Chapter X: Part 10

v. 1363. _howe_] i. e. ho.

v. 1365. _loke_] i. e. look.

v. 1368. _hardely_] i. e. assuredly.

v. 1370. _pety brybery_] See note on v. 1242. p. 256.

v. 1373. _be_] i. e. by.

Page 269. v. 1376. _trew_] i. e. honest.

v. 1378. _checke_] i. e. taunt: see note on v. 300. p. 240.

v. 1379. _weltyth_] To _welt_ means—to border: but qy. is _weltyth_ here used for _weldyth_, i. e. wieldeth, directeth?

v. 1382. _sadnesse_] i. e. gravity, seriousness, soberness, discreetness.

Page 270. v. 1389. _sorte_] i. e. set, company.

v. 1390. _hokes vnhappy_]—_hokes_, i. e. hooks, a word frequently applied to persons as a term of reproach. “_Vnhappy_ of maners _maluays_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. xcviii. (Table of Adiect.). So in _Jacke Jugelar_, n. d.;

“Loo yender cumithe that _vnhappye hooke_.”

p. 26. Roxb. ed.

and in Heywood’s _Dialogue_, &c.;

“Since thou art crosse sailde, auale _vnhappie hooke_.”

Sig. E,—_Workes_, ed. 1598.

v. 1395. _dawe_] i. e. simpleton; see note, p. 113. v. 301.

v. 1396. _occupyed_] i. e. used, employed; see note, p. 86. v. 52.

v. 1397. _reason and skyll_] See note on v. 106. p. 238.

v. 1401. _Mary_] i. e. By the Virgin Mary.

v. 1405. _largesse_] i. e. liberality.

v. 1411. _Had I wyst_] See note, p. 86. v. 40.

Page 271. v. 1416. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.

v. 1421. _Ye haue eten sauce_] Compare our author’s _Bowge of Courte_, v. 72. vol. i. 33.

v. 1422. _to_] i. e. too.

v. 1425. _worshyp_] i. e. honour, dignity.

v. 1436. _repryuable_] i. e. reprovable.

Page 272. v. 1441. _menys of to moche_] i. e. means of too much.

v. 1442. _What, can ye agree thus and appose?_]—_and appose_, i. e. and yet keep questioning, disputing: see note on _Colyn Cloute_, v. 267.

v. 1443. _faute_] i. e. fault.

v. 1444. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.

—— _Jacke a thrommys bybyll_] See note, p. 189. v. 204.

—— _glose_] i. e. gloss.

v. 1446. _loke you vnder kay_] i. e. lock you under key.

v. 1456. _Take it in worthe_] See note, p. 95. v. 68.

v. 1458. _largesse_] i. e. liberality.

—— _kynde_] i. e. nature.

v. 1467. _stonde_] i. e. stand.

Page 273. v. 1473. _fonde_] i. e. foolish.

Page 273. v. 1474. _loke that ye occupye_] i. e. look that ye use; see note, p. 86. v. 52.

v. 1475. _For nowe, syrs, I am lyke as a prynce sholde be, &c._] This speech of Magnyfycence is very much in the style of Herod in the old miracle-plays: see, for instance, the _Coventry Mysteries_, _MS. Cott. Vesp. D._ viii. fol. 92. sqq.

v. 1477. _abandune_] i. e. subject.

“For _abandonit_ will he noght be to berne that is borne.”

_Golagros and Gawane_, p. 142,—_Syr Gawayne_, &c.

“Till all to yow _abandownyt_ be.”

Barbour’s _Bruce_, B. iii. v. 883. ed. Jam.

v. 1481. _mene_] See note on v. 138. p. 238.

v. 1491. _syar_] i. e. sire, lord.

v. 1493. _ryall trone_] i. e. royal throne.

v. 1496. _spyll_] i. e. destroy.

Page 274. v. 1502. _loke_] i. e. look.

v. 1504. _dynt_] i. e. blow.

v. 1505. _the cane_] Does it mean—the khan?

v. 1507. _I set not by_] i. e. I value not, regard not.

—— _prane_] i. e. prawn.

v. 1508. _Ne_] i. e. Nor.

—— _rehersse_] i. e. mention.

v. 1513. _cache_] i. e. couch.

v. 1515. _mell_] i. e. meddle.

v. 1518. _to lowte man be sene_] i. e. (if the text be right; see foot-note _ad l._) must be seen to bow, pay obeisance.

v. 1520. _brymme_] i. e. fierce, rugged, bristly.

v. 1521. _Basyan the bolde, for all his brybaunce_] _Basyan_ is, I suppose, Antoninus Bassianus Caracalla (he is called “_Basian_” in Robert of Gloucester’s _Chron_. p. 76. sqq.): _brybaunce_ would seem to mean—plundering (properly, pilfering); see note on v. 1242. p. 256.

v. 1522. _Alerycus_] i. e. Alaric.

—— _the Gothyaunce_] i. e. the Goths.

—— _swerd_] i. e. sword.

v. 1524. _maysyd_] i. e. bewildered, confounded—stupid.

v. 1525. _fole_] i. e. fool.

v. 1526. _Galba, whom his galantys garde for agaspe_] i. e. (I suppose) Galba, whom his gallants (soldiers) made to gasp:—they assassinated him:—see _gar_ in v. 1532.

v. 1527. _nother set by_] i. e. neither valued, regarded.

v. 1528. _Vaspasyan, that bare in his nose a waspe_] This passage is explained by the following lines of a poem never printed, entitled _The Sege of Jerusalem_:

“His fader Vaspasiane ferly bytydde
A byke of waspes bredde in his nose
Hyved vp in his hedde he hadde hem of thoght
And Vaspasiane is called by cause of his waspes.”

_MS. Cott. Calig. A._ ii. fol. 109.

Page 274. v. 1529. _agayne_] i. e. against.

Page 275. v. 1531. _crake_] i. e. vaunt, talk bigly.

v. 1532. _I shall frounce them on the foretop_] To _frounce_ is—to wrinkle, ruffle up, &c. In our author’s _Phyllyp Sparowe_, v. 1340. vol. i. 92, Charon is described as having a “_frownsid_ fore top;” and in his _Colyn Cloute_, v. 533. vol. i. 331, “foretop” means simply—head, pate.

—— _gar_] i. e. make, cause.

v. 1538. _auaunce_] i. e. advance.

v. 1539. _take it in degre_] Seems equivalent here to—“take it in gre” (which occurs in v. 2005), i. e. take it kindly: see note, p. 95. v. 68.

v. 1544. _ferre_] i. e. far.

v. 1547. _supprysed_] i. e. overpowered, smitten.

v. 1549. _Pullyshyd_] i. e. Polished.

—— _ornacy_] i. e. ornate diction.

v. 1551. _electe vtteraunce_] i. e. choice expression.

v. 1554. _feffyd and seasyd_] i. e. enfeoffed and seised,—law-terms.

v. 1556. _Mary_] i. e. By the Virgin Mary.

v. 1557. _comon_] i. e. communing, discourse.

v. 1558. _Poynt deuyse_] See note on v. 852. p. 248.

Page 276. v. 1561. _pore_] i. e. poor.

v. 1564. _semynge_] i. e. beseeming, fitting.

v. 1568. _maystresse_] i. e. mistress.

v. 1569. _That quyckly is enuyued with rudyes of the rose_] i. e. That is lively envived with hues, or complexion, of the rose. This somewhat pleonastic expression is found again in our author’s _Garlande of Laurell_;

“_Enuyuid_ picturis well touchid and _quikly_.”

v. 1161. vol. i. 408.

v. 1570. _Inpurtured_] i. e. Portrayed, pictured,—adorned.

v. 1571. _The streynes of her vaynes_] i. e. The strains, runnings of her veins.

“Rills rising out of euery banck,
In wilde meanders _strayne_.”

Drayton’s _Muses Elizium_, p. 2. ed. 1630.

