Chapter XI: Part 11

_Focke_, a foresail, German. In the Expenses of Sir John Howard, first Duke of Norfolk, we find, “Item, the same day my mastyr paid to the said Clayson, for a _fuk_ maste for the said kervelle, iij_s._ iiij_d._” _Manners and Household Expenses of England_, &c., p. 206. ed. Roxb.

v. 401. _shales_] See note, p. 97. v. 19.

v. 403. _The lay fee people_] i. e. the laity: see note, p. 234. v. 267.

v. 404. _fawte_] i. e. fault.

v. 409. _Boke and chalys_] i. e. Book and chalice.

Page 327. v. 417. _melles_] i. e. meddles.

v. 418. _tytyuelles_] This word occurs not unfrequently, and with some variety of spelling, in our early writers. So Lydgate;

“_Tytyuylles_ tyrauntes with tormentoures.”

_Le Assemble de dyeus_, sig. c i. n. d. 4to.

and Heywood;

“There is no moe such _titifyls_ in Englandes ground,
To hold with the hare, and run with the hound.”

_Dialogue_, &c. sig. C,—_Workes_, ed. 1598.

Some have considered the word as derived from the Latin, _titivilitium_, a thing of no worth. Jamieson “suspects that it is a personal designation,” _Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang._ in v. _Tutivillaris_. In _Juditium, Towneley Mysteries_, p. 310, _Tutivillus_ is a fiend; and in the Moral Play of _Mankind_ he represents the sin of the flesh, _Hist. of Engl. Dram. Poet._, ii. 297, by Mr. J.P. Collier, who says (ii. 223) that “the name afterwards came to mean any person with evil propensities,” and refers to the comedy of _Rauf Royster Doyster_, Skelton’s Works, and the Enterlude of _Thersytes_: when he objected to the derivation of the word from _titivilitium_ and proposed “the more simple etymology, _totus_ and _vilis_,” he was probably not aware that some writers (wrongly) “_totivillitium_ volunt, quasi _totum vile_:” see Gronovius’s note on the _Casina_ of Plautus, ii. 5, 39. ed. Var.

Page 327. v. 421. _Of an abbay ye make a graunge_] A proverbial expression.

“Our changes are soch that _an abbeye turneth to a graunge_.”

Bale’s _Kynge Iohan_, p. 23. Camd. ed.

“To bring _an Abbey to a Grange_.” Ray’s _Proverbs_, p. 174. ed. 1768.

v. 424. _beade rolles_] i. e. prayers,—properly, lists of those to be prayed for.

v. 429.

_But where theyr soules dwell,_
_Therwith I wyll not mell_]

—_mell_, i. e. meddle. So Dunbar;

“Now _with thair sawle we will nocht mell_.”

_Poems_, ii. 52. ed. Laing.

v. 434. _reporte me_] i. e. refer.

v. 440. _the lay fee_] i. e. the laity: see note, p. 234. v. 267.

Page 328. v. 447.

_splendore_
_Fulgurantis hastæ_]

From the Vulgate. “Ibunt in _splendore fulgurantis hastæ_ tuæ.” _Habac._ iii. 11. “Et micantis gladii, et _fulgurantis hastæ_.” _Nahum_, iii. 3.

v. 456. _eysell_] i. e. vinegar.

v. 458. _ypocras_] Was a favourite medicated drink, composed of wine (usually red), with spices and sugar. It is generally supposed to have been so named from Hippocrates (often contracted, as in our author’s _Garlande of Laurell_, v. 1426. vol. i. 417, to “Ipocras”); perhaps because it was strained,—the woollen bag used by apothecaries to strain syrups and decoctions for clarification being termed _Hippocrates’s sleeve_.

Page 328. v. 459. _Let the cat wynke_] See note, p. 168. v. 305.

v. 460. _Iche wot_] Seems to mean here—Each knows (not, I know); and therefore in the remainder of the line the reading of Kele’s ed., “yche,” ought not to have been rejected.

v. 467. _theologys_] i. e. theologians.

v. 468. _astrologys_] i. e. astrologers.

Page 329. v. 469. _Ptholome_] See note, p. 133. v. 503.

v. 474. _pretendynge_] Equivalent to—portending.

“What misfortune, aduersitie, or blame,
Can all the planets to man or childe _pretende_,
If God most glorious by his might vs defende?”

Barclay’s _Ship of Fooles_, fol. 129. ed. 1570.

Here Skelton seems to allude to Wolsey; and from these lines (called in the Lansdown MS., see note _ad loc._, “The profecy of Skelton”) perhaps originated the story of our poet having prophesied the downfal of the Cardinal.

v. 476. _trone_] i. e. throne.

v. 479. _euerychone_] i. e. every one.

Page 330. v. 489. _bruted_] i. e. reported, talked of.

v. 492. _wrest vp_] i. e. screw up: see note, p. 238. v. 137.

v. 493. _twynkyng_] i. e. tinking, tinkling.

v. 498. _the lay fee_] i. e. the laity: see note, p. 234. v. 267.

v. 504. _to_] i. e. too.

v. 515. _depraue_] i. e. vilify, defame.

Page 331. v. 523. _resydeuacyon_] i. e. recidivation, backsliding.

v. 528. _ipostacis_] i. e. hypostasis.

v. 533. _fore top_] i. e. (as the context shews) simply,—head, pate.

v. 535. _knowe and ken_] A pleonasm,—unless _ken_ be explained—see.

v. 542.

_And some haue a smacke_
_Of Luthers sacke_]

Concerning the wine called _sack_ (about which so much has been written) see Henderson’s _Hist. of Anc. and Mod. Wines_, p. 298.

v. 544. _brennyng_] i. e. burning.

v. 545. _warke_] i. e. work.

Page 332. v. 549. _carpe_] i. e. talk, prate.

v. 551. _Called Wicleuista_] From Wicliffe.

v. 553. _Hussyans_] i. e. followers of Huss.

v. 554. _Arryans_] i. e. followers of Arius.

v. 555. _Pollegians_] i. e. Pelagians,—followers of Pelagius.

v. 559. _to mykel_] i. e. too much.

Page 332. v. 564. _tryalytes_] i. e. three benefices united.

v. 565. _tot quottes_] So Barclay;

“Then yf this lorde haue in him fauour, he hath hope
To haue another benefyce of greater dignitie,
And so maketh a false suggestion to the pope
For a _tot quot_, or els a pluralitie.”

_Ship of Fooles_, fol. 60. ed. 1570.

Page 333. v. 572. _persons and vycaryes_] i. e. parsons and vicars.

v. 576. _loselles_] See note, p. 209. v. 138.

v. 577. _lewdely_] i. e. wickedly, vilely.

v. 578. _sely_] i. e. silly, simple, harmless.

v. 581. _mought_] i. e. might.

v. 582. _so dysgysed_] See note, p. 205. v. 22.

Page 334. v. 597. _lokes_] i. e. looks.

v. 598. _bokes_] i. e. books.

v. 600. _wroken_] i. e. wreaked.

v. 602. _iauell_] See note, p. 271. v. 2218.

v. 604. _face_] See note, p. 216. v. 33.

—— _crake_] i. e. vaunt, talk bigly.

v. 606. _kayser_] See note, p. 247. v. 796.

v. 607. _layser_] i. e. leisure.

v. 619. _connyng_] i. e. knowledge, learning.

—— _auaunce_] i. e. advance.

Page 335. v. 624. _dykes_] i. e. ditches.

“Where the blinde leadeth the blinde, both fall in the _dyke_.”

Heywood’s _Dialogue_, &c.—_Workes_, ed. 1598, sig. G 2.

v. 625. _Set nothyng by_] i. e. Value not, regard not.

v. 637. _ye, shall_] i. e. yea, I shall.

v. 648. _shule_] i. e. shovel.

