Chapter XIII: Part 13

“Vnto purpos this prouerd is full ryfe
Rade and reported by olde remembraunce
_A childes birdde and a knavis wyfe_
Haue often sieth gret sorowe and myschaunce.”

_The Chorle and the Bird_,—_MS. Harl._ 116. fol. 151.

v. 1454. _byll_] i. e. writing.

v. 1455. _By Mary Gipcy_] In much later writers we find, as an interjection, _marry gep_, _marry gip_, _marry guep_, _marry gup_. v. 1456. _Quod scripsi, scripsi_] From the Vulgate, _Joan._ xix. 22.

Page 419. v. 1460. _Secundum Lucam, &c._] Skelton seems to allude to the Vulgate, _Luc._ i. 13, “_Et uxor tua_ Elizabeth,” &c.

v. 1461.

_the Bonehoms of Ashrige besyde Barkamstede,_
...
_Where the sank royall is, Crystes blode so rede_]

The college of the Bonhommes, completed in 1285, was founded by Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, son and heir of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who was King of the Romans and brother of Henry the Third, for a rector and twenty brethern or canons, of whom thirteen were to be priests. It was founded expressly in honour of the blood of Jesus, (“_the sank royall_”), which had once formed part of the precious reliques belonging to the German emperors, and which Edmund had brought over from Germany to England. See Todd’s _History of the College of Bonhommes at Ashridge_, 1823. p. 1-3.

The pretended blood of Christ drew to Ashridge many persons of all ranks, greatly to the enrichment of the society. “But,” Speed tells us, “when the sunne-shine of the Gospell had pierced thorow such cloudes of darkenesse, it was perceiued apparantly to be onely hony clarified and coloured with Saffron, as was openly shewed at Paules Crosse by the Bishop of Rochester, the twentie foure of Februarie, and yeare of Christ 1538.” _A Prospect of The Most Famous Parts of the World_, 1631, (in _Buck._ p. 43).

v. 1466. _Fraxinus in clivo, &c._] “As to the name _Ashridge_” says Kennett, “it is no doubt from a hill set with Ashes; the old word was _Aescrugge, Rugge_, as after _Ridge_, signifying a hill or steep place, and the Ashen-tree being first _Aesc_, as after _Ashche_, &c.” _Parochial Antiquities_, p. 302. ed. 1695.

v. 1470. _The Nacyoun of Folys_] Most probably _The Boke of Three Fooles_, in vol. i. 199.

v. 1471. _Apollo that whirllid vp his chare_] Concerning the piece, of which these were the initial words, a particular notice will be found in _The Account of Skelton and his Writings_: _chare_, i. e. chariot; compare the first of the two lines, which in the old eds. and some MSS. of Chaucer stand as the commencement of a third part of _The Squieres Tale_;

“_Apollo whirleth vp his chare_ so hie.”

_Workes_, fol. 25. ed. 1602.

and the opening of _The Floure and the Leafe_;

“When that _Phebus his chaire_ of gold so hie
Had _whirled_ vp the sterye sky aloft.”

_Id._ fol. 344.

See also _Poems_ by C. Duke of Orleans, _MS. Harl._ 682. fol. 47.

v. 1472. _snurre_] i. e. snort.

Page 420. v. 1475. _mell_] i. e. meddle.

v. 1477. _stode_] i. e. stood.

v. 1478. _Suppleyng_] i. e. Supplicating.

v. 1480. _bokis ... rase_] i. e. books ... erase.

v. 1483. _rin_] i. e. run.

v. 1487. _take it in gre_] i. e. take it kindly: see note, p. 95. v. 68.

v. 1490. _ragman rollis_] The collection of deeds in which the Scottish nobility and gentry were compelled to subscribe allegiance to Edward I. of England in 1296, and which were more particularly recorded in four large rolls of parchment, &c., was known by the name of _Ragman’s Roll_: but what has been written on the origin of this expression appears to be so unsatisfactory that I shall merely refer the reader to Cowel’s _Law Dictionary_, &c., ed. 1727, in v., Jamieson’s _Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang._ in v., Nares’s _Gloss._ in v., Gloss. to _The Towneley Myst._ in v., and Todd’s _Johnson’s Dict._ in v. _Rigmarole_.

v. 1491. _lenger_] i. e. longer.

v. 1495. _Counforte_] i. e. Comfort.

v. 1498.

_Diodorus Siculus of my translacyon_
_Out of fresshe Latine, &c._]

—_fresshe_, i. e. elegant: see note, p. 302. v. 39. This translation from the Latin of Poggio is mentioned with praise in Caxton’s Preface to _The Boke of Eneydos_, &c. 1490, and is still preserved in MS. among Parker’s Collection, in Corpus Ch. College, Cambridge: see _Account of Skelton and his Writings_, and _Appendix_ ii.

Page 421. v. 1505. _dome_] i. e. judgment, thinking.

v. 1507. _the noyse went to Rome_] So Chaucer;

“And there came out so great _a noyse_,
That had it stonde vpon Oyse,
_Men might haue heard it easely_
_To Rome_, I trowe sikerly.”

_House of Fame_, B. iii.—_Workes_, fol. 270. ed. 1602.

v. 1508. _shoke_] i. e. shook.

v. 1510. _shett ... boke_] i. e. shut ... book.

v. 1512. _somdele_] i. e. somewhat.

v. 1514. _sperycall_] i. e. spherical.

v. 1515. _Ianus, with his double chere_]—_chere_, i. e. visage, countenance.

v. 1517. _He turnyd his tirikkis, his voluell ran fast_] What is meant by _tirikkis_, I know not: it occurs again in our author’s _Speke, Parrot_;

“Some trete of theyr _tirykis_, som of astrology.”

v. 139. vol. ii. 7.

For the following note I am indebted to W. H. Black, Esq. “The volvell is an instrument, called _volvella_ or _volvellum_, in the Latin of the middle age, consisting of graduated and figured circles drawn on the leaf of a book, to the centre of which is attached one moveable circle or more, in the form of what is called a geographical clock. There is a very fine one, of the fourteenth century, in the Ashmolean MS. 789. f. 363, and others exist in that collection, which affords likewise, in an Introduction to the Knowledge of the Calendar, (in the MS. 191. iv. art. 2. f. 199,) written in old English of the fifteenth century, a curious description of the volvell, with directions for its use. The passage is entitled ‘The Rewle of the Volvelle.’—‘Now folowith here the _volvelle_, that sum men clepen a _lunarie_; and thus most ghe governe ghou ther ynne. First take the grettist cercle that is maad in the leef, for that schewith the 24 houris of the day naturel, that is of the nyght and day, of the whiche the firste houre is at noon bitwene 12 and oon. Thanne above him is another cercle, that hathe write in hem the 12 monthis withe here dayes, and 12 signes with here degrees; and with ynne that, ther is writen a rewle to knowe whanne the sunne ariseth and the mone bothe; if ghe biholde weel these noumbris writen in reed, 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. ✠. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.’ The rule proceeds to shew that there is another row of the same figures in black, and that the red cross stands in the place of Cancer, the black at Capricorn: the red figures were used to shew the rising of the sun and moon, the black for their setting. Over this is ‘another cercle that hath a tunge,’ (tongue, or projecting angle to point with,) the figure of the sun on it, and 29½ days figured, for the age of the moon. Upon this is the least circle, ‘which hath a tunge with the figure of the moon on it, and with ynne it is an hole, the whiche schewith bi symylitude howe the moone wexith and wansith.’ It was used by setting ‘the tunge of the moone’ to the moon’s age, and ‘the tunge of the sunne’ to the day of the month, then moving the circle of months and signs to bring the hour of the day to the last named ‘tunge,’ whereby might be found ‘in what signe he’ (the _moon_, masculine in Anglo-Saxon) ‘sittith and the sunne also, and in what tyme of the day thei arisen, eny of hem, either goone downe, and what it is of the watir, whether it be flood or eb.’ The rule concludes by observing that the wind sometimes alters the time of the tide ‘at Londone brigge.’”

