THE BOKE OF THREE FOOLES.
This piece is a paraphrase of three portions of Brant’s Ship of Fools: see the Latin version by Locher, Stultifera Nauis, ed. 1497,—Vxorem ducere propter opes, fol. lx., De livore et inuidia, fol. lxi., and De voluptate corporali, fol. lviii.: the same sections will be found accompanying Barclay’s Ship of Fooles, ed. 1570,—fol. 95, fol. 97, and fol. 92.
Page 199. v. 3. lygnage femynatyfe] i. e. lineage feminine.
v. 9. sythe] i. e. since.
Page 200. l. 1. boke] i. e. book.
l. 2. iyen] i. e. eyes.
—— loke] i. e. look.
l. 3. folysh] i. e. foolish.
l. 4. Pecunyous] i. e. Money-loving.
—— bee] i. e. by.
l. 5. wyddred] i. e. withered.
l. 6. nobles] i. e. the gold coins so called.
l. 8. habandoneth] i. e. abandoneth.
Page 200. l. 9. for to gather togyther the donge ... grese] In the Latin of Locher;
“Aruinam multi quærunt sub podice asselli:
Et cumulant trullas: stercora vana petunt.”
fol. lx. ed. 1497.
l. 18. thoughte] See note, p. 101. v. 10.
l. 20. debylyte] i. e. debilitated.
l. 21. vnpropyce] i. e. unpropitious.
l. 23. esperaunce] i. e. hope, expectation.
—— lygnage] i. e. lineage.
l. 25. demoraunce] i. e. abiding.
l. 26. leseth] i. e. loseth.
l. 29. hert] i. e. heart.
l. 32. cure] i. e. care.
Page 201. l. 15. conninge] i. e. knowledge, learning, attainments.
l. 20. whereas] i. e. where.
l. 22. pore] i. e. poor.
l. 23. corrompeth] i. e. corrupteth,—destroyeth.
l. 30. defende] i. e. forbid.
Page 202. l. 3. condycions] See note, p. 183. v. 12.
l. 4. dyssypers] i. e., I suppose, disperser.
l. 5. brennest] i. e. inflamest.
l. 6. sleeth] i. e. slayeth, (slayest).
l. 7. traueyleth] i. e. causeth travail (trouble) to.
l. 15. reclaymeth] i. e. proclaimeth.
l. 16. courage] i. e. heart, mind, disposition.
l. 17. adnychell] i. e. annihilate.
l. 22. flambe] i. e. flame.
l. 24. where as] i. e. where.
l. 25. odyfferaunt] i. e. odoriferous.
l. 27. tho] i. e. those.
l. 29. dissolate] i. e. dissolute.
Page 203. l. 6. glauca] Properly, I believe, glaucus.
—— eyen beholdinge a trauers] i. e., I suppose, eyes looking askance.
l. 7. syntillously] i. e. so as to emit sparks.
l. 14. were delybered] i. e. were advised, were minded.
l. 16. domage] i. e. damage, loss.
l. 20. brenneth] i. e. burneth.
l. 21. edefyed] i. e. built.
l. 24. egally] i. e. equally, justly.
l. 28. incontinente] i. e. immediately.
Page 203. l. 29. Cayme] i. e. Cain. So formerly the name was often written:
“He was of Kaymes kunrede.”
Kyng Alisaunder,—Weber’s Met. Rom. i. 84.
l. 32. Thesius] Should of course be Thyestes, as in Locher’s Latin: yet Barclay in his version of the passage has,
“Atreus storye and Theseus cruel.”
The Ship of Fooles, fol. 96 [99], ed. 1570.
Page 204. l. 4. rested] i. e. roasted.
—— theim] i. e., perhaps, (if it be not a misprint for “him”) the guests: but the whole passage is scarcely intelligible.
l. 6. Ethiocles] So written in Locher’s Latin for Eteocles; and so Lydgate,—
“But make youre myrroure of Ethyocles.”
Storye of Thebes, Pars Prima, sig. C v. ed. 4to. n. d.
l. 12. collacion] Equivalent here, I believe, to comparison.
l. 17. cautellous] i. e. crafty, wily.
l. 25. pill] i. e. strip.
l. 26. mondayne] i. e. worldly, gross.
l. 27. cheseth] i. e. chooseth.
Page 205. l. 7. thoughte] See note, p. 101. v. 10.
l. 8. lenger] i. e. longer.
l. 17. sith] i. e. since.
l. 18. asprely] i. e. roughly, severely.
—— enforce] i. e. exert.
A REPLYCACION, &c.
Concerning the “yong scolers” against whom this piece was composed, I can give no information.
