The Poetical Works of John Skelton, Volume 2 (of 2)

by John Skelton

COLYN CLOUTE.

This powerful and original poem must have been circulated in MS., probably for a considerable time, before it was given to the press; for from a passage towards the conclusion, v. 1239, we learn that those against whom its satire was directed would not “suffer it to be printed.” In Colyn Cloute Skelton appears to have commenced his attacks on Wolsey.

“I could never conceive, Mr. Warton, to what Drayton alludes, in the preface to his Eclogues, where he says, that ‘the Colin Clout of Scogan, under Henry the seventh, is pretty.’ He is speaking of pastoral poetry; and adds, that ‘Barklays ship of fools hath twenty wiser in it.’ You somewhere say [Hist. of E. P. iii. 76, note, ed. 4to], ‘he must mean Skelton;’ but what PASTORAL did HE write?” Ritson’s Obs. on Warton’s Hist. of E. P., p. 20 (note); see too his Bibl. Poet., p. 99. I believe that Drayton did mean Skelton. Colyn Cloute is surely as much a pastoral as Barclay’s Ship of Fooles,—as much perhaps as even Barclay’s Egloges.

—— Quis consurget mecum, &c.] Vulg. Psal. xciii. 16, where “Quis consurget mihi,” &c.

—— Nemo, Domine] Id. Joan. viii. 11.

Page 311. v. 1.

What can it auayle

To dryue forth a snayle]

So in Gentylnes and Nobylyte, n. d. (attributed without grounds to Heywood);

“In effect it shall no more auayle

Than with a whyp to dryfe a snayle.”

Sig. C ii.

Page 311. v. 9. bokes] i. e. books.

Page 312. v. 20. He pryeth and he peketh] See note, p. 244. v. 667. So Gascoigne;

“That other pries and peekes in euerie place.”

The Steele Glasse, fol. 301,—Workes, ed. 1587.

v. 28. fole] i. e. fool.

v. 29. scole] i. e. school.

v. 30. a thre foted stole] i. e. a three-footed stool.

v. 36. The deuyll, they say, is dede] Heywood has six Epigrams on this proverbial expression,—Workes, sig. N 2. ed. 1598. Ray gives, “Heigh ho, the Devil is dead.” Proverbs, p. 55. ed. 1768.

Page 313, v. 51. connyng bagge] i. e. bag, store, of knowledge or learning.

v. 52. hagge] See note, p. 99. v. 19.

v. 53. though my ryme be ragged] So Sir D. Lyndsay; “my rural raggit vers.” Prol. to Monarchie,—Works, ii. 330. ed. Chalmers; and Spenser, “My ragged rimes.” F. Queene, i. xii. 23.

v. 54. iagged] See note, p. 163. v. 124.

v. 56. moughte eaten] i. e. moth-eaten.

v. 66. blother] i. e. gabble.

v. 67. The tone agayng] i. e. The one against.

v. 68. shoder] i. e. shudder.

v. 69. hoder moder] i. e. hugger-mugger.

Page 314. v. 70. faute] i. e. fault.

v. 71. ben so haut] i. e. be so haughty.

v. 72. loke] i. e. look.

v. 77. sely] i. e. silly, simple, harmless.

v. 79. wull] i. e. wool.

v. 80. Vnethes] i. e. Scarcely.

v. 82. connynge] i. e. knowledge, learning.

v. 83, A glommynge] i. e. A glumming, a looking gloomy, sour.

—— a mummynge] Compare our author elsewhere;

“Men of suche maters make but a mummynge.”

Garlande of Laurell, v. 200. vol. i. 370.

“Thhere was amonge them no worde then but mum.”

Id. v. 1118. p. 406.

“But play scylens and glum,

Can say nothynge but mum.”

v. 906 of the present poem.

v. 84. iape] i. e. jest, joke.

v. 87. hole] i. e. whole.

Page 314. v. 89. the forked cap] i. e. the mitre.

“No wise man is desirous to obtayne

The forked cappe without he worthy be.”

Barclay’s Ship of Fooles, fol. 236. ed. 1570.

v. 90. to lewd] i. e. too wicked, vile.

v. 91. all beshrewd] i. e. altogether cursed.

v. 99. For other mennes skyll]—skyll, i. e. reason: the line seems to mean—Notwithstanding other men’s reasons.

Page 315. v. 107. solfa so alamyre]—alamire is the lowest note but one in Guido Aretine’s scale of music: Gayton, in his Notes upon Don Quixote, 1654, says (metaphorically) that Maritornes “plaid her part so wel, that she run through all the keyes from A-la-mi-re to double Gammut,” &c. p. 83.

v. 108. premenyre] i. e. præmunire.

v. 115. heedes] i. e. heads.

v. 119. warke] i. e. work.

Page 316. v. 137.

A great parte is for slouth,

But the greattest parte

Is for they haue but small arte

And ryght sklender connyng

Within theyr heedes wonnyng]

—— sklender connyng, i. e. slender knowledge, learning: wonnyng, i. e. dwelling. The meaning of the passage is—a great part of this is owing to their laziness, but it is chiefly to be attributed to their ignorance, &c.

Page 317. v. 151. werkes] i. e. works.

v. 152. Ure] i. e. Urias.

v. 154. werryn] i. e. hinder, ward off.

v. 159. heery] i. e. hairy.

v. 160. Set nought by] i. e. Value not.

—— ne] i. e. nor.

v. 162. mell] i. e. meddle.

v. 163.

loth to hang the bell

Aboute the cattes necke]

So Heywood;

“And I will hang the bell about the cats necke:

For I will first breake and ieoperd the first checke.”

Dialogue, &c. sig. D 3,—Workes, ed. 1598.

See Pierce Plowman, where one of the rats proposes that a bell should be hung about the cat’s neck. Sig. A iii. ed. 1561; and Ray’s Proverbs, p. 85. ed. 1768.

Page 317. v. 166. to play deuz decke] An allusion, I suppose, to some game.

v. 167. for the becke] i. e. to obey the nod of command.

v. 169. Moche herted] i. e. Much hearted.

v. 178. combred] i. e. encumbered.

Page 318. v. 181. Sho the mockysshe mare] So in our author’s Why come ye nat to Courte;

“And Mocke hath lost her shoo.”

v. 83. vol. ii. 29.

v. 182. wynche and keke] i. e. wince and kick.

v. 183. not worth a leke] An expression not uncommon in our early poetry:

“No fallow wourth ane leik.”

G. Douglas’s King Hart,—Pinkerton’s An. Scot. Poems from Maitl. MSS. i. 42.

“Such loue I preise not at a leke.”

Chaucer’s Rom. of the Rose, fol. 130,—Workes, ed. 1602.

v. 190.

Amende whan ye may,

For, usque ad montem Sare,

Men say ye can not appare]

—appare, i. e. impair. The meaning of this passage,—in which (as I have already noted ad loc.) it seems probable from a comparison of the MS. and the printed copies, that Skelton used the forms “Seire” and “appeire,”—is—Amend when ye may, for it is said by every body, even as far as Mount Seir, that ye cannot be worse than ye are. The Latin words are a quotation from the Vulgate: “Et circuit de Baala contra occidentem, usque ad montem Seir.” Josue, xv. 10.

v. 194. hauke on hobby larkes] See notes, p. 258. v. 1358. p. 262. v. 1582.

v. 195. warkes] i. e. works.

v. 198. The gray gose for to sho] Hoccleve uses this proverbial expression;

“Ye medle of al thyng, ye moot shoo the goos.”

Poems, p. 13. ed. 1796.

and Heywood has the following Epigram;

“Of common medlers.

”He that medleth with all thing, may shoe the gosling.

If all such medlers were set to goose shoing,

No goose need go barefoote betweene this and Greece,

For so we should haue as many goose shoers as geese.”

Sig. P 2,—Workes, ed. 1598.

See also Davies’s Scourge of Follie (Prouerbs), n. d. p. 175.

Page 319. v. 209. pranes] i. e. prawns.

v. 211. werynge] i. e. wearing.

v. 213. ne peason] i. e. nor peas.

v. 214. loke to be let lose] i. e. look to be let loose.

v. 215. gose] i. e. goose.

v. 216.

Your gorge not endewed

Without a capon, &c.]

Equivalent to—You not digesting any thing except, &c.: see notes, p. 207. v. 78. and v. 87.

v. 218. a stewed cocke] Compare the following passage in the Interlude of the iiii Elementes, n. d.;

“Tauerner. Though all capons be gone what than

yet I can get you a stewed hen

That is redy dyght.

Humanyte. yf she be fat yt wyll do well.

Tauerner. Fat or lene I cannot tell

But as for this I wot well

She lay at the stewes all nyght.”

Sig. B. vi.

v. 219.

To knowe whate ys a clocke

Vnder her surfled [MS. surfuld] smocke]

Compare Heywood’s Dialogue, &c.;

“Howbeit suddenly she minded on a day,

To pick the chest locke, wherein this bagge lay:

...

But streight as she had forthwith opened the locke,

And look’t in the bagge, what it was a clocke,” &c.

Sig. K 3,—Workes, ed. 1598.

In our author’s Garlande of Laurell we find,

“With burris rowth and bottons surffillyng [MS. surfullinge].”

v. 803. vol. i. 394.

which is cited (Dict. in v. Surfel) by Richardson, who, after quoting from Gifford that “To surphule or surfel the cheeks, is to wash them with mercurial or sulphur water,” &c., adds that Gifford’s “explanation does not extend to the passage from Skelton.” The fact seems to be that Skelton uses surfle for purfle, i. e. border, embroider: and I may notice that Brathwait, on the other hand, seems to employ purfle for surfle;

“With painting, purfling, and a face of Art.”

A Strappado for the Diuell, 1615. p. 150.

Page 319. v. 222.

And howe whan ye gyue orders

In your prouinciall borders,

As at Sitientes, &c.]

Sitientes is the first word of the Introit of the Mass for Passion Sunday (“Sitientes, venite ad aquas, dicit Dominus,” &c., Isaiah lv. 1). For this note I am indebted to W. Dyce, Esq., who further observes that Sitientes Saturday was of old, and is now abroad, the Saturday before Passion Sunday.

Page 320. v. 233. renne they in euery stede] i. e. run they in every place.

v. 234. nolles] i. e. heads.

v. 239. Pystle] i. e. Epistle.

v. 243. prymes and houres] i. e. the devotions so named.

v. 248. vagabundus] i. e. vagabonds.

v. 251. ale stake] i. e. stake set up before an ale-house by way of sign.

v. 252. welcome hake and make] An expression which I have not elsewhere met with. Ray gives among North Country words, “To hake, To sneak, or loiter:” in Hunter’s Hallam. Gloss. is “A haking fellow, an idle loiterer;” and in a song cited by Mr. J. P. Collier (Hist. of Engl. Dram. Poet., ii. 472) from a MS. drama called Misogonus by T. Richards, we find,—

“With Bes and Nell we love to dwell

In kissinge and in hakinge.”

—make is common in the sense of—mate, companion.

Page 321. v. 262. stylla] i. e. still.

v. 263. wylla] i. e. will.

v. 264. pekes] See note, p. 129. v. 409.

v. 266. faute] i. e. fault.

v. 267. apposed] i. e. questioned, examined. “He was apposed, or examyned of his byleue. De religione appellatus est.” Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. D ii. ed. 1530.

v. 269. connyng] i. e. knowledge, learning.

Page 322. v. 284. Tom a thrum] See note, p. 189. v. 204.

v. 293.

There shall no clergy appose

A myter nor a crose,

But a full purse]—clergy, i. e. erudition.

“Androgeus by kyng Mynos was sent,

For he should profite in cleargy,

To Athens.”

Lydgate’s Fall of Prynces, B. I. leaf xii. ed. Wayland.

—appose seems to be used in a different sense from that in which we have just had it (v. 267), and to be equivalent to—procure: crose, i. e. crosier.

Page 322. v. 299. a hermoniake] A term I am unable to explain.

v. 303. Ouer] i. e. Besides.

—— the foresayd laye] i. e. the above-mentioned laity.

v. 305. anker] i. e. anchorite.

v. 310.

To ryde vpon a mule

With golde all betrapped]

Perhaps, as Warton thinks (note on Hist. of E. P., ii. 347. ed. 4to), an allusion to Wolsey: afterwards in this poem, the Cardinal appears to be pointed at more plainly.

Page 323. v. 312. purple and paule] An expression which frequently occurs, more particularly in ballad-poetry (considered by Percy and others as equivalent to—purple robe): paule, i. e. pall, rich or fine cloth.

v. 316. Raynes] See note, p. 268. v. 2042.

v. 317. morowes mylke] i. e. morning’s milk.

v. 318. tabertes] Tabards,—jackets or coats, without sleeves, close before and behind, and open at the sides, are still worn by heralds: but those mentioned in the text were longer,—a sort of riding-cloaks. “Tabard a garmêt mâteau.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lxviii. (Table of Subst.). And see Du Cange’s Gloss. in v. Tabartum; Roquefort’s Gloss. in v. Tabar; and Strutt’s Dress and Habits, &c. ii. 301.

v. 319. Theyr styrops of myxt gold begared]—begared, or begarded, means—faced, bordered,—adorned. The line, I suspect, (see various readings ad l.) ought to stand,—

“Theyr styrops with gold begared.”

v. 321. moyles] i. e. mules.

v. 323.

What care they though Gil sweate,

Or Jacke of the Noke]

So afterwards, v. 857, the same terms are used to signify the labouring poor of both sexes. Jacke of the Noke, i. e. (I suppose) Jack of the Nook: see “Nocata terræ” in Cowel’s Law Dictionary, &c. ed. 1727.

v. 325. pore] i. e. poor.

v. 331. farly] i. e. strange.

v. 332. iangle] i. e. babble, chatter.

v. 335. all to-mangle] See note, p. 100. v. 32.

Page 324. v. 337. ascrye] i. e. call out against: see notes, p. 145. v. 903. p. 152. v. 1358.

v. 341. Ware] i. e. Were. (MS. “Was:” see note ad loc.)

v. 342. Poules] i. e. Paul’s.

Page 324. v. 346. trones] i. e. thrones.

v. 347. Lyke prynces aquilonis] i. e. Like so many Lucifers.

v. 352. For prestes and for lones]—prestes, i. e. sums in advance. “Prest and loan,” Sir H. Nicolas observes to me, “seem to have been used in nearly, if not precisely, the same sense in the 16th century. Perhaps, strictly, prest meant a compulsory advance. In fiscal records it has much the meaning of charge or imprest.”

v. 356. tonge tayde] i. e. tongue-tied.

v. 360. shrewd] i. e. evil.

v. 362. poollynge] i. e. polling, plundering.

Page 325. v. 365. Ye make monkes to haue the culerage, &c.] A passage which I do not understand: but culerage perhaps has here the meaning which it conveys as the name of an herb, “Arse-smart. Cul-rage.” Cotgrave’s Dict.

v. 373. ouerthwarted] Has been explained before (p. 211. v. 230)—cavilled, wrangled: but here it seems to mean—crossly, perversely opposed or controlled.

v. 376. fayne] i. e. glad.

v. 379. corum] i. e. quorum.

v. 388. apostataas] See note, p. 212. v. 290.

Page 326. v. 391. sely nonnes] i. e. silly, simple, harmless nuns.

v. 392. ronnes] i. e. runs.

v. 396. quere] i. e. quire.

v. 397. heuy chere] “Heavy chear, Tristitia, Mœstitia.” Cole’s Dict.

v. 399. fucke sayles] So in a copy of verses attributed to Dunbar;

“The dust upskaillis, mony fillok wiih fuk saillis.”

Poems, ii. 27. ed. Laing.

and in another by Sir R. Maitland;

“Of fynest camroche thair fuk saillis.”

Anc. Scot. Poems from Maitland MSS., ii. 326. ed. Pink.

Focke, a foresail, German. In the Expenses of Sir John Howard, first Duke of Norfolk, we find, “Item, the same day my mastyr paid to the said Clayson, for a fuk maste for the said kervelle, iijs. iiijd.” Manners and Household Expenses of England, &c., p. 206. ed. Roxb.

v. 401. shales] See note, p. 97. v. 19.

v. 403. The lay fee people] i. e. the laity: see note, p. 234. v. 267.

v. 404. fawte] i. e. fault.

v. 409. Boke and chalys] i. e. Book and chalice.

Page 327. v. 417. melles] i. e. meddles.

v. 418. tytyuelles] This word occurs not unfrequently, and with some variety of spelling, in our early writers. So Lydgate;

“Tytyuylles tyrauntes with tormentoures.”

Le Assemble de dyeus, sig. c i. n. d. 4to.

and Heywood;

“There is no moe such titifyls in Englandes ground,

To hold with the hare, and run with the hound.”

Dialogue, &c. sig. C,—Workes, ed. 1598.

Some have considered the word as derived from the Latin, titivilitium, a thing of no worth. Jamieson “suspects that it is a personal designation,” Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang. in v. Tutivillaris. In Juditium, Towneley Mysteries, p. 310, Tutivillus is a fiend; and in the Moral Play of Mankind he represents the sin of the flesh, Hist. of Engl. Dram. Poet., ii. 297, by Mr. J.P. Collier, who says (ii. 223) that “the name afterwards came to mean any person with evil propensities,” and refers to the comedy of Rauf Royster Doyster, Skelton’s Works, and the Enterlude of Thersytes: when he objected to the derivation of the word from titivilitium and proposed “the more simple etymology, totus and vilis,” he was probably not aware that some writers (wrongly) “totivillitium volunt, quasi totum vile:” see Gronovius’s note on the Casina of Plautus, ii. 5, 39. ed. Var.

