VPON THE DOLOUR[U]S DETHE AND MUCHE LAMENTABLE CHAUNCE OF THE MOST HONORABLE ERLE OF NORTHUMBERLANDE.
This elegy must have been written soon after the earl’s murder: see v. 162.—“The subject of this poem ... is the death of Henry Percy, fourth earl of Northumberland, who fell a victim to the avarice of Henry vii. In 1489 the parliament had granted the king a subsidy for carrying on the war in Bretagne. This tax was found so heavy in the North, that the whole country was in a flame. The E. of Northumberland, then lord lieutenant for Yorkshire, wrote to inform the king of the discontent, and praying an abatement. But nothing is so unrelenting as avarice: the king wrote back that not a penny should be abated. This message being delivered by the earl with too little caution, the populace rose, and, supposing him to be the promoter of their calamity, broke into his house, and murdered him, with several of his attendants, who yet are charged by Skelton with being backward in their duty on this occasion. This melancholy event happened at the earl’s seat at Cocklodge, near Thirske, in Yorkshire, April 28, 1489. See Lord Bacon, &c. If the reader does not find much poetical merit in this old poem (which yet is one of Skelton’s best [?]), he will see a striking picture of the state and magnificence kept up by our ancient nobility during the feudal times. This great earl is described here as having, among his menial servants, KNIGHTS, SQUIRES, and even BARONS: see v. 32, 183, &c., which, however different from modern manners, was formerly not unusual with our greater Barons, whose castles had all the splendour and offices of a royal court, before the Laws against Retainers abridged and limited the number of their attendants.” Percy.
Page 6. v. 4. Of the bloud royall descending nobelly] “The mother of Henry, first Earl of Northumberland, was Mary daughter to Henry E. of Lancaster, whose father Edmond was second son of K. Henry iii. The mother and wife of the second Earl of Northumberland were both lineal descendants of K. Edward iii. The Percys also were lineally descended from the Emperour Charlemagne and the ancient Kings of France, by his ancestor Josceline de Lovain (son of Godfrey Duke of Brabant), who took the name of Percy on marrying the heiress of that house in the reign of Hen. ii. Vid. Camdeni Britan., Edmondson, &c.” Percy.
v. 6. again] i. e. against.
Page 7. v. 14. Elyconys] i. e. Helicon’s.
v. 16. astate] i. e. estate, high rank.
v. 20. nobles] i. e. nobless, nobleness.
v. 21. dites] i. e. ditties.
v. 24. hastarddis] “i. e. perhaps, hasty, rash fellows.” Percy.—Jamieson gives “Hastard. Irascible.” Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang.
—— tene] i. e. wrath.
v. 26. Confetered] i. e. Confederated.
v. 27. slee] i. e. slay.
v. 30. ken] i. e. know.
v. 34. karlis of kind] i. e. churls by nature.
v. 35. slo] i. e. slay.
Page 8. v. 40. bode] i. e. abode.
v. 41. glose] “i. e. set a false gloss or colour.” Percy.
v. 43. redouted] i. e. dreaded.
v. 45. great estates] i. e. persons of great estate or rank.
—— lowted] i. e. bowed, made obeisance.
v. 46. mayny] i. e. train, company, set.
v. 48. paues] i. e. shield (properly a large shield covering the body).
v. 49. mot] i. e. may.
v. 51. fyll] i. e. fell.
v. 53. agayne] i. e. against.
v. 59. worshyp] i. e. honour, respectability.
v. 62. againe] i. e. against (and so in the next line).
v. 63. slee] i. e. slay.
Page 9. v. 71. fals packing] i. e. false dealing (packing is—iniquitous combination, collusion, for evil purposes, for deceiving, &c.).
v. 73. occupied] i. e. used: see note, p. 86, v. 52.
—— shilde] i. e. shield.
v. 78. renyed] i. e. refused.
v. 81. buskt them] “i. e. prepared themselves, made themselves ready.” Percy. Rather,—hied.
Page 9. v. 81. bushment] i. e. ambushment.
—— baile] i. e. sorrow, trouble.
v. 82. Againe] i. e. Against.