Page 336. v. 654. _mamockes_] See note, p. 268. v. 2035.

v. 663. _kynde_] i. e. nature.

v. 664. _Many one ye haue vntwynde_] The reading of the MS., which at least gives a sense to the line: _vntwynde_, i. e. destroyed; see note, p. 127. v. 284.

v. 668. _fote_] i. e. foot.

v. 672. _in the deuyll way_] A common expression in our early writers.

“Our Hoste answerd: Tell on _a devil way_.”

Chaucer’s _Milleres Prol._, v. 3136. ed. Tyr.

“In the _twenty deuyll way, Au nom du grant diable_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. ccccxlii. (Table of Aduerbes). “What reason is that, _in the twenty deuell waye_, that he shulde bere suche a rule? Quænam (_malum_) ratio est,” &c. Hormanni _Vulgaria_, sig. dd iii. ed. 1530.

Page 337. v. 673. _ouer_] i. e. besides.

v. 675. _hear_] i. e. hair.

v. 679. _tonsors_] i. e. tonsures.

v. 688. _the male dothe wrye_] See note, p. 142. v. 700.

Page 338. v. 692. _Ye bysshops of estates_]—_of estates_, i. e. of great estate, rank, dignity.

v. 698. _awtentyke_] i. e. authentic.

v. 704. _intoxicate_] i. e. poison (Lat. _intoxico_).

v. 705. _conquinate_] i. e. coinquinate,—pollute, defile, defame.

v. 710. _The Churchis hygh estates_] i. e. the dignitaries of the Church.

Page 339. v. 728. _marke_] i. e. marks,—the coins so called.

v. 730. _werke_] i. e. work.

v. 734. _sawe_] i. e. saying,—branch of learning.

v. 737. _pore_] i. e. poor.

v. 739. _frere_] i. e. friar.

Page 340. v. 747.

_of the order_
_Vpon Grenewyche border,_
_Called Obseruaunce_]

The statement that Edward the Third founded a religious house at Greenwich in 1376 appears to rest on no authority. A grant of Edward the Fourth to certain Minorites or Observant Friars of the order of St. Francis of a piece of ground which adjoined the palace at Greenwich, and on which they had begun to build several small mansions, was confirmed in 1486 by a charter of Henry the Seventh, who founded there a convent of friars of that order, to consist of a warden and twelve brethren at the least; and who is said to have afterwards rebuilt their convent from the foundation. The friars of Greenwich were much favoured by Katherine, queen of Henry the Eighth; and when, during the question of her divorce, they had openly espoused her cause, the king was so greatly enraged that he suppressed the whole order throughout England. The convent at Greenwich was dissolved in 1534. Queen Mary reinstated them in their possessions, and new-founded and repaired their monastery. Queen Elizabeth suppressed them, &c. See Lysons’s _Environs of London_, iv. 464. ed. 1796.

v. 754. _Babuell besyde Bery_] When by an order of Pope Urban the Fourth, the Grey Friars were removed out of the town and jurisdiction of Bury St. Edmund, in 1263, “they retired to a place just without the bounds, beyond the north gate, called Babwell, now the Toll-gate, which the abbat and convent generously gave them to build on; and here they continued till the dissolution.” Tanner’s _Not. Mon._ p. 527. ed. 1744.

Page 340. v. 755. _To postell vpon a kyry_] i. e. to comment upon a Kyrie eleison: (a _postil_ is a short gloss, or note).

v. 757. _coted_] i. e. quoted.

Page 341. v. 779. _blother_] i. e. gabble.

v. 780.

_make a Walshmans hose_
_Of the texte and of the glose_]

So again our author in his _Garlande of Laurell_;

“And after conueyauns as the world goos,
It is no foly to vse _the Walshemannys hose_.”

v. 1238. vol. i. 411.

Compare _The Legend of the Bischop of St Androis_;

“Of omnigatherene now his glose,
He _maid it lyk a Wealchman hose_.”

_Scot. Poems of the Sixteenth Century_, (by Dalyell), p. 332.

“WELCHMAN’S HOSE. Equivalent, I imagine, to the breeches of a Highlander, or the dress of a naked Pict; upon the presumption that Welchmen had no hose.” Nares’s _Gloss._ in v. Unfortunately, however, for this ingenious conjecture, the expression is found varied to “_shipman’s hose_,”—which certainly cannot be considered as a non-entity. “Hereunto they adde also a Similitude not very agreeable, how the Scriptures be like to a Nose of Waxe, or _a Shipmans Hose_: how thei may be fashioned, and plied al manner of waies, and serue al mennes turnes.” Jewel’s _Defence of the Apologie_, &c. p. 465. ed. 1567. “And not made as _a shippe mans hose_ to serue for euery legge.” Wilson’s _Arte of Rhetorike_, p. 102. ed. 1580. Surely _Welshman’s hose_ (as well as shipman’s) became proverbial from their pliability, power of being stretched, &c.

v. 784. _broke_] i. e. brook.

v. 785. _loke_] i. e. look.

v. 786. _boke_] i. e. book.

Page 342. v. 800. _the brode gatus_] Means perhaps, Broadgates Hall, Oxford, on the site of which Pembroke College was erected.

v. 801. _Daupatus_] i. e. Simple-pate: see note, p. 113. v. 301.

v. 803. _Dronhen as a mouse_] So Chaucer;

“We faren as he that _dronke is as a mous_.”

_The Knightes Tale_, v. 1263. ed. Tyr.

v. 805. _his pyllyon and his cap_]—_pyllyon_, from Lat. _pileus_. Compare Barclay;

“Mercury shall geue thee giftes manyfolde,
His _pillion_, scepter, his winges, and his harpe.”

_Fourth Egloge_, sig. C iiii. ed. 1570.

and Cavendish’s _Life of Wolsey_; “and upon his head a round _pillion_, with a noble of black velvet set to the same in the inner side” [where surely we ought to read, “and upon his head a round _pillion_ of black velvet, with a noble set to the same in the inner side”]. p. 105. ed. 1827.

Page 342. v. 811. _As wyse as Waltoms calfe_] So Heywood;

“And thinke me _as wise as Waltams calfe_, to talke,” &c.

_Dialogue_, &c. sig. F 3,—_Workes_, ed. 1598.

Ray gives, “_As wise as Waltham’s calf_, that ran nine miles to suck a bull.” _Proverbs_, p. 220. ed. 1768.

v. 812. _a Goddes halfe_] See note, p. 174. v. 501.

v. 817. _scole matter_] i. e. school-matter.

Page 343. v. 820. _elenkes_] i. e. elenchs (_elenchus_—in logic).

v. 822. _mell_] i. e. meddle.

v. 826. _neuen_] i. e. name.

v. 831. _mo_] i. e. more.

v. 836. _Lymyters_] i. e. Friars licensed to beg within certain districts.

v. 840. _Flatterynge, &c._] Compare Barclay;

“We geue wooll and _cheese_, our wiues coyne and egges,
When _freers flatter_ and prayse their proper legges.”

_Fifth Egloge_, sig. D v. ed. 1570.

v. 843. _lese_] i. e. lose.

Page 344. v. 846. _bacon flycke_] i. e. flitch of bacon.

v. 849. _couent_] i. e. convent.

v. 852. _theyr tonges fyle_]—_fyle_, i. e. smooth, polish: the expression occurs in earlier and in much later writers.

v. 854.