Page 327. v. 421. Of an abbay ye make a graunge] A proverbial expression.

“Our changes are soch that an abbeye turneth to a graunge.”

Bale’s Kynge Iohan, p. 23. Camd. ed.

“To bring an Abbey to a Grange.” Ray’s Proverbs, p. 174. ed. 1768.

v. 424. beade rolles] i. e. prayers,—properly, lists of those to be prayed for.

v. 429.

But where theyr soules dwell,

Therwith I wyll not mell]

—mell, i. e. meddle. So Dunbar;

“Now with thair sawle we will nocht mell.”

Poems, ii. 52. ed. Laing.

v. 434. reporte me] i. e. refer.

v. 440. the lay fee] i. e. the laity: see note, p. 234. v. 267.

Page 328. v. 447.

splendore

Fulgurantis hastæ]

From the Vulgate. “Ibunt in splendore fulgurantis hastæ tuæ.” Habac. iii. 11. “Et micantis gladii, et fulgurantis hastæ.” Nahum, iii. 3.

v. 456. eysell] i. e. vinegar.

v. 458. ypocras] Was a favourite medicated drink, composed of wine (usually red), with spices and sugar. It is generally supposed to have been so named from Hippocrates (often contracted, as in our author’s Garlande of Laurell, v. 1426. vol. i. 417, to “Ipocras”); perhaps because it was strained,—the woollen bag used by apothecaries to strain syrups and decoctions for clarification being termed Hippocrates’s sleeve.

Page 328. v. 459. Let the cat wynke] See note, p. 168. v. 305.

v. 460. Iche wot] Seems to mean here—Each knows (not, I know); and therefore in the remainder of the line the reading of Kele’s ed., “yche,” ought not to have been rejected.

v. 467. theologys] i. e. theologians.

v. 468. astrologys] i. e. astrologers.

Page 329. v. 469. Ptholome] See note, p. 133. v. 503.

v. 474. pretendynge] Equivalent to—portending.

“What misfortune, aduersitie, or blame,

Can all the planets to man or childe pretende,

If God most glorious by his might vs defende?”

Barclay’s Ship of Fooles, fol. 129. ed. 1570.

Here Skelton seems to allude to Wolsey; and from these lines (called in the Lansdown MS., see note ad loc., “The profecy of Skelton”) perhaps originated the story of our poet having prophesied the downfal of the Cardinal.

v. 476. trone] i. e. throne.

v. 479. euerychone] i. e. every one.

Page 330. v. 489. bruted] i. e. reported, talked of.

v. 492. wrest vp] i. e. screw up: see note, p. 238. v. 137.

v. 493. twynkyng] i. e. tinking, tinkling.

v. 498. the lay fee] i. e. the laity: see note, p. 234. v. 267.

v. 504. to] i. e. too.

v. 515. depraue] i. e. vilify, defame.

Page 331. v. 523. resydeuacyon] i. e. recidivation, backsliding.

v. 528. ipostacis] i. e. hypostasis.

v. 533. fore top] i. e. (as the context shews) simply,—head, pate.

v. 535. knowe and ken] A pleonasm,—unless ken be explained—see.

v. 542.

And some haue a smacke

Of Luthers sacke]

Concerning the wine called sack (about which so much has been written) see Henderson’s Hist. of Anc. and Mod. Wines, p. 298.

v. 544. brennyng] i. e. burning.

v. 545. warke] i. e. work.

Page 332. v. 549. carpe] i. e. talk, prate.

v. 551. Called Wicleuista] From Wicliffe.

v. 553. Hussyans] i. e. followers of Huss.

v. 554. Arryans] i. e. followers of Arius.

v. 555. Pollegians] i. e. Pelagians,—followers of Pelagius.

v. 559. to mykel] i. e. too much.

Page 332. v. 564. tryalytes] i. e. three benefices united.

v. 565. tot quottes] So Barclay;

“Then yf this lorde haue in him fauour, he hath hope

To haue another benefyce of greater dignitie,

And so maketh a false suggestion to the pope

For a tot quot, or els a pluralitie.”

Ship of Fooles, fol. 60. ed. 1570.

Page 333. v. 572. persons and vycaryes] i. e. parsons and vicars.

v. 576. loselles] See note, p. 209. v. 138.

v. 577. lewdely] i. e. wickedly, vilely.

v. 578. sely] i. e. silly, simple, harmless.

v. 581. mought] i. e. might.

v. 582. so dysgysed] See note, p. 205. v. 22.

Page 334. v. 597. lokes] i. e. looks.

v. 598. bokes] i. e. books.

v. 600. wroken] i. e. wreaked.

v. 602. iauell] See note, p. 271. v. 2218.

v. 604. face] See note, p. 216. v. 33.

—— crake] i. e. vaunt, talk bigly.

v. 606. kayser] See note, p. 247. v. 796.

v. 607. layser] i. e. leisure.

v. 619. connyng] i. e. knowledge, learning.

—— auaunce] i. e. advance.

Page 335. v. 624. dykes] i. e. ditches.

“Where the blinde leadeth the blinde, both fall in the dyke.”

Heywood’s Dialogue, &c.—Workes, ed. 1598, sig. G 2.

v. 625. Set nothyng by] i. e. Value not, regard not.

v. 637. ye, shall] i. e. yea, I shall.

v. 648. shule] i. e. shovel.

Page 336. v. 654. mamockes] See note, p. 268. v. 2035.

v. 663. kynde] i. e. nature.

v. 664. Many one ye haue vntwynde] The reading of the MS., which at least gives a sense to the line: vntwynde, i. e. destroyed; see note, p. 127. v. 284.

v. 668. fote] i. e. foot.

v. 672. in the deuyll way] A common expression in our early writers.

“Our Hoste answerd: Tell on a devil way.”

Chaucer’s Milleres Prol., v. 3136. ed. Tyr.

“In the twenty deuyll way, Au nom du grant diable.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. ccccxlii. (Table of Aduerbes). “What reason is that, in the twenty deuell waye, that he shulde bere suche a rule? Quænam (malum) ratio est,” &c. Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. dd iii. ed. 1530.

Page 337. v. 673. ouer] i. e. besides.

v. 675. hear] i. e. hair.

v. 679. tonsors] i. e. tonsures.

v. 688. the male dothe wrye] See note, p. 142. v. 700.

Page 338. v. 692. Ye bysshops of estates]—of estates, i. e. of great estate, rank, dignity.

v. 698. awtentyke] i. e. authentic.

v. 704. intoxicate] i. e. poison (Lat. intoxico).

v. 705. conquinate] i. e. coinquinate,—pollute, defile, defame.

v. 710. The Churchis hygh estates] i. e. the dignitaries of the Church.

Page 339. v. 728. marke] i. e. marks,—the coins so called.

v. 730. werke] i. e. work.

v. 734. sawe] i. e. saying,—branch of learning.

v. 737. pore] i. e. poor.

v. 739. frere] i. e. friar.

Page 340. v. 747.

of the order

Vpon Grenewyche border,

Called Obseruaunce]

The statement that Edward the Third founded a religious house at Greenwich in 1376 appears to rest on no authority. A grant of Edward the Fourth to certain Minorites or Observant Friars of the order of St. Francis of a piece of ground which adjoined the palace at Greenwich, and on which they had begun to build several small mansions, was confirmed in 1486 by a charter of Henry the Seventh, who founded there a convent of friars of that order, to consist of a warden and twelve brethren at the least; and who is said to have afterwards rebuilt their convent from the foundation. The friars of Greenwich were much favoured by Katherine, queen of Henry the Eighth; and when, during the question of her divorce, they had openly espoused her cause, the king was so greatly enraged that he suppressed the whole order throughout England. The convent at Greenwich was dissolved in 1534. Queen Mary reinstated them in their possessions, and new-founded and repaired their monastery. Queen Elizabeth suppressed them, &c. See Lysons’s Environs of London, iv. 464. ed. 1796.

v. 754. Babuell besyde Bery] When by an order of Pope Urban the Fourth, the Grey Friars were removed out of the town and jurisdiction of Bury St. Edmund, in 1263, “they retired to a place just without the bounds, beyond the north gate, called Babwell, now the Toll-gate, which the abbat and convent generously gave them to build on; and here they continued till the dissolution.” Tanner’s Not. Mon. p. 527. ed. 1744.

Page 340. v. 755. To postell vpon a kyry] i. e. to comment upon a Kyrie eleison: (a postil is a short gloss, or note).

v. 757. coted] i. e. quoted.

Page 341. v. 779. blother] i. e. gabble.

v. 780.

make a Walshmans hose

Of the texte and of the glose]

So again our author in his Garlande of Laurell;

“And after conueyauns as the world goos,

It is no foly to vse the Walshemannys hose.”

v. 1238. vol. i. 411.

Compare The Legend of the Bischop of St Androis;

“Of omnigatherene now his glose,

He maid it lyk a Wealchman hose.”

Scot. Poems of the Sixteenth Century, (by Dalyell), p. 332.

“Welchman’s hose. Equivalent, I imagine, to the breeches of a Highlander, or the dress of a naked Pict; upon the presumption that Welchmen had no hose.” Nares’s Gloss. in v. Unfortunately, however, for this ingenious conjecture, the expression is found varied to “shipman’s hose,”—which certainly cannot be considered as a non-entity. “Hereunto they adde also a Similitude not very agreeable, how the Scriptures be like to a Nose of Waxe, or a Shipmans Hose: how thei may be fashioned, and plied al manner of waies, and serue al mennes turnes.” Jewel’s Defence of the Apologie, &c. p. 465. ed. 1567. “And not made as a shippe mans hose to serue for euery legge.” Wilson’s Arte of Rhetorike, p. 102. ed. 1580. Surely Welshman’s hose (as well as shipman’s) became proverbial from their pliability, power of being stretched, &c.

v. 784. broke] i. e. brook.

v. 785. loke] i. e. look.

v. 786. boke] i. e. book.

Page 342. v. 800. the brode gatus] Means perhaps, Broadgates Hall, Oxford, on the site of which Pembroke College was erected.

v. 801. Daupatus] i. e. Simple-pate: see note, p. 113. v. 301.

v. 803. Dronhen as a mouse] So Chaucer;

“We faren as he that dronke is as a mous.”

The Knightes Tale, v. 1263. ed. Tyr.

v. 805. his pyllyon and his cap]—pyllyon, from Lat. pileus. Compare Barclay;

“Mercury shall geue thee giftes manyfolde,

His pillion, scepter, his winges, and his harpe.”

Fourth Egloge, sig. C iiii. ed. 1570.

and Cavendish’s Life of Wolsey; “and upon his head a round pillion, with a noble of black velvet set to the same in the inner side” [where surely we ought to read, “and upon his head a round pillion of black velvet, with a noble set to the same in the inner side”]. p. 105. ed. 1827.

Page 342. v. 811. As wyse as Waltoms calfe] So Heywood;

“And thinke me as wise as Waltams calfe, to talke,” &c.

Dialogue, &c. sig. F 3,—Workes, ed. 1598.

Ray gives, “As wise as Waltham’s calf, that ran nine miles to suck a bull.” Proverbs, p. 220. ed. 1768.

v. 812. a Goddes halfe] See note, p. 174. v. 501.

v. 817. scole matter] i. e. school-matter.

Page 343. v. 820. elenkes] i. e. elenchs (elenchus—in logic).

v. 822. mell] i. e. meddle.

v. 826. neuen] i. e. name.

v. 831. mo] i. e. more.

v. 836. Lymyters] i. e. Friars licensed to beg within certain districts.

v. 840. Flatterynge, &c.] Compare Barclay;

“We geue wooll and cheese, our wiues coyne and egges,

When freers flatter and prayse their proper legges.”

Fifth Egloge, sig. D v. ed. 1570.

v. 843. lese] i. e. lose.

Page 344. v. 846. bacon flycke] i. e. flitch of bacon.

v. 849. couent] i. e. convent.

v. 852. theyr tonges fyle]—fyle, i. e. smooth, polish: the expression occurs in earlier and in much later writers.

v. 854.

To Margery and to Maude,

Howe they haue no fraude]

As we find the name “Mawte” in our author’s Elynour Rummyng, v. 159. vol. i. 100, and as in the second of these lines the MS. (see note ad l.) has “fawte” (i. e. fault), the right reading is probably,

“To Margery and to Mawte,

Howe they haue no fawte.”

v. 856. prouoke] i. e. incite.

v. 857. Gyll and Jacke at Noke] See note on v. 323. p. 283.

v. 861. In open tyme] i. e. In the time when no fasts are imposed.

v. 864. an olde sayd sawe] “Oulde sayd sawe prouerbe.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. li. (Table of Subst.).

Page 344. v. 866. Some walke aboute in melottes] “Circuierunt in melotis.” Vulgate,—Heb. xi. 37. “Melotes,” as Mr. Albert Way observes to me, “is explained in the Catholicon to be a garment used by the monks during laborious occupation, made of the skin of the badger, and reaching from the neck to the loins,” and according to other early dictionaries, it was made of the hair or skin of other animals. So the original Greek word, μηλωτή, which properly means pellis ovina, signifies also pellis quævis.

v. 867. heery] i. e. hairy.

v. 868. ne] i. e. nor.

v. 869. in remotes] i. e. in retired places.

Page 345. v. 874.

And by Dudum, theyr Clementine,

Agaynst curates they repyne;

And say propreli they ar sacerdotes,

To shryue, assoyle, and reles

Dame Margeries soule out of hell]

—shryue, assoyle, i. e. confess, absolve.—“On a de Clément V une compilation nouvelle, tant des décrets du concile général de Vienne, que de ses épîtres ou constitutions. C’est ce qu’on appelle les Clémentines.” L’Art de vérifier les Dates, &c. (depuis la naissance de Notre-seigneur), iii. 382. ed. 1818. Skelton alludes here to Clement. lib. iii. tit. vii. cap. ii. which begins, “Dvdum à Bonifacio Papa octauo prædecessore nostro,” &c., and contains the following passages. “Ab olim siquidem inter Prælatos & Rectores, seu Sacerdotes ac Clericos parochialium Ecclesiarum per diuersas Mundi prouincias constitutos ex vna parte, & Prædicatorum & Minorum ordinum fratres ex altera (pacis æmulo, satore zizaniæ procurante), grauis & periculosa discordia extitit, suscitata super prædicationib. fidelium populis faciendis, eorum confessionibus audiendis, pœnitentiis iniungendis eisdem, & tumulandis defunctorum corporibus, qui apud fratrum ipsorum Ecclesias siue loca noscuntur eligere sepulturam.... Statuimus etiam & ordinamus auctoritate prædicta, vt in singulis ciuitatibus & diœcesibus, in quibus loca fratrum ipsorum consistere dignoscuntur, vel in ciuitatibus & diœcesibus locis ipsis vicinis, in quibus loca huiusmodi non habentur, Magistri, Priores prouinciales Prædicatorum, aut eorum Vicarij & Generales, et Prouinciales Ministri & custodes Minorum & ordinum prædictorum ad præsentiam Prælatorum eorundem locorum se conferant per se, vel per fratres, quos ad hoc idoneos fore putauerint, humiliter petituri, vt fratres, qui ad hoc electi fuerint, in eorum ciuitatibus & diœcesibus confessiones subditorum suorum confiteri sibi volentium audire liberè valeant, & huiusmodi confitentibus (prout secundùm Deum expedire cognouerint) pœnitentias imponere salutares, atque eisdem absolutionis beneficium impendere de licentia, gratia, & beneplacito eorundem: Ac deinde præfati Magistri, Priores, Prouinciales, & Ministri ordinum prædictorum eligere studeant personas sufficientes, idoneas, vita probatas, discretas, modestas, atque peritas, ad tam salubre ministerium et officium exequendum: quas sic ab ipsis electas repræsentent, vel faciant præsentari Prælatis, vt de eorum licentia, gratia, & beneplacito in ciuitatib. & dioecesibus eorundem huiusmodi personæ sic electæ confessiones confiteri sibi volentium audiant, imponant pœnitentias salutares, & beneficium absolutionis (in posterum) impendant, prout superiùs est expressum: extra ciuitates & diœceses, in quibus fuerint deputatæ, per quas eas volumus & non per prouincias deputari, confessiones nullatenus audituræ. Numerus autem personarum assumendarum ad huiusmodi officium exercendum esse debet, prout vniuersitas cleri & populi, ac multitudo vel paucitas exigit eorundem. Et si iidem Prælati petitam licentiam confessionum huiusmodi audiendarum concesserint: illam præfati Magistri, Ministri, & alij cum gratiarum recipiant actione, dictæque personæ sic electæ commissum sibi officium exequantur. Quòd si fortè iam dicti Prælati quenquam ex dictis fratribus præsentatis eisdem ad huiusmodi officium nollent habere, vel non ducerent admittendum: eo amoto, vel subtracto loco ipsius similiter eisdem præsentandus Prælatis possit, & debeat alius surrogari. Si verò iidem Prælati præfatis fratribus ad confessiones (vt præmittitur) audiendas electis, huiusmodi exhibere licentiam recusârint, nos ex nunc ipsis, vt confessiones sibi confiteri volentium liberè licitèque audire valeant, & eisdem pœnitentias imponere salutares, atque eisdem beneficium absolutionis impertiri, gratiosè concedimus de plenitudine Apostolicæ potestatis. Per huiusmodi autem concessionem nequaquam intendimus personis, seu fratribus ipsis ad id taliter deputatis, potestatem in hoc impendere ampliorem quàm in eo curatis vel parochialibus Sacerdotib. est à iure concessa: nisi forsan eis Ecclesiarum Prælati vberiorem in hac parte gratiam specialiter ducerent faciendam.” Pp. 184-190. (Decret. tom. iii. ed. 1600.)