Page 276. v. 1571. _as asure inde blewe_] See note, p. 101. v. 17.

v. 1573. _loke_] i. e. look.

—— _leyre_] i. e. complexion, skin.

v. 1576. _lusty_] i. e. pleasant, desirable.

v. 1578. _to brace and to basse_] i. e. to embrace and to kiss.

v. 1579. _by hym that hell dyd harowe_] i. e. by our Saviour: see note, p. 150. v. 1291.

v. 1580. _a Phylyp sparowe_] See note, p. 121. v. 7.

v. 1581. _whylest my hede dyd warke_] i. e. until my head did work, ache. “_Hedwerke_ sekenesse. Cephalia.” _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499. “_Wark_, to ache.” Hunter’s _Hallam. Gloss_. “But I may not stonde, _myn hede werches soo_.” _Morte d’Arthur_, B. xxi. c. v. vol. ii. 440. ed. Southey.

v. 1582. _hobby for suche a lusty larke_] See note on v. 1358. p. 258. The same metaphorical use of this expression occurs in our author’s _Colyn Cloute_, v. 194. vol. i. 318.

v. 1584. _my flesshe wolde be wroken_]—_wroken_, i. e. wreaked, satiated.

“Whyles thou art yonge ...
_Wreke_ the with wiueryng, if thou wilt be excused.”

_Pierce Plowman_, sig. M iii. ed. 1561.

v. 1585. _consayte_] i. e. conceit, fancy.

v. 1586. _weryed I wolde be on_] i. e. I would worry, eagerly devour: compare our author’s _Phyllyp Sparowe_, v. 29. vol. i. 52.

v. 1587. _Cockes armes_] i. e. God’s arms: see note on v. 518. p. 243.

v. 1588. _ony_] i. e. any.

v. 1589. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.

v. 1590. _to be sped_] i. e. to be made successful.

Page 277. v. 1592. _make suche one to the call_] A metaphor from falconry.

v. 1600. _a sawte_] i. e. an assault.

v. 1601. _prece_] i. e. press.

v. 1603. _sone_] i. e. soon.

v. 1604. _intreted_] i. e. prevailed on by solicitation.

v. 1606. _broken_] Seems to mean here—tame, assuage.

v. 1610. _consayte_] i. e. conceit, conception.

v. 1615. _it shall not gretely skyll_] i. e. it shall not make much difference, it shall not much signify.

Page 278. v. 1620. _face it_] See note, p. 216. v. 33.

v. 1621. _Frete_] i. e. Gnaw, fret.

v. 1626. _lust and lykynge_] See note, p. 98, v. 23.

Page 278. v. 1633. _your gorge_] i. e. what you have swallowed, the contents of your stomach: see note, p. 207. v. 87.

v. 1636. _wambleth_] “I _Wamble_ as ones stomake dothe _Ie allecte_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. cccc. (Table of Verbes). “Nauseo ... to _wamble_.” _Ortus Vocab._ fol. ed. W. de Worde, n. d.

v. 1638. _wonder_] i. e. wondrous.

v. 1640. _harte seke_] i. e. heart-sick.

—— _me lyst_] i. e. it pleases me.

v. 1641. _coryed_] i. e. curried, drubbed.

—— _blyst_] i. e. wounded,—thumped.

“Your lasy bones I pretende so to _blisse_,
That you shall haue small luste to prate any more.”

_The Triall of Treasure_, 1567. sig. A iiii.

v. 1642. _loute_] i. e. bow, pay obeisance.

Page 279. v. 1652. _at the contemplacyon_] See note, p. 214, heading of Epitaph.

v. 1653. _pore_] i. e. poor.

v. 1657. _sone_] i. e. soon.

v. 1664. _rowne_] i. e. whisper: see note, p. 120. v. 513.

v. 1671. _dyssayued_] i. e. deceived.

v. 1673. _wete_] i. e. know.

v. 1677. _I wyll haue hym rehayted and dyspysed_] Our early poets frequently use _rehete_ in the sense of—revive, cheer; a meaning foreign to the present passage. In the _Towneley Mysteries_, we find “_rehett_” and “_rehete_,” pp. 143, 198, which the _Gloss._ explains “to threaten;” qy. if rightly? In some copies of Chaucer’s _Troilus and Creseide_, B. iii. 350, is “reheting;” of which, says Tyrwhitt (_Gloss._ to _Cant. Tales_), “I can make no sense.” In G. Douglas’s Virgil’s _Æneidos_, B. xiii. p. 467. l. 53. ed. Rudd., and in the _Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy_, Dunbar’s _Poems_, ii. 74, 80. ed. Laing, is “rehatoure,” which has been referred to the French _rehair_: and perhaps _rehayted_ in our text is—re-hated (Skelton afterwards in this piece, v. 2458, has the uncommon word _inhateth_).

v. 1679. _rest_] i. e. remain.

Page 280. v. 1682. _supplyed_] i. e. supplicated.

v. 1687. _But for all that he is lyke to haue a glent_] _Glent_ is frequently found in the sense of—glance; but its meaning here, as would seem from the context, is—slip, fall: and in our author’s _Garlande of Laurell_ we find,

“Go softly, she sayd, the stones be full _glint_ [i. e. slippery].”

v. 572. vol. i. 384.

Page 280. v. 1688. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.

v. 1692. _What force ye_] i. e. What care ye.

v. 1695. _loke_] i. e. look.

v. 1698. _haftynge_] See note, p. 107. v. 138.

v. 1702. _woke_] i. e. week.

v. 1703. _sone_] i. e. soon.

v. 1706. _Mary_] i. e. By the Virgin Mary.

v. 1709. _comonynge_] i. e. communing, conversing.

v. 1711. _sad_] i. e. grave, serious, sober, discreet.

Page 281. v. 1713. _doute_] i. e. fear.

v. 1715. _ony_] i. e. any.

v. 1718. _be lykelyhod_] i. e. by likelihood,—as it appeared.

v. 1719. _to fode_] i. e. to feed with words,—deceive. So in our author’s _Bowge of Courte_;

“Than Fauell gan _wyth fayre speche me to fede_.”

v. 147. vol. i. 36.

v. 1723. _reserued_] i. e. retained.

v. 1725. _set a gnat By_] i. e. value at a gnat, care a gnat for.

v. 1738. _suche maystryes gan make_]—_suche maystryes_, i. e. such disturbances from the consequence which you assumed: and see note on v. 151. p. 238.

Page 282. v. 1745. _lurden_] See note on v. 423. p. 242.

v. 1748. _haynyarde_] A term of reproach which I do not understand: but in our author’s _Bowge of Courte_, v. 327. vol. i. 42, _hayne_ seems to mean—hind, slave, peasant.

v. 1749. _cast_] i. e. throw up.

v. 1751. _bolle_] i. e. bowl.

—— _Goddes brede_] i. e. God’s bread.

v. 1754. _praty_] i. e. pretty.

v. 1758. _Cockes armes_] i. e. God’s arms: see note on v. 518. p. 243.

v. 1759. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.

v. 1766. _ony_] i. e. any.

Page 283. v. 1772. _Where as_] i. e. Where.

v. 1775. _No force_] i. e. No matter.

v. 1776. _pollynge_] i. e. plundering.

v. 1778. _parde_] i. e. _par dieu_, verily.

—— _largesse_] i. e. liberality.

v. 1779. _vergesse_] i. e. verjuice.

v. 1782. _gyse_] i. e. guise, fashion.

v. 1786. _taken_] i. e. committed, consigned.

v. 1802. _lowte_] i. e. bow, pay obeisance.

