NOTES TO VOLUME I. (continued 3)

v. 617. yll hayle] i. e. ill health,—ill luck,—a common imprecation in our old poetry;

See too Chester Mysteries (De Del. Noe), p. 27. Roxb. ed.

Page 114. v. 619. to mytche] i. e. too much.

v. 620. mummynge] i. e. frolicking, merriment.

Page 115. v. 622. gest] i. e. story. “Gest or romauns.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499.

v. 623. this worthy fest] So in the Coventry Mysteries;

and in Cavendish’s Life of Wolsey, “It is not to be doubted but that the king was privy of all this worthy feast.” p. 199. ed. 1827.

Quod] i. e. Quoth.

POEMS AGAINST GARNESCHE.

All the particulars concerning Garnesche, which I have been able to discover will be found in the Account of Skelton and his Writings.

Page 116. v. 1. Sithe] i. e. Since.

v. 4. Syr Tyrmagant]—or Termagant,—a very furious deity, whom the Crusaders and romance-writers charged the Saracens with worshipping, though there was certainly no such Saracenic divinity. Concerning the name, see Gifford’s note on Massinger’s Works, ii. 125. ed. 1813, and Nares’s Gloss. in v.—So in The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy, which in various minute particulars bears a strong resemblance to the present pieces Against Garnesche;

—— tyrnyd] i. e. tourneyed, encountered.

v. 5. Syr Frollo de Franko] Was a Roman knight, governor of Gaul, slain by King Arthur: see Geoffrey of Mon. l. ix. cap. ii., The Legend of King Arthur, Percy’s Rel. of A. E. P. iii. 39. ed. 1794, &c. &c.

—— talle] i. e. valiant.

v. 6. Syr Satrapas] Neither with this, nor with the personage mentioned in the next line, have I any acquaintance.

v. 8. haue ye kythyd yow a knyght]—kythyd, i. e. made known, shewn.

Garnesche had the dignity of knighthood; see Account of Skelton and his Writings. In the heading, and first line, of this poem, he is called Master; but knights were frequently so addressed. In Cavendish’s Life of Wolsey mention is made of “Sir William Fitzwilliams, a knight,” who is presently called “Master Fitzwilliams,” pp. 310, 311. ed. 1827, and of “Sir Walter Walshe, knight,” who is immediately after termed “Master Walshe,” pp. 339, 340, and of “that worshipful knight Master Kingston,” p. 374.

Page 116. v. 8. Syr Dugles the dowty] “The high courage of Dowglasse wan him that addition of Doughty Dowglasse, which after grew to a Prouerbe.” Marg. Note on the description of the Battle of Shrewsbury, in Drayton’s Polyolbion, Song 22. p. 37. ed. 1622.

v. 9. currysly] i. e. currishly.

v. 10. stowty] i. e. stout.

v. 11. Barabas] The robber mentioned in Scripture.

—— Syr Terry of Trace]—Trace, i. e. Thrace: but I do not recollect any romance or history in which a Sir Terry of that country is mentioned.

v. 12. gyrne] i. e. grin.

—— gomys] i. e. gums.

v. 15. Syr Ferumbras the ffreke]—ffreke (common in romance-poetry in the sense of—man, warrior) is here, as the context shews, equivalent to furious fellow: we have had the word before, see p. 109. v. 187. Consult the analysis of the romance of Sir Ferumbras in Ellis’s Spec. of Met. Rom. ii. 356, and Caxton’s Lyf of Charles the Grete, &c., 1485, for much about this Saracen, called in the latter Fyerabras,—“a meruayllous geaunte,”—“whyche was vaynquysshed by Olyuer, and at the laste baptysed, and was after a Saynt in heuen.” Sig. b viii.

v. 16. Syr capten of Catywade, catacumbas of Cayre] Cayre is Cairo; but I am unable to explain the line. In the opening of Heywood’s Four P. P., the Palmer says, he has been at “the graet God of Katewade,” alluding, as O. Gilchrist thinks, to Catwade-bridge in Sampford hundred in Suffolk, where there may have been a famous chapel and rood; see Dodsley’s Old Plays, i. 61. last ed.

v. 17. Thow] i. e. Though.

—— Syr Lybyus] See note, p. 138. v. 649.

v. 18. contenons oncomly] i. e. countenance uncomely.

v. 19. apayere] i. e. impair—become less.

