Now, my good Lords of Salisbury and Warwick,

Our simple supper ended, give me leave

In this close walk to satisfy myself

In craving your opinion of my title,

Which is infallible, to England’s crown.

My lord, I long to hear it at full.

Sweet York, begin; and if thy claim be good,

The Nevilles are thy subjects to command.

Then thus:

Edward the Third, my lords, had seven sons:

The first, Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales;

The second, William of Hatfield; and the third,

Lionel, Duke of Clarence; next to whom

Was John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster;

The fifth was Edmund Langley, Duke of York;

The sixth was Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester;

William of Windsor was the seventh and last.

Edward the Black Prince died before his father

And left behind him Richard, his only son,

Who after Edward the Third’s death reigned as king,

Till Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster,

The eldest son and heir of John of Gaunt,

Crowned by the name of Henry the Fourth,

Seized on the realm, deposed the rightful king,

Sent his poor queen to France, from whence she came,

And him to Pomfret; where, as all you know,

Harmless Richard was murdered traitorously.

Father, the Duke hath told the truth;

Thus got the house of Lancaster the crown.

Which now they hold by force and not by right;

For Richard, the first son’s heir, being dead,

The issue of the next son should have reigned.

But William of Hatfield died without an heir.

The third son, Duke of Clarence, from whose line

I claim the crown, had issue, Philippa, a daughter,

Who married Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March.

Edmund had issue, Roger, Earl of March;

Roger had issue, Edmund, Anne, and Eleanor.

This Edmund, in the reign of Bolingbroke,

As I have read, laid claim unto the crown

And, but for Owen Glendower, had been king,

Who kept him in captivity till he died.

But to the rest.

His eldest sister, Anne,

My mother, being heir unto the crown,

Married Richard Earl of Cambridge, who was son

To Edmund Langley, Edward the Third’s fifth son.

By her I claim the kingdom; she was heir

To Roger, Earl of March, who was the son

Of Edmund Mortimer, who married Philippa,

Sole daughter unto Lionel, Duke of Clarence.

So, if the issue of the elder son

Succeed before the younger, I am king.

What plain proceeding is more plain than this?

Henry doth claim the crown from John of Gaunt,

The fourth son; York claims it from the third.

Till Lionel’s issue fails, his should not reign;

It fails not yet, but flourishes in thee

And in thy sons, fair slips of such a stock.

Then, father Salisbury, kneel we together,

And in this private plot be we the first

That shall salute our rightful sovereign

With honour of his birthright to the crown.

Long live our sovereign Richard, England’s king!

We thank you, lords. But I am not your king

Till I be crowned, and that my sword be stained

With heart-blood of the house of Lancaster;

And that’s not suddenly to be performed,

But with advice and silent secrecy.

Do you as I do in these dangerous days—

Wink at the Duke of Suffolk’s insolence,

At Beaufort’s pride, at Somerset’s ambition,

At Buckingham, and all the crew of them,

Till they have snared the shepherd of the flock,

That virtuous prince, the good Duke Humphrey.

’Tis that they seek; and they, in seeking that,

Shall find their deaths, if York can prophesy.

My lord, break we off; we know your mind at full.

My heart assures me that the Earl of Warwick

Shall one day make the Duke of York a king.

And, Neville, this I do assure myself:

Richard shall live to make the Earl of Warwick

The greatest man in England but the king.