Meyr [of Coventry] , the xix. day of Feverer, late in the
evenyng, a°. ix'*.

" By the Kynge.

" Trusty and welbyloved, we grete yow well, and for somuche as we be acertayned that
our rebelles and owtward enemies intende in haste tyme to aryve in thys our royaume,
and that certain our subgietts, ther adherents, contrary to ther dute and legiance, in divers
parties of our lande arredy and assemble hemselfe for the reteyning of our sayd ennemies
and rebelles, so that yffe their malice be not in briffe tyme mightily withstondon it myght
growe to the grett juparte of us and the destruccion of al our trew subgietts, we therfor
with alle diligence fully dispose us by Goddes grace to go in our own person to resiste
ther sayde malicyows purpose, in the whiche it apperteinith of very ryght and duete to
every our subgietts to yeve on to us ther assistens with bodies and godes ; wherfore we
desire and pray yow, and natheles in the straitest wyse charge yow, that ye do sende unto,
us persones hable and of power wel and defensibly arayd to labour in our servise in suche
competent nowmbre as ye may goodly beere, sufficiantly wagyd for, and that they be with
us at our town of Grantham, the xij. day of Marche next coming, to wayte apon us in
our sayd jornee ; and, over that, that ye charge everi person beinge within your liberte or
franches having eny office of our yefte, or of our derist wyfe the queue, for terme of bys
CAMD. see. D

^$ NOTES TO THE

Ijfe, wheroff the wagis extende to iij^. by the day or above, that he com unto us in his per-
sone, if he be of power to laboure, or finde a souffisant man for hym at the sayd day and
plase waged as aforne, and that everi persone having moo offices than oon of our grant, or
of our sayd wyfe as above, with lyke fees or wages, that for everi such office he finde us a
souffisant man as hit ys aforesayd, putting yow in suche devoir for the premisses that we
may perceyve that ye tender the wele and suerte off us and our sayde royaume, as ye wol
ansuer unto us at your perilles. Yeven onder owr signet, at our Paleys off Westminster,
the ix. day of Feverer."

In pursuance of this letter twenty men were raised, and they were made to take the
following oath : —

rTke MS. is torn here) that were sende towards the kyng to Grantam. I shall be trewe
[to the king my sovereign] lege lord, and truly abyde with hym at better and werse, and
truly performe hym al manner [servyce, and] not depart from hym on to the ynde of owr
reteygn, and tyll we may com to the kynges hyghnes we shall duly attende and wayte
apon Wyllyam Shyppey, the meyrs serjant. I shan quarell with no persone onresonabely
a monge owr selffe, but be well rulyd. So helpe me [God and] holydame.

In April following 40 men were raised in Coventry at 12d. a day, for a month, to go
with king Edward into the South, and 100^. was collected from the ten wards to pay them.

(20.) On Wednesday the 14th of March the king was at Stamford, as appears by two
documents in Rymer, one appointing ambassadors to Castillo, the other constituting John
earl of Worcester constable of England.

(21.) The Mng's summons to the duke of Clarence. This letter of summons has
been printed by sir Henry Ellis in his Second Series of Original Letters, vol. i. p. 138,
from a copy by Stowe in the MS. Harl. 543 ; but, as it there immediately follows a letter
which Clarence and Warwick sent out of France, the editor was misled to attribute its
date to the period of their return from that country.

(22.) Sir William Parr was a knight of the garter and comptroller of the royal
household at the death of Edward IV. He had married the king's cousin-german, Eli-
zabeth daughter and coheir of Henry lord Fitzhugh, by Alice daughter of Ralph earl of
Westmerland and sister to Cecily duchess of York. His eldest son, sir Thomas, was the
father of queen Katharine Parr. See further of him in Davies's York Records, 1843, p. 40.

(23.) On Friday 2Sd March, the king wrote from York ' * to Edmund Dudley
Gsquyer, deputie lieftenaunt to our cousyn John erle of Worcestre, lieftenaunt of our
lord of Ireland, and to our chauncellor and counceill there," announcing that he had dis-
charged the duke of Clarence from the office of lieutenant of Ireland, and appointed the
earl of Worcester thereto ; and, suspecting that the duke and the earl of Warwick
might repair to the said land, requiring them to be arrested, and offering to him that
took either of them a reward of 1001. of land in yearly value, to him and to his heirs, or
1000/. in ready money, at his election. Rymer, xi. 654.

REBELLION IN LINCOLNSHIRE. 27

On Saturday the 24tli the king issued at York the proclamation against the duke of
Clarence and earl of Warwick, printed in the notes to Warkworth's Chronicle, p. 53 ;
which was followed by another dated at Nottingham, the 31st March, printed ibid. p. 56 ;
and also in the Appendix to the Rolls of Parliament, vol. vi. p. 233.

On the 26th, the king, having discovered that the duke and earl were fled towards
Devonshire, directed commissions of array to that and several other of the western
counties ; printed in Rymer, xi. 655.

On the last day of March Edward had come as^ far southwards as Nottingham, and
thence wrote to the mayor, &c. of Salisbury, announcing that he purposed to pursue the
rebels into the West, and charging -them to provide a contingent for his service, and provi-
sions to entertain an army of 40,000 men ; this is printed in Hatcher's History of Salis-
bury, (Hoare's Modern Wiltshire,) fol. 1843, p. 174.