Page 117. v. 22. Of Mantryble the Bryge, Malchus the murryon]—murryon, i. e. Moor; so in the third of these poems, Skelton calls Garnesche “Thou murrionn, thou mawment,” v. 170. vol. i. 125; so too in the Scottish Treasurer’s Accounts for 1501, “Peter the Moryen,” Dunbar’s Poems, ii. 306. ed. Laing; and in a folio broadside, M. Harry Whobals mon to M. Camell, &c. (among the “flytings” of Churchyard and Camell), “Some morryon boye to hold ye vp.” If the present passage means that the Bridge was guarded by a Moor called Malchus, I know not what authority Skelton followed. Concerning the Bridge of Mantryble see the analysis of the romance of Sir Ferumbras, Ellis’s Spec. of Met. Rom. ii. 389; and Caxton’s Lyf of Charles the Grete, &c., 1485, “Of the meruayllous bridge of Mantryble, of the trybute there payed for to passe ouer,” &c., sig. e viii., and how “the strong brydge of mantryble was wonne not wythoute grete payne,” sig. h viii.: it was kept by a giant, named Algolufre in the former, and Galafre in the latter, who was slain by the Frenchmen when the Bridge was won. In The Bruce of Barbour, the hero reads to his followers “Romanys off worthi Ferambrace” and how Charlemagne “wan Mantrybill and passit Flagot.” B. ii. v. 832 sqq. ed. Jam. “The tail of the brig of the mantribil” is mentioned in The Complaynt of Scotland, p. 98. ed. Leyden. Compare also Don Quixote; “nor that [history] of Fierabras, with the Bridge of Mant[r]ible, which befell in Charlemaines time, and is, I sweare, as true, as that it is day at this instant.” P. i. B. iv. c. xxii. p. 546., Shelton’s trans., 1612.

Page 117. v. 23. blake Baltazar with hys basnet routh as a bere] Does blake Baltazar mean one of the Magi, or, as they were commonly called, the Three Kings of Cologne? “the third, Balthasar, a black or Moor, with a large spreading beard,” &c. Festa Anglo-Romana, p. 7, cited in Brand’s Pop. Ant. i. 19 (note), ed. 1813: with hys basnet routh as a bere, i. e. with his cap (not helmet, it would seem,) rough as a bear.

v. 24. Lycon, that lothly luske]—Lycon is probably Lycaon; see note, p. 127. v. 311. “Here is a great knaue i. a great lyther luske, or a stout ydell lubbar.” Palsgrave’s Acolastus, 1540. sig. X ii. “Luske a vyle parsone ribavlt, esclaue, lovrdavlt.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xlvi. (Table of Subst.). The word is often used as a term of reproach in general.

v. 25. brymly] i. e. fiercely, ruggedly.

—— here] i. e. hair.

v. 26. bake] i. e. back.

—— gere] i. e. dress.

v. 30. a camoke] Is explained—a crooked stick, or tree; a crooked beam, or knee of timber.

v. 31. teggys] See note, p. 164. v. 151.

Page 117. v. 33. Orwelle hyr hauyn] By Harwich.

v. 36. Sarson] i. e. Saracen. So in The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy (see note, p. 177. v. 4), “Sarazene, syphareit,” &c. Dunbar’s Poems, ii. 75. ed. Laing.

—— ble] i. e. colour, complexion.

v. 37. As a glede glowynge] i. e. glowing like a burning coal:—but qy. did Skelton write “as a glede glowrynge?” i. e. staring like a kite. He uses glede in this latter sense in Magnyfycence, v. 1059. vol. i. p. 259: and in The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy (see note, p. 177. v. 4) we find,—

—— ien] i. e. eyne, eyes.

v. 39. passe] i. e. excel.

v. 40. Howkyd as an hawkys beke, lyke Syr Topyas] i. e. Hooked, &c. The allusion is to Chaucer’s Sire Thopas, who “had a semely nose.” v. 13659. ed. Tyr.

v. 41. buske] i. e. prepare, or rather, perhaps, hie.

v. 42. fole] i. e. fool.

Be] i. e. By.

gorbelyd] i. e. big-bellied.

Godfrey] Concerning this person, who assisted Garnesche in his compositions, and is afterwards called his scribe, I can give the reader no information.

Page 118. v. 2. [Your] gronynge, ȝour grontynge, your groinynge lyke a swyne] Skelton has elsewhere;

To groin is explained to groan, to grunt, to growl; but perhaps our author may have used it like the French “Groigner. To nuzle, or to root with the snout.” Cotgrave’s Dict.

v. 3. alle to peuiche] See note, p. 100. v. 32.

v. 4. mantycore] See note, p. 127. v. 294.

—— maltaperte] i. e. malapert, (perhaps an error of the transcriber).

v. 5. lere] i. e. complexion, skin.

—— gresyd bote] i. e. greased boot.

Page 118. v. 6.

—Cayface, i. e. Caiaphas: copious is perhaps an allusion to some sort of cope, in which that personage might have figured on the stage. The usual explanations of paltock (“Paltok. Baltheus,” Prompt. Parv.; “a short garment of the doublet kind,” Strutt’s Dress and Habits, &c. ii. 352) do not seem to suit the present passage. In Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lii. (Table of Subst.) we find “Paltocke a patche palleteau;” and see what immediately follows in this poem: Thow, i. e. Though: chek mate; see note, p. 96. v. 29.

Compare The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy (see note, p. 177. v. 4)

v. 8. Hole] i. e. Whole, healed.

—— Deu[ra]ndall] Was the celebrated sword of Roland: see (among other works which might be referred to) Caxton’s Lyf of Charles the Grete, &c., 1485, “How Rolland deyed holyly after many martyres and orysons made to god ful deuoutely, and of the complaynte maad for hys swerde durandal.” Sig. m i.

