O owght on absence, ther foolys have no grace, I mene mysylf, nor yet no wytt to gwye Theym owt of peyne to com on to that place, Wher as presence may shape a remedye; For al dysease, now fye on my folye, For I dyspeyryd am of your soone metyng, That God I prey me to your presence bryng. Farwell, my lord, for I may wryght no more, So trowblyd is my hert with hevynesse; Envye also, it grewyth me most sore, That thys rude byll shall put hym sylf in presse[68-2] To se your lordshepe of hys presumptuousnesse Er I my sylf; but yett ye shall not mysse To have my hert to for my byll, I wys. Whyche I comytt and all my hole servyse Into your hands, demeane it as you lyst; Of it I kepe[68-3] to have no more franchyse Then I hertlesse swyrly me wyst, Savyng only that it be as tryst,[68-4] And to yow trew as evyr was hert, and pleyn Tyll cruell dethe depart yt up on tweyn. Adew dysport, farwell good companye, In all thys world ther is no joye I weene; For ther as whyleom I sye with myn iee, A lusty lord leepyng upon a grene, The soyle is soole, no knyghts ther be seen, No ladyse walk ther they wer wont to doone; Alas, some folk depertyd hense to soone. Some tyme also men myght a wageor make, And with ther bowys a ffeld have it tryed, Or at the Paame ther, ther plesure for to take, Then wer they loose, that now stand as tyed, I not[69-1] wher to thys world may be aplyed; For all good cher on evyn and on morow, Whyche then was made, now tornyth me to sorow. [Footnote 67-1: [From Fenn, ii. 304.] It is not apparent by whom these verses were written, or to what lord they were addressed. They may have been from the Countess of Oxford to her husband after he escaped abroad in 1471 (_see_ vol. v., No. 775). Or they may have been the production of Lydgate writing in the name of a lady parted from her lord. We place them, as Fenn did, for convenience, at the end of the letters of Edward’s time.] [Footnote 68-1: ‘I not’ stands for ‘I ne wot,’ or ‘I wot not,’ that is, _I know not_.] [Footnote 68-2: Readiness.--F.] [Footnote 68-3: I care.--F.] [Footnote 68-4: _Quære_, whether this means _sorrowful_ or _trusty_.--F.] [Footnote 69-1: _See_ Note 1 on last page.] 989-991 ABSTRACTS[69-2] The letters following are all probably of the reign of Edward IV., but their dates are quite uncertain. [Footnote 69-2: [From Paston MSS., B.M.]] 989. J. PASTON [OF GELSTON] TO RICHARD CROFT