Page 422. v. 1533. _quaire_] i. e. quire,—pamphlet, book.

v. 1536. _wrate_] i. e. wrote.

Page 422. v. 1542. _warkis_] i. e. works.

v. 1546. _loke_] i. e. look.

v. 1547. _boke_] i. e. book.

v. 1552. _brede_] i. e. breadth.

Page 423. v. 1556. _harnnes_] i. e. armour.

v. 1558. _ageyne_] i. e. against.

v. 1563. _derayne_] i. e. contest.

v. 1569. _curteisly_] i. e. courteously.

v. 1575. _sad_] See note, p. 264. v. 1711.

v. 1581. _Any worde defacid_] i. e. Any disfigured, deformed, unseemly word.

v. 1582. _rasid_] i. e. erased.

Page 424.—— _Lautre Enuoy, &c._] Concerning this curious Envoy, see _Account of Skelton and his Writings_.

v. 1597. _sekernes_] i. e. security, sureness.

v. 1598. _rede_] i. e. conceive, consider.

OWT OF LATYNE INTO ENGLYSSHE.

Page 426. v. 5. _kepe_] i. e. heed, regard, care.

v. 7. _Gone to seke hallows_]—_hallows_, i. e. saints.

“On pilgremage then must they go,
To Wilsdon, Barking, or to some _hallowes_.”

_The Schole House of Women_, 1572,—Utterson’s _Early Pop. Poetry_,
ii. 66.

But “to seek hallows” seems to have been a proverbial expression;

“O many woman hath caught be in a trayne,
By goyng out such _halowes for to seke_.”

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

Page 427. v. 13. _withholde_] i. e. withheld.

v. 14. _sayne_] i. e. say.

NOTES TO VOLUME II.

SPEKE, PARROT.

That the extant portions of this very obscure production were written at intervals, is not to be doubted; and that we do not possess all that Skelton composed under the title of _Speke, Parrot_ is proved by the following passage of the _Garlande of Laurell_, where, enumerating his various works, he mentions

“_the Popingay_, that hath in commendacyoun
Ladyes and gentylwomen suche as deseruyd,
And suche as be counterfettis they be reseruyd.”

v. 1188. vol. i. 409.

a description which, as it answers to no part of the existing poem (or poems), must apply to some portion which has perished, and which, I apprehend, was of an earlier date. “_The Popingay_” is assuredly only another name for _Speke, Parrot_;

“Go, litell quayre, _namyd the Popagay_.”

_Speke, Parrot_, v. 280.

Page 1. v. 3. _Parrot, a byrd of paradyse_] So Lydgate (in a poem, entitled in the Catalogue, _Advices for people to keep a guard over their tongues_);

“_Popyngayes froo paradys_ comyn al grene.”

_MS. Harl._ 2255. fol. 133.

“Than spake _the popynge Jay of paradyse_.”

_Parlyament of Byrdes_, sig. A ii. n. d.

v. 5. _Dyentely_] i. e. Daintily.

v. 6. _flode_] i. e. flood.

Page 2. v. 8. _estate_] i. e. state, rank.

v. 9. _Then Parot must haue an almon_] In Jonson’s _Magnetic Lady_, act v. sc. 5, we find,—

“Pol is a fine bird! O fine lady Pol!
_Almond for Parrot_, Parrot’s a brave bird;”—

and Gifford, citing the present line (he ought rather to have cited v. 50), observes that Jonson was indebted to Skelton for “most of this jargon.” _Works_, vi. 109.

v. 11. _couertowre_] i. e. shelter.

Page 2. v. 12. _toote_] i. e. peep.

v. 16. _popagey_] i. e. parrot.

v. 17. _becke_] i. e. beak.

v. 18. _My fedders freshe as is the emrawde grene_]—_emrawde,_ i. e. emerald. So Ovid in his charming verses on Corinna’s parrot;

“Tu poteras virides pennis hebetare smaragdos.”

_Am._ lib. ii. vi. 21.

v. 20. _fete_] i. e. well made, neat.

v. 22. _My proper Parrot, my lytyll prety foole_]—_proper_, i. e. pretty, handsome (elsewhere Skelton uses “proper” and “prety” as synonymes: see note, p. 125. v. 127).

“I pray thee what hath ere the Parret got,
And yet they say he talkes in great mens bowers?
...
A good _foole_ call’d with paine perhaps may be.”

Sidney’s _Arcadia_, lib. ii. p. 229. ed. 1613.

v. 23. _scole_] i. e. school.

v. 26. _mute_] i. e. mew: see note _ad l._

v. 30. _Quis expedivit psittaco suum chaire_]—_chaire_—ΧΑΙΡΕ. From Persius, _Prol._ 8.

Page 3. v. 31. _Dowse French of Parryse_] _Dowse_, i. e. sweet, soft. Chaucer’s Prioress spoke French

“After the scole of Stratford atte bowe,
For _Frenche of Paris_ was to hire unknowe.”

_Prol. to Cant. Tales_, v. 125. ed. Tyr.

v. 35. _supple_] i. e. supplicate, pray.

v. 38. _ryall_] i. e. royal. In the marginal note on this line, “Katerina universalis vitii ruina, Græcum est” is an allusion to the Greek καθαρίζω or καθαρός.

v. 39. _pomegarnet_] i. e. pomegranate.

v. 40. _Parrot, saves habler Castiliano_] See note _ad l._ “Parrot, can you speak Castilian?” is a question which Spanish boys at the present day frequently address to that bird.

v. 41. _With fidasso de cosso in Turkey and in Trace_]—_fidasso de cosso_ is perhaps lingua franca,—some corruption (see marginal note on the line) of the Italian _fidarsi di se stesso_: _Trace_, i. e. Thrace.

v. 42. _Vis consilii expers ..._] }

v. 43. _Mole ruit sua_] }

From Horace, _Carm._ iii. iv. 65 (where “consilî”).

—— _dictes_] i. e. sayings.

v. 45. _maystres_] i. e. mistress.

Page 4. v. 50. _An almon now for Parrot_] I know not if these words occur in any writer anterior to the time of Skelton; but they afterwards became a sort of proverbial expression.

