1657 - Hiskocks, Mary - To Mr Chance

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2013-08-03. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2019-02-21.

Allusion

Mary Hiskocs to "Mr. Chance, at his house in Whit
chapel;" endorsed by Hyde, " Little John;" a letter from a
Royalist agent, in disguised language; sends £100, part of what
she owes. Hears that his nephew [the King] will be suddenly
at Paris, and then suddenly in England and set up for himself:
he should be advised to stay till winter at least. Dick Smith
and a good number of his kindred are at the Bath. Give the
enclosed to Mr. Browne.

Source notes

Marginal note: "May 25. [O.S.]" Below letter: "Small red seal of arms, the same as with art. 835, supra."

IRHB comments

Letter summarized by editor. The "Hyde" mentioned in the editorial comment is Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1609-1674). The letter is a piece of coded, secret correspondence between royalist agents, Mr. C. being evidently the Earl of Clarendon, while the identity of "Little John" (aka Mary Hiskocks) is not commented upon by the editor, W.D. Macray. The allusions has not been noted in previous lists or studies.

Lists

• Not included in Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), pp. 293-11.
• Outside scope of Sussex, Lucy, compil. 'References to Robin Hood up to 1600', in: Knight, Stephen. Robin Hood: A Complete Study of the English Outlaw (Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1994), pp. 262-88.

Sources

• Macray, William Dunn, ed. Calendar of the Clarendon State Papers Preserved in the Bodleian Library. Vol. III. 1655—1657 (Oxford, 1876), p. 301.

Notes