Page 206. l. 9. contemplationem] See note, p. 214, title of Epitaph.
Page 207. l. 4. remordyng] See note, p. 193. v. 101.
—— recrayed] See note, p. 223. v. 26.
l. 5. rechelesse] i. e. reckless.
l. 25. enbolned] i. e. swollen, puffed up.
l. 26. pipplyng] i. e. piping: compare our author’s Garlande of Laurell, v. 676. vol. i. 388.
l. 29. lusty] i. e. pleasant, desirable.
Page 208. l. 1. sped] i. e. versed.
l. 2. connyng] i. e. knowledge, learning.
v. 8.
—— in the Uyntre
At the Thre Cranes]
Here the tavern with the sign of the Three Cranes is meant: the three cranes were originally three strong cranes of timber, placed on the Vintry-wharf, for lifting from the ships the vessels of foreign wine which were landed there.
Page 208. v. 16. enflamed] i. e. burned.
last l. Ouer] i. e. Besides.
—— processe] i. e. treatise; see notes, p. 143. v. 735. p. 146. v. 969. p. 195. v. 157; and compare v. 160 of this piece with the heading before v. 343, where “matter” and “processe” are used as synonymous.
Page 209. l. 5. tetrycall] i. e. sour, sullen, gloomy.
l. 6. friscaioly] So in the Interlude of the iiii Elementes, n. d.;
“Synge frysha Joly with hey troly loly.”
Sig. B ii.
l. 7. moche better bayned than brayned] Does bayned here mean—boned? In (at least Scottish) poetry we frequently find the expression “bayne [bone] and brayne:” see, for instance, Henry’s Wallace, B. vii. v. 596. ed. Jam.
l. 9. burblyng] “I Burbyll or spring vp as water dothe out of a spring.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. clxxix. (Table of Verbes).
“And playd with burbels of the water.”
Marie Maudelein, p. 239,—Turnbull’s Legendæ Cathol. (from the Auchinleck MS.)
“The burbly wawes in vp boyling.”
Lydgate’s Chorle and the Bird,—MS. Harl. 116. fol. 147,—
where a word has dropt out of the line. (The ed. reprinted for the Roxburgh Club has—
“The burbill wawes in their vp boyllyng.”)
—— blode] i. e. blood.
l. 11. rechelesse] i. e. reckless.
l. 15. perihermeniall principles] i. e. principles of interpretation. “Periermeniæ, Interpretationes; vox Græcæ originis περὶ ἑρμηνείας.” Du Cange’s Gloss.
l. 17. leudly] i. e. ignorantly—or perhaps, wickedly.
l. 23. surcudant] i. e. presumptuous, arrogant.
l. 24. popholy] Occurs again several times in our author’s writings, and with the more correct spelling,—popeholy. In Pierce Plowman we find,
“And none so singuler by him selfe, nor so pope holy.”
Sig. T ii. ed. 1561.
In Chaucer’s Romaunt of the Rose is the following description;
“Another thing was doen their [there] write,
That seemed like an ipocrite,
And it was cleped pope holy,
That ilke is she that priuily
Ne spared neuer a wicked deed
When men of her taken none heed,
And maketh her outward precious,
With pale visage and piteous,
And seemeth a simple creature,” &c.
Workes, fol. 111. ed. 1602.
The original French of the preceding passage is,—
“Une autre imaige estoit escripte,
Qui sembloit bien estre ypocrite,
Papelardie est appellée,” &c.
Le Rom. de la Rose, vol. i. 15. ed. 1735.
Roquefort (Gloss. de la Langue Romaine) cites these lines under “Papelardie, papelardise: Hypocrisie, tromperie, subtilité, mauvaise foi.” See too Du Cange’s Gloss. in vv. Papelardia, Papelardus. Compare also Lydgate;
“And for popholy and uyce loke wel aboute.”
The prohemy of a mariage, &c.,—MS. Harl. 372. fol. 51.
and Barclay;
“Ouer sad or proude, disceitfull and pope holy.”
The Ship of Fooles, fol. 57. ed. 1570.
and the Interlude of the iiii Elementes, n. d.;
“For rather than I wolde vse suche foly
To pray to study or be pope holy
I had as lyf be ded.”
Sig. B ii.
Page 209. l. 33. orgulyous] i. e. proud, insolent.
Page 210. v. 22. vnbrent] i. e. unburnt.
v. 23. content] As the marginal note has Convenio, is it not a misprint for “convent?”
v. 24. leudly] i. e. badly, wickedly.
v. 26. disable] i. e. disqualify, degrade, disparage: “disablinge hymself in wordes, though his entent was otherwise.” Hall’s Chron. (Hen. viii.) fol. lvii. ed. 1548.
v. 37. ianglyng] i. e. babbling, chattering,—noisy.
v. 38. clawes] i. e. clause.
v. 39. poppyng dawes] Compare our author’s Why come ye nat to Courte;
“Poppynge folysshe dawes.”
v. 261. vol. ii. 35.
and v. 121 of the present piece;
“And porisshly forthe popped
Your sysmaticate sawes.”