Page 345. v. 879.

But when the freare fell in the well,

He coud not syng himselfe therout

But by the helpe of Christyan Clout]

The name “Cristian Clowte” has occurred before in our author’s Manerly Margery Mylk and Ale, vol. i. 28. The story alluded to in this passage appears to be nearly the same as that which is related in a comparatively modern ballad, entitled,

“The Fryer Well-fitted:
or,
A Pretty Jest that once befel,
How a Maid put a Fryer to cool in the Well.
To a merry new Tune. Licens’d and Enter’d according to Order.”

The Friar wishes to seduce the Maid;

“But she denyed his Desire,

And told him, that she feared Hell-fire;

fa, la, &c.

Tush, (quoth the Fryer) thou needst not doubt,

fa, la, &c.

If thou wert in Hell, I could sing thee out;

fa, la, &c.”

The Maid then tells him that he “shall have his request,” but only on condition that he brings her “an angel of money.” While he is absent, “She hung a Cloth before the Well;” and, when he has returned, and given her the angel,—

“Oh stay, (quoth she) some Respite make,

My Father comes, he will me take;

fa, la, &c.

Alas, (quoth the Fryer) where shall I run,

fa, la, &c.

To hide me till that he be gone?

fa, la, &c.

Behind the Cloth run thou (quoth she),

And there my Father cannot thee see;

fa, la, &c.

Behind the Cloth the Fryer crept,

fa, la, &c.

And into the Well on sudden he leapt,

fa, la, &c.

Alas, (quoth he) I am in the Well;

No matter, (quoth she) if thou wert in Hell;

fa, la, &c.

Thou say’st thou could’st sing me out of Hell,

fa, la, &c.

Now prithee sing thyself out of the Well,

fa, la, &c.”

The Maid at last helps him out, and bids him be gone; but when he asks her to give him back the angel,—

“Good Sir, (said she) there’s no such matter,

I’ll make you pay for fouling my Water;

fa, la, &c.

The Fryer went along the Street,

fa, la, &c.

Drapping wet, like a new-wash’d Sheep,

fa, la, &c.

Both Old and Young commended the Maid,

That such a witty Prank had plaid;

fa, la, la, la, la,

fa, la, la, lang-tree down-dily.”

Ballads, Brit. Mus. 643. m.

Page 345. v. 882.

Another Clementyne also,

How frere Fabian, with other mo,

Exivit de Paradiso]

—mo, i. e. more. Some corruption, if not considerable mutilation of the text, may be suspected here. There seems to be an allusion to Clement, lib. v. tit. xi. cap. i., which begins, “Exiui de paradiso, dixi, rigabo hortum plantationum, ait ille cœlestis agricola,” &c. P. 313. (Decret. tom. iii. ed. 1600).

v. 892. abiections] i. e. objections.

Page 346. v. 901. hertes] i. e. hearts.

v. 903. coueytous] i. e. covetise, covetousness.

v. 906. play scylens and glum, &c.] See note on v. 83. p. 278.

v. 911. leuer] i. e. more willingly, rather.

v. 914. Worsshepfully] i. e. According to their honour, or dignity.

Page 347. v. 922. payntes] See note, p. 176. v. 583.

v. 924. them lyke] i. e. please them.

v. 931. crosse] See note, p. 116. v. 363.

v. 932. predyall landes] i. e. farm-lands.

v. 943. palles] See note on v. 312. p. 283.

v. 944. Arras] i. e. tapestry: see note, p. 192. v. 78.

v. 947. lusty] i. e. pleasant, desirable,—beautiful.

Page 348. v. 950. shote] i. e. shoot.

v. 951. tyrly tyrlowe] This passage was strangely misunderstood by the late Mr. Douce, who thought that “tyrly tyrlowe” alluded to the note of the crow, that bird being mentioned in the preceding line! Illust. of Shakespeare, i. 353. The expression has occurred before, in our author’s Elynour Rummyng, v. 292. vol. i. 104: here it is equivalent to the modern fa, la, la, which is often used with a sly or wanton allusion,—as, for instance, at the end of each stanza of Pope’s court-ballad, The Challenge.

Page 348. v. 953. a lege de moy] See note, p. 176. v. 587.

v. 956. With suche storyes bydene]—bydene, that is “by the dozen,” says Warton, erroneously, quoting this passage, Hist. of E. P., ii. 343. ed. 4to (note). The word occurs frequently in our early poetry, with different significations: here it may be explained—together—(with a collection of such stories); so in The Worlde and the Chylde, 1522;

“Now cryst ...

...

Saue all this company that is gathered here bydene.”

Sig. C iiii.

v. 957. Their chambres well besene]—well besene, i. e. of a good appearance,—well-furnished, or adorned: see note, p. 112. v. 283.

v. 962. Nowe all the worlde stares, &c.] “This is still,” as Warton observes (Hist. of E. P., ii. 343. ed. 4to, note), “a description of tapestry.”

v. 963. chares] i. e. chariots.

v. 964. olyphantes] i. e. elephants.

v. 965, garlantes] i. e. garlands.

v. 974. estate] i. e. high rank, dignity.

v. 975. courage] i. e. heart, affections.

v. 977.

Theyr chambres thus to dresse

With suche parfetnesse]

—parfetnesse, i. e. perfectness. “We should observe,” says Warton, after citing the passage, “that the satire is here pointed at the subject of these tapestries. The graver ecclesiastics, who did not follow the levities of the world, were contented with religious subjects, or such as were merely historical.” Hist. of E. P., ii. 344. ed. 4to.

Page 349. v. 983. remorde] See note, p. 193. v. 101.

v. 987. mellyng] i. e. meddling.

v. 990. besy] i. e. busy.

v. 991. For one man to rule a kyng] An allusion, I apprehend, to Wolsey’s influence over Henry the Eighth: so again our author speaking of Wolsey, in the Latin lines at the end of Why Come ye nat to Courte, “Qui regnum regemque regit.” Vol. ii. 67. I may observe too in further confirmation of the reading “kyng” instead of “gyng” (see note ad loc.), that we have had in an earlier passage of the present poem,

“To rule bothe kyng and kayser.”

v. 606.

v. 996. flyt] i. e. remove.

v. 998. quysshon] i. e. cushion.

v. 1000. Cum regibus amicare] “Amico, to be frend.” Medulla Gramatice, MS. (now in the possession of Mr. Rodd).

Page 349. v. 1002. pravare] In Ortus Vocab. fol. ed. W. de. Worde, n. d., is “Prauo ... prauum facere. or to shrewe,” and “Tirannus. shrewe or tyrande.” The meaning therefore of pravare in our text may be—to play the tyrant.

Page 350. v. 1003. vre] “Evr happe or lucke with his compoundes bonevr and malevr,” &c. Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. vi. (Thirde Boke).

“My goddesse bright, my fortune, and my vre.”

Chaucer’s Court of Loue, fol. 330,—Workes, ed. 1602.

“The grace and ewer and hap of olde fortune.”

Lydgate’s Warres of Troy, B. iv. sig. Z v. cd. 1555.

“But wayte his death & his fatall eure.”

Id. sig. A a i.

“And fortune which hath the such vre y sent.”

Poems by C. Duke of Orleans,—MS. Harl. 682, fol. 24.

v. 1014. played so checkemate] In allusion to the king’s being put in check at the game of chess.

v. 1017. mell] i. e. meddle.

v. 1019. kayser] See note, p. 247. v. 796.

v. 1020. at the playsure of one, &c.] Meaning, surely, Wolsey.

v. 1025. not so hardy on his hede] An elliptical expression; compare v. 1154. In the Morte d’Arthur when Bors is on the point of slaying King Arthur, “Not soo hardy sayd syr launcelot vpon payn of thy hede, &c.” B. xx. c. xiii. vol. ii. 411. ed. Southey.

v. 1026. To loke on God in forme of brede]—loke, i. e. look: brede, i. e. bread. A not unfrequent expression in our early writers.

“Whan I sacred our lordes body

Chryste Jesu in fourme of brede.”

The Lyfe of saint Gregoryes mother, n. d. sig. A v.

See too Ritson’s An. Pop. Poetry, p. 84; and Hartshorne’s An. Met. Tales, p. 134.

Page 351. v. 1030. sacryng] “Sacryng of the masse sacrement.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lx. (Table of Subst.). And see Todd’s Johnson’s Dict. in v.

v. 1041. preas] i. e. press.

v. 1047. ne] i. e. nor.

v. 1050. warke] i. e. work, business.

Page 352. v. 1051. this] Perhaps for—thus; see note, p. 86. v. 38.

v. 1054. vncouthes] i. e. strange matters.

v. 1055. ken] i. e. know.

v. 1070. premenire] i. e. præmunire.

v. 1074. fotyng] i. e. footing.

Page 352. v. 1075. motyng] i. e. mooting. “Certamen ... anglice flytynge chydynge or motynge.” Ortus Vocab. fol. ed. W. de Worde, n. d.

v. 1076. totyng] i. e. prying, peeping.

Page 353. v. 1084. hole route] i. e. whole crowd, set.

v. 1098. escrye] i. e. call out against: see notes, p. 145. v. 903. p. 152. v. 1358. p. 283. v. 337.

v. 1102. werke] i. e. work.

Page 354. v. 1106. hynderyng] See note, p. 245. v. 719.

—— dysauaylyng] “I Disauayle one, I hynder his auauntage, Ie luy porte dom̄aige.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. ccxii. (Table of Verbes).

v. 1116. to be gramed] i. e. to be angered: gramed is doubtless the right reading here, though the eds. have “greued” and the MS. “grevyd”—(grame has already occurred in Magnyfycence, v. 1864).

Page 355. v. 1134. depraue] i. e. vilify, defame.

v. 1154. Not so hardy on theyr pates] See note on v. 1025, preceding page.

v. 1155. losell] See note, p. 209. v. 138.

v. 1156. wesaunt] i. e. weasand.

v. 1157. syr Guy of Gaunt] See note, p. 184. v. 70.

v. 1158. lewde] i. e. wicked, vile.

Page 356. v. 1159. doctour Deuyas] See note, p. 95. v. 55.

v. 1162. dawcocke] i. e. simpleton: see note, p. 113. v. 301.

—— mell] i. e. meddle.

v. 1164. Allygate] i. e. Allege.

v. 1170. lurdeyne] See note, p. 242. v. 423.

v. 1171. Lytell Ease] “Little Ease (prison), mala mansio, arcæ robustæ.” Coles’s Dict.—“Little-Ease. A familiar term for a pillory, or stocks; or an engine uniting both purposes, the bilboes.” Nares’s Gloss.

v. 1178. rechelesse] i. e. reckless.

Page 357. v. 1184. Poules Crosse] i. e. Paul’s Cross.

v. 1186. Saynt Mary Spyttell] In Bishopsgate Ward: see Stow’s Survey, B. ii. 97. ed. 1720.

v. 1187. set not by vs a whystell] i. e. value us not at a whistle, care not a whistle for us. Compare Lydgate;

“For he set not by his wrethe a whistel.”

The prohemy of a mariage, &c.,—MS. Harl. 372. fol. 45.

v. 1188. the Austen fryers] In Broad-street Ward: see Stow’s Survey, B. ii. 114, ed. 1720.

Page 357. v. 1190. Saynt Thomas of Akers] Concerning the “Hospital intituled of S. Thomas of Acon or Acars [Acre in the Holy Land], near to the great Conduit in Cheape,” see Stow’s Survey, B. iii. 37. ed. 1720, and Maitland’s Hist. of London, ii. 886. ed. 1756.

v. 1191. carpe vs] Is explained by the various reading of the MS.,—“clacke of us.”

—— crakers] i. e., as the context shews, (not—vaunters, but) noisy talkers.

v. 1193. reason or skyll] See note, p. 238. v. 106.

v. 1196. at a pronge] See note, p. 243. v. 506.

v. 1199. fonge] i. e. take, get.

v. 1201. the ryght of a rambes horne] An expression which our author has again in Speke, Parrot, v. 498. vol. ii. 24. So in a metrical fragment, temp. Edward ii.;

“As ryt as ramis orn.”

Reliquiæ Antiquæ (by Wright and Halliwell), ii. 19.

And Lydgate has a copy of verses, the burden of which is,—

“Conveyede by lyne ryght as a rammes horne.”

MS. Harl. 172. fol. 71.

See too Ray’s Proverbs, p. 225. ed. 1768.

v. 1206. yawde] i. e. hewed, cut down. “To Yaw, to hew.” Gloss. appended to A Dialogue in the Devonshire Dialect, 1837.

Page 358. v. 1208. Ezechyas] Ought to be “Isaias;” for, according to a Jewish tradition, Isaiah was cut in two with a wooden saw by order of King Manasseh.

v. 1216. agayne] i. e. against.

v. 1223. cough, rough, or sneuyll]—rough, i. e., perhaps, rout, snore, snort. I may just observe that Palsgrave not only gives “rowte” in that sense, but also “I Rowte I belche as one dothe that voydeth wynde out of his stomacke, Ie roucte.” Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. cccxliiii. (Table of Verbes); and that Coles has “To rout, Crepo, pedo.” Dict.

v. 1224. Renne] i. e. Run.

v. 1227. set not a nut shell] i. e. value not at a nut-shell, care not a nut-shell for.

v. 1229. gyse] i. e. guise, fashion.

Page 359. v. 1232. sayd sayne] A sort of pleonastic expression,—equivalent to—called commonly or proverbially: see note on v. 864. p. 290.

v. 1235. domis day] i. e. doomsday.

Page 359. v. 1239. boke] i. e. book.

v. 1240. By hoke ne by croke] i. e. By hook nor by crook.

v. 1244. nolles] i. e. heads.

v. 1245. noddy polles] i. e. silly heads.

v. 1246. sely] i. e. silly.

v. 1248. great estates] i. e. persons of great estate, or rank.

v. 1255. wawes wod] i. e. waves mad, raging.

v. 1257. Shote] i. e. Shoot, cast.

v. 1258. farre] i. e. farther:

“I wyl no farr mell.”

Gentylnes and Nobylyte, n. d. (attributed without grounds to Heywood), sig. C ii.

Page 360. v. 1262. the porte salu] i. e. the safe port. Skelton has the term again in his Garlande of Laurell, v. 541. vol. i. 383. Compare Hoccleve;

“whether our taill

Shall soone make us with our shippes saill

To port salu.”

Poems, p. 61. ed. 1796,—

where the editor observes, “Port salut was a kind of proverbial expression, and so used in the translation of Cicero de senectute printed by Caxton.”

A RYGHT DELECTABLE TRATYSE VPON A GOODLY GARLANDE OR CHAPELET OF LAURELL ... STUDYOUSLY DYUYSED AT SHERYFHOTTON CASTELL, IN THE FORESTE OF GALTRES, &c.

Sheriff-Hutton Castle “is situated in the Wapentake of Bulmer, and is distant ten miles north-east from York ... The slender accounts of it that have reached our times, ascribe its origin to Bertram de Bulmer, an English Baron, who is recorded by Camden to have built it in the reign of King Stephen, A.D. 1140 ... From the Bulmers it descended by marriage to the noble family of the Nevilles, and continued in their possession upwards of 300 years, through a regular series of reigns, until seized by Edward iv. in 1471, who soon after gave the Castle and Manor to his brother the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard iii. In 1485, in consequence of the death of Richard at the Battle of Bosworth Field, it became the property of King Henry vii., and continued in the hands of the Crown, until James the First granted it to his son, Prince Charles, about 1616. The Castle and Manor were subsequently granted (also by King James, according to Camden, and the original grant confirmed by Prince Charles after he ascended the throne) to the family of the Ingrams, about 1624-5, and are now in possession of their lineal descendant, the present Marchioness of Hertford.” Some Account of Sheriff-Hutton Castle, &c. pp. 3-5, York, 1824.

Leland (who says, erroneously it would seem, that Sheriff-Hutton Castle “was buildid by Rafe Nevill of Raby the fyrst Erl of Westmerland of the Nevilles,”) gives the following description of it. “There is a Base Court with Houses of Office afore the Entering of the Castelle. The Castelle self in the Front is not dichid, but it stondith in loco utcunque edito. I markid yn the fore Front of the first Area of the Castelle self 3. great and high Toures, of the which the Gate House was the Midle. In the secunde Area ther be a 5. or 6. Toures, and the stately Staire up to the Haul is very Magnificent, and so is the Haul it self, and al the residew of the House: in so much that I saw no House in the North so like a Princely Logginges. I lernid ther that the Stone that the Castel was buildid with was fetchid from a Quarre at Terington a 2. Miles of. There is a Park by the Castel. This Castel was wel maintainid, by reason that the late Duke of Northfolk lay ther x. Yers, and sins the Duk of Richemond. From Shirhuten to York vij. Miles, and in the Forest of Galtres, wherof 4. Miles or more was low Medowes and Morisch Ground ful of Carres, the Residew by better Ground but not very high.” Itin. i. 67. ed. 1770.