—— wring] “i. e. contend with violence.” Percy.
v. 84. forsed] i. e. regarded.
v. 87. Presed] i. e. Pressed.
v. 88. faught them agagne] i. e. fought against them.
Page 10. v. 96. whose] i. e. whoso.
v. 98. sort] i. e. set, band.
v. 100. wode] i. e. frantic, wild.
v. 102. gode] i. e. good.
v. 106. spylt] i. e. destroyed.
v. 109. The myghty lyon] “Alluding to his crest and supporters.” Percy.
—— doutted] i. e. dreaded.
v. 115. shoke] i. e. shook.
Page 11. v. 118. mysuryd] “i. e. misused, applied to a bad purpose.” Percy.
v. 123. sleest] i. e. slayest.
v. 125. enharpit of mortall drede] “i. e. hooked, or edged with mortal dread.” Percy.
v. 126. kit] i. e. cut.
v. 128. aureat] i. e. golden, excellent.
—— ellumynynge] i. e. embellishing.
v. 131. fuyson] i. e. abundance.
v. 134. Paregall] i. e. Equal (thoroughly equal).
v. 135. Surmountinge] i. e. Surpassing.
v. 136. reporte me] i. e. refer.
v. 142. enkankered] i. e. corroded.
v. 143. worshiply] i. e. honourably.
v. 145. supprised] i. e. overpowered, smitten.
—— lust] i. e. liking, desire.
Page 12. v. 151. Tretory] i. e. Traitory, treachery.
v. 152. holl] i. e. whole.
v. 154. sle] i. e. slay.
v. 155. hole quere] i. e. whole quire.
v. 160. holy] i. e. wholly.
v. 162. yonge lyon] See note on v. 109. The fifth Earl of Northumberland was only eleven years old at his father’s death.
v. 166. Agayn] i. e. Against.
v. 172. faytors] “i. e. deceivers, dissemblers.” Percy.—“Faytoure, Fictor, Simulator.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499.
Page 12. v. 176. chere] i. e. countenance, or (as it may mean here) spirit.
Page 13. v. 179. Algife] i. e. Although.
—— thorow saught] i. e. sought through.
v. 181. complayne] i. e. lament for.
v. 186. worshyply] i. e. honourably.
v. 195. finaunce] i. e. fine, forfeiture.
v. 196. from the fendys pray] “i. e. from being the prey of the fiends.” Percy.
v. 199. eterminable] i. e. interminable.
Page 14. v. 212. hole sorte] i. e. whole company.
v. 213. mot] i. e. may.
—— ad magistrum Rukshaw] The person here addressed was perhaps “William Rowkshaw, priest,” by whom a letter, dated from the Gilbertine priory of Watton in the east riding of Yorkshire, is printed among the Plumpton Correspondence, p. 82. Camd. Soc. ed.
AGAYNSTE A COMELY COYSTROWNE, THAT CURYOWSLY CHAWNTYD, AND CURRYSHLY COWNTRED, &c.
Page 15. Coystrowne (which Skelton uses again in his poem Howe the douty Duke of Albany, &c., v. 171. vol. ii. 73., and has Latinized in his Speke, Parot, v. 125. vol. ii. 7.) is written by Chaucer quistron;
“This God of Loue of his fashion
Was like no knaue ne quistron,
[Ne resembloit pas un garçon].”
Rom. of the Rose, fol. 113,—Workes, ed. 1602.
Urry renders it—a beggar (Fr. questeur); but Tyrwhitt observes, “I rather believe it signifies a scullion, un garçon de cuisine.” Gloss. to C.T.—Douce says that Tyrwhitt’s explanation is correct, citing the words “un quistron de sa cusyne” from the prose French chronicle of the Brut of England, and Caxton’s version of them, “a knave of his kychen.” See Gloss. to Weber’s Met. Rom.—Roquefort has “Questron: bâtard, enfant d’une prostituée.” Gloss. de la Lang. Rom.—In Scottish poetry custroun occurs several times: see Jamieson’s Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang. and Suppl., where are various conjectures on the derivation and meaning of the word.