—— awne] i. e. own.

v. 11. Ye countyr vmwhyle to capcyously, and ar ye be dysiryd]—countyr; see note, p. 92: vmwhyle, i. e. some time: to, i. e. too: ar, i. e. ere.

v. 12. all to-myryd] See note, p. 100. v. 32,—meaning, I suppose, all befouled.

v. 15. Gabionyte of Gabyone] So in his Replycacion agaynst certayne yong scolers, &c. Skelton calls them “Gabaonitæ,” vol. i. 218.

—— gane] “I Gane or gape.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. ccxliii. (Table of Verbes).

v. 16. Huf a galante] Compare;

In some Glossary, to which I have lost the reference, is “Huff, a gallant.”

Page 118. v. 16. loke] i. e. look.

v. 17. Lusty] See note on title of the next poem, p. 183.

—— jet] i. e. strut; see note, p. 94. v. 43.

—— jaspe] Does it mean—wasp?

v. 19. that of your chalennge makyth so lytyll fors] i. e. that maketh (make) so little matter of your challenge.

Page 119. v. 22. Syr Gy, Syr Gawen, Syr Cayus, for and Syr Olyuere] Concerning the two first see notes, p. 136. v. 629: Cayus, or Kay, was the foster-brother of King Arthur; see the Morte d’Arthur, &c. &c.: for and is an expression occasionally found in much later writers; see Middleton’s Fair Quarrel, act v. sc. 1., Works, iii. 544. ed. Dyce; and Beaumont and Fletcher’s Knight of the Burning Pestle,—

a passage which the modern editors have most absurdly altered: Olyuere was one of the twelve peers of France.

v. 23. Priamus] Perhaps the personage so named, who fought with Gawayne, and was afterwards made a knight of the Round Table; see Morte d’Arthur, B. v. ch. x. xii. vol. i. 148 sqq. ed. Southey.

v. 24. Arturys auncyent actys] An allusion, perhaps, more particularly to the Morte d’Arthur; see its other title in note, p. 137. v. 634.

v. 25. fysnamy] i. e. physiognomy. So in The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy (see note, p. 177. v. 4.)

v. 26. to hawte] i. e. too haughty.

—— I wys] i. e. truly, certainly (i-wis, adv.).

v. 29. Godfrey] See note on title of this poem, p. 180.

—— gargons] i. e. Gorgon’s.

v. 30. Syr Olifranke] Qy. a mistake of the transcriber for Syr Olifaunte, the giant mentioned in Chaucer’s Sire Thopas?

—— splay] i. e. display.

v. 31. Baile] Seems to mean—howl, cry. “I Balle as a curre dogge doth, Ie hurle.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. clvii. (Table of Verbes).

—— folys] i. e. fools.

v. 32. ȝe] i. e. ye.

Page 119. v. 36. Gup] See note, p. 99. v. 17.

—— gorbellyd] i. e. big-bellied.

v. 37. turney] i. e. tourney, contend.

—— to fare to seke] i. e. too far at a loss, inexperienced,—unable.

v. 38. whypslovens] A term which I do not understand.

—— a coke stole] i. e. a cucking-stool, a chair or stool fixed at the end of a long pole, used for the punishment of scolds and brawlers by plunging them in the water.

v. 39. mantycore] See note, p. 127. v. 294.

—— marmoset] A kind of ape, or monkey.

Page 120.—— lusty Garnyche welle be seyn Crysteouyr] Both these epithets allude to his dress: “Lusty or fresshe in apparayle frisque.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xci. (Table of Adiect.): welle be seyn; see note, p. 112. v. 283.—Compare Dunbar;

v. 1. lewde] i. e. ignorant, vile.

v. 3. skrybe] Printed by mistake in the text “skryke”—means Godfrey; see note on title of the preceding poem, p. 180, and compare v. 90 of the present.

v. 6. I caste me] i. e. I project, design.

v. 9. fauyr] i. e. appearance, look.

v. 11. cousshons] i. e. cushions.

v. 12. condycyonns] i. e. qualities, dispositions, habits. “Condycions maners meurs.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., fol. xxv. (Table of Subst.). “Whan a man is set in autoryte, than shall his condycyons be spyed ... Mores deprehenduntur.” “Thy good condycyons ... virtutes tuas.” Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. N i. ed. 1530.

v. 13. Gup, marmeset, jast ye, morelle] See notes, p. 93. v. 11. p. 99. v. 17, and this page, v. 39.

v. 14. lorelle] i. e. good-for-nothing fellow (see Tyrwhitt’s Gloss. to Chaucer’s Cant. Tales).

v. 15. Lewdely] i. e. Badly, (as in v. 18 lewdnes, i. e. badness); but in v. 19 it is to be understood in its more original meaning—ignorantly.

v. 18. awne] i. e. own.

v. 20. ȝe] i. e. ye.

v. 21. to wyde] i. e. too wide.

