Chapter III: Part 3

Reioyse, Englande,
And vnderstande
These tidinges newe,
Whiche be as trewe
As the gospell:
This duke so fell
Of Albany,
So cowardly,
With all his hoost
Of the Scottyshe coost, 10
For all theyr boost,
Fledde lyke a beest;
Wherfore to ieste
Is my delyght
Of this cowarde knyght,
And for to wright
In the dispyght
Of the Scottes ranke
Of Huntley banke,
Of Lowdyan, 20
Of Locryan,
And the ragged ray
Of Galaway.
Dunbar, Dunde,
Ye shall trowe me,
False Scottes are ye:
Your hartes sore faynted,
And so[258] attaynted,
Lyke cowardes starke,
At the castell of Warke, 30
By the water of Twede,
Ye had euill spede;
Lyke cankerd curres,
Ye loste your spurres,
For in that fraye
Ye ranne awaye,
With, hey, dogge, hay!
For Sir William Lyle
Within shorte whyle,
That valiaunt knyght, 40
Putte you to flyght;
By his valyaunce
Two thousande[259] of Fraunce
There he putte backe,
To your great lacke,
And vtter shame
Of your Scottysshe name.
Your chefe cheftayne,
Voyde of all brayne,
Duke of all Albany, 50
Than shamefuly
He reculed backe,
To his great lacke,
Whan he herde tell
That my lorde amrell
Was comyng downe,
To make hym frowne
And to make hym lowre,
With the noble powre
Of my lorde cardynall, 60
As an hoost royall,
After the auncient manner,
With sainct Cutberdes banner,
And sainct Williams also;
Your capitayne ranne to go,
To go, to go, to go,
And brake vp all his hoost;
For all his crake and bost,
Lyke a cowarde knyght,
He fledde, and durst nat fyght, 70
He ranne awaye by night.
But now must I
Your Duke ascry
Of Albany
With a worde or twayne
In sentence playne.
Ye duke so doutty,
So sterne, so stoutty,
In shorte sentens,
Of your pretens 80
What is the grounde,
Breuely and rounde
To me expounde,
Or els wyll I
Euydently
Shewe as it is;
For the cause is this,
Howe ye pretende
For to defende
The yonge Scottyshe kyng, 90
But ye meane a thyng,
And ye coude bryng
The matter about,
To putte his eyes out
And put hym downe,
And set hys crowne
On your owne heed
Whan he were deed.
Such trechery
And traytory 100
Is all your cast;
Thus ye haue compast
With the Frenche kyng
A fals rekenyng
To enuade Englande,
As I vnderstande:
But our kyng royall,
Whose name ouer all,
Noble Henry the eyght,
Shall cast a beyght, 110
And sette suche a snare,
That shall cast you in care,
Bothe Kyng Fraunces and thé,
That knowen ye shall be
For the moost recrayd
Cowardes afrayd,
And falsest forsworne,
That euer were borne.
O ye wretched Scottes,
Ye puaunt pyspottes, 120
It shalbe your lottes
To be knytte vp with knottes
Of halters and ropes
About your traytours throtes!
O Scottes pariured,
Vnhaply vred,
Ye may be assured
Your falshod discured
It is and shal be
From the Scottish se 130
Vnto Gabione!
For ye be false echone,
False and false agayne,
Neuer true nor playne,
But flery, flatter, and fayne,
And euer to remayne
In wretched beggary
And maungy misery,
In lousy lothsumnesse
And scabbed scorffynesse, 140
And in abhominacion
Of all maner of nacion,
Nacion moost in hate,
Proude and poore of state.
Twyt, Scot, go kepe thy den,
Mell nat with Englyshe men;
Thou dyd nothyng but barke
At the castell of Warke.
Twyt, Scot, yet agayne ones,
We shall breke thy bones, 150
And hang you vpon polles,
And byrne you all to colles;
With, twyt, Scot, twyt, Scot, twyt,
Walke, Scot, go begge a byt
Of brede at ylke mannes hecke:
The fynde, Scot, breke thy necke!
Twyt, Scot, agayne I saye,
Twyt, Scot of Galaway,
Twyt, Scot, shake thy dogge,[260] hay!
Twyt, Scot, thou ran away. 160
We set nat a flye
By your Duke of Albany;
We set nat a prane
By suche a dronken drane;
We set nat a myght
By suche a cowarde knyght,
Suche a proude palyarde,
Suche a skyrgaliarde,
Suche a starke cowarde,
Suche a proude pultrowne, 170
Suche a foule coystrowne,
Suche a doutty dagswayne;
Sende him to F[r]aunce agayne,
To bring with hym more brayne
From Kynge Fraunces of Frauns:
God sende them bothe myschauns!
Ye Scottes all the rable,
Ye shall neuer be hable
With vs for to compare;
What though ye stampe and stare? 180
God sende you sorow and care!
With vs whan euer ye mell,
Yet we bear away the bell,
Whan ye cankerd knaues
Must crepe into your caues
Your heedes for to hyde,
For ye dare nat abyde.
Sir Duke of Albany,
Right inconuenyently
Ye rage and ye raue, 190
And your worshyp depraue:
Nat lyke Duke Hamylcar,
With the Romayns that made war,
Nor lyke his sonne Hanyball,
Nor lyke Duke Hasdruball
Of Cartage in Aphrike;
Yet somwhat ye be lyke
In some of their condicions,
And their false sedycions,
And their dealyng double, 200
And their weywarde trouble:
But yet they were bolde,
And manly manyfolde,
Their enemyes to assayle
In playn felde and battayle;
But ye and your hoost,
Full of bragge and boost,
And full of waste wynde,
Howe ye wyll beres bynde,
And the deuill downe dynge, 210
Yet ye dare do nothynge,
But lepe away lyke frogges,
And hyde you vnder logges,
Lyke pygges and lyke hogges,
And lyke maungy dogges.
What an army were ye?
Or what actyuyte
Is in you, beggers braules,
Full of scabbes and scaules,
Of vermyne and of lyce, 220
And of all maner vyce?
Syr duke, nay, syr ducke,
Syr drake of the lake, sir ducke
Of the donghyll, for small lucke
Ye haue in feates of warre;
Ye make nought, but ye marre;
Ye are a fals entrusar,
And a fals abusar,
And an vntrewe knyght;
Thou hast to lytell myght 230
Agaynst Englande to fyght;
Thou art a graceles wyght
To put thy selfe to flyght:
A vengeaunce and dispight
On thé must nedes lyght,
That durst nat byde the sight
Of my lorde amrell,
Of chiualry the well,
Of knighthode the floure
In euery marciall shoure, 240
The noble Erle of Surrey,
That put thé in suche fray;
Thou durst no felde derayne,
Nor no batayle[261] mayntayne
Against our st[r]onge captaine,
But thou ran home agayne,
For feare thou shoulde be slayne,
Lyke a Scottyshe keteryng,
That durst abyde no reknyng;
Thy hert wolde nat serue thé: 250
The fynde of hell mot sterue thé!
No man hath harde
Of suche a cowarde,
And such a mad ymage
Caried in a cage,
As it were a cotage;
Or of suche a mawment
Caryed in a tent;
In a tent! nay, nay,
But in a mountayne gay, 260
Lyke a great hill
For a wyndmil,
Therin to couche styll,
That no man hym kyll;
As it were a gote
In a shepe cote,
About hym a parke
