About  the  close  of  1521  he  accepted  the  very  humble
post  of  tutor  to  the  children  of  "  Master  Walsh,  a  knight
of  Gloucestershire."  The  Walshes  of  Little  Sodbury
were  one  of  the  rising  and  prosperous  families  of  the
county.  The  patron  and  employer  of  Tyndale,  a  stal-
wart and  expert  man-at-arms,  had  been  champion  to
Henry  VHL  on  some  occasions,  and  having  been
fortunate  enoug-h  to  secure  the  sfood  graces  of  his
sovereign,  he  was  knighted,  and  received  the  more
substantial  reward  of  the  neighbouring  manor  of  Old
Sodbury,  which  had  devolved  to  the  crown  from  Ann,
Countess  of  Warwick.  The  handsome  royal  favourite
had  still  further  improved  his  position  in  the  county
by  marrying  Anne,  daughter  of  Sir  Robert  Poyntz,  of
Iron  Acton,  a  family  which  could  boast  of  alliances  with
some  of  the  best  blood  in  England.
It  is  now  more  generally  supposed  that  Tyndale's
position  in  the  family  must  have  been  in  the  combined
capacity  of  chaplain  and  tutor.  Tyndale  remained
within  the  household  of  Sir  John  Walsh  for  about  two
years;  for  before  the  close  of  1523  he  was  in  London.
LITTLE    SODBURY   MANOR  123

During  his  stay  at  Little  Sodbury  he  found  the  clergy
of  the  neighbourhood  less  advanced  than  the  scholars
of  the  Universities,  and  was  in  consequence  constantly
involved  in  strenuous  theological  discussions.
Tyndale  himself  has  recorded  the  circumstances
which  led  him  to  entertain  his  great  design  of  pro-
ducing a  version  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  vernacular.
