Note 579 — Chapter XXII

One of the Blagge family was Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to Henry VIII., and a great favourite with the King, who, for some reason, called him his pig. “He was a Sacramentarian; and when Wriothesley and Gardiner, in 1546, commenced their persecution on the Statute of the Six Articles, Blagge was clapped up in Newgate, and, after a hurried trial, condemned to be burnt. But the moment the King heard of it, he rated the Chancellor for coming so near him, even to his privy chamber, and commanded him instantly to draw out a pardon. On his release, Blagge flew to thank his master, who, seeing him, cried out, ‘Ah, my pig, are you here safe again?’ ‘Yes, Sire,’ said he, ‘and if your Majesty had not been better than your Bishops, your pig had been roasted ere this time.’”—Tytler’s England under Edward VI. and Mary, i. 146.