Page 4. v. 51. _In Salve festa dies, toto theyr doth best_]—_theyr_, i. e. there. Skelton has two copies of verses, which begin “Salve, festa dies, toto,” &c.: see vol. i. pp. 190, 191.

v. 54. _Myden agan_] i. e. Μηδὲν ἄγαν.

v. 59. _Besy_] i. e. Busy.

v. 63. _To_] i. e. Too.

v. 67. _Iobab was brought vp in the lande of Hus_] “Verisimile est Jobum eumdem esse cum Jobabo, qui quartus est ab Esaü ... Duces in ista opinione sequimur omnes fere antiquos Patres quos persuasit, ut ita sentirent, additamentum in exemplaribus Græcis, Arabicis et in antiqua Vulgata Latina appositum: ‘Job vero habitabat in terra Hus, inter terminos Edom et Arabiæ, et antea vocabatur Jobab,’” &c. _Concordantiæ Bibl. Sacr. Vulg. Ed._ by Dutripon, in v. _Job. ii._

Page 5. v. 71. _Howst thé, lyuer god van hemrik, ic seg_]—_Howst thé_ is (I suppose) Hist thee: what follows is German,—_lieber Got von Himmelsreich, ich sage_—Dear God of heaven’s kingdom, I say,—spoken by way of oath.

v. 72. _In Popering grew peres_] From _Popering_, a parish in the Marches of Calais (see Tyrwhitt’s note on Chaucer’s _Cant. Tales_, v. 13650), the _poprin_, _poperin_, or _popperin_ pear, frequently mentioned in our early dramas, was introduced into this country.

v. 73. _Ouer in a whynny meg_] The initial words of a ballad or song. Laneham (or Langham) in his strange _Letter_ concerning the entertainment to Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth Castle in 1575, mentions it as extant in the collection of Captain Cox, who figured in the shows on that occasion: “What shoold I rehearz heer what a bunch of Ballets and songs all auncient: Az Broom broom on hill, So wo iz me begon, troly lo, _Over a whinny Meg_,” &c. See Collier’s _Bridgewater-House Catalogue_, p. 164.

v. 74. _Hop Lobyn of Lowdeon_] See note, p. 217. v. 59.

v. 75. _The iebet of Baldock_] Is mentioned again in our author’s _Why come ye nat to Courte_, v. 953. vol. ii. 56. “And in Caldee the chief Cytee is _Baldak_.” _Voiage and Travaile of Sir J. Maundevile_, p. 51. ed. 1725.

v. 78. _to_] i. e. too.

v. 80. _erstrych fether_] i. e. ostrich-feather.

v. 81. _Beme_] i. e. Bohemia.

v. 82. _byrsa_] An allusion to Virgil;

“Mercatique solum, facti de nomine _Byrsam_,
Taurino quantum possent circumdare tergo.”

_Æn._ i. 367.

Perhaps too Skelton recollected a passage in Lydgate’s _Fall of Prynces_, B. ii. leaf xlviii. ed. Wayland.

Page 5. v. 84. _Colostrum_] i. e. the biesting,—the first milk after the birth given by a cow (or other milch animal). This form of the word occurs in the title of an epigram by Martial, lib. xiii. 38, and in Servius’s commentary on Virgil, _Ecl._ ii. 22.

v. 85. _shayle_] See note, p, 97. v. 19.

v. 87. _Moryshe myne owne shelfe, the costermonger sayth_] From the next line it would seem that “Moryshe” is meant for the Irish corruption of some English word; but of what word I know not.

v. 88. _Fate, fate, fate, ye Irysh waterlag_] Mr. Crofton Croker obligingly observes to me that he has no doubt of “fate” being intended for the Irish pronunciation of the word _water_.—“There is rysen a fray amonge _the water laggers_. Coorta est rixa inter _amphorarios_.” Hormanni _Vulgaria_, sig. q vi. ed. 1530.

Page 6. v. 91. _Let syr Wrigwrag wrastell with syr Delarag_] See note, p. 189. v. 186. p. 194. v. 149.

v. 93. _Pawbe une aruer_] Either _Paub un arver_, Every one his manner, or _Paub yn ei arver_, Every one in his manner.

v. 95. _mo_] i. e. more.

v. 97. _conseyt_] i. e. conceit.

v. 104. _how_] i. e. ho!

v. 106. _Bas_] i. e. Kiss.

v. 108. _praty popigay_] i. e. pretty parrot.

v. 109. _pyke ... too_] i. e. pick ... toe.

v. 110. _solas, pleasure, dysporte, and pley_] One of Skelton’s pleonasms.

v. 112. _Parot can say, Cæsar, ave, also_] “Ut plurimum docebantur hæ aves salutationis verba ... interdum etiam plurium vocum versus aut sententias docebantur: ut illi corvi, qui admirationi fuerunt Augusto ex Actiaca victoria revertenti, quorum alter institutus fuerat dicere, _Ave, Cæsar_,” &c. Casaubonus _ad Persii Prol._ v. 8.

v. 116. _ruly doth loke_] i. e. ruefully doth look.

Page 7. v. 118. _vndertoke_] i. e. undertook.

v. 119. _of Judicum rede the boke_] i. e. read the Book of Judges.

“In _Iudicum_ the storye ye may rede.”

Lydgate’s _Fall of Prynces_, B. i. leaf xiv. ed. Wayland.

v. 122.

_O Esebon, Esebon! to thé is cum agayne_
_Seon, the regent Amorræorum,_
_And Og, that fat hog of Basan, doth retayne,_
_The crafty coistronus Cananæorum_]

—_coistronus_ is a Latinised form of _coistroun_, see note on title of poem, p. 92. Though in an earlier part of _Speke, Parrot_ we find “Cryst saue Kyng Henry the viii, our royall kyng,” &c. v. 36, yet it would almost seem that he is alluded to here under the name of Seon. Og must mean Wolsey. This portion of the poem is not found in _MS. Harl._ (see note on v. 59 _ad l._); and there can be no doubt that _Speke, Parrot_ is made up of pieces composed at various times. After Skelton’s anger had been kindled against Wolsey, perhaps the monarch came in for a share of his indignation.

Page 7. v. 126. _asylum, whilom refugium miserorum, &c._]—_whilom_, i. e. once, formerly. So afterwards in this piece, v. 496, among the evils which Skelton attributes to Wolsey, mention is made of “myche sayntuary brekyng,” i. e. much sanctuary-breaking; and in _Why come ye nat to Courte_ he says of the Cardinal that

“all priuileged places
He brekes and defaces,” &c.

v. 1086. vol. ii. 60.

v. 130. _trym tram_] See note, p. 161. v. 76.

v. 131. _chaffer far fet_] i. e. merchandise far fetched.

v. 133. _Scarpary_] In Tuscany. So afterwards, “Over Scarpary,” v. 408; and in _The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy_, “Mont Scarpry.” Dunbar’s _Poems_, ii. 82. ed. Laing.

v. 134. _ich wot_] i. e. I know.

v. 136. _Tholomye and Haly_] See notes, p. 133. vv. 503, 505.

v. 137. _volvell_] }

v. 139. _tirykis_] }

See note, p. 335, v. 1517.

v. 142. _ren_] i. e. run.

Page 8. v. 143. _Monon calon agaton_] i. e. Μόνον καλὸν ἀγαθόν.

v. 144. _Quod Parato_] i. e. Quoth Parrot.

v. 149. _in scole matter occupyed_] i. e. used in school-matter: see note, p. 86. v. 52.

v. 152. _How_] i. e. Ho!

v. 153. _a silogisme in phrisesomorum_] “Sic [indirecte] in prima figura concludunt quinque illi modi, qui ab interpretibus fere omnibus (excepto Zabarella) pro legitimis agnoscuntur, quique hoc versu comprehendi solent, _Celantes_, _Baralip_, _Dabilis_, _Fapesmo_, FRISESOM.” Crakanthorp’s _Logicæ Libri Quinque_, 1622. p. 275. Aldrich gives “Bramantip, Camenes, Dimaris, Fesapo, _Fresison_.” _Artis Logicæ Compend._, 1691. p. 19.

v. 165. _Jack Raker_] See note, p. 186. v. 108.

v. 106. _maker_] i. e. composer.

Page 9. v. 170. _Sturbrydge fayre_] The fair kept annually in the neighbourhood of Cambridge, and so named from the rivulet _Stour_ and _bridge_.