_To Margery and to Maude,_
_Howe they haue no fraude_]

As we find the name “Mawte” in our author’s _Elynour Rummyng_, v. 159. vol. i. 100, and as in the second of these lines the MS. (see note _ad l._) has “fawte” (i. e. fault), the right reading is probably,

“To Margery and to _Mawte_,
Howe they haue no _fawte_.”

v. 856. _prouoke_] i. e. incite.

v. 857. _Gyll and Jacke at Noke_] See note on v. 323. p. 283.

v. 861. _In open tyme_] i. e. In the time when no fasts are imposed.

v. 864. _an olde sayd sawe_] “_Oulde sayd sawe prouerbe_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. li. (Table of Subst.).

Page 344. v. 866. _Some walke aboute in melottes_] “Circuierunt in melotis.” _Vulgate_,—_Heb._ xi. 37. “_Melotes_,” as Mr. Albert Way observes to me, “is explained in the _Catholicon_ to be a garment used by the monks during laborious occupation, made of the skin of the badger, and reaching from the neck to the loins,” and according to other early dictionaries, it was made of the hair or skin of other animals. So the original Greek word, μηλωτή, which properly means _pellis ovina_, signifies also _pellis quævis_.

v. 867. _heery_] i. e. hairy.

v. 868. _ne_] i. e. nor.

v. 869. _in remotes_] i. e. in retired places.

Page 345. v. 874.

_And by Dudum, theyr Clementine,_
_Agaynst curates they repyne;_
_And say propreli they ar sacerdotes,_
_To shryue, assoyle, and reles_
_Dame Margeries soule out of hell_]

—_shryue, assoyle_, i. e. confess, absolve.—“On a de Clément V une compilation nouvelle, tant des décrets du concile général de Vienne, que de ses épîtres ou constitutions. C’est ce qu’on appelle les _Clémentines_.” _L’Art de vérifier les Dates, &c. (depuis la naissance de Notre-seigneur_), iii. 382. ed. 1818. Skelton alludes here to _Clement._ lib. iii. tit. vii. cap. ii. which begins, “_Dvdum_ à Bonifacio Papa octauo prædecessore nostro,” &c., and contains the following passages. “Ab olim siquidem inter Prælatos & Rectores, seu Sacerdotes ac Clericos parochialium Ecclesiarum per diuersas Mundi prouincias constitutos ex vna parte, & Prædicatorum & Minorum ordinum fratres ex altera (pacis æmulo, satore zizaniæ procurante), grauis & periculosa discordia extitit, suscitata super prædicationib. fidelium populis faciendis, eorum confessionibus audiendis, pœnitentiis iniungendis eisdem, & tumulandis defunctorum corporibus, qui apud fratrum ipsorum Ecclesias siue loca noscuntur eligere sepulturam.... Statuimus etiam & ordinamus auctoritate prædicta, vt in singulis ciuitatibus & diœcesibus, in quibus loca fratrum ipsorum consistere dignoscuntur, vel in ciuitatibus & diœcesibus locis ipsis vicinis, in quibus loca huiusmodi non habentur, Magistri, Priores prouinciales Prædicatorum, aut eorum Vicarij & Generales, et Prouinciales Ministri & custodes Minorum & ordinum prædictorum ad præsentiam Prælatorum eorundem locorum se conferant per se, vel per fratres, quos ad hoc idoneos fore putauerint, humiliter petituri, vt fratres, qui ad hoc electi fuerint, in eorum ciuitatibus & diœcesibus confessiones subditorum suorum confiteri sibi volentium audire liberè valeant, & huiusmodi confitentibus (prout secundùm Deum expedire cognouerint) pœnitentias imponere salutares, atque eisdem absolutionis beneficium impendere de licentia, gratia, & beneplacito eorundem: Ac deinde præfati Magistri, Priores, Prouinciales, & Ministri ordinum prædictorum eligere studeant personas sufficientes, idoneas, vita probatas, discretas, modestas, atque peritas, ad tam salubre ministerium et officium exequendum: quas sic ab ipsis electas repræsentent, vel faciant præsentari Prælatis, vt de eorum licentia, gratia, & beneplacito in ciuitatib. & dioecesibus eorundem huiusmodi personæ sic electæ confessiones confiteri sibi volentium audiant, imponant pœnitentias salutares, & beneficium absolutionis (in posterum) impendant, prout superiùs est expressum: extra ciuitates & diœceses, in quibus fuerint deputatæ, per quas eas volumus & non per prouincias deputari, confessiones nullatenus audituræ. Numerus autem personarum assumendarum ad huiusmodi officium exercendum esse debet, prout vniuersitas cleri & populi, ac multitudo vel paucitas exigit eorundem. Et si iidem Prælati petitam licentiam confessionum huiusmodi audiendarum concesserint: illam præfati Magistri, Ministri, & alij cum gratiarum recipiant actione, dictæque personæ sic electæ commissum sibi officium exequantur. Quòd si fortè iam dicti Prælati quenquam ex dictis fratribus præsentatis eisdem ad huiusmodi officium nollent habere, vel non ducerent admittendum: eo amoto, vel subtracto loco ipsius similiter eisdem præsentandus Prælatis possit, & debeat alius surrogari. Si verò iidem Prælati præfatis fratribus ad confessiones (vt præmittitur) audiendas electis, huiusmodi exhibere licentiam recusârint, nos ex nunc ipsis, vt confessiones sibi confiteri volentium liberè licitèque audire valeant, & eisdem pœnitentias imponere salutares, atque eisdem beneficium absolutionis impertiri, gratiosè concedimus de plenitudine Apostolicæ potestatis. Per huiusmodi autem concessionem nequaquam intendimus personis, seu fratribus ipsis ad id taliter deputatis, potestatem in hoc impendere ampliorem quàm in eo curatis vel parochialibus Sacerdotib. est à iure concessa: nisi forsan eis Ecclesiarum Prælati vberiorem in hac parte gratiam specialiter ducerent faciendam.” Pp. 184-190. (_Decret._ tom. iii. ed. 1600.)

Page 345. v. 879.

_But when the freare fell in the well,_
_He coud not syng himselfe therout_
_But by the helpe of Christyan Clout_]

The name “_Cristian Clowte_” has occurred before in our author’s _Manerly Margery Mylk and Ale_, vol. i. 28. The story alluded to in this passage appears to be nearly the same as that which is related in a comparatively modern ballad, entitled,

“_The Fryer Well-fitted:
or,
A Pretty Jest that once befel,
How a Maid put a Fryer to cool in the Well.
To a merry new Tune. Licens’d and Enter’d according to Order._”

The Friar wishes to seduce the Maid;

“But she denyed his Desire,
And told him, that she feared Hell-fire;
_fa, la_, &c.
Tush, (quoth the Fryer) thou needst not doubt,
_fa, la_, &c.
If thou wert in Hell, I could sing thee out;
_fa, la_, &c.”

The Maid then tells him that he “shall have his request,” but only on condition that he brings her “an angel of money.” While he is absent, “She hung a Cloth before the Well;” and, when he has returned, and given her the angel,—

“Oh stay, (quoth she) some Respite make,
My Father comes, he will me take;
_fa, la_, &c.
Alas, (quoth the Fryer) where shall I run,
_fa, la_, &c.
To hide me till that he be gone?
_fa, la_, &c.
Behind the Cloth run thou (quoth she),
And there my Father cannot thee see;
_fa, la_, &c.
Behind the Cloth the Fryer crept,
_fa, la_, &c.
And into the Well on sudden he leapt,
_fa, la_, &c.
Alas, (quoth he) I am in the Well;
No matter, (quoth she) if thou wert in Hell;
_fa, la_, &c.
Thou say’st thou could’st sing me out of Hell,
_fa, la_, &c.
Now prithee sing thyself out of the Well,
_fa, la_, &c.”

