PHYLLYP SPAROWE
Must have been written before the end of 1508; for it is mentioned with contempt in the concluding lines of Barclay’s Ship of Fooles, which was finished in that year: see Account of Skelton and his Writings.
The Luctus in morte Passeris of Catullus no doubt suggested the present production to Skelton, who, when he calls on “all maner of byrdes” (v. 387) to join in lamenting Philip Sparow, seems also to have had an eye to Ovid’s elegy In mortem Psittaci, Amor. ii. 6. Another piece of the kind is extant among the compositions of antiquity,—the Psittacus Atedii Melioris of Statius, Silv. ii. 4. In the Amphitheatrum Sapientiæ Socraticæ Joco-seriæ, &c., of Dornavius, i. 460 sqq. may be found various Latin poems on the deaths, &c. of sparrows by writers posterior to the time of Skelton. See too Herrick’s lines Upon the death of his Sparrow, an Elegie, Hesperides, 1648. p. 117; and the verses entitled Phyllis on the death of her Sparrow, attributed to Drummond, Works, 1711. p. 50.
“Old Skelton’s ‘Philip Sparrow,’ an exquisite and original poem.” Coleridge’s Remains, ii. 163.
Page 51. v. 1. Pla ce bo, &c.] Skelton is not the only writer that has taken liberties with the Romish service-book. In Chaucer’s Court of Loue, parts of it are sung by various birds; Domine, labia by the nightingale, Venite by the eagle, &c., Workes, fol. 333. ed. 1602: in a short poem by Lydgate “dyuerse foules” are introduced singing different hymns. MS. Harl. 2251. fol. 37: and see too a poem (attributed, without any authority, to Skelton) called Armony of Byrdes, n. d., reprinted (inaccurately) in Typog. Antiq. iv. 380. ed. Dibdin; and Sir D. Lyndsay’s Complaynt of the Papingo, Works, i. 325. ed. Chalmers. In Reynard the Fox we are told that at the burial of “coppe, chanteklers doughter,”—“Tho begonne they placebo domino, with the verses that to longen,” &c. Sig. a 8. ed. 1481. Compare also the mock Requiem printed (somewhat incorrectly) from MS. Cott. Vesp. B. 16. in Ritson’s Antient Songs, i. 118. ed. 1829; Dunbar’s Dirige to the King at Stirling, Poems, i. 86. ed. Laing; and the following lines of a rare tract entitled A Commemoration or Dirige of Boner, &c., by Lemeke Auale, 1569,—
“Placebo. Bo. Bo. Bo. Bo. Bo.
Heu me, beware the bugge, out quod Boner alas,
De profundis clamaui, how is this matter come to passe.
Lævaui oculos meos from a darke depe place,” &c.
sig. A viii.
Other pieces of the kind might be pointed out.
v. 6. Wherfore and why, why?] So in the Enterlude of Kyng Daryus, 1565;
“Thys is the cause wherfore and why.”
sig. G ii.
v. 7. Philip Sparowe] Philip, or Phip, was a familiar name given to a sparrow from its note being supposed to resemble that sound.
v. 8. Carowe] Was a nunnery in the suburbs of Norwich. “Here [at Norwich],” says Tanner, “was an ancient hospital or nunnery dedicated to St. Mary and St. John; to which K. Stephen having given lands and meadows without the south gate, Seyna and Leftelina two of the sisters, A.D. 1146, began the foundation of a new monastery called Kairo, Carow, or Carhou, which was dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary, and consisted of a prioress and nine Benedictine nuns.” Not. Mon. p. 347. ed. 1744. In 1273, Pope Gregory the Tenth inhibited the Prioress and convent from receiving more nuns than their income would maintain, upon their representation that the English nobility, whom they could not resist, had obliged them to take in so many sisters that they were unable to support them. At the Dissolution the number of nuns was twelve. The site of the nunnery, within the walls, contained about ten acres. It was granted, with its chief revenues, in the 30th Henry viii. to Sir John Shelton, knight, who fitted up the parlour and hall, which were noble rooms, when he came to reside there, not long after the Dissolution. It continued in the Shelton family for several generations.
This nunnery was during many ages a place of education for the young ladies of the chief families in the diocese of Norwich, who boarded with and were taught by the nuns. The fair Jane or Johanna Scroupe of the present poem was, perhaps, a boarder at Carow.
See more concerning Carow in Dugdale’s Monast. (new ed.) iv. 68 sqq., and Blomefield’s Hist. of Norfolk, ii. 862 sqq. ed. fol.
Page 51. v. 9. Nones Blake] i. e. Black Nuns,—Benedictines.
v. 12. bederolles] i. e. lists of those to be prayed for.
Page 52. v. 24. The tearys downe hayled] So Hawes;
“That euermore the salte teres downe hayled.”
The Pastime of pleasure, sig. Q viii. ed. 1555.
v. 27. Gyb our cat] Gib, a contraction of Gilbert, was a name formerly given to a male cat:
“Gibbe our Cat,
That awaiteth Mice and Rattes to killen.”
Romaunt of the Rose,—Chaucer’s Workes, fol. 136. ed. 1602.
In Gammer Gurtons Nedle, 1575, “Gib our cat” is a person of consequence. Shakespeare (Henry iv. Part First, act i. sc. 2.) has the expression “gib cat;” and how his commentators have written “about it and about it” most readers are probably aware.
v. 29. Worrowyd her on that] So Dunbar;
“He that dois on dry breid wirry.”
Poems, i. 108. ed. Laing.
v. 34. stounde] i. e. moment, time.
v. 35. sounde] i. e. swoon.
v. 37. Vnneth I kest myne eyes] i. e. Scarcely, not without difficulty, I cast, &c.
v. 42. Haue rewed] i. e. Have had compassion.
Page 52. v. 46. senaws] i. e. sinews.
Page 53. v. 58. frete] i. e. eat, gnaw.
v. 69. marees] i. e. waters.
v. 70. Acherontes well] i. e. Acheron’s well. So,—after the fashion of our early poets,—Skelton writes Zenophontes for Xenophon, Eneidos for Eneis, Achilliedos for Achilleis, &c.
v. 75. blo] i. e. livid: see note, p. 103. v. 3.
v. 76. mare] i. e. hag.—“Mare or witche.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499.
v. 77. fende] i. e. fiend.
v. 78. edders] i. e. adders.
v. 82. sowre] In Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530, is “Sower of smellyng,” fol. xcvi. (Table of Adiect.),—a sense of the word which Skelton has elsewhere (third poem Against Garnesche, v. 146. vol. i. 124), and which therefore probably applies to the present passage. But qy. does “sowre” signify here—foul? “Sowre filthe. Fimus. Cenum. Lutum.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499. “Sowry or defiled in soure or filth,” &c. Id.
“The riuer cler withouten sour.”
Arthour and Merlin, p. 320. ed. Abbotsf.
v. 87. outraye] “I Outray a persone (Lydgate) I do some outrage or extreme hurt to hym. Ie oultrage.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. cccxi. (Table of Verbes).
“The childe playes hym at the balle,
That salle owttraye zow alle.”
The Awntyrs of Arthurs, p. 110. (Syr Gawayne, &c.)
where Sir F. Madden explains it “injure, destroy.”—In our text, “outraye” is equivalent to—vanquish, overcome; and so in the following passages;
“The cause why Demostenes so famously is brutid,
Onely procedid for that he did outray
Eschines, whiche was not shamefully confutid
But of that famous oratour, I say,
Whiche passid all other; wherfore I may
Among my recordes suffer hym namyd,
For though he were venquesshid, yet was he not shamyd.”
Skelton’s Garlande of Laurell, v. 155. vol. i. 368.
(Richardson, in his valuable Dictionary, v. Out-rage, &c., says that, in the stanza just cited, outray “is evidently—to exceed, to excel;” but the last line of the stanza, together with the present passage of Phyllyp Sparowe, and the annexed quotations from Lydgate, shew that he is mistaken.)
“Whom Hercules most strong and coragious,
Sumtime outraid, and slewe hym with his hand.”
Lydgate’s Fall of Prynces, B. i. leaf xxvii. ed. Wayland.
“Al be that Cresus faught long in hys defence,
He finally by Cyrus was outrayed,
And depriued by knyghtly vyolence,
Take in the felde,” &c.
Id. B. ii. leaf lviii.
“But it may fall, a dwerye [i. e. dwarf] in his right,
To outray a gyaunt for all his gret might.”
Id. B. iii. leaf lxvii.
Page 54. v. 98. Zenophontes] i. e. Xenophon: see note on v. 70, preceding page.
v. 107. thought] See notes, p. 101. v. 10. p. 104. last line.
v. 114. go] i. e. gone.
v. 115. fole] i. e. fool.
v. 116. stole] i. e. stool.
v. 117. scole] i. e. school, instruction.
v. 118.
For to kepe his cut,
With, Phyllyp, kepe your cut!]
Compare Gascoigne in a little poem entitled The praise of Philip Sparrow;
“As if you say but fend cut phip,
Lord how the peat will turne and skip.”
Workes (Weedes), p. 285. ed. 1587.