“Report asserts, that during the civil wars in the time of Charles the First, it [the Castle] was dismantled, and the greater part of its walls taken down, by order of the Parliament. But this is certainly not the fact, as will be seen by reference to the ‘Royal Survey’ made in 1624 ... From this Survey it will appear evident, that the Castle was dismantled and almost in total ruin in the time of James I.,—how long it had been so, previous to the Survey alluded to, is now difficult to say. From the present appearance of the ruins, it is plain that the Castle was purposely demolished and taken down by workmen, (probably under an order from the Crown, in whatever reign it might happen,) and not destroyed by violence of war. However, since this devastation by human hands, the yet more powerful and corroding hand of Time has still further contributed to its destruction.... The Castle stands upon a rising bank or eminence in front of the village, and its ruins may be seen on every side at a great distance.” Some Account, &c. (already cited), pp. 5, 6. The vast forest of Galtres formerly extended nearly all round Sheriff-Hutton.

When Skelton wrote the present poem, Sheriff-Hutton Castle was in possession of the Duke of Norfolk, to whom it had been granted by the crown for life: see note on v. 769.

Page 361. v. 1. Arectyng] i. e. Raising.

Page 361. v. 6. plenarly] i. e. fully—at full.

v. 9. somer flower] i. e. summer-flower.

v. 10. halfe] i. e. side, part.

Page 362. v. 15. dumpe] “I Dumpe I fall in a dumpe or musyng vpon thynges.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. ccxxii. (Table of Verbes).

v. 16. Encraumpysshed] i. e. encramped. Skelton’s fondness for compounds of this kind has been already noticed. The simple word occurs in other writers:

“Crampisheth her limmes crokedly.”

Chaucer’s Annel. and Ar.,—Workes, fol. 244. ed. 1602.

“As marbyll colde her lymmes craumpishing.”

Lydgate’s Warres of Troy, B. iv. sig. X v. ed. 1555.

—— conceyte] i. e. conceit, conception.

v. 20. boystors] i. e. boisterous.

v. 22.

Thus stode I in the frytthy forest of Galtres,

Ensowkid with sylt of the myry mose]

—stode, i. e. stood: frytthy, i. e. woody: ensowkid, i. e. ensoaked: sylt, i. e. mud: mose, i. e. moss. The forest of Galtres (which, as already noticed, extended nearly all round Sheriff-Hutton) was, when Camden wrote, “in some places shaded with trees, in others swampy.” Britannia (by Gough), iii. 20.

v. 24. hartis belluyng] In the Book of Saint Albans, Juliana Berners, treating “Of the cryenge of thyse bestys,” says,

“An harte belowyth and a bucke groynyth I fynde.”

Sig. d ii.

—— embosyd] “When he [the hart] is foamy at the mouth, we say that he is embost.” Turbervile’s Noble Art of Venerie, p. 244. ed. 1611.

v. 26. the hynde calfe] “Ceruula. a hynde calfe.” Ortus Vocab. fol. ed. W. de Worde, n. d. In the Book of Saint Albans we are told;

“And for to speke of the harte yf ye woll it lere:

Ye shall hym a Calfe call at the fyrste yere.”

Sig. C vi.

v. 27. forster] i. e. forester.

—— bate] Does it mean—set on, or train?

v. 28. torne] i. e. turn.

v. 32. superflue] i. e. superfluous.

“Ye blabbering fooles superflue of language.”

Barclay’s Ship of Fooles, fol. 38. ed. 1570.

v. 35. wele] i. e. well.

Page 363. v. 38. disgysede] i. e. decked out in an unusual manner.

“Of his straunge aray merueyled I sore

...

Me thought he was gayly dysgysed at that fest.”

Lydgate’s Assemble de dyeus, sig. b ii. n. d. 4to.

Page 363. v. 39. fresshe] “Fresshe, gorgyouse, gay.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lxxxviii. (Table of Adiect.),—which I ought to have cited earlier for the meaning of this word.

v. 40. Enhachyde with perle, &c.] i. e. Inlaid, adorned with pearl, &c. Our author in his Phyllyp Sparowe tells us that a lady had a wart (or as he also calls it, a scar) “enhached on her fayre skyn,” v. 1078. vol. i. 84. Gifford observes that “literally, to hatch is to inlay [originally, I believe, to cut, engrave, mark with lines]; metaphorically, it is to adorn, to beautify, with silver, gold, &c.” Note on Shirley’s Works, ii. 301. “The ladies apparell was after the fashion of Inde, with kerchifes of pleasance, hatched with fine gold.” Holinshed’s Chron. (Hen. viii.) vol. iii. 849. ed. 1587. “Hatching, is to Silver or gild the Hilt and Pomell of a Sword or Hanger.” R. Holme’s Ac. of Armory, 1688. B. iii. p. 91.

v. 41. The grounde engrosyd and bet with bourne golde]—grounde, i. e. (not floor, but) ground-work; as in Lydgate’s verses entitled For the better abyde;

“I see a rybaun ryche and newe

...

The grownde was alle of brent golde bryght.”

MS. Cott. Calig. A ii. fol. 65.

engrosyd, i. e. thickened, enriched: bet has here the same meaning as in Le Bone Florence of Rome;

“Hur clothys wyth bestes and byrdes wer bete.”

Met. Rom. iii. 9. ed. Ritson,

who somewhat copiously explains it “beaten, plaited, inlay’d, embroider’d:” bourne, i. e. burnished.

v. 44. abylyment] i. e. habiliment.

v. 45. estates] i. e. persons of estate or rank.

v. 49. supplyed] i. e. supplicated.

v. 50. pusant] i. e. puissant, powerful, mighty.

v. 52. of very congruence] i. e. of very fitness.

“Such ought of duetie and very congruence,” &c.

Barclay’s Ship of Fooles, fol. 188. ed. 1570.

v. 54. astate] i. e. estate, rank, dignity.

—— most lenen] i. e. must lean, bend, bow.

v. 55. arrect] i. e. raise.

v. 58. ryall] i. e. royal.

Page 364. v. 65. wele] i. e. well.

v. 66. embesy] i. e. embusy.

—— holl corage] i. e. whole heart.

v. 68. were] i. e. wear.

v. 69. wonder slake] i. e. wonderfully slack.

v. 70. lake] i. e. lack, fault.

v. 71. ne were] i. e. were it not.

v. 72. bokis ... sone ... rase] i. e. books ... soon ... erase.

v. 73. sith] i. e. since.

v. 74. Elyconis] i. e. Helicon’s.

v. 75. endeuour hymselfe] i. e. exert himself (compare v. 936).

v. 77. sittynge] i. e. proper, becoming.

v. 79. to] i. e. too.

v. 80. comprised] Compare our author in Lenuoy to Wolsey;

“And hym moost lowly pray,

In his mynde to comprise

Those wordes,” &c.

vol. ii. 84.

v. 81. rin] i. e. run.

Page 365. v. 83. pullishe] i. e. polish.

v. 86. remorde] See note, p. 193. v. 101.

v. 94. mo ... enduce] i. e. more ... bring in, adduce.

v. 95. parde for to kyll] i. e. par dieu, verily, for to be killed.

v. 96. enuectyfys] i. e. invectives.

v. 101. the grey] i. e. the badger. Juliana Berners says;

“That beest a bausyn hyght: a brok or a graye:

Thyse thre names he hath the soth for to saye.”

The Book of St. Albans, sig. D vi.

v. 102. gose ... oliphaunt] i. e. goose ... elephant.

v. 103. ageyne] i. e. against.

Page 366. v. 110. confecture] i. e. composition.

v. 111. diffuse is to expounde] i. e. is difficult to expound: see note, p. 144. v. 768.

v. 112. make ... fawt] i. e. compose ... fault.

v. 114. motyue] i. e. motion. So in the next line but one is “promotyue,” i. e. promotion: and so Lydgate has “ymaginatyfe” for—imagination. Fall of Prynces, B. v. leaf cxvii. ed. Wayland.

v. 115. auaunce] i. e. advance.

v. 116. rowme] i. e. room, place.

v. 121. gyse] i. e. guise, fashion.

v. 122. iche man doth hym dres] i. e. each man doth address, apply, himself.

v. 124. bokis] i. e. books.

Page 366. v. 127. loke] i. e. look.

v. 129. mo] i. e. more.

Page 367. v. 133. Ageyne] i. e. Against.

v. 136. wele] i. e. well.

v. 137. rasid] i. e. erased.

v. 140. Sith] i. e. Since.

—— defaut] i. e. default, want.

—— konnyng] i. e. (not so much—knowledge, learning, as) skill, ability.

v. 141. apposelle] i. e. question.

“And to pouert she put this opposayle.”

Lydgate’s Fall of Prynces, B. iii. leaf lxvi. ed. Wayland.

“Made vnto her this vncouth apposayle:

Why wepe ye so,” &c.

Id. B. v. leaf cxxviii.

—— wele inferrid] i. e. well brought in.

v. 142.

quikly it is

Towchid]

i. e. it is lively, subtly expressed: compare v. 592 and v. 1161, where the words are applied to visible objects.

—— debarrid] See note, p. 237. v. 60; and compare Gentylnes and Nobylyte (attributed without grounds to Heywood) n. d.;

“That reason is so grete no man can debarr.”

Sig. C iii.

Page 368. v. 149. sittyng] i. e. proper, becoming.

v. 152. corage] i. e. encourage.

v. 153. fresshely] i. e. elegantly: see note on v. 39. p. 302.

v. 155. bruitid] i. e. reported, spoken of.

v. 156. outray] See note, p. 123. v. 87, where this passage is examined.

v. 162. Ierome, in his preamble Frater Ambrosius, &c.] The Epistle of Jerome to Paulinus, prefixed to the Vulgate, begins, “Frater Ambrosius tua mihi munuscula perferens,” &c., and contains this passage: “Unde et Æschines, cum Rhodi exularet, et legeretur illa Demosthenis oratio, quam adversus eum habuerat, mirantibus cunctis atque laudantibus, suspirans ait, Quid, si ipsam audissetis bestiam sua verba resonantem?” It may be found also in Hieronymi Opp. I. 1005. ed. 1609.

Page 369. v. 172. most] i. e. must.

v. 180. wele ... avaunce] i. e. well ... advance.

v. 183. thefte and brybery] See note, p. 256. v. 1242.

v. 184. pyke] i. e. pick.

Page 369. v. 186. cokwoldes] i. e. cuckolds.

v. 187. wetewoldis] i. e. wittols, tame cuckolds.

“Wetewoldis that suffre synne in her syghtes.”

Lydgate’s Assemble de dyeus, sig. c i. n. d. 4to.

v. 188. lidderons] So before, lydderyns; see note, p. 267. v. 1945: but here, it would seem, the word is used in the more confined sense of—sluggish, slothful, idle fellows.

—— losels] See note, p. 209. v. 138.

—— noughty packis] See note, p. 203. v. 58.—If Skelton had been required to distinguish exactly between the meanings of these terms of reproach, he would perhaps have been nearly as much at a loss as his editor.

v. 189. Some facers, some bracers, some make great crackis] See note, p. 216. v. 33.

v. 192. courte rowlis] i. e. court-rolls.—Warton cites this and the next two verses as “nervous and manly lines.” Hist. of E. P. ii. 354. ed. 4to.

v. 196. rinne] i. e. run.

Page 370. v. 198. cunnyng] i. e. knowledge, learning.

v. 200. a mummynge] See note, p. 278. v. 83.

v. 201. sadnesse] See note, p. 259. v. 1382.

v. 203. faute] i. e. fault.

v. 204. to] i. e. too.

v. 205. can ... scole] i. e. knows ... school.

v. 207. fole] i. e. fool.

v. 208. stole] i. e. stool.

v. 209. Iacke a thrummis bybille] See note, p. 189. v. 204.

v. 211. agayne] i. e. against.

v. 212. dwte] i. e. duty.

v. 218. to] i. e. too.

Page 371. v. 223. lay] See note, p. 219. v. 103.

—— werkis] i. e. works.

v. 227. most] i. e. must.

v. 232. condiscendid] See note, p. 237. v. 39.

v. 233. clarionar] Is used here for—trumpeter: but the words properly are not synonymous;

“Of trumpeters and eke of clarioneres.”

Lydgate’s Warres of Troy, B. i. sig. C v. ed. 1555.

and Skelton himself has afterwards in the present poem, “trumpettis and clariouns.” v. 1507.

v. 235. Eolus, your trumpet] i. e. Æeolus, your trumpeter.

“A trumpet stode and proudly gan to blowe,

Which slayne was and fro the tre doun throw.”

Lydgate’s Fall of Prynces, B. v. leaf cxxx. ed. Wayland.

So Chaucer makes Æolus trumpeter to Fame: see House of Fame, B. iii.

Page 371. v. 236. mercyall] i. e. martial.

v. 239. prease] i. e. press, throng.

v. 240. hole rowte] i. e. whole crowd, assembly.

v. 243. this trumpet were founde out] See note, p. 251. v. 977.

v. 244. hardely] i. e. assuredly.

v. 245. eyne] i. e. eyes.

Page 372. v. 248. presid ... to] i. e. pressed ... too.

v. 250. Some whispred, some rownyd] See note, p. 120. v. 513.

v. 255. quod] i. e. quoth.

v. 258. plumpe] i. e. cluster, mass. “Stode stille as hit had ben a plompe of wood.” Morte d’Arthur, B. i. cap. xvi. vol. i. 27. ed. Southey. Dryden has the word; and the first writer perhaps after his time who used it was Sir W. Scott.

v. 260. timorous] i. e. terrible.

v. 264. rowte] i. e. crowd, assembly.

v. 265. girnid] i. e. grinned.

v. 266. peuysshe] i. e. silly, foolish.

—— masyd] i. e. bewildered, confounded.

v. 267. whyste] i. e. still.

—— the nonys] i. e. the occasion.

v. 268. iche ... stode] i. e. each ... stood.

v. 269. wonderly] i. e. wonderfully.

v. 270. A murmur of mynstrels] So in many of our early English dramas “a noise of musicians” is used for a company or band of musicians.

v. 272. Traciane] i. e. Thracian.

—— herped meledyously] i. e. harped melodiously.

Page 373. v. 274. armony] i. e. harmony.

v. 275. gree] i. e. agree.

v. 278. gle] i. e. music.

v. 279. auaunce] i. e. advance.

v. 282. Sterte ... fote] i. e. Started ... foot.

v. 285.

———— lake

Of]

i. e. lack of,—less than.

v. 288. cronell] i. e. coronal, garland.

Page 373. v. 289. heris encrisped] i. e. hairs formed into curls, curling.

v. 290. Daphnes] i. e. Daphne. So our early poets wrote the name;

“A maiden whilom there was one

Which Daphnes hight.”

Gower’s Conf. Am. B. iii. fol. lvi. ed. 1554.

“Her name was Daphnys which was deuoyed of loue.”

The Castell of pleasure, (by Nevil, son of Lord Latimer), sig. A iii. 1518.

So afterwards in the present poem we find Cidippes for Cydippe, v. 885; and see note, p. 123. v. 70.

—— the darte of lede] From Ovid, Met. i. 471.

v. 291. ne wolde] i. e. would not.

v. 292. herte] i. e. heart.

v. 295. Meddelyd with murnynge] i. e. Mingled with mourning.

v. 296. O thoughtfull herte] See note, p. 101. v. 10.

v. 298. loke] i. e. look.

v. 300.

the tre as he did take

Betwene his armes, he felt her body quake]

From Ovid, Met. i. 553.

Page 374. v. 302. he assurded into this exclamacyon]—assurded, i. e. broke forth—a word which I have not elsewhere met with, but evidently formed from the not uncommon verb sourd, to rise. “Ther withinne sourdeth and spryngeth a fontayne or welle.” Caxton’s Mirrour of the world, 1480. sig. e v.: in that work, a few lines after, occurs “resourdeth.”

v. 306. adyment] i. e. adamant.

v. 307. ouerthwhart] i. e. cross, perverse, adverse.

v. 310. Sith] i. e. Since.

v. 314. gresse] i. e. grass. This stanza is also imitated from Ovid, Met. i. 521.

v. 315. axes] See note, p. 100. v. 9.

v. 317. raist] i. e. arrayest: see note on title of poem, p. 197.

v. 318. But sith I haue lost, &c.] Again from Ovid, Met. i. 557.

v. 324. poetis laureat, &c.] It must be remembered that formerly a poet laureat meant a person who had taken a degree in grammar, including rhetoric and versification: and that the word poet was applied to a writer of prose as well as of verse; “Poet a connyng man.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lv. (Table of Subst.).

“And poetes to preoven hit. Porfirie and Plato

Aristotle, Ovidius,” &c.

Peirs Plouhman, p. 210. ed. Whit.

