Essex Record Office MS D/DMh C1; Oxford to King James; 30 January 1604. [Click here for modernized spelling.]
Seinge yt yt hathe pleasede yowre Magestye of yowre moste gratious inclinatione to Iustice & ryght to restore me to be keper of yowre game aswell in yowre forest of Waltham, as also in Haueringe parke. I can doo no lesse in dwtye and love to yowre Magestye, but imploye my selfe in the executione therof. And to the end yow myght the better knowe in what sorte boothe the forreste, & the parke have ben abused, and yet continued, as well in distroyinge of the Dere, as in spoylinge of yowre demesne woode, by suche as haue pattents, & had lycences hertofore for fellinge of Tymbre in the Quiens tyme latlye deceasede, præsuminge therby that they may doo what they lyste. I was bowlde to sende vnto yowre Magestye a man skilfull, lerned & experiencede in foreste
causes, who beinge a dweller and ey wytnes therof myght
informe yowe of the truthe. And because yowre Mtye, vpon a bare
infomatione, cowlde not be so well satisfyde of every particular, as by laufull
testemonye & examinatione of credible wytnes vpon othe, accordinge to yowre
Magestyes appoyntmente, by Commissione a course hathe bene taken, In whiche
yowre Magestye shalbe fully satisfysde of ye truthe. This Commissione together
w{i}th the depositiones of the witnes I doo sende to yowre Mtye by ys
bearer, whoo brieflye can informe yow of the whoole contence. So yt
now, hauinge laufullye provede vnto yowre Magestye yt Sr
Ihon Graye hathe kylled and destroyede yowre Dere in Haveringe parke wythoute
any warrante for the same, hys patent ys voyde in lawe, & therfore I moste
humblye beseche yowre Magestye to make hym an example for all others that shall
in leke sort abuse there places & to restore me to the posessione therofe,
in boothe whiche yowre M{aies}tye shall doo but Iustice and ryght to the one
& other. this 30 of Ianuarie 1603.
Yowre Magestyes
most
humble
Subiect and
Servant
E Oxenforde
Addressed (in Oxford’s hand): for hys moste exellente
Magestye.
Also at Virtual Grub Street:
- Oxburgh Hall, Rats’ Nests and Hamlet’s Book. January 31, 2021. “Among the little things that could be done was to scavenge for the centuries of dreck that had found its way between the floorboards.”
- On the Question “Who knew Edward de Vere was Shakespeare?” December 14, 2020. “But was the word going around that his wife, the Countess of Oxford, conceived two children in his absence?”
- A 1572 Oxford Letter and the Player’s Speech in Hamlet. August 11, 2020. “The player’s speech has been a source of consternation among Shakespeare scholars for above 200 years. Why was Aeneas’ tale chosen as the subject?”
- Shakespeare’s Funeral Meats. May 13, 2020. “Famous as this has been since its discovery, it has been willfully misread more often than not. No mainstream scholar had any use for a reference to Hamlet years before it was supposed to have been written.”
- Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
- Check out the Letters Index: Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford for many letters from this fascinating time, some related to the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
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