Page 9. v. 171. _Tryuyals and quatryuyals_] The _trivials_ were the first three sciences taught in the schools, viz. Grammar, Rhetoric, and Logic; the _quatrivials_ were the higher set, viz. Astrology (or Astronomy), Geometry, Arithmetic, and Music. See Du Cange’s _Gloss._ in vv. _Trivium_, _Quadrivium_; and Hallam’s _Introd. to the Lit. of Europe_, i. 4.

—— _appayre_] i. e. impair, are impaired, come to decay.

v. 174. _Albertus de modo significandi_] “Albertus,” says Warton, after citing this stanza, “is the author of the _Margarita Poetica_, a collection of _Flores_ from the classics and other writers, printed at Nurenberg, 1472, fol.” _Hist. of E. P._, ii. 347 (note), ed. 4to. The work mentioned here by Skelton is stated to have been first printed in 1480. The title of an edition by Wynkyn de Worde, dated 1515, is as follows; _Modi significādi Alberti sine quibus grammaticæ notitia haberi nullo pacto potest_: there is said to be another edition n. d. by the same printer: see _Typ. Ant._, ii. 208. ed. Dibdin.

v. 175. _Donatus_] i. e. the work attributed to Ælius Donatus, the Roman grammarian: see the _Bibliog. Dictionary_ of Dr. Clarke (iii. 144), who observes; “It has been printed with several titles, such as _Donatus_; _Donatus Minor_; _Donatus pro puerulis_, _Donati Ars_, &c., but the work is the same, viz. Elements of the Latin Language for the Use of Children.” See too Warton’s _Hist. of E. P._, i. 281 (note), ed. 4to.

—— _scole_] i. e. school.

v. 177. _Inter didascolos_] “_Interdidascolos_ is the name of an old grammar.” Warton’s _Hist. of E. P._, ii. 347 (note), ed. 4to. Warton may be right: but I have never met with any grammar that bears such a title.

—— _fole_] i. e. fool.

v. 178. _Alexander_] i. e. Alexander de Villa Dei, “author of the _Doctrinale Puerorum_, which for some centuries continued to be the most favourite manual of grammar used in schools, and was first printed at Venice in the year 1473 [at Treviso, in 1472: see _Typ. Ant._, ii. 116. ed. Dibdin]. It is compiled from Priscian, and in Leonine verse. See Henr. Gandav. _Scriptor. Eccles._ cap. lix. This admired system has been loaded with glosses and lucubrations; but, on the authority of an ecclesiastical synod, it was superseded by the _Commentarii Grammatici_ of Despauterius, in 1512. It was printed in England as early as the year 1503 by W. de Worde. [The existence of this ed. has been questioned. The work was printed by Pynson in 1505, 1513, 1516: see _Typ. Ant._, ii. 116, 426, 427, ed. Dibdin, and Lowndes’s _Bibliog. Man._, i. 27]. Barklay, in the _Ship of Fooles_, mentions Alexander’s book, which he calls ‘The _olde Doctrinall_ with his diffuse and vnperfite breuitie.’ fol. 53. b [ed. 1570].” Warton’s _Hist. of E. P._, ii. 347 (note), ed. 4to.

Page 9. v. 178. _Menanders pole_] See note, p. 130. v. 434: _pole_, i. e. pool.

v. 179. _Da Cansales_] “He perhaps means _Concilia_, or the canon law.” Warton’s _Hist. of E. P._, ii. 347 (note), ed. 4to.

v. 180. _Da Rationales_] “He seems to intend _Logic_.” _Id. ibid._

v. 183. _Pety Caton_] _Cato Parvus_ (a sort of supplement to _Cato Magnus_, i. e. _Dionysii Catonis Disticha de Moribus_) was written by Daniel Churche, or Ecclesiensis, a domestic in the court of Henry the Second: see Warton’s _Hist. of E. P._, ii. 170, and Dibdin’s ed. of _Typ. Ant._, i. 120.

v. 187. _scole maters_] i. e. school-matters.

—— _hole sentens_] i. e. whole meaning.

v. 188. _gariopholo_] So, I believe, Skelton wrote, though the classical form of the word is _garyophyllo_.

v. 189. _pyke_] i. e. pick.

v. 190. _synamum styckis_] i. e. cinnamon-sticks.

v. 191. _perdurable_] i. e. everlasting.

v. 192. _fauorable_] i. e. well-favoured, beautiful.

Page 10. v. 195. _tote_] i. e. peep.

v. 198. _loke_] i. e. look.

v. 199. _freshe humanyte_] i. e. elegant literature: see notes, p. 302. v. 39. p. 319. v. 817.

v. 201. _chekmate_] In allusion to the king’s being put in _check_ at the game of chess.

v. 205. _processe_] i. e. discourse; see notes, p. 143. v. 735. p. 230 (first note on prose), p. 276. v. 2506, &c.

v. 207. _with all_] i. e. withal.

v. 208. _pauys_] See note, p. 90. v. 48.

v. 209. _flekyd pye_] i. e. spotted, variegated magpie.

v. 210. _pendugum, that men call a carlyng_]—“_pendugum_,” says the Rev. J. Mitford, “is penguin;” and he supposes that _carlyng_ has some connexion with the term gair-fowl, which is another name for the penguin.

Page 11. v. 219. _Ye ... torne_] i. e. Yea ... turn.

v. 222. _moche ... popegay ryall_] i. e. much ... parrot royal.

v. 226. _amonge_] i. e. together, at the same time.

v. 228. _worldly lust_] i. e. worldly pleasure.

v. 232. _recule_] See note, p. 327. v. 1187.

—— _Itaque consolamini invicem in verbis istis_] From the Vulgate, 1 _Thess._ iv. 17.

Page 12. v. 239. _when Pamphylus loste hys make_]—_make_, i. e. mate. As the heading “_Galathea_” precedes this couplet, there is an allusion to a once popular poem concerning the loves of Pamphilus and Galathea,—_Pamphili Mauriliani Pamphilus, sive De Arte Amandi Elegiæ_. It is of considerable length, and though written in barbarous Latin, was by some attributed to Ovid. It may be found in a little volume edited by Goldastus, _Ovidii Nasonis Pelignensis Erotica et Amatoria Opuscula_, &c. 1610. See too the lines cited in note, p. 324. v. 1048.

Page 12. v. 240. _propire_] i. e. handsome, pretty.

v. 241. _praty_] i. e. pretty.

v. 245. _herte hyt ys_] i. e. heart it is.

Page 13. v. 262. _Be_] i. e. By.

v. 265. _reclaymed_] See note, p. 148. v. 1125.

v. 269. _kus_] i. e. kiss: see note, p. 128. v. 361.

v. 270. _mus_] i. e. muzzle, mouth.

—— _Zoe kai psyche_] i. e. Ζωή καὶ ψυχή.