In Prompt. Parv. we find “Cowntryn in songe. Occento.” ed. 1499. To counter is properly—to sing an extemporaneous part upon the plain chant. Skelton uses the word in other places, and perhaps not always in its strict sense.
v. 4.
In peuyshnes yet they snapper and fall,
Which men the viii dedly syn call]
Snapper is commonly explained—stumble; but Palsgrave makes a distinction between the words: “I Snapper as a horse dothe that tryppeth, Ie trippette. My horse dyd nat stumble he dyd but snapper a lytell, Mon cheual ne choppyt poynt il ne fit que tripetter vng petit.” Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. ccclxv. (Table of Verbes.)—Compare the following lines;
“Not say y this but wel parcas that y
In pevisshe synne myght happe me ī aseven
Which is the viii synne to synnes vii.”
Poems by C. Duke of Orleans,—MS. Harl. 682. fol. 145.
Page 15. v. 6. prendergest] A word (probably the origin of the surname Prendergast) which I am unable to explain.
v. 8. bayardys bun] i. e. horse-loaf, a sort of bread formerly much used for feeding horses: bayard is, properly, a bay horse.
v. 9. sumdele] i. e. somewhat.
v. 11. maunchet] Properly, a small loaf of fine white bread.
—— morell] Properly, a dark-coloured, a black horse.
v. 13. carp] Which generally means—speak, talk,—is sometimes found applied to music, and here, perhaps, is equivalent to—make a noise.
v. 14. Lo, Jak wold be a jentylman!] So in Heywood’s Dialogue;
“Iacke would be a gentleman, if he could speake French.”
Sig. D 2,—Workes, ed. 1598.
See also Ray’s Proverbs, p. 124. ed. 1768.
v. 15.
Wyth, Hey, troly, loly, lo, whip here, Jak,
Alumbek sodyldym syllorym ben!
Curyowsly he can both counter and knak
Of Martyn Swart and all hys mery men]
Hey, troly, loly, Ritson observes, is a chorus or burden “of vast antiquity;” see Anc. Songs, ii. 8. ed. 1829: counter; see note on title of the poem: knak, i. e. triflingly, or affectedly shew off his skill in singing about, &c. In A very mery and Pythie Commedie, called The longer thou liuest, the more foole than art, &c. Newly compiled by W. Wager, 4to. n. d. (written in the early part of Elizabeth’s reign), Moros sings, among other fragments of songs,
“Martin swart and his man, sodledum sodledum,
Martin swart and his man, sodledum bell.”
Sig. A 3.
and in a comparatively recent drama we find;
“The Beare, the Boare, and Talbot with his tuskish white,
Oh so sore that he would bite,
The Talbot with his Tuskish white,
Soudledum Soudledum;
The Talbot with his Tuskish white, Soudledum bell.
The Talbott with his Tuskish white,
Oh so sore that he would bite,
Orebecke soudledum, sing orum bell.”
The Varietie (by the Duke of Newcastle), 1649. 12mo. p. 41.
Martin Swart, “a noble man in Germany, and in marciall feactes verye expert,” (Hall’s Chron. (Henry VII.) fol. ix. ed. 1548), headed the auxiliaries sent by the Duchess of Burgundy with Lambert Simnel, and fell, fighting with great valour, at the battle of Stoke.
Page 15. v. 19. pohen] i. e. pea-hen.
Page 16. v. 21. An holy water clarke] Aquæbajulus; an office generally mentioned with contempt.
v. 23. solfyth to haute] i. e. solfas too haughtily,—highly.
v. 25. to sharp is hys my] “The syllable Mi used in solmisation.” Hawkins’s Hist. of Music, iii. 41.
v. 26. pyrdewy] Compare Hycke Scorner;
“Than into loues daunce we were brought,
That we played the pyrdewy.”
Sig. A v. ed. W. de Worde.
and Colkelbie Sow;
“Sum Perdowy sum Trolly lolly.”
v. 303. Laing’s Early Pop. Poet. of Scotland.
v. 27. besy] i. e. busy.
v. 29. a lewde lewte] i. e. a vile lute.
—— Roty bully joyse] “The initial words of some old song.” Hawkins’s Hist. of Music, iii. 41.—In our author’s Magnyfycence, Courtly Abusyon exclaims,
“Rutty bully, ioly rutterkyn, heyda!”
v. 757, vol. i. 249.