Sir Philip Sidney in a sonnet;
“Good brother Philip, I haue borne you long,
I was content you should in fauour creepe,
While craftily you seem’d your cut to keepe,
As though that faire soft hand did you great wrong.”
Astrophel and Stella, p. 548. ed. 1613.
Brome in The Northern Lasse, 1632;
“A bonny bonny Bird I had
A bird that was my Marroe:
A bird whose pastime made me glad,
And Phillip twas my Sparrow.
A pretty Play-fere: Chirp it would,
And hop, and fly to fist,
Keepe cut, as ’twere a Vsurers Gold,
And bill me when I list.”
Act iii. sc. 2. sig. G 2.
and in The New Academy; “But look how she turnes and keeps cut like my Sparrow. She will be my back Sweet-heart still I see, and love me behind.” Act iv. sc. 1. p. 72. (Five New Playes, 1659).
Page 55. v. 125.
Betwene my brestes softe
It wolde lye and rest]
So Catullus, in the beginning of his verses Ad Passerem Lesbiæ, (a distinct poem from that mentioned at p. 120);
“Passer, deliciæ meæ puellæ,
Quicum ludere, quem in sinu tenere,” &c.
v. 127. It was propre and prest] Compare v. 264, “As prety and as prest,” where “prety” answers to “propre” in the present line. “Proper or feate. coint, godin, gentil, mignot.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr. 1530. fol. xciii. (Table of Adiect.):—prest, which generally means—ready, seems here to be nearly synonymous with propre; and so in a passage of Tusser,—“more handsome, and prest,”—cited by Todd (Johnson’s Dict. in v.), who explains it “neat, tight.”
v. 137. gressop] i. e. grasshopper.—“Cicada ... anglice a gresse hoppe.” Ortus Vocab., fol. ed. W. de Worde, n. d.
v. 138. Phyp, Phyp] See note on v. 7. p. 121.
v. 141. slo] i. e. slay.
v. 147. dome] i. e. judgment, thinking.
v. 148. Sulpicia] Lived in the age of Domitian. Her satire De corrupto statu reipub. temporibus Domitiani, præsertim cum edicto Philosophos urbe exegisset, may be found in Wernsdorf’s ed. of Poetæ Latini Minores, iii. 83.
v. 151. pas] i. e. pass, excel.
v. 154. pretende] i. e. attempt.
Page 56. v. 171. perde] i. e. par dieu, verily.
v. 173. nyse] i. e. foolish, inclined to folly, to toyish tricks: compare our author’s Manerly Margery, &c., v. 2. vol. i. 28.
v. 176. To pyke my lytell too]—too, i. e. toe.—In a comedy (already mentioned, p. 93. v. 15), The longer thou liuest, the more foole thou art, &c., n. d., by W. Wager, Moros sings
“I haue a prety tytmouse
Come picking on my to.”
sig. D ii.
v. 186. ryde and go] A sort of pleonastic expression which repeatedly occurs in our early writers.
Page 57. v. 192. Pargame] i. e. Pergamus.
v. 198. wete] i. e. know.
v. 205. be quycke] i. e. be made alive.
Page 57. v. 211. the nones] i. e. the occasion.
v. 213. My sparow whyte as mylke] Compare Sir P. Sidney;
“They saw a maid who thitherward did runne,
To catch her sparrow which from her did swerue,
As shee a black-silke Cappe on him begunne
To sett, for foile of his milke-white to serue.”
Arcadia, lib. i. p. 85. ed. 1613.
and Drayton;
“I haue two Sparrowes white as Snow.”
The Muses Elizium, p. 14. ed. 1630.
v. 216. importe] i. e. impart.
v. 218. solas] i. e. amusement.
Page 58. v. 227. hear] i. e. hair.
v. 230. kest] i. e. cast.
v. 242. bederoule] See note on v. 12. p. 122.
v. 244. Cam, and Sem] i. e. Ham, and Shem.
v. 247. the hylles of Armony]—Armony, i. e. Armenia.—So in Processus Noe;
“What grownd may this be?
Noe. The hyllys of Armonye.”
Townley Myst. p. 32.
See also Lydgate’s Fall of Prynces, B. i. leaf iiii. ed. Wayland, and Heywood’s Foure P. P., sig. A i. ed. n. d.
v. 248.
Wherfore the birdes yet cry
Of your fathers bote]
The reading of Kele’s ed., “bordes,” (as I have already observed ad loc.) is perhaps the true one;—(compare Pierce Plowman;
“And [God] came to Noe anone, and bad him not let
Swyth go shape a shype of shydes and of bordes.”
Pass. Non. sig. M ii. ed. 1561.)—
and qy. did Skelton write,—
“Whereon the bordes yet lye?”
v. 253. it hyght] i. e. it is called.
Page 59. v. 264. prest] See note on v. 127, preceding page.
v. 272. hardely] i. e. assuredly.
v. 273. vengeaunce I aske and crye] Compare Magnus Herodes;
“Venjance I cry and calle.”
Townley Myst. p. 149.
v. 281. Carowe] See note on v. 8. p. 121.
v. 282. carlyshe kynde] i. e. churlish nature.
v. 283. fynde] i. e. fiend.
Page 59. v. 284. vntwynde] i. e. tore to pieces, destroyed: so again in our author’s Garlande of Laurell;
“This goodly flowre with stormis was vntwynde.”
v. 1445. vol. i. 418.
Page 60. v. 290. Lybany] i. e. Libya.
v. 294. mantycors] “Another maner of bestes ther is in ynde that ben callyd manticora, and hath visage of a man, and thre huge grete teeth in his throte, he hath eyen lyke a ghoot and body of a lyon, tayll of a Scorpyon and voys of a serpente in suche wyse that by his swete songe he draweth to hym the peple and deuoureth them And is more delyuerer to goo than is a fowle to flee.” Caxton’s Mirrour of the world, 1480. sig. e vii. See also R. Holme’s Ac. of Armory, 1688. B. ii. p. 212.—This fabulous account is derived from Pliny.
v. 296. Melanchates, that hounde, &c.] See the story of Actæon in Ovid’s Metam.;
“Prima Melanchætes in tergo vulnera fecit.” iii. 232.
v. 305.
That his owne lord bote,
Myght byte asondre thy throte!]
—bote, i. e. bit.—So in Syr Tryamoure;
“He toke the stuarde by the throte,
And asonder he it botte.”
Early Pop. Poetry (by Utterson), i. 28.
v. 307. grypes] i. e. griffins.
v. 311. The wylde wolfe Lycaon] See Ovid’s Metam. i. 163 sqq. for an account of Lycaon, king of Arcadia, being transformed into a wolf. I ought to add, that he figures in a work well known to the readers of Skelton’s time—The Recuyel of the Historyes of Troy.
v. 313. brennynge] i. e. burning.
Page 61. v. 325. gentle of corage]—corage, i. e. heart, mind, disposition. So in our author’s Magnyfycence; “Be gentyll then of corage.” v. 2511. vol. i. 308.
v. 329. departed] i. e. parted. So in our old marriage-service; “till death us depart.”
v. 336. rew] i. e. have compassion.
v. 345.
And go in at my spayre,
And crepe in at my gore
Of my gowne before]
“Cluniculum, an hole or a spayre of a womans smoke.” Ortus Vocab. fol. ed. W. de Worde, n. d. (In ed. 1514 of that work—“spayre of a womans kyrtell”). “Sparre of a gowne fente de la robe.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lxvi. (Table of Subst.). “That parte of weemens claiths, sik as of their gowne or petticot, quhilk vnder the belt and before is open, commonly is called the spare.” Skene, quoted by Jamieson, Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang. in v. Spare.——“Lacinia ... anglice a heme of clothe or a gore.” Ortus. Vocab. fol. ed. W. de Worde, n. d. (ed. 1514 of that work adds “or a trayne”). “Goore of a smocke poynte de chemise.” Palsgrave, ubi supra, fol. xxxvii. (Table of Subst.). Jamieson (ubi supra), in v. Gair, says it was “a stripe or triangular piece of cloth, inserted at the bottom, on each side of a shift or of a robe,”—a description which agrees with that of R. Holme, Ac. of Armory, 1688. B. iii. p. 95.
Page 61. v. 351. myne hert it sleth]—sleth, i. e. slayeth.—So Chaucer;
“Thise rockes slee min herte for the fere.”
The Frankeleines Tale, v. 11205. ed. Tyr.
Page 62. v. 360. Phyppes] See note on v. 7. p. 121.
v. 361. kusse] i. e. kiss.
“And if he maie no more do,
Yet woll he stele a cusse or two.”
Gower’s Conf. Am. lib. v. fol. cxix. ed. 1554.
v. 362. musse] i. e. muzzle,—mouth.
v. 366. this] i. e. thus: see note, p. 86. v. 38.
v. 375. Gyb] See note on v. 27. p. 122.
v. 383. bederolle] See note on v. 12. p. 122.
Page 63. v. 387.
To wepe with me loke that ye come,
All maner of byrdes in your kynd, &c.]
—loke, i. e. look. Compare Ovid (see note on title of this poem, p. 120);
“Psittacus, Eois imitatrix ales ab Indis,
Occidit: exequias ite frequenter, aves.