Page 14. v. 274. _spuria vitulamina_] From the Vulgate, “_Spuria vitulamina_ non dabunt radices altas.” _Sap._ iv. 3.

v. 280. _quayre_] i. e. quire,—pamphlet, book.—From this _Lenuoy primere_ inclusive to the end of _Speke, Parrot_, with the exception of a few stanzas, the satire is directed wholly against Wolsey. The very obscure allusions to the Cardinal’s being employed in some negotiation abroad are to be referred probably to his mission in 1521. That _Speke, Parrot_ consists of pieces written at various periods has been already noticed: and “Pope Julius,” v. 425, means, I apprehend, (not Julius ii., for _he_ died in 1513, but) Clement vii., Julius de Medici, who was elected Pope in 1523. With respect to the dates which occur after the present _Lenuoy_,—“_Penultimo die Octobris_, 33ᵒ,” “_In diebus Novembris_, 34,” &c., if “33ᵒ” and “34” stand for 1533 and 1534 (when both Skelton and the Cardinal were dead), they must have been added by the transcriber; and yet in the volume from which these portions of _Speke, Parrot_ are now printed (_MS. Harl._ 2252) we find, only a few pages before, the name “John Colyn mercer of London,” with the date “1517.”

v. 285. _lyclyhode_] i. e. likelihood.

v. 288. _agayne_] i. e. against.

v. 289. _tonsan_] i. e. _toison_.

v. 291. _Lyacon_] Occurs again in v. 393: is it—Lycaon?

v. 294. _folys_] i. e. fools.

—— _knakkes_] “_Knacke_ or toye _friuolle_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. xliii. (Table of Subst.).

v. 295. _hang togedyr as fethyrs in the wynde_] See note, p. 265. v. 1842.

Page 15. v. 296. _lewdlye ar they lettyrd that your lernyng lackys_] i. e. badly, meanly, are they lettered that find fault with your learning.

v. 297. _currys of kynde_] i. e. curs by nature.

v. 298. _lohythe ... warkys_] i. e. looketh ... works.

v. 300. _Agayne all remordes_] i. e. Against all blamings, censures, carpings: see note, p. 193. v. 101: but as in v. 368, where MS. has “remordes,” the sense absolutely requires “remorders,” there is perhaps the same error here.

—— _Morda puros mal desires_] This strange gibberish (which occurs twice afterwards) seems to mean,—To bite the pure, is an evil desire.

v. 304. _sadde_] See note, p. 264. v. 1711.

v. 305. _ower soleyne seigneour Sadoke_]—_soleyne_, i. e. sullen: in applying the name _Sadoke_ to Wolsey, Skelton alludes to the high-priest of Scripture, not to the knight of the Round Table.

v. 306. _nostre dame de Crome_] So in _A Mery Play between Johan the Husbande, Tyb his Wyfe, and Syr Jhan the Preest_, 1533, attributed to Heywood;

“But, by goggis blod, were she come home
Unto this my house, by _our lady of Crome_,
I wolde bete her or that I drynke.”

p. 1. reprint.

v. 307. _assone_] i. e. as soon.

v. 308. _to exployte the man owte of the mone_] i. e. to achieve the feat of driving the man out of the moon.

v. 309.

_With porpose and graundepose he may fede hym fatte,_
_Thowghe he pampyr not hys paunche with the grete seall_]

—_porpose and graundepose_, i. e. porpoise and grampus. The pun in the second line is sufficiently plain.

v. 311. _lokyd_] i. e. looked.

v. 313. _every deall_] i. e. every part.

Page 16. v. 319. _nodypollys_] i. e. silly-heads.

—— _gramatolys_] i. e. smatterers.

v. 320. _To ... sentence_] i. e. Too ... meaning.

v. 326. _sadlye_] See note, p. 267. v. 1966.

—— _Sydrake_] So Wolsey is termed here in allusion to a romance (characterised by Warton as “rather a romance of Arabian philosophy than of chivalry,” _Hist. of E. P._, i. 143. ed. 4to), which was translated from the French by Hugh of Caumpeden, and printed in 1510, under the title of _The Historie of King Boccus and Sydracke_, &c.

v. 327. _coniecte_] i. e. conjecture.

v. 328. _mellis_] i. e. meddles.

Page 16. v. 330. _Hyt_] i. e. It.

v. 331. _a cheryston pytte_] An allusion to a game played with cherry-stones;

“I can playe at the _chery pytte_
And I can wystell you a fytte
Syres in a whylowe ryne.”

_The Worlde and the Chylde_, 1522. sig. A iii.

v. 332. _sterrys_] i. e. stars.

v. 337. _syn_] i. e. since.

v. 339. _Non sine postica sanna_] “—— _posticæ_ occurrite _sannæ_.” Persius, _Sat._ i. 65.

Page 17. v. 354. _quod_] i. e. quoth.

v. 355. _popagay_] i. e. parrot.

Page 18. v. 356. _propyr_] i. e. pretty, handsome.

v. 358. _supply_] i. e. supplicate.

v. 360. _agayne_] i. e. against.

v. 362. _slaundrys obliqui_] i. e. slanderous obloquy.

v. 365. _jacounce_] i. e. jacinth.

v. 366. _balas_] See note, p. 326. v. 1166.

v. 367. _eyndye sapher_] See note, p. 101. v. 17.

v. 368. _remorde[r]s_] i. e. blamers, censurers: see note, p. 193. v. 101.

Page 19.—— _votorum meorum omnis lapis, lapis pretiosus operimentum tuum_] From the Vulgate, “Omnis lapis pretiosus operimentum tuum.” _Ezech._ xxviii. 13.

v. 374. _myche_] i. e. much.

v. 378. _on and hothyr_] i. e. one and other.

v. 380. _recheles_] i. e. reckless.

v. 382. _prosses_] Equivalent here to—matter: see p. 230 (first note on prose).

v. 383. _cowardes_] i. e. cowardice.

v. 385. _connyng_] i. e. knowing, learned.

v. 386. _postyll_] See note, p. 289. v. 755.

Page 20. v. 393. _Lyacon_] See note on v. 291. p. 345.

v. 394. _Racell, rulye_] i. e. Rachel, ruefully; compare v. 116.

v. 395. _mawmett_] See note, p. 188. v. 170.

—— _quod_] i. e. quoth.

v. 407. _For passe a pase apase ys gon to cache a molle_] Qy. is there an allusion here to Secretary Pace?

v. 408. _Scarpary_] See note on v. 133. p. 342.

—— _sliddyr_] i. e. slippery.

v. 409. _pendugims_] See note on v. 210. p. 344.

Page 21. v. 412. _Difficille hit ys_] i. e. Difficult it is.

v. 415. _raye_] i. e. array.

v. 416. _Agayne_] i. e. Against.

v. 417. _ensembyll_] i. e. together. (Fr.)

v. 418. _The nebbis of a lyon they make to trete and trembyll_]—_nebbis_, i. e. neb, nib, nose: _to trete_, i. e. (I suppose) to become tractable.

v. 419. _folys_] i. e. fools.

v. 420. _to play cowche quale_] So in _Thersytes_, n. d.;

“Howe I haue made the knaues for _to play cowch quaile_.”

p. 42. Roxb. ed.

“And thou shalt make him _couche as doth a quaille_.”

_The Clerkes Tale_, v. 9082. ed. Tyr.

v. 421. _polys_] i. e. pools.

v. 422. _babylles_] i. e. (fools’) bawbles.

v. 424. _He facithe owte at a fflusshe_] Compare _The Bowge of Courte_, v. 315.

“And soo outface hym with a carde of ten.”

v. 315. vol. i. 42.

_fflusshe_, i. e. a hand of cards all of a sort.

v. 425. _cardys_] i. e. cards.

v. 427. _skyregalyard_] See note, p. 218. v. 101.