Perhaps the same air is alluded to in Colkelbie Sow;
“Sum Rusty bully with a bek.”
v. 320.—Laing’s Early Pop. Poet. of Scotland.
v. 33. and he wyst] i. e. if he knew.
v. 34. sped] i. e. versed.
—— tauellys] “Tauell an instrument for a sylke woman to worke with.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lxix. (Table of Subst.)
v. 36. a payre of clauycordys] i. e. a clavichord (so, formerly, an organ was called a pair of organs); of which see an engraving in Hawkins’s Hist. of Music, ii. 443.
v. 43. jet] Is explained in modern dictionaries—strut.—“I Get I vse a proude countenaunce and pace in my goyng, Ie braggue.” “I Iette with facyon and countenaunce to set forthe myselfe, Ie braggue.” “I Go a iettynye or a ryottynge, Ie raude.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fols. ccxlvi, cclxv, ccli. (Table of Verbes.)
Page 16. v. 47. dumpys] i. e. dumps.
v. 48. prycke songe] i. e. music pricked or noted down; when opposed (see v. 54) to plain song, it meant counter-point, as distinguished from mere melody.
v. 49. a larg and a long] Characters in old music: one large contained two longs, one long two breves, &c.
v. 50. iape] i. e. jest, joke.
v. 51. solayne] i. e. sullen.
Page 17. v. 53. fayne] Palsgrave gives, “I feyne in syngyng, Ie chante a basse voyx. We maye nat synge out we are to nere my lorde, but lette vs fayne this songe,” &c. Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. ccxxxv. (Table of Verbes.) But here, I apprehend, fayne can only mean—sing in falsetto. Our author, in The Bowge of Courte, has
“His throte was clere, and lustely coude fayne.”
v. 233. vol. i. 39.
v. 55. Thys docter Deuyas commensyd in a cart] So again Skelton in his Colyn Cloute,
“Auaunt, syr doctour Deuyas!”
v. 1159. vol. i. 356.
Compare a much later writer: “What, a graue Doctor, a base Iohn Doleta the Almanack-maker, Doctor Deuse-ace and Doctor Merryman?” Nash’s Haue with you to Saffron-Walden, 1596. sig. L 3.—commensyd, i. e. who took his degree.
v. 60. ne] i. e. nor.
v. 61. wark] i. e. work, business.
v. 62. walk, and be nought!] Equivalent to—away, and a mischief on you!
v. 68. Take thys in worth] “I Take in worthe or I take in good worthe, Ie prens en gré.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. ccclxxxiiii. (Table of Verbes.)
v. 69. Wryten at Croydon by Crowland in the Clay] Concerning this line, the Rev. Joseph Hunter has obligingly remarked to me: “I was in hope of finding ‘Croydon by Crowland in the Clay’ by looking in Ingulphus and his Continuator, where all the places are mentioned in which the Abbey of Crowland (Croyland) had estates. No such name as Croydon appears; and as it is not in Speed’s maps, I see little chance of meeting with the place so called by Skelton. It would be a very bold emendation to read,—
‘Wryten in Hoyland by Crowland in the Clay:’
the parts of Lincolnshire in which Crowland is situated are called Holland or formerly Hoylande.”—To G. Steinman Steinman, Esq., author of the Hist. of Croydon, I am indebted for the following observations: “The passage has been a puzzle to me. The distance is very great between Crowland and Croydon in Cambridgeshire; and in Croydon in Surrey there is no such place as Crowland, though I can point out to you ‘the Clays’ there. The manor of Crouham is in the Surrey Croydon, but far away from ‘the Clays.’”
Page 18. Qd] i. e. Quod, quoth.
VPPON A DEEDMANS HED, &c.
couenable, i. e. befitting: sentence, i. e. sense, meaning. The pointing perhaps ought to be thus;—“in Englysh couenable, in sentence commendable,” &c.
v. 13. shyderyd] i. e. split, splintered.
v. 18. fell] i. e. skin.
Page 19. v. 24. mell] i. e. meddle.
v. 29.