(24.) One of the " Fasten Letters " (vol. II. Reign of Edward IV. Letter xxxii.)
which was written from York on the 27th of March, confirms the present narrative, in
many particulars. It is as follows.

"To my cosyn, John Paston.

" The king camme to Grantham and there taried thoresday all day, and there was
headed sir Thomas Dalalaunde, and one John Neille, a greate capteyn ; and upon the
Monday nexte after that at Dancastre, and there was headed sir Robert Wellys and
anothre greate capteyn,* and than the king hadde warde that the duke of Clarence and
the erle of Warwick was att [Ch]esterfeld,f xx. mile from Dancastre. And uppon the
tewesday, at ix. of the bell, the king toke the feld, and mustered his people, and itt was
seid that were never seyn in Inglond so many goodly men and so well arreiyed in a fild ;
and my lord J was whorsshupfully accompanyed, no lord there so well ; wherfor the king
gaffe my lord a greate thanke ; and than the duke of Clarence and the erle of Warwike
harde that the king was comyng to them-warde, incontynent they departed, and wente to
Manchestre in Lancasshire, hopyng to have hadde helpe and socour of the lord Stanley; §
but in conclusion there they hadde litill favor, as it was enformed the king ; and so men.

* Dr. Miller, in his History of Doncaster, 4to. p. 46, has here appended a note stating
that " this great captayn was sir Ralph Grey of York, who was taken the year 1463 by
the Yorkists in the battle of Bamburgh ;" but that was a distinct occurrence, which had
passed seven years before, and is very incorrectly stated by Dr. Miller. Sir Ralph Grey,
of Wark {not York) was captain of the castle of Bamborough for king Henry ; it was.
taken by assault soon after the battle of Hexham in June 1464, and sir Ralph was there-
upon brought to king Edward, who happened to be then at Doncaster, and forthwith
beheaded. See a particular narration of these events, from a MS. in the College of Arms,
in the notes to Warkworth's Chronicle, p. 36.

•f- This place is printed Esterfield, in Sir John Fenn's modernised version ; and was
conjectured to be Austerfield by the Editor of the 12mo. edition, in 1841,

5; " I believe it means John Mowbray, duke of Norfolk." — Fenn.

§ Thomas lord Stanley was lord steward of the king's household (Foedera, xi, 845). He

28 NOTES TO THE REBELLION IN LINCOLNSHIRE.

sayn they wente Westward, and som men demen to London. And whan the king harde
they wer departed and gone, he went to York, and came theder the thoresday next aftre,
and there camme into hym alle the gentilmen of the shire ; and uppon our Lady day made
Percy erle of Northumberland,f and he that was erle affore markeys Muntakew,J and the
king is purposed to come Southwarde. God send hym god spede. Writen the xxvij. day
of March. (Signed, in place of a name, thus — ) "for trowyth."

It may here be remarked that letter xxxvi. of vol. IV. of the Paston Letters evidently
belongs to this year, 1470, and not to 1462, to which it was assigned by the editor. It
was written at Stamford the 13th day of March, " by youre sone and servant, John Paston
the older," to John Paston, at the Inner Temple, the writer being then in attendance on
the king, and charged to have his horse and harness in constant readiness. Sir John Fenn
imagined it was written from a place named Stamford either in Northumberland or
Yorkshire.

(24.) Lord Scroj)e, It appears doubtful whether this was John lord Scrope of Bolton,
K.G. or Thomas lord Scrope of Upsal and Masham, who were both living at this period.
No other notice of either of them opposing the authority of king Edward has been found.

(25.) Sir John Confers, of Hornby Castle, co. York (afterwards a K.G. in the reign
of Richard III.) had commanded the army of Northern men which defeated the king's
friends at Edgecote, near Banbury, and his eldest son, James, was killed in that battle (see
Warkworth's Chronicle, p. 7). His wife was a cousin of the earl of Warwick, namely,
Alice, daughter and coheir of William Neville lord Fauconberg, and earl of Kent.

(26.) Young Billiard of Holdreness. This was the popular leader of the Northern
insurrection, who was best known by the name of " Robin of Riddesdale." His father,
sir William Hilliard, or Hildyard, had fallen on the Lancastrian side at the battle of
Towton, and the son had probably been reared under a forfeiture of his estates, which were
at Winestead, near Pocklington. From whence he derived his popular name has not been
ascertained. Sir Robert Hildyard was afterwards knighted at the coronation of Richard
III. and was the ancestor of sir Robert Hildyard, a colonel in the army of Charles the
First, whose loyalty was at the Restoration rewarded with a baronetcy, which continued in
the family to the year 1814.

was brother-in-law to the earl of Warwick, having married lady Alianor Neville. He was
afterwards the husband of Margaret countess of Richmond, mother of king Henry VII.
and was created earl of Derby.

f " Herry Percy " had been released from the Tower of London, and had sworn fealty to
king Edward at Westminster, on the 27th Oct. 1469. See the Memorandum upon the
Close Rolls recording the ceremony printed in Rymer, xi. 649.

X It was at York that sir John Neville had first received the earldom of Northumber-
land, six years before, in May 1464. See Notes to Warkworth's Chronicle, p. 36.

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