—— _prowde palyard_] So, afterwards, the Duke of Albany is termed by Skelton in his tirade against that nobleman, v. 170. vol. ii. 73. “_Paillard._ A lecher, wencher, whoremunger, whorehunter; also, a knave, rascall, varlet, scoundrell, filthy fellow.” Cotgrave’s _Dict._

—— _vaunteperler_] “_Avant-parleur._ A forespeaker; or one that is too forward to speak.” Cotgrave’s _Dict._ “Whiche bee the _vauntperlers_ and heddes of thair faction.” _Letter of Bedyll to Crumwell_,—_State Papers_ (1830), i. 424.

v. 428. _woluys hede_] i. e. wolf’s head.

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

v. 429. _Hyt ys to fere_] i. e. It is to fear,—be feared.

v. 430. _Peregall_] i. e. Equal (thoroughly equal).

v. 431. _regiment_] i. e. rule.

v. 432. _quod ex vi bolte harvi_]—_quod_, i. e. quoth: of the rest, the reader may make what he can.

v. 435. _groynyd at_] i. e. grumbled at.

Page 22. v. 436.

_Grete reysons with resons be now reprobitante,_
_For reysons ar no resons, but resons currant_]

Perhaps this is the earliest instance of a quibble between _raisins_ and _reasons_. The same pun is used by Shakespeare in _Much ado about Nothing_, act v. sc. 1, and (though Steevens thinks not) in _Troilus and Cressida_, act ii. sc. 2: compare also Dekker; “_Raisons_ will be much askt for, especially in an action of iniury.” _The Owles Almanache_ 1618. p. 36.

Page 22. v. 438. _Ryn_] i. e. Run.

v. 439. _the date of the Devyll_] See note, p. 116. v. 375.

—— _shrewlye_] i. e. shrewdly, badly.

—— _quod_] i. e. quoth.

v. 442. _So many morall maters, &c._] There is a considerable resemblance between this concluding portion of _Speke, Parrot_, and a piece attributed to Dunbar, entitled _A General Satyre_; see his _Poems_, ii, 24. ed. Laing.

v. 443. _So myche newe makyng_] i. e. So much new composing.

v. 457. _stondythe_] i. e. standeth.

Page 23. v. 460. _on dawys hedd_] i. e. one daw’s head: see note, p. 113. v. 301.

v. 467. _dowȝtfull daunger_] i. e. doubtful danger,—danger that ought to cause dread.

v. 471. _not worthe an hawe_] See note, p. 269. v. 2115.

v. 472. _So myche papers weryng for ryghte a smalle exesse_]—_exesse_, i. e. excess, offence. “And for a truthe he [the Cardinal] so punyshed periurye with open punyshment & _open papers werynge_, that in his tyme it was lesse vsed.” Hall’s _Chron._ (Hen. viii.), fol. lix. ed. 1548.

v. 473. _pelory pajauntes_] i. e. pillory-pageants.

v. 474. _the cooke stole_] See note, p. 183. v. 38.

—— _guy gaw_] i. e. gewgaw, trifle.

v. 478.

_So bolde a braggyng bocher...._
...
_So mangye a mastyfe curre, the grete grey houndes pere_]

Again, in his _Why come ye nat to Courte_, Skelton alludes to the report that Wolsey was the son of a butcher, vv. 295. 491. vol. ii. 36. 42. Compare too Roy’s satire against Wolsey, _Rede me, and be nott wrothe,_ &c.;

“_The mastif curre_, bred in Ypswitch towne.
...

_Wat._ He commeth then of some noble stocke?

_Jeff._ His father coulde snatche a bullock,
A butcher by his occupacion.”

_Harl. Miscell._ ix. 3. 31. ed. Park.

and a poem _Of the Cardnalle Wolse_;

“To se a churle _a Bochers curre_
To rayne & rule in soche honour,” &c.

_MS. Harl._ 2252. fol. 156.

Cavendish says that Wolsey “was an honest poor man’s son;” and the will of his father (printed by Fiddes) shews that he possessed some property; but, as Mr. Sharon Turner observes, that Wolsey was the son of a butcher “was reported and believed while he lived.” _Hist, of Reign of Hen. the Eighth_, i. 167. ed. 8vo.

With the second line of the present passage compare our author’s _Why come ye nat to Courte_, where he wishes that “that mastyfe” Wolsey, may

... “neuer confounde
The gentyll _greyhownde_.”

v. 775. vol. ii. 50.

By the _greyhound_ seems to be meant Henry viii., in allusion to the royal arms.

Page 23. v. 481. _So bygge a bulke of brow auntlers cabagyd that yere_] “_Cabusser._ To cabbidge; to grow to a head,” &c.—“The Cabbage of the Deeres head. _Meule de cerf._” Cotgrave’s _Dict._ “I Kabage a deere, _Ie cabaiche_ ... I wyll kabage my dere and go with you: _Ie cabacheray_,” &c. Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. cclxx. (Table of Verbes).

v. 485. _banketyng_] i. e. banqueting.

Page 24. v. 487. _howgye_] i. e. hugy, huge.

v. 488. _apon_] i. e. upon.

—— _suche pyllyng and pollyng_] i. e. such stripping and plundering (exactions of various kinds).

v. 489. _reson and skylle_] See note, p. 238, v. 106.

v. 496. _So myche sayntuary brekyng_] See note on v. 126. p. 342.

v. 497. _lyerd_] i. e. learned.

v. 498. _ryghte of a rammes horne_] See note, p. 298. v. 1201.

v. 501. _lokes ... dysdayneslye_] i. e. looks ... disdainfully.

v. 503. _ffylty gorgon_] i. e. filthy Gorgon. See note _ad loc._

v. 506. _loselles ... lewde_] i. e. worthless fellows, scoundrels ... bad, evil, (or perhaps, lascivious).

v. 507. _myday sprettes_] i. e. mid-day sprites.

Page 25. v. 508. _puplysshyd_] i. e. published.

v. 509. _all beshrewde_] i. e. altogether cursed.

v. 510. _Suche pollaxis and pyllers, suche mvlys trapte with gold_]—_mvlys_, i. e. mules. So Roy in his satire against Wolsey, _Rede me, and be nott wrothe_, &c.;

“_Wat._ Doth he use then on mules to ryde?

_Jeff._ Ye; and that with so shamfull pryde
That to tell it is not possible:
More lyke a god celestiall
Then eny creature mortall,
With worldly pompe incredible.
Before him rydeth two prestes stronge,
And they beare two crosses ryght longe,
Gapynge in every mans face:
After theym folowe two laye-men secular,
And eache of theym holdynge a pillar
In their hondes, steade of a mace.
Then foloweth my lorde on his mule,
Trapped with golde under her cule,
In every poynt most curiously;
On each syde a pollaxe is borne,
Which in none wother use are worne,
Pretendynge some hid mistery.
Then hath he servauntes fyve or six score,
Some behynde and some before,
A marvelous great company:
Of which are lordes and gentlemen,
With many gromes and yemen,
And also knaves amonge.
Thus dayly he procedeth forthe,” &c.

_Harl. Miscell._, ix. 29. ed. Park.