Oure days be datyd,
To be chekmatyd
With drawttys of deth]
Checkmate, the term at chess when the king is made prisoner, and the game consequently finished, is often used figuratively by our early writers. With the present lines compare the following passages:
“Wyth a draght he was chek mate.”
Kyng Roberd of Cysylle,—MS. Harl. 1701. fol. 93.
“But she had taken suche cold for the defaute of helpe that depe draughtes of deth toke her, that nedes she must dye,” &c. Morte d’Arthur, B. viii. c. i. vol. i. 247. ed. Southey.
v. 36. brynnyng] i. e. burning.
v. 40. rew] i. e. have pity.
v. 43. shylde] i. e. shield.
v. 45. dyne] i. e. dun, dark.
v. 46. boteles bale] i. e. remediless sorrow.
v. 48. fendys blake] i. e. fiends black.
v. 54. solace] i. e. pleasure.
“WOMANHOD, WANTON, YE WANT,” &c.
Page 20. v. 4. recheles] i. e. reckless.
v. 6. draffe] i. e. refuse: in our author’s Elynour Rummyng, v. 171. vol. i. 100, it means hog-wash,—the coarse liquor, or brewers’ grains, with which swine are fed.
Page 20. v. 13. pohen] i. e. peahen.
v. 18. auayle] i. e. advantage, profit.
v. 19. shayle] Is several times used by Skelton. “Schayler that gothe awrie with his fete boytevx.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lxi. (Table of Subst.) “I Shayle as a man or horse dothe that gothe croked with his legges: Ie vas eschays. It is to late to beate him for it nowe, he shal shayle as longe as he lyueth ... il yra eschays ... I Shayle with the fete, Ientretaille des pieds.” Id. fol. cccxlviii. (Table of Verbes). “A shayle with yᵉ knees togyther and the fete outwarde: A eschays.” Id. fol. ccccxxxvii. (Table of Aduerbes).
v. 20. pyggysny] “The Romans,” says Tyrwhitt, “used oculus as a term of endearment, and perhaps piggesnie, in vulgar language, only means ocellus; the eyes of that animal being remarkably small.” Note on Chaucer’s Cant. Tales, v. 3268.—In confirmation of this etymology, Todd (Johnson’s Dict. in v. Pigsney) has shewn that the word was occasionally written pigs eie.
v. 21. quyte] i. e. requite.
Page 21. v. 26. doute] i. e. fear.
v. 28. all beshrewde] i. e. altogether cursed.
v. 29. that farly swete] i. e. that strange sweet one.
v. 30. wonnes] i. e. dwells.
—— Temmys strete] i. e. Thames’ street.
DYUERS BALETTYS AND DYTIES, &c.
solacyous] i. e. pleasant, amusing.
Page 22. v. 2. quod] i. e. quoth.
v. 4. hardely] i. e. boldly, with confidence.
v. 7. kepe] i. e. heed, regard, care.
v. 8.
With ba, ba, ba, and bas, bas, bas,
She cheryshed hym both cheke and chyn]
i. e. With kissings,—with, kiss me.
“Come ner my spouse, and let me ba thy cheke.”
Chaucer’s Wif of Bathes Prol. v. 6015. ed. Tyr.
“I wald him chuk, cheik and chyn, and cheris him so mekill.”
Dunbar’s tale of The Tua Maryit Wemen and the Wedo,—Poems, i. 71. ed. Laing.
v. 10. wyst] i. e. knew.
v. 11. He had forgoten all dedely syn] Compare our author’s Phyllyp Sparowe, v. 1080. vol. i. 84.
v. 13. He trusted her payment, and lost all hys pray] In the note below the text I inconsiderately queried if “pray” should be “pay.” Compare the last of Skelton’s Poems against Garnesche;
“And thus there ye lost yower pray [i. e. prey].”
v. 61. vol. i. 128.
Page 22. v. 15. rowth] i. e. rough.
—— waters wan] Many passages of our early poetry might be cited where this epithet is applied to water: see note on Why come ye nat to Courte, v. 887, where a wrong reading has misled H. Tooke and Richardson.
v. 18. halsyd] i. e. embraced (round the neck).
v. 19. cought] i. e. caught.