Of a madde warke,
Men call it a toyle;
Therin, lyke a royle, 270
Sir Dunkan, ye dared,
And thus ye prepared
Youre carkas to kepe,
Lyke a sely shepe,
A shepe of Cottyswolde,
From rayne and from colde,
And from raynning of rappes,
And suche after clappes;
Thus in your cowardly castell
Ye decte you to dwell: 280
Suche a captayne of hors,[262]
It made no great fors
If that ye had tane
Your last deedly bane
With a gon stone,
To make you to grone.
But hyde thé, sir Topias,
Nowe into the castell of Bas,
And lurke there, lyke an as,
With some Scotyshe [l]as, 290
With dugges, dugges, dugges:
I shrewe thy Scottishe lugges,
Thy munpynnys, and thy crag,
For thou can not but brag,
Lyke a Scottyshe hag:
Adue nowe, sir Wrig wrag,
Adue, sir Dalyrag!
Thy mellyng is but mockyng;
Thou mayst giue vp thy cocking,
Gyue it vp, and cry creke, 300
Lyke an huddypeke.
Wherto shuld I more speke
Of suche a farly freke,
Of suche an horne keke,
Of suche an bolde captayne,
That dare nat turne agayne,
Nor durst nat crak a worde,
Nor durst nat drawe his swerde
Agaynst the Lyon White,
But ran away quyte? 310
He ran away by nyght,
In the owle flyght,
Lyke a cowarde knyght.
Adue, cowarde, adue,
Fals knight, and mooste vntrue!
I render thé, fals rebelle,
To the flingande fende of helle.
Harke yet, sir duke, a worde,
In ernest or in borde:
What, haue ye, villayn, forged, 320
And virulently dysgorged,
As though ye wolde parbrake,
Your auauns to make,
With wordes enbosed,
Vngraciously engrosed,
Howe ye wyll vndertake
Our royall kyng to make
His owne realme to forsake?
Suche lewde langage ye spake.
Sir Dunkan, in the deuill waye, 330
Be well ware what ye say:
Ye saye that he and ye,—
Whyche he and ye? let se;
Ye meane Fraunces, French kyng,
Shulde bring about that thing.
I say, thou lewde lurdayne,
That neyther of you twayne
So hardy nor so bolde
His countenaunce to beholde:
If our moost royall Harry 340
Lyst with you to varry,
Full soone ye should miscary,
For ye durst nat tarry
With hym to stryue a stownde;
If he on you but frounde,
Nat for a thousande pounde[263]
Ye durst byde on the grounde,
Ye wolde ryn away rounde,
And cowardly tourne your backes,
For all your comly crackes, 350
And, for feare par case
To loke hym in the face,
Ye wolde defoyle the place,
And ryn your way apace.
Thoughe I trym you thys trace
With Englyshe somwhat base,
Yet, _saue[264] voster grace_,
Therby I shall purchace
No displesaunt rewarde,
If ye wele can regarde 360
Your cankarde cowardnesse
And your shamfull doublenesse.
Are ye nat frantyke madde,
And wretchedly bestadde,
To rayle agaynst his grace,
That shall bring you full bace,
And set you in suche case,
That bytwene you twayne
There shalbe drawen a trayne
That shalbe to your payne? 370
To flye ye shalbe fayne,
And neuer tourne agayne.
What, wold Fraunces, our friar,
Be suche a false lyar,
So madde a cordylar,
So madde a murmurar?
Ye muse somwhat to far;
All out of ioynt ye iar:
God let you neuer thriue!
Wene ye, daucockes, to driue 380
Our kyng out of his reme?
Ge heme, ranke Scot, ge heme,
With fonde Fraunces, French kyng:
Our mayster shall you brynge
I trust, to lowe estate,
And mate you with chekmate.
Your braynes are ydell;
It is time for you to brydell,
And pype in a quibyble;
For it is impossible 390
For you to bring about,
Our kyng for to dryue out
Of this his realme royall
And lande imperiall;
So noble a prince as he
In all actyuite
Of hardy merciall actes,
Fortunate in all his faytes.[265]
And nowe I wyll me dresse
His valiaunce to expresse, 400
Though insufficient am I
His grace to magnify
And laude equiualently;
Howe be it, loyally,
After myne allegyaunce,
My pen I will auaunce
To extoll his noble grace,
In spyght of thy cowardes face,
In spyght of Kyng Fraunces,
Deuoyde of all nobles, 410
Deuoyde of good corage,
Deuoyde of wysdome sage,
Mad, frantyke, and sauage;
Thus he dothe disparage
His blode with fonde dotage.
A prince to play the page
It is a rechelesse rage,
And a lunatyke ouerage.
What though my stile be rude?
With trouthe it is ennewde: 420
Trouth ought to be rescude,
Trouthe should nat be subdude.
But nowe will I expounde
What noblenesse dothe abounde,
And what honour is founde,
And what vertues be resydent
In our royall regent,
Our perelesse president,
Our kyng most excellent:
In merciall prowes 430
Lyke vnto Hercules;
In prudence and wysdom
Lyke vnto Salamon;
In his goodly person
Lyke vnto Absolon;
In loyalte and foy
Lyke to Ector of Troy;
And his glory to incres,
Lyke to Scipiades;
In royal mageste 440
Lyke unto Ptholome,
Lyke to Duke Iosue,
And the valiaunt Machube;
That if I wolde reporte
All the roiall sorte
Of his nobilyte,
His magnanymyte,
His animosite,
His frugalite,[266]
His lyberalite, 450
His affabilite,
His humanyte,
His stabilite,
His humilite,
His benignite,
His royall dignyte,
My lernyng is to small
For to recount them all.
What losels than are ye,
Lyke cowardes as ye be, 460
To rayle on his astate,
With wordes inordinate!
He rules his cominalte
With all benignite;
His noble baronage,
He putteth them in corage
To exployte dedes of armys,
To the domage and harmys
Of suche as be his foos;
Where euer he rydes or goos, 470
His subiectes he dothe supporte,
Maintayne them with comforte
Of his moste princely porte,
As all men can reporte.
Than ye be a knappishe sorte,
_Et faitez a luy grant torte_,
With your enbosed iawes
To rayle on hym lyke dawes;
The fende scrache out your mawes!
All his subiectes and he 480
Moost louyngly agre
With hole hart and true mynde,
They fynde his grace so kynde;
Wherwith he dothe them bynde
At all houres to be redy
With hym to lyue and dye,
And to spende[267] their hart blode,
Their bodyes and their gode,
With hym in all dystresse,
Alway in redynesse 490
To assyst his noble grace;
In spyght of thy cowardes face,
Moost false attaynted traytour,
And false forsworne faytour.
Auaunte, cowarde recrayed!
Thy pride shalbe alayd;
With sir Fraunces of Fraunce
We shall pype you a daunce,
Shall tourne you to myschauns.
I rede you, loke about; 500
For ye shalbe driuen out
Of your lande in shorte space:
We will so folowe in the chace,
That ye shall haue no grace
For to tourne your face;
And thus, Sainct George to borowe,
Ye shall haue shame and sorowe.

