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Edward Farr, ed. Select Poetry of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. 1845.

The Regester

XIII. Thomas Bryce

This Booke to the Reader

PERUSE with pacience, I thee praye,

My symple style, and metre base;

The works of God with wisdome waye,

The force of loue, the strength of grace.

Loue caused God his grace to giue

To such as shoulde for hym be slayne:

Grace wrougt in theym, while thei did liue,

For loue to loue their Christ agayne.

Now grace is of such strength and might,

That nothing may the same withstande:

Grace putteth death and hell to flight,

And guydes vs to the lyuing lande.

The force of loue also is suche,

That feare and payne it doeth expell:

Loue thynketh nothing ouermuche;

Loue doth all earthly thynges excell.

Thus loue and grace of God began

To worke in them to dooe hys wyll:

These, vertue’s force, wrought loue in man,

That feare was past theyr bloude to spill.

1555.
June.
WHEN worthy Wattes with constant crie

Continued in the flamyng fier;

When Simson, Hawkes, and Jhon Ardite,

Did tast the tyrante’s raging yre;

When Chamberlaine was put to death,

We wisht for our Elizabeth.

When blessed Butter and Osmande

With force of fyre to death were brent;

When Shitterdun, Sir Franke, and Blande,

And Humfrey Middleton of Kent;

When Minge in Maistone toke his death,

We wisht, etc.

July.
When Bradford, beautified with blisse,

When yong Jhon Least in Smithfield died;

When they like brethren both did kisse,

And in the fyre were truely tried;

When teares were shed for Bradford’s death,

We wysht, etc.

When Dirick Harman lost his lyfe;

When Launder in their fume they fried;

When they sent Euerson from stryfe,

With moody mindes and puffed pride;

When Wade at Dartford died the death,

We wisht, etc.

When Richard Hooke, limlesse and lame,

At Chichester did beare the crosse;

When humble Hall for Christe’s name

Ensued the same with worldly losse;

When Jone Polley was brent to death,

We wysht, etc.

When William Ailewarde at Redding

In prison died of sickenesse soore;

When Abbes, which fained a recanting,

Did wofully wepe and deplore;

When he at Bery was done to death,

We wishte, etc.

August.
When Denly died at Uxbridge towne,

With constant care to Christe’s cause;

When Warren’s widow yelded downe

Her flesh and bloud for holy lawes;

When she at Stratforde died the death,

We wishte, etc.

When Laurence, Collier, Coker, and Stere,

At Cantorbury were causeless slayne,

With Hopper and Wright, six in one fier,

Conuerted flesh to earth agayne;

When Roger Corier was done to death,

We wishte, etc.

When Tankerfield at St Albon’s,

And William Bamford spent his bloud;

When harmefull hartes as hard as stones

Brent Robert Smith and Steuen Harwood;

When Patrick Pattenham died the death,

We wishte, etc.

When Jhon Newman and Thomas Fusse

At Ware and Walden made their ende;

When William Hailes for Christ Jesus

With breath and bloude did still contende;

When he at Barnet was put to death,

We wishte, etc.

When Samuell did firmely fight,

Till flesh and bloud to ashes went;

When constant Cob, with faith vpright,

At Thetforde cruelly was brent;

When these with joy did take their death,

We wishte, etc.

September.
When William Allen at Walsingham

For trueth was tried in fiery flame;

When Roger Cooe, that good olde man,

Did lose his lyfe for Christe’s name;

When these with other were put to death,

We wishte, etc.

When Bradbridge, Streter, and Burwarde,

Tuttie, and George Painter of Hyde,

Vnto their duty had good regarde,

Wherefore in one fier they were fried;

When these at Cantorbury toke their death,

We wishte, etc.

When Jhon Lesse, prisoner in Newgate,

By sickenes turned to yerth and claye;

When wicked men, with yre and hate,

Brent Thomas Heywarde and Goreway;

When Tingle in Newgate toke his death,

We wishte, etc.

When Richard Smith in Lowlar’s tower,

Androwes and Kyng, by sickenes died,

In faier fieldes they had their bower,

Where earth and clay doth still abide;

When they in this wise did die the death,

We wishte, etc.

When Glouer and Cornelius

Were fiercely brent at Couentrie;

When Wolsey and Pigot for Christ Jesus

At Ely felt like crueltie;

When the pore be wept master Glouer’s death,

We wishte, etc.

October.
When learned Ridley and Latymer

Without regarde were swiftly slayne;

When furious foes could not confer

But with reuenge and mortall paine;

When these two fathers were put to death,

We wishte, etc.

When worthy Web and George Roper

In Elyes’ chayre to heauen were sent;

Also, when Gregory Paynter

The same streight path and voiage went;

When they at Cantorbury toke their deth,

We wishte, etc.

December.
When godly Gore in pryson died,

And Wiseman in the Lowlar’s towre;

When master Philpot, truely tryed,

Ended his life with peace and power;

When he kissed the chayne at his death,

We wishte, etc.