Page 23. v. 20. lefe] i. e. dear.
—— rowtyth] i. e. snoreth.
v. 21. I wys] i. e. truly, certainly (i-wis, adv.).
v. 23. lust and lykyng] “Luste pleasure delyt ... volupté.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xlvi. (Table of Subst.): lykyng; see note, p. 85. v. 8. This somewhat pleonastic expression (used again more than once by Skelton) is not uncommon in our old writers: “Allas my swete sones thenne she sayd, for your sakes I shalle lese my lykynge and lust.” Morte d’Arthur, B. xi. c. x. vol. ii. 174. ed. Southey. Nay, in the interlude of The Worlde and the Chylde, 1522, one of the characters bears the name of Lust and Lykynge.
v. 24. blowboll] “Blowbole yuroigne.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xx. (Table of Subst.).
“To blowe in a bowle, and for to pill a platter,” &c.
Barclay’s First Egloge, sig. A iiii. ed. 1570.
“Farewell Peter blowbowle I may wel call thee.”
Enterlude of Kyng Daryus, 1565. sig. B.
Among the contents of MS. Rawlinson marked C. 86., Bodl. Libr., is a ludicrous poem entitled Colyne Blowbols Testament: see Sir F. Madden’s Introd. to Syr Gawayne, &c. p. lxvi.
v. 25. luggard] i. e. heavy fellow, sluggard.
v. 28. powle hachet] So again in our author’s Garlande of Laurell;
“Powle hatchettis, that prate wyll at euery ale pole.”
v. 613. vol. i. 386.
—— bleryd thyne I] (I—eye) i. e. imposed on, put a cheat on you.
Qd.] i. e. Quod, quoth.
v. 4. pastaunce] i. e. pastime.
v. 7. corage] i. e. heart.
Page 23. v. 8. fauorable] i. e. well-favoured, beautiful.
v. 11. Menolope] In a “ballade” entitled The IX. Ladies Woorthie, printed among Chaucer’s Workes, the writer, after celebrating the eighth, “Quene Semiramys,” concludes thus;
“Also the ladie Menalip thy sister deere,
Whose marcial power no man coud withstand,
Through the worlde was not found her pere,
The famous duke Thes[e]us she had in hand,
She chastised hym and [conquered] all his land,
The proude Greekes mightely she did assaile,
Ouercame and vanquished them in battaile.”
fol. 324. ed. 1602.
Compare Hawes;
“There was quene Phantasyle with penalape
Quene helayne and quene menalape.”
The Pastime of pleasure, sig. T iii. ed. 1555.
v. 16. curtoyl] i. e. curtal.
—— set nowght by] i. e. set no value, or regard, on.
Page 24. v. 17.
Gup, morell, gup,
With jayst ye——]
morell; see note, p. 93. v. 11.—Gup and jayst are exclamations applied to horses; compare our author’s Elynour Rummyng, v. 390. vol. i. 107., and his third Poem against Garnesche, v. 13. vol. i. 120. So too in Camelles Rejoindre to Churchyarde (fol. broadside);
“Then gip fellowe asse, then jost fellowe lurden.”
v. 19. corage] i. e. heart, affection, inclination.
—— haggys] I know not in what sense Skelton uses this word: so again in his Colyn Cloute;
“I purpose to shake oute
All my connyng bagge,
Lyke a clerkely hagge.”
v. 50. vol. i. 313.
and in his poem Howe the douty Duke of Albany, &c.;
“For thou can not but brag,
Lyke a Scottyshe hag.”
v. 294. vol. ii. 76.
v. 20. Haue in sergeaunt ferrour] i. e. Bring in sergeant farrier. “Ferrour. Ferrarius. Ferrator.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499. The title sergeant belongs properly to certain of the king’s servants: so in an unpublished Liber Excerpt. Temp. Hen. vii. et Hen. viii. in the Chapter-house, Westminster;
| (xix. of Hen. vii.) | “Item payd to the sergeant plummer and bartram opon their indentures for grenewiche | xxli.” |
Page 24. v. 23. keylyth] i. e. (perhaps) cooleth—but I do not understand the passage.