_Lenuoy._

Go, lytell quayre, quickly;
Shew them that shall you rede,
How that ye are lykely 510
Ouer all the worlde[268] to sprede.
The fals Scottes for dred,
With the Duke of Albany,
Beside the water of Twede
They fledde full cowardly.
Though your Englishe be rude,
Barreyne of eloquence,
Yet, breuely to conclude,
Grounded is your sentence
On trouthe, vnder defence 520
Of all trewe Englyshemen,
This mater to credence
That I wrate with my pen.

SKELTON LAUREAT, OBSEQUIOUS ET LOYALL.[269]

TO MY LORDE CARDYNALS RIGHT NOBLE GRACE, &c.

_Lenuoy._

Go, lytell quayre, apace,
In moost humble wyse,
Before his noble grace,
That caused you to deuise
This lytel enterprise;
And hym moost lowly pray,
In his mynde to comprise
Those wordes his grace dyd saye
Of an ammas gray.

_Ie foy enterment en sa bone grace._

[257] _Howe the douty Duke of Albany, &c._] From Marshe’s ed. of Skelton’s _Workes_, 1568.

[258] _so_] Qy. “sore?”

[259] _thousande_] Ed. “thausande.”

[260] _thy dogge_] Qy. “thé, dogge?” but see notes.

[261] _Nor no batayle, &c._] The Editor of 1736 chose to give this passage thus;

“Nor _a_ batayle mayntayne
_With our_ stronge captayne
_For you_ ran,” &c.

[262] _hors_] Ed. “fors.”

[263] _pounde_] Ed. “pouned.”

[264] _saue_] Ed. “_saua_.”

[265] _faytes_] Qy. “factes?”

[266] _frugalite_] Ed. “fragalite.”

[267] _And to spende, &c._] This line and the next transposed in ed.

[268] _worlde_] Ed. “worlds.”

[269] _Skelton Laureat, obsequious et loyall_] Perhaps these words are a portion of the superscription to the _Lenuoy_ which follows. The _Lenuoy_ itself does not, I apprehend, belong to the poem on the Duke of Albany. See _Account of Skelton, &c._

NOTES TO VOLUME I.

OF THE DEATH OF THE NOBLE PRINCE, KYNGE EDWARDE THE FORTH.

Page 1. “Indeed if he well weighed that Epitaph of King Edward the fourth, made by Skelton, which I find inserted amongst the vnprinted Workes of Lydgate, he would be more modest in this kinde.” _Qvaternio_, 1633, p. 239, by Nash, who cites a considerable portion of this poem from a MS.—Lydgate could not have been alive at the period of Edward’s decease: see Warton’s _Hist. of E.P._ ii. 51. ed. 4to. (note), Ritson’s _Bibl. Poet., &c._

Edward the Fourth died April 9th, 1483, in the 41st year of his age and the 23d of his reign: see Sir H. Nicolas’s _Chron. of Hist._ pp. 325, 349, sec. ed. These lines were probably composed soon after the king’s death—_per Skeltonidem laureatum_ having been subsequently added to the title.

v. 8. _lykynge_] i. e. joy, pleasure.

Page 2. v. 22. _a chery fayre_] If this is to be understood as _cherry-fair_ (which I think doubtful), the line ought to be pointed,

“Not certayne, but as a chery fayre, full of wo.”

The first of the following parallel passages is cited by Richardson in his _Dict._ under _Cherry_ (as also from the same work of Gower,

“And that endureth but a throwe,
Right as it were a _cherie feste_.”

B. vi. fol. cxxxiii. ed. 1554).

and Mr. Halliwell has obligingly forwarded to me a letter from one of his friends, who states that “cherry-wakes or _cherry-fairs_ used not long since to be held in Worcestershire on Sunday-evenings after divine service, and that in his own village there were three in the season, one for the early cherries, and two others for those of later growth.”

“For all is but _a cherie feire_
This worldes good, so as thei tell.”

Gower’s _Conf. Am._, Prol. fol. 3. ed. 1554.

“This worlde ys but _a chyrye feyre_, whan ȝe be heyest ȝe mowe aslake.”

Lydgate’s verses entitled _Make Amendes_,—_MS. Cott.
Calig._ A ii. fol. 67.

“Reuoluyng als this liif _a chere fayre_
To loke how sone she deyde the fayrist wight.”

_Poems_ by C. Duke of Orleans,—_MS. Harl._ 682. fol. 42.

“Thys werld hyt turnys euyn as a whele,
All day be day hyt wyl enpayre,
And so, sone, thys worldys wele,
Hyt faryth but as _a chery fare_.”

_How the wise man taught his son_,—_Pieces of An. Pop. Poetry_,
p. 90. ed. Ritson.

Page 2. v. 28. _to contribute Fraunce_] i. e. to take tribute of France. In 1475 Edward withdrew from France with his army on condition that Louis should pay him immediately 75 thousand crowns, settle on him an annuity for life of 50 thousand more, &c. See Lingard’s _Hist. of Engl._ v. 303. ed. 8vo.

v. 35. _as who sayth_] A not unfrequent expression in our early poetry, equivalent to—as one may say, as the saying is.

Page 3. v. 37. _I se wyll, they leve that doble my ȝeris_] i. e. I see well, that they live that double my years.

v. 38. _This dealid this world_] i. e. Thus dealed this world. Skelton elsewhere, like many of our old poets, uses _this_ for _thus_; as in his _Ware the Hauke_;

“Where Christis precious blode
Dayly offred is,
To be poluted _this_.”

v. 179. vol. i. 161.

v. 40. _Had I wyst_] i. e. Had I known,—the exclamation of one who repents of a thing done unadvisedly. It is very common in our early poetry. In _The Paradyse of daynty deuises_, 1576, the second copy of verses is entitled _Beware of had I wyst_.

v. 52. _occupy_] i. e. possess,—or, rather, use: “Surgyons _occupy_ oyntmentes, &c., Vulnarii medici _vtuntur_,” &c. Hormanni _Vulgaria_, sig. I. vi. ed. 1530.

v. 53. _I made the Tower stronge_] “Edward iv ... fortified the Tower, and _made it strong_.” Stow’s _Survey_, B. i. 79. ed. 1720.

v. 54. _I purchased Tetersall_] I have not found elsewhere any mention of Edward the Fourth having possessed Tattershall Castle in Lincolnshire. “It does not appear into whose hands the Tattershall estate fell after the death of the Lord Treasurer Cromwell [in 1455], until the year 1487, when Henry VII. granted the manor to his mother Margaret Countess of Richmond,” &c. _Hist. of the County of Lincoln_, ii. 73.

v. 55. _I amendid Douer_] “K. Edw. iv., by the advice of Lord Cobham, expended 10,000_l._ in repairing and fortifying the several works, and beautifying the apartments in it [Dover Castle].” Hasted’s _Hist. of Kent_, iv. 63.

Page 3. v. 56. _And London I prouoked to fortify the wall_]—_prouoked_, i. e. incited, caused.—“In the Seventeenth of Edward iv., Ralph Josceline, Maior, caused part of the Wall about the City to be repaired, to wit, between Aldgate and Aldersgate,” &c. Stow’s _Survey_, B. I. 10. ed. 1720.

v. 57. _I made Notingam a place full royall_] Leland, describing Nottingham Castle, says; “But the moste bewtifullest Part and gallant Building for lodgyng is on the Northe side, wher Edward the 4. began a right sumptuus pece of Stone Work, of the which he clerely finichid one excellent goodly Toure of 3. Hightes yn Building, and brought up the other Part likewise from the Foundation with Stone and mervelus fair cumpacid Windoes to layyng of the first soyle for Chambers and ther lefte.” _Itin._ i. 107. ed. 1770.

v. 58. _Wyndsore_] “The present magnificent fabrick [St. George’s Chapel at Windsor], which exhibits one of the most beautiful specimens in this or any other kingdom, of that richly ornamented species of architecture, which prevailed towards the close of the fifteenth and the commencement of the 16th century, was begun by King Edward IV., who having found it necessary to take down the old chapel on account of its decayed state, resolved to build another on the same site, upon a larger scale, and committed the superintendence of the building to Richard Beauchamp, bishop of Salisbury. The work was not completed till the reign of King Henry VIII.,” &c. Lysons’s _Berkshire_, p. 424: see too p. 468 of the same volume.—An account of the manors, &c., granted by Edward to Windsor College, will be found in Pote’s _Hist. of Wind. Castle_, p. 107.

