Chapter II: Part 2

The chief satirical productions of Skelton (and the bent of his genius was decidedly towards satire) are _The Bowge of Courte_, _Colyn Cloute_, and _Why come ye nat to Courte_.—In the first of these, an allegorical poem of considerable invention, he introduces a series of characters delineated with a boldness and discrimination which no preceding poet had displayed since the days of Chaucer, and which none of his contemporaries (with the sole exception of the brilliant Dunbar) were able to attain: the merit of those personifications has been allowed even by Warton, whose ample critique on Skelton deals but little in praise;[125] and I am somewhat surprised that Mr. D’Israeli, who has lately come forward as the warm eulogist of our author,[126] should have passed over _The Bowge of Courte_ without the slightest notice.—_Colyn Cloute_ is a general satire on the corruptions of the Church, the friars and the bishops being attacked alike unsparingly; nor, when Skelton himself pronounced of this piece that “though his ryme be ragged, it hath in it some pyth,”[127] did he overrate its vigour and its weighty truth: _Colyn Cloute_ not only shews that fearlessness which on all occasions distinguished him, but evinces a superiority to the prejudices of his age, in assailing abuses, which, if manifest to his more enlightened contemporaries, few at least had as yet presumed to censure.—In _Why come ye nat to Courte_ the satire is entirely personal, and aimed at the all-powerful minister to whom the author had once humbly sued for preferment. While, throughout this remarkable poem, Skelton either overlooks or denies the better qualities, the commanding talents, and the great attainments of Wolsey, and even ungenerously taunts him with the meanness of his origin; he fails not to attack his character and conduct in those particulars against which a satirist might justly declaim, and with the certainty that invectives so directed would find an echo among the people. The regal pomp and luxury of the Cardinal, his insatiate ambition, his insolent bearing at the council-board, his inaccessibility to suitors, &c. &c. are dwelt on with an intensity of scornful bitterness, and occasionally give rise to vivid descriptions which history assures us are but little exaggerated. Some readers may perhaps object, that in this poem the satire of Skelton too much resembles the “oyster-knife that hacks and hews” (to which that of Pope was so unfairly likened[128]); but all must confess that he wields his weapon with prodigious force and skill; and we know that Wolsey writhed under the wounds which it inflicted.

When Catullus bewailed the death of Lesbia’s bird, he confined himself to eighteen lines (and truly golden lines); but Skelton, while lamenting for the sparrow that was “slayn at Carowe,” has engrafted on the subject so many far-sought and whimsical embellishments, that his epicede is really what the old editions term it,—a “boke.” _Phyllyp Sparowe_ exhibits such fertility and delicacy of fancy, such graceful sportiveness, and such ease of expression, that it might well be characterised by Coleridge as “an exquisite and original poem.”[129]

In _The Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng_, which would seem to have been one of Skelton’s most popular performances, we have a specimen of his talent for the low burlesque;—a description of a real ale-wife, and of the various gossips who keep thronging to her for liquor, as if under the influence of a spell. If few compositions of the kind have more coarseness or extravagance, there are few which have greater animation or a richer humour.

The _Garlands of Laurell_, one of Skelton’s longest and most elaborate pieces, cannot also be reckoned among his best. It contains, however, several passages of no mean beauty, which shew that he possessed powers for the higher kind of poetry, if he had chosen to exercise them; and is interspersed with some lyrical addresses to the ladies who weave his chaplet, which are very happily versified. In one respect the _Garlande of Laurell_ stands without a parallel: the history of literature affords no second example of a poet having deliberately written sixteen hundred lines in honour of himself.

Skelton is to be regarded as one of the fathers of the English drama. His _Enterlude of Vertue_[130] and his _Comedy callyd Achademios_[131] have perished; so perhaps has his _Nigramansir_;[132] but his _Magnyfycence_ is still extant. To those who carry their acquaintance with our early play-wrights no farther back than the period of Peele, Greene, and Marlowe, this “goodly interlude” by Skelton will doubtless appear heavy and inartificial; its superiority, however, to the similar efforts of his contemporaries, is, I apprehend, unquestionable.[133]

If our author did not invent the metre which he uses in the greater portion of his writings, and which is now known by the name _Skeltonical_, he was certainly the first who adopted it in poems of any length; and he employed it with a skill, which, after he had rendered it popular, was beyond the reach of his numerous imitators.[134] “The Skeltonical short verse,” observes Mr. D’Israeli, speaking of Skelton’s own productions, “contracted into five or six, and even four syllables, is wild and airy. In the quick-returning rhymes, the playfulness of the diction, and the pungency of new words, usually ludicrous, often expressive, and sometimes felicitous, there is a stirring spirit which will be best felt in an audible reading. The velocity of his verse has a carol of its own. The chimes ring in the ear, and the thoughts are flung about like coruscations.”[135]

Skelton has been frequently termed a Macaronic poet, but it may be doubted if with strict propriety; for the passages in which he introduces snatches of Latin and French are thinly scattered through his works. “This anomalous and motley mode of versification,” says Warton, “is, I believe, supposed to be peculiar to our author. I am not, however, quite certain that it originated with Skelton.”[136] He ought to have been “quite certain” that it did _not_.[137]

[15] Sometimes written _Schelton_: and Blomefield says, “That his Name was _Shelton_ or Skelton, appears from his Successor’s Institution, viz. ‘1529, 17 July, Thomas Clerk, instituted on the Death of John _Shelton_, last Rector [Lib. Inst. No. 18].’” _Hist. of Norfolk_, i. 20. ed. 1739.

[16] “John Skelton was a younger branch of the Skeltons of Skelton in this County [Cumberland]. I crave leave of the Reader, (hitherto not having full instructions, and) preserving the undoubted Title of this County unto him, to defer his character to Norfolk, where he was Beneficed at Diss therein.” Fuller’s _Worthies_, p. 221 (_Cumberland_), ed. 1662. “John Skelton is placed in this County [Norfolk] on a double probability. First, because an ancient family of his name is eminently known long fixed therein. Secondly, because he was beneficed at Dis,” &c. _Id._ p. 257 (_Norfolk_).—“John Skelton ... was originally, if not nearly, descended from the Skeltons of Cumberland.” Wood’s _Ath. Oxon._ i. 49. ed. Bliss. See also Tanner’s _Biblioth._ p. 675. ed. 1748.—“I take it, that Skelton was not only Rector, but a Native of this Place [Diss], being son of William Skelton, and Margaret his Wife, whose Will was proved at Norwich, Nov. 7, 1512 [Regr. Johnson].” Blomefield’s _Hist. of Norfolk_, i. 20. ed. 1739. Through the active kindness of Mr. Amyot, I have received a copy of the Will of William Skelton (or Shelton), who, though perhaps a relation, was surely not the father of the poet; for in this full and explicit document the name of _John_ Skelton does not once occur.—From an entry which will be afterwards cited, it would seem that the Christian name of Skelton’s mother was Johanna.—In Skelton’s Latin lines on the city of Norwich (see vol. i. 174) we find,

“Ah decus, ah _patriæ_ specie pulcherrima dudum!
Urbs Norvicensis,” &c.