Ite, piæ volucres, et plangite pectora pennis,
Et rigido teneras ungue notate genas.
Horrida pro moestis lanictur pluma capillis,
Pro longa resonent carmina vestra tuba.”
Amor. lib. ii. El. vi. 5. 1.
v. 396. ianglynge] i. e. babbling, chattering—an epithet generally applied to the jay by our old poets.
v. 397. fleckyd] i. e. spotted, variegated.
v. 403. the red sparow] i. e. the reed-sparrow.
“The Red-sparrow, the Nope, the Red-breast, and the Wren.”
Drayton’s Polyolbion, Song xiii. p. 215. ed. 1622.
“The Red Sparrow, or Reed Sparrow.” R. Holme’s Ac. of Armory, 1688. B. ii. p. 246.
Page 63. v. 406. to] i. e. toe.
v. 407. The spynke] i. e. The chaffinch. In the Countrie Farme, the “spinke” is frequently mentioned (see pp. 886, 890, 891, 898, 900. ed. 1600); and in the French work by Estienne and Liebault, from which it is translated, the corresponding word is “pinçon:” in Cotgrave’s Dict. is “Pinson. A Spink, Chaffinch, or Sheldaple;” and in Moor’s Suffolk Words, “Spinx. The chaffinch.” R. Niccolls, in a poem which contains several pretty passages, has
“The speckled Spinck, that liues by gummie sappe.”
The Cuckow, 1607. p. 13.
v. 409. The doterell, that folyshe pek] The dotterel is said to allow itself to be caught, while it imitates the gestures of the fowler: pek, or peke, seems here to be used by Skelton in the sense of—contemptible fellow; so in his Collyn Cloute;
“Of suche Pater-noster pekes
All the worlde spekes.”
v. 264. vol. i. 321.
In Hormanni Vulgaria we find: “He is shamefast but not pekysshe. Verecundus est sine ignauia.” sig. N i. ed. 1530.—And see Todd’s Johnson’s Dict., and Richardson’s Dict. in v. Peak.
v. 411. toote] i. e. pry, peep, search.
v. 412. the snyte] i. e. the snipe.
v. 415. His playne songe to solfe] See note, p. 95, v. 48: solfe, i. e. solfa.
v. 418.
The woodhacke, that syngeth chur
Horsly, as he had the mur]
—woodhacke, i. e. woodpecker. “Wodehac or nothac byrde. Picus.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499: mur, i. e. a severe cold with hoarseness. Compare Lydgate;
“And at his feete lay a prykeryd curre
He rateled in the throte as he had the murre.”
Le Assemble de dyeus, sig. b i. n. d. 4to.
v. 420. lusty] i. e. pleasant.
v. 421. The popyngay] i. e. The parrot.
Page 64. v. 422. toteth] Or tooteth; see note on v. 411.
v. 424. The mauys] Is properly the song-thrush, as distinguished from the missel-thrush: see note on v. 460, p. 131.
v. 425. the pystell] i. e. the Epistle.
v. 426. a large and a longe] See note, p. 95. v. 49.
Page 64. v. 427.
To kepe iust playne songe,
Our chaunters shalbe the cuckoue]
See note, p. 95. v. 48. So Shakespeare mentions “the plain-song cuckoo gray.” Mids. Night’s Dream, act iii. sc. 1.
v. 430. puwyt the lapwyng] In some parts of England, the lapwing is called pewit from its peculiar cry.
v. 432. The bitter with his bumpe] “The Bitter, or Bitterne, Bumpeth, when he puts his Bill in the reeds.” R. Holme’s Ac. of Armory, 1688. B. ii. p. 310.
v. 434. Menander] Means here Mæander: but I have not altered the text; because our early poets took great liberties with classical names; because all the eds. of Skelton’s Speke, Parrot, have
“Alexander, a gander of Menanders pole.”
v. 178. vol. ii. 9.
and because the following passage occurs in a poem by some imitator of Skelton, which is appended to the present edition;
“Wotes not wher to wander,
Whether to Meander,
Or vnto Menander.”
The Image of Ipocrisy, Part Third.
v. 437. wake] i. e. watching of the dead body during the night.
v. 441. He shall syng the grayle]—grayle, says Warton (correcting an explanation he had formerly given), signifies here “Graduale, or the Responsorium, or Antiphonarium, in the Romish service.... He shall sing that part of the service which is called the Grayle, or graduale.” Obs. on the F. Queen, ii. 244. ed. 1762. See too Du Cange in v. Gradale, and Roquefort in v. Gréel.
v. 442. The owle, that is so foule]—foule, i. e. ugly. The Houlate, (in the poem so called, by Holland), says,
“Thus all the foulis, for my filth, hes me at feid.”
Pinkerton’s Scot. Poems, iii. 149.
v. 444. gaunce] i. e. gaunt.
v. 445. the cormoraunce] i. e. the cormorant.
v. 447. the gaglynge gaunte] In Prompt. Parv. is “Gant birde. Bistarda.” ed. 1499. Palsgrave gives “Gant byrde,” without a corresponding French term. Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xxxv. (Table of Subst.). Our author in his Elynour Rummyng has—
“In came another dant,
Wyth a gose and a gant.”
v. 515. vol. i. 111;
where gant is plainly used for gander. In the present passage, however, gaunte must have a different signification (“The gose and the gander” being mentioned v. 435), and means, I apprehend,—wild-goose: Du Cange has “Gantæ, Anseres silvestres,” &c.; and see Roquefort in v. Gans. But Nares, MS. note on Skelton, explains gaunte—gannet.
Page 64. v. 449. The route and the kowgh] The Rev. J. Mitford suggests that the right reading is “The knout and the rowgh,”—i. e. the knot and the ruff.
v. 450. The barnacle] i. e. The goose-barnacle,—concerning the production of which the most absurd fables were told and credited: some asserted that it was originally the shell-fish called barnacle, others that it grew on trees, &c.
v. 451. the wilde mallarde] i. e. the wild-drake.
Page 65. v. 452. The dyuendop] i. e. The dabchick or didapper.
v. 454. The puffin] A water-fowl with a singular bill.
v. 455. Money they shall dele, &c.] According to the ancient custom at funerals.
v. 458. the tytmose] i. e. the titmouse.
v. 460. The threstyl] Or throstle, is properly the missel-thrush: see note on v. 424. p. 129.
v. 461. brablyng] i. e. clamour, noise—properly, quarrel, squabble.
v. 462. The roke] i. e. The rook.
—— the ospraye
That putteth fysshes to a fraye]
—fraye, i. e. fright. It was said that when the osprey, which feeds on fish, hovered over the water, they became fascinated and turned up their bellies.
v. 464. denty] i. e. dainty.
v. 468. The countrynge of the coe]—countrynge; see note, p. 92: coe, i. e. jack-daw; “Coo birde. Monedula. Nodula.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499.
v. 469.
The storke also,
That maketh his nest
In chymneyes to rest;
Within those walles
No broken galles
May there abyde
Of cokoldry syde]
The stork breeds in chimney-tops, and was fabled to forsake the place, if the man or wife of the house committed adultery. The following lines of Lydgate will illustrate the rest of the passage:
“a certaine knight
Gyges called, thinge shameful to be tolde,
To speke plaine englishe, made him [i. e. Candaules] cokolde.
Alas I was not auised wel beforne,
Vnkonnyngly to speake such langage,
I should haue sayde how that he had an horne,
Or sought some terme wyth a fayre vysage,
To excuse my rudenesse of thys gret outrage:
And in some land Cornodo men do them cal,
And some affirme that such folke haue no gal.”
Fall of Prynces, B. ii. leaf lvi. ed. Wayland.
Page 65. v. 478.
The estryge, that wyll eate
An horshowe so great]
—estryge, i. e. ostrich: horshowe, i. e. horse-shoe.—In Struthiocamelus, a portion of that strange book Philomythie, &c., by Tho. Scot., 1616, a merchant seeing an ostrich, in the desert, eating iron, asks—
“What nourishment can from those mettals grow?
The Ostrich answers; Sir, I do not eate
This iron, as you thinke I do, for meate.
I only keepe it, lay it vp in store,
To helpe my needy friends, the friendlesse poore.
I often meete (as farre and neere I goe)
Many a fowndred horse that wants a shooe,
Seruing a Master that is monylesse:
Such I releiue and helpe in their distresse.”
Sig. E 7.
v. 482. freat] i. e. gnaw, devour.
Page 66. v. 485. at a brayde] Has occurred before in our author’s Bowge of Courte; see note, p. 109. v. 181; but here it seems to have a somewhat different meaning, and to signify—at an effort, at a push. “At a brayde, Faysant mon effort, ton effort, son effort, &c.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. ccccxxxviii. (Table of Aduerbes). “I Abrayde, I inforce me to do a thynge.” ... “I Breyde I make a brayde to do a thing sodaynly.” Id. fols. cxxxvi. clxxii. (Table of Verbes).
v. 487. To solfe aboue ela]—solfe, i. e. solfa: ela, i. e. the highest note in the scale of music.
v. 488. lorell] i. e. good-for-nothing fellow (see Tyrwhitt’s Gloss. to Chaucer’s Cant. Tales): used here as a sportive term of reproach.
v. 491.