“Nor sugred deties [ditties] of Tullius Cicero.”

Lydgate’s Lyfe and passion of seint Albon, sig. B ii. ed. 1534.

Page 374. v. 328. Esiodus, the iconomicar] i. e. Hesiod, the writer on husbandry (the eds. by a misprint have “icononucar,”—which Warton says he “cannot decypher.” Hist. of E. P., ii. 352 (note), ed. 4to.) Among MSS. Dig. Bod. 147. is “Carmen Domini Walteri de Henleye quod vocatur Yconomia sive Housbundria:” compare Cicero; “quam copiose ab eo [Xenophonte] agricultura laudatur in eo libro, qui est de tuenda re familiari, qui Œconomicus inscribitur.” Cato Major, c. 17.

v. 329. fresshe] i. e. elegant: see note, p. 302. v. 39.

Page 375. v. 335. engrosyd] i. e. plumped up, swollen.

—— flotis] i. e. flowings,—drops: various reading, “droppes;” see note ad l. (“Flotyce. Spuma.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499, is a distinct word.)

v. 338. Percius presed forth with problemes diffuse]—presed, i. e. pressed: diffuse, i. e. difficult to be understood; see note, p. 144. v. 768. “Skelton, undoubtedly a man of learning, calls Persius (not unhappily for his mode of thinking) a writer of problems diffuse.” Gifford’s Introd. to Persius, p. xxxi. ed. 1817.

v. 340. satirray] Is this word to be explained—satirist, or satirical?

v. 344. auaunce] i. e. advance.

v. 345. mengith] i. e. mingleth.

v. 347. wrate ... mercyall] i. e. wrote ... martial.

v. 352. Orace also with his new poetry] “That is, Horace’s Art of Poetry. Vinesauf wrote De Nova Poetria. Horace’s Art is frequently mentioned under this title.” Warton’s Hist. of E. P., ii. 353 (note), ed. 4to.

Page 376. v. 359. Boyce] i. e. Boethius.

—— recounfortyd] i. e. recomforted,—comforted.

v. 360.

Maxymyane, with his madde ditiis,

How dotynge age wolde iape with yonge foly]

—iape, i. e. jest, joke. The Elegiarum Liber of Maximianus, which has been often printed as the production of Cornelius Gallus, may be found, with all that can be told concerning its author, in Wernsdorf’s Poetæ Latini Minores, tomi sexti pars prior. In these six elegies Maximianus deplores the evils of old age, relates the pursuits and loves of his youth, &c. &c. Perhaps the line “How dotynge age wolde iape with yonge foly” (in which case iape would have the same meaning here as in our author’s Manerly Margery Mylk and Ale, v. 20. vol. i. 28) is a particular allusion to Elegy v., where Maximianus informs us, that, having been sent on an embassy, at an advanced period of life, he became enamoured of a “Graia puella,” &c., the adventure being described in the grossest terms.

Page 376. v. 365. Johnn Bochas with his volumys grete] In Skelton’s time, the De Genealogia Deorum, the De Casibus Virorum et Fœminarum Illustrium, and other now-forgotten works of Boccaccio, were highly esteemed,—more, perhaps, than the Decamerone.

v. 366. full craftely that wrate] i. e. that wrote full skilfully.

v. 368. probate] See note, p. 236. v. 4.

v. 372. Poggeus ... with many a mad tale] When this poem was written, the Facetiæ of Poggio enjoyed the highest popularity. In The Palice of Honour, Gawen Douglas, enumerating the illustrious writers at the Court of the Muses, says,

“Thair was Plautus, Poggius, and Persius.”

p. 27. ed. Ban. 1827.

v. 374. a frere of Fraunce men call sir Gagwyne, &c.]—frere, i. e. friar: concerning Gaguin, see Account of Skelton and his Writings.

v. 376. bote is of all bale] See note, p. 268. v. 2096.

Page 377. v. 380. Valerius Maximus by name] i. e. Valerius who has the name Maximus (to distinguish him from Valerius Flaccus).

v. 381. Vincencius in Speculo, that wrote noble warkis]—warkis, i. e. works. The Speculum Majus of Vincentius Bellovacensis (naturale, morale, doctrinale, et historiale), a vast treatise in ten volumes folio, usually bound in four, was first printed in 1473. See the Biog. Univ., and Hallam’s Introd. to the Lit. of Europe, i. 160.

v. 382. Pisandros] “Our author,” says Warton, “got the name of Pisander, a Greek poet, from Macrobius, who cites a few of his verses.” Hist. of E. P., ii. 353 (note), ed. 4to. A mistake: Macrobius (Sat. v. 2.) mentions, but does not cite, Pisander.

v. 383. blissed Bachus, that mastris oft doth frame]—mastris, i. e. disturbances, strifes: see note, p. 264. v. 1738.

v. 386. sadly ... auysid] i. e. seriously, earnestly ... considered, observed.

v. 389. fresshely be ennewed] See notes, p. 144. v. 775. p. 302. v. 39.

v. 390.

The monke of Bury ...

Dane Johnn Lydgate]

—Dane, equivalent to Dominus. So at the commencement of his Lyfe of our Lady, printed by Caxton, folio, n. d.; “This book was compyled by dan John lydgate monke of Burye,” &c. He belonged to the Benedictine abbey of Bury in Suffolk.

Page 377. v. 391. theis Englysshe poetis thre] “That only these three English poets [Gower, Chaucer, Lydgate] are here mentioned, may be considered as a proof that only these three were yet thought to deserve the name.” Warton’s Hist. of E. P., ii. 354. ed. 4to. So the Scottish poets of Skelton’s time invariably selected these three as most worthy of praise: see Laing’s note on Dunbar’s Poems, ii. 355.

v. 393. Togeder in armes, as brethern, enbrasid] So Lydgate;

“Embraced in armes as they had be knet

Togyder with a gyrdell.”

Le Assemble de dyeus, sig. d iii. n. d.

v. 395. tabers] i. e. tabards: see the earlier portion of note, p. 283. v. 318.

v. 397. Thei wantid nothynge but the laurell] Meaning,—that they were not poets laureate: see note on v. 324. p. 307.

v. 398. godely] i. e. goodly.

v. 402. enplement] i. e. employment, place.

Page 378. v. 405. The brutid Britons of Brutus Albion]—brutid, i. e. famed. So Lydgate;

“Reioyse ye folkes that borne be in Bretayne,

Called otherwise Brutus Albion.”

Fall of Prynces, B. viii. fol. viii. ed. Wayland.

v. 410. Arrectinge vnto your wyse examinacion] See note, p. 237. v. 95.

v. 414. besy] i. e. busy.

v. 417. hooll] i. e. whole.

v. 420. poynted] i. e. appointed.

v. 421. pullisshyd] i. e. polished.

v. 425. mowte] i. e. might.

Page 379. v. 428. preuentid] i. e. anticipated.

v. 429. meritory] i. e. deserved, due.

v. 431. regraciatory] i. e. return of thanks.

v. 432. poynt you to be prothonatory] i. e. appoint you to be prothonotary.

v. 433. holl] i. e. whole.

v. 434. Auaunced] i. e. Advanced.

v. 439. warkes] i. e. works.

v. 444. I made it straunge] i. e. I made it a matter of nicety, scruple.

v. 445. presed] i. e. pressed.

Page 380. v. 455. prese] i. e. press, throng.

v. 460. Engolerid] i. e. Engalleried.

v. 466. turkis and grossolitis] i. e. turquoises and chrysolites.

Page 380. v. 467. birrall enbosid] i. e. beryl embossed.

v. 469.

Enlosenged with many goodly platis

Of golde]

i. e. Having many goodly plates of gold shaped like lozenges (quadrilateral figures of equal sides, but unequal angles).

—— entachid with many a precyous stone]—entachid may be used in the sense of—tacked on; but qy. is the right reading “enhachid?” as in v. 40 of the present poem, “Enhachyde with perle,” &c., (and v. 1078 of Phyllyp Sparowe,) see note, p. 302.

v. 472. whalis bone] In our early poetry “white as whales bone” is a common simile; and there is reason to believe that some of our ancient writers supposed the ivory then in use (which was made from the teeth of the horse-whale, morse, or walrus) to be part of the bones of a whale. Skelton, however, makes a distinction between “whalis bone” and the real ivory (see v. 468). The latter was still scarce in the reign of Henry the Eighth; but, before that period, Caxton had told his readers that “the tooth of an olyfaunt is yuorye.” Mirrour of the world, 1480. sig. f i.

v. 474. The carpettis within and tappettis of pall]—tappettis of pall, i. e. coverings of rich or fine stuff (perhaps table-covers): that tappettis does not here mean tapestry, is proved by the next line; and compare v. 787,

“With that the tappettis and carpettis were layd,

Whereon theis ladys softly myght rest,

The saumpler to sow on,” &c.

Page 381. v. 475. clothes of arace] See note, p. 192. v. 78.

v. 476. Enuawtyd ... vawte] i. e. Envaulted ... vault.

v. 477. pretory] Lat. prætorium.

v. 478. enbulyoned] i. e. studded; see note on v. 1165.

—— indy blew] See note, p. 101. v. 17.

v. 480. Iacinctis and smaragdis out of the florthe they grew]—Iacinctis, i. e. Jacinths: smaragdis, i. e. emeralds (but see note, p. 102. v. 20): “Vng planché, a plancher or a florthe that is boorded.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. iii. (Thirde Boke). “Florthe of a house astre.”—“Gyst that gothe ouer the florthe soliue, giste.” Id. fols. xxxiiii. xxxvi. (Table of Subst.). “I Plaster a wall or florthe with plaster ... I wyl plaster the florthe of my chambre to make a gernyer there, Ie plastreray latre de ma chābre pour en faire vng grenier.” Id. fol. cccxviii. (Table of Verbes).

v. 483. most rychely besene] i. e. of a most rich appearance,—most richly arrayed: see notes, p. 112. v. 283, p. 295. v. 957.

v. 484. cloth of astate] i. e. cloth of estate,—canopy.

v. 487. ryally] i. e. royally.

Page 381. v. 489. enuyrowne] i. e. in compass, about.

v. 490. stode] i. e. stood.

v. 492. presid] i. e. pressed.

v. 493. Poyle ... Trace] i. e. Apulia ... Thrace.

v. 499. metely wele] See note, p. 270. v. 2196.

Page 382. v. 502. a kyby hele] See note, p. 174. v. 493.

v. 503. salfecundight] i. e. safe-conduct.

v. 504. lokyd ... a fals quarter]—lokyd, i. e. looked: “The false quarters is a soreness on the inside of the hoofs, which are commonly called quarters, which is as much as to say, crased unsound quarters, which comes from evil Shooing and paring the Hoof.” R. Holme’s Ac. of Armory, 1688. B. ii. p. 152.

v. 505. I pray you, a lytyll tyne stande back] So Heywood;

“For when prouender prickt them a little tine,” &c.

Dialogue, &c. sig. D,—Workes, ed. 1598.

v. 514. the ballyuis of the v portis] i. e. the bailiffs of the Cinque Ports.

v. 519. besines] i. e. business.

v. 520. most] i. e. must.

v. 521. maystres] i. e. mistress.

v. 523. sufferayne] i. e. sovereign.

v. 525. And we shall se you ageyne or it be pryme] I have my doubts about what hour is here meant by pryme. Concerning that word see Du Cange’s Gloss. in Prima and Horæ Canonicæ, Tyrwhitt’s Gloss. to Chaucer’s Cant. Tales, Sibbald’s Gloss. to Chron. of Scot. Poetry, and Sir F. Madden’s Gloss. to Syr Gawayne, &c.

Page 383. v. 531. kest ... loke] i. e. cast ... look.

v. 532. boke] i. e. book.

v. 537. supprysed] i. e. overpowered, smitten.

v. 541. the port salu] See note, p. 299. v. 1262.

v. 547. hertely as herte] i. e. heartily as heart.

v. 548. hole] i. e. whole.

v. 550. aquyte] i. e. discharge, pay.

Page 384. v. 554. moche] i. e. much.

v. 555. Affyaunsynge her myne hole assuraunce] i. e. Pledging her my whole, &c.

v. 559. stonde] i. e. stand.

v. 560. toke ... honde] i. e. took ... hand.

v. 566. iangelers] i. e. babblers, chatterers.

v. 570. moche costious] i. e. much costly.

v. 572. the stones be full glint]—glint must mean here—slippery: see note, p. 263. v. 1687.

v. 574. yatis] i. e. gates.

Page 385. v. 585. carectis] i. e. characters.

v. 586. where as I stode] i. e. where I stood.

v. 590. a lybbard] i. e. a leopard.—“There is,” says Warton, who quotes the stanza, “some boldness and animation in the figure and attitude of this ferocious animal.” Hist. of E. P., ii. 352. ed. 4to.

v. 592. As quikly towchyd] i. e. touched, executed, as much to the life.

v. 595. forme foote] i. e. fore-foot.

—— shoke] i. e. shook.

v. 597.

Unguibus ire parat loca singula livida curvis

Quam modo per Phœbes nummos raptura Celæno]

The whole of this “Cacosyntheton ex industria” is beyond my comprehension. Here Skelton has an eye to Juvenal;

“Nec per conventus nec cuncta per oppida curvis

Unguibus ire parat nummos raptura Celæno.”

Sat. viii. 129.

v. 601. Spreto spineto cedat saliunca roseto] Here he was thinking of Virgil;

“Lenta salix quantum pallenti cedit olivæ,

Puniceis humilis quantum saliunca rosetis.”

Ecl. v. 16.

v. 602. loked] i. e. looked.

v. 603. presed] i. e. pressed, thronged.

v. 604. Shet] i. e. Shut.

v. 605. to] i. e. too.

v. 606. astate] i. e. estate, condition.

v. 607. quod] i. e. quoth.

—— haskardis] “Haskerdes went in the queste: not honeste men. Proletarii & capite censi: non classici rem trāsegerunt.” Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. n iiii. ed. 1530.

“Wyne was not made for euery haskerde.”

Copland’s Hye Way to the Spyttell Hous, Early Pop. Poetry, ii. 33. ed. Utterson,

who in the Gloss. queries if haskerde mean “dirty fellow? from the Scotch hasky.” The latter word is explained by Jamieson “dirty, slovenly.” Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang.

—— rebawdis] i. e. ribalds.

v. 608. Dysers, carders] Dicers, card-players.

—— gambawdis] i. e. gambols.

Page 386. v. 609. Furdrers of loue] i. e. Furtherers of love—pimps, pandars.

v. 610. blow at the cole] A friend suggests that there is an allusion here to alchemists; but I believe he is mistaken. It is a proverbial expression. So our author again;

“We may blowe at the cole.”

Why come ye nat to Courte, v. 81. vol. ii. 29.

The proverb given by Davies of Hereford;

“Let them that bee colde, blow at the cole.

So may a man do, and yet play the foole.”

Scourge of Folly,—Prouerbes, p. 171.

and by Ray, Proverbs, p. 90. ed. 1768, seems to have a quite different meaning.

Page 386. v. 611. kownnage] i. e. coinage,—coining.

v. 612. Pope holy ypocrytis] i. e. Pope-holy hypocrites: see note, p. 230. l. 24 (prose).

—— as they were golde and hole]—hole, i. e. whole. Heywood also has this expression;

“In words gold and hole, as men by wit could wish,

She will [lie] as fast as a dog will lick a dish.”

Dialogue, &c.—Workes, sig. H 2, ed. 1598.

v. 613. Powle hatchettis] See note, p. 98. v. 28.

—— ale pole] i. e. pole, or stake, set up before an ale-house by way of sign.

v. 614. brybery, theft] See note, p. 256. v. 1242.

v. 615. condycyons] See note, p. 183. v. 12.

v. 616. folys] i. e. fools.

v. 618. dysdanous dawcokkis] i. e. disdainful simpletons, empty fellows: see note, p. 113. v. 301.

v. 619. fawne thé] i. e. fawn on thee.

—— kurris of kynde] i. e. curs by nature.

v. 620. shrewdly] i. e. evilly.

v. 625. broisid] i. e. bruised, broke.

v. 626. peuysshe] i. e. foolish, silly.

—— porisshly pynk iyde] “Porisshly, as one loketh yᵗ can nat se well, Louchement.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. ccccxliiii. (Table of Aduerbes): pynk iyde, i. e. pink-eyed; “Some haue myghty eyes, and some be pynkeyed ... peti.” Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. G vi. ed. 1530; and see Nares’s Gloss. in v.

v. 627. aspyid] i. e. espied, marked.

v. 629. a gun stone] After the introduction of iron shot (instead of balls of stone) for heavy artillery, the term gunstone was retained in the sense of—bullet: “Gonne stone, plombee, boulet, bovle de fonte.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xxxvii. (Table of Subst.).

—— all to-iaggid] See notes, p. 100. v. 32. p. 163. v. 124.

v. 630. daggid] See note, p. 163. v. 123.

v. 631. byrnston] i. e. brimstone.

Page 386. v. 632. Masid] i. e. Bewildered, confounded.

—— a scut] “Scut or hare. Lepus.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499.

v. 635. dysour] See note, p. 255. v. 1191.

—— a deuyl way] See note, p. 287. v. 672.