Page 120. v. 26. dryvyll] See note, p. 113. v. 337.

v. 27. your nose dedde sneuylle] So in The Flytyng of Dunbar and Kennedy (see note, p. 177. v. 4);

v. 30. fonne] i. e. fool.

v. 31. A gose with the fete vponne] i. e. a goose with its feet on.

Page 121. v. 32. slvfferd vp] i. e. slabbered up.

—— sowse] “Succiduum. anglice. sowce.” Ortus Vocab. fol. ed. W. de Worde, n. d. (and so Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499). “Souce trippes.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lxv. (Table of Subst.). And see Todd’s Johnson’s Dict. and Richardson’s Dict. in v.

v. 34. xulde] i. e. should: a provincialism (see, for instance, the Coventry Mysteries passim), to be attributed not to Skelton, but to the transcriber.

v. 36. bawdy] i. e. foul; see note, p. 161. v. 90.

v. 38. haftynge] See note, p. 107. v. 138.

—— polleynge] i. e. plundering.

v. 40. Gynys] i. e. Guines.

v. 41. spere] i. e. spire, shoot,—stripling.

v. 42. lewdly] i. e. vilely, meanly.

—— gere] i. e. apparel.

v. 46. dud frese] i. e. coarse frieze.

v. 52. ȝe] i. e. ye.

v. 53. warde] i. e. wardrobe.

v. 54. kyst a shepys ie] i. e. cast a sheep’s eye.

v. 56. gonge] i. e. privy.

v. 62. bassyd] i. e. kissed.

Page 122. v. 68. pyllyd garleke hed] Palsgrave has both “Pylled, as one that wanteth heare,” and “Pylled scalled.” Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xciii. (Table of Adiect.). Compare the next poem Against Garnesche;

Pilled-garlick was a term applied to a person whose hair had fallen off by disease; see Todd’s Johnson’s Dict. in v.

v. 69. hocupy there no stede] i. e. occupy there no place, stand in no stead,—avail nothing.

v. 70. Syr Gy of Gaunt] So our author again, in his Colyn Cloute;

In The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy (which, as already shewn, strongly resembles the present pieces Against Garnesche in several minute particulars) we find—

and at p. 37 of the same vol., in The Droichis Part of the Play, attributed to Dunbar,—

So too Sir D. Lyndsay in his Epistill to the Kingis Grace before his Dreme,—

who explains it “the well-known Sir Guy of romance.” But both Dunbar and Lyndsay allude to a story concerning the ghost of a person called Guy, an inhabitant of Alost. There is a Latin tract on the subject, entitled De spiritu Guuidonis, of which various translations into English are extant in MS. One of these is now before me, in verse, and consisting of 16 closely written 4to pages: Here begynnyth a notabyll matere and a gret myracule don be oure lord ihesus cryst and shewyd In the ȝeer of his incarnacion MCCCXXIII. [printed Latin tract now before me has MCCCXXIIII.] and in the xvi day of decembyr in the Cete of Aleste. Whiche myracule ys of a certeyn man that was callyd Gy. and deyde and aftyr viii days he apperyd to his wyf aftyr the comaundment of god. of whiche apperyng she was aferd and oftyn tyme rauysshid. Than she toke conseyl and went to the ffreris of the same cete and tolde the Pryor ffrere Iohnn goly of this mater, &c. As Gaunt is the old name of Ghent, and as Alost is about thirteen miles from that city, perhaps the reader may be inclined to think,—what I should greatly doubt,—that Skelton also alludes to the same story.

Page 122. v. 71. olyfaunt] i. e. elephant.

v. 72. pykes] i. e. pickaxe. “Pykeys. Ligo. Marra.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499.

—— twybyll] “Twybyll writis instrument. Bisacuta. Biceps.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499. “Twybill or mactok. Marra. Ligo.” Ibid. “Bipennis ... a twyble or axe, a twall.” Ortus Vocab. ed. 1514. (in the earlier ed. fol. n. d. W. de Worde, the English explanation is less full). “Twyble an instrument for carpentars bernago.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lxxi. (Table of Subst.).

Page 122. v. 75. wary] Is frequently found in the sense of curse,—

but here, I apprehend, it means—war, contend.

v. 79. eldyr steke] i. e. elder-stick.

v. 87. sowtters] i. e. shoemakers, cobblers.

v. 88. seche a nody polle] i. e. such a silly head, ninny.

v. 89. pryste] i. e. priest.

v. 90. your scrybys nolle] i. e. your scribe’s head,—Godfrey’s; see note on title of the preceding poem, p. 180.

v. 91. fonde] i. e. foolish.

v. 93. make] i. e. compose verses.

v. 94. dawpate] i. e. simple pate, simpleton; see note, p. 113. v. 301.

Page 123. v. 101. Bolde bayarde] The proverbial expression, “as bold as blind bayard,”—(bayard, properly a bay horse, but used for a horse in general),—is very ancient, and of very frequent occurrence in our early literature; its origin is not known:

v. 102. kynde] i. e. nature.

v. 108.

i. e. You would be called a composer of verses, or poet, and you compose much in the style of Jack Raker. So again our author;

So too in the comedy by Nicholas Udall, entitled Ralph Royster Doyster;

Mr. Collier (Hist. of Engl. Dram. Poet. ii. 448) speaks of Jack Raker as if he really had existed: I rather think that he was an imaginary person, whose name had become proverbial.

v. 110. crakar] i. e. vaunter, big talker.