The best that we can,
To make hym our belman,
And let hym ryng the bellys;
He can do nothyng ellys]
“Sit campanista, qui non vult esse sophista, Let him bee a bellringer, that will bee no good Singer.” Withals’s Dict. p. 178. ed. 1634.
Page 66. v. 495.
Chaunteclere, our coke,
...
By the astrology
That he hath naturally, &c.]
So Chaucer;
“But when the cocke, commune Astrologer,
Gan on his brest to beate,” &c.
Troilus and Creseide, B. iii. fol. 164.—Workes, ed. 1602.
See also Lydgate’s Warres of Troy, B. i. sig. D v. ed. 1555; and his copy of verses (entitled in the Catalogue Advices for people to keep a guard over their tongues), MS. Harl. 2255. fol. 132.
v. 499. cought] i. e. caught: compare the first of our author’s Balettys, v. 19. vol. i. 22.
v. 500. tought] i. e. taught. “Musyke hath me tought.” Hawes’s Pastime of pleasure, sig. G iiii. ed. 1555.
v. 501. Albumazer] A famous Arabian, of the ninth century.
v. 503.
—— Ptholomy
Prince of astronomy]
The celebrated Claudius Ptolemy, an Egyptian: “Il fleurit vers l’an 125 et jusqu’à l’an 139 de l’ère vulgaire.” Biog. Univ.—In The Shepherds Kalendar (a work popular in the days of Skelton) a chapter is entitled “To know the fortunes and destinies of man born under the xii signs, after Ptolomie, prince of astronomy [i. e. astrology].” “Astronomy, and Astronomer, is the Art of, and the foreteller of things done and past, and what shall happen to any person, &c.” R. Holme’s Ac. of Armory, 1688. B. ii. p. 438.
v. 505. Haly] Another famous Arabian: “claruit circa A. C. 1100.” Fabr. Bibl. Gr. xiii. 17.
v. 507. tydes] i. e. times, seasons.
v. 509. Partlot his hen] So in Chaucer’s Nonnes Preestes Tale; Lydgate’s copy of verses (entitled in the Catalogue Advices for people to keep a guard over their tongues), MS. Harl. 2255. fol. 132; and G. Douglas’s Prol. to the xii Booke of his Eneados, p. 401. l. 54. ed. Ruddiman, who conjectures that the name was applied to a hen in reference to the ruff (the partlet), or ring of feathers about her neck.
Page 67. v. 522. thurifycation] i. e. burning incense.
Page 67. v. 524. reflary] As I have already noticed, should probably be “reflayre,”—i. e. odour. See Roquefort’s Gloss. de la Lang. Rom. in v. Flareur, and Suppl. in v. Fleror; and Cotgrave’s Dict. in v. Reflairer. In The Garlande of Laurell our author calls a lady “reflaring rosabell.” v. 977. vol. i. 401.
v. 525. eyre] i. e. air, scent.
“Strowed wyth floures, of all goodly ayre.”
Hawes’s Pastime of pleasure, sig. D iiii. ed. 1555.
See too The Pistill of Susan, st. viii.—Laing’s Early Pop. Poetry of Scot.
v. 534. bemole] i. e. in B molle, soft or flat. So in the last stanza of a poem by W. Cornishe, printed in Marshe’s ed. of Skelton’s Workes, 1568;
“I kepe be rounde and he by square
The one is bemole and the other bequare.”
v. 536.
Plinni sheweth all
In his story naturall]
See Historia Naturalis, lib. x. sect. 2.
v. 540. incyneracyon] i. e. burning to ashes.
v. 545. corage] i. e. heart,—feelings.
Page 68. v. 552. the sedeane] Does it mean subdean, or subdeacon?
v. 553. The quere to demeane] i. e. to conduct, direct the choir.
v. 555. ordynall] i. e. ritual.
v. 556. the noble fawcon] “There are seuen kinds of Falcons, and among them all for her noblenesse and hardy courage, and withal the francknes of her mettell, I may, and doe meane to place the Falcon gentle in chiefe,” Turbervile’s Booke of Falconrie, &c. p. 25. ed. 1611.
v. 557. the gerfawcon] “Is a gallant Hawke to behold, more huge then any other kinde of Falcon, &c.” Id. p. 42.
v. 558. The tarsell gentyll] Is properly the male of the gosshawk; but Skelton probably did not use the term in its exact meaning, for in the fifth line after this he mentions “the goshauke.” It is commonly said (see Steevens’s note on Romeo and Juliet, act ii. sc. 2.) to be called tiercel because it is a tierce or third less than the female. But, according to Turbervile, “he is termed a Tyercelet, for that there are most commonly disclosed three birds in one selfe eyree, two Hawkes and one Tiercell.” Booke of Falconrie, &c. p. 59. ed. 1611.
v. 560. amysse] i. e. amice—properly the first of the six vestments common to the bishop and presbyters. “Fyrst do on the amys, than the albe, than the gyrdell, than the manyple, than the stoole, than the chesyble.” Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. E iiii. ed. 1530.
Page 68. v. 561. The sacre] A hawk “much like the Falcon Gentle for largenesse, and the Haggart for hardines.” Turbervile’s Booke of Falconrie, &c. p. 45. ed. 1611.
v. 563. role] i. e. roll.
v. 565. The lanners] “They are more blancke Hawkes then any other, they haue lesse beakes then the rest, and are lesse armed and pounced then other Falcons be.” Turbervile’s Booke of Falconrie, &c. p. 47. ed. 1611.
—— the marlyons] Or merlins,—the smallest of the hawks used by falconers.
v. 566. morning gounes] i. e. mourning-gowns.
v. 567. The hobby] “Of all birdes of prey that belong to the Falconers vse, I know none lesse then the Hobby, unles it be the Merlyn.” Turbervile’s Booke of Falconrie, &c. p. 53. ed. 1611.
—— the muskette] i. e. the male sparrow-hawk. “You must note, that all these kind of hawkes haue their male birdes and cockes of euerie sort and gender, as the Eagle his Earne ... and the Sparrow-hawke his Musket.” Id. p. 3. “The male sparrow hawke is called a musket.” The Countrie Farme, p. 877. ed. 1600.
v. 568. sensers] i. e. censers.
—— fet] i. e. fetch.
v. 569. The kestrell] A sort of base-bred hawk.
—— warke] i. e. work, business.
v. 570. holy water clarke] See note, p. 94. v. 21.
Page 69. v. 590. And wrapt in a maidenes smocke] Spenser seems to have recollected this passage: he says, that when Cupid was stung by a bee, Venus
—— “tooke him streight full pitiously lamenting,
And wrapt him in her smock.”
See a little poem in his Works, viii. 185. ed. Todd.
v. 595. Lenger] i. e. Longer.
v. 600.
—— the prety wren,
That is our Ladyes hen]
So in a poem (attributed, on no authority, to Skelton) entitled Armony of Byrdes, n. d., and reprinted entire in Typogr. Antiq. iv. 380. ed. Dibdin;
“Than sayd the wren
I am called the hen
Of our lady most cumly.”
p. 382.
Wilbraham, in his Cheshire Gloss., p. 105, gives the following metrical adage as common in that county;
“The Robin and the Wren
Are God’s cock and hen,
The Martin and the Swallow
Are God’s mate and marrow.”
In the Ballad of Kynd Kittok, attributed to Dunbar, we are told that after death she “wes our Ledyis henwyfe,” Poems, ii. 36. ed. Laing.—An Elysium, very different from that described in the somewhat profane passage of our text, is assigned by the delicate fancy of Ovid to the parrot of his mistress, in the poem to which (as I have before observed, p. 120,) Skelton seems to have had an eye;
“Colle sub Elysio nigra nemus illice frondens,” &c.
Amor. ii. 6. 49.
Page 69. v. 609. asayde] i. e. tried—tasted: compare our author’s Elynour Rummyng, v. 397. vol. i. 108.
v. 610. Elyconys] i. e. Helicon’s.
Page 70. v. 616.
As Palamon and Arcet,
Duke Theseus, and Partelet]
See Chaucer’s Knightes Tale, and Nonnes Preestes Tale.
v. 618.
—— of the Wyfe of Bath,
That worketh moch scath, &c.]
See Chaucer’s Wif of Bathes Prologue.—scath, i. e. harm, mischief.
v. 629. Of Gawen] Son of King Lot and nephew of King Arthur. Concerning him, see the Morte d’Arthur (of which some account is given in note on v. 634),—Syr Gawayn and the Grene Knyȝt, in MS. Cott. Nero A. x. fol. 91,—Ywaine and Gawin, in Ritson’s Met. Rom. vol. i.,—the fragment of The Marriage of Sir Gawaine, at the end of Percy’s Rel. of A. E. P.,—The Awntyrs of Arthure at the Terne Wathelyn, in Laing’s Early Pop. Poetry of Scot., (the same romance, from a different MS., under the title of Sir Gawan and Sir Galaron of Galloway, in Pinkerton’s Scot. Poems, vol. iii.),—The Knightly Tale of Golagrus and Gawane, reprinted at Edinburgh in 1827 from the ed. of 1508, (the same romance, under the title of Gawan and Gologras, in Pinkerton’s Scot. Poems, vol. iii.),—and the romance of Arthour and Merlin, from the Auchinleck MS., published by the Abbotsford Club, 1838.