v. 24. neuer a dele] i. e. not a bit.
v. 25. wrenche] “Wrenche, a wyle gauche, ruse.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lxxvi. (Table of Subst.).
v. 30. dyntes] i. e. blows.
v. 31. He bresyth theyr braynpannys] i. e. He bruiseth, breaketh their skulls, heads: “Pan of the hede. Cranium.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499.
v. 32. all to-brokyn] A writer in the new ed. of Boucher’s Gloss. (in v. All) justly observes that it is a mistake to suppose that in such expressions all is coupled with to, and that it becomes equivalent to omnino from being thus conjoined. The augmentative to is connected with the following word as a prefix, and often occurs without being preceded by all: so in our author’s Bowge of Courte,
“A rusty gallande, to-ragged and to-rente.”—v. 345. vol. i. 43.
—— clappys] i. e. strokes.
v. 33. to lepe the hach] i. e. to run away:—(hatch—the fastened half or part of the door, the half-door).
“I pretende [i. e. intend] therefore to leape ouer the hatche.”
The Triall of Treasure, 1567. sig. E ii.
v. 34. By theyr conusaunce knowing how they serue a wily py] Conusaunce is cognizance,—a badge worn by servants; py is magpie: there seems to be some allusion to armorial bearings.
v. 36. It can be no counsell that is cryed at the cros] i. e. It can be no secret that is proclaimed at the market-place.
v. 38. furst] i. e. first.
—— los] May mean loss, but, rather, it would seem, “Loos or bad name. Infamia.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499.
v. 39. warke] i. e. work.
Qd] i. e. Quod, quoth.
Page 25. v. 3. Corage wyth lust] See notes, p. 98. v. 23., p. 99. v. 19: but the whole stanza is very obscure.
v. 7. surmountyng] i. e. surpassing.
v. 8. Allectuary] i. e. Electuary.
—— arrectyd] i. e. perhaps, considered sovereign; to arrect is to impute: or it may simply mean—raised up; our author’s Garlande of Laurell begins
“Arectyng my syght towarde the zodyake.”—vol. i. 361.
—— redres] i. e. relieve, remedy.
v. 9. axys] i. e. fits, paroxysms.
“Yet I haue felt of the sicknesse through May
Both hote and cold, and axes euery day.”
Chaucer’s Cuckow and Nightingale,—Workes, fol. 316. ed. 1602.
“Ther comyth a quarteyn, seith in his gret accesse,” &c.
Lydgate’s verses Against Self-love,—MS. Harl. 2255. fol. 8.
“Help feuerous folk that tremble in ther accesse.”
Lydgate’s Prayer to St. Leonard,—MS. Harl. 2255. fol. 114.
In some parts of England and Scotland access is still used to denote the ague.—Lest any reader should think this note unnecessarily long, I may observe that in two recently published works the word “axes” is erroneously explained,—aches.
Page 25. v. 10. Of thoughtfull hertys plungyd in dystres] Skelton borrowed this line from Lydgate, whose Lyf of our Lady begins
“O thoughtful herte plungyd in distresse.”
In the Bibl. Poet. p. 82, Ritson gives these words as the commencement of a poem by Lydgate, Cott. Ap. viii., not knowing that this reference is to a MS. of the Lyf of our Lady.—Thoughtfull is anxious, heavy, sad.
“For thought and woe pyteously wepynge.”
Lydgate’s Warres of Troy, B. iv. sig. T v. ed. 1555.
v. 13. Herber] Warton appears to limit the signification of this word in old poetry to “an herbary for furnishing domestic medicines,” which, says he, “always made a part of our ancient gardens;” note on Hist. of E. P. ii. 231. ed. 4to. But Jamieson observes, that it would seem to be used for arbour by James I., Kings Quair, ii. 12, 13., and in the romance of Sir Egeir, v. 356. Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang. (in v. Herbere). See also The Flower and the Leaf, and The Complaint of the Black Knight, by Chaucer.
v. 14. lusty somer] i. e. pleasant summer.
v. 16. ruddys] i. e. ruddy tints of the cheek, complexion.
v. 17. Saphyre of sadnes]—sadnes, i. e. steadiness, constancy:
“For hit is write and seide how the safere
Doth token trowthe.”