Page 123. v. 114. despyghtyng] “I Dispyte I grutche or reprime agaynst a thing.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. ccxiiii. (Table of Verbes).

v. 115. nat worthe a myteyng]—myteyng (which occurs in our author’s Elynour Rummyng as a term of endearment, v. 224. vol. i. 102) is here perhaps equivalent to “Myte the leest coyne that is pite.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xlviii. (Table of Subst.).

v. 117. scole] i. e. school.

v. 118. occupyed no better your tole] i. e. used no better your tool, pen: see note, p. 86. v. 52.

v. 119. Ye xulde haue kowththyd me a fole] i. e. You should have made me known for, shewn me to be, a fool.

v. 121. wyse] i. e. think, intend.

v. 122. xall] i. e. shall.

v. 123. Thow] i. e. Though.

—— Sarsens] i. e. Saracen’s.

v. 124. Row] i. e. Rough.

—— here] i. e. hair.

v. 125. heuery] i. e. every.

v. 127. peson] i. e. pease.

v. 129. geson] i. e. scarce, scanty.

v. 131.

—shuruy, i. e., perhaps, “shrovy, squalid.” Forby’s Vocab. of East Anglia. With this passage compare The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy (see note, p. 177. v. 4);

Page 124. v. 139. Xall kyt both wyght and grene] i. e. Shall cut both white and green,—an allusion to the dress which our author appears to have worn as Laureat; see Account of Skelton and his Writings.

v. 140. to grett] i. e. too great.

v. 143. puauntely] i. e. stinkingly, strongly.

v. 155. crawes] i. e. crops, stomachs.

v. 157. perke] i. e. perch.

v. 158. gummys] i. e. gums.

Page 124. v. 159. serpentins] “His campe was enuironed with artilerie, as fawcones, serpentynes, cast hagbushes,” &c. Hall’s Chronicle (Henry viii.), fol. xxviii. ed. 1548.

v. 160. bynde] i. e. bend; so in the next poem we find “wyll” for “well,” and “spynt” for “spent,” peculiarities to be attributed to the transcriber, not to Skelton.

v. 162. scorpyone] So in The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy (see note, p. 177. v. 4) “scorpion vennemous.” Dunbar’s Poems, ii. 75. ed. Laing.

v. 163. bawdy babyone] i. e. filthy baboon; see note, p. 161. v. 90.

v. 165. mantycore] See note, p. 127. v. 294.

v. 168. gresly gargone] i. e. grisly Gorgon.

—— glaymy] i. e., I suppose, slimy, clammy.

v. 169. seymy] i. e. greasy.

Page 125. v. 170. murrionn] i. e. Moor; see note, p. 178. v. 22.

—— mawment] “Mawment. Idolum. Simulacrum.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499. “Maument marmoset, poupee.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xlvii. (Table of Subst.). “Mawment, a puppet.” Brockett’s Gloss. of North Country Words.—(Mawmet, i. e. Mahomet.)

v. 172. marmoset] A sort of ape or monkey.

v. 173. I wyll nat dy in they det]—they, i. e. thy; as in the next poem.—Compare Cocke Lorelles Bote;

v. 175. xulddst] i. e. shouldst.

v. 176. xall] i. e. shall.

v. 177. hole] i. e. whole.

v. 178. Soche pelfry thou hast pachchyd] I do not understand this line: pelfry is, perhaps, pilfery; but does it not rather mean—petty goods,—which Garnesche had pachchyd, fraudulently got together? “Muche of theyr fishe they do barter with English men, for mele, lases, and shoes, and other pelfery.” Borde’s Boke of knowledge, sig. I, reprint. “Owt of whyche countre the sayd Scottys fled, and left mych corne, butters, and other pylfre, behinde theim, whyche the ost hade.” Letter from Gray to Crumwell, State Papers, iii. 155,—the Vocabulary to which renders pylfre, pillage—wrongly, I believe.

v. 179. houyr wachyd] i. e. over watched.

v. 180. thou xuldyst be rachchyd] i. e. thou shouldest be stretched—have thy neck stretched. So in The Flytyng of Dunbar and Kennedy (see note, p. 177. v. 4);

Page 125. v. 182. be bedawyd] Does it mean—be daunted? or, be called simple fellow? see note, p. 113. v. 301.

v. 183. fole] i. e. fool.

v. 184. gronde] i. e. ground.

v. 186. Syr Dalyrag] So our author elsewhere;

v. 187. brag] i. e. proud, insolent.

v. 189. kyt ... to large] i. e. cut ... too large.

v. 190. Suche pollyng paiaunttis ye pley] i. e. Such plundering pageants, thievish pranks, you play. The expression to “play a pageant”—to play a part,—has before occurred, see note, p. 88. v. 85. With the present passage compare: “This one pageant hath stayned al other honest dedes ... flagitium.” Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. N v. ed. 1530. “That was a wyly pageaunt ... commentum.” Id. sig. N vi. “Thou gatest no worshyp by this pageant ... facinore.” Id. sig. P v. “He had thought to playe me a pagent: Il me cuyda donner le bont.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. cccxvii. (Table of Verbes). “A felowe which had renued many of Robin Hodes Pagentes.” Fabyan’s Chron. vol. ii. fol. 533. ed. 1559. “After he had plaied all his troublesome pageants,” &c. Holinshed’s Chron. (Hen. viii.) vol. iii. 830. ed. 1587.

v. 191. poynt] i. e. appoint, equip.