Page 284. v. 1813. _syth_] i. e. since.

v. 1817. _acquyte_] i. e. requite.

v. 1820. _solace_] i. e. pleasure.

v. 1821. _dyntes_] i. e. blows.

v. 1822. _Well were_] i. e. In good condition were.

v. 1824. _halse_] }

v. 1825. _clepe_] }

Both words signify—embrace; with this distinction, that the former means properly—to throw the arms round the neck.

v. 1829. _I befole thy brayne pan_] i. e. I befool thy skull, head: see note, p. 100. v. 31.

Page 285. v. 1830. _By our lakyn_] See note on v. 341. p. 240.

v. 1831. _My hawke is rammysshe_] “_Ramage_ is when a Hawk is wilde, coy, or disdainfull to the man, and contrary to be reclamed.” Latham’s _Faulconry_ (_Explan. of Words of Art_), 1658.

v. 1833. _warne_] i. e. prevent.

v. 1835. _ronner_] i. e. runner.

—— _fole_] i. e. fool.

v. 1836. _iarfawcon_] See note, p. 134. v. 557.

v. 1838. _ydder_] i. e. udder.

v. 1840. _slydder_] i. e. slippery.

v. 1841. _for God auowe_] So presently, v. 1851, “I make God _auowe_:” see note, p. 109. v. 199.

—— _chiydder_] i. e. shiver.

v. 1842. _Thy wordes hange togyder as fethers in the wynde_] An expression which occurs again in our author’s _Speke, Parrot_, v. 295. vol. ii. 14. So too in a comedy (before quoted), _The longer thou liuest, the more foole thou art_, &c. _Newly compiled by W. Wager_, n. d.;

“A song much like thauthour of the same,
_It hangeth together like fethers in the winde_.”

Sig. D ii.

v. 1844. _carle_] i. e. churl.

v. 1848. _a losell lede a lurden_] i. e. one good-for-nothing fellow lead another: see note, p. 209. v. 138, and note on v. 423 of the present poem, p. 242.

v. 1849. _sowter_] i. e. shoemaker, cobbler.

v. 1850. _Cockes harte_] i. e. God’s heart: see note on v. 518. p. 243.

v. 1853. _Mary_] i. e. By the Virgin Mary.

v. 1854. _I shall gyue you a gaude of a goslynge that I gaue_] _Gaud_ is found in the sense of—jest, trick, toy, &c.: but the line (perhaps corrupted) is beyond my comprehension.

v. 1856. _reue_] i. e. steward, bailiff.

v. 1858. _syke_] i. e. such.

Page 285. v. 1859. _Sadylgose_] i. e. Saddle-goose.

—— _Dawcocke_] See note, p. 113. v. 301.

Page 286. v. 1860. _garre_] i. e. make, cause.

v. 1862. _bytter_] i. e. bittern.

v. 1864. _to grame_] i. e. to be angry,—or perhaps to grieve; the word being found in both senses.

v. 1865. _snyte_] i. e. snipe.

v. 1868. _loke_] i. e. look.

v. 1871. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.

—— _iapes_] i. e. jests, jokes.

v. 1876. _sone_] i. e. soon.

v. 1882. _mo_] i. e. more.

v. 1886. _payntyd_] See note, p. 176. v. 583.

v. 1887. _demenour_] i. e. director: see note, p. 134. v. 553.

Page 287. v. 1891. _largesse_] i. e. liberality.

v. 1892. _fondnesse_] i. e. folly.

v. 1896. _rode_] i. e. rood, cross: see note, p. 206. v. 69.

v. 1898. _broder_] i. e. brother.

v. 1899. _lokys_] i. e. looks.

v. 1900. _clokys_] i. e. claws—clutches; see Jamieson’s _Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang._ in v. _Cleuck_.

v. 1903. _quyte_] i. e. requite.

v. 1904. _velyarde_] i. e. old man, dotard.

—— _dynt_] i. e. blow.

v. 1906. _losell_] See note, p. 209. v. 138.

v. 1908. _hyght_] i. e. am called.

v. 1910. _rughly_] i. e. roughly.

v. 1912. _lust_] i. e. pleasure, liking.

v. 1913. _lurden_] See note on v. 423. p. 242.

v. 1915. _set by hym a flye_] i. e. value him at a fly, care a fly for him.

v. 1916. _brace_] See note, p. 216. v. 33.

v. 1917. _loke_] i. e. look.

v. 1918. _to_] i. e. too.

Page 288. v. 1928. _carbuckyls_] i. e. carbuncles.

v. 1930. _lyppers_] i. e. lepers.

v. 1932. _Some with the marmoll to halte I them make_]—_marmoll_, i. e. old sore, ulcer, gangrene. “_Marmoll_ a sore _lovp_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. xlvii. (Table of Subst.). Skelton recollected Chaucer;

“But gret harm was it, as it thoughte me,
That _on his shinne a mormal_ hadde he.”

_Prol. to Cant. Tales_, v. 387.

on which passage see Tyrwhitt’s note.

Page 288. v. 1934. _brennynge_] i. e. burning.

v. 1936. _walter_] i. e. tumble, roll. “I _Walter_ I tumble, _Ie me voystre_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. cccc. (Table of Verbes).

v. 1939. _sle_] i. e. slay.

v. 1945. _Lydderyns_] i. e. _Lydder_, wicked, persons: so in our author’s _Garlande of Laurell_, “Some _lidderons_, some losels,” &c. v. 188. vol. i., 369.

—— _set by_] i. e. value, regard.

Page 289. v. 1958. _franesy_] i. e. frensy.

v. 1960. _worshyp_] i. e. honour, dignity.

v. 1961. _fole_] i. e. fool.

v. 1962. _loke_] i. e. look.

v. 1966. _sadly_] i. e. gravely, seriously, soberly, discreetly.

v. 1967. _preposytour_] i. e. a scholar appointed by the master to overlook the rest. “I am _preposyter_ of my boke. Duco classem.” Hormanni _Vulgaria_, sig. R viii. ed. 1530.

v. 1968. _theyr wanton vagys_]—_vagys_, i. e. vagaries, strayings. Richardson in his _Dict._ gives an example of this substantive (_vagues_) from Holinshed.

v. 1977. _mo_] i. e. more.

v. 1979. _Howe_] i. e. Ho.

v. 1980. _lore_] i. e. teaching.

v. 1984. _vnlykynge_] i. e. in poor condition of body. “The strength and lustinesse, or _well lykyng_ of my body.” Palsgrave’s _Acolastus_, 1540. sig. U iiii. “I am withered,” says Falstaff, “like an old apple-John. Well, I’ll repent, and that suddenly, while I am in some _liking_.” Shakespeare’s _Henry IV._ Part i. act iii. sc. 3.

Page 290. v. 1989. _enuy_] i. e. ill-will, grudge.

v. 1993. _golde and fe_] See note, p. 234. v. 267.

v. 1995. _thought_] See note, p. 101. v. 10.

v. 2004. _syth_] i. e. since.

—— _no nother_] A not unfrequent form in our early writers,—i. e. none other.

v. 2005. _take it in gre_] i. e. take it kindly: see note, p. 95, v. 68.

v. 2006. _a noble estate_] i. e. a person of noble estate or rank.

v. 2014. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.

Page 291. v. 2026. _loke_] i. e. look.

v. 2034. _cawdels_] According to the custom of great persons. So in the ballad of _Glasgerion_;

“He harped in the kinges chambere,
Where cuppe and _caudle_ stoode.”

Percy’s _Rel. of A. E. P._, iii. 43. ed. 1794.

Page 291. v. 2035. _mamockes_] “_Mammocks_, leavings, wasted fragments.” Forby’s _Vocab. of East Anglia_.

v. 2037. _fayne_] i. e. glad.

v. 2038. _pomped_] In our text at least is equivalent to—pampered.

“The _pomped_ clerkes with foles [fodes] delicous
Erth often fedeth,” &c.

Hawes’s _Pastime of Pleasure_, sig. B b iiii. ed. 1555.

v. 2040. _to be drawe_] i. e. to be drawn over, covered.

v. 2042. _shertes of Raynes_] i. e. shirts made of the delicate species of linen manufactured at Rennes in Brittany.

v. 2044. _happed_] i. e. covered.