“Popping, blabbing, like a popinjay or parrot.” Gloss. to Exmoor Scolding: dawes, i. e. simpletons; see note, p. 113. v. 301.
Page 210. v. 45. recrayed] See note, p. 223. v. 26.
v. 48. baudrie] i. e. foul language: see note, p. 161. v. 90.
v. 50. to] i. e. too.
Page 211. v. 54. confettred] i. e. confederated.
v. 61. attamed] i. e. tamed.
v. 65. sorte] i. e. set, company.
v. 66. fayne] i. e. glad.
v. 75. Te he, &c.] Expressions of laughter;
“Te he, quod she, and clapt the window to.”
Chaucer’s Milleres Tale, v. 3738. ed. Tyr.
v. 76. mo] i. e. more.
Page 212. v. 87. reny] i. e. renounce, abjure.
v. 89. brende] i. e. burnt.
v. 92. discured] i. e. discovered.
v. 95.
Ye are vnhappely vred.
In your dialeticall, &c.]
The old (and unique) copy is without punctuation in this passage; but that the first line closes the sense, and that Skelton did not mean that these heretics were unhappely ured in their dialectical, &c. would appear from a comparison of other passages:
“Agaynst these heretykes,
Nowe of late abiured,
Most vnhappely vred:
For be ye wele assured,” &c.
v. 403 of the present piece.
“But men nowe a dayes so vnhappely be vryd,
That nothynge than welth may worse be enduryd.”
Magnyfycence, v. 6. vol. i. 226.
“O Scottes pariured,
Vnhaply vred,
Ye may be assured,” &c.
Howe the douty Duke of Albany, &c. v. 125. vol. ii. 71.
In our author’s Colyn Cloute we find,
“Wherfore he hath good vre,” &c.
v. 1003. vol. i. 350.
in the note on which line I have cited various examples of vre in the sense of—hap, luck; and in his poem Against the Scottes,
“Male vryd was your fals entent,”
v. 111. vol. i. 185.
which surely means—Ill-fortuned, &c. (Fr. malheur). Is vnhappely vred to be considered as nearly synonymous with male vryd, or is it to be explained,—unhappily (evilly) used, practised, habituated?
Page 212. v. 98.
If ye to remembrance call
Howe syllogisari
Non est ex particulari,
Neque negativis,
Recte concludere si vis]
“Nullus syllogismus categoricus communis, vel ex solis particularibus, vel ex solis negativis constare potest. Hanc [regulam] expresse tradit Aristoteles libro primo Prior. capite 24. numero primo. Hinc metrum hoc natum:
Ex particulari non est syllogizari,
Neque negativis, recte concludere si vis.”
Crakanthorp’s Logicæ Libri Quinque, 1622. p. 279.
v. 107. Your hertes than were hosed] i. e. Your hearts were in your hose (breeches): so again our author in his Why come ye nat to Courte;
“Their hertes be in thyr hose.”
v. 286. vol. ii. 35.
See too Ray’s Proverbs, (Scottish), p. 292. ed. 1768.
v. 113. quosshons] i. e. cushions.
v. 115. Harpocrates] The God of Silence.
Page 213. v. 120. folysshly] i. e. foolishly.
—— fopped] A singular example of the word as a verb.
v. 121. porisshly] In our author’s Garlande of Laurell is “porisshly pynk iyde,” v. 626. vol. i. 386 (and Palsgrave has “Porisshly, as one loketh that can nat se well”); see note on the passage: but I cannot determine the meaning of the word here.
v. 124. dawes] i. e. simpletons; see note, p. 113. v. 301.
v. 126. elenkes] i. e. elenchs (elenchus—in logic).
v. 132. prouoke and tyse] i. e. incite and entice.
v. 143. exhibycion] i. e. allowance of money.
v. 144. skoles] i. e. schools.
v. 145. foles] i. e. fools.
v. 147. founde] i. e. maintained.
Page 214. v. 156. brute] i. e. saying, proverb.
v. 165. skyes] i. e. clouds.
v. 168. dawns] i. e. dance.
v. 169. ray] See note, p. 194. v. 170.
v. 171. lau] i. e. law.
v. 172. shayle] See note, p. 97. v. 19.
Page 214. v. 175. babyls] i. e. baubles.