I had written the above note before the appearance of a valuable volume put forth by the Bannatyne Club, entitled Syr Gawayne; A collection of Ancient Romance-Poems, by Scotish and English Authors, relating to that celebrated Knight of the Round Table, with an Introduction, &c., by Sir F. Madden, 1839.
—— syr Guy] In The Rime of Sire Thopas, Chaucer mentions “Sire Guy” as one of the “romaunces of pris.” For an account of, extracts from, and an analysis of, the English romance on the subject of this renowned hero of Warwick, see Ritson’s Met. Rom. (Dissert.) i. xcii., Warton’s Hist. of E. P. i. 169. ed. 4to., and Ellis’s Spec. of Met. Rom. ii. I must also refer the reader to a volume, issued by the Abbotsford Club (while the present sheet was passing through the press), entitled The Romances of Sir Guy of Warwich, and Rembrun his son. Now first edited from the Auchinleck MS. 1840.
Page 70. v. 631.
—— the Golden Flece,
How Jason it wan]
A boke of the hoole lyf of Jason was printed by Caxton in folio, n. d. (about 1475), being a translation by that venerable typographer from the French of Raoul le Fevre. A copy of it (now before me) in the King’s Library, though apparently perfect, has no title of any sort. Specimens of this prose-romance, which is not without merit, may be found in Dibdin’s Biblioth. Spenc. iv. 199.—The story of Jason is also told by Chaucer, Legend of Hipsiphile and Medea; by Gower, Conf. Am. Lib. v.; and, at considerable length, by Lydgate, Warres of Troy, B. i.
v. 634.
Of Arturs rounde table,
With his knightes commendable,
And dame Gaynour, his quene,
Was somwhat wanton, I wene;
How syr Launcelote de Lake
Many a spere brake
For his ladyes sake;
Of Trystram, and kynge Marke,
And al the hole warke
Of Bele Isold his wyfe]
—warke, i. e. work, affair.—Concerning the various romances on the subject of Arthur, Lancelot, Tristram, &c. see Sir F. Madden’s Introduction to the volume already mentioned, Syr Gawayne, &c.—In this passage, however, Skelton seems to allude more particularly to a celebrated compilation from the French—the prose romance of The Byrth, Lyf, and Actes of Kyng Arthur, &c., commonly known by the name of Morte d’Arthur. At the conclusion of the first edition printed in folio by Caxton (and reprinted in 1817 with an Introd. and Notes by Southey) we are told “this booke was ended the ix. yere of the reygne of kyng Edward the Fourth by syr Thomas Maleore, knyght”.... “Whiche booke was reduced in to Englysshe by Syr Thomas Malory knyght as afore is sayd and by me [Caxton] deuyded in to xxi bookes chaptyred and emprynted and fynysshed in thabbey Westmestre the last day of July the yere of our lord MCCCCLXXXV.”
In the Morte d’Arthur, the gallant and courteous Sir Launcelot du Lake, son of King Ban of Benwyck, figures as the devoted lover of Arthur’s queen, Gueneuer (Skelton’s “Gaynour”), daughter of King Lodegreans of Camelard. On several occasions, Gueneuer, after being condemned to be burnt, is saved by the valour of her knight. But their criminal intercourse proves in the end the destruction of Arthur and of the fellowship of the Round Table. Gueneuer becomes a nun, Launcelot a priest. The last meeting of the guilty pair,—the interment of Gueneuer’s body by her paramour,—and the death of Launcelot, are related with no ordinary pathos and simplicity.
The same work treats fully of the loves of Sir Trystram, son of King Melyodas of Lyones, and La Beale Isoud (Skelton’s “Bele Isold”), daughter of King Anguysshe of Ireland, and wife of King Marke of Cornwall, Trystram’s uncle.—(Trystram’s wife, Isoud La Blaunche Maynys, was daughter of King Howel of Bretagne).—The excuse for the intrigue between Trystram and his uncle’s spouse is, that their mutual passion was the consequence of a love-potion, which they both drank without being aware of its nature.
“In our forefathers time,” observes Ascham, somewhat severely, “when Papistrie, as a standing poole, couered and ouerflowed all England, fewe bookes were red in our tonge, sauing certayne bookes of Chiualrie, as they sayd for pastime and pleasure, which, as some say, were made in Monasteries, by idle Monkes, or wanton Chanons: as one for example Morte Arthur: the whole pleasure of which booke standeth in two speciall pointes, in open mans slaughter, and bolde bawdrye: in which booke, those bee counted the noblest knights, that doe kill most men without any quarell, and commit fowlest aduoulteries by sutlest shifts: as Sir Launcelote, with the wife of king Arthure his maister: Sir Tristram, with the wife of King Marke his uncle: Syr Lamerocke, with the wife of king Lote, that was his own aunte. This is good stuffe, for wise men to laugh at, or honest men to take pleasure at. Yet I knowe, when Gods Bible was banished the Court, and Morte Arthure receaued into the Princes chamber.” The Schole Master, fol. 27. ed. 1571.
Page 71. v. 649.
—— of syr Lybius,
Named Dysconius]
See the romance of Lybeaus Disconus (Le beau desconnu), in Ritson’s Met. Rom. ii.; also Sir F. Madden’s note in the volume entitled Syr Gawayne, &c. p. 346.
v. 651.
Of Quater Fylz Amund,
...
... how they rode eche one
On Bayarde Mountalbon;
Men se hym now and then
In the forest of Arden]
The English prose romance on the subject of these worthies came originally from the press of Caxton, an imperfect copy of his edition n. d. folio, being in Lord Spencer’s library; see Dibdin’s Ædes Althorp. ii. 298: and that it was also translated from the French by Caxton himself, there is every reason to believe; see Dibdin’s Bibliog. Decam. ii. 438. According to the colophon of Copland’s ed., this romance was reprinted in 1504 by Wynkyn de Worde; see Typ. Antiq. ii. 116. ed. Dibdin. Copland’s edition has the following title: The right plesaunt and goodly Historie of the foure sonnes of Aimon the which for the excellent endytyng of it, and for the notable Prowes and great vertues that were in them: is no les pleasaunt to rede, then worthy to be knowen of all estates bothe hyghe and lowe, M.CCCCC.LIIII. folio.
The names of the brothers were “Reynawde, Alarde, Guycharde, and Rycharde, that were wonderfull fayre, wytty, great, mightye, and valyaunte, specyally Reynawde whiche was the greatest and the tallest manne that was founde at that tyme in al the worlde. For he had xvi. feete of length and more.” fol. i. ed. Copl. The father of this hopeful family was Duke of Ardeyne.
Bayarde—(properly a bay horse, but used for a horse in general)—“was suche a horse, that neuer was his like in all the world nor neuer shall be except Busifal the horse of the great Kinge Alexander. For as for to haue ronne. xxx. myle together he wolde neuer haue sweted. The sayd Bayard thys horse was growen in the Isle of Boruscan, and Mawgys the sonne of the duke Benes of Aygremount had gyuen to his cosin Reynawde, that after made the Kynge Charlemayne full wrothe and sory.” fol. v. Reynawde had a castle in Gascoigne called Mountawban; hence Skelton’s expression, “Bayarde Mountalbon.” A wood-cut on the title-page represents the four brothers riding “eche one” upon the poor animal. “I,” says Reynawde, relating a certain adventure, “mounted vpon Bayarde and my brethern I made to mount also thone before and the two other behynde me, and thus rode we al foure vpon my horse bayarde.” fol. lxxxii.
Charlemagne, we are told, made peace with Reynawde on condition that he should go as a pilgrim, poorly clothed and begging his bread, to the holy land, and that he should deliver up Bayard to him. When Charlemagne had got possession of the horse,—“Ha Bayarde, bayarde,” said he, “thou hast often angred me, but I am come to the poynt, god gramercy, for to auenge me;” and accordingly he caused Bayarde to be thrown from a bridge into the river Meuse, with a great millstone fastened to his neck. “Now ye ought to know that after that bayarde was caste in the riuer of meuze: he wente vnto the botom as ye haue herde, and might not come vp for bicause of the great stone that was at his necke whiche was horryble heuye, and whan bayarde sawe he myghte none otherwise scape: he smote so longe and so harde with his feete vpon the mylle stone: that he brast it, and came agayne aboue the water and began to swym, so that he passed it all ouer at the other syde, and whan he was come to londe: he shaked hymselfe for to make falle the water fro him and began to crie hie, and made a merueyllous noyse, and after beganne to renne so swyftlye as the tempest had borne him awaie, and entred in to the great forest of Ardeyn ... and wit it for very certayn that the folke of the countrey saien, that he is yet alyue within the wood of Ardeyn. But wyt it whan he seeth man or woman: he renneth anon awaye, so that no bodye maye come neere hym.” fol. cxlv.