Does “_patriæ_” mean his native county?

[17] “Having been educated in this university, as Joh. Baleus attests.” Wood’s _Ath. Oxon._ i. 50. ed. Bliss. Wood’s reference in the note is “In lib. _De Scriptoribus Anglicis_, MS. inter cod. MSS. Selden, in bib. Bodl. p. 69 b.” The printed copy of Bale’s work contains no mention of the place of Skelton’s education. Part of Bale’s information concerning Skelton, as appears from the still extant MS. collections for his _Script. Illust. Brit._, was received “Ex Guilhelmo Horman,” the author of the _Vulgaria_.—See also Tanner’s _Biblioth._ p. 675. ed. 1748.—Warton says that Skelton “studied in both our universities.” _Hist. of E. P._ ii. 336. ed. 4to.

[18] _A Replycacion_, &c. vol. i. 207.

[19] “Wood reckons him of Ox. on the author. of Bale in a MS. in the Bodleian Libr., but with much better reason he may be called ours; for I find one Scheklton M.A. in the year 1484, at which time allowing him to be 24 years of age, he must be at his death A.D. 1529, 68 or 69 years old, which ’tis probable he might be. v. Bale 653.” Cole’s _Collections_,—_Add. MSS._ (Brit. Mus.) 5880, p. 199.

[20] I suspect that, during Skelton’s lifetime, two of his most celebrated pieces, _Colyn Cloute_ (see v. 1239, vol. i. 359), and _Why come ye nat to Courte_, were not committed to the press, but wandered about in manuscript among hundreds of eager readers. A portion of _Speke, Parrot_, and the Poems _Against Garnesche_, are now for the first time printed.

[21] Vol. i. 408 sqq. No poetical antiquary can read the titles of some of the lighter pieces mentioned in that catalogue,—such as _The Balade of the Mustarde Tarte_, _The Murnyng of the mapely rote_ (see Notes, vol. ii. 330), &c.—without regretting their loss. “Many of the songs or popular ballads of this time,” observes Sir John Hawkins, “appear to have been written by Skelton.” _Hist. of Music_, iii. 39.

I take the present opportunity of giving from a MS. in my possession a much fuller copy than has hitherto appeared of the celebrated song which opens the second act of _Gammer Gurtons Nedle_, and which Warton calls “the first _chanson à boire_ or _drinking-ballad_, of any merit, in our language.” _Hist. of E. P._ iii. 206. ed. 4to. The comedy was first printed in 1575: the manuscript copy of the song, as follows, is certainly of an earlier date:

“backe & syde goo bare goo bare
bothe hande & fote goo colde
but belly god sende the good ale inowghe
whether hyt be newe or olde.

but yf that I
maye have trwly
goode ale my belly full
I shall looke lyke one
by swete sainte Johnn
were shoron agaynste the woole
thowthe I goo bare
take yow no care
I am nothynge colde
I stuffe my skynne
so full within
of joly goode ale & olde.

I cannot eate
but lytyll meate
my stomacke ys not goode
but sure I thyncke
that I cowde dryncke
with hym that werythe an hoode
dryncke ys my lyfe
althowgthe my wyfe
some tyme do chyde & scolde
yete spare I not
to plye the potte
of joly goode ale & olde.
backe & syde, &c.

I love noo roste
but a browne toste
or a crabbe in the fyer
a lytyll breade
shall do me steade
mooche breade I neuer desyer
Nor froste nor snowe
Nor wynde I trow
Canne hurte me yf hyt wolde
I am so wrapped
within & lapped
with joly goode ale & olde.
backe & syde, &c.

I care ryte nowghte
I take no thowte
for clothes to kepe me warme
have I goode dryncke
I surely thyncke
nothynge canne do me harme
for trwly than
I feare noman
be he neuer so bolde
when I am armed
& throwly warmed
with joly good ale & olde.
backe & syde, &c.

but nowe & than
I curse & banne
they make ther ale so small
god geve them care
& evill to faare
they strye the malte & all
sooche pevisshe pewe
I tell yowe trwe
not for a c[r]ovne of golde
ther commethe one syppe
within my lyppe
whether hyt be newe or olde.
backe & syde, &c.

good ale & stronge
makethe me amonge
full joconde & full lyte
that ofte I slepe
& take no kepe
frome mornynge vntyll nyte
then starte I vppe
& fle to the cuppe
the ryte waye on I holde
my thurste to staunche
I fyll my paynche
with joly goode ale & olde.
backe & syde, &c.

and kytte my wyfe
that as her lyfe
lovethe well good ale to seke
full ofte drynkythe she
that ye maye se
the tears ronne downe her cheke
then dothe she troule
to me the bolle
as a goode malte worme sholde
& saye swete harte
I have take my parte
of joly goode ale & olde.
backe & syde, &c.

They that do dryncke
tyll they nodde & wyncke
even as good fellowes shulde do
they shall notte mysse
to have the blysse
that good ale hathe browghte them to
& all poore soules
that skowre blacke bolles
& them hathe lustely trowlde
god save the lyves
Of them & ther wyves
wether they be yonge or olde.
backe & syde,” &c.

[22] Vol. i. 1.

[23] Vol. i. 6: see Notes, vol. ii. 89.

[24] He was only eleven years old at his father’s death. See more concerning the fifth earl in Percy’s Preface to _The Northumberland Household Book_, 1770, in Warton’s _Hist. of E. P._ ii. 338. ed. 4to, and in Collins’s _Peerage_, ii. 304. ed. Brydges.—Warton says that the Earl “encouraged Skelton to write this Elegy,” an assertion grounded, I suppose, on the Latin lines prefixed to it.

[25] A splendid MS. volume, consisting of poems (chiefly by Lydgate), finely written on vellum, and richly illuminated, which formerly belonged to the fifth earl, is still preserved in the British Museum, _MS. Reg. 18. D ii._: at fol. 165 is Skelton’s Elegy on the earl’s father.

[26] For a notice of Skelton’s laureation at Oxford, the Rev. Dr. Bliss obligingly searched the archives of that university, but without success: “no records,” he informs me, “remain between 1463 and 1498 that will give a correct list of degrees.”