Page 292. v. 2054. _sykernesse_] i. e. security, sureness.

v. 2061. _plete_] i. e. plead.

v. 2064. _lyther_] i. e. bad,—inactive.

v. 2066. _leuer_] i. e. more willingly.

v. 2070. _they rynne to in manus tuas queche_]—_rynne_, i. e. run,—they quickly come to be hanged, when they say _In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum_.

v. 2072. _mary_] i. e. by the Virgin Mary.

—— _mote_] i. e. may.

v. 2073. _too_] i. e. toe.

v. 2077. _rydlesse_] In v. 2445 is “_redlesse_,” which properly means—devoid of counsel: but Skelton seems to use both forms in the sense of—unavailing.

v. 2080. _bloo_] i. e. livid: see note, p. 103. v. 3.

Page 293. v. 2093. _I garde her gaspe, I garde her gle_]—_garde_, i. e. made, caused: _gle_, i. e., perhaps, squint; see Jamieson’s _Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang._ in v. _Gley_.

v. 2094. _daunce on the le_] A fragment, it would seem, of some song: _le_, i. e. lea.

v. 2095. _bassed_] i. e. kissed.

v. 2096. _the bote of all my bale_] i. e. the remedy or help of all my evil or sorrow.

“God send every good man _bote of his bale_.”

Chaucer’s _Chanones Yemannes Tale_, v. 16949. ed. Tyr.

v. 2097. _farre fet_] i. e. far-fetched.

v. 2098. _louesome_] i. e. lovely one.

Page 293. v. 2098. _let_] i. e. leave, desist.

v. 2100. _patlet_]—or _partlet_,—i. e. a sort of ruff, or rather neck-kerchief: see Strutt’s _Dress and Habits_, &c. ii. 368.

v. 2104. _lust and lykynge_] See note, p. 98. v. 23.

v. 2106. _me lyst_] i. e. pleases me.

Page 294. v. 2113. _hardely_] i. e. assuredly.

v. 2114. _to moche_] i. e. too much.

v. 2115. _not worth an hawe_] A common expression in our early poetry;

“Your wo appease which is _not worth an haw_.”

Lydgate’s _Warres of Troy_, B. ii. sig. I iiii. ed. 1555.

v. 2116. _to free of the dawe_] Equivalent, I suppose, to—too much fooling: see note, p. 113. v. 301.

v. 2117. _sad_] See note on v. 1966. p. 267.

v. 2121. _to to out of harre_] See notes on v. 881. p. 249, and v. 921. p. 250.

v. 2123. _iettynge_] i. e. strutting: see note, p. 94. v. 43.

—— _iapes_] i. e. jests, jokes.

v. 2124. _mowynge_] i. e. making mouths, grimacing.

—— _iackenapes_] i. e. monkey.

v. 2132. _brothell_] Was formerly applied as a term of reproach to the worthless of either sex:

“Of this daye gladde was many a _brothell_
That myght haue an ore with Cocke Lorell.”

_Cocke Lorelles bote_, n. d. sig. C ii.

v. 2135. _Cockes armes_] i. e. God’s arms: see note on v. 518, p. 243.

v. 2138. _lurden_] See note on v. 423. p. 242.

v. 2141. _largesse_] i. e. liberality.

v. 2143. _conuenyent_] i. e. fit, suitable.

Page 295. v. 2148. _poddynge prycke_] i. e. skewer that fastens the pudding-bag.

v. 2150. _pot sharde_] i. e. potsherd.

v. 2151. _the spence of a noble_] i. e. the expense or spending of a noble,—the gold coin so called.

v. 2152. _c. s._ i. e. a hundred shillings.

v. 2155. _occupyed_] Though our author, according to his occasionally pleonastic style, has in the next line but one, “_occupyed_ and vsyd,” the words are synonymous: see note, p. 86. v. 52.

v. 2156. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.

v. 2159. _retchlesse_] i. e. reckless.

Page 285. v. 2162. _rynne_] i. e. run.

v. 2164. _it shall not gretly skyll_] See note on v. 1615. p. 262.

v. 2165. _spyll_] i. e. destroy.

v. 2166. _some fall prechynge at the Toure Hyll_] So in _Thenterlude of Youth_, n. d.;

“By our Lady he dyd promote the
To make the _preche_ at the galowe tre.”

Sig. B i.

v. 2168. _nother they set by_] i. e. neither they value, regard.

v. 2171. _lusty to loke on_] i. e. pleasant to look on.

v. 2172. _nonnes_] i. e. nuns.

—— _ryn_] i. e. run.

v. 2173. _Freers_] i. e. Friars.

—— _fayne_] i. e. glad, joyful.

v. 2177. _rechate_] See note, p. 234. v. 215.

Page 296. v. 2186. _brast_] i. e. burst.

v. 2187. _spewe and cast_] One of Skelton’s pleonasms.

v. 2188. _gotted ... to thy share_]—_gotted_, i. e. gotten.

v. 2193. _ye_] i. e. yea.

v. 2194. _to wed_] i. e. for a pawn, pledge.

v. 2195. _a daggeswane_] i. e. a rough sort of coverlet. “_Dagswayne._ Lodex.” _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499. “My bedde is couered with a _daggeswayne_ and a quylte ... _gausape_ ...”—“Some _daggeswaynes_ haue longe thrummes & iagges on bothe sydes: some but on one.” Hormanni _Vulgaria_, sig. g iii. ed. 1530.

—— _ony_] i. e. any.

v. 2196. _metely well_] _“Metely: Moyennement. Assez,”_ &c. Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. ccccxliii. (Table of Aduerbes). “He is _metely_ lerned. _Mediocriter_ doctus est.” Hormanni _Vulgaria_, sig. R viii. ed. 1530.

v. 2197. _dele_] i. e. part, bit.

v. 2198. _in the deuyls date_] See note, p. 116. v. 375.

v. 2201. _the messe_] i. e. the Mass.

Page 297. v. 2204. _hose_] i. e. breeches.

v. 2207. _skelpe_] i. e. slap, strike: see Jamieson’s _Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang._

v. 2208. _loke_] i. e. look.

v. 2209. _Cockes bones_] i. e. God’s bones: see note on v. 518. p. 243.

—— _blysse_] See note on v. 1641. p. 263.

v. 2210. _dynge the deuyll_]—_dynge_, i. e. strike, knock. So again in our author’s poem _Howe the douty Duke of Albany_, &c.;

“And _the deuill downe dynge_.”

v. 210. vol. ii. 74.

Compare _The Droichis Part of the Play_, attributed to Dunbar;

“That _dang the devill_, and gart him yowle.”

Dunbar’s _Poems_, ii. 38. ed. Laing.

Page 297. v. 2210. _holde_] i. e. holden, held.

v. 2211. _rede_] i. e. advice.

v. 2214. _wrynge thy be in a brake_] Some cant expression: _brake_, see note, p. 168. v. 324, and note on _Why come ye nat to Courte_, v. 980.

v. 2215. _dawe_] i. e. simpleton: see note, p. 113. v. 301.

v. 2216. _fawchyn_] i. e. cut.

v. 2217. _cauell_] “_Kevil, Kephyl_, A horse, contemptuously applied to a person, ‘thou girt _kevil_.’” _The Dialect of Craven_, &c. Compare Lydgate’s verses, entitled in the Catalogue, _Advices for people to keep a guard over their tongues_;

“I saugh a _kevell_ corpulent of stature,
Lyk a materas redlyd was his coote,” &c.