—— _Eltam_] “K. Edw. iv. repaired this house [Eltham Palace] with much cost, and inclosed Horne-Park,” &c. Hasted’s _Hist. of Kent_, i. 51.

Page 4. v. 64. _solas_] i. e. sport, amusement.

v. 66. _Lady Bes_] Edward married, May 1st, 1464, the Lady Elizabeth Grey, widow of Sir John Grey, and daughter of Wydevile Lord Rivers by Jacquetta (or Jacqueline) Duchess of Bedford.

v. 70. _But Windsore alone, now I haue no mo_]—_mo_, i. e. more.—“He [Edward IV.] lies buried at Windsor, in the new Chappel (whose Foundation himself had laid, being all the Works of Piety by him left) under a Monument of Steel, polish’d and gilt, [iron gilt—see Lysons’s _Berkshire_, p. 210.], representing a Pair of Gates, betwixt Two Towers, all of curious transparent Workmanship after the Gothick Manner, which is placed in the North-Arch, faced through with Touch-Stone, near to the High-Altar.” Sandford’s _Geneal. Hist._ p. 413. ed. 1707.

Page 4. v. 73.

_Why should a man be proude or presume hye?_
_Sainct Bernard therof nobly doth trete,_
_Seyth a man is but a sacke of stercorry,_
_And shall returne vnto wormis mete._
_Why, what cam of Alexander the greate?_
_Or els of stronge Sampson, who can tell?_
_Were not wormes ordeyned theyr flesh to frete?_
_And of Salomon, that was of wyt the well?_
_Absolon profferyd his heare for to sell,_
_Yet for al his bewte wormys ete him also_]

—_stercorry_, i. e. dung: _frete_, i. e. eat, devour: _heare_, i. e. hair.—In cap. iii. of _Meditationes piissimæ de cognitione humanæ conditionis_, a piece attributed to Saint Bernard, we find, “_Nihil aliud est homo, quam_ sperma fœtidum, _saccus stercorum, cibus vermium.... Cur ergo superbis homo.... Quid superbis_ pulvis et cinis,” &c. Bernardi _Opp._ ii. 335-36. ed. 1719. In a _Rythmus de contemptu mundi_, attributed to the same saint, are these lines;

“Dic _ubi Salomon_, olim tam nobilis?
Vel _ubi Samson_ est, dux invincibilis?
Vel _pulcher Absalon, vultu mirabilis?_
...
_O esca vermium_! O massa pulveris!
O roris vanitas, _cur sic extolleris?_”

_Opp._ ii. 913-14. ed. 1719.

(This _Rythmus_ is printed by Mr. Wright among _The Latin Poems attributed to Walter Mapes_, p. 147.) So also Lydgate in a poem on the mutability of human affairs;

“And _wher is Salomon_ moost soueryn of konnynge,
Richest of bildyng, of tresour incomparable?
Face of _Absolon_ moost fair, moost amyable?
...
And _wher is Alisaundir_ that conqueryd al?”

_MS. Harl._ 2255. fol. 4, 5.

—_of wyt the well_: so in _Cæsar Augustus_;

“_Of witt_ art thou _the welle_.”—_Townely Mysteries_, p. 68.

v. 85. _I haue played my pageyond_] i. e. I have played my pageant,—my part on the stage of life. Compare

“Theyr _pageandes_ are past
And ours wasteth fast
Nothynge dothe aye last
But the grace of God.”

Feylde’s _Contrav. bytwene a louer and a Iaye_, sig. B iii. n. d. 4to.

“_Playis heir thair padyanis_, syne gois to graif.”

Dunbar’s _Poems_, i. 213. ed. Laing.

“To playe this parte or _padgeant_.” Palsgrave’s _Acolastus_, 1540, sig. S.—The word _pageant_ was originally applied to the temporary erections (sometimes placed upon wheels) on which miracle-plays were exhibited, afterwards to the exhibition itself. See Sharp’s _Diss. on Coventry Pag. and Myst._, p. 2; Collier’s _Hist. of Engl. Dram. Poet._, ii. 151.

Page 4. v. 86. _yeld_] i. e. eld, age.

Page 5. v. 87. _This_] i. e. Thus: see note on v. 38.

SKELTON LAUREATUS LIBELLUM SUUM, &c.

Page 6. v. 3. _leonis_] See note on v. 109 of next poem.

VPON THE DOLOUR[U]S DETHE AND MUCHE LAMENTABLE CHAUNCE OF THE MOST HONORABLE ERLE OF NORTHUMBERLANDE.

This elegy must have been written soon after the earl’s murder: see v. 162.—“The subject of this poem ... is the death of Henry Percy, fourth earl of Northumberland, who fell a victim to the avarice of Henry vii. In 1489 the parliament had granted the king a subsidy for carrying on the war in Bretagne. This tax was found so heavy in the North, that the whole country was in a flame. The E. of Northumberland, then lord lieutenant for Yorkshire, wrote to inform the king of the discontent, and praying an abatement. But nothing is so unrelenting as avarice: the king wrote back that not a penny should be abated. This message being delivered by the earl with too little caution, the populace rose, and, supposing him to be the promoter of their calamity, broke into his house, and murdered him, with several of his attendants, who yet are charged by Skelton with being backward in their duty on this occasion. This melancholy event happened at the earl’s seat at Cocklodge, near Thirske, in Yorkshire, April 28, 1489. See Lord Bacon, &c. If the reader does not find much poetical merit in this old poem (which yet is one of Skelton’s best [?]), he will see a striking picture of the state and magnificence kept up by our ancient nobility during the feudal times. This great earl is described here as having, among his menial servants, KNIGHTS, SQUIRES, and even BARONS: see v. 32, 183, &c., which, however different from modern manners, was formerly not unusual with our greater Barons, whose castles had all the splendour and offices of a royal court, before the Laws against Retainers abridged and limited the number of their attendants.” PERCY.

Page 6. v. 4. _Of the bloud royall descending nobelly_] “The mother of Henry, first Earl of Northumberland, was Mary daughter to Henry E. of Lancaster, whose father Edmond was second son of K. Henry iii. The mother and wife of the second Earl of Northumberland were both lineal descendants of K. Edward iii. The Percys also were lineally descended from the Emperour Charlemagne and the ancient Kings of France, by his ancestor Josceline de Lovain (son of Godfrey Duke of Brabant), who took the name of Percy on marrying the heiress of that house in the reign of Hen. ii. Vid. Camdeni Britan., Edmondson, &c.” PERCY.

v. 6. _again_] i. e. against.

Page 7. v. 14. _Elyconys_] i. e. Helicon’s.

v. 16. _astate_] i. e. estate, high rank.

v. 20. _nobles_] i. e. nobless, nobleness.

v. 21. _dites_] i. e. ditties.

v. 24. _hastarddis_] “i. e. perhaps, hasty, rash fellows.” PERCY.—Jamieson gives “_Hastard_. Irascible.” _Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang._

—— _tene_] i. e. wrath.

v. 26. _Confetered_] i. e. Confederated.

v. 27. _slee_] i. e. slay.

v. 30. _ken_] i. e. know.

v. 34. _karlis of kind_] i. e. churls by nature.

v. 35. _slo_] i. e. slay.

Page 8. v. 40. _bode_] i. e. abode.

v. 41. _glose_] “i. e. set a false gloss or colour.” PERCY.

v. 43. _redouted_] i. e. dreaded.

v. 45. _great estates_] i. e. persons of great estate or rank.

