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.