Page 387. v. 637. peuisshenes] i. e. foolishness, silliness: compare v. 626.

v. 639. foisty bawdias] See note, p. 192. v. 76.

v. 641. Dasyng after dotrellis, lyke drunkardis that dribbis]—Dasying i. e. gazing with a stupified look: dotrellis; see note, p. 129. v. 409: dribbis, i. e. drip, drivel, slaver.

v. 642. titiuyllis] See note, p. 284. v. 418.

—— taumpinnis] i. e. tampions,—wooden stoppers, put into the mouths of cannon to keep out rain or sea-water. In The foure P. P. by Heywood, the Poticary tells a facetious story about “a thampyon.” Sig. D i. ed. n. d. (Fr. tampon).

v. 643. I hyght you] i. e. I assure you.

v. 644. mone light] i. e. moonlight.

v. 648. wele] i. e. well.

v. 649. auenturis] i. e. adventure.

v. 652. herber] See note, p. 101. v. 13.

v. 653. brere] i. e. briar.

v. 654. With alys ensandid about in compas] “i. e. it was surrounded with sand-walks.” Warton’s Hist. of E. P., ii. 350 (note), ed. 4to. So the garden, in which Chaucer describes Cressid walking, was “sonded all the waies.” Troilus and Creseide, B. ii. fol. 152, —Workes, ed. 1602: and compare Lydgate;

“Alle the aleis were made playne with sond.”

The Chorle and the Bird,—MS. Harl. 116. fol. 147.

v. 655. with singular solas] i. e. in a particularly pleasant manner.

v. 656. rosers] i. e. rose-bushes.

v. 658. coundight] i. e. conduit.

—— coryously] i. e. curiously. So Lydgate;

“Coriously and craftly to endyte.”

The prohemy of a mariage, &c.—MS. Harl. 372. fol. 47.

v. 662. ensilured again the son beames] i. e. ensilvered against the sunbeams.

Page 388. v. 664. reuolde] i. e. revolved, turned.

v. 669. bet vp a fyre] See note, p. 146. v. 930.

v. 671. flagraunt flower]—flagraunt, i. e. fragrant. Compare v. 978. So Hawes;

“Strowed with floures flagraunte of ayre.”

The Pastime of pleasure, sig. A a iiii. ed. 1555.

Page 388. v. 673. baratows broisiours] i. e. contentious bruisers,—unless (as the context seems rather to shew) broisiours means—bruisures, bruises.

v. 674. passid all bawmys] i. e. surpassed all balms.

v. 676. gardynge] i. e. garden.

—— piplyng] i. e. piping; as in our author’s Replycacion, &c. vol. i. 207. l. 26 (prose).

v. 680. the nyne Muses, Pierides by name] So Chaucer;

“Muses, that men clepe Pierides.”

The Man of Lawes Prol. v. 4512 (but see Tyrwhitt’s note).

v. 681. Testalis] i. e. Thestylis. So Barclay;

“Neera, Malkin, or lustie Testalis.”

Second Egloge, sig. B ii. ed. 1570.

v. 682. enbybid] i. e. made wet, soaked.

v. 683. moche solacyous] i. e. much pleasant, mirthful.

v. 686. somer] i. e. summer.

—— fotid] i. e. footed.

v. 687. twynklyng upon his harpe stringis]—twynklyng, i. e. tinkling. So, at a much later period, Dekker; “Thou (most cleare throated singing man,) with thy Harpe, (to the twinckling of which inferior Spirits skipt like Goates ouer the Welsh mountaines),” &c. A Knights Coniuring, 1607. sig. D 2.

Page 389. v. 688. And Iopas, &c.] Here, and in the next two stanzas, Skelton has an eye to Virgil;

“Cithara crinitus Iopas

Personat aurata, docuit quæ maxumus Atlas.

Hic canit errantem lunam, solisque labores;

Unde hominum genus, et pecudes; unde imber, et ignes;

Arcturum, pluviasque Hyadas, geminosque Triones;

Quid tantum Oceano properent se tinguere soles

Hiberni, vel quæ tardis mora noctibus obstet.”

Æn. i. 740.

—— auaunce] i. e. advance.

v. 691. mone] i. e. moon.

v. 694. spere] i. e. sphere.

v. 697. prechid] i. e. discoursed, told.

—— chere] i. e. countenance, look.

v. 699. aspy] i. e. espy.

v. 705. counteryng] See note, p. 92.

Page 389. v. 709. pleasure, with lust and delyte] One of our author’s pleonastic expressions.

v. 712. conuenable] i. e. fitting.

Page 390. v. 718. wele were hym] i. e. he were in good condition.

v. 720. maystres] i. e. mistress.

v. 725. losyd ful sone] i. e. loosed full soon.

v. 731. That I ne force what though it be discurid] i. e. That I do not care although it be discovered, shewn.

v. 733. ladyn of liddyrnes with lumpis]—liddyrnes, i. e. sluggishness, slothfulness (the construction is—ladyn with lumpis of liddyrness).

v. 734. dasid] i. e. stupified.

—— dumpis] See note on v. 15. p. 301: but here the word implies greater dulness of mind.

v. 735. coniect] i. e. conjecture.

v. 736. Gog] A corruption of the sacred name.

Page 391. v. 737. be] i. e. by.

v. 741. fonde] i. e. foolish.

v. 742. Tressis agasonis species prior, altera Davi] “Hic Dama est non tressis agaso.” Persius, Sat. v. 76. Davus is a slave’s name in Plautus, Terence, &c.

v. 748. tacita sudant præcordia culpa] From Juvenal, Sat. i. 167.

v. 751. Labra movens tacitus] “Labra moves tacitus.” Persius, Sat. v. 184.

—— rumpantur ut ilia Codro] From Virgil, Ecl. vii. 26.

v. 753. hight] i. e. is called.

v. 754. and ye wist] i. e. if ye knew.

Page 392. v. 758. hole reame] i. e. whole realm.

v. 762. smerke] i. e. smirk.

v. 763. leue warke whylis it is wele] i. e. leave work while it is well.

v. 764. towchis] i. e. touches, qualities.

—— to] i. e. too.

v. 768. astate] i. e. estate, state.

v. 769. Cowntes of Surrey] Was Elizabeth Stafford, eldest daughter of Edward Duke of Buckingham, and second wife of Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, who afterwards (on the death of his father in 1524) became the third Duke of Norfolk. She had previously been attached and engaged to the Earl of Westmoreland with the consent of both families; but her father, having broken off the intended match, compelled her to accept the hand of lord Thomas Howard in 1513. She was twenty years younger than her husband. After many domestic quarrels, they separated about 1533. Of their five children, one was Henry Howard, the illustrious poet. She died in 1558. See Memorials of the Howard Family, &c. by H. Howard, 1834, folio.

The Countess of Surrey appears to have been fond of literature; and, as she calls Skelton her “clerk,” we may suppose that she particularly patronised him. The probability is, that the present poem was really composed at Sheriff-Hutton Castle, which (as already noticed, p. 300) had been granted by the king to the Duke of Norfolk for life, and that the Countess was residing there on a visit to her father-in-law.

The Garlande of Laurell was written, I apprehend, about 1520, or perhaps a little later: in v. 1192 Skelton mentions his Magnyfycence, which was certainly produced after 1515,—see note on title of that piece, p. 236.

Page 392. v. 771. beue] i. e. bevy.

v. 774. warhe] i. e. work.

v. 775. asayde] i. e. tried, proved.

Page 393. v. 776. cronell] i. e. coronal, garland.

v. 786. of there lewdnesse] May mean (as Nott explains it, Surrey’s Works, i.—Append. p. ix.)—of their ignorance, ignorantly; but I rather think the expression is here equivalent to,—evilly, impudently.

v. 787. tappettis and carpettis] See note on v. 474. p. 311.

v. 790. To weue in the stoule] So Chaucer;

“And weauen in stole the radevore.”

Leg. of Philomene, fol. 195.—Workes, ed. 1602.

and Hall; “On their heades bonets of Damaske syluer flatte wouen in the stole, and therupon wrought with gold,” &c. Chron. (Hen. viii.) fol. vii. ed. 1548.—Mr. Albert Way observes to me that in Prompt. Parv. MS. Harl. 221, is “Lyncent werkynge instrument for sylke women. Liniarium,” while the ed. of 1499 has “Lyncet workinge stole;” and he supposes the stole (i. e. stool) to have been a kind of frame, much like what is still used for worsted work, but, instead of being arranged like a cheval glass, that it was made like a stool,—the top being merely a frame or stretcher for the work.

—— preste] i. e. ready.

v. 791. With slaiis, with tauellis, with hedellis well drest]—slaiis, i. e. sleys, weavers’ reeds: tauellis, see note, p. 94. v. 34: “Heddles, Hedeles, Hiddles. The small cords through which the warp is passed in a loom, after going through the reed.” Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang. by Jamieson, who cites from G. Douglas’s Æneid;

“With subtell slayis, and hir hedeles slee,

Riche lenze wobbis naitly weiffit sche.”

B. vii. p. 204. 45. ed. Rudd.

Page 393. v. 793. warke] i. e. work.

v. 794. to enbrowder put them in prese] i. e. put themselves in press (applied themselves earnestly) to embroider.

v. 795. glowtonn] Does it mean—ball, clue? or, as Mr. Albert Way suggests,—a sort of needle, a stiletto as it is now called,—something by which the silk was to be inwrought?

v. 796. pirlyng] “I Pyrle wyer of golde or syluer I wynde it vpon a whele as sylke women do.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. cccxvii. (Table of Verbes).

v. 798. tewly sylk] Richardson in his Dict. under the verb Tew places tewly, as derived from it, and cites the present passage. But tewly seems to have nothing to do with that verb. “Tuly colowre. Puniceus vel punicus.” Prompt. Parv. MS. Harl. 221. In MS. Sloane, 73. fol. 214, are directions “for to make bokerham tuly or tuly thred,” where it appears that this colour was “a manere of reed colour as it were of croppe mader,” that is, probably, of the tops or sprouts of the madder, which would give a red less intense or full: the dye was “safflour” (saffron?) and “asches of wyn [whin] ballis ybrent;” and a little red vinegar was to be used to bring the colour up to a fuller red.—For this information I am indebted to Mr. Albert Way.

v. 799. botowme] “I can make no bottoms of this threde ... glomera.” Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. t i. ed 1530.

v. 801. warkis] i. e. works.

Page 394. v. 803. With burris rowth and bottons surffillyng]—burris rowth, i. e. burrs rough: bottons, i. e. buds: surffillyng, see note, p. 281. v. 219.

v. 804. nedill wark] i. e. needle-work.

v. 805. enbesid] i. e. embusied.

v. 814. conseyt] i. e. conceit.

v. 815. captacyons of beneuolence] Todd gives “Captation (old Fr. captation, ruse, artifice). The practice of catching favour or applause; courtship; flattery.” Johnson’s Dict. Richardson, after noticing the use of the verb captive “with a subaudition of gentle, attractive, persuasive means or qualities,” adds that in the present passage of Skelton captation is used with that subaudition. Dict. in v.

v. 816. pullysshid] i. e. polished.

v. 817.

Sith ye must nedis afforce it by pretence

Of your professyoun vnto vmanyte]

i. e. Since you must needs attempt, undertake, it by your claim to the profession of humanity,—humaniores literæ, polite literature.

Page 394. v. 819. proces] i. e. discourse; see notes, p. 143. v. 735. p. 230 (first note on prose), p. 276. v. 2506, &c.

v. 820. iche] i. e. each.

v. 821. sentence ... couenable] i. e. meaning ... fitting.

v. 822. Auaunsynge] i. e. Advancing.

v. 824. arrectyng] i. e. raising.

Page 395. v. 825. ken] i. e. instruct (pleonastically coupled with “informe,” as in v. 1428).

v. 828. dredfull] i. e. full of dread, timorous.

v. 830. bestad] i. e. bested, circumstanced.

v. 833. gabyll rope] i. e. cable-rope. “A Gable, Rudens.” Coles’s Dict.

v. 835. beseke] i. e. beseech.

—— Countes of Surrey] See note on v. 769. p. 317.

v. 838. reconusaunce] i. e. acknowledgment.

v. 841. astate] i. e. estate, state.

v. 842. honour and worshyp] Terms nearly synonymous: worshyp, i. e. dignity.

—— formar] i. e. first, highest: see Todd’s Johnson’s Dict. in v. Former.

v. 843. Argyua] i. e. Argia.

v. 844. Polimites] i. e. Polynices;

“his fellaw dan Polimites,

Of which the brother dan Ethiocles,” &c.

Chaucer’s Troilus and Creseide, B. v. fol. 180,—Workes, ed. 1602.

“Lete Polymyte reioyse his herytage.”

Lydgate’s Storye of Thebes, Pars tert. sig. i v. ed. 4to. n. d.

v. 847. counterwayng] i. e. counter-weighing.

Page 396. v. 850. Pamphila] “Telas araneorum modo texunt ad vestem luxumque fœminarum, quæ bombycina appellatur. Prima eas redordiri, rursusque texere invenit in Ceo mulier Pamphila, Latoi filia, non fraudanda gloria excogitatæ rationis ut denudet fœminas vestis.” Plinii Nat. Hist. lib. xi. 26.

—— quene of the Grekis londe]—londe, i. e. land: qy. does any writer except Skelton call her a queen?

v. 852.

Thamer also wrought with her goodly honde

Many diuisis passynge curyously]

It is plain that Skelton, while writing these complimentary stanzas, consulted Boccaccio De Claris Mulieribus: there this lady is called Thamyris (see, in that work, “De Thamyri Pictrice,” cap. liiii. ed. 1539). Her name is properly Timarete; she was daughter to Mycon the painter; vide Plinii Nat. Hist.: honde, i. e. hand: diuisis, i. e. devices.

Page 396. v. 857. toke] i. e. took.

v. 860. corage ... perfight] i. e. heart, affection ... perfect.

—— lady Elisabeth Howarde] Was the third daughter of the second Duke of Norfolk by his second wife, Agnes Tylney, daughter of Sir Hugh Tylney, and sister and heir to Sir Philip Tylney of Boston, Lincolnshire, knight (I follow Howard’s Memorials of the Howard Family, &c.; Collins says “daughter of Hugh Tilney”). Lady Elizabeth married Henry Ratcliff, Earl of Sussex.

v. 865. Aryna] i. e. perhaps—Irene. In the work of Boccaccio just referred to is a portion “De Hyrene C[r]atini filia,” cap. lvii.; and Pliny notices her together with the above-mentioned Timarete.

v. 866. konnyng] i. e. knowledge.

v. 867. wele] i. e. well.

v. 868. enbewtid] i. e. beautified.

v. 870. lusty ... loke] i. e. pleasant ... look.

v. 871. Creisseid] See Chaucer’s Troilus and Creseide.

—— Polexene] i. e. Polyxena, the daughter of Priam.

v. 872. enuyue] i. e. envive, enliven, excite.

Page 397. v. 874. hole] i. e. whole.

—— lady Mirriell Howarde] Could not have been Muriel, daughter of the second Duke of Norfolk; for she, after having been twice married, died in 1512, anterior to the composition of the present poem. Qy. was the Muriel here celebrated the Duke’s grandchild,—one of those children of the Earl and Countess of Surrey, whose names, as they died early, have not been recorded? Though Skelton compares her to Cidippe, and terms her “madame,” he begins by calling her “mi litell lady.”

v. 880. curteyse] i. e. courteous.

v. 881. Whome fortune and fate playnly haue discust]—discust, i. e. determined. So again our author in Why come ye nat to Courte;

“Allmyghty God, I trust,

Hath for him dyscust,” &c.

v. 747. vol. ii. 50.

and Barclay;

“But if thou iudge amisse, then shall Eacus

(As Poetes saith) hell thy iust rewarde discusse.”

The Ship of Fooles, fol. 4. ed. 1570.

v. 882. plesure, delyght, and lust] One of Skelton’s pleonastic expressions.

Page 397. v. 885.

Cidippes, the mayd,

That of Aconcyus whan she founde the byll, &c.]

—Cidippes, i. e. Cydippe; see note on v. 290. p. 307: the byll; i. e. the writing,—the verses which Acontius had written on the apple.

v. 888. fyll] i. e. fell.

—— lady Anne Dakers of the Sowth] The wife of Thomas Lord Dacre, was daughter of Sir Humphrey Bourchier, son of John Lord Berners and of Elizabeth Tylney, who (see note on v. 399) afterwards became the first wife of the second Duke of Norfolk.

v. 893. his crafte were to seke] i. e. his skill were at a loss.

Page 398. v. 897. Princes] i. e. Princess.

v. 898. conyng] i. e. knowledge.

v. 899. Paregall] i. e. Equal (thoroughly equal).

v. 901. surmountynge] i. e. surpassing.

v. 902. sad] See note, p. 264. v. 1711.

v. 903. lusty lokis] i. e. pleasant looks.

—— mastres Margery Wentworthe] Perhaps the second daughter of Sir Richard Wentworth, afterwards married to Christopher Glemham of Glemham in Suffolk.

v. 906. margerain ientyll] “Marierome is called ... in English, Sweet Marierome, Fine Marierome, and Marierome gentle; of the best sort Marjerane.” Gerard’s Herball, p. 664. ed. 1633.

v. 907. goodlyhede] i. e. goodness.

v. 908. Enbrowdred] i. e. Embroidered.

v. 912. praty] i. e. pretty.

v. 918. corteise] i. e. courteous.