—— _lowted_] i. e. bowed, made obeisance.

v. 46. _mayny_] i. e. train, company, set.

v. 48. _paues_] i. e. shield (properly a large shield covering the body).

v. 49. _mot_] i. e. may.

v. 51. _fyll_] i. e. fell.

v. 53. _agayne_] i. e. against.

v. 59. _worshyp_] i. e. honour, respectability.

v. 62. _againe_] i. e. against (and so in the next line).

v. 63. _slee_] i. e. slay.

Page 9. v. 71. _fals packing_] i. e. false dealing (_packing_ is—iniquitous combination, collusion, for evil purposes, for deceiving, &c.).

v. 73. _occupied_] i. e. used: see note, p. 86, v. 52.

—— _shilde_] i. e. shield.

v. 78. _renyed_] i. e. refused.

v. 81. _buskt them_] “i. e. prepared themselves, made themselves ready.” PERCY. Rather,—hied.

Page 9. v. 81. _bushment_] i. e. ambushment.

—— _baile_] i. e. sorrow, trouble.

v. 82. _Againe_] i. e. Against.

—— _wring_] “i. e. contend with violence.” PERCY.

v. 84. _forsed_] i. e. regarded.

v. 87. _Presed_] i. e. Pressed.

v. 88. _faught them agagne_] i. e. fought against them.

Page 10. v. 96. _whose_] i. e. whoso.

v. 98. _sort_] i. e. set, band.

v. 100. _wode_] i. e. frantic, wild.

v. 102. _gode_] i. e. good.

v. 106. _spylt_] i. e. destroyed.

v. 109. _The myghty lyon_] “Alluding to his crest and supporters.” PERCY.

—— _doutted_] i. e. dreaded.

v. 115. _shoke_] i. e. shook.

Page 11. v. 118. _mysuryd_] “i. e. misused, applied to a bad purpose.” PERCY.

v. 123. _sleest_] i. e. slayest.

v. 125. _enharpit of mortall drede_] “i. e. hooked, or edged with mortal dread.” PERCY.

v. 126. _kit_] i. e. cut.

v. 128. _aureat_] i. e. golden, excellent.

—— _ellumynynge_] i. e. embellishing.

v. 131. _fuyson_] i. e. abundance.

v. 134. _Paregall_] i. e. Equal (thoroughly equal).

v. 135. _Surmountinge_] i. e. Surpassing.

v. 136. _reporte me_] i. e. refer.

v. 142. _enkankered_] i. e. corroded.

v. 143. _worshiply_] i. e. honourably.

v. 145. _supprised_] i. e. overpowered, smitten.

—— _lust_] i. e. liking, desire.

Page 12. v. 151. _Tretory_] i. e. Traitory, treachery.

v. 152. _holl_] i. e. whole.

v. 154. _sle_] i. e. slay.

v. 155. _hole quere_] i. e. whole quire.

v. 160. _holy_] i. e. wholly.

v. 162. _yonge lyon_] See note on v. 109. The fifth Earl of Northumberland was only eleven years old at his father’s death.

v. 166. _Agayn_] i. e. Against.

v. 172. _faytors_] “i. e. deceivers, dissemblers.” PERCY.—“_Faytoure_, Fictor, Simulator.” _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499.

Page 12. v. 176. _chere_] i. e. countenance, or (as it may mean here) spirit.

Page 13. v. 179. _Algife_] i. e. Although.

—— _thorow saught_] i. e. sought through.

v. 181. _complayne_] i. e. lament for.

v. 186. _worshyply_] i. e. honourably.

v. 195. _finaunce_] i. e. fine, forfeiture.

v. 196. _from the fendys pray_] “i. e. from being the prey of the fiends.” PERCY.

v. 199. _eterminable_] i. e. interminable.

Page 14. v. 212. _hole sorte_] i. e. whole company.

v. 213. _mot_] i. e. may.

—— _ad magistrum Rukshaw_] The person here addressed was perhaps “William Rowkshaw, priest,” by whom a letter, dated from the Gilbertine priory of Watton in the east riding of Yorkshire, is printed among the _Plumpton Correspondence_, p. 82. Camd. Soc. ed.

AGAYNSTE A COMELY COYSTROWNE, THAT CURYOWSLY CHAWNTYD, AND CURRYSHLY COWNTRED, &c.

Page 15. _Coystrowne_ (which Skelton uses again in his poem _Howe the douty Duke of Albany_, &c., v. 171. vol. ii. 73., and has Latinized in his _Speke, Parot_, v. 125. vol. ii. 7.) is written by Chaucer _quistron_;

“This God of Loue of his fashion
Was like no knaue ne _quistron_,
[_Ne resembloit pas un garçon_].”

_Rom. of the Rose_, fol. 113,—_Workes_, ed. 1602.

Urry renders it—a beggar (Fr. _questeur_); but Tyrwhitt observes, “I rather believe it signifies a scullion, _un garçon de cuisine_.” _Gloss. to C.T._—Douce says that Tyrwhitt’s explanation is correct, citing the words “_un quistron de sa cusyne_” from the prose French chronicle of the Brut of England, and Caxton’s version of them, “a knave of his kychen.” See _Gloss._ to Weber’s _Met. Rom._—Roquefort has “_Questron_: bâtard, enfant d’une prostituée.” _Gloss. de la Lang. Rom._—In Scottish poetry _custroun_ occurs several times: see Jamieson’s _Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang._ and _Suppl._, where are various conjectures on the derivation and meaning of the word.

In _Prompt. Parv._ we find “_Cowntryn_ in songe. Occento.” ed. 1499. To _counter_ is properly—to sing an extemporaneous part upon the plain chant. Skelton uses the word in other places, and perhaps not always in its strict sense.

v. 4.

_In peuyshnes yet they snapper and fall,_
_Which men the viii dedly syn call_]

_Snapper_ is commonly explained—stumble; but Palsgrave makes a distinction between the words: “I _Snapper_ as a horse dothe that tryppeth, _Ie trippette_. My horse dyd nat _stumble_ he dyd but _snapper_ a lytell, _Mon cheual ne choppyt poynt il ne fit que tripetter vng petit._” _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. ccclxv. (Table of Verbes.)—Compare the following lines;

“Not say y this but wel parcas that y
In _pevisshe synne_ myght happe me ī aseven
_Which is the viii synne_ to synnes vii.”

_Poems_ by C. Duke of Orleans,—_MS. Harl._ 682. fol. 145.

Page 15. v. 6. _prendergest_] A word (probably the origin of the surname _Prendergast_) which I am unable to explain.

v. 8. _bayardys bun_] i. e. horse-loaf, a sort of bread formerly much used for feeding horses: _bayard_ is, properly, a bay horse.

v. 9. _sumdele_] i. e. somewhat.

v. 11. _maunchet_] Properly, a small loaf of fine white bread.

—— _morell_] Properly, a dark-coloured, a black horse.

v. 13. _carp_] Which generally means—speak, talk,—is sometimes found applied to music, and here, perhaps, is equivalent to—make a noise.

v. 14. _Lo, Jak wold be a jentylman!_] So in Heywood’s _Dialogue_;

“_Iacke would be a gentleman_, if he could speake French.”

Sig. D 2,—_Workes_, ed. 1598.

See also Ray’s _Proverbs_, p. 124. ed. 1768.

v. 15.