“Then,” says Cavendish, “had he two great crosses of silver, whereof one of them was for his Archbishoprick, and the other for his Legacy, borne always before him whither soever he went or rode, by two of the most tallest and comeliest priests that he could get within all this realm.” _Life of Wolsey_, 94. ed. 1827. “And as soon as he was entered into his chamber of presence, where there was attending his coming to await upon him to Westminster Hall, as well noblemen and other worthy gentlemen, as noblemen and gentlemen of his own family; thus passing forth with two great crosses of silver borne before him; with also two great pillars of silver, and his pursuivant at arms with a great mace of silver gilt: Then his gentlemen ushers cried, and said, ‘On, my lords and masters, on before; make way for my Lord’s Grace!’ Thus passed he down from his chamber through the hall; and when he came to the hall door, there was attendant for him his mule, trapped all together [altogether] in crimson velvet, and gilt stirrups. When he was mounted, with his cross bearers, and pillar bearers, also upon great horses trapped with [fine] scarlet: Then marched he forward, with his train and furniture in manner as I have declared, having about him four footmen, with gilt pollaxes in their hands; and thus he went until he came to Westminster Hall door.” _Id._ 106. See also Cavendish’s _Metrical Legend of Wolsey_, p. 533. _ibid._ The pillars implied that the person before whom they were carried was a pillar of the church. That the Cardinal had a right to the “ensigns and ornaments” which he used, is shewn by Anstis in a letter to Fiddes,—Appendix to Fiddes’s _Life of Wolsey_.

Page 25.—_quod_] i. e. quoth.

WHY COME YE NAT TO COURTE?

This poem appears to have been produced (at intervals perhaps) during 1522 and part of the following year.

—— _sadly_] See note, p. 267. v. 1966: _loke_, i. e. look.

Page 26. v. 3. _To_] i. e. Too (as in the next seven lines).

v. 5. _scarce_] i. e. sparing.

v. 6. _large_] i. e. liberal.

v. 8. _haute_] i. e. haughty.

Page 27. v. 23. _appall_] i. e. make pale, make to decay.

v. 33. _rage_] i. e. toy wantonly (see Tyrwhitt’s Gloss. to Chaucer’s _Cant. Tales_).

v. 34. _basse_] i. e. kiss.

v. 37. _corage_] i. e. desire, inclination.

Page 28. v. 39. _ouerage_] Seems here to be—over-age (excessive age); while, again, in our author’s poem _Howe the douty duke of Albany_, &c., it appears to be—over-rage (excessive rage);

“It is a rechelesse rage,
And a lunatyke _oueraye_.”

v. 417. vol. ii. 80.

v. 43. _a graunt domage_] Meant for French perhaps.

v. 44. _set by_] i. e. valued, regarded.

v. 46. _rynne_] i. e. run.

v. 50. _boskage_] i. e. thicket, wood.

v. 56. _defaute_] i. e. default, want.

v. 58. _theyr hedes mew_] i. e. hide their heads; see note on v. 219.

v. 62. _to_] i. e. too.

v. 63. _In faythe, dycken, thou krew_] See note, p. 115. v. 360.

Page 29. v. 68. _banketynge_] i. e. banqueting.

v. 69. _rechelesse_] i. e. reckless.

v. 70. _gambaudynge_] i. e. gambolling.

v. 74. _The countrynge at Cales_]—_countrynge_ does not, I apprehend, mean—encountering, but is a musical term (see note on heading of poem, p. 92) used here metaphorically, as in other parts of Skelton’s works. The allusion seems to be to the meeting between Henry the Eighth and Francis in 1520, when (as perhaps few readers need be informed) Henry went over to Calais, proceeded thence to Guisnes, and met Francis in the fields between the latter town and Ardres. If “_Cales_” is to be understood as—Cadiz (see note, p. 195. last v.) I know not any occurrence there of sufficient consequence to suit the present passage.

Page 29. v. 75. _Wrang vs on the males_] See note, p. 142. v. 700.

v. 77. _grouchyng_] i. e. grudging.

v. 79. _talwod_] “_Tallwodde_ pacte wodde to make byllettes of _taillee_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. lxix. (Table of Subst.). “Talshide or _Talwood_ (Taliatura) is Fire-wood, cleft and cut into Billets of a certain Length.... This was anciently written _Talghwode_.” Cowel’s _Law Dictionary_, &c. ed. 1727.

—— _brent_] i. e. burned.

v. 81. _We may blowe at the cole_] See note, p. 313. v. 610.

v. 83. _Mocke hath lost her sho_] See note, p. 331. v. 1396.

v. 87. _As ryght as a rammes horne_] See note, p. 298. v. 1201.

v. 90. _all to-torne_] See note, p. 100. v. 32.

v. 92. _Fauell_] See note, p. 107. v. 134.

v. 93, _Iauell_] See note, p. 271. v. 2218.

v. 94. _Hauell_] Which occurs again in v. 604, is a term of reproach found less frequently than _javel_ in our early writers: whether it be connected with _haveril_,—one who _havers_ (see the Gloss. to _The Towneley Myst._ in v. _Hawvelle_) I cannot pretend to determine.

—— _Haruy Hafter_] See note, p. 107. v. 138.

v. 97. _pollynge and shauynge_]—_pollynge_, i. e. shearing, clipping,—plundering.

v. 99. _reuynge_] i. e. reaving.

Page 30. v. 101. _vayleth_] i. e. availeth.

v. 105. _reason and ... skyll_] See note, p. 238. v. 106.

v. 106. _garlycke pyll_] i. e. peel garlic.

v. 108. _shyll_] i. e. shell.

v. 109. _rost a stone_] So Heywood;

“I doe but _roste a stone_
In warming her.”

_Dialogue_, &c. sig. F 2,—_Workes_, ed. 1598.

v. 110. _no man but one_] i. e. Wolsey.

v. 114. _cammocke_] See note, p. 179. v. 30.

v. 115. _This byll well ouer loked_] i. e. This writing being well overlooked, examined.

v. 117. _There went the hare away_] A proverbial expression:

“_Man._ By my fayth a lytell season
I folowed the counsell and dyet of reason.

_Gloto._ There went the hare away
Hys dyet quod a,” &c.

Medwall’s _Interlude of Nature_, n. d., sig. g ii.

“heere’s the King, nay stay:
And heere, I heare [ay, here]: _there goes the Hare away_.”

_The Spanish Tragedie_ (by Kyd), sig. G 3. ed. 1618.

Page 30. v. 118. _the gray_] i. e. the badger: see note, p. 303. v. 101.

v. 119. _the buck_] Qy. does Skelton, under these names of animals, allude to certain persons? If he does, “the buck” must mean Edward Duke of Buckingham, who, according to the popular belief, was impeached and brought to the block by Wolsey’s means in 1521: so in an unprinted poem against the Cardinal;

“Wherfor nevyr looke ther mowthes to be stoppyd
Tyll ther money be restoryd thow sum hedes be of choppyd
As thowe dyd serue _the Buckke_
For as men sey by the that was done
That sens had this lande no good lucke.”

_MS. Harl._ 2252. fol. 158.

v. 123. _Ge hame_] Scottice for—Go home.

v. 125. _tot quot_] See note, p. 287. v. 565.

v. 127. _lome_] i. e. loom.

v. 128. _lylse wulse_] i. e. linsey-woolsey,—an evident play on the Cardinal’s name.

v. 130. _cule_] i. e. fundament.

v. 132. _warse_] i. e. worse.

Page 31. v. 136. _Bothombar_] I know not what place is meant here.

v. 139. _gup, leuell suse_]—_gup_ has occurred frequently before: see note, p. 99. v. 17; the rest of this slang I do not comprehend.

v. 145. _nat worth a flye_] See note, p. 219. v. 104.

v. 150.

_Yet the good Erle of Surray,_
_The Frenche men he doth fray, &c._]

This nobleman (before mentioned, see note, p. 317. v. 769), Thomas Howard (afterwards third Duke of Norfolk), commanded, in 1522, the English force which was sent against France, when Henry the Eighth and the Emperor Charles had united in an attack on that kingdom. In Stow’s _Annales_, p. 517. ed. 1615, the marginal note “Earle of Surrey brent Morles in Brytaine. I. Skelton,” evidently alludes to the present passage of our poem. Both Turner and Lingard in their _Histories of Engl._ mistake this nobleman for his father.