Page 399.—— mastres Margaret Tylney] A sister-in-law, most probably, of the second Duke of Norfolk. His first wife was Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Sir Frederick Tylney of Ashwell-Thorpe, Norfolk, knight, and widow of Sir Humphrey Bourchier, son of John Lord Berners: his second wife was Agnes, daughter of Sir Hugh Tylney, and sister and heir to Sir Philip Tylney of Boston, Lincolnshire, knight; see third note, preceding page.

v. 928. besy cure] i. e. busy care.

v. 933.

As Machareus

Fayre Canace]

Their tale is told in the Conf. Am. by Gower; he expresses no horror at their incestuous passion, but remarks on the cruelty of their father, who

“for he was to loue strange,

He wolde not his herte change

To be benigne and fauourable

To loue, but vnmerciable!”

B. iii. fol. xlviii. ed. 1554.

(and see the lines cited in note on v. 1048. p. 324). Lydgate (Fall of Prynces, B. i. leaf xxxv. ed. Wayland) relates the story with a somewhat better moral feeling.

Page 399. v. 935. iwus] Or i-wis (adv.),—i. e. truly, certainly.

v. 936. Endeuoure me] i. e. Exert myself.

v. 941. Wele] i. e. Well.

v. 942. Intentyfe] “Intentyfe hedefull.”—“Ententyfe, busy to do a thynge or to take hede to a thyng.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fols. lxxxx. lxxxvii. (where both are rendered by the Fr. ententif).

v. 948. Perle orient] In allusion to her Christian name just mentioned, “Margarite.”

v. 949. Lede sterre] i. e. Load-star.

v. 950. Moche] i. e. Much.

Page 400.—— maystres Iane Blenner-Haiset] Perhaps a daughter of Sir Thomas Blennerhasset, who was executor (in conjunction with the Duchess) to the second Duke of Norfolk: see Sir H. Nicolas’s Test. Vet. ii. 604.

v. 955. smale lust] i. e. small liking.

v. 958. prese] i. e. press, band.

v. 962. ententifly] See above, note on v. 942.

v. 963. stellyfye] “I Stellifye I sette vp amongest the starres.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. ccclxxiii. (Table of Verbes).

v. 965. ne swarue] i. e. swerve not.

v. 968. Sith] i. e. Since.

v. 972, Laodomi] i. e. Laodamia.

v. 975. godely] i. e. goodly.

Page 401. v. 977. Reflaring rosabell] i. e. odorous fair-rose: see note, p. 134. v. 524.

v. 978. flagrant] See note on v. 671. p. 315.

v. 979. The ruddy rosary]—rosary must mean here—rose-bush, not rose-bed.

v. 981. praty] i. e. pretty.

v. 982. nepte] “Cats mint or nept is a kind of calamint,” &c. The Countrie Farme, p. 320. ed. 1600.

v. 983. ieloffer] See note, p. 147. v. 1052.

v. 984. propre] i. e. pretty.

v. 985, Enuwyd] See note, p. 144. v. 775.

Page 402. v. 1006. Ientill as fawcoun] The Falcon gentle, says Turbervile, is so called “for her gentle and courteous condition and fashions.” The Booke of Falconrie, &c. p. 26. ed. 1611.

v. 1007. hawke of the towre] See note, p. 250. v. 934.

v. 1025. fayre Isaphill] The Hypsipyle of the ancients.

“Isiphile

...

She that dyd in fayrnesse so excell.”

Lydgate’s Fall of Prynces, B. i. leaf xviii. ed. Wayland.

She figures in the Storye of Thebes by the same indefatigable versifier, who there says,

“But to knowe. the auentures all

Of this lady. Isyphyle the fayre,”

(Pars tert. sig. h iiii. n. d. 4to.)

we must have recourse to Boccaccio De Claris Mulieribus (see that work, cap. xv. ed. 1539).

v. 1027. pomaunder] Was a composition of perfumes, wrought into the shape of a ball, or other form, and worn in the pocket, or about the neck (Fr. pomme d’ambre). In the following entry from an unpublished Boke of Kyngs Paymentis from i to ix of Henry viii, preserved in the Chapter-House, Westminster, pomaunder means a case for holding the composition;

“Item to the frenche quenes seruaunt, that brought a pomaunder of gold to the princes, in Re[ward

xx. s.”

(9th year of reign).

v. 1030. Wele] i. e. Well.

v. 1033. corteise] i. e. courteous.

Page 403. v. 1048. Pasiphe] Lest the reader should be surprised at finding Skelton compare Mistress Statham to Pasiphae, I cite the following lines from Feylde’s Contrauersye bytwene a Louer and a Iaye (printed by W. de Worde), n. d., in which she and Taurus are mentioned as examples of true love;

“Phedra and Theseus

Progne and Thereus

Pasyphe and Taurus

Who lyketh to proue

Canace and Machareus

Galathea and Pamphylus

Was neuer more dolorous

And all for true loue.”

Sig. B iiii.

I may add too a passage from Caxton’s Boke of Eneydos, &c. (translated from the French), 1490; “The wyffe of kynge Mynos of Crete was named Pasyfa that was a grete lady and a fayr aboue alle other ladyes of the royame.... The quene Pasyfa was wyth chylde by kynge Mynos, and whan her tyme was comen she was delyuered of a creature that was halfe a man and halfe a bulle.” Sig. h 6.

Page 403. v. 1062. aquyte] i. e. requite.

Page 404. v. 1068. gyse] i. e. guise, fashion.

v. 1074. warke] i. e. work.

v. 1076.

Galathea, the made well besene, &c.

...

By Maro]

—the made well besene, i. e. the maid of good appearance, fair to see: the expression applied, as here, to personal appearance, independent of dress, is, I apprehend, very unusual; see notes, p. 112. v. 283. p. 295. v. 957. p. 311. v. 483: By Maro; vide Ecl. i. and iii.

v. 1082. leyser] i. e. leisure.

Page 405. v. 1094. ich] i. e. each.

v. 1102. curteisly] i. e. courteously.

v. 1103. where as] i. e. where.

v. 1109. Wele was hym] i. e. He was in good condition.

v. 1114. astate] i. e. estate,—meaning here—state, raised chair or throne with a canopy: compare v. 484.

Page 406. v. 1117. loked ... a glum] i. e. looked ... a gloomy, sour look.

v. 1118. There was amonge them no worde then but mum] See note, p. 278. v. 83.

v. 1121. sith] i. e. since.

v. 1124. pretence] i. e. pretension, claim.

v. 1128. princes of astate] i. e. princess of estate, rank, dignity.

v. 1132. condiscendyng] See note, p. 237. v. 39.

Page 407. v. 1135. enduce] i. e. bring in, adduce.

v. 1136. lay] See note, p. 219. v. 103.

v. 1139. bokis] i. e. books.

v. 1143. poynted] i. e. appointed.

v. 1144. presid] i. e. pressed.

v. 1150. ony] i. e. any.

v. 1154. wote wele] i. e. know well.

v. 1156. losende] i. e. loosened, loosed.

v. 1158. byse] Hearne in his Gloss. to Langtoft’s Chron. has “bis, grey, black,” with an eye, no doubt, to the line at p. 230,

“In a marble bis of him is mad story.”

and Sir F. Madden explains the word “white or grey” in his Gloss. to Syr Gawayne, &c., referring to the line “Of golde, azure, and byse” in Syre Gawene and The Carle of Carelyle, p. 204. But we also find “Byce a colour azur.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xx. (Table of Subst.). “Scryueners wryte with blacke, red, purple, grene, blewe or byce, and suche other.” Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. Q i. ed. 1530. “Bize Blew Byze, a delicate Blew.” Holme’s Acad. of Arm., 1688. B. iii. p. 145.

Page 407. v. 1158. gressoppes] i. e. grasshoppers: see note, p. 125. v. 137.

Page 408. v. 1159. fresshe] i. e. gay, gorgeous: see note on v. 39. p. 302.

v. 1160. Enflorid] i. e. Enflowered (embellished, for it applies partly to the “snaylis”).

v. 1161. Enuyuid picturis well towchid and quikly]—Enuyuid, i. e. envived: quikly, livelily, to the life; a somewhat pleonastic line, as before, see note, p. 261. v. 1569.

v. 1162. hole ... be ... sekely] i. e. whole ... been ... sickly.

v. 1163. garnysshyd] }

...

v. 1165. bullyons] }

“I hadde leuer haue my boke sowed in a forel [in cuculli involucro] than bounde in bourdes, and couered and clasped, and garnyshed with bolyons [vmbilicis].” Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. Q iiii. ed. 1530: bullyons, i. e. bosses, studs.

—— worth a thousande pounde] An expression found in other early poets;

“And euery bosse of bridle and paitrell

That they had, was worth, as I would wene,

A thousand pound.”

Chaucer’s Floure and Leafe,—Workes, fol. 345. ed. 1602.

v. 1166. balassis] Tyrwhitt (Gloss, to Chaucer’s Cant. Tales) explains Bales to be “a sort of bastard Ruby.” Du Cange (Gloss.) has “Balascus, Carbunculus, cujus rubor et fulgor dilutiores sunt ... a Balascia Indiæ regione ... dicti ejusmodi lapides pretiosi.” Marco Polo tells us, “In this country [Balashan or Badakhshan] are found the precious stones called balass rubies, of fine quality and great value.” Travels, p. 129, translated by Marsden, who in his learned note on the passage (p. 132) observes that in the Latin version it is said expressly that these stones have their name from the country. See too Sir F. Madden’s note on Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess Mary, p. 209.

v. 1167. aurum musicum] i. e. aurum musaicum or musivum,—mosaic gold.

v. 1172. Boke of Honorous Astate] i. e. Book of Honourable Estate. Like many other of the pieces which Skelton proceeds to enumerate, it is not known to exist. When any of his still extant writings are mentioned in this catalogue, I shall refer to the places where they may be found in the present volumes.

Page 408. v. 1176. to lerne you to dye when ye wyll] A version probably of the same piece which was translated and published by Caxton under the title of A lityll treatise shorte and abredged spekynge of the arte and crafte to knowe well to dye, 1490, folio. Caxton translated it from the French: the original Latin was a work of great celebrity.

v. 1178. Rosiar] i. e. Rose-bush.

—— Prince Arturis Creacyoun] Arthur, the eldest son of King Henry the Seventh, was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, 1st Oct. 1489: see Sandford’s Geneal. Hist. p. 475. ed. 1707.

Page 409. v. 1183. Bowche of Courte] In vol. i. 30.

v. 1185. Of Tullis Familiars the translacyoun] Is noticed with praise in Caxton’s Preface to The Boke of Eneydos, &c. 1490: see the passage cited in Account of Skelton and his Writings.

v. 1187. The Recule ageinst Gaguyne of the Frenshe nacyoun]—Recule, Fr. recueil, is properly—a collection of several writings: it occurs again in v. 1390; and in Speke, Parrot, v. 232. vol. ii. 11. Concerning Gaguin, see Account of Shelton and his Writings.

v. 1188.

the Popingay, that hath in commendacyoun

Ladyes and gentylwomen suche as deseruyd,

And suche as be counterfettis they be reseruyd]

—Popingay, i. e. Parrot: “Reserved excepte sauf.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xciiii. (Table of Adiect.).—No part of Speke, Parrot (in vol. ii. 1), answers to this description: but “the Popingay” is certainly only another name for Speke, Parrot (see v. 280. vol. ii. 14); and Skelton must allude here to some portion, now lost, of that composition.

v. 1192. Magnyfycence] In vol. i. 225.

v. 1193. new get] See note, p. 242. v. 458.

v. 1196. wele] i. e. well.

v. 1198. Of manerly maistres Margery Mylke and Ale, &c.] In vol. i. 28. is one of the “many maters of myrthe” which Skelton here says that he “wrote to her.”

v. 1202. Lor] A corruption of Lord.

v. 1203. Gingirly, go gingerly] “Gyngerly: A pas menus, as Allez a pas menu ma fille.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. ccccxli. (Table of Aduerb.).

Page 410. v. 1206. This fustiane maistres and this giggisse gase] maistres, i. e. mistress: giggisse, i. e. giggish,—which Forby gives, with the sense of—trifling, silly, flighty (Vocab. of East Anglia); but here perhaps the word implies something of wantonness: gase, i. e. goose.

Page 410. v. 1207. wrenchis] See note, p. 100. v. 25.

v. 1209. shuld not crase] i. e. that it should not break.

v. 1210. It may wele ryme, but shroudly it doth accorde]—wele, i. e. well: shroudly, i. e. shrewdly, badly. A copy of verses on Inconsistency by Lydgate has for its burden,

“It may wele ryme, but it accordith nought.”

MS. Harl. 2251. fol. 26.

v. 1211. pyke ... potshorde] i. e. pick ... potsherd.

v. 1218. mo] i. e. more.

v. 1219.

Of my ladys grace at the contemplacyoun,

Owt of Frenshe into Englysshe prose,

Of Mannes Lyfe the Peregrynacioun,

He did translate, enterprete, and disclose]

—at the contemplacyoun; see note on heading of Epitaph, p. 214: my ladys grace means perhaps the mother of Henry the Seventh, the Countess of Derby; see note on title of Elegy, p. 226. Warton says that this piece was “from the French, perhaps, of Guillaume [de Guilleville] prior of Chalis. But it should be observed that Pynson printed Peregrinatio humani generis, 1508. 4to.” Hist, of E. P., ii. 337 (note), ed. 4to. The Pylgremage of the Soule translatid oute of Frensshe in to Englysshe with somwhat of additions, the yere of our lord M.CCCC & thyrten, and endeth in the Vigyle of seynt Bartholomew Emprynted at Westmestre by William Caxton, And fynysshed the sixth day of Juyn, the yere of our lord, M.CCCC.LXXXIII And the first yere of the regne of kynge Edward the fyfthe. fol., was taken from the French of Guillaume de Guilleville (see Biog. Univ. xix. 169); but, though Skelton was in all probability an author as early as 1583, there is no reason for supposing that the volume just described had received any revision from him. Peregrinatio Humani Generis, printed by Pynson in 4to., 1508, is, according to Herbert (Typ. Ant. ii. 430. ed. Dibdin), “in ballad verse, or stanzas of seven lines:” it cannot therefore be the piece mentioned here by Skelton, which he expressly tells us was in “prose.”

v. 1226. creauncer] See note, p. 193. v. 102.

Page 411. v. 1229. Speculum Principis] A piece by Skelton entitled Methodos Skeltonidis Laureati, sc. Præcepta quædam moralia Henrico principi, postea Hen. viii. missa. Dat. apud Eltham. A.D. MDI. was once among the MSS. in the Library of Lincoln Cathedral, but is now marked as missing in the Catalogue of that collection, and has been sought for in vain. Whether it was the same work as that mentioned in the present passage, I am unable to determine.

Page 411. v. 1229. honde] i. e. hand.

v. 1231. astate] i. e. estate, state.

v. 1233. the Tunnynge of Elinour Rummyng] In vol. i. 95.

v. 1234. Colyn Clowt] In vol. i. 311.

—— Iohnn Iue, with Ioforth Iack] In 1511, a woman being indicted for heresy, “her husband deposed, that in the end of the reign of King Edward the Fourth, one John Ive had persuaded her into these opinions, in which she had persisted ever since.” Burnet’s Hist. of the Reform. i. 51. ed. 1816. The words “with Ioforth, Iack,” were perhaps a portion of Skelton’s poem concerning this John Ive: ioforth is an exclamation used in driving horses;

“Harrer, Morelle, iofurthe, hyte.”

Mactacio Abel,—Towneley Mysteries, p. 9.

v. 1235. make ... konnyng] i. e. compose ... knowledge, skill, ability.

v. 1236. parde] i. e. par dieu, verily.

v. 1238. conueyauns] See the long speech of Crafty Conueyaunce in our author’s Magnyfycence, v. 1343 sqq. vol. i, 268.

v. 1239. the Walshemannys hoos] See note, p. 289. v. 780.

v. 1240. vmblis] i. e. parts of the inwards of a deer. “Noumbles of a dere or beest entrailles.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. 1. (Table of Subst.). And see Sir F. Madden’s note, Syr Gawayne, &c. p. 322.

———— the botell of wyne,

To fayre maistres Anne that shuld haue be sent]

Such a present seems to have been not uncommon;

“Beddes, brochys, and botelles of wyen he to the lady sent.”

Lydgate’s Ballad of A Prioress and her three Wooers,—MS. Harl. 78. fol. 74.

The “maistres Anne” here mentioned is doubtless the lady to whom the lines in vol. i. 20 are addressed.

v. 1242. wrate ... praty] i. e. wrote ... pretty.

v. 1246. longyth] i. e. belongeth.

v. 1247.

Of one Adame all a knaue

...

He wrate an Epitaph, &c.]

In vol. i. 171.

v. 1250. agerdows] i. e. eager, keen, severe.

v. 1254. Phillip Sparow] In vol. i, 51.

Page 412. v. 1257. Yet sum there be therewith that take greuaunce] See notes, p. 149 sqq., where will be found illustrations of the portion of Phyllyp Sparowe which is inserted in the present poem.

