NOTES TO VOLUME II.
SPEKE, PARROT.
That the extant portions of this very obscure production were written at intervals, is not to be doubted; and that we do not possess all that Skelton composed under the title of Speke, Parrot is proved by the following passage of the Garlande of Laurell, where, enumerating his various works, he mentions
“the Popingay, that hath in commendacyoun
Ladyes and gentylwomen suche as deseruyd,
And suche as be counterfettis they be reseruyd.”
v. 1188. vol. i. 409.
a description which, as it answers to no part of the existing poem (or poems), must apply to some portion which has perished, and which, I apprehend, was of an earlier date. “The Popingay” is assuredly only another name for Speke, Parrot;
“Go, litell quayre, namyd the Popagay.”
Speke, Parrot, v. 280.