The Maid at last helps him out, and bids him be gone; but when he asks her to give him back the angel,—

“Good Sir, (said she) there’s no such matter,
I’ll make you pay for fouling my Water;
_fa, la_, &c.
The Fryer went along the Street,
_fa, la_, &c.
Drapping wet, like a new-wash’d Sheep,
_fa, la_, &c.
Both Old and Young commended the Maid,
That such a witty Prank had plaid;
_fa, la, la, la, la,_
_fa, la, la, lang-tree down-dily._”

_Ballads_, Brit. Mus. 643. m.

Page 345. v. 882.

_Another Clementyne also,_
_How frere Fabian, with other mo,_
_Exivit de Paradiso_]

—_mo_, i. e. more. Some corruption, if not considerable mutilation of the text, may be suspected here. There seems to be an allusion to _Clement_, lib. v. tit. xi. cap. i., which begins, “_Exiui de paradiso_, dixi, rigabo hortum plantationum, ait ille cœlestis agricola,” &c. P. 313. (_Decret._ tom. iii. ed. 1600).

v. 892. _abiections_] i. e. objections.

Page 346. v. 901. _hertes_] i. e. hearts.

v. 903. _coueytous_] i. e. covetise, covetousness.

v. 906. _play scylens and glum, &c._] See note on v. 83. p. 278.

v. 911. _leuer_] i. e. more willingly, rather.

v. 914. _Worsshepfully_] i. e. According to their honour, or dignity.

Page 347. v. 922. _payntes_] See note, p. 176. v. 583.

v. 924. _them lyke_] i. e. please them.

v. 931. _crosse_] See note, p. 116. v. 363.

v. 932. _predyall landes_] i. e. farm-lands.

v. 943. _palles_] See note on v. 312. p. 283.

v. 944. _Arras_] i. e. tapestry: see note, p. 192. v. 78.

v. 947. _lusty_] i. e. pleasant, desirable,—beautiful.

Page 348. v. 950. _shote_] i. e. shoot.

v. 951. _tyrly tyrlowe_] This passage was strangely misunderstood by the late Mr. Douce, who thought that “_tyrly tyrlowe_” alluded to the note of the crow, that bird being mentioned in the preceding line! _Illust. of Shakespeare_, i. 353. The expression has occurred before, in our author’s _Elynour Rummyng_, v. 292. vol. i. 104: here it is equivalent to the modern _fa, la, la_, which is often used with a sly or wanton allusion,—as, for instance, at the end of each stanza of Pope’s court-ballad, _The Challenge_.

Page 348. v. 953. _a lege de moy_] See note, p. 176. v. 587.

v. 956. _With suche storyes bydene_]—_bydene_, that is “by the dozen,” says Warton, erroneously, quoting this passage, _Hist. of E. P._, ii. 343. ed. 4to (note). The word occurs frequently in our early poetry, with different significations: here it may be explained—together—(with _a collection of_ such stories); so in _The Worlde and the Chylde_, 1522;

“Now cryst ...
...
Saue all this company that is gathered here _bydene_.”

Sig. C iiii.

v. 957. _Their chambres well besene_]—_well besene_, i. e. of a good appearance,—well-furnished, or adorned: see note, p. 112. v. 283.

v. 962. _Nowe all the worlde stares, &c._] “This is still,” as Warton observes (_Hist. of E. P._, ii. 343. ed. 4to, note), “a description of tapestry.”

v. 963. _chares_] i. e. chariots.

v. 964. _olyphantes_] i. e. elephants.

v. 965, _garlantes_] i. e. garlands.

v. 974. _estate_] i. e. high rank, dignity.

v. 975. _courage_] i. e. heart, affections.

v. 977.

_Theyr chambres thus to dresse_
_With suche parfetnesse_]

—_parfetnesse_, i. e. perfectness. “We should observe,” says Warton, after citing the passage, “that the satire is here pointed at the subject of these tapestries. The graver ecclesiastics, who did not follow the levities of the world, were contented with religious subjects, or such as were merely historical.” _Hist. of E. P._, ii. 344. ed. 4to.

Page 349. v. 983. _remorde_] See note, p. 193. v. 101.

v. 987. _mellyng_] i. e. meddling.

v. 990. _besy_] i. e. busy.

v. 991. _For one man to rule a kyng_] An allusion, I apprehend, to Wolsey’s influence over Henry the Eighth: so again our author speaking of Wolsey, in the Latin lines at the end of _Why Come ye nat to Courte_, “Qui regnum _regemque regit_.” Vol. ii. 67. I may observe too in further confirmation of the reading “_kyng_” instead of “gyng” (see note _ad loc._), that we have had in an earlier passage of the present poem,

“_To rule_ bothe _kyng_ and kayser.”

v. 606.

v. 996. _flyt_] i. e. remove.

v. 998. _quysshon_] i. e. cushion.

v. 1000. _Cum regibus amicare_] “_Amico_, to be frend.” _Medulla Gramatice_, MS. (now in the possession of Mr. Rodd).

Page 349. v. 1002. _pravare_] In _Ortus Vocab._ fol. ed. W. de. Worde, n. d., is “_Prauo_ ... prauum facere. _or to shrewe_,” and “Tirannus. _shrewe_ or tyrande.” The meaning therefore of _pravare_ in our text may be—to play the tyrant.

Page 350. v. 1003. _vre_] “_Evr_ happe or lucke with his compoundes _bonevr_ and _malevr_,” &c. Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. vi. (Thirde Boke).

“My goddesse bright, my fortune, and my _vre_.”

Chaucer’s _Court of Loue_, fol. 330,—_Workes_, ed. 1602.

“The grace and _ewer_ and hap of olde fortune.”

Lydgate’s _Warres of Troy_, B. iv. sig. Z v. cd. 1555.

“But wayte his death & his fatall _eure_.”

_Id_. sig. A a i.

“And fortune which hath the such _vre_ y sent.”

_Poems by C. Duke of Orleans,—MS. Harl._ 682, fol. 24.

v. 1014. _played so checkemate_] In allusion to the king’s being put in _check_ at the game of chess.

v. 1017. _mell_] i. e. meddle.

v. 1019. _kayser_] See note, p. 247. v. 796.

v. 1020. _at the playsure of one, &c._] Meaning, surely, Wolsey.

v. 1025. _not so hardy on his hede_] An elliptical expression; compare v. 1154. In the _Morte d’Arthur_ when Bors is on the point of slaying King Arthur, “_Not soo hardy_ sayd syr launcelot _vpon payn of thy hede_, &c.” B. xx. c. xiii. vol. ii. 411. ed. Southey.

v. 1026. _To loke on God in forme of brede_]—_loke_, i. e. look: _brede_, i. e. bread. A not unfrequent expression in our early writers.

“Whan I sacred our lordes body
Chryste Jesu _in fourme of brede_.”

_The Lyfe of saint Gregoryes mother_, n. d. sig. A v.

See too Ritson’s _An. Pop. Poetry_, p. 84; and Hartshorne’s _An. Met. Tales_, p. 134.

Page 351. v. 1030. _sacryng_] “_Sacryng_ of the masse _sacrement_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. lx. (Table of Subst.). And see Todd’s _Johnson’s Dict._ in v.

v. 1041. _preas_] i. e. press.

v. 1047. _ne_] i. e. nor.

v. 1050. _warke_] i. e. work, business.

Page 352. v. 1051. _this_] Perhaps for—thus; see note, p. 86. v. 38.

v. 1054. _vncouthes_] i. e. strange matters.

v. 1055. _ken_] i. e. know.

v. 1070. _premenire_] i. e. præmunire.

v. 1074. _fotyng_] i. e. footing.

Page 352. v. 1075. _motyng_] i. e. mooting. “Certamen ... anglice flytynge chydynge or _motynge.” Ortus Vocab._ fol. ed. W. de Worde, n. d.

v. 1076. _totyng_] i. e. prying, peeping.