Page 415. v. 1376. The Gruntyng and the groynninge of the gronnyng swyne] See note, p. 180. v. 2.

v. 1377. the Murnyng of the mapely rote]—mapely rote, i. e. maple-root.—In Ravenscroft’s Pammelia, 1609, part of a nonsensical song (No. 31) is as follows;

“My Ladies gone to Canterbury,

S. Thomas be her boote.

Shee met with Kate of Malmsbury,

Why weepst thou maple roote?”

a recollection perhaps of Skelton’s lost ballad.

Page 416. v. 1378. pine] i. e. pain, grief.

v. 1379. a cote] i. e. a coot (water-fowl).

v. 1380. birdbolt] i. e. a blunt arrow used to kill birds; see Nares’s Gloss. in v. and in v. Bolt.

—— hart rote] i. e. heart-root.

v. 1381. Moyses hornis] So Lydgate;

“Moyses

With golden hornes liche phebus beames bright.”

Process. of Corpus Christi,—MS. Harl. 2251. fol. 251.

“Cumque descenderet Moyses de monte Sinai ... ignorabat quod cornuta esset facies sua ex consortio sermonis Domini.” Vulgate,—Exod. xxxiv. 29.

v. 1382. merely, medelyd] i. e. merrily, mingled.

v. 1383. Of paiauntis that were played in Ioyows Garde] Bale, in his enumeration of Skelton’s writings, alluding to this line (as is evident from his arrangement of the pieces), gives “Theatrales ludos.” Script. Illust. Bryt. p. 652. ed. 1557: and Mr. J. P. Collier states that “one of Skelton’s earlier works had been a series of pageants, ‘played in Joyous Garde,’ or Arthur’s Castle.” Hist. of Engl. Dram. Poet. ii. 142. But, assuredly, in the present line, paiauntis, i. e. pageants, means nothing of a dramatic nature. The expression to “play a pageant” has occurred several times already in our author’s poems; “I haue played my pageyond” (my part on the stage of life), see note, p. 88. v. 85; “Suche pollyng paiaunttis ye pley” (such thievish pranks), see note, p. 189. v. 190: and though it may be doubted whether the paiauntis that were played in Ioyows Garde,—i. e. in the Castle of Sir Launcelot, according to the romances,—are to be understood as connected with feats of arms, I cite the following passage in further illustration of the expression; “The fyrste that was redy to Juste was sir Palomydes and sir Kaynus le straunge a knyghte of the table round. And soo they two encountred to gyders, but sire Palomydes smote sir Kaynus soo hard that he smote hym quyte ouer his hors croupe, and forth with alle sir Palomydes smote doune another knyght and brake thenne his spere & pulled oute his swerd and did wonderly wel. And thenne the noyse beganne gretely vpon sir palomydes. Ioo said Kynge Arthur yonder palomydes begynneth to play his pagent. So god me help said Arthur he is a passynge good knyght. And ryght as they stood talkyng thus, in came sir Tristram as thonder, and he encountred with syre Kay the Seneschall, and there he smote hym doune quyte from his hors, and with that same spere sir Tristram smote doune thre knyghtes moo, and thenne he pulled oute his swerd and dyd merueyllously. Thenne the noyse and crye chaunged from syr Palomydes and torned to sir Tristram and alle the peple cryed O Tristram, O Tristram. And thenne was sir Palomydes clene forgeten. How now said Launcelot vnto Arthur, yonder rydeth a knyght that playeth his pagents.” Morte d’Arthur, B. x. cap. lxxix. vol. ii. 140. ed. Southey.

Page 416. v. 1384. wrate] i. e. wrote.

—— muse] See note, p. 234. v. 212.

v. 1385. do] i. e. doe.

v. 1386. parker ... with all] i. e. park-keeper ... withal.

v. 1387. Castell Aungell] “And the pope fled unto Castle Angell.” Cavendish’s Life of Wolsey, p. 143. ed. 1827.

—— fenestrall] In Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530, we find “Fenestrall chassis de toille ou de paupier.” fol. xxxiii. (Table of Subst.); and in Hormanni Vulgaria, “Paper, or lyn clothe, straked a crosse, with losynges: make fenestrals in stede of glasen wyndowes.” Sig. v ii: but see the next lines of our text.

v. 1389. eyn dasild and dasid]—eyn, i. e. eyes: dasid, i. e. dulled.

v. 1390. The Repete of the recule of Rosamundis bowre]—Repete, i. e. Repetition, Recital: recule; see note on v. 1187. p. 327.

v. 1392. propre] i. e. pretty.

—— ieloffer flowre] See note, p. 147. v. 1052.

v. 1393. to reckeles] i. e. too reckless.

v. 1396. Mok there loste her sho] A proverbial expression, which occurs again in our author’s Why come ye nat to Courte, v. 83. vol. ii. 29: in his Colyn Cloute we find

“Sho the mockysshe mare.”

v. 181. vol. i. 318.

v. 1397. barbican] “A Barbican, antemurale, promurale, tormentorum bellicorum sedes, locus.” Coles’s Dict. “It was generally,” says Nares (referring to King on Anc. Castles, Archael.), “a small round tower, for the station of an advanced guard, placed just before the outward gate of the castle yard, or ballium.” Gloss. in v. And see Richardson’s Dict. in v.

Page 416. v. 1398. sawte] i. e. assault.

v. 1399. blo] i. e. livid: see note, p. 103. v. 3.

v. 1400. Of Exione, her lambis, &c.] See note ad loc. If the reader understands the line, it is more than I do.

Page 417. v. 1407. forster] i. e. forester.

v. 1409. to yerne and to quest] Coles renders both these hunting-terms by the same word, “nicto” (i. e. open, give tongue). Dict. Turbervile, enumerating “the sundry noyses of houndes,” tells us that “when they are earnest eyther in the chace or in the earth, we say They yearne.” Noble Art of Venerie, &c. p. 242. ed. 1611. “Quest, united cry of the hounds.” Sir F. Madden’s Gloss. to Syr Gawayne, &c.

v. 1410. With litell besynes standith moche rest]

“Great rest standeth in little businesse.”

Good Counsaile,—Chaucer’s Workes, fol. 319. ed. 1602.

v. 1411. make] i. e. mate, wife.

v. 1412. ble] i. e. colour, complexion.

v. 1413. wele] i. e. well.

v. 1416. Some] i. e. Soham.

v. 1418. Wofully arayd] In vol. i. 141.

v. 1419. making] i. e. composing.

v. 1420. Vexilla regis] In vol. i. 144.

v. 1421. Sacris solemniis] As the still-extant piece mentioned in the preceding line, and headed Vexilla regis, &c., is not a translation of that hymn, so we may with probability conclude that this was not a version of the hymn beginning “Sacris solemniis juncta sint gaudia,” which may be found in Hymni Ecclesiæ e Breviario Parisiensi, 1838. p. 94.

v. 1424. sadnes] i. e. seriousness.

v. 1425. Galiene }

v. 1426. Ipocras }

i. e. Galen, Hippocrates.

“Old Hippocras, Hali, and Gallien.”

Chaucer’s Prol. to Cant. Tales, v. 433. ed. Tyr.

“For Ipocras nor yet Galien.”

Poems by C. Duke of Orleans,—MS. Harl. 682. fol. 103.

—— Auycen] An Arabian physician of the tenth century.

Page 418. v. 1428. Albumasar] See note, p. 133. v. 501.

—— ken] i. e. instruct (pleonastically coupled with “enforme,” as in v. 825).

v. 1430. gose] i. e. goose.

v. 1432. ageyne] i. e. against.

v. 1433. Dun is in the myre] A proverbial expression, which occurs in Chaucer’s Manciples Prol. v. 16954. ed. Tyrwhitt (who conjectured that Dun was a nickname given to the ass from his colour), and is common in writers long after the time of Skelton. Gifford was the first to shew that the allusion is to a Christmas gambol, in which Dun (the cart-horse) is supposed to be stuck in the mire; see his note on Jonson’s Works, vii. 283.

v. 1434. rin] i. e. run.

v. 1435. spar the stable dur] i. e. fasten, shut the stable-door; see note, p. 207. v. 91.

v. 1437. sone aspyed] i. e. soon espied.

v. 1438. wele wotith] i. e. well knoweth.

v. 1439. lucerne] i. e. lamp. So in the Lenvoye to Chaucer’s Cuckow and Nightingale;

“Aurore of gladnesse, and day of lustinesse,

Lucerne a night with heauenly influence

Illumined.”

Workes, fol. 318. ed. 1002.

v. 1442. wedder] i. e. weather.

v. 1443. cokwolde] i. e. cuckold.

v. 1445. vntwynde] See note, p. 127. v. 284.

v. 1446. ieloffer] See note, p. 147. v. 1052.

v. 1447. propre] i. e. pretty.

v. 1450. all to-fret] i. e. altogether eaten up, consumed: see note, p. 100. v. 32.

Page 419. v. 1451.

But who may haue a more vngracyous lyfe

Than a chyldis birds and a knauis wyfe]

This proverbial expression occurs in Lydgate;

“Vnto purpos this prouerd is full ryfe

Rade and reported by olde remembraunce

A childes birdde and a knavis wyfe

Haue often sieth gret sorowe and myschaunce.”

The Chorle and the Bird,—MS. Harl. 116. fol. 151.

v. 1454. byll] i. e. writing.

v. 1455. By Mary Gipcy] In much later writers we find, as an interjection, marry gep, marry gip, marry guep, marry gup. v. 1456. Quod scripsi, scripsi] From the Vulgate, Joan. xix. 22.

Page 419. v. 1460. Secundum Lucam, &c.] Skelton seems to allude to the Vulgate, Luc. i. 13, “Et uxor tua Elizabeth,” &c.

v. 1461.

the Bonehoms of Ashrige besyde Barkamstede,

...

Where the sank royall is, Crystes blode so rede]

The college of the Bonhommes, completed in 1285, was founded by Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, son and heir of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who was King of the Romans and brother of Henry the Third, for a rector and twenty brethern or canons, of whom thirteen were to be priests. It was founded expressly in honour of the blood of Jesus, (“the sank royall”), which had once formed part of the precious reliques belonging to the German emperors, and which Edmund had brought over from Germany to England. See Todd’s History of the College of Bonhommes at Ashridge, 1823. p. 1-3.

The pretended blood of Christ drew to Ashridge many persons of all ranks, greatly to the enrichment of the society. “But,” Speed tells us, “when the sunne-shine of the Gospell had pierced thorow such cloudes of darkenesse, it was perceiued apparantly to be onely hony clarified and coloured with Saffron, as was openly shewed at Paules Crosse by the Bishop of Rochester, the twentie foure of Februarie, and yeare of Christ 1538.” A Prospect of The Most Famous Parts of the World, 1631, (in Buck. p. 43).

v. 1466. Fraxinus in clivo, &c.] “As to the name Ashridge” says Kennett, “it is no doubt from a hill set with Ashes; the old word was Aescrugge, Rugge, as after Ridge, signifying a hill or steep place, and the Ashen-tree being first Aesc, as after Ashche, &c.” Parochial Antiquities, p. 302. ed. 1695.

v. 1470. The Nacyoun of Folys] Most probably The Boke of Three Fooles, in vol. i. 199.

v. 1471. Apollo that whirllid vp his chare] Concerning the piece, of which these were the initial words, a particular notice will be found in The Account of Skelton and his Writings: chare, i. e. chariot; compare the first of the two lines, which in the old eds. and some MSS. of Chaucer stand as the commencement of a third part of The Squieres Tale;

“Apollo whirleth vp his chare so hie.”

Workes, fol. 25. ed. 1602.

and the opening of The Floure and the Leafe;

“When that Phebus his chaire of gold so hie

Had whirled vp the sterye sky aloft.”

Id. fol. 344.

See also Poems by C. Duke of Orleans, MS. Harl. 682. fol. 47.

v. 1472. snurre] i. e. snort.

Page 420. v. 1475. mell] i. e. meddle.

v. 1477. stode] i. e. stood.

v. 1478. Suppleyng] i. e. Supplicating.

v. 1480. bokis ... rase] i. e. books ... erase.

v. 1483. rin] i. e. run.

v. 1487. take it in gre] i. e. take it kindly: see note, p. 95. v. 68.

v. 1490. ragman rollis] The collection of deeds in which the Scottish nobility and gentry were compelled to subscribe allegiance to Edward I. of England in 1296, and which were more particularly recorded in four large rolls of parchment, &c., was known by the name of Ragman’s Roll: but what has been written on the origin of this expression appears to be so unsatisfactory that I shall merely refer the reader to Cowel’s Law Dictionary, &c., ed. 1727, in v., Jamieson’s Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang. in v., Nares’s Gloss. in v., Gloss. to The Towneley Myst. in v., and Todd’s Johnson’s Dict. in v. Rigmarole.

v. 1491. lenger] i. e. longer.

v. 1495. Counforte] i. e. Comfort.

v. 1498.

Diodorus Siculus of my translacyon

Out of fresshe Latine, &c.]

—fresshe, i. e. elegant: see note, p. 302. v. 39. This translation from the Latin of Poggio is mentioned with praise in Caxton’s Preface to The Boke of Eneydos, &c. 1490, and is still preserved in MS. among Parker’s Collection, in Corpus Ch. College, Cambridge: see Account of Skelton and his Writings, and Appendix ii.

Page 421. v. 1505. dome] i. e. judgment, thinking.

v. 1507. the noyse went to Rome] So Chaucer;

“And there came out so great a noyse,

That had it stonde vpon Oyse,

Men might haue heard it easely

To Rome, I trowe sikerly.”

House of Fame, B. iii.—Workes, fol. 270. ed. 1602.

v. 1508. shoke] i. e. shook.

v. 1510. shett ... boke] i. e. shut ... book.

v. 1512. somdele] i. e. somewhat.

v. 1514. sperycall] i. e. spherical.

v. 1515. Ianus, with his double chere]—chere, i. e. visage, countenance.

v. 1517. He turnyd his tirikkis, his voluell ran fast] What is meant by tirikkis, I know not: it occurs again in our author’s Speke, Parrot;

“Some trete of theyr tirykis, som of astrology.”

v. 139. vol. ii. 7.

For the following note I am indebted to W. H. Black, Esq. “The volvell is an instrument, called volvella or volvellum, in the Latin of the middle age, consisting of graduated and figured circles drawn on the leaf of a book, to the centre of which is attached one moveable circle or more, in the form of what is called a geographical clock. There is a very fine one, of the fourteenth century, in the Ashmolean MS. 789. f. 363, and others exist in that collection, which affords likewise, in an Introduction to the Knowledge of the Calendar, (in the MS. 191. iv. art. 2. f. 199,) written in old English of the fifteenth century, a curious description of the volvell, with directions for its use. The passage is entitled ‘The Rewle of the Volvelle.’—‘Now folowith here the volvelle, that sum men clepen a lunarie; and thus most ghe governe ghou ther ynne. First take the grettist cercle that is maad in the leef, for that schewith the 24 houris of the day naturel, that is of the nyght and day, of the whiche the firste houre is at noon bitwene 12 and oon. Thanne above him is another cercle, that hathe write in hem the 12 monthis withe here dayes, and 12 signes with here degrees; and with ynne that, ther is writen a rewle to knowe whanne the sunne ariseth and the mone bothe; if ghe biholde weel these noumbris writen in reed, 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. ✠. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.’ The rule proceeds to shew that there is another row of the same figures in black, and that the red cross stands in the place of Cancer, the black at Capricorn: the red figures were used to shew the rising of the sun and moon, the black for their setting. Over this is ‘another cercle that hath a tunge,’ (tongue, or projecting angle to point with,) the figure of the sun on it, and 29½ days figured, for the age of the moon. Upon this is the least circle, ‘which hath a tunge with the figure of the moon on it, and with ynne it is an hole, the whiche schewith bi symylitude howe the moone wexith and wansith.’ It was used by setting ‘the tunge of the moone’ to the moon’s age, and ‘the tunge of the sunne’ to the day of the month, then moving the circle of months and signs to bring the hour of the day to the last named ‘tunge,’ whereby might be found ‘in what signe he’ (the moon, masculine in Anglo-Saxon) ‘sittith and the sunne also, and in what tyme of the day thei arisen, eny of hem, either goone downe, and what it is of the watir, whether it be flood or eb.’ The rule concludes by observing that the wind sometimes alters the time of the tide ‘at Londone brigge.’”

Page 422. v. 1533. quaire] i. e. quire,—pamphlet, book.

v. 1536. wrate] i. e. wrote.

Page 422. v. 1542. warkis] i. e. works.

v. 1546. loke] i. e. look.

v. 1547. boke] i. e. book.

v. 1552. brede] i. e. breadth.

Page 423. v. 1556. harnnes] i. e. armour.

v. 1558. ageyne] i. e. against.

v. 1563. derayne] i. e. contest.

v. 1569. curteisly] i. e. courteously.

v. 1575. sad] See note, p. 264. v. 1711.

v. 1581. Any worde defacid] i. e. Any disfigured, deformed, unseemly word.

v. 1582. rasid] i. e. erased.

Page 424.—— Lautre Enuoy, &c.] Concerning this curious Envoy, see Account of Skelton and his Writings.

v. 1597. sekernes] i. e. security, sureness.

v. 1598. rede] i. e. conceive, consider.