[27] This work (a thin folio), translated by Caxton from the French, is a prose romance founded on the _Æneid_. It consists of 65 chapters, the first entitled “How the ryght puyssant kynge pryamus edyfyed the grete Cyte of Troye,” the last, “How Ascanyus helde the royalme of Ytalye after the dethe of Eneas hys fader.” Gawin Douglas, in the Preface to his translation of Virgil’s poem, makes a long and elaborate attack on Caxton’s performance;

“Wylliame Caxtoun had no compatioun
Of Virgill in that buk he preȳt in prois,
Clepand it Virgill in Eneados,
Quhilk that he sayis of Frensche he did translate;
It has na thing ado therwith, God wate,
Nor _na mare like than the Deuil and sanct Austin_,” &c.

Sig. B iii. ed. 1553.

[28] A work probably never printed, and now lost: it is mentioned by Skelton in the _Garlande of Laurell_;

“Of _Tullis Familiars_ the translacyoun.”

vol. i. 409.

[29] A work mentioned in the same poem;

“_Diodorus Siculus_ of my translacyon
Out of fresshe Latine into owre Englysshe playne,
Recountyng commoditis of many a straunge nacyon;
Who redyth it ones wolde rede it agayne;
Sex volumis engrosid together it doth containe.”

vol. i. 420.

It is preserved in MS. at Cambridge: see Appendix II. to this Memoir.

[30] Sig. A ii.

[31] For more about poet laureat, both in the ancient and modern acceptation, see Selden’s _Titles of Honor_, p. 405. ed. 1631; the Abbé du Resnel’s _Recherches sur les Poètes Couronnez_,—_Hist. de l’Acad. des Inscript. (Mém. de Littérature)_, x. 507; Warton’s _Hist. of E. P._ ii. 129. ed. 4to; Malone’s _Life of Dryden (Prose Works)_, p. 78; Devon’s Introd. to _Issue Roll of Thomas de Brantingham_, p. xxix., and his Introd. to _Issues of the Exchequer_, &c., p. xiii.—Churchyard in his verses prefixed to Marshe’s ed. of Skelton’s _Workes,_ 1568, says,

“Nay, Skelton wore the lawrell wreath,
And past in schoels, ye knoe.”

see Appendix I. to this Memoir.

[32] Vol. i. 128.

[33] _Hist. of E. P._ ii. 130 (note), ed. 4to.—The second entry was printed in 1736 by the Abbé du Resnel (who received it from Carte the historian) in _Recherches sur les Poètes Couronnez_,—_Hist. de l’Acad. des Inscript. (Mém. de Littérature)_, x. 522. Both entries were given in 1767 by Farmer in the second edition of his _Essay on the Learning of Shakespeare_, p. 50.—The Rev. Joseph Romilly, registrar of the University of Cambridge, has obligingly ascertained for me their correctness.

[34] Vol. i. 124.

[35] Vol. i. 197.

[36] _Prologe_ to _Egloges_, sig. A 1. ed. 1570.

[37] _Hist. of E. P._ ii. 132 (note), ed. 4to, where Warton gives the subscription of the former as the title of the latter poem: his mistake was occasioned by the reprint of Skelton’s _Works_, 1736. See the present edition, vol. i. 190, 191.

[38] Du Resnel expressly says that he was made acquainted with the Cambridge entry by “M. Carte, autrement M. Phillips.” _Recherches sur les Poètes Couronnez_,—_Hist. de l’Acad. des Inscript. (Mém. de Littérature)_, x. 522.—Carte assumed the name of Phillips when he took refuge in France.

[39] A gentleman resident at Louvaine obligingly examined for me the registers of that university, but could find in them no mention of Skelton.

[40] The original has “Cum:” but the initial letters of the lines were intended to form a distich; see the conclusion of the poem.

[41] Here again the original has “Cum.”

[42] From the 4to volume entitled _Opusculum Roberti Whittintoni in florentissima Oxoniensi achademia Laureati_. At the end, _Expliciūt Roberti Whitintoni Oxonie Protouatis Epygrammata: una cū quibusdā Panegyricis. Impressa Lōdini per me wynandū de worde. Anno post virgineū partū._ M. ccccc xix. _decimo vero kalēdas Maii_.

[43] Henry Bradshaw’s _Lyfe of Saynt Werburghe_, l. ii. c. 24. printed by Pynson 1521, 4to.

[44] See the two subscriptions already cited, p. xiv.; and vol. i. 132, 206, vol. ii. 25.—“Clarus & facundus in utroque scribendi genere, prosa atque metro, habebatur.” Bale, _Script. Illust. Brit._ &c. p. 651. ed. 1559. “Inter Rhetores regius orator factus.” Pits, _De Illust. Angl. Script_. p. 701. ed. 1619. “With regard to the _Orator Regius_,” says Warton, “I find one John Mallard in that office to Henry the eighth, and his epistolary secretary,” &c. _Hist. of E. P._ ii. 132 (note), ed. 4to.

[45] Register _Hill_ 1489-1505, belonging to the Diocese of London.

[46] 1st Octr.: see Sandford’s _Geneal. Hist._ p. 475. ed. 1707.

[47] See the _Garlande of Laurell_, vol. i. 408.

[48] Henry was created Duke of York 31st Octr. an. 10. Hen. vii. [1494]; see Sandford’s _Geneal. Hist._ p. 480. ed. 1707. See also _The Creation of Henry Duke of Yorke_, &c. (from a Cottonian MS.) in Lord Somers’s _Tracts_, i. 24. ed. Scott.

[49] _Biblioth_. p. 676. ed. 1748.

[50] i. e. well.

[51] i. e. tutor: see Notes, vol. ii. 193.—When ladies attempt to write history, they sometimes say odd things: e. g. “It is affirmed that Skelton had been tutor to Henry [viii.] in some department of his education. _How probable it is_ that the corruption imparted by this ribald and ill-living wretch laid the foundation for his royal pupil’s grossest crimes!” _Lives of the Queens of England by Agnes Strickland_, vol. iv. 104.

[52] Fourth Poem _Against Garnesche_, vol. i. 129.

[53] _Garlande of Laurell_, vol. i. 410.—After noticing that while Arthur was yet alive, Henry was destined by his father to be archbishop of Canterbury, “it has been remarked,” says Mrs. Thomson, “that the instructions bestowed upon Prince Henry by his preceptor, Skelton, were calculated to render him a scholar and a churchman, rather than an enlightened legislator.” _Mem. of the Court of Henry the Eighth_, i. 2. But the description of the _Speculum Principis_, quoted above, is somewhat at variance with such a conclusion. The same lady observes in another part of her work, “To Skelton, who in conjunction with Giles Dewes, clerk of the library to Henry the Seventh, had the honour of being tutor to Henry the Eighth, this king evinced his approbation,” ii. 590, and cites in a note the Epistle to Henry the Eighth prefixed to Palsgrave’s _Lesclarcissement de la Langue Francoyse_, 1530, where mention is made of “the synguler clerke maister Gyles Dewes somtyme instructour to your noble grace in this selfe tong.” Though Dewes taught French to Henry, surely it by no means follows that he was “his tutor in conjunction with Skelton:” a teacher of French and a tutor are very different.