Page 31. v. 158. _mated_] i. e. confounded (I may just observe that Palsgrave, besides “I _Mate_ at the chesses, _Ie matte_,” gives “I _Mate_ or ouercome, _Ie amatte_.”) _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. ccxcix. (Table of Verbes).

v. 163. _vrcheons_] i. e. hedge-hogs.

Page 32. v. 166. _ouer shote_] i. e. over-shoot.

v. 167. _scutus_] “_Scutum_, Moneta Regum Francorum, ita appellata quod in ea descripta essent Franciæ insignia in scuto.” Du Cange’s _Gloss._ (Ital. _scudo_, Fr. _écu_).

v. 170. _wonders warke_] i. e. work of wonder.

v. 175. _They shote at him with crownes, &c._] On the immense gifts and annuities which Wolsey received from foreign powers, see Turner’s _Hist. of Reign of Hen. the Eighth_, i. 236. ed. 8vo.

v. 178. _his eyen so dased_]—_dased_, i. e. dazzled, or, according to Skelton’s distinction—dulled; for in his _Garlande of Laurell_ we find “eyn dasild and _dasid_.” v. 1389. vol. i. 416.

v. 179. _ne se can_] i. e. can not see.

v. 185. _the Chambre of Starres_] i. e. the Star-Chamber.

v. 190. _renayenge_] i. e. contradicting.

v. 194. _Good euyn, good Robyn Hood_] “Good even, good Robin Hood,” was, as Ritson observes, a proverbial expression; “the allusion is to _civility_ extorted by _fear_.” _Robin Hood_, i. lxxxvii. Warton mistook the meaning of this line, as is proved by his mode of pointing it: see _Hist. of E. P._, ii. 346. ed. 4to.

Page 33. v. 197. _thwartyng ouer thom_] i. e. overthwarting them, perversely controlling them.

v. 202. _With, trompe vp, alleluya_] i. e., says Warton, “the pomp in which he celebrates divine service.” _Hist. of E. P._, ii. 346 (note), ed. 4to. Compare Wager’s _Mary Magdalene_, 1567;

“Ite Missa est, _with pipe vp Alleluya_.”

Sig. A iii.

v. 203. _Philargerya_] i. e. Φιλαργυρία, argenti amor, pecuniæ cupiditas. She was one of the characters in Skelton’s lost drama, _The Nigramansir_.

v. 204. _herte_] i. e. heart.

v. 206. _Asmodeus_] The name of the evil spirit in the Book of _Tobit_.

v. 208. _Dalyda_] i. e. Dalilah.

“Unto his lemman _Dalida_ he told,
That in his heres all his strengthe lay.”

Chaucer’s _Monkes Tale_, v. 14069. ed. Tyr.

See too Gower’s _Conf. Am._, Lib. viii. fol. clxxxix. ed. 1554, and Lydgate’s _Fall of Prynces_, B. i. leaf xxxiii. ed. Wayland.

Page 33. v. 208. _mell_] i. e. meddle (in sensu obsc.).

v. 212. _Simonia_] i. e. Simony.

v. 213. _Castrimergia_] “The true reading is CASTRIMARGIA, or _Gulæ concupiscentia_, Gluttony. From the Greek, Γαστριμαργία, ingluvies, helluatio. Not an uncommon word in the monkish latinity. Du Cange cites an old Litany of the tenth century, ‘A spiritu CASTRIMARGIÆ _Libera nos_, domine!’ Lat. Gloss. i. p. 398. Carpentier adds, among other examples, from the statutes of the Cistercian order, 1375 [1357], ‘Item, cum propter detestabile CASTRIMARGIÆ vitium in labyrinthum vitiorum descendutur, &c.’ Suppl. tom. i. p. 862.’” Warton’s _Hist. of E. P._, ii. 346 (note), ed. 4to.

v. 215. _ypocras_] See note, p. 285. v. 458.

v. 217. _In Lent for a repast, &c._] So Roy in his satire against Wolsey, _Rede me, and be nott wrothe_, &c.;

“_Wat._ Whatt abstinence useth he to take?

_Jeff._ _In Lent_ all fysshe he doth forsake,
_Fedde with_ partriges and plovers.

_Wat._ He leadeth then a Lutheran’s lyfe?

_Jeff._ O naye, for he hath no wyfe,
But whoares that be his lovers.”

_Harl. Miscel._ ix. 32. ed. Park.

v. 219. _partriche mewed_]—_mewed_, i. e. cooped up. “I kepe _partryches in a mewe_ agaynst your comyng.” Hormanni _Vulgaria_, sig. e ii. ed. 1530.

v. 222. _ne_] i. e. nor.

v. 223. _a postels lyfe_] i. e. an apostle’s life.

v. 224. _herte_] i. e. heart.

Page 34. v. 232. _kues_] See note, p. 236. v. 36.

v. 235. _The sygne of the Cardynall Hat_] “These allowed Stew-houses [in Southwark] had Signs on their Fronts, towards the Thames, not hanged out, but painted on the Walls, as a Boar’s-Head, the Cross Keys, the Gun, the Castle, the Crane, _the Cardinal’s Hat_,” &c. Stow’s _Survey_, B. iv. 7. ed. 1720.

v. 236. _shyt_] i. e. shut.

v. 237. _gup_] }

...

v. 239. _iast_] }

See note, p. 99. v. 17.

v. 240. _Wyll ye bere no coles_] Steevens, in his note on the opening of Shakespeare’s _Romeo and Juliet_, cites the present line among the examples which he gives of the expression to _bear_ or _carry coals_, i. e. to bear insults, to submit to degradation. In the royal residences and great houses the lowest drudges appear to have been selected to carry coals to the kitchens, halls, &c.; see note on Jonson’s _Works_, ii. 169, by Gifford, who afterwards (p. 179) observes, “From the mean nature of this occupation it seems to have been somewhat hastily concluded, that a man who would carry coals would submit to any indignity.”

Page 34. v. 241. _A mayny of marefoles_] i. e. (as appears from the expressions applied to horses four lines above) a set of mare-foals, fillies.

Page 35. v. 257. _next_] i. e. nearest.

v. 261. _Poppynge folysshe dawes_] See note, p. 231. v. 39.

v. 262. _pyll strawes_]—_pyll_, i. e. peel.

v. 264. _Huntley bankes_] See note, p. 221. v. 149.

v. 269. _Lorde Dakers_] Thomas Lord Dacre (of Gillesland, or of the North) was warden of the West Marches. The accusation here thrown out against him (because, perhaps, he was on the best terms with Wolsey) of “agreeing too well with the Scots” is altogether unfounded. He was for many years the able and active agent of Henry in corrupting by gold and intrigues the nobles of Scotland, and in exciting ceaseless commotions in that kingdom, to the destruction of its tranquillity and good government. He died in 1525. And see notes on vv. 283, 353.

v. 270. _Jacke Rakers_] See note, p. 186. v. 108.

v. 271. _crakers_] i. e. vaunters, big-talkers.

v. 273. _Stronge herted_] i. e. Strong-hearted.

v. 275. _To_] i. e. Too.

v. 278. _the red hat_] i. e. Wolsey.

v. 280. _lure_] See note, p. 147. v. 1100.

v. 281. _cure_] i. e. care.