Page 71. v. 661. Of Judas Machabeus] “Gaultier de Belleperche Arbalestrier, ou Gaultier Arbalestrier de Belleperche, commença le Romans de Judas Machabee, qu’il poursuiuit jusques à sa mort.... Pierre du Riez le coutinua jusques à la fin.” Fauchet’s Recveil de l’origine de la langue et poesie Françoise, &c., p. 197.
v. 662.—of Cesar Julious] In the prologue to an ancient MS. poem, The boke of Stories called Cursor Mundi, translated from the French, mention is made of the romance
“Of Julius Cesar the emperour.”
Warton’s Hist. of E. P. i. 123, note, ed. 4to.
v. 663.
—— of the loue betwene
Paris and Vyene]
This prose romance was printed by Caxton in folio: Here begynneth thystorye of the noble ryght valyaunt and worthy knyght Parys, and of the fayr Vyēne the daulphyns doughter of Vyennoys, the whyche suffred many aduersytees bycause of theyr true loue or they coude enioye the effect therof of eche other. Colophon: Thus endeth thystorye of the noble, &c. &c., translated out of frensshe in to englysshe by Wylliam Caxton at Westmestre fynysshed the last day of August the yere of our lord MCCCCLXXXV, and enprynted the xix day of decembre the same yere, and the fyrst yere of the regne of kyng Harry the seuenth.
Gawin Douglas tells us in his Palice of Honour, that, among the attendants on Venus,
“Of France I saw thair Paris and Veane.”
p. 16. Bann. ed.
Page 71. v. 665. duke Hannyball]—duke, i. e. leader, lord.—So Lydgate;
“Which brother was vnto duke Haniball.”
Fall of Prynces, B. ii. leaf xlv. ed. Wayland;
and in a copy of verses entitled Thonke God of alle, he applies the word to our Saviour;
“The dereworth duke that deme vs shalle.”
MS. Cott. Calig. A ii. fol. 66.
v. 667. Fordrede] i. e. utterly, much afraid.
“To wretthe the king thai were for dred [sic].”
Seynt Katerine, p. 170,—Turnbull’s Legendæ Catholicæ (from the Auchinleck MS.).
v. 668. wake] i. e. watch,—besiege.
v. 673.
Of Hector of Troye
That was all theyr ioye]
See the Warres of Troy by Lydgate, a paraphrastical translation of Guido de Colonna’s Historia Trojana: it was first printed in 1513. See too the Recuyel of the Historyes of Troy. Compare Hawes;
“Of the worthy Hector that was all theyr ioye.”
The Pastime of pleasure, sig. P iii. ed. 1555.
v. 677.
—— of the loue so hote
That made Troylus to dote
Vpon fayre Cressyde, &c.]
See Chaucer’s Troilus and Creseide.
Page 72. v. 682. Pandaer] Or Pandare as Chaucer occasionally calls Pandarus.
—— bylles] i. e. letters: see Chaucer’s Troilus and Creseide.
v. 686. An ouche, or els a ryng] “Nouche. Monile.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499. “Ouche for a bonnet afficquet.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. li. (Table of Subst.). “He gaue her an ouche couched with perles, &c.... monile.” Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. k iii. ed. 1530.—Concerning ouche (jewel, ornament, &c.), a word whose etymology and primary signification are uncertain, see Tyrwhitt’s Gloss., to Chaucer’s Cant. Tales, v. Nouches, and Richardson’s Dict. in v. Ouch.—Here, perhaps, it means a brooch: for in the third book of Chaucer’s Troilus and Creseide, Cressid proposes that Pandarus should bear a “blew ring” from her to Troilus; and (ibid.) afterwards the lovers
“enterchaungeden her ringes,
Of which I can not tellen no scripture,
But well I wot, a broche of gold and azure,
In which a Rubbie set was like an herte,
Creseide him yaue, and stacke it on his sherte.”
Chaucer’s Workes, fol. 164. ed. 1602.
After Cressid becomes acquainted with Diomede, she gives him a brooch, which she had received from Troilus on the day of her departure from Troy. Id. fols. 179, 181. In Henrysoun’s Testament of Creseide (a poem of no mean beauty), Cressid, stricken with leprosy, bequeathes to Troilus a ring which he had given her. Id. fol. 184.
Page 72. v. 700. That made the male to wryng] So Skelton elsewhere;
“That ye can not espye
Howe the male dothe wrye.”
Colyn Cloute, v. 687. vol. i. 337.
“The countrynge at Cales
Wrang vs on the males.”
Why come ye nat to Courte, v. 74. vol. ii. 29,
and so Lydgate;
“Now al so mot I thryue and the, saide he than,
I can nat se for alle wittes and espyes,
And craft and kunnyng, but that the male so wryes
That no kunnyng may preuayl and appere
Ayens a womans wytt and hir answere.”
The prohemy of a mariage, &c.,—MS. Harl. 372. fol. 50.
I do not understand the expression. In Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530, besides “Male or wallet to putte geare in,” we find “Mayle that receyueth the claspe of a gowne in to it ... porte,” fol. xlvi. (Table of Subst.).
v. 702. The song of louers lay]—lay seems here to mean—law.
“Of louers lawe he toke no cure.”
Harpalus (from pieces by uncertain authors printed with the poems of Surrey),—Percy’s Rel. of A. E. P. ii. 68. ed. 1794.
Page 73. v. 716. kys the post] So Barclay;
“Yet from beginning absent if thou be,
Eyther shalt thou lose thy meat and kisse the post,” &c.
Egloge ii. sig. B iiii. ed. 1570.
The expression is found in much later writers: see, for instance, Heywood’s Woman Kilde with Kindnesse, sig. E 2. ed. 1617.
v. 717. Pandara] So in Chaucer (according to some copies);
“Aha (quod Pandara) here beginneth game.”
Troilus and Creseide, B. i. fol. 147,—Workes, ed. 1602.
Page 73. v. 719. But lyght for somer grene] See note, p. 115. v. 355.
v. 727. ne knew] i. e. knew not.
v. 728. on lyue] i. e. alive.
v. 732. make] i. e. mate.
v. 735. proces] i. e. story, account. So again in this poem “relation” and “prosses” are used as synonymous, vv. 961, 969; and in our author’s Magnyfycence we find
“Vnto this processe brefly compylyd.”
v. 2534. vol. i. 308.
and presently after,
“This treatyse, deuysyd to make you dysporte.”
v. 2562. p. 309.
The 15th chap. of the first book of Lydgate’s Fall of Prynces is headed “A processe of Narcissus, Byblis, Myrra,” &c.
v. 736.—of Anteocus] Whom Chaucer calls “the cursed king Antiochus.” The Man of Lawes Prol. v. 4502. ed. Tyr. His story may be found in Gower’s Confessio Amantis, lib. viii. fol. clxxv. sqq. ed. 1554.
v. 739.
—— of Mardocheus,
And of great Assuerus, &c.]
“Even scripture-history was turned into romance. The story of Esther and Ahasuerus, or of Amon or Hamon, and Mardocheus or Mordecai, was formed into a fabulous poem.” Warton, note on Hist. of E. P. ii. 178. (where some lines of the romance are quoted from a MS.) ed. 4to.
v. 741. Vesca] i. e. Vashti.
v. 742. teene] i. e. wrath: see the Book of Esther.
v. 745. Of kyng Alexander] See Weber’s Introduction, p. xx. sqq., and the romance of Kyng Alisaunder in his Met. Rom. i.; also The Buik of the most noble and vailȝeand Conquerour Alexander the Great, reprinted by the Bannatyne Club, 1831.
v. 746.—of kyng Euander] As the lady declares (v. 756) that she was slightly acquainted with Virgil, we may suppose that her knowledge of this personage was derived from The Recuyel of the Historyes of Troy, and Caxton’s Boke of Eneydos.
Page 74. v. 751. historious] i. e. historical.
v. 752. bougets and males] i. e. budgets and bags.
v. 754. sped] i. e. versed in.
v. 760. mo] i. e. more.
v. 766. Phorocides] i. e. Pherecydes.
v. 767. auncyente] i. e. antiquity.
Page 74. v. 768. to diffuse for me] i. e. too difficult for me to understand. “Dyffuse harde to be vnderstande, diffuse.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lxxxvi. (Table of Adiect.).
“What quoth Doctryne where is he now
That meued this mater straunge and dyffuse.”
Lydgate’s Assemble de dyeus, sig. f ii. n. d. 4to.
“Whyche is defuse, and right fallacyous.”
Hawes’s Pastime of pleasure, sig. H i. ed. 1555.
“But oft yet by it [logick] a thing playne, bright and pure,
Is made diffuse, vnknowen, harde and obscure.”
Barclay’s Ship of Fooles, fol. 53. ed. 1570.
v. 775. enneude] “I Ennewe I set the laste and fresshest coloure vpon a thyng as paynters do whan their worke shall remayne to declare their connyng, Je renouuelle. Your ymage is in maner done, so sone as I haue ennewed it I wyl sende it you home,” &c. Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. ccxxvi. (Table of Verbes).
“Ylike enewed with quickenes of coloure,
Both of the rose and the lyly floure.”
Lydgate’s Warres of Troy, B. ii. sig. I ii. ed. 1555.