[54] _Biblioth._ p. 676. ed. 1748.

[55] _Erasmi Opera_, i. 1214, 1216, ed. 1703.—The Ode is appended to Erasmus’s Latin version of the _Hecuba_ and _Iphigenia in Aulide_ of Euripides, printed by Aldus in 1507; and in that edition the second line which I have quoted is found with the following variation,

“Monstrante fonteis vate _Laurigero_ sacros.”

“It is probable,” says Granger, “that if that great and good man [Erasmus] had read and perfectly understood his [Skelton’s] ‘pithy, pleasaunt, and profitable works,’ as they were lately reprinted, he would have spoken of him in less honourable terms.” _Biog. Hist. of Engl._ i. 102. ed. 1775. The remark is sufficiently foolish: in Skelton’s works there are not a few passages which Erasmus, himself a writer of admirable wit, must have relished and admired; and it was not without reason that he and our poet have been classed together as satirists, in the following passage; “By what meanes could Skelton that laureat poet, or Erasmus that great and learned clarke, have vttered their mindes so well at large, as thorowe their clokes of mery conceytes in wryting of toyes and foolish theames: as Skelton did by _Speake parrot_, _Ware the hauke_, _the Tunning of Elynour Rumming_, _Why come ye not to the Courte?_ _Philip Sparrowe_, and such like: yet what greater sense or better matter can be, than is in this ragged ryme contayned? Or who would haue hearde his fault so playnely tolde him, if not in such gibyng sorte? Also Erasmus, vnder his _prayse of Folly_, what matters hath he touched therein?” &c. _The Golden Aphroditis_, &c. by John Grange, 1577 (I quote from _Censura Liter_. vol. i. 382. ed. 1815).

[56] Then a student of Lincoln’s Inn.

[57] The country-seat of Lord Mountjoy.

[58] Probably Eltham.

[59] _Catal. (Primus) Lucubrationum_, p. 2. prefixed to the above-cited vol. of _Erasmi Opera_.—In Turner’s _Hist. of the Reign of Henry the Eighth_, it is erroneously stated that Erasmus “had the interview which he thus describes, _at the residence of Lord Mounjoy_,” i. 11. ed. 8vo.

[60] Vol. i. 410.

[61] Lines prefixed to Marsh’s ed. of Skelton’s _Workes_, 1568: see Appendix I. to this Memoir.

[62] p. 30,—1592, 4to.

[63] According to the xivᵗʰ of the _Merie Tales of Skelton_ (see Appendix I. to the present Memoir), he was “long confined in prison at Westminster by the command of the cardinal:” but the tract is of such a nature that we must hesitate about believing a single statement which it contains. Even supposing that at some period or other Skelton was really imprisoned by Wolsey, that imprisonment could hardly have taken place so early as 1502. As far as I can gather from his writings, Skelton first offended Wolsey by glancing at him in certain passages of _Colyn Cloute_, and in those passages the cardinal is alluded to as being in the fulness of pomp and power.

[64] By Writ of Privy Seal—_Auditor’s Calendar of Files from 1485 to 1522_, fol. 101 (b.), in the Public Record Office.

[65] Ritson (_Bibliog. Poet._ p. 102) says that Skelton was “_chaplain_ to king Henry the eighth:” qy. on what authority?

[66] “He ... was Rector and lived here [at Diss] in 1504 and in 1511, as I find by his being Witness to several Wills in this year. (Note) 1504, The Will of Mary Cowper of Disse, ‘Witnesses Master John Skelton, Laureat, Parson of Disse, &c.’ And among the Evidences of Mr. Thomas Coggeshall, I find the House in the Tenure of Master Skelton, Laureat ... Mr. Le-Neve says, that his [Skelton’s] Institution does not appear in the Books, which is true, for often those that were collated by the Pope, had no Institution from the Bishop, many Instances of which in those Books occur; but it is certain from abundance of Records and Evidences that I have seen, that he was Rector several years.” Blomefield’s _Hist. of Norfolk_, i. 20. ed. 1739.—The parish-register of Diss affords no information concerning Skelton; for the earliest date which it contains is long posterior to his death.

[67] See _A deuoute trentale for old John Clarke_, who died in 1506, vol. i. 168; _Lamentatio urbis Norvicen._, written in 1507, p. 174; and _Chorus de Dis_, &c. in 1513, p. 190.

[68] I may notice here, that in an Assessment for a Subsidy, temp. Henry viii., we find, under “Sancte Helenes Parishe within Bisshoppisgate,”—

“_Mr Skelton_ in goodes xl. _li._”

_Books of the Treasury of the Exchequer, B._ 4. 15, fol. 7,—Public Record Office. Qy. was this our author?

[69] “Cum quibusdam blateronibus fraterculis, præcipue Dominicanis, bellum gerebat continuum. Sub pseudopontifice Nordouicensi Ricardo Nixo, mulierem illam, quam sibi secreto ob Antichristi metum desponsauerat, sub concubinæ titulo custodiebat. In ultimo tamen uitæ articulo super ea re interrogatus, respondit, se nusquam illam in conscientia coram Deo nisi pro uxore legitima tenuisse ... animam egit ... relictis liberis.” Bale, _Script. Illust. Brit._ pp. 651, 2. ed. 1559.—“In Monachos præsertim Prædicatores S. Dominici sæpe stylum acuit, & terminos prætergressus modestiæ, contra eos scommatibus acerbius egit. Quo facto suum exasperauit Episcopum Richardum Nixum, qui habito de vita & moribus eius examine, deprehendit hominem votam Deo castitatem violasse, imo concubinam domi suæ diu tenuisse.” Pits, _De Illust. Angl. Script._ p. 701. ed. 1619.—“The Dominican Friars were the next he contested with, whose vitiousness lay pat enough for his hand; but such foul Lubbers fell heavy on all which found fault with them. These instigated Nix, Bishop of Norwich, to call him to account for keeping a Concubine, which cost him (as it seems) a suspension from his benefice.... We must not forget, how being charged by some on his death-bed for begetting many children on the aforesaid Concubine, he protested, that in his Conscience he kept her in the notion of a wife, though such his cowardliness that he would rather confess adultery (then accounted but a venial) than own marriage esteemed a capital crime in that age.” Fuller’s _Worthies_, p. 257 (Norfolk), ed. 1662.—Anthony Wood, with his usual want of charity towards the sons of genius, says that Skelton “having been guilty of certain crimes, (as most poets are,) at least not agreeable to his coat, fell under the heavy censure of Rich. Nykke bishop of Norwich his diocesan; especially for his scoffs and ill language against the monks and dominicans in his writings.” _Ath. Oxon._ i. 50. ed. Bliss, who adds in a note, “Mr. Thomas Delafield in his MS. _Collection of Poets Laureate_, &c. among Gough’s MSS. in the Bodleian, says it was in return for his being married, an equal crime in the ecclesiastics of those days, bishop Nykke suspended him from his church.”—Tanner gives as one of the reasons for Skelton’s taking sanctuary at Westminster towards the close of his life, “propter quod uxorem habuit.” _Biblioth._ p. 675. ed. 1748.—In the xiiiᵗʰ of the _Merie Tales_ (see Appendix I. to the present Memoir) Skelton’s _wife_ is mentioned.