Poems by C. Duke of Orleans,—MS. Harl. 682. fol. 44.
—— enuayned with indy blew] enuayned, i. e. enveined. “Inde. Fr., Azure-coloured.” Tyrwhitt’s Gloss. to Chaucer’s Cant. Tales. “Inde, ynde: couleur de bleu foncé, d’azur, indicum.” Roquefort’s Gloss. de la Lang. Rom. So again our author in his Magnyfycence;
“The streynes of her vaynes as asure inde blewe.”
v. 1571. vol. i. 276.
See too his Garlande of Laurell, v. 478. vol. i. 381. Compare Hawes;
“Lyke to a lady: for to be moost trewe
She ware a fayre: and goodly garment
Of moost fyne veluet: al of Indy blewe
With armynes powdred: bordred at the vent.”
The Pastime of pleasure, sig. K iiii. ed. 1555.
and Nevil, son of Lord Latimer, in a poem of great rarity;
“On the gates two scryptures I aspyed
Theym for to rede my mynd than I applyed
Wryten in gold and indye blewe for folkes fortheraunce.”
The Castell of pleasure, sig. A v. 1518.
Chaucer has
“Of grasse and floures, Inde and Pers.”
Romaunt of the Rose,—Workes, fol. 109. ed. 1602.
(monstrously explained in Urry’s ed. “Indian and Persian”): and Lydgate,
“Nor stonys al by nature, as I fynde,
Be not saphires that shewethe colour ynde.”
The Chorle and the Bird,—MS. Harl. 116. fol. 150.
Sir John Mandeville says that the beak of the Phœnix “is coloured blew as ynde.” Voiage and Travaile, &c., p. 58. ed. 1725.
Page 25. v. 20. Geyne] i. e. Against.
———— the emeraud comendable;
Relucent smaragd]
Emeraud (emerald) and smaragd are generally considered as synonymous; but here Skelton makes a distinction between them. So too Drayton in his Muses Elizium, 1630. p. 78; and Chamberlayne in his Pharonnida, 1659. B. ii. c. 4. p. 150. And so R. Holme: “The Emrauld is green.”—“The Smaradge is of an excellent fresh green, far passing any Leaf.” Ac. of Armory, 1688. B. ii. pp. 39, 41. James I. in his Quair mentions
“The panther like unto the smaragdyne.”
Chalmers’s Poet. Rem. of Scot. Kings, p. 85.
v. 22. perspectyue] Which generally signifies a glass to look through, seems here, from the context, to mean some sort of reflecting glass.
v. 23. Illumynyd] i. e. Adorned.
v. 26. Gayne] i. e. Against.
Page 25. v. 29. Remorse] Means commonly in early writers,—pity; but that sense is unsuited to the present passage: it seems to be used here for—remembrance, recollection.
—— most goodlyhod] i. e. perfect goodness.
v. 33. praty] i. e. pretty.
Page 26. v. 40. mastres] i. e. mistress.
v. 41. nys] i. e. ne is—is not.
v. 43. more desyrous] i. e. more desirable.
Qd] i. e. Quod, quoth.
v. 11. rede] i. e. advise.
v. 12. fals poynt] “This fals poynt ... Hæc fraus.” Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. s viii. ed. 1530.
v. 13. fell] i. e. skin.
Page 27. v. 15. lesard] In the Latin above, the corresponding word is anguis: long after Skelton’s time, the poor harmless lizard was reckoned venomous; so in Shakespeare’s Third Part of Henry VI., act ii. sc. 2., “lizards’ dreadful stings.”
v. 1. rasyd] i. e. torn, wounded. Skelton in his Woffully Araid has
“See how a spere my hert dyd race.”
v. 45. vol. i. 142.
v. 3. vaynys i. e. veins.
—— blo] i. e. livid. “Blo, blewe and grene coloured, as ones body is after a drie stroke, iaunastre.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lxxxiiii. (Table of Adiect.).
v. 5. ouerthwart] i. e. cross, perverse, adverse.
v. 7. dyscure] i. e. discover.