Page 215. v. 196. face] i. e. face out.
v. 199. to] i. e. too.
v. 204. lollardy] i. e. heretical; see note, p. 204. v. 145.
v. 206. predycacion] i. e. declaration,—or preaching.
v. 207. knowlege] i. e. acknowledge.
v. 212. muse] Is properly the opening in a fence or thicket, through which a hare or other beast of sport, is accustomed to pass: see Nares’s Gloss. in v. and Moor’s Suff. Words, in v. Mewse.
v. 215.
With blowyng out your hornes,
...
With chatyng and rechatyng]
Whatever Skelton may have meant by “chatyng,”—(perhaps he uses it for chatting,—in the next line we have “pratyng”),—rechatyng is properly a hunting-term, and signifies sounding the rechate or recheat (Fr.), a certain set of notes blown with the horn to recal the dogs.
v. 219. pystels] i. e. epistles.
Page 216. v. 220. bremely] i. e. fiercely, roughly.
v. 234. lydder] i. e. bad.
v. 247. popeholy] See note on prose of this piece, l. 24. p. 230.
Page 217. v. 260. echone] i. e. each one.
v. 264. iangle] i. e. babble, chatter.
v. 267. the people of lay fee] i. e. the laity; as again in our author’s Colyn Cloute;
“The lay fee people rayles.”
v. 403. (where MS. omits “fee”) vol. i. 326:
fee, i. e. possessions; see Tyrwhitt’s Gloss. to Chaucer’s Cant. Tales, Jamieson’s Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang., and Todd’s Johnson’s Dict. in v.
v. 274. snapper] i. e. stumble; but see note, p. 92. v. 4.
—— werkes] i. e. works.
v. 280. mo] i. e. more.
v. 281. latria] “Le culte que nous déférons à Dieu seul, nous l’appellons Latrie [λατρεία].” Perroniana, p. 312. ed. 1740.
v. 285.
But, I trowe, your selfe ye ouerse
What longeth to Christes humanyte.
If ye haue reed de hyperdulia,
Than ye knowe what betokeneth dulia]
—ouerse, i. e. overlook: longeth, i. e. belongeth. “L’adoration de Superdulie est celle qui se défère à la Vierge, et elle est plus eminente pour la grace qu’elle a reçu de Dieu, plus particuliere que les autres Saints, pour avoir porté le Fils de Dieu en ses entrailles.” Perroniana, p. 71. “Aux Saints nous déférons l’honneur qu’on appelle Dulie.” Id. p. 312. ed. 1740. “Dulia [δουλεία] enim adoratio est, quæ etiam creaturæ exhibetur, quæ duas species habet, unam quæ hominibus indifferenter, alteram quæ soli humanitati Christi exhibetur.” Gaufridus Abbas in Epist. ad Albinum Cardinalem,—cited by Du Cange, Gloss. in v.
Page 218. v. 293. mased] i. e. bewildered, confounded.
v. 295. brent] i. e. burnt.
v. 296. bvsynesse] i. e. trouble.
v. 297. vyse] i. e. advise.
v. 298. scoles] i. e. schools.
v. 299. foles] i. e. fools.
Page 219. v. 303. replycable] i. e. such as can be replied to.
Page 220. v. 323. remorded] See note, p. 193. v. 101.
v. 225. his pystell ad Paulinum] i. e. his Epistle ad Paulinum presbyterum de omnibus divinæ historiæ libris, prefixed to the Vulgate: the passage quoted by Skelton is also to be found in Hieronymi Opera, I. 1011. ed. 1609.
—— Serenus] The Scholium on this name in Hieronymi Opera is: “Aulus Serenus lyricus ipse etiam fuit, et, ut Terentianus est auctor, eleganti ac facili ingenio, et ad jocos amoresque describendos accommodato: Martianus Capella ac Nonius sæpius ejus carmina citant.” I. 1017. ed. 1609.—See also an account of Serenus, prefixed to his extant pieces, in Wernsdorf’s Poetæ Latini Minores, tom. ii.
v. 337. armony] i. e. harmony.
Page 221. processe] See note, p. 230, on last line (prose) of p. 208.
v. 359.
For if ye sadly loke,
And wesely rede the Boke
Of Good Aduertysement,
With me ye must consent, &c.]
—sadly loke, i. e. seriously look, consider. In the Garlande of Laurell Skelton mentions, as one of his own compositions,
“Item Good Aduysement, that brainles doth blame.”
v. 1186. vol. i. 409.
Qy. does he allude to it here?
Page 222. v. 395. auaunce] i. e. advance.
Page 223. v. 399. make] i. e. compose.
v. 405. vnhappely vred] See note on v. 95. p. 232.