“And the one shylde was enewed with whyte, and the other shelde was reed.” Morte d’Arthur, B. iii. c. ix. vol. i. 81. ed. Southey.
v. 776. pullysshed] i. e. polished.
—— lusty] i. e. pleasant, beautiful.
v. 779. frowardes] i. e. frowardness.
Page 75. v. 788. sped] i. e. versed.
v. 791. Solacious] i. e. affording amusement.
v. 792. alowed] i. e. approved.
v. 793. enprowed] In the Glossary to Fry’s Pieces of Ancient Poetry, 1814, where a portion of the present poem is given, enprowed is rendered “profited of:” the whole passage is very obscure.
v. 799. warke] i. e. work.
v. 804.
—— Johnn Lydgate
Wryteth after an hyer rate]
Lydgate, however, disclaims all elevation of style: see his Fall of Prynces, Prol. sig. A iii. ed. Wayland; his Warres of Troy, B. ii. sigs. F ii, K. ii, B. v. sigs. E e i. ii. iii. ed. 1555.
v. 806. dyffuse] i. e. difficult: see note on v. 768, supra.
v. 807. sentence] i. e. meaning.
v. 809. No man that can amend, &c.] So Hawes, speaking of the works of Chaucer, Gower, and Lydgate;
“Whose famous draughtes no man can amende.”
The Pastime of pleasure, sig. G iiii. ed. 1555.
Page 75. v. 811. faute] i. e. fault.
v. 812. to haute] i. e. too high, too loftily.
Page 76. v. 817. In worth] See note, p. 95. v. 68.
v. 841. Joanna] See note, p. 122.
Page 77, v. 860.
If Arethusa wyll send
Me enfluence to endyte]
Skelton recollected that Virgil had invoked this nymph as a Muse;
“Extremum hunc, Arethusa, mihi concede laborem.”
Ecl. x. 1.
v. 869. lust] i. e. pleasure.
v. 872. enbybed] i. e. made wet.
v. 873. aureat] i. e. golden.
v. 875. Thagus] i. e. Tagus.
Page 78. v. 882. remes] i. e. realms.
v. 886. Perce and Mede] i. e. Persia and Media.
v. 896.
She floryssheth new and new
In bewte and vertew]
So Lydgate:
“And euer encrecyng in vertue new and newe.”
The Temple of Glas., sig. b vii. n. d. 4to.
See also his Warres of Troy, B. ii. sig. II i. B. iii. sig. S i. ed. 1555; and Chaucer, The Pardoneres Tale, v. 12863. ed. Tyr.
v. 903. askry] i. e. call out against, raise a shout against: see note on v. 1358, p. 152.
v. 905. odyous Enui, &c.] Here Skelton has an eye to Ovid’s picture of Envy:
“Pallor in ore sedet; macies in corpore toto:
Nusquam recta acies: livent rubigine dentes:
Pectora felle virent: lingua est suffusa veneno.
Risus abest, nisi quem visi movere dolores.
Nec fruitur somno, vigilacibus excita curis:
Sed videt ingratos, intabescitque videndo,
Successus hominum: carpitque et carpitur una:
Suppliciumque suum est.”
Met. ii. 775.
See too the description of Envy in Pierce Plowman, sig. F ii. ed. 1561.
v. 908. ledder] i. e. leather, leathern.
Page 79. v. 912. crake] i. e. creak.
v. 913. Leane as a rake] From Chaucer;
“As lene was his hors as is a rake.”
Prol. to Cant. Tales, v. 289. ed. Tyr.
Browne has the expression,—Britannia’s Pastorals, B. ii. S. 1. p. 18. ed. 1625.
Page 79. v. 915. vnlusty] i. e. unpleasant, unseemly.
v. 919. wronge] i. e. wrung.
v. 930. bete] i. e. agitated; or, perhaps, inflamed (the expression to bete a fire, to mend it, to make it burn, is a common one).
v. 931. frete] i. e. eaten, gnawed.
v. 936. semblaunt] i. e. semblance, appearance.
Page 80. v. 947. slo] i. e. slay.
v. 963. agayne] i. e. against.
v. 968. dres] i. e. address, apply.
v. 969. prosses] Equivalent to “relation” in v. 961: see note on v. 735, p. 143.
v. 970. ken] i. e. instruct.
v. 973. As hym best lyst] i. e. As best pleases him.
Page 81. v. 980. bedell] i. e., I apprehend, servitor: but Nares, MS. note on Skelton, explains it—beadsman.
v. 999. sort] i. e. set, assemblage.
v. 1002. fauour] i. e. appearance, look—or, perhaps, beauty,—in which sense the word occurs v. 1048.
v. 1003. Ennewed] See note on v. 775, p. 144.
Page 82. v. 1014.
Her eyen gray and stepe
...
With her browes bent]
“Gray coloured as ones eyes be vair.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lxxxviii. (Table of Adiect.):—bent, i. e. arched. Compare Hawes;
“Her forehead stepe with fayre browes ybent
Her eyen gray.”
The Pastime of pleasure, sig. S i. ed. 1555.
I may just observe that these passages (and many others which might be cited) shew how unnecessarily Ritson substituted “brent” for “bent” in The Squyr of Lowe Degre; see his note, Met. Rom. iii. 351.
v. 1019. Polexene] i. e. Polyxena, the daughter of Priam,—celebrated by Lydgate in his Warres of Troy, and by others.
v. 1031. The Indy saphyre blew] Indy may perhaps be used here for—Indian; but I believe the expression is equivalent to—the azure blue sapphire (Skelton in his Garlande of Laurell has “saphiris indy blew,” v. 478, vol. i. 381); see note, p. 101. v. 17.
v. 1032. ennew] See note on v. 775. p. 144.
Page 82. v. 1034. lere] i. e. skin.
v. 1035. lusty] i. e. pleasant, beautiful.
—— ruddes] i. e. ruddy tints of the cheek, complexion.
Page 83. v. 1048. with fauour fret]—fauour, i. e. beauty; so Skelton has “feturs fauorable,” in the second of his Balettys, v. 8, vol. i. 23: fret, I believe, does not here mean fraught (see Tyrwhitt’s Gloss. to Chaucer’s Cant. Tales), but is equivalent to—wrought, adorned,—in allusion to fret-work; so in our author’s Garlande of Laurell,—
“Fret all with orient perlys of Garnate.”
v. 485, vol. i. 381.
v. 1052.
The columbine commendable,
The ielofer amyable]
Ielofer is perhaps what we now call gillyflower; but it was formerly the name for the whole class of carnations, pinks, and sweetwilliams. So Graunde Amoure terms La Bell Pucell;
“The gentyll gyllofer the goodly columbyne.”
Hawes’s Pastime of pleasure, sig. N i. ed. 1555.
v. 1065. denayd] i. e. denied.
v. 1069. conuenyently] i. e. fittingly, suitably.
Page 84. v. 1077. sker] i. e. scar: see v. 1045.
v. 1078. Enhached] i. e. Inlaid: our author has the word again in his Garlande of Laurell;
“Enhachyde with perle and stones preciously.”
v. 40. vol. i. 363.
v. 1081. To forget deadly syn] Compare the first of our author’s Balettys, v. 11. vol. i. 22.
v. 1096. pastaunce] i. e. pastime.
v. 1097. So sad and so demure]—sad, i. e. serious, grave, sober: so afterwards, “Sobre, demure Dyane.” v. 1224.
v. 1100. make to the lure] A metaphor from falconry: “Lure is that whereto Faulconers call their young Hawks, by casting it up in the aire, being made of feathers and leather, in such wise that in the motion it looks not unlike a fowl.” Latham’s Faulconry (Explan. of Words of Art), 1658.
v. 1102. hole] i. e. whole.
Page 85. v. 1105. crased] i. e. crushed, enfeebled.
v. 1106. dased] i. e. dazzled.
v. 1116.
And to amende her tale,
Whan she lyst to auale]
—auale is generally—to let down, to lower: but I know not how to explain the present passage, which appears to be defective.
Page 85. v. 1118.
And with her fyngers smale,
And handes soft as sylke,
Whyter than the mylke,
That are so quyckely vayned]
—quyckely vayned, i. e. lively veined. Compare Hawes;
“By her propre hande, soft as any sylke.”
The Pastime of pleasure, sig. H iiii. ed. 1555.
“Her fingers small, and therto right longe,
White as the milke, with blew vaynes among.”
Id. sig. S i.
v. 1124. Vnneth] i. e. Scarcely, not without difficulty. Here again the text seems to be defective.
v. 1125. reclaymed] A metaphor from falconry. “Reclaming is to tame, make gentle, or to bring a Hawk to familiarity with the man.” Latham’s Faulconry (Explan. of Words of Art), 1658.
Page 86. v. 1146. tote] i. e. look, gaze: see note on v. 411, p. 129.
v. 1147. fote] i. e. foot.
v. 1148. hert rote] i. e. heart-root.
v. 1151.
She is playnly expresse
Egeria, the goddesse,
And lyke to her image,
Emportured with corage,
A louers pilgrimage]
I must leave the reader to form his own idea of the meaning of the last two lines, which are beyond my comprehension.
v. 1157. Ne] i. e. Nor.
