“But to knowe. the auentures all
Of this lady. Isyphyle the fayre,”
(Pars tert. sig. h iiii. n. d. 4to.)
we must have recourse to Boccaccio De Claris Mulieribus (see that work, cap. xv. ed. 1539).
v. 1027. pomaunder] Was a composition of perfumes, wrought into the shape of a ball, or other form, and worn in the pocket, or about the neck (Fr. pomme d’ambre). In the following entry from an unpublished Boke of Kyngs Paymentis from i to ix of Henry viii, preserved in the Chapter-House, Westminster, pomaunder means a case for holding the composition;
| “Item to the frenche quenes seruaunt, that brought a pomaunder of gold to the princes, in Re[ward | xx. s.” | (9th year of reign). |
v. 1030. Wele] i. e. Well.
v. 1033. corteise] i. e. courteous.
Page 403. v. 1048. Pasiphe] Lest the reader should be surprised at finding Skelton compare Mistress Statham to Pasiphae, I cite the following lines from Feylde’s Contrauersye bytwene a Louer and a Iaye (printed by W. de Worde), n. d., in which she and Taurus are mentioned as examples of true love;
“Phedra and Theseus