—— fresche] i. e. smart.

v. 192. he] i. e. Godfrey; see note on title of the second of these poems, p. 180.

v. 193. rowllys] i. e. rolls.

v. 194. sowllys] i. e. souls.

v. 197.

—fylythe, i. e. defileth. This proverb occurs in The Owl and the Nightingale (a poem of the 12th century), p. 4. Rox. ed.

v. 199. wyst what sum wotte] i. e. knew what some know.

Page 126. v. 204. Jake a thrum] In his Magnyfycence our author mentions “Jacke a thrommys bybyll,” v. 1444. vol. i. 272 (also in his Garlande of Laurell, v. 209. vol. i. 370); and in his Colyn Cloute he uses the expression,—

where the MS. has “Jacke athrum.”—Compare: “And therto acordes too worthi prechers, Jacke a Throme and Ione Brest-Bale.” Burlesques,—Reliquiæ Antiquæ (by Wright and Halliwell), i. 84.

goliardum] Equivalent, probably, to buffoon, or ridiculous rhymer. See Du Cange’s Gloss. in v., Tyrwhitt’s note on Chaucer’s Cant. Tales, v. 562, and Roquefort’s Gloss. in v. Goliard.

lusty Garnyshe well beseen Crystofer] See note on title of the third of these poems, p. 183.

Page 126. v. 1. gargone] i. e. Gorgon.

v. 3. Thowthe ye kan skylle of large and longe] i. e. Though you be skilled in large and long; see note, p. 95. v. 49.

v. 4.

—o lay, i. e. one strain. So Lydgate;

v. 12. Cicero with hys tong of golde] So Dunbar speaking of Homer and Tully;

v. 17. xalte] i. e. shalt.

—— warse] i. e. worse.

v. 18. They] i. e. Thy; as in the preceding poem.

Page 127. v. 23. lest good kan] i. e. that knows the least good.

v. 25. wylage] i. e. village.

v. 28. Lothsum as Lucifer] So in The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy (see note, p. 177. v. 4), “Luciferis laid.” Dunbar’s Poems, ii. 75. ed. Laing.

v. 29. gasy] i. e. gaze, look proudly.

v. 30. Syr Pers de Brasy] i. e. Pierre de Brézé, grand-seneschal of Anjou, Poitou, and Normandy, and a distinguished warrior during the reigns of Charles vii. and Lewis xi.: he fell at the battle of Montlhéry in 1465.

v. 31. caytyvys carkes] i. e. caitiff’s carcass.

v. 32. blasy] i. e. blaze, set forth.

v. 33. Gorge Hardyson] Perhaps the “George Ardeson” who is several times mentioned in the unpublished Bokis of Kyngis Paymentis Temp. Hen. vii. and viii., preserved in the Chapter-House, Westminster: one entry concerning him is as follows;

“[xxiii. of Hen. vii.] George Ardeson and Domynicke Sall er bounden in an obligacion to pay for the lycence of cccl buttes of malvesey viˢ viiiᵈ for euery but within iii monethes next after they shalbe layde vpon lande cxviˡⁱ xiiiˢ.”

Page 127. v. 34. habarion] i. e. habergeon. “Haburion. Lorica.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499.

v. 35. the Januay] i. e. the Genoese. “The ianuays ... Genuenses.” Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. k iii. ed. 1530.

v. 36. trysyd hys trowle away] i. e. (I suppose) enticed away his trull.

v. 37. paiantes] See note, p. 189. v. 190.

v. 39. gate] i. e. got.

—— gaudry] i. e., perhaps, trickery. In the Towneley Mysteries, gawde, trick, occurs several times.

v. 41. Fanchyrche strete] i. e. Fenchurch Street.

v. 42. lemmanns] i. e. mistresses.

v. 43. Bas] i. e. Kiss.

—— buttyng] A term of endearment, which I do not understand.

—— praty] i. e. pretty.

v. 47. Bowgy row] i. e. Budge Row: “This Ward [Cordwainers Street Ward] beginneth in the East, on the West side of Walbrooke, and runneth West, thorow Budge row (a street so called of the Budge Furr, and of Skinners dwelling there),” &c. Stow’s Survey, B. iii. 15. ed. 1720.

v. 50. mow] i. e. mouth,—mock.

