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.