_MS. Harl._ 2255. fol. 132.

v. 2218. _iauell_] “_Iauell_. Ioppus.” _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499. Of this common term of contempt (which Skelton uses in other passages) the meaning and etymology are uncertain. Todd (Johnson’s _Dict._ in v.) explains it “A wandering or dirty fellow;” shews that it is sometimes written _jabel_; and would derive it from the verb, _javel_, _jable_, or _jarble_, to bemire, to bedew. Nares (_Gloss._ in v.) refers it to the French _javelle_, which sometimes means “a faggot of brush-wood or other worthless materials.” The compiler of the _Gloss._ to _The Towneley Mysteries_ (under _Hawvelle_) considers it equivalent to—jabberer.

Page 298. v. 2223. _iche_] i. e. I.

v. 2224. _Mary_] i. e. By the Virgin Mary.

v. 2229. _all one_] i. e. all agreed.

v. 2233. _rode_] i. e. road, cross: see note, p. 206. v. 69.

v. 2234. _blode_] i. e. blood.

v. 2235. _By our lakyn_] See note on v. 341. p. 240.

v. 2242. _acomberyd_] i. e. encumbered, troubled.

v. 2243. _Goddys fote_] i. e. God’s foot.

v. 2244. _facyd_] See note, p. 216. v. 33.

v. 2246. _condycyons_] See note, p. 183. v. 12.

Page 299. v. 2248. _bracyd_] See note, p. 216. v. 33.

v. 2249. _defaute_] i. e. default, defect.

v. 2250. _to haute_] i. e. too haughty.

v. 2252. _pratyer_] i. e. prettier.

v. 2258. _gardeuyaunce_] In a note on Dunbar’s _Freir of Tungland_, Lord Hailes observes that _gardyvians_ is “literally _garde de viande_, or cupboard; but there it implies his cabinet;” and Mr. D. Laing adds, “rather, a portable cabinet.” Dunbar’s _Poems_, ii. 243. Skelton appears to use the word in the sense of—trunk: and Palsgrave has “_Gardeuyans bahus_.” _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. xxxv. (Table of Subst.)

Page 299. v. 2259. _bowget_] i. e. budget.

v. 2260. _male_] i. e. bag, wallet.

v. 2262. _Your trymynge and tramynge by me must be tangyd_] The reader will hardly expect that I should attempt any precise explanation of this line.

v. 2264. _When we with Magnyfycence goodys made cheuysaunce_]—_cheuysaunce_, i. e. booty: see note, p. 107. v. 100. Compare Gower;

“Right as a thefe _maketh his cheuesance_,
And robbeth mens gooddes aboute,” &c.

_Conf. Am._ B. v. fol. cxvi. ed. 1554.

v. 2265. _wengaunce_] i. e. vengeance.

v. 2266. _banne and wary_] “I _warrye_, I _banne_ or curse, _Ie mauldis_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. cccci. (Table of Verbes). Barclay is even more pleonastic than Skelton;

“And your vnkindnes _weray, ban and curse_.”

_The Ship of Fooles_, fol. 22. ed. 1570.

v. 2268. _Cockys bonys_] i. e. God’s bones; see note on v. 518. p. 243.

v. 2270. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.

v. 2275. _gaure_] i. e. stare: see Tyrwhitt’s _Gloss._ to Chaucer’s _Cant. Tales_. Yet Palsgrave has “I _Gaure_ I krye, _Ie hue_. Howe he _gaureth_ after his hauke: _Cōment il heue apres son oyseau._” _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. ccxliiii. (Table of Verbes).

Page 300. v. 2276. _yll hayle_] See note, p. 176. v. 617.

v. 2283. _the gowte and the gyn_] If _gyn_ means (as the context seems to prove) some bodily ailment, I know not what it is.

v. 2287. _murre_] i. e. severe cold with hoarseness.

—— _pose_] i. e. rheum in the head.

v. 2288. _requiem æternam groweth forth of his nose_] Heywood has a similar expression;

“Hunger droppeth _euen out of both their noses_.”

_Dialogue_, &c. sig. D 4.—_Workes_, ed. 1598.

And Cotgrave; “_Chishe-face_ ... one _out of whose nose_ hunger drops.” _Dict._

v. 2291. _the halfe strete_] On the Bank-side, Southwark,—where the stews were: it is mentioned in the following curious passage of _Cocke Lorelles bote_, n. d. (where the “wynde fro wynchester” alludes to the temporary suppression of the Southwark stews at the intercession of the Bishop of Winchester);

“Syr this pardon is newe founde
By syde London brydge in a holy grounde
Late called the stewes banke
Ye knowe well all that there was
Some relygyous women in that place
To whome men offred many a franke
And bycause they were so kynde and lyberall
A merueylous auenture there is be fall
Yf ye lyst to here how
There came suche a wynde fro wynchester
That blewe these women ouer the ryuer
In wherye as I wyll you tell
Some at saynt Kateryns stroke a grounde
And many in holborne were founde
Some at saynt Gyles I trowe
Also in aue maria aly and at westmenster
And some in shordyche drewe theder
With grete lamentacyon
And by cause they haue lost that fayre place
They wyll bylde at colman hedge in space
Another noble mansyon
Fayrer and euer _the halfe strete_ was
For euery house newe paued is with gras
Shall be full of fayre floures
The walles shall be of hauthorne I wote well
And hanged wᵗ whyte motly yᵗ swete doth smell
Grene shall be the coloures
And as for this olde place these wenches holy
They wyll not haue it called the stewys for foly
But maketh it strabery banke.”

Sig. B iv.

Page 300. v. 2293. _motton_] Long after Skelton’s time, as the readers of our early dramatists will recollect, _mutton_ was a favourite cant term for a prostitute.

v. 2294. _Ye ... to_] i. e. Yea ... too.

v. 2295. _queysy mete_] “_Quaisy_ as meate or drike is, _dangereux_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. xciii. (Table of Adiect.). Compare _Jyl of Braintfords Testament_, n. d.;

“I pray you fil you not to much of the _mutton_
I promise you that it is very _queisy_.”

Sig. A.

Page 300. v. 2297. _In fay_] i. e. In faith.

—— _froty_] Is frequently, as here, used by our early writers for—_forty_.

v. 2303. _at all assayes_] See note on v. 433. p. 242.

Page 301. v. 2311. _sleeth_] i. e. slayeth.

v. 2315. _bronde_] i. e. brand.

v. 2316. _stonde_] i. e. stand.

v. 2319. _lewdly_] i. e. vilely, basely (but here it seems to be used as an adjective).

v. 2320. _to_] i. e. too.

v. 2322. _fer_] i. e. far.

v. 2324. _loke_] i. e. look.

v. 2330. _agayne_] i. e. against.

Page 302. v. 2332. _wyte_] i. e. blame.

v. 2333. _rede_] i. e. counsel.

v. 2335. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.

—— _ryd thy selfe_] i. e. set free thyself,—despatch thyself.

v. 2336. _to_] i. e. too.

v. 2340. _honge_] i. e. hang.

v. 2342. _tonge_] i. e. thong.

v. 2343. _throte bole_] i. e. throat-bowl,—protuberance of the throat. “Throte gole or _throte bole_, _neu de la gorge_, _gosier_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. lxx. (Table of Subst.). In _Ortus Vocab._ fol. ed. W. de Worde, n. d. is “Epiglotum, _a throte bolle_.”—“It is not impossible,” says Warton, alluding to this passage, “that Despare [Myschefe] offering the knife and the halter, might give a distant hint to Spenser.” _Hist. of E. P._ (Em. and Ad. to p. 363 of vol. ii.) ed. 4to. See _The Faerie Queene_, i. ix. 50.

—— _slee_] i. e. slay.

v. 2351. _to_] i. e. too.

v. 2352. _Out, harowe_]—_harowe_ (variously spelt) is common in our early poetry as an exclamation of alarm or sudden distress, or an outcry for help. “Interiectyons of outkrye: _Haro._ as Haro alarme _trahy trahy_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530, last folio. On the origin of the word see Du Cange’s _Gloss._ in vv. _Haro_, _Haroep_; Tyrwhitt’s note on v. 3286 of Chaucer’s _Cant. Tales_; Jamieson’s _Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang._ in v. _Harro_; and Roquefort’s _Gloss. to La Lang. Rom._ in v. _Harau_.