Page 353. v. 1084. _hole route_] i. e. whole crowd, set.

v. 1098. _escrye_] i. e. call out against: see notes, p. 145. v. 903. p. 152. v. 1358. p. 283. v. 337.

v. 1102. _werke_] i. e. work.

Page 354. v. 1106. _hynderyng_] See note, p. 245. v. 719.

—— _dysauaylyng_] “I _Disauayle_ one, I hynder his auauntage, _Ie luy porte dom̄aige_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. ccxii. (Table of Verbes).

v. 1116. _to be gramed_] i. e. to be angered: _gramed_ is doubtless the right reading here, though the eds. have “greued” and the MS. “grevyd”—(_grame_ has already occurred in _Magnyfycence_, v. 1864).

Page 355. v. 1134. _depraue_] i. e. vilify, defame.

v. 1154. _Not so hardy on theyr pates_] See note on v. 1025, preceding page.

v. 1155. _losell_] See note, p. 209. v. 138.

v. 1156. _wesaunt_] i. e. weasand.

v. 1157. _syr Guy of Gaunt_] See note, p. 184. v. 70.

v. 1158. _lewde_] i. e. wicked, vile.

Page 356. v. 1159. _doctour Deuyas_] See note, p. 95. v. 55.

v. 1162. _dawcocke_] i. e. simpleton: see note, p. 113. v. 301.

—— _mell_] i. e. meddle.

v. 1164. _Allygate_] i. e. Allege.

v. 1170. _lurdeyne_] See note, p. 242. v. 423.

v. 1171. _Lytell Ease_] “_Little Ease_ (prison), mala mansio, arcæ robustæ.” Coles’s _Dict._—“LITTLE-EASE. A familiar term for a pillory, or stocks; or an engine uniting both purposes, the bilboes.” Nares’s _Gloss._

v. 1178. _rechelesse_] i. e. reckless.

Page 357. v. 1184. _Poules Crosse_] i. e. Paul’s Cross.

v. 1186. _Saynt Mary Spyttell_] In Bishopsgate Ward: see Stow’s _Survey_, B. ii. 97. ed. 1720.

v. 1187. _set not by vs a whystell_] i. e. value us not at a whistle, care not a whistle for us. Compare Lydgate;

“For he _set not by_ his wrethe _a whistel_.”

_The prohemy of a mariage_, &c.,—_MS. Harl._ 372. fol. 45.

v. 1188. _the Austen fryers_] In Broad-street Ward: see Stow’s _Survey_, B. ii. 114, ed. 1720.

Page 357. v. 1190. _Saynt Thomas of Akers_] Concerning the “Hospital intituled of S. Thomas of Acon or Acars [Acre in the Holy Land], near to the great Conduit in Cheape,” see Stow’s _Survey_, B. iii. 37. ed. 1720, and Maitland’s _Hist. of London_, ii. 886. ed. 1756.

v. 1191. _carpe vs_] Is explained by the various reading of the MS.,—“clacke of us.”

—— _crakers_] i. e., as the context shews, (not—vaunters, but) noisy talkers.

v. 1193. _reason or skyll_] See note, p. 238. v. 106.

v. 1196. _at a pronge_] See note, p. 243. v. 506.

v. 1199. _fonge_] i. e. take, get.

v. 1201. _the ryght of a rambes horne_] An expression which our author has again in _Speke, Parrot_, v. 498. vol. ii. 24. So in a metrical fragment, temp. Edward ii.;

“As _ryt as ramis orn._”

_Reliquiæ Antiquæ_ (by Wright and Halliwell), ii. 19.

And Lydgate has a copy of verses, the burden of which is,—

“Conveyede by lyne _ryght as a rammes horne_.”

_MS. Harl._ 172. fol. 71.

See too Ray’s _Proverbs_, p. 225. ed. 1768.

v. 1206. _yawde_] i. e. hewed, cut down. “To _Yaw_, to hew.” Gloss. appended to _A Dialogue in the Devonshire Dialect_, 1837.

Page 358. v. 1208. _Ezechyas_] Ought to be “Isaias;” for, according to a Jewish tradition, Isaiah was cut in two with a wooden saw by order of King Manasseh.

v. 1216. _agayne_] i. e. against.

v. 1223. _cough, rough, or sneuyll_]—_rough_, i. e., perhaps, _rout_, snore, snort. I may just observe that Palsgrave not only gives “_rowte_” in that sense, but also “I _Rowte_ I belche as one dothe that voydeth wynde out of his stomacke, _Ie roucte_.” _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. cccxliiii. (Table of Verbes); and that Coles has “To _rout_, Crepo, pedo.” _Dict._

v. 1224. _Renne_] i. e. Run.

v. 1227. _set not a nut shell_] i. e. value not at a nut-shell, care not a nut-shell for.

v. 1229. _gyse_] i. e. guise, fashion.

Page 359. v. 1232. _sayd sayne_] A sort of pleonastic expression,—equivalent to—called commonly or proverbially: see note on v. 864. p. 290.

v. 1235. _domis day_] i. e. doomsday.

Page 359. v. 1239. _boke_] i. e. book.

v. 1240. _By hoke ne by croke_] i. e. By hook nor by crook.

v. 1244. _nolles_] i. e. heads.

v. 1245. _noddy polles_] i. e. silly heads.

v. 1246. _sely_] i. e. silly.

v. 1248. _great estates_] i. e. persons of great estate, or rank.

v. 1255. _wawes wod_] i. e. waves mad, raging.

v. 1257. _Shote_] i. e. Shoot, cast.

v. 1258. _farre_] i. e. farther:

“I wyl no _farr_ mell.”

_Gentylnes and Nobylyte_, n. d. (attributed without grounds to Heywood),
sig. C ii.

Page 360. v. 1262. _the porte salu_] i. e. the safe port. Skelton has the term again in his _Garlande of Laurell_, v. 541. vol. i. 383. Compare Hoccleve;

“whether our taill
Shall soone make us with our shippes saill
To _port salu_.”

_Poems_, p. 61. ed. 1796,—

where the editor observes, “_Port salut_ was a kind of proverbial expression, and so used in the translation of _Cicero de senectute_ printed by Caxton.”

A RYGHT DELECTABLE TRATYSE VPON A GOODLY GARLANDE OR CHAPELET OF LAURELL ... STUDYOUSLY DYUYSED AT SHERYFHOTTON CASTELL, IN THE FORESTE OF GALTRES, &c.

Sheriff-Hutton Castle “is situated in the Wapentake of Bulmer, and is distant ten miles north-east from York ... The slender accounts of it that have reached our times, ascribe its origin to Bertram de Bulmer, an English Baron, who is recorded by Camden to have built it in the reign of King Stephen, A.D. 1140 ... From the Bulmers it descended by marriage to the noble family of the Nevilles, and continued in their possession upwards of 300 years, through a regular series of reigns, until seized by Edward iv. in 1471, who soon after gave the Castle and Manor to his brother the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard iii. In 1485, in consequence of the death of Richard at the Battle of Bosworth Field, it became the property of King Henry vii., and continued in the hands of the Crown, until James the First granted it to his son, Prince Charles, about 1616. The Castle and Manor were subsequently granted (also by King James, according to Camden, and the original grant confirmed by Prince Charles after he ascended the throne) to the family of the Ingrams, about 1624-5, and are now in possession of their lineal descendant, the present Marchioness of Hertford.” _Some Account of Sheriff-Hutton Castle_, &c. pp. 3-5, York, 1824.