_Wyth, Hey, troly, loly, lo, whip here, Jak,_
_Alumbek sodyldym syllorym ben!_
_Curyowsly he can both counter and knak_
_Of Martyn Swart and all hys mery men_]

_Hey, troly, loly_, Ritson observes, is a chorus or burden “of vast antiquity;” see _Anc. Songs_, ii. 8. ed. 1829: _counter_; see note on title of the poem: _knak_, i. e. triflingly, or affectedly shew off his skill in singing about, &c. In _A very mery and Pythie Commedie, called The longer thou liuest, the more foole than art_, &c. _Newly compiled by W. Wager_, 4to. n. d. (written in the early part of Elizabeth’s reign), Moros sings, among other fragments of songs,

“_Martin swart and his man, sodledum sodledum,_
_Martin swart and his man, sodledum bell._”

Sig. A 3.

and in a comparatively recent drama we find;

“The Beare, the Boare, and Talbot with his tuskish white,
Oh so sore that he would bite,
The Talbot with his Tuskish white,
_Soudledum Soudledum_;
The Talbot with his Tuskish white, _Soudledum bell_.
The Talbott with his Tuskish white,
Oh so sore that he would bite,
_Orebecke soudledum, sing orum bell_.”

_The Varietie_ (by the Duke of Newcastle), 1649. 12mo. p. 41.

Martin Swart, “a noble man in Germany, and in marciall feactes verye expert,” (Hall’s _Chron._ (_Henry VII._) fol. ix. ed. 1548), headed the auxiliaries sent by the Duchess of Burgundy with Lambert Simnel, and fell, fighting with great valour, at the battle of Stoke.

Page 15. v. 19. _pohen_] i. e. pea-hen.

Page 16. v. 21. _An holy water clarke_] _Aquæbajulus_; an office generally mentioned with contempt.

v. 23. _solfyth to haute_] i. e. solfas too haughtily,—highly.

v. 25. _to sharp is hys my_] “The syllable Mi used in solmisation.” Hawkins’s _Hist. of Music_, iii. 41.

v. 26. _pyrdewy_] Compare _Hycke Scorner_;

“Than into loues daunce we were brought,
That we played _the pyrdewy_.”

Sig. A v. ed. W. de Worde.

and _Colkelbie Sow_;

“Sum _Perdowy_ sum Trolly lolly.”

v. 303. Laing’s _Early Pop. Poet. of Scotland_.

v. 27. _besy_] i. e. busy.

v. 29. _a lewde lewte_] i. e. a vile lute.

—— _Roty bully joyse_] “The initial words of some old song.” Hawkins’s _Hist. of Music_, iii. 41.—In our author’s _Magnyfycence_, Courtly Abusyon exclaims,

“_Rutty bully_, ioly rutterkyn, heyda!”

v. 757, vol. i. 249.

Perhaps the same air is alluded to in _Colkelbie Sow_;

“Sum _Rusty bully_ with a bek.”

v. 320.—Laing’s _Early Pop. Poet. of Scotland_.

v. 33. _and he wyst_] i. e. if he knew.

v. 34. _sped_] i. e. versed.

—— _tauellys_] “_Tauell_ an instrument for a sylke woman to worke with.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. lxix. (Table of Subst.)

v. 36. _a payre of clauycordys_] i. e. a clavichord (so, formerly, an organ was called _a pair of organs_); of which see an engraving in Hawkins’s _Hist. of Music_, ii. 443.

v. 43. _jet_] Is explained in modern dictionaries—strut.—“I _Get_ I vse a proude countenaunce and pace in my goyng, _Ie braggue_.” “I _Iette_ with facyon and countenaunce to set forthe myselfe, _Ie braggue_.” “I Go a _iettynye_ or a ryottynge, _Ie raude_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fols. ccxlvi, cclxv, ccli. (Table of Verbes.)

Page 16. v. 47. _dumpys_] i. e. dumps.

v. 48. _prycke songe_] i. e. music _pricked_ or noted down; when opposed (see v. 54) to _plain song_, it meant counter-point, as distinguished from mere melody.

v. 49. _a larg and a long_] Characters in old music: one _large_ contained two _longs_, one _long_ two breves, &c.

v. 50. _iape_] i. e. jest, joke.

v. 51. _solayne_] i. e. sullen.

Page 17. v. 53. _fayne_] Palsgrave gives, “I _feyne_ in syngyng, _Ie chante a basse voyx_. We maye nat synge out we are to nere my lorde, but lette vs _fayne_ this songe,” &c. _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. ccxxxv. (Table of Verbes.) But here, I apprehend, _fayne_ can only mean—sing in falsetto. Our author, in _The Bowge of Courte_, has

“His throte was clere, and lustely coude _fayne_.”

v. 233. vol. i. 39.

v. 55. _Thys docter Deuyas commensyd in a cart_] So again Skelton in his _Colyn Cloute_,

“Auaunt, syr _doctour Deuyas_!”

v. 1159. vol. i. 356.

Compare a much later writer: “What, a graue Doctor, a base Iohn Doleta the Almanack-maker, _Doctor Deuse-ace_ and Doctor Merryman?” Nash’s _Haue with you to Saffron-Walden_, 1596. sig. L 3.—_commensyd_, i. e. who took his degree.

v. 60. _ne_] i. e. nor.

v. 61. _wark_] i. e. work, business.

v. 62. _walk, and be nought!_] Equivalent to—away, and a mischief on you!

v. 68. _Take thys in worth_] “I _Take in worthe_ or I take in good worthe, _Ie prens en gré_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. ccclxxxiiii. (Table of Verbes.)

v. 69. _Wryten at Croydon by Crowland in the Clay_] Concerning this line, the Rev. Joseph Hunter has obligingly remarked to me: “I was in hope of finding ‘Croydon by Crowland in the Clay’ by looking in Ingulphus and his Continuator, where all the places are mentioned in which the Abbey of Crowland (Croyland) had estates. No such name as Croydon appears; and as it is not in Speed’s maps, I see little chance of meeting with the place so called by Skelton. It would be a very bold emendation to read,—

‘Wryten _in Hoyland_ by Crowland in the Clay:’

the parts of Lincolnshire in which Crowland is situated are called Holland or formerly Hoylande.”—To G. Steinman Steinman, Esq., author of the _Hist. of Croydon_, I am indebted for the following observations: “The passage has been a puzzle to me. The distance is very great between Crowland and Croydon in Cambridgeshire; and in Croydon in Surrey there is no such place as Crowland, though I can point out to you ‘the Clays’ there. The manor of Crou_ham_ is in the Surrey Croydon, but far away from ‘the Clays.’”

Page 18. _Qd_] i. e. Quod, quoth.

VPPON A DEEDMANS HED, &c.

_couenable_, i. e. befitting: _sentence_, i. e. sense, meaning. The pointing perhaps ought to be thus;—“_in Englysh couenable, in sentence commendable_,” &c.

v. 13. _shyderyd_] i. e. split, splintered.

v. 18. _fell_] i. e. skin.

Page 19. v. 24. _mell_] i. e. meddle.

v. 29.

_Oure days be datyd,_
_To be chekmatyd_
_With drawttys of deth_]

_Checkmate_, the term at chess when the king is made prisoner, and the game consequently finished, is often used figuratively by our early writers. With the present lines compare the following passages:

“_Wyth a draght_ he was _chek mate_.”

_Kyng Roberd of Cysylle_,—_MS. Harl._ 1701. fol. 93.

“But she had taken suche cold for the defaute of helpe that depe _draughtes of deth_ toke her, that nedes she must dye,” &c. _Morte d’Arthur_, B. viii. c. i. vol. i. 247. ed. Southey.

v. 36. _brynnyng_] i. e. burning.

v. 40. _rew_] i. e. have pity.

v. 43. _shylde_] i. e. shield.

v. 45. _dyne_] i. e. dun, dark.

v. 46. _boteles bale_] i. e. remediless sorrow.

v. 48. _fendys blake_] i. e. fiends black.

v. 54. _solace_] i. e. pleasure.