1556.
January.
When Thomas Whitwell and Bartlet Grene,

Annis Foster, Jone Lasheforde, and Browne,

Tutson and Winter, these seuen were sene

In Smithfield beate their enemies doune,

Euen fleshe and deuil, world and death,

Then we wishte for Elizabeth.

When Jhon Lowmas and An Albright,

Jone Soale, Jone Painter, and Annis Snod,

In fier with flesh and bloud did fight;

When tonges of tyrantes layed on lode;

When these at ones were put to death,

We wishte, etc.

February.
When two women in Ippeswiche towne

Joyfully did the fier embrace;

When they sange out with chereful sounde

Their fired foes for to deface;

When Norwich Nobody put them to deth,

We wishte, etc.

March.
When constant Cranmer lost his life,

And helde his hande vnto the fier;

When streames of teares for him were rife,

And yet did misse their iust desier;

When popysh power put him to death,

We wishte, etc.

When Spencer and two brethren more

Were put to death at Salisbury;

Ashes to earth did right restore,

They being then ioyfull and mery;

When these with violence were put to deth,

We wyshte, etc.

Apryll.
When Hulliarde, a pastour pure,

At Cambridge did this life despise;

When Hartpoole’s death thei did procure,

To make his flesh a sacrifice;

When Jone Beche, widow, was done to deth,

We wishte, etc.

When William Timmes, Ambrose, and Drake,

Spurge, Spurge, and Cauell, duely died,

Confessing that for Christe’s sake

They were content thus to bee tried;

When London Little-grace put them to death,

We wyshte, etc.

When lowly Lister, Nicol, and Mace,

Jhon Hammond, Spencer, and Yren also,

At Colchester, in the posterne place,

Joyfully to their death did go;

When two at Glocester were put to death,

We wishte, etc.

May.
When Margaret Eliot, being a maide,

After condemyning in prison died;

When lame Lauarocke the fire assaide,

And blinde Aprice with him was tryed;

When these two impotentes were put to death,

We wishte, etc.

When Katherine Hut did spend her bloude,

With two maides, Elizabeth and Jone;

When they embraste both rede and woode,

Trusting in Christ his death alone;

When men vnnatural drew these to death,

We wishte, etc.

When two men and a syster dere

At Bekelles were consumed to dust;

When William Sleeke, constant and cleare,

In prison died with hope and trust;

When these our brethren wer put to death,

We wyshte, etc.

June.
When John Oswold and Thomas Reede,

Harland, Milwright, and Euington,

With blasing brandes their bloude did bleede,

As their brethren before had done;

When tyranny draue these to death,

We wishte, etc.

When Whod, the pastor, with Thomas Milles,

At Lewes lost this mortall gayne,

Compast with speares and bloudye bylles

Vnto the stake for to bee slayne;

When William Adheral did die the death,

We wishte, etc.

When Jackson, Holywel, and Wye,

Bowier, Laurence, and Addlington;

When Roth, Searles, Lion, and Hurst, did die,

With whom two women to death were done;

When Dorifall with them was put to death,

We wishte, etc.

When Thomas Parret, prisoner,

And Martyne Hunte died in the King’s Bench,

When the yong man at Lecester

And Clemente died with filthie stenche;

When Careless so toke his death,

We wishte, etc.

July.
When Askue, Palmer, and Jhon Gwin,

Were brent with force at Newbury;

Lamenting onely for theyr sinne,

And in the Lorde were full mery:

When tyrantes merciles put these to death,

We wishte, etc.

When Jhon Foreman and mother Tree

At Grenstede cruelly were slaine;

When Thomas Dungate, to make vp three,

With them did passe from wo and payne;

When these with other were put to death,

We wishte, etc.

1557.
January.
When two at Asheforde with crueltie

For Christe’s cause to death were brent;

When not long after two at Wye

Suffered for Christ his testament;

When wyly wolues put these to death,

We wishte, etc.

Apryll.
When Stanlye’s wife and Annis Hide,

Sturtle, Ramsey, and Jhon Lothesby,

Were contente tormentes to abide,

And toke the same right paciently;

When these in Smithfield wer done to death,

We wisht, etc.

May.
When William Morant and Steuen Grathwick

Refusde with falshode to bee beguilde,

And for the same were burned quicke

With fury in St George’s Fielde;

When these with other were put to death,

We wyshte, etc.

June.
When Jone Bradbridge, and a blind maide,

Appleby, Allen, and bothe their wiues;

When Manning’s wife was not afrayde;

But al these seuen did lose their liues;

When these at Maistone were put to death,

We wishte, etc.

When Jhon Fiscoke, Perdue, and White,

Barbara, widow, and Bendens’ wife,

With Wilson’s wife, did firmly fight,

And for their faith al lost their life;

When these at Canterbury died the death,

We wysht, etc.

When William Mainarde, his maide, and man,

Margery Mories and her sonne,

Dents, Burges, Steuens, and Wodman,

Gloue’s wife and Ashdon’s, to death were done;

When one fyre at Lues brought to their death,

We wishte, etc.