Leland (who says, erroneously it would seem, that Sheriff-Hutton Castle “was buildid by Rafe Nevill of Raby the fyrst Erl of Westmerland of the Nevilles,”) gives the following description of it. “There is a Base Court with Houses of Office afore the Entering of the Castelle. The Castelle self in the Front is not dichid, but it stondith _in loco utcunque edito_. I markid yn the fore Front of the first Area of the Castelle self 3. great and high Toures, of the which the Gate House was the Midle. In the secunde Area ther be a 5. or 6. Toures, and the stately Staire up to the Haul is very Magnificent, and so is the Haul it self, and al the residew of the House: in so much that I saw no House in the North so like a Princely Logginges. I lernid ther that the Stone that the Castel was buildid with was fetchid from a Quarre at Terington a 2. Miles of. There is a Park by the Castel. This Castel was wel maintainid, by reason that the late Duke of Northfolk lay ther x. Yers, and sins the Duk of Richemond. From Shirhuten to York vij. Miles, and in the Forest of Galtres, wherof 4. Miles or more was low Medowes and Morisch Ground ful of Carres, the Residew by better Ground but not very high.” _Itin._ i. 67. ed. 1770.

“Report asserts, that during the civil wars in the time of Charles the First, it [the Castle] was dismantled, and the greater part of its walls taken down, by order of the Parliament. But this is certainly not the fact, as will be seen by reference to the ‘Royal Survey’ made in 1624 ... From this Survey it will appear evident, that the Castle was dismantled and almost in total ruin in the time of James I.,—how long it had been so, previous to the Survey alluded to, is now difficult to say. From the present appearance of the ruins, it is plain that the Castle was purposely demolished and taken down by workmen, (probably under an order from the Crown, in whatever reign it might happen,) and not destroyed by violence of war. However, since this devastation by human hands, the yet more powerful and corroding hand of Time has still further contributed to its destruction.... The Castle stands upon a rising bank or eminence in front of the village, and its ruins may be seen on every side at a great distance.” _Some Account_, &c. (already cited), pp. 5, 6. The vast forest of Galtres formerly extended nearly all round Sheriff-Hutton.

When Skelton wrote the present poem, Sheriff-Hutton Castle was in possession of the Duke of Norfolk, to whom it had been granted by the crown for life: see note on v. 769.

Page 361. v. 1. _Arectyng_] i. e. Raising.

Page 361. v. 6. _plenarly_] i. e. fully—at full.

v. 9. _somer flower_] i. e. summer-flower.

v. 10. _halfe_] i. e. side, part.

Page 362. v. 15. _dumpe_] “I Dumpe I fall in a _dumpe_ or musyng vpon thynges.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. ccxxii. (Table of Verbes).

v. 16. _Encraumpysshed_] i. e. encramped. Skelton’s fondness for compounds of this kind has been already noticed. The simple word occurs in other writers:

“_Crampisheth_ her limmes crokedly.”

Chaucer’s _Annel. and Ar_.,—_Workes_, fol. 244. ed. 1602.

“As marbyll colde her lymmes _craumpishing_.”

Lydgate’s _Warres of Troy_, B. iv. sig. X v. ed. 1555.

—— _conceyte_] i. e. conceit, conception.

v. 20. _boystors_] i. e. boisterous.

v. 22.

_Thus stode I in the frytthy forest of Galtres,_
_Ensowkid with sylt of the myry mose_]

—_stode_, i. e. stood: _frytthy_, i. e. woody: _ensowkid_, i. e. ensoaked: _sylt_, i. e. mud: _mose_, i. e. moss. The forest of Galtres (which, as already noticed, extended nearly all round Sheriff-Hutton) was, when Camden wrote, “in some places shaded with trees, _in others swampy_.” _Britannia_ (by Gough), iii. 20.

v. 24. _hartis belluyng_] In the _Book of Saint Albans_, Juliana Berners, treating “Of the cryenge of thyse bestys,” says,

“_An harte belowyth_ and a bucke groynyth I fynde.”

Sig. d ii.

—— _embosyd_] “When he [the hart] is foamy at the mouth, we say that he is _embost_.” Turbervile’s _Noble Art of Venerie_, p. 244. ed. 1611.

v. 26. _the hynde calfe_] “Ceruula. a _hynde calfe.” Ortus Vocab._ fol. ed. W. de Worde, n. d. In the _Book of Saint Albans_ we are told;

“And for to speke of the harte yf ye woll it lere:
Ye shall hym a _Calfe_ call at the fyrste yere.”

Sig. C vi.

v. 27. _forster_] i. e. forester.

—— _bate_] Does it mean—set on, or train?

v. 28. _torne_] i. e. turn.

v. 32. _superflue_] i. e. superfluous.

“Ye blabbering fooles _superflue_ of language.”

Barclay’s _Ship of Fooles_, fol. 38. ed. 1570.

v. 35. _wele_] i. e. well.

Page 363. v. 38. _disgysede_] i. e. decked out in an unusual manner.

“Of his straunge aray merueyled I sore
...
Me thought he was gayly _dysgysed_ at that fest.”

Lydgate’s _Assemble de dyeus_, sig. b ii. n. d. 4to.

Page 363. v. 39. _fresshe_] “_Fresshe_, gorgyouse, gay.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. lxxxviii. (Table of Adiect.),—which I ought to have cited earlier for the meaning of this word.

v. 40. _Enhachyde with perle, &c._] i. e. Inlaid, adorned with pearl, &c. Our author in his _Phyllyp Sparowe_ tells us that a lady had a wart (or as he also calls it, a scar) “_enhached_ on her fayre skyn,” v. 1078. vol. i. 84. Gifford observes that “literally, to _hatch_ is to inlay [originally, I believe, to cut, engrave, mark with lines]; metaphorically, it is to adorn, to beautify, with silver, gold, &c.” Note on Shirley’s _Works_, ii. 301. “The ladies apparell was after the fashion of Inde, with kerchifes of pleasance, _hatched_ with fine gold.” Holinshed’s _Chron._ (Hen. viii.) vol. iii. 849. ed. 1587. “_Hatching_, is to Silver or gild the Hilt and Pomell of a Sword or Hanger.” R. Holme’s _Ac. of Armory_, 1688. B. iii. p. 91.

v. 41. _The grounde engrosyd and bet with bourne golde_]—_grounde_, i. e. (not floor, but) ground-work; as in Lydgate’s verses entitled _For the better abyde_;

“I see a rybaun ryche and newe
...
The _grownde_ was alle of brent golde bryght.”

_MS. Cott. Calig. A_ ii. fol. 65.

_engrosyd_, i. e. thickened, enriched: _bet_ has here the same meaning as in _Le Bone Florence of Rome_;

“Hur clothys wyth bestes and byrdes wer _bete_.”

_Met. Rom_. iii. 9. ed. Ritson,

who somewhat copiously explains it “beaten, plaited, inlay’d, embroider’d:” _bourne_, i. e. burnished.

v. 44. _abylyment_] i. e. habiliment.

v. 45. _estates_] i. e. persons of estate or rank.

v. 49. _supplyed_] i. e. supplicated.

v. 50. _pusant_] i. e. puissant, powerful, mighty.

v. 52. _of very congruence_] i. e. of very fitness.

“Such ought of duetie and _very congruence_,” &c.

Barclay’s _Ship of Fooles_, fol. 188. ed. 1570.

v. 54. _astate_] i. e. estate, rank, dignity.

—— _most lenen_] i. e. must lean, bend, bow.

v. 55. _arrect_] i. e. raise.

v. 58. _ryall_] i. e. royal.

Page 364. v. 65. _wele_] i. e. well.

v. 66. _embesy_] i. e. embusy.