—— wood] i. e. mad, furious.
Page 87. v. 1170.
So goodly as she dresses,
So properly she presses
The bryght golden tresses
Of her heer so fyne,
Lyke Phebus beames shyne.
Wherto shuld I disclose
The garterynge of her hose?]
—Phebus beames shyne, i. e. the shine of Phœbus’ beams. Compare Hawes;
“Her shining here so properly she dresses
Alofe her forehed with fayre golden tresses
...
Her fete proper, she gartered well her hose.”
The Pastime of pleasure, sig. S i. ed. 1555.
v. 1177. to suppose] i. e. to be supposed.
Page 87. v. 1178. were] i. e. wear.
v. 1179. gere] i. e. dress, clothes.
v. 1180. fresshe] i. e. gay.
v. 1184. lusty somer] i. e. pleasant summer.
v. 1194. kyrtell] “Kyrtell a garment corpset, surcot, cotelle.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xliii. (Table of Subst.). It has been variously explained (see notes on Henry IV. Part ii. act ii. sc. 4, Shakespeare by Malone and Boswell, xvii. 98, 99, Todd’s Johnson’s Dict., and Nares’s Gloss.), petticoat,—safe-guard or riding-hood,—long cloak,—long mantle, reaching to the ground, with a head to it that entirely covered the face, and usually red,—apron,—jacket,—and loose gown!!! The following note by Gifford on Cynthia’s Revels (Jonson’s Works, ii. 260) gives the most satisfactory account of a kirtle: “Few words have occasioned such controversy among the commentators on our old plays as this; and all for want of knowing that it is used in a two-fold sense, sometimes for the jacket merely, and sometimes for the train or upper petticoat attached to it. A full kirtle was always a jacket and petticoat, a half kirtle (a term which frequently occurs) was either the one or the other: but our ancestors, who wrote when this article of dress was everywhere in use, and when there was little danger of being misunderstood, most commonly contented themselves with the simple term (kirtle), leaving the sense to be gathered from the context.”
v. 1199. let] i. e. hinder.
Page 88. v. 1205. pullysshed] i. e. polished.
v. 1223. Jane] See note, p. 122.
v. 1225. hyght] i. e. called.
Page 89. v. 1242. saynt Jamys] i. e. Saint James of Compostella: see note on Elynour Rummyng, v. 354.
v. 1243. pranys] i. e. prawns.
v. 1244. cranys] i. e. cranes.
v. 1250. sadly] i. e. seriously, soberly.
v. 1251. gyse] i. e. guise, fashion.
Page 90. —— an adicyon] Though found in all the eds. of Phyllyp Sparowe which I have seen, it was not, I apprehend, originally published with the poem. It is inserted (and perhaps first appeared) in our author’s Garlande of Laurell, v. 1261. vol. i. 412, where he tells us that some persons “take greuaunce, and grudge with frownyng countenaunce,” at his poem on Philip Sparrow,—alluding probably more particularly to Barclay; see note, p. 120, and Account of Skelton and his Writings.
v. 1269. ianglynge iayes] See note on v. 396, p. 128.
Page 90. v. 1274. depraue] i. e. vilify, defame. “Thus was syr Arthur depraued and euyl sayd of.” Morte d’Arthur, B. xxi. c. i. vol. ii. 433. ed. Southey.
v. 1289. estate] i. e. high rank, dignity.
Page 91. v. 1291. Hercules that hell dyd harow]—harow, i. e. lay waste, plunder, spoil,—overpower, subdue,—Hercules having carried away from it his friends Theseus and Pirithous, as well as the dog Cerberus. The harrowing of hell was an expression properly and constantly applied to our Lord’s descent into hell, as related in the Gospel of Nicodemus. There were several early miracle-plays on this favourite subject; and Lydgate strangely enough says that Christ
“Took out of helle soulys many a peyre
Mawgre Cerberus and al his cruelte.”
Testamentum,—MS. Harl. 2255. fol. 49.
I may add, that Warner, speaking of Hercules, uses the words “harrowed hell.” Albion’s England, p. 23. ed. 1612.
v. 1293. Slew of the Epidaures, &c.] Qy. is not the text corrupted here?
v. 1295. Onocentaures] i. e. Centaurs, half human, half asses. See Ælian De Nat. Anim. lib. xvii. c. 9. ed. Gron., and Phile De Anim. Prop. c. 44. ed. Pauw. Both these writers describe the onocentaur as having the bosom of a woman. R. Holme says it “is a Monster, being the Head and Breasts of a Woman set upon the Shoulders of a Bull.” Ac. of Armory, 1688. B. ii. p. 208.
v. 1296. Hipocentaures] i. e. Centaurs, half human, half horses.
v. 1302. Of Hesperides withhold] i. e. Withheld by the Hesperides.
v. 1314. rounses] i. e. common hackney-horses (though the word is frequently used for horses in general).
v. 1318.
He plucked the bull
By the horned skull,
And offred to Cornucopia]
The “bull” means Achelous, who, during his combat with Hercules, assumed that shape:
“rigidum fera dextera cornu
Dum tenet, infregit; truncaque a fronte revellit.
Näides hoc, pomis et odoro flore repletum,
Sacrarunt; divesque meo bona Copia cornu est.”
Ovid. Met. ix. 85.
Page 92. v. 1322. Ecates] i. e. Hecate’s.
Page 92. v. 1326.
—— the venemous serpent,
That in hell is neuer brent]
—brent, i. e. burned. A somewhat profane allusion to the scriptural expression “the worm dieth not;”—(worm and serpent were formerly synonymous).
v. 1332. infernall posty]—posty, i. e. power. So Lydgate;
“Of heuene and erthe and infernal pooste.”
Testamentum,—MS. Harl. 2255. fol. 47.
v. 1333. rosty] i. e. roast.
v. 1335. wood] i. e. mad, wild.
v. 1340. frounsid] i. e. wrinkled.
v. 1344. Primo Regum] i. e. The First Book of Kings, or, as it is now called, The First Book of Samuel, chap, xxviii.
“Primo regum as ye may playnly reade.”
Lydgate’s Fall of Prynces, B. ii. leaf xxxix. ed. Wayland.
v. 1345.
He bad the Phitonesse
...
But whether it were so,
He were idem in numero,
The selfe same Samuell, &c.]
—Phitonesse, i. e. Pythoness, witch,—the witch of Endor.
“And speke as renably, and faire, and wel,
As to the Phitonesse did Samuel:
And yet wol som men say it was not he,” &c.
Chaucer’s Freres Tale, v. 7091. ed. Tyr.;
and see his House of Fame, B. iii. fol. 267, Workes, ed. 1602.
“And of Phyton that Phebus made thus fine
Came Phetonysses that can so deuyne,” &c.
Lydgate’s Warres of Troy, B. ii. sig. K vi. ed. 1555.
“And secretelye this Saule is forth gone
To a woman that should him rede and wisse,
In Israell called a phytonesse.
...
To diuines this matter I commit,
...
Whether it was the soule of Samuell,” &c.
Lydgate’s Fall of Prynces, B. ii. leaf xl. ed. Wayland.
See also Gower’s Conf. Am. B. iv. fol. lxxiii. ed. 1554; Barbour’s Bruce, B. iii. v. 982. ed. Jam.; G. Douglas’s Preface to his Virgil’s Æneados, p. 6, 1. 51. ed. Rudd.; and Sir D. Lyndsay’s Monarchie, B. iv. Works, iii. 151. ed. Chalmers.
Page 92. v. 1346. dresse] i. e. address, apply.
v. 1351. condityons] i. e. qualities. But in our author’s Garlande of Laurell, where this “adicyon” is given, the passage according to Fake’s ed., and rightly perhaps (compare the preceding lines), stands thus;
“And by her supersticiouns
Of wonderfull condiciouns.”
v. 1343. vol. i. 414.
Page 93. v. 1352. stede] i. e. place.
v. 1358. ascry] Has occurred before in this poem, see note on v. 903. p. 145. Palsgrave has “I Askry as fore riders of an armye do their enemyes whan they make reporte where they haue sene them: Je descouures.... Whose company dyd askry them first .... les descouuryt.” Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. cliii. (Table of Verbes). But in the present passage “ascry” seems to mean assail (with a shout). In Langtoft’s Chronicle we find,
“Edward was hardie, the Londres gan he ascrie.”
p. 217. ed. Hearne,—
(who in Gloss. renders “ascrie”—cry to). The original French has,
“Sir Eduuard fiz le rays, les loundrays escrye.”
MS. Cott. Jul. A v. fol. 122.
Roquefort gives “Escrier: Faire entendre son cri d’armes dans une bataille ... marcher à l’ennemi, l’attaquer,” &c. Gloss. de la Lang. Rom. (Sup.).
v. 1360. my selfe dyscharge] i. e. unburden myself,—open my mind.
v. 1365. shene] i. e. shine.
v. 1371. Scroupe pulchra Joanna] See note, p. 122. I ought to have observed ad loc. that “Scroupe” is to be considered here as a monosyllable; unless we read “Scrope” as two short syllables.