—— _hyll_] i. e. hell.

v. 2353. _combred_] i. e. encumbered, troubled.

v. 2354. _sloo_] i. e. slay.

—— _nature and kynde_] A pleonastic expression.

Page 303. v. 2357. _sautes_] i. e. assaults.

v. 2361. _soner_] i. e. sooner.

v. 2362. _luge_] i. e. (I suppose) lodge, abode.

v. 2365. _wanhope_] i. e. want of hope,—despair. “Desperatio. _wanhope_.” _Ortus Vocab._ fol. ed. W. de Worde, n. d. “_Wanhope desespoir_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. lxxiii. (Table of Subst.). In some of our early writers, however, we find a distinction made between _wanhope_ and _despair_.

v. 2370. _dysease_] i. e. uneasiness, pain.

v. 2373. _ony_] i. e. any.

v. 2375. _ne_] i. e. nor.

v. 2383. _lectuary_] i. e. electuary.

v. 2387. _gommes goostly_] i. e. gums ghostly, spiritual.

—— _herte_] i. e. heart.

v. 2388. _To thanke God of his sonde_]—_his sonde_, i. e. his sending,—his providential dispensation.

Page 304. v. 2392. _fote_] i. e. foot.

v. 2394. _mode_] i. e. mood.

v. 2398. _dyscryue_] Signifies—describe; but in the present passage it would seem to mean—discover, search, try.

v. 2406. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.

v. 2411. _sone_] i. e. soon.

Page 305. v. 2430. _apayed_] i. e. satisfied, pleased.

v. 2433. _abylyment_] i. e. habiliment.

v. 2434. _aduysement_] i. e. consideration, heed.

v. 2435. _confyrmable_] i. e. conformable.

v. 2444. _to_] i. e. too.

v. 2445. _redlesse_] See note on v. 2077. p. 268.

v. 2449. _to accompte you the contynewe of my consayte_] i. e. to tell you the continuation, the rest, of my conceit, conception.

Page 306. v. 2455. _sad_] See note on v. 1711. p. 264.

v. 2457. _that is no nay_] i. e. that is not to be denied.

v. 2458. _inhateth_] Skelton’s fondness for compound words has been already noticed (see note, p. 105. v. 31); and here most probably _inhateth_ was not intended to convey a stronger meaning than—hateth.

—— _rennynge_] i. e. running.

v. 2460. _ne can_] i. e. can not.

v. 2465. _largesse_] i. e. liberality.

v. 2467. _thorowly ingrosed_] i. e. (as the context would seem to shew) fully written out.

v. 2468. _Pountes_] i. e. Pontoise.

Page 306. v. 2469. _hyght_] i. e. is called.

v. 2474. _to_] i. e. too.

Page 307. v. 2479. _ouerthrow_] i. e. overthrown.

v. 2481. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.

v. 2485. _hafters_] See note, p. 107. v. 138.

—— _forfende_] i. e. forbid, prohibit.

v. 2493. _sentence_] i. e. meaning.

v. 2494. _corage_] i. e. heart, affection.

—— _flyt_] i. e. remove.

v. 2499. _worshyp_] i. e. honour, dignity.

v. 2500. _sadnesse_] See note on v. 1382. p. 259.

Page 308. v. 2503. _I wyll refrayne you ferther, or we flyt_] i. e. I will question you farther before we remove (_refrayne_ being here, it would seem, according to Skelton’s use of such compounds, equivalent to the simple, and not uncommon word,—_frayne_).

v. 2506. _processe_] i. e. relation, discourse: see notes, p. 143. v. 735. p. 146. v. 969. p. 194. v. 157, &c.

v. 2507. _Syth_] i. e. Since.

—— _erectyd_] See note on v. 95. p. 237.

v. 2508. _aforse me_] i. e. exert myself, do my endeavour.

v. 2510. _warkys_] i. e. works.

v. 2513. _largesse_] i. e. liberality.

—— _to_] i. e. too.

v. 2517. _the nygarde nor the chyncherde_] Synonymous terms. “_Chynche_ or _chynchare_. Preparcus.” _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499.

v. 2518. _negarship_] i. e. niggardship.

v. 2522. _fumously adresse you with magnanymyte_] i. e. hotly, vigorously provide, furnish yourself with, &c.

v. 2525. _affyaunce_] i. e. trust.

v. 2534. _this processe_] i. e. this drama of _Magnyfycence:_ (so presently, “this interlude” v. 2548, “this treatyse” v. 2562, “this mater” v. 2576:) see note on v. 2506, above.

Page 309. v. 2539. _seke[r]nesse_] i. e. security, sureness.

v. 2541. _lawe_] i. e. low; as in v. 190.

v. 2544. _leue_] i. e. willing.

v. 2550. _auaunsyd_] i. e. advanced.

v. 2557. _lacke_] i. e. fault, blame.

v. 2563. _comberyd_] i. e. encumbered, troubled.

Page 310. v. 2573. _maysterfest_] i. e. master-fast.

v. 2577. _Precely purposyd vnder pretence of play_]—_Precely_, i. e. Pressly, seems to mean here—seriously (rather than—expressly).

Page 310. v. 2583. _the terestre rechery_] If “_rechery_” be the right reading, I know not what it means. Qy. “trechery?” as before, v. 2046,

“Fye on _this worlde, full of trechery_.”

—— _flode_] i. e. flood.

v. 2585. _Ensordyd_] Could only, I presume, mean—defiled: but qy., as the context seems to require, “Ensorbyd,” i. e. sucked in, swallowed?

—— _wawys_] i. e. waves.

—— _wode_] i. e. mad, raging.

v. 2586. _brast_] i. e. burst,—break.

v. 2588. _hym_] Must be an error of the press for “hymselfe;” compare v. 2581.

v. 2590. _syttynge_] i. e. proper, becoming.

v. 2591. _ryalte_] i. e. royalty.

v. 2593. _indeuer_] i. e. endure, continue, dwell.

COLYN CLOUTE.

This powerful and original poem must have been circulated in MS., probably for a considerable time, before it was given to the press; for from a passage towards the conclusion, v. 1239, we learn that those against whom its satire was directed would not “suffer it to be printed.” In _Colyn Cloute_ Skelton appears to have commenced his attacks on Wolsey.

“I could never conceive, Mr. Warton, to what Drayton alludes, in the preface to his Eclogues, where he says, that ‘the Colin Clout of SCOGAN, under Henry the seventh, is pretty.’ He is speaking of pastoral poetry; and adds, that ‘Barklays ship of fools hath twenty wiser in it.’ You somewhere say [_Hist. of E. P._ iii. 76, note, ed. 4to], ‘he must mean SKELTON;’ but what PASTORAL did HE write?” Ritson’s _Obs. on Warton’s Hist. of E. P._, p. 20 (note); see too his _Bibl. Poet._, p. 99. I believe that Drayton did mean Skelton. _Colyn Cloute_ is surely as much a _pastoral_ as Barclay’s _Ship of Fooles_,—as much perhaps as even Barclay’s _Egloges_.

—— _Quis consurget mecum, &c._] _Vulg. Psal._ xciii. 16, where “Quis consurget _mihi_,” &c.

—— _Nemo, Domine_] _Id. Joan_. viii. 11.

Page 311. v. 1.

_What can it auayle_
_To dryue forth a snayle_]

So in _Gentylnes and Nobylyte_, n. d. (attributed without grounds to Heywood);

“In effect it shall no more _auayle_
Than with a whyp _to dryfe a snayle_.”

Sig. C ii.

Page 311. v. 9. _bokes_] i. e. books.