Page 128. v. 54. lust] i. e. liking, inclination.

v. 55. broke] i. e. badger.

v. 56. Gup, Syr Gy] See notes, p. 99. v. 17. p. 184. v. 70.

v. 57. xulde] i. e. should.

v. 59. herey] i. e. hairy.

v. 60. on Goddes halfe] See note, p. 174. v. 501.

v. 61. pray] i. e. prey.

v. 63. auncetry] i. e. ancestry.

v. 66. askry] See notes, p. 145. v. 903. p. 152. v. 1358.

v. 68. Haroldis] i. e. Heralds.

v. 69. Thow] i. e. Though.

v. 73. brothells] i. e. harlots. “Brothell pailliarde putayn.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xxii. (Table of Subst.).

Page 128. v. 75. Betweyn the tappett and the walle] A line which occurs again in our author’s Magnyfycence, v. 1249. vol. i. 265: tappett, i. e. tapestry, hangings.

v. 76. Fusty bawdyas] An expression used again by Skelton in his Garlande of Laurell;

It occurs in the metrical tale The Kyng and the Hermyt;

and several times after, in the same poem.

v. 77. harres] Equivalent to—collection. Fr. haras, a stud. “Haras of horse. Equicium.” Prompt. Parv.,—MS. Harl. 221.

v. 78. clothe of Arres] i. e. tapestry; so called from Arras in Artois, where the chief manufacture of such hangings was.

v. 79. eylythe] i. e. aileth.

—— rebawde] i. e. ribald.

v. 82. Auaunsid] i. e. Advanced.

v. 83. hole] i. e. whole.

v. 85. lorell] See note, p. 183. v. 14.

—— to lewde] i. e. too ignorant, vile.

v. 86. Lythe and lystyn] i. e. Attend and listen—a sort of pleonastic expression common in our earliest poetry.

—— all bechrewde] See note, p. 97. v. 28.

Page 129. v. 88. pointyd] i. e. appointed.

v. 89. semyth] i. e. beseemeth.

—— pyllyd pate] See note, p. 184. v. 68.

v. 91. scryue] i. e. write.

v. 92. cumys] i. e. becomes.

v. 93. tumrelle] i. e. tumbrel.

v. 94. melle] i. e. meddle.

v. 95. The honor of Englande] i. e. Henry the Eighth.

v. 97. wyl] i. e. well; as afterwards in this poem.

—— parcele] i. e. part, portion.

v. 98. yaue] i. e. gave.

v. 99. Eliconys] i. e. Helicon’s.

v. 101. commyth] i. e. becometh.

Page 129. v. 101. remorde] Fr. “Remordre. To bite again; also, to carpe at, or find fault with.” Cotgrave’s Dict. The word is frequently used by Skelton (see, for instance, vol. i. 188, where he introduces it with other terms nearly synonymous,—“reprehending” and “rebukynge”).

v. 102. creaunser] i. e. tutor: see Account of Skelton and his Writings.—Erasmus, in his Paraph. in Epist. Pauli ad Galat. cap. 4. v. 2,—Opp. vii. 956. ed. 1703-6, has these words; “sed metu cohibetur, sed alieno arbitrio ducitur, sub tutoribus et actoribus agens,” &c.: which are thus rendered in The Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Newe Testament, vol. ii. fol. xiii. ed. 1548-9; “but is kept vnder with feare, and ruled as other men wyll, passyng that tyme vnder creansers and gouernours,” &c. (Fr. creanser.)

v. 105. primordialle] i. e. original, earliest.

v. 106. rybawde] i. e. ribald.

—— reclame] i. e. tame,—a metaphor from falconry; see note, p. 148. v. 1125.

v. 111. warlde] i. e. world.

v. 114. bawdy] i. e. foul; see note, p. 161. v. 90.

Page 130. v. 117. Thow] i. e. Though.

—— pyllyd] See note, p. 184. v. 68.

—— sade] i. e. sad,—sober, discreet,—wise (see the preceding line).

v. 120. Thowth] i. e. Though.

v. 122. throw] i. e. little while, moment.

v. 125. thé froo] i. e. from thee.

v. 127. lewde] i. e. ignorant.

—— shrow] i. e. curse.

v. 132. Prickyd] i. e. Pointed.

v. 133.

—manys, i. e. man’s: bake, i. e. back: Wher, i. e. Were. Compare our author’s poem against Dundas, v. 37. vol. i. 194, and Bale’s Kynge Iohan, p. 35. Camden ed.

v. 135. wyll] i. e. well; as before in this poem.

v. 136. ouyrthwarthe] i. e. overthwart,—cross, perverse, cavillous, captious.

v. 144. steuyn] i. e. voice.

v. 145. follest] i. e. foulest.

v. 146. lyddyr] Or lither,—is—sluggish, slothful, idle; but the word is often used in the more general meaning of wicked, evil, depraved.

Page 130. v. 146. lewde] i. e. ignorant.

v. 147. well thewde] i. e. well dispositioned, well mannered.

