I put "Richard liveth yet" in the subject line not because I want to talk about that line (I think the Richard as sickly child myth has been thoroughly demolished by Anne Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs in their article, “‘Richard Liveth Yet’: An Old Myth” (Ricardian, June 1992). I just hoped that members of the forum would recognize the line and remember the poem that it came from, or at least the part that's usually printed:
Sir, after the tyme of longe bareynesse,
God first sent Anne, which signifyeth grace . . . .
Richard liveth yet; but the last of alle
Was Ursula, to him God list calle.
My question has nothing to do with the poem itself (unless anyone wants to talk about "Lord Harry" (the Duke of York's first son, Henry)--I have some theories about him). I need someone more familiar than I am with the obscurer branches of Richard's genealogy to help me understand how Richard is descended from Gilbert de Clare (1243-1295), who coincidentally was a duke of Gloucester, and Joan of Acre, daughter of Edward I (1272-1307). We all know that Richard is descended from Joan's brother Edward II and his son Edward III, but I just want to know how the de Clare line leads to the Duke of York and his children. I tried to trace it through Edward III's son Lionel's wife but drew a blank.
Can anyone help?
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