[70] “Cui [Nixo] utcunque a nive nomen videatur inditum, adeo nihil erat nivei in pectore, luxuriosis cogitationibus plurimum æstuante, ut atro carbone libidines ejus notandæ videantur, si vera sunt quæ de illo a Nevillo perhibentur.” Godwin _De Præsul. Angl._ p. 440. ed. 1743.

[71] “In the Edition of his Workes _in 8vo. Lond._ 1736, which I have, at p. 272 he mentions _Trumpinton_, and seems to have been _Curate_ there, 5. Jan. 1507. At p. 54 he also mentions _Swafham_ and _Soham_, 2 Towns in _Cambridgeshire_, in _The Crowne of Lawrell_.” Cole’s _Collections,—Add. MSS._ (Brit. Mus.) 5880, p. 199. To conclude from the mention of these towns that Skelton resided in Cambridgeshire is the height of absurdity, as the reader will immediately perceive on turning to the passage in question, _Garlande of Laurell_, v. 1416, vol. i. 417.—Chalmers, on the authority of a MS. note by Kennet, a transcript of which had been sent to him, states that “in 1512, Skelton was presented by Richard, abbot of Glastonbury, to the vicarage of Daltyng.” _Biog. Dict._ xxviii. 45: if Chalmers had consulted Wood’s account of the poet, he might have learned that the rector of Diss and the vicar of Dultyng were different persons.

[72] The old ed. has “scripter.”

[73] vol. i. 173.

[74] vol. i. 175.

[75] _Ath. Oxon._ i. 50. ed. Bliss.

[76] Reprinted in Appendix I. to this Memoir; where see also the extracts from _A C mery Talys_, &c.—The biographer of Skelton, in _Eminent Lit. and Scient. Men of Great Britain_, &c. (Lardner’s _Cyclop_.), asserts that “_he composed his Merie Tales for the king and nobles_”!!! i. 279.

[77] Lines prefixed to Marsh’s ed. of Skelton’s _Workes_, 1568: see Appendix I. to this Memoir.

[78] “Sithe ye haue me chalyngyd, M[aster] Garnesche,” &c.; see vol. i. 116.

[79] In the Notes on the poems _Against Garnesche_ I have cited several parallel expressions from _The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy_. That curious production may be found in the valuable edition of Dunbar’s _Poems_ (ii. 65) by Mr. D. Laing, who supposes it to have been written between 1492 and 1497 (ii. 420). It therefore preceded the “flyting” of Skelton and Garnesche. I may add, that the last portion of our author’s _Speke, Parrot_ bears a considerable resemblance to a copy of verses attributed to Dunbar, and entitled _A General Satyre_ (_Poems_, ii. 24); and that as the great Scottish poet visited England more than once, it is probable that he and Skelton were personally acquainted.

[80] At a later period there was a poetical “flyting” between Churchyard and a person named Camel, who had attacked a publication of the former called _Davie Dicars Dreame_; and some other writers took a part in the controversy: these rare pieces (known only by their titles to Ritson, _Bibliog. Poet._ p. 151, and to Chalmers, _Life of Churchyard_, p. 53) are very dull and pointless, but were evidently put forth in earnest.

[81] In the first poem _Against Garnesche_ he is called _“Master_:” but see Notes, vol. ii. 177.

[82] Hall’s _Chron. (vi. yere Hen. viii.)_, fol. xlviii. ed. 1548.

[83] _MS. Cott. Calig. B._ vi. fol. 112.

[84] _Auditor’s Calendar of Files from 1485 to 1522_, fol. 108 (b).

[85] _Privy Purse Accounts, A._ 5. 16. p. 21.

[86] _Auditor’s Calendar_, &c. fol. 162 (b).

[87] _Auditor’s Patent Book, No. 1._ fol. 6 (b).

[88] In an account of the visit of the Emperor Charles the Fifth to England in June 1522, among the lodgings which were occupied on that occasion at Greenwich we find mention of “Master Garnyshe house.” See _Rutland Papers_, p. 82 (printed for the Camden Society). That a knight was frequently called “Master,” I have shewn in Notes, vol. ii. 178.

[89] _Privy Purse Accounts, A._ 5. 17. p. 175.

[90] _Teller’s Book, A._ 3. 24. p. 293.

[91] To these notices of Garnesche I may add the following letter, the original of which is in the possession of Mr. J. P. Collier:

“Pleas it your grace, We haue Receyued the Kyngs most graciouse
letres dated at his manour of grenwich the xᵗʰ day of Aprill,
Wherby we perceyue his high pleasour is that we shulde take
some substanciall direccion for the preparacion and furnyshing
of all maner of vitailles aswell for man as for horse, to bee
had in Redynesse against the commyng of his grace, his nobles
with ther trayn; Like it your grace, so it is We haue not been
in tymes past so greatly and sore destitute this many yeres
past of all maner of vitailles both for man and beist as we
be now, not oonly by reason of a gret murryn of catall which
hath ben in thies partes, but also for that the Kings takers,
lieng about the borders of the see coste next adionyng vnto
vs, haue takyn and made provision therof contrarie to the olde
ordnannce, so that we be vtterly destitute by reason of the
same, and can in no wise make any substanciall provision for
his highnes nor his trayn in thies partes, for all the bochers
in this toun haue not substaunce of beoffs and motones to serue
vs, as we be accompanyed at this day, for the space of iii
wekes att the most. And also as now ther is not within this
toun of Calais fewell sufficient to serue vs oon hole weke,
the which is the great daunger and vnsuretie of this the Kings
toun. Wherfore we most humbly besuch your grace, the premisses
considered, that we by your gracious and fauorable helpe may
haue not oonly Remedy for our beiffs and motones with other
vitailles, but also that all maner of vitaillers of this toun
may repair and resorte with ther shippes from tyme to tyme to
make ther purueyance of all maner of fewell from hensfurth
for this toun oonly, without any let or Interrupcionn of the
kings officers or takers, any commandment hertofore giffen
to the contrarie not withstanding, for without that both the
Kings Highnes, your grace, and all this toun shalbe vtterly
disappoynted and disceyved both of vitailles and fewell, which
god defend. At Calais, the xviiiᵗʰ day of Aprill,

By your seruants,

John Peache,
Wyllm Sandys,
Robert Wotton,
Edward Guldeferd,
_Crystoffyr Garneys_.