Page 312. v. 20. _He pryeth and he peketh_] See note, p. 244. v. 667. So Gascoigne;

“That other _pries and peekes_ in euerie place.”

_The Steele Glasse_, fol. 301,—_Workes_, ed. 1587.

v. 28. _fole_] i. e. fool.

v. 29. _scole_] i. e. school.

v. 30. _a thre foted stole_] i. e. a three-footed stool.

v. 36. _The deuyll, they say, is dede_] Heywood has six Epigrams on this proverbial expression,—_Workes_, sig. N 2. ed. 1598. Ray gives, “Heigh ho, _the Devil is dead_.” _Proverbs_, p. 55. ed. 1768.

Page 313, v. 51. _connyng bagge_] i. e. bag, store, of knowledge or learning.

v. 52. _hagge_] See note, p. 99. v. 19.

v. 53. _though my ryme be ragged_] So Sir D. Lyndsay; “my rural _raggit_ vers.” _Prol. to Monarchie_,—_Works_, ii. 330. ed. Chalmers; and Spenser, “My _ragged rimes_.” _F. Queene_, i. xii. 23.

v. 54. _iagged_] See note, p. 163. v. 124.

v. 56. _moughte eaten_] i. e. moth-eaten.

v. 66. _blother_] i. e. gabble.

v. 67. _The tone agayng_] i. e. The one against.

v. 68. _shoder_] i. e. shudder.

v. 69. _hoder moder_] i. e. hugger-mugger.

Page 314. v. 70. _faute_] i. e. fault.

v. 71. _ben so haut_] i. e. be so haughty.

v. 72. _loke_] i. e. look.

v. 77. _sely_] i. e. silly, simple, harmless.

v. 79. _wull_] i. e. wool.

v. 80. _Vnethes_] i. e. Scarcely.

v. 82. _connynge_] i. e. knowledge, learning.

v. 83, _A glommynge_] i. e. A glumming, a looking gloomy, sour.

—— _a mummynge_] Compare our author elsewhere;

“Men of suche maters make but a _mummynge_.”

_Garlande of Laurell_, v. 200. vol. i. 370.

“Thhere was amonge them no worde then but _mum_.”

_Id_. v. 1118. p. 406.

“But play scylens and glum,
Can say nothynge but _mum_.”

v. 906 of the present poem.

v. 84. _iape_] i. e. jest, joke.

v. 87. _hole_] i. e. whole.

Page 314. v. 89. _the forked cap_] i. e. the mitre.

“No wise man is desirous to obtayne
_The forked cappe_ without he worthy be.”

Barclay’s _Ship of Fooles_, fol. 236. ed. 1570.

v. 90. _to lewd_] i. e. too wicked, vile.

v. 91. _all beshrewd_] i. e. altogether cursed.

v. 99. _For other mennes skyll_]—_skyll_, i. e. reason: the line seems to mean—Notwithstanding other men’s reasons.

Page 315. v. 107. _solfa so alamyre_]—_alamire_ is the lowest note but one in Guido Aretine’s scale of music: Gayton, in his _Notes upon Don Quixote_, 1654, says (metaphorically) that Maritornes “plaid her part so wel, that she run through all the keyes from _A-la-mi-re_ to double Gammut,” &c. p. 83.

v. 108. _premenyre_] i. e. præmunire.

v. 115. _heedes_] i. e. heads.

v. 119. _warke_] i. e. work.

Page 316. v. 137.

_A great parte is for slouth,_
_But the greattest parte_
_Is for they haue but small arte_
_And ryght sklender connyng_
_Within theyr heedes wonnyng_]

—— _sklender connyng_, i. e. slender knowledge, learning: _wonnyng_, i. e. dwelling. The meaning of the passage is—a great part of this is owing to their laziness, but it is chiefly to be attributed to their ignorance, &c.

Page 317. v. 151. _werkes_] i. e. works.

v. 152. _Ure_] i. e. Urias.

v. 154. _werryn_] i. e. hinder, ward off.

v. 159. _heery_] i. e. hairy.

v. 160. _Set nought by_] i. e. Value not.

—— _ne_] i. e. nor.

v. 162. _mell_] i. e. meddle.

v. 163.

_loth to hang the bell_
_Aboute the cattes necke_]

So Heywood;

“And I will _hang the bell about the cats necke_:
For I will first breake and ieoperd the first checke.”

_Dialogue, &c._ sig. D 3,—_Workes_, ed. 1598.

See _Pierce Plowman_, where one of the rats proposes that a bell should be hung about the cat’s neck. Sig. A iii. ed. 1561; and Ray’s _Proverbs_, p. 85. ed. 1768.

Page 317. v. 166. _to play deuz decke_] An allusion, I suppose, to some game.

v. 167. _for the becke_] i. e. to obey the nod of command.

v. 169. _Moche herted_] i. e. Much hearted.

v. 178. _combred_] i. e. encumbered.

Page 318. v. 181. _Sho the mockysshe mare_] So in our author’s _Why come ye nat to Courte_;

“And _Mocke_ hath lost her shoo.”

v. 83. vol. ii. 29.

v. 182. _wynche and keke_] i. e. wince and kick.

v. 183. _not worth a leke_] An expression not uncommon in our early poetry:

“No fallow _wourth ane leik_.”

G. Douglas’s _King Hart_,—Pinkerton’s _An._ _Scot. Poems from Maitl.
MSS._ i. 42.

“Such loue I preise not _at a leke_.”

Chaucer’s _Rom. of the Rose_, fol. 130,—_Workes_, ed. 1602.

v. 190.

_Amende whan ye may,_
_For, usque ad montem Sare,_
_Men say ye can not appare_]

—_appare_, i. e. impair. The meaning of this passage,—in which (as I have already noted _ad loc._) it seems probable from a comparison of the MS. and the printed copies, that Skelton used the forms “Seire” and “appeire,”—is—Amend when ye may, for it is said by every body, even as far as Mount Seir, that ye cannot be worse than ye are. The Latin words are a quotation from the Vulgate: “Et circuit de Baala contra occidentem, _usque ad montem Seir_.” _Josue_, xv. 10.

v. 194. _hauke on hobby larkes_] See notes, p. 258. v. 1358. p. 262. v. 1582.

v. 195. _warkes_] i. e. works.

v. 198. _The gray gose for to sho_] Hoccleve uses this proverbial expression;

“Ye medle of al thyng, ye moot _shoo the goos_.”

_Poems_, p. 13. ed. 1796.

and Heywood has the following Epigram;

“_Of common medlers._

”He that medleth with all thing, may _shoe the gosling_.
If all such medlers were set to goose shoing,
No goose need go barefoote betweene this and Greece,
For so we should haue as many goose shoers as geese.”

Sig. P 2,—_Workes_, ed. 1598.

See also Davies’s _Scourge of Follie (Prouerbs)_, n. d. p. 175.

Page 319. v. 209. _pranes_] i. e. prawns.

v. 211. _werynge_] i. e. wearing.

v. 213. _ne peason_] i. e. nor peas.

v. 214. _loke to be let lose_] i. e. look to be let loose.

v. 215. _gose_] i. e. goose.

v. 216.

_Your gorge not endewed_
_Without a capon, &c._]

Equivalent to—You not digesting any thing except, &c.: see notes, p. 207. v. 78. and v. 87.

v. 218. _a stewed cocke_] Compare the following passage in the _Interlude of the iiii Elementes_, n. d.;

“_Tauerner._ Though all capons be gone what than
yet I can get you _a stewed hen_
That is redy dyght.

_Humanyte._ yf she be fat yt wyll do well.

_Tauerner._ Fat or lene I cannot tell
But as for this I wot well
She lay at the stewes all nyght.”

Sig. B. vi.

v. 219.