—— _holl corage_] i. e. whole heart.

v. 68. _were_] i. e. wear.

v. 69. _wonder slake_] i. e. wonderfully slack.

v. 70. _lake] i. e._ lack, fault.

v. 71. _ne were_] i. e. were it not.

v. 72. _bokis ... sone ... rase_] i. e. books ... soon ... erase.

v. 73. _sith_] i. e. since.

v. 74. _Elyconis_] i. e. Helicon’s.

v. 75. _endeuour hymselfe_] i. e. exert himself (compare v. 936).

v. 77. _sittynge_] i. e. proper, becoming.

v. 79. _to_] i. e. too.

v. 80. _comprised_] Compare our author in _Lenuoy_ to Wolsey;

“And hym moost lowly pray,
In his mynde to _comprise_
Those wordes,” &c.

vol. ii. 84.

v. 81. _rin_] i. e. run.

Page 365. v. 83. _pullishe_] i. e. polish.

v. 86. _remorde_] See note, p. 193. v. 101.

v. 94. _mo ... enduce_] i. e. more ... bring in, adduce.

v. 95. _parde for to kyll_] i. e. _par dieu_, verily, for to be killed.

v. 96. _enuectyfys_] i. e. invectives.

v. 101. _the grey_] i. e. the badger. Juliana Berners says;

“That beest a bausyn hyght: a brok or a _graye_:
Thyse thre names he hath the soth for to saye.”

_The Book of St. Albans_, sig. D vi.

v. 102. _gose ... oliphaunt_] i. e. goose ... elephant.

v. 103. _ageyne_] i. e. against.

Page 366. v. 110. _confecture_] i. e. composition.

v. 111. _diffuse is to expounde_] i. e. is difficult to expound: see note, p. 144. v. 768.

v. 112. _make ... fawt_] i. e. compose ... fault.

v. 114. _motyue_] i. e. motion. So in the next line but one is “promotyue,” i. e. promotion: and so Lydgate has “ymaginatyfe” for—imagination. _Fall of Prynces_, B. v. leaf cxvii. ed. Wayland.

v. 115. _auaunce_] i. e. advance.

v. 116. _rowme_] i. e. room, place.

v. 121. _gyse_] i. e. guise, fashion.

v. 122. _iche man doth hym dres_] i. e. each man doth address, apply, himself.

v. 124. _bokis_] i. e. books.

Page 366. v. 127. _loke_] i. e. look.

v. 129. _mo_] i. e. more.

Page 367. v. 133. _Ageyne_] i. e. Against.

v. 136. _wele_] i. e. well.

v. 137. _rasid_] i. e. erased.

v. 140. _Sith_] i. e. Since.

—— _defaut_] i. e. default, want.

—— _konnyng_] i. e. (not so much—knowledge, learning, as) skill, ability.

v. 141. _apposelle_] i. e. question.

“And to pouert she put this _opposayle_.”

Lydgate’s _Fall of Prynces_, B. iii. leaf lxvi. ed. Wayland.

“Made vnto her this vncouth _apposayle_:
Why wepe ye so,” &c.

_Id._ B. v. leaf cxxviii.

—— _wele inferrid_] i. e. well brought in.

v. 142.

_quikly it is_
_Towchid_]

i. e. it is lively, subtly expressed: compare v. 592 and v. 1161, where the words are applied to visible objects.

—— _debarrid_] See note, p. 237. v. 60; and compare _Gentylnes and Nobylyte_ (attributed without grounds to Heywood) n. d.;

“That reason is so grete no man can _debarr_.”

Sig. C iii.

Page 368. v. 149. _sittyng_] i. e. proper, becoming.

v. 152. _corage_] i. e. encourage.

v. 153. _fresshely_] i. e. elegantly: see note on v. 39. p. 302.

v. 155. _bruitid_] i. e. reported, spoken of.

v. 156. _outray_] See note, p. 123. v. 87, where this passage is examined.

v. 162. _Ierome, in his preamble Frater Ambrosius, &c._] The Epistle of Jerome to Paulinus, prefixed to the Vulgate, begins, “_Frater Ambrosius_ tua mihi munuscula perferens,” &c., and contains this passage: “Unde et Æschines, cum Rhodi exularet, et legeretur illa Demosthenis oratio, quam adversus eum habuerat, mirantibus cunctis atque laudantibus, suspirans ait, Quid, si ipsam audissetis bestiam sua verba resonantem?” It may be found also in _Hieronymi Opp. I._ 1005. ed. 1609.

Page 369. v. 172. _most_] i. e. must.

v. 180. _wele ... avaunce_] i. e. well ... advance.

v. 183. _thefte and brybery_] See note, p. 256. v. 1242.

v. 184. _pyke_] i. e. pick.

Page 369. v. 186. _cokwoldes_] i. e. cuckolds.

v. 187. _wetewoldis_] i. e. wittols, tame cuckolds.

“_Wetewoldis_ that suffre synne in her syghtes.”

Lydgate’s _Assemble de dyeus_, sig. c i. n. d. 4to.

v. 188. _lidderons_] So before, _lydderyns_; see note, p. 267. v. 1945: but here, it would seem, the word is used in the more confined sense of—sluggish, slothful, idle fellows.

—— _losels_] See note, p. 209. v. 138.

—— _noughty packis_] See note, p. 203. v. 58.—If Skelton had been required to distinguish exactly between the meanings of these terms of reproach, he would perhaps have been nearly as much at a loss as his editor.

v. 189. _Some facers, some bracers, some make great crackis_] See note, p. 216. v. 33.

v. 192. _courte rowlis_] i. e. court-rolls.—Warton cites this and the next two verses as “nervous and manly lines.” _Hist. of E. P._ ii. 354. ed. 4to.

v. 196. _rinne_] i. e. run.

Page 370. v. 198. _cunnyng_] i. e. knowledge, learning.

v. 200. _a mummynge_] See note, p. 278. v. 83.

v. 201. _sadnesse_] See note, p. 259. v. 1382.

v. 203. _faute_] i. e. fault.

v. 204. _to_] i. e. too.

v. 205. _can ... scole_] i. e. knows ... school.

v. 207. _fole_] i. e. fool.

v. 208. _stole_] i. e. stool.

v. 209. _Iacke a thrummis bybille_] See note, p. 189. v. 204.

v. 211. _agayne_] i. e. against.

v. 212. _dwte_] i. e. duty.

v. 218. _to_] i. e. too.

Page 371. v. 223. _lay_] See note, p. 219. v. 103.

—— _werkis_] i. e. works.

v. 227. _most_] i. e. must.

v. 232. _condiscendid_] See note, p. 237. v. 39.

v. 233. _clarionar_] Is used here for—trumpeter: but the words properly are not synonymous;

“Of _trumpeters_ and eke of _clarioneres_.”

Lydgate’s _Warres of Troy_, B. i. sig. C v. ed. 1555.

and Skelton himself has afterwards in the present poem, “_trumpettis_ and _clariouns_.” v. 1507.

v. 235. _Eolus, your trumpet_] i. e. Æeolus, your trumpeter.

“A _trumpet_ stode and proudly gan to blowe,
Which slayne was and fro the tre doun throw.”

Lydgate’s _Fall of Prynces_, B. v. leaf cxxx. ed. Wayland.

So Chaucer makes Æolus trumpeter to Fame: see _House of Fame_, B. iii.

Page 371. v. 236. _mercyall_] i. e. martial.

v. 239. _prease_] i. e. press, throng.

v. 240. _hole rowte_] i. e. whole crowd, assembly.

v. 243. _this trumpet were founde out_] See note, p. 251. v. 977.

v. 244. _hardely_] i. e. assuredly.

v. 245. _eyne_] i. e. eyes.