“WOMANHOD, WANTON, YE WANT,” &c.

Page 20. v. 4. _recheles_] i. e. reckless.

v. 6. _draffe_] i. e. refuse: in our author’s _Elynour Rummyng_, v. 171. vol. i. 100, it means hog-wash,—the coarse liquor, or brewers’ grains, with which swine are fed.

Page 20. v. 13. _pohen_] i. e. peahen.

v. 18. _auayle_] i. e. advantage, profit.

v. 19. _shayle_] Is several times used by Skelton. “_Schayler_ that gothe awrie with his fete _boytevx_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. lxi. (Table of Subst.) “I _Shayle_ as a man or horse dothe that gothe croked with his legges: _Ie vas eschays_. It is to late to beate him for it nowe, he shal _shayle_ as longe as he lyueth ... _il yra eschays_ ... I _Shayle_ with the fete, _Ientretaille des pieds_.” _Id._ fol. cccxlviii. (Table of Verbes). “_A shayle_ with yᵉ knees togyther and the fete outwarde: _A eschays_.” _Id._ fol. ccccxxxvii. (Table of Aduerbes).

v. 20. _pyggysny_] “The Romans,” says Tyrwhitt, “used _oculus_ as a term of endearment, and perhaps _piggesnie_, in vulgar language, only means _ocellus_; the eyes of that animal being remarkably small.” Note on Chaucer’s _Cant. Tales_, v. 3268.—In confirmation of this etymology, Todd (_Johnson’s Dict._ in v. _Pigsney_) has shewn that the word was occasionally written _pigs eie_.

v. 21. _quyte_] i. e. requite.

Page 21. v. 26. _doute_] i. e. fear.

v. 28. _all beshrewde_] i. e. altogether cursed.

v. 29. _that farly swete_] i. e. that strange sweet one.

v. 30. _wonnes_] i. e. dwells.

—— _Temmys strete_] i. e. Thames’ street.

DYUERS BALETTYS AND DYTIES, &c.

_solacyous_] i. e. pleasant, amusing.

Page 22. v. 2. _quod_] i. e. quoth.

v. 4. _hardely_] i. e. boldly, with confidence.

v. 7. _kepe_] i. e. heed, regard, care.

v. 8.

_With ba, ba, ba, and bas, bas, bas,_
_She cheryshed hym both cheke and chyn_]

i. e. With kissings,—with, kiss me.

“Come ner my spouse, and let me _ba_ thy cheke.”

Chaucer’s _Wif of Bathes Prol._ v. 6015. ed. Tyr.

“I wald him chuk, _cheik and chyn_, and _cheris_ him so mekill.”

Dunbar’s tale of _The Tua Maryit Wemen and the Wedo_,—_Poems_, i. 71.
ed. Laing.

v. 10. _wyst_] i. e. knew.

v. 11. _He had forgoten all dedely syn_] Compare our author’s _Phyllyp Sparowe_, v. 1080. vol. i. 84.

v. 13. _He trusted her payment, and lost all hys pray_] In the note below the text I inconsiderately queried if “_pray_” should be “pay.” Compare the last of Skelton’s _Poems against Garnesche_;

“And thus there ye _lost yower pray_ [i. e. prey].”

v. 61. vol. i. 128.

Page 22. v. 15. _rowth_] i. e. rough.

—— _waters wan_] Many passages of our early poetry might be cited where this epithet is applied to water: see note on _Why come ye nat to Courte_, v. 887, where a wrong reading has misled H. Tooke and Richardson.

v. 18. _halsyd_] i. e. embraced (round the neck).

v. 19. _cought_] i. e. caught.

Page 23. v. 20. _lefe_] i. e. dear.

—— _rowtyth_] i. e. snoreth.

v. 21. _I wys_] i. e. truly, certainly (_i-wis_, adv.).

v. 23. _lust and lykyng_] “_Luste_ pleasure _delyt ... volupté._” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. xlvi. (Table of Subst.): _lykyng_; see note, p. 85. v. 8. This somewhat pleonastic expression (used again more than once by Skelton) is not uncommon in our old writers: “Allas my swete sones thenne she sayd, for your sakes I shalle lese my _lykynge and lust_.” _Morte d’Arthur_, B. xi. c. x. vol. ii. 174. ed. Southey. Nay, in the interlude of _The Worlde and the Chylde_, 1522, one of the characters bears the name of _Lust and Lykynge_.

v. 24. _blowboll_] “Blowbole _yuroigne_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. xx. (Table of Subst.).

“To _blowe in a bowle_, and for to pill a platter,” &c.

Barclay’s _First Egloge_, sig. A iiii. ed. 1570.

“Farewell Peter _blowbowle_ I may wel call thee.”

_Enterlude of Kyng Daryus_, 1565. sig. B.

Among the contents of MS. Rawlinson marked C. 86., Bodl. Libr., is a ludicrous poem entitled _Colyne Blowbols Testament_: see Sir F. Madden’s Introd. to _Syr Gawayne_, &c. p. lxvi.

v. 25. _luggard_] i. e. heavy fellow, sluggard.

v. 28. _powle hachet_] So again in our author’s _Garlande of Laurell_;

“_Powle hatchettis_, that prate wyll at euery ale pole.”

v. 613. vol. i. 386.

—— _bleryd thyne I_] (I—eye) i. e. imposed on, put a cheat on you.

_Qd._] i. e. Quod, quoth.

v. 4. _pastaunce_] i. e. pastime.

v. 7. _corage_] i. e. heart.

Page 23. v. 8. _fauorable_] i. e. well-favoured, beautiful.

v. 11. _Menolope_] In a “ballade” entitled _The IX. Ladies Woorthie_, printed among Chaucer’s _Workes_, the writer, after celebrating the eighth, “Quene Semiramys,” concludes thus;

“Also the ladie _Menalip_ thy sister deere,
Whose marcial power no man coud withstand,
Through the worlde was not found her pere,
The famous duke Thes[e]us she had in hand,
She chastised hym and [conquered] all his land,
The proude Greekes mightely she did assaile,
Ouercame and vanquished them in battaile.”

fol. 324. ed. 1602.

Compare Hawes;

“There was quene Phantasyle with penalape
Quene helayne and quene _menalape_.”

_The Pastime of pleasure_, sig. T iii. ed. 1555.

v. 16. _curtoyl_] i. e. curtal.

—— _set nowght by_] i. e. set no value, or regard, on.

Page 24. v. 17.

_Gup, morell, gup,_
_With jayst ye_——]

_morell_; see note, p. 93. v. 11.—_Gup_ and _jayst_ are exclamations applied to horses; compare our author’s _Elynour Rummyng_, v. 390. vol. i. 107., and his third _Poem against Garnesche_, v. 13. vol. i. 120. So too in _Camelles Rejoindre_ to Churchyarde (fol. broadside);

“Then _gip_ fellowe asse, then _jost_ fellowe lurden.”

v. 19. _corage_] i. e. heart, affection, inclination.