To my Lorde cardynalls grace,
Legate a Latere and chanceler
of England.”

In _Proceed. and Ordin. of the Privy Council_ (vol. vii. 183, 196), 1541, mention is made of a _Lady Garnishe_ (probably the widow of Sir Christopher) having had a house at Calais; and in _Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess Mary_ (p. 120) we find under June 1543,

“Item my _lady garnyshe_ seruaunt for bringing cherys xii _d._”

[92] “_Contra Skeltonum, Lib._ i.” _Script. Illust. Brit._ p. 723. ed. 1559.

[93] fol. 259. ed. 1570.

[94] vol. i. 411.

[95] i. e. snipe.

[96] See Notes, vol. ii. 159. If this line alludes to Skelton, it preserves a trait of his personal appearance.

[97] i. e. deprived, devoid.

[98] sig. c. v. ed. 1570.

[99] Vol. i. 376.

[100] Vol. i. 409.

[101] In a volume of various pieces by Gaguin, dated 1498, is a treatise on metre, which shews no mean acquaintance with the subject.

[102] “_Inuectiuam In Guil. Lilium, Lib._ i.” _Script. Illust. Brit._, &c. p. 652. ed. 1559. The reader must not suppose from the description, “Lib. i.,” that the invective in question extended to a volume: it was, I presume, no more than a copy of verses. Wood mentions that this piece was “written in verse and very carping.” _Ath. Ox._ i. 52. ed. Bliss: but most probably he was acquainted with it only through Bale. He also informs us (i. 34) that Lily wrote a tract entitled

“_Apologia ad_ { _Joh. Skeltonum._
{ _Rob. Whittington._”

for a copy of which I have sought in vain.

[103] See Weever’s _Fun. Monum._ p. 498. ed. 1631; Stowe’s Collections, _MS. Harl._ 540. fol. 57; and Fuller’s _Worthies_ (_Norfolk_), p. 257. ed. 1662. “And this,” says Fuller, “I will do for W. Lilly, (though often beaten for his sake,) endeavour to translate his answer:

“With face so bold, and teeth so sharp,
Of viper’s venome, why dost carp?
Why are my verses by thee weigh’d
In a false scale? may truth be said?
Whilst thou to get the more esteem
A learned Poet fain wouldst seem,
Skelton, thou art, let all men know it,
Neither learned, nor a Poet.”

[104] Vol. i. 419.

[105] See vol. i. 361.

[106] See Notes, vol. ii. 318.

[107] It was granted to him by the king for life.

[108] Vol. i. 419. Concerning this college, see Notes, vol. ii. 334.

[109] _A Replycacion agaynst certayne yong scolers abiured of late, &c._ vol. i. 206. In _Typograph. Antiq._ ii. 539. ed. Dibdin, where the _Replycacion_ is described and quoted from Heber’s copy, we are told that it has “a Latin address to Thomas —— who [_sic_] he [Skelton] calls an excellent patron,” &c. That the editor should have read the address without discovering that the said _Thomas_ was Cardinal Wolsey, is truly marvellous.

[110] _Garlande of Laurell_, vol. i. 424.

[111] See vol. ii. 83, where this _Lenuoy_ (which will be more particularly noticed presently) is appended to the poem _Howe the douty Duke of Albany_, &c.

[112] Vol. i. 199.

[113] _Animadversions vppon the annotacions and correctōns of some imperfectōns of impressōnes of Chaucers Workes_, &c. p. 13,—in Todd’s _Illust. of Gower and Chaucer_.

I may notice here, that among the _Harleian MSS._ (2252, fols. 156, 158) are two poems on the Cardinal, which in the Catalogue of that collection Wanley has described as “Skelton’s libels;” but they are evidently not by him.

[114] Wolsey had previously been named a Cardinal in 1515.—Fiddes (_Life of Wolsey_, p. 99. ed. 1726) says that he became Legate _a latere_ in 1516: but see _State Papers_ (1830), i. 9 (note). Lingard’s _Hist. of Engl._ vi. 57. ed. 8vo, &c.—Hoping to ascertain the exact date of the _Replycacion_, &c. (which contains the first of the passages now under consideration), I have consulted various books for some mention of the “young hereticks” against whom that piece was written; but without success.

[115] We cannot settle this point by a comparison of old editions, the poem against Albany and the two L’Envoys which follow it being extant only in the ed. of Marshe.—It may be doubted, too, if the L’Envoy which I have cited at p. xli, “_Perge, liber_,” &c. belongs to the _Garlande of Laurell_, to which it is affixed in Marshe’s edition as a _second_ L’Envoy: in Faukes’s edition of that poem, which I conceive to be the first that was printed, it is not found: the Cott. MS. of the _Garlande_ is unfortunately imperfect at the end.

[116] i. e. sword.

[117] _Chron._ (_Hen._ viii.) fol. cx. ed. 1548.

[118] “Ob literas quasdam in Cardinalem Vuolsium inuectiuas, ad Vuestmonasteriense tandem asylum confugere, pro uita seruanda, coactus fuit: ubi nihilominus sub abbate Islepo fauorem inuenit.” Bale, _Script. Illust. Brit._ p. 651. ed. 1559.—“Vbi licet Abbatis Islepi fauore protegeretur, tamen vitam ibi, quantumuis antea iucunde actam, tristi exitu conclusit.” Pits, _De Illust. Angl. Script._ p. 701. ed. 1619.—“But Cardinal Wolsey (_impar congressus_, betwixt a poor Poet and so potent a Prelate) being inveighed against by his pen, and charged with too much truth, so persecuted him, that he was forced to take Sanctuary at Westminster, where Abbot Islip used him with much respect,” &c. Fuller’s _Worthies_ (_Norfolk_), p. 257. ed. 1662.—“He [Skelton] was so closely pursued by his [Wolsey’s] officers, that he was forced to take sanctuary at Westminster, where he was kindly entertained by John Islipp the abbat, and continued there to the time of his death.” Wood’s _Ath. Oxon._ i. 51. ed. Bliss, who adds in a note; “The original MS. register of this sanctuary, which must have been a great curiosity, was in Sir Henry Spelman’s library, and was purchased at the sale of that collection by Wanley for Lord Weymouth. MS. note in Wanley’s copy of Nicholson’s _Historical Library_ in the Bodleian.”

