whose presence the said Chauncellor condempned those good poore lambs, and deliuered thē ouer to the secular power, who receyued and caried them to prison ymmediatly, and there kepte them in safety til the daye of their death. The meane time this naughtye Chauncellor slept not I warrant you, but that day in which they were condemned, he made certificat into the Lord Chauncellors office, from whence the next day after was sent a writ to burne them at Brainford afore said. which accordingly was accomplished in the same place, the said. xiiii. daye of Iuly, wherunto they beinge broughte, made their humble prayers vnto the Lord Iesus, vndressed them selues, went ioifully to the stake, wherto they were bound, and the fier flaming about thē, they yelded their souls, bodies, and liues into the handes of the omnipotent lord, for whose cause they did suffer, & to whose protectiō I commend the, gentel reader, Amē. Among these. vi. was one William Pikes (as ye haue heard) who sometyme dwelte in Ipswich in Suffolke, by his science a tanner, a very honest Godly man, and of a vertuouse disposicion, a good keper of hospitalyty, and beneficial to the persecuted in quene Maries daies. This sayd William Pikes, in the third yeare of the sayd Quene Maryes reigne,
Pikes, or Pickess, had been forced to flee Ipswich before May 1556: see 1576, p. 1981 and 1583, p. 2089.
This story was dropped because of a devastating attack on its credibility by Nicholas Harpsfield (Dialogi sex contra Summi Pontificatus, monastica vitae, sanctorum sacrarum imaginum oppugnatores et pseudomartyrs [Antwerp: 1566], p. 962). Rather than defend the untenable, Foxe quietly dropped the story.
[Back to Top]The backgrounds of Gouch and Driver, as well as their examinations, first appeared in the 1563 edition. Foxe was drawing on individual informants for their arrest and background and on official records for Gouch's examinations. (The processes against Gouch and Driver, and the sentence against Driver, are among Foxe's papers - see BL, Harley MS 421, fos. 140r-v and 142r-143r). The account ofDriver's examinations was compiled by a sympathetic observer of her trial. In the 1570 edition an account of their executions, supplied by an eyewitness, was added to this account. No further changes were made to the narrative of their martyrdoms.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaM. Noone a persecutorMAister Noone,
In the 1563 edition (p. 1698) Foxe has a further account of how Francis Nunn, the JP, who hunted Gouch and Driver so relentlessly, also nearly captured John Noyes (or 'Moyse'). This account was probably dropped because of Nunn's influence (he remained a JP well into Elizabeth's reign), but it is interesting that Foxe retained the account of his hunt for Gouch and Driver.
[Back to Top]After the assise at Berry, they were caryed to Melton Gaole agayne, where they remained a tyme. This Saunder Gouch was a man of the age of. xxxvi. yeares or there aboutes, and by his science he was a weauer of shreddynge couerlets, dwellinge at Woodbridge in Suffolke, and borne at Vfford in the same county. Driuers wyfe was a woman about the age of. xxx. yeares, and dwelte in Grousborough where they were taken in Suffolke. her housband dyd vse housbandry. These two were caryed from Melton Gaole, to Ipswich, where they remayned and were examined, the which theyre examynation as it came to our handes hereafter followeth.
[Back to Top]FIrst, she commyng into the place where she should be examined, with a smyling countenaunce, MarginaliaDoctor Spencer.Doctor Spenser said: why woman, doest thou laugh vs to scorne?
Driuers wyfe. Whether I do or no, I mighte well enough, to see what fooles ye be. Then the Chauncellor asked her wherfore she was brought before hym, and whye she was layde in prison.
Dry. Wherfore? I thinke I nede not tell you. for ye knowe it better then I.
Chauncelour. No, by my trouth woman, I know not why.