—— _haggys_] I know not in what sense Skelton uses this word: so again in his _Colyn Cloute_;

“I purpose to shake oute
All my connyng bagge,
Lyke a clerkely _hagge_.”

v. 50. vol. i. 313.

and in his poem _Howe the douty Duke of Albany_, &c.;

“For thou can not but brag,
Lyke a Scottyshe _hag_.”

v. 294. vol. ii. 76.

v. 20. _Haue in sergeaunt ferrour_] i. e. Bring in sergeant farrier. “_Ferrour._ Ferrarius. Ferrator.” _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499. The title _sergeant_ belongs properly to certain of the king’s servants: so in an unpublished _Liber Excerpt. Temp. Hen. vii. et Hen. viii._ in the Chapter-house, Westminster;

(xix. of “Item payd to the _sergeant_ plummer and }
Hen. vii.) bartram opon their indentures for grenewiche } _xxli._”

Page 24. v. 23. _keylyth_] i. e. (perhaps) cooleth—but I do not understand the passage.

v. 24. _neuer a dele_] i. e. not a bit.

v. 25. _wrenche_] “_Wrenche_, a wyle _gauche_, _ruse_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. lxxvi. (Table of Subst.).

v. 30. _dyntes_] i. e. blows.

v. 31. _He bresyth theyr braynpannys_] i. e. He bruiseth, breaketh their skulls, heads: “_Pan_ of the hede. _Cranium._” _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499.

v. 32. _all to-brokyn_] A writer in the new ed. of Boucher’s _Gloss._ (in v. _All_) justly observes that it is a mistake to suppose that in such expressions _all_ is coupled with _to_, and that it becomes equivalent to _omnino_ from being thus conjoined. The augmentative _to_ is connected with the following word as a prefix, and often occurs without being preceded by _all_: so in our author’s _Bowge of Courte_,

“A rusty gallande, _to-ragged_ and _to-rente_.”—v. 345. vol. i. 43.

—— _clappys_] i. e. strokes.

v. 33. _to lepe the hach_] i. e. to run away:—(_hatch_—the fastened half or part of the door, the half-door).

“I pretende [i. e. intend] therefore _to leape ouer the hatche_.”

_The Triall of Treasure_, 1567. sig. E ii.

v. 34. _By theyr conusaunce knowing how they serue a wily py_] _Conusaunce_ is cognizance,—a badge worn by servants; _py_ is magpie: there seems to be some allusion to armorial bearings.

v. 36. _It can be no counsell that is cryed at the cros_] i. e. It can be no secret that is proclaimed at the market-place.

v. 38. _furst_] i. e. first.

—— _los_] May mean _loss_, but, rather, it would seem, “_Loos_ or bad name. Infamia.” _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499.

v. 39. _warke_] i. e. work.

_Qd_] i. e. Quod, quoth.

Page 25. v. 3. _Corage wyth lust_] See notes, p. 98. v. 23., p. 99. v. 19: but the whole stanza is very obscure.

v. 7. _surmountyng_] i. e. surpassing.

v. 8. _Allectuary_] i. e. Electuary.

—— _arrectyd_] i. e. perhaps, considered sovereign; to _arrect_ is to impute: or it may simply mean—raised up; our author’s _Garlande of Laurell_ begins

“_Arectyng_ my syght towarde the zodyake.”—vol. i. 361.

—— _redres_] i. e. relieve, remedy.

v. 9. _axys_] i. e. fits, paroxysms.

“Yet I haue felt of the sicknesse through May
Both hote and cold, and _axes_ euery day.”

Chaucer’s _Cuckow and Nightingale_,—_Workes_, fol. 316. ed. 1602.

“Ther comyth a _quarteyn_, seith in his gret _accesse_,” &c.

Lydgate’s verses _Against Self-love_,—_MS. Harl._ 2255. fol. 8.

“Help _feuerous_ folk that tremble in ther _accesse_.”

Lydgate’s _Prayer to St. Leonard_,—_MS. Harl._ 2255. fol. 114.

In some parts of England and Scotland _access_ is still used to denote the ague.—Lest any reader should think this note unnecessarily long, I may observe that in two recently published works the word “_axes_” is erroneously explained,—aches.

Page 25. v. 10. _Of thoughtfull hertys plungyd in dystres_] Skelton borrowed this line from Lydgate, whose _Lyf of our Lady_ begins

“O _thoughtful herte plungyd in distresse_.”

In the _Bibl. Poet._ p. 82, Ritson gives these words as the commencement of a poem by Lydgate, _Cott. Ap._ viii., not knowing that this reference is to a MS. of the _Lyf of our Lady_.—_Thoughtfull_ is anxious, heavy, sad.

“For _thought_ and woe pyteously wepynge.”

Lydgate’s _Warres of Troy_, B. iv. sig. T v. ed. 1555.

v. 13. _Herber_] Warton appears to limit the signification of this word in old poetry to “an herbary for furnishing domestic medicines,” which, says he, “always made a part of our ancient gardens;” note on _Hist. of E. P._ ii. 231. ed. 4to. But Jamieson observes, that it would seem to be used for arbour by James I., _Kings Quair_, ii. 12, 13., and in the romance of _Sir Egeir_, v. 356. _Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang._ (in v. _Herbere_). See also _The Flower and the Leaf_, and _The Complaint of the Black Knight_, by Chaucer.

v. 14. _lusty somer_] i. e. pleasant summer.

v. 16. _ruddys_] i. e. ruddy tints of the cheek, complexion.

v. 17. _Saphyre of sadnes_]—_sadnes_, i. e. steadiness, constancy:

“For hit is write and seide how _the safere_
_Doth token trowthe_.”

_Poems_ by C. Duke of Orleans,—_MS. Harl._ 682. fol. 44.

—— _enuayned with indy blew_] _enuayned_, i. e. enveined. “_Inde._ Fr., Azure-coloured.” Tyrwhitt’s _Gloss. to Chaucer’s Cant. Tales_. “Inde, _ynde_: couleur de bleu foncé, d’azur, _indicum_.” Roquefort’s _Gloss. de la Lang. Rom._ So again our author in his _Magnyfycence_;

“The streynes of her vaynes as asure _inde blewe_.”

v. 1571. vol. i. 276.

See too his _Garlande of Laurell_, v. 478. vol. i. 381. Compare Hawes;

“Lyke to a lady: for to be moost trewe
She ware a fayre: and goodly garment
Of moost fyne veluet: al of _Indy blewe_
With armynes powdred: bordred at the vent.”

_The Pastime of pleasure_, sig. K iiii. ed. 1555.

and Nevil, son of Lord Latimer, in a poem of great rarity;

“On the gates two scryptures I aspyed
Theym for to rede my mynd than I applyed
Wryten in gold and _indye blewe_ for folkes fortheraunce.”

_The Castell of pleasure_, sig. A v. 1518.

Chaucer has

“Of grasse and floures, _Inde_ and Pers.”

_Romaunt of the Rose_,—_Workes_, fol. 109. ed. 1602.

(monstrously explained in Urry’s ed. “Indian and Persian”): and Lydgate,

“Nor stonys al by nature, as I fynde,
Be not saphires that shewethe _colour ynde_.”

_The Chorle and the Bird_,—_MS. Harl._ 116. fol. 150.

Sir John Mandeville says that the beak of the Phœnix “is coloured blew as _ynde_.” _Voiage and Travaile_, &c., p. 58. ed. 1725.

Page 25. v. 20. _Geyne_] i. e. Against.

———— _the emeraud comendable;_
_Relucent smaragd_]

_Emeraud_ (emerald) and _smaragd_ are generally considered as synonymous; but here Skelton makes a distinction between them. So too Drayton in his _Muses Elizium_, 1630. p. 78; and Chamberlayne in his _Pharonnida_, 1659. B. ii. c. 4. p. 150. And so R. Holme: “The _Emrauld_ is green.”—“The _Smaradge_ is of an excellent fresh green, far passing any Leaf.” _Ac. of Armory_, 1688. B. ii. pp. 39, 41. James I. in his _Quair_ mentions