[119] John Islip was elected abbot in 1500, and died in 1532: see Widmore’s _Hist. of West. Abbey_, 119, 123. “John Skelton ... is said by the late learned Bishop of Derry, Nicholson (_Hist. Lib._ chap. 2.) to have first collected the Epitaphs of our Kings, Princes, and Nobles, that lie buried at the Abbey Church of Westminster: but I apprehend this to be no otherwise true, than that, when he, to avoid the anger of Cardinal Wolsey, had taken sanctuary at Westminster, to recommend himself to Islip, the Abbot at that time, he made some copies of verses to the memories of King Henry the Seventh and his Queen, and his mother the Countess of Richmond, and perhaps some other persons buried in this church.” _Account of Writers_, &c., p. 5, appended to Widmore’s _Enquiry into the time of the found. of West. Abbey_.—Widmore is mistaken: neither in Marshe’s ed. of Skelton’s _Workes_, 1568, nor in the _Reges, Reginæ, Nobiles_, &c., 1603, is there any copy of verses by our author _on the Queen of Henry the Seventh_: see in vol. i. 178, 179, 195, the three pieces which I have given from those sources: two of them at least were composed before the poet had sought refuge at Westminster, for one (written at Islip’s request) is dated 1512, and another, 1516; the third has no date.

[120] See p. xxix.

[121] “De morte Cardinalis uaticinium edidit: & eius ueritatem euentus declarauit.” Bale, _Script. Illust. Brit._ p. 652. ed. 1559.—“The word _Vates_ being Poet or Prophet, minds me of this dying Skeltons prediction, foretelling the ruine of Cardinal Wolsey. Surely, one unskilled in prophecies, if well versed in Solomons Proverbs, might have prognosticated as much, that _Pride goeth before a fall_.” Fuller’s _Worthies_ (_Norfolk_), p. 257. ed. 1662.—Did not this anecdote originate in certain verses of _Cotyn Cloute_? See the fragment from _Lansdown MSS._, vol. i. 329, note.

[122] “Vuestmonasterii tandem, captiuitatis suæ tempore, mortuus est: & in D. Margaritæ sacello sepultus, cum hac inscriptione alabastrica: Johannes Skeltonus, uates Pierius, hic situs est. Animam egit 21 die Junii, anno Dn̄i 1529, relictis liberis.” Bale, _Script. Illust. Brit._, p. 652. ed. 1559. See also Pits (_De Illust. Angl. Script._, p. 703. ed. 1619) and Fuller (_Worthies, Norfolk_, p. 257. ed. 1662), who give _Joannes Sceltonus vates Pierius hic situs est_ as the whole of Skelton’s epitaph. Weever, however (_Fun. Momum._, p. 497. ed. 1631), makes “_animam egit_, 21 _Junii_ 1529” a portion of it, and in a marginal note substitutes “ejicit” for “_egit_,” as if _correcting_ the Latinity!! So too Wood (_Ath. Oxon._ i. 52. ed. Bliss.), who places “ejicit” between brackets after “_egit_,” and states (what the other writers do not mention) that the inscription was put on the tomb “soon after” Skelton’s death.

In the _Church-Wardens Accompts of St. Margaret’s, Westminster_ (Nichols’s _Illust. of Manners and Expences_, &c. 4to. p. 9), we find this entry;

_£._ _s._ _d._
“1529. Item, of Mr. Skelton for viii tapers 0 2 8”

The institution of the person who succeeded Skelton as rector of Diss is dated 17th July: see first note on the present Memoir.

[123] See note, p. xxxvi.

[124] e. g. the portrait on the title-page of _Dyuers Balettys and Dyties solacyous_ (evidently from the press of Pynson; see Appendix II. to this Memoir) is given as a portrait of “Doctor Boorde” in the _Boke of Knowledge_ (see reprint, sig. I); and (as Mr. F. R. Atkinson of Manchester obligingly informed me by letter some years ago) the strange fantastic figure on the reverse of the title-page of Faukes’s ed. of the _Garlande of Laurell_, 1523 (poorly imitated in _The Brit. Bibliogr._ iv. 389) is a copy of an early French print.

[125] “Warton has undervalued him [Skelton]; which is the more remarkable, because Warton was a generous as well as a competent critic. He seems to have been disgusted with buffooneries, which, like those of Rabelais, were thrown out as a tub for the whale; for unless Skelton had written thus for the coarsest palates, he could not have poured forth his bitter and undaunted satire in such perilous times.” Southey,—_Select Works of Brit. Poets_ (1831), p. 61.

[126] _Amen. of Lit._ ii. 69.

[127] Vol. i. 313.

[128]

“Satire should, like a polish’d razor, keen,
Wound with a touch that’s scarcely felt or seen:
_Thine is an oyster-knife that hacks and hews_,” &c.

_Verses addressed to the imitator of the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace_ (the joint-composition of Lord Hervey and Lady M. W. Montagu).

[129] _Remains_, ii. 163.

[130]

“_Of Vertu_ also _the_ souerayne _enterlude_.”

_Garlande of Laurell_, vol. i. 408.

[131]

“_His commedy, Achademios_ callyd by name.”

_Id._ p. 409.

[132] See Appendix II. to this Memoir.—Mr. Collier is mistaken in supposing Skelton’s “paiauntis that were played in Ioyows Garde” to have been dramatic compositions: see Notes, vol. ii. 330.

[133] A writer, of whose stupendous ignorance a specimen has been already cited (p. xxx, note 3), informs us that _Magnyfycence_ “is one of the dullest plays in our language.” _Eminent Lit. and Scient. Men of Great Britain_, &c. (Lardner’s _Cyclop._), i. 281.

[134] See Appendix III. to this Memoir, and _Poems attributed to Skelton_, vol. ii. 385.

[135] _Amen. of Lit._ ii. 69.

[136] _Hist. of E. P._ ii. 356.

[137]

“In hevyn blyse ye xalle wyn to be
Amonge the blyssyd company _omnium supernorum_
Ther as is alle merth joye and glee
_Inter agmina angelorum_
In blyse to abyde.”

_Coventry Mysteries,—MS. Cott. Vesp. D._ viii. fol. 112.

A reprint of Marshe’s ed. of Skelton’s _Workes_ having appeared in 1736, Pope took occasion, during the next year, to mention them in the following terms,—casting a blight on our poet’s reputation, from which it has hardly yet recovered;

“Chaucer’s worst ribaldry is learn’d by rote,
And _beastly Skelton_ Heads of Houses quote”—

Note—“Skelton, Poet Laureat to Hen. 8. a Volume of whose Verses has been lately reprinted, consisting almost wholly of Ribaldry, Obscenity, and Billingsgate Language.” _The First Epistle of the Second Book of Horace imitated_, 1737. But Pope was unjust to Skelton; for, though expressions of decided grossness occur in his writings, _they are comparatively few_; and during his own time, so far were such expressions from being regarded as offensive to decency, that in all probability his royal pupil would not have scrupled to employ them in the presence of Anne Bulleyn and her maids of honour.