July.
When Ambrose died in Maistone gaile,

And so set free from tyrauntes’ hands;

When Simon Milner they did assayle,

Hauing him and a woman in bandes;

When these at Norwich were don to death,

We wishte, etc.

When ten at Colchester in one daye

Were fried with fyre of tyrantes stoute;

Not once permitted trueth to say,

But were compast with billes aboute;

When these with other were put to death,

We wishte, etc.

When George Egles at Chelmsford towne

Was hanged, drawen, and quartered;

His quarters carried vp and doune,

And on a pole thei set his head;

When wrested law put him to death,

We wyshte, etc.

When Thurston’s wife at Chichester,

And Bowmer’s wife with her also;

When two women at Rochester,

With father Fruier, were sent from wo;

When one at Norwich did die the death,

We wyshte, etc.

August.
When Joyce Bowes at Lichefield died,

Continuing constant in the fier;

When tired faith was truely tried,

Hauing her iuste and long desier;

When she with others were put to death,

We wishte, etc.

When Richard Rooth and Rafe Glaiton,

With James Auscoo and his wife,

Were brent with force at Islyngton,

Ending this short and sinneful life;

When thei in cherefulnes did take their death,

We wyshte, etc.

October.
When Sparrow, Gibson, and Hollingday,

In Smithfield did the stake embrace;

When fire conuerted fleshe to clay,

Thei being ioyfull of such grace;

When lawless libertie put them to death,

We wishte, etc.

December.
When Jhon Roughe, a minister weke,

And Margaret Mering, with corage died,

Because Christ onely they did seeke,

With fier of force they must bee fried;

When these in Smithfield were put to death,

We wishte, etc.

1558.
Marche.
When that Jhon Denneshe and Hugh Foxe

In Smithfielde cruell wrath sustained,

As fixed foes to Romish rockes,

And Cuthbert Symion, also Hayne;

When these did worthely receyue their death,

We wishte, etc.

When Dale disseast in Bery gaile,

According to God’s ordinaunce;

When widow Thurstone thei did assaile,

And brought An Banger to death his daunce;

When these at Colchester were done to death,

We wishte, etc.

Apryll.
When William Nicoll in Harforwest

Was tryed with their fiery fan;

When Symon fought against the best,

With Glouer and Thomas Carman;

When these at Norwiche did die the death,

We wyshte, etc.

Maye.
When William Harris and Richard Day

And Christian George by them was brent,

Holding their enemies at baye,

Till life was lost and breath all spent;

When these at Colchester wer put to death,

We wyshte, etc.

June.
When Southam, Launder, and Ricarbie,

Hollyday, Holland, Houde, and Flood,

With cherefull look and constant crie,

For Christe’s cause did spend their bloud;

When these in Smithfield wer put to death,

We wishte, etc.

When Thomas Tyler past this place,

And Matthew Withers also died;

Though sute were much, yet little grace

Among the rulers could be spied;

In prison paciently they tooke their death,

We wishynge for Elizabeth.

July.
When Richard Yeman, minister,

At Norwich did his life forsake;

When master Benbrike at Winchester

A liuely sacrifice did make;

When these with other were put to death,

We wishte, etc.

When William Peckes, Cotton, and Wreight,

The popish power did soore inuade,

To burning schole thei wer sent streight,

And with them went constant Jhon Slade;

When these at Bramford wer put to death,

We wishte, etc.

November.
When Alexander Geche was brent,

And with him Elizabeth Launson;

When thei with ioye did both consent

To doe as their brethren had done;

When these at Ipswich were put to death,

We wishte, etc.

When Jhon Dauy, and eke his brother,

With Philip Humfrey, kist the crosse;

When they did comfort one another

Against all feare and worldlye losse;

When these at Bery were put to death,

We wishte, etc.

When laste of all, to take theyr leaue,

At Cantorbury they did consume,

Who constantly to Christ did cleaue,

Therefore were fried with fierie fume,—

But sixe daies after these were put to death

God sent vs our Elizabeth.

Our wished welth hath brought vs peace:

Our ioy is full, our hope obtayned;

The blasing brandes of fier doe cease,

The sleaying sworde also restrayned;

The simple shepe preserued from death

By our good queene Elizabeth.

As hope hath here obtained her pray,

By Godde’s good will and prouidence;

So trust doth truely looke for staye

Through his heauenly influence,

That great Golia shall be put to death

By our good queene Elizabeth:

That Godde’s trew word shall placed be,

The hungrie soules for to sustaine;

That perfite loue and vnitie

Shall be set in their seate agayne;

That no more good men shal be put to death,

Seeing God hath sent Elizabeth.

Pray we, therefore, both night and day,

For her highnes, as we bee bounde:

Oh Lorde, preserue this braunch of bay,

And all her foes with force confounde;

Here long to lyue, and after death

Receyue our queene Elizabeth.

AMEN.

Apoc. 6.
How long tariest thou, O Lorde, holy and trewe, to iudge and aduenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?