Page 372. v. 248. _presid ... to_] i. e. pressed ... too.

v. 250. _Some whispred, some rownyd_] See note, p. 120. v. 513.

v. 255. _quod_] i. e. quoth.

v. 258. _plumpe_] i. e. cluster, mass. “Stode stille as hit had ben a _plompe_ of wood.” _Morte d’Arthur_, B. i. cap. xvi. vol. i. 27. ed. Southey. Dryden has the word; and the first writer perhaps after his time who used it was Sir W. Scott.

v. 260. _timorous_] i. e. terrible.

v. 264. _rowte_] i. e. crowd, assembly.

v. 265. _girnid_] i. e. grinned.

v. 266. _peuysshe_] i. e. silly, foolish.

—— _masyd_] i. e. bewildered, confounded.

v. 267. _whyste_] i. e. still.

—— _the nonys_] i. e. the occasion.

v. 268. _iche ... stode_] i. e. each ... stood.

v. 269. _wonderly_] i. e. wonderfully.

v. 270. _A murmur of mynstrels_] So in many of our early English dramas “a noise of musicians” is used for a company or band of musicians.

v. 272. _Traciane_] i. e. Thracian.

—— _herped meledyously_] i. e. harped melodiously.

Page 373. v. 274. _armony_] i. e. harmony.

v. 275. _gree_] i. e. agree.

v. 278. _gle_] i. e. music.

v. 279. _auaunce_] i. e. advance.

v. 282. _Sterte ... fote_] i. e. Started ... foot.

v. 285.

———— _lake_
_Of_]

i. e. lack of,—less than.

v. 288. _cronell_] i. e. coronal, garland.

Page 373. v. 289. _heris encrisped_] i. e. hairs formed into curls, curling.

v. 290. _Daphnes_] i. e. Daphne. So our early poets wrote the name;

“A maiden whilom there was one
Which _Daphnes_ hight.”

Gower’s _Conf. Am._ B. iii. fol. lvi. ed. 1554.

“Her name was _Daphnys_ which was deuoyed of loue.”

_The Castell of pleasure_, (by Nevil, son of Lord Latimer), sig.
A iii. 1518.

So afterwards in the present poem we find _Cidippes_ for Cydippe, v. 885; and see note, p. 123. v. 70.

—— _the darte of lede_] From Ovid, _Met._ i. 471.

v. 291. _ne wolde_] i. e. would not.

v. 292. _herte_] i. e. heart.

v. 295. _Meddelyd with murnynge_] i. e. Mingled with mourning.

v. 296. _O thoughtfull herte_] See note, p. 101. v. 10.

v. 298. _loke_] i. e. look.

v. 300.

_the tre as he did take_
_Betwene his armes, he felt her body quake_]

From Ovid, _Met._ i. 553.

Page 374. v. 302. _he assurded into this exclamacyon_]—_assurded_, i. e. broke forth—a word which I have not elsewhere met with, but evidently formed from the not uncommon verb _sourd_, to rise. “Ther withinne _sourdeth_ and spryngeth a fontayne or welle.” Caxton’s _Mirrour of the world_, 1480. sig. e v.: in that work, a few lines after, occurs “_resourdeth_.”

v. 306. _adyment_] i. e. adamant.

v. 307. _ouerthwhart_] i. e. cross, perverse, adverse.

v. 310. _Sith_] i. e. Since.

v. 314. _gresse_] i. e. grass. This stanza is also imitated from Ovid, _Met._ i. 521.

v. 315. _axes_] See note, p. 100. v. 9.

v. 317. _raist_] i. e. arrayest: see note on title of poem, p. 197.

v. 318. _But sith I haue lost, &c._] Again from Ovid, _Met._ i. 557.

v. 324. _poetis laureat, &c._] It must be remembered that formerly a _poet laureat_ meant a person who had taken a degree in grammar, including rhetoric and versification: and that the word _poet_ was applied to a writer of prose as well as of verse; “_Poet_ a connyng man.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. lv. (Table of Subst.).

“And _poetes_ to preoven hit. Porfirie and Plato
Aristotle, Ovidius,” &c.

_Peirs Plouhman_, p. 210. ed. Whit.

“Nor sugred deties [ditties] of Tullius Cicero.”

Lydgate’s _Lyfe and passion of seint Albon_, sig. B ii. ed. 1534.

Page 374. v. 328. _Esiodus, the iconomicar_] i. e. Hesiod, the writer on husbandry (the eds. by a misprint have “icononucar,”—which Warton says he “cannot decypher.” _Hist. of E. P._, ii. 352 (note), ed. 4to.) Among _MSS. Dig. Bod._ 147. is “Carmen Domini Walteri de Henleye quod vocatur _Yconomia_ sive Housbundria:” compare Cicero; “quam copiose ab eo [Xenophonte] agricultura laudatur in eo libro, qui est de tuenda re familiari, qui _Œconomicus_ inscribitur.” _Cato Major_, c. 17.

v. 329. _fresshe_] i. e. elegant: see note, p. 302. v. 39.

Page 375. v. 335. _engrosyd_] i. e. plumped up, swollen.

—— _flotis_] i. e. flowings,—drops: various reading, “droppes;” see note _ad l._ (“_Flotyce._ Spuma.” _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499, is a distinct word.)

v. 338. _Percius presed forth with problemes diffuse_]—_presed_, i. e. pressed: _diffuse_, i. e. difficult to be understood; see note, p. 144. v. 768. “Skelton, undoubtedly a man of learning, calls Persius (not unhappily for his mode of thinking) _a writer of problems diffuse_.” Gifford’s Introd. to _Persius_, p. xxxi. ed. 1817.

v. 340. _satirray_] Is this word to be explained—satirist, or satirical?

v. 344. _auaunce_] i. e. advance.

v. 345. _mengith_] i. e. mingleth.

v. 347. _wrate ... mercyall_] i. e. wrote ... martial.

v. 352. _Orace also with his new poetry_] “That is, Horace’s _Art of Poetry_. Vinesauf wrote _De Nova Poetria_. Horace’s _Art_ is frequently mentioned under this title.” Warton’s _Hist. of E. P._, ii. 353 (note), ed. 4to.

Page 376. v. 359. _Boyce_] i. e. Boethius.

—— _recounfortyd_] i. e. recomforted,—comforted.

v. 360.

_Maxymyane, with his madde ditiis,_
_How dotynge age wolde iape with yonge foly_]

—_iape_, i. e. jest, joke. The _Elegiarum Liber_ of Maximianus, which has been often printed as the production of Cornelius Gallus, may be found, with all that can be told concerning its author, in Wernsdorf’s _Poetæ Latini Minores, tomi sexti pars prior_. In these six elegies Maximianus deplores the evils of old age, relates the pursuits and loves of his youth, &c. &c. Perhaps the line “_How dotynge age wolde iape with yonge foly_” (in which case _iape_ would have the same meaning here as in our author’s _Manerly Margery Mylk and Ale_, v. 20. vol. i. 28) is a particular allusion to Elegy v., where Maximianus informs us, that, having been sent on an embassy, at an advanced period of life, he became enamoured of a “Graia puella,” &c., the adventure being described in the grossest terms.

Page 376. v. 365. _Johnn Bochas with his volumys grete_] In Skelton’s time, the _De Genealogia Deorum_, the _De Casibus Virorum et Fœminarum Illustrium_, and other now-forgotten works of Boccaccio, were highly esteemed,—more, perhaps, than the _Decamerone_.

v. 366. _full craftely that wrate_] i. e. that wrote full skilfully.

v. 368. _probate_] See note, p. 236. v. 4.

v. 372. _Poggeus ... with many a mad tale_] When this poem was written, the _Facetiæ_ of Poggio enjoyed the highest popularity. In _The Palice of Honour_, Gawen Douglas, enumerating the illustrious writers at the Court of the Muses, says,

“Thair was Plautus, _Poggius_, and Persius.”

p. 27. ed. Ban. 1827.