Since the Memoir of Skelton was sent to press, Mr. W. H. Black (with his usual kindness) has pointed out to me the following entry;

23d Feb. 12 Edw. iv. [1473]. “Tribus _subclericis_, videlicet
Roberto Lane, Nicholao Neubold, et _Johanni Skelton_, videlicet
prædicto Roberto l._s._ et prædictis Nicholao et Johanni
cuilibet eorum xl._s._” (A like payment was made to _John
Skelton_ on the 9th of Dec. preceding, when he is mentioned
with others under the general denomination of _clerks_.) _Books
of the Treasury of the Receipt of the Exchequer_,—_A_ 4. 38.
fols. 26, 27. (Public Record Office).

There is, Mr. Black thinks, a possibility that Skelton had been employed, while a youth, as an under-clerk in the Receipt of the Exchequer; and observes, that it would seem to have been a temporary occupation, as there is no trace of any person of that name among the admissions to offices in the Black Book.

APPENDIX I.

MERIE TALES OF SKELTON (see Memoir, p. xxx.); AND NOTICES OF SKELTON FROM VARIOUS SOURCES.

MERIE TALES

Newly Imprinted
& made by Master
Skelton
Poet
Laureat.

¶ Imprinted at London
in Fleetstreat beneath the
Conduit at the signe of S.
John Euangelist,
by Thomas
Colwell.

[12ᵐᵒ. n. d.]

Here begynneth certayne merye tales of Skelton, Poet Lauriat.

¶ How Skelten came late home to Oxford from Abington. Tale i.

Skelton was an Englysheman borne as Skogyn was, and hee was educated & broughte vp in Oxfoorde: and there was he made a poete lauriat. And on a tyme he had ben at Abbington to make mery, wher that he had eate salte meates, and hee did com late home to Oxforde, and he did lye in an ine named yᵉ Tabere whyche is now the Angell, and hee dyd drynke, & went to bed. About midnight he was so thyrstie or drye that hee was constrained to call to the tapster for drynke, & the tapster harde him not. Then hee cryed to hys oste & hys ostes, and to the ostler, for drinke; and no man wold here hym: alacke, sayd Skelton, I shall peryshe for lacke of drynke! what reamedye? At the last he dyd crie out and sayd, Fyer, fyer, fyer! When Skelton hard euery man bustled hymselfe vpward, & some of them were naked, & some were halfe asleepe and amased, and Skelton dyd crye, Fier, fier, styll, that euerye man knewe not whether to resorte; Skelton did go to bed, and the oste and ostis, & the tapster with the ostler, dyd runne to Skeltons chamber with candles lyghted in theyr handes, saying, Where, where, where is the fyer? Here, here, here, said Skelton, & poynted hys fynger to hys moouth, saying, Fetch me some drynke to quenche the fyer and the heate and the drinesse in my mouthe: & so they dyd. Wherfore it is good for euerye man to helpe hys owne selfe in tyme of neede wythe some policie or crafte, so bee it there bee no deceit nor falshed vsed.

¶ How Skelton drest the Kendallman in the sweat time. [Tale ii.]

On a time Skelton rode from Oxforde to London with a Kendalman, and at Uxbridge they beyted. The Kendallman layd hys cap vpon the borde in the hall, and he went to serue hys horse. Skelton tooke yᵉ Kendalmans cappe, and dyd put betwixte the linyng & the vtter syde a dishe of butter: and when the Kendalman had drest hys horse, hee dyd come in to diner, and dyd put on hys cappe (that tyme the sweating sycknes was in all Englande); at the last, when the butter had take heate of the Kendallmans heade, it dyd begynne to run ouer hys face and aboute hys cheekes. Skelton sayde, Syr, you sweate soore: beware yᵗ you haue not the sweatynge sycknesse. The Kendalman sayde, By the mysse, Ise wrang; I bus goe tyll bed. Skelton sayd, I am skild on phisicke, & specially in the sweatynge sycknesse, that I wyll warant any man. In gewd faith, saith the Kendallman, do see, and Ise bay for your skott to London. Then sayde Skelton, Get you a kerchiefe, and I wyll bryng you abed: the whiche was donne. Skelton caused the capp to bee sod in hoat lee, & dryed it: in the mornyng Skelton and the Kendalman dyd ride merely to London.

¶ Howe Skelton tolde the man that Chryst was very busye in the woodes with them that made fagots. Tale iii.

When Skelton did cum to London, ther were manye men at the table at diner. Amongest all other there was one sayde to Skelton, Be you of Oxforde or of Cambridge a scoler? Skelton sayd, I am of Oxford. Syr, sayde the man, I will put you a question: you do know wel that after Christ dyd rise from death to life, it was xl. days after ere he dyd ascend into heauen, and hee was but certaine times wyth hys discyples, and when that he did appeare to them, hee dyd neuer tary longe amongest them, but sodainely vanished from them; I wold fayne know (saith the man to Skelton) where Chryste was all these xl. dayes. Where hee was, saythe Skelton, God knoweth; he was verye busye in the woods among hys labourers, that dyd make fagottes to burne heretickes, & such as thou art the whych doest aske such diffuse questions: but nowe I wyll tell thee more; when hee was not with hys mother & hys disciples, hee was in Paradyce, to comforte the holye patriarches and prophets soules, the which before he had fet out of hell. And at the daye of hys ascencion, hee tooke them all vp wyth him into heauen.

¶ Howe the Welshman dyd desyre Skelton to ayde hym in hys sute to the kynge for a patent to sell drynke. The iiii. Tale.

Skelton, when he was in London, went to the kynges courte, where there did come to hym a Welshman, saying, Syr, it is so, that manye dooth come vpp of my country to the kyngs court, and some doth get of the kyng by patent a castell, and some a parke, & some a forest, and some one fee and some another, and they dooe lyue lyke honest men; and I shoulde lyue as honestly as the best, if I myght haue a patyne for good dryncke: wherefore I dooe praye you to write a fewe woords for mee in a lytle byll to geue the same to the kynges handes, and I wil geue you well for your laboure. I am contented, sayde Skelton. Syt downe then, sayde the Welshman, and write. What shall I wryte? sayde Skelton. The Welshman sayde, Wryte, dryncke. Nowe, sayd the Welshman, wryte, more dryncke. What now? sayde Skelton. Wryte nowe, a great deale of dryncke. Nowe, sayd the Welshman, putte to all thys dryncke a littell crome of breade, and a great deale of drynke to it, and reade once agayne. Skelton dyd reade, Dryncke, more dryncke, & a great deale of dryncke, and a lytle crome of breade, and a great deale of dryncke to it. Then the Welsheman sayde, Put out the litle crome of breade, and sett in, all dryncke, and no breade: and if I myght haue thys sygned of the kynge, sayde the Welsheman, I care for no more as longe as I dooe lyue. Well then, sayde Skelton, when you haue thys signed of the kyng, then wyll I labour for a patent to haue bread, that you wyth your drynke, and I with the bread, may fare well, and seeke our liuinge with bagge and staffe.

¶ Of Swanborne the knaue, that was buried vnder Saint Peters wall in Oxford. [Tale v.]