_To knowe whate ys a clocke_
_Vnder her surfled_ [MS. _surfuld_] _smocke_]

Compare Heywood’s _Dialogue_, &c.;

“Howbeit suddenly she minded on a day,
To pick the chest locke, wherein this bagge lay:
...
But streight as she had forthwith opened the locke,
And look’t in the bagge, _what it was a clocke_,” &c.

Sig. K 3,—_Workes_, ed. 1598.

In our author’s _Garlande of Laurell_ we find,

“With burris rowth and bottons _surffillyng_ [MS. _surfullinge_].”

v. 803. vol. i. 394.

which is cited (_Dict._ in v. _Surfel_) by Richardson, who, after quoting from Gifford that “To _surphule_ or _surfel_ the cheeks, is to wash them with mercurial or sulphur water,” &c., adds that Gifford’s “explanation does not extend to the passage from Skelton.” The fact seems to be that Skelton uses _surfle_ for _purfle_, i. e. border, embroider: and I may notice that Brathwait, on the other hand, seems to employ _purfle_ for _surfle_;

“With painting, _purfling_, and a face of Art.”

_A Strappado for the Diuell_, 1615. p. 150.

Page 319. v. 222.

_And howe whan ye gyue orders_
_In your prouinciall borders,_
_As at Sitientes, &c._]

_Sitientes_ is the first word of the Introit of the Mass for Passion Sunday (_“Sitientes, venite ad aquas, dicit Dominus,” &c._, _Isaiah_ lv. 1). For this note I am indebted to W. Dyce, Esq., who further observes that _Sitientes_ Saturday was of old, and is now abroad, the Saturday before Passion Sunday.

Page 320. v. 233. _renne they in euery stede_] i. e. run they in every place.

v. 234. _nolles_] i. e. heads.

v. 239. _Pystle_] i. e. Epistle.

v. 243. _prymes and houres_] i. e. the devotions so named.

v. 248. _vagabundus_] i. e. vagabonds.

v. 251. _ale stake_] i. e. stake set up before an ale-house by way of sign.

v. 252. _welcome hake and make_] An expression which I have not elsewhere met with. Ray gives among _North Country words_, “To _hake_, To sneak, or loiter:” in Hunter’s _Hallam. Gloss._ is “A _haking_ fellow, an idle loiterer;” and in a song cited by Mr. J. P. Collier (_Hist. of Engl. Dram. Poet._, ii. 472) from a MS. drama called _Misogonus_ by T. Richards, we find,—

“With Bes and Nell we love to dwell
In kissinge and in _hakinge_.”

—_make_ is common in the sense of—mate, companion.

Page 321. v. 262. _stylla_] i. e. still.

v. 263. _wylla_] i. e. will.

v. 264. _pekes_] See note, p. 129. v. 409.

v. 266. _faute_] i. e. fault.

v. 267. _apposed_] i. e. questioned, examined. “He was _apposed_, or examyned of his byleue. De religione _appellatus est_.” Hormanni _Vulgaria_, sig. D ii. ed. 1530.

v. 269. _connyng_] i. e. knowledge, learning.

Page 322. v. 284. _Tom a thrum_] See note, p. 189. v. 204.

v. 293.

_There shall no clergy appose_
_A myter nor a crose,_
_But a full purse_]—_clergy_, i. e. erudition.

“Androgeus by kyng Mynos was sent,
For he should profite in _cleargy_,
To Athens.”

Lydgate’s _Fall of Prynces_, B. I. leaf xii. ed. Wayland.

—_appose_ seems to be used in a different sense from that in which we have just had it (v. 267), and to be equivalent to—procure: _crose_, i. e. crosier.

Page 322. v. 299. _a hermoniake_] A term I am unable to explain.

v. 303. _Ouer_] i. e. Besides.

—— _the foresayd laye_] i. e. the above-mentioned laity.

v. 305. _anker_] i. e. anchorite.

v. 310.

_To ryde vpon a mule_
_With golde all betrapped_]

Perhaps, as Warton thinks (note on _Hist. of E. P._, ii. 347. ed. 4to), an allusion to Wolsey: afterwards in this poem, the Cardinal appears to be pointed at more plainly.

Page 323. v. 312. _purple and paule_] An expression which frequently occurs, more particularly in ballad-poetry (considered by Percy and others as equivalent to—purple robe): _paule_, i. e. pall, rich or fine cloth.

v. 316. _Raynes_] See note, p. 268. v. 2042.

v. 317. _morowes mylke_] i. e. morning’s milk.

v. 318. _tabertes_] _Tabards_,—jackets or coats, without sleeves, close before and behind, and open at the sides, are still worn by heralds: but those mentioned in the text were longer,—a sort of riding-cloaks. “_Tabard_ a garmêt _mâteau_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. lxviii. (Table of Subst.). And see Du Cange’s _Gloss._ in v. _Tabartum_; Roquefort’s _Gloss._ in v. _Tabar_; and Strutt’s _Dress and Habits_, &c. ii. 301.

v. 319. _Theyr styrops of myxt gold begared_]—_begared_, or _begarded_, means—faced, bordered,—adorned. The line, I suspect, (see various readings _ad l._) ought to stand,—

“Theyr styrops _with_ gold begared.”

v. 321. _moyles_] i. e. mules.

v. 323.

_What care they though Gil sweate,_
_Or Jacke of the Noke_]

So afterwards, v. 857, the same terms are used to signify the labouring poor of both sexes. _Jacke of the Noke_, i. e. (I suppose) Jack of the Nook: see “_Nocata terræ_” in Cowel’s _Law Dictionary_, &c. ed. 1727.

v. 325. _pore_] i. e. poor.

v. 331. _farly_] i. e. strange.

v. 332. _iangle_] i. e. babble, chatter.

v. 335. _all to-mangle_] See note, p. 100. v. 32.

Page 324. v. 337. _ascrye_] i. e. call out against: see notes, p. 145. v. 903. p. 152. v. 1358.

v. 341. _Ware_] i. e. Were. (MS. “Was:” see note _ad loc._)

v. 342. _Poules_] i. e. Paul’s.

Page 324. v. 346. _trones_] i. e. thrones.

v. 347. _Lyke prynces aquilonis_] i. e. Like so many Lucifers.

v. 352. _For prestes and for lones_]—_prestes_, i. e. sums in advance. “_Prest_ and _loan_,” Sir H. Nicolas observes to me, “seem to have been used in nearly, if not precisely, the same sense in the 16th century. Perhaps, strictly, _prest_ meant a compulsory advance. In fiscal records it has much the meaning of _charge_ or _imprest_.”

v. 356. _tonge tayde_] i. e. tongue-tied.

v. 360. _shrewd_] i. e. evil.

v. 362. _poollynge_] i. e. polling, plundering.

Page 325. v. 365. _Ye make monkes to haue the culerage, &c._] A passage which I do not understand: but _culerage_ perhaps has here the meaning which it conveys as the name of an herb, “Arse-smart. _Cul-rage._” Cotgrave’s _Dict._

v. 373. _ouerthwarted_] Has been explained before (p. 211. v. 230)—cavilled, wrangled: but here it seems to mean—crossly, perversely opposed or controlled.

v. 376. _fayne_] i. e. glad.

v. 379. _corum_] i. e. quorum.

v. 388. _apostataas_] See note, p. 212. v. 290.

Page 326. v. 391. _sely nonnes_] i. e. silly, simple, harmless nuns.

v. 392. _ronnes_] i. e. runs.

v. 396. _quere_] i. e. quire.

v. 397. _heuy chere_] “_Heavy chear_, Tristitia, Mœstitia.” Cole’s _Dict._

v. 399. _fucke sayles_] So in a copy of verses attributed to Dunbar;

“The dust upskaillis, mony fillok wiih _fuk saillis_.”

_Poems_, ii. 27. ed. Laing.

and in another by Sir R. Maitland;

“Of fynest camroche thair _fuk saillis_.”

_Anc. Scot. Poems from Maitland MSS._, ii. 326. ed. Pink.