Page 178. Henry the Seventh died April 21st, 1509, in the 24th year of
his reign (see Sir H. Nicolas’s _Chron. of Hist._ pp. 333, 350. sec.
ed.), and in the 52d (according to some authorities, the 53d) year of his
age; and was interred in the splendid chapel which bears his name.
“Here lieth buried in one of the stateliest Monuments of Europe, both for
the Chappell, and for the Sepulchre, the body of Henry the seuenth....
This glorious rich Tombe is compassed about with verses, penned by that
Poet Laureat (as he stiles himselfe) and Kings Orator, Iohn Skelton: I
will take onely the shortest of his Epitaphs or Eulogiums, and most to
the purpose.
Septimus hic situs est Henricus, gloria Regum
Cunctorum, ipsius qui tempestate fuerunt,
Ingenio atque opibus gestarum et nomine rerum,
Accessere quibus nature dona benigne:
Frontis honos, facies augusta, heroica forma,
Junctaque ei suauis coniux, perpulchra, pudica,
Et fecunda fuit: felices prole parentes,
Henricum quibus octauum terra Anglia debes.”
Weever’s _Anc. Fun. Mon._, p. 476. ed. 1631.
But the above lines are not in Marshe’s ed. of Skelton’s _Workes_; nor
are they assigned to him in _Reges, Reginæ, Nobiles, et alii in Ecclesia
Collegiata B. Petri Westmonasterii sepulti_, &c. 1603,—where they occur,
sig. D.
—— _ad sinceram contemplationem reverendi in Christo patris ac domini,
domini Johannis Islippæ abbatis Westmonasteriensis_] So Skelton again in
his _Replycacion_, &c. “ad cujus auspicatissimam _contemplationem_, sub
memorabili prelo gloriosæ immortalitatis, præsens pagella felicitatur,
&c.” vol. i. 206; and in his _Garlande of Laurell_,—
“Of my ladys grace _at the contemplacyoun_,
Owt of Frenshe into Englysshe prose,
Of Mannes Lyfe the Peregrinacioun,
He dyd translate,” &c.
v. 1219. vol. i. 410.
Compare also Hollinshed; “_At the contemplation_ of this cardinall, the
king lent to the emperour a great summe of monie.” _Chron._ (Hen. viii.)
vol. iii. 839. ed. 1587. Concerning the Abbot Islip, see _Account of
Skelton and his Writings_.
Page 179. v. 19. _sua_] Used for _ejus_.
—— _Leo candidior Rubeum necat ense Leonem_] _Leo candidior_, i. e. the
Earl of Surrey, whose badge was a White Lion: _Rubeum Leonem_, i. e. King
James the Fourth, slain at Flodden, who bore the royal arms of Scotland,
a Red Lion. See note on the poem _Against the Scottes_, p. 220. v. 135.