Page 131. v. 148. Besy] i. e. Busy.

v. 149. Syr Wrig wrag] A term several times used by Skelton; see note, p. 189. v. 186.

v. 151. slyght] i. e. trick, contrivance.

v. 153. to mykkylle] i. e. too much.

v. 154. I xulde but lese] i. e. I should but lose.

v. 155. tragydese] i. e. tragedies. Skelton does not mean here dramatic pieces: compare his piece Against the Scottes, v. 72. vol. i. 184. So Lydgate’s celebrated poem, The Tragedies, gathered by Iohn Bochas, of all such Princes as fell from theyr estates, &c.

v. 157. my proces for to saue]—proces, i. e. story; see notes, p. 143. v. 735. p. 146. v. 969. So our author in his Why come ye nat to Courte;

v. 158. xall] i. e. shall.

v. 162. a tyd] i. e. betime.

v. 164. Haruy Haftar] See note, p. 107. v. 138.

v. 166. xulde] i. e. should.

v. 170. hay ... ray] Names of dances, the latter less frequently mentioned than the former:

v. 171. fonde] i. e. foolish.

v. 173. lewdenes] i. e. ignorance, baseness, worthlessness.

v. 176. spynt] i. e. spent, employed.

v. 180. I xall thé aquyte] i. e. I shall requite thee.

AGAINST VENEMOUS TONGUES.

Page 132. Psalm cxlij.] Vulg. cxix. 3.

Psal. lxvii.] Vulg. li. 7.

v. 4. Hoyning] “Hoigner. To grumble, mutter, murmure; to repine; also, to whyne as a child or dog.” Cotgrave’s Dict. “Hoi, a word vsed in driuing hogges,” says Minsheu; who proceeds to derive it “a Gr. κοΐ, quod est imitatio vocis porcellorum.” Guide into Tongues.

—— groynis] See note, p. 180. v. 2.

—— wrotes] i. e. roots.

Page 132. v. 2. made ... a windmil of an olde mat] The same expression occurs again in our author’s Magnyfycence, v. 1040. vol. i. 258.

v. 4. commaunde] i. e. commend.

—— Cok wat] See note, p. 108. v. 173.

Page 133. v. 2. lack] i. e. fault, blame.

v. 3. In your crosse rowe nor Christ crosse you spede]—crosse rowe, i. e. alphabet; so called, it is commonly said, because a cross was prefixed to it, or perhaps because it was written in the form of a cross. See Nares’s Gloss. in v. Christ-cross. Christ crosse you spede alludes to some other elementary form of instruction:

and see title of a poem cited p. 167. v. 296.

v. 7. cognisaunce] i. e. badge.

v. 1. scole] i. e. school, teaching.

—— haute] i. e. high, lofty.

v. 2. faute] i. e. fault.

v. 2. faitours] Has been explained before (see p. 91. v. 172)—deceivers, dissemblers; and is rendered by Tyrwhitt (Gloss. to Chaucer’s Cant. Tales), lazy, idle fellows; but here the word seems to be used as a general term of reproach,—scoundrels.

—— half straught] i. e. half in their senses.

v. 4. liddrous] See note, p. 193. v. 146.

—— lewde] i. e. ignorant, vile.

v. 3. vale of bonet of their proude sayle]—vale, i. e. lower: bonet means a small sail attached to the larger sails.

v. 4. ill hayle] See note, p. 176. v. 617.

Page 134. v. 4. vntayde] i. e. untied, loose.

—— renning] i. e. running.

v. 7. lewdly alowed] i. e., perhaps, ignorantly approved of.

v. 9. vertibilite] i. e. variableness.

v. 10. folabilite] i. e. folly.

v. 12. coarte] i. e. coarct, constrain.

v. 13. hay the gy of thre] Perhaps an allusion to the dance called heydeguies (a word variously spelt).

v. 2. Pharaotis] i. e. (I suppose) Pharaoh.

v. 1. vnhappy] i. e. mischievous.

Page 135. v. 2. atame] i. e. tame.

v. 1. tratlers] i. e. prattlers, tattlers.

v. 3. Scalis Malis] i. e. Cadiz. “The tounes men of Caleis, or Caleis males, sodainly rong their common bell,” &c. Hall’s Chronicle (Hen. viii.), fol. xiii. ed. 1548. “His fortunatest piece I esteem the taking of Cadiz Malez.” A Parallel of the Earl of Essex and the Duke of Buckingham,—Reliquiæ Wottonianæ, p. 177. ed. 1672.

Page 135. v. 4. nut shalis] i. e. nutshells.

v. 7. ren] i. e. run.

—— lesinges] i. e. falsehoods.

v. 8. wrate suche a bil] i. e. wrote such a letter.

v. 10. ill apayed] i. e. ill pleased, ill satisfied.

v. 1. hight] i. e. is called.

v. 2. quight] i. e. requite.

v. 5. Although he made it neuer so tough] The expression, to make it tough, i. e. to make difficulties, occurs frequently, and with several shades of meaning, in our early writers; see R. of Gloucester’s Chronicle, p. 510. ed. Hearne, and the various passages cited in Tyrwhitt’s Gloss. to Chaucer’s Cant. Tales in v. Tough. Palsgrave has “I Make it tough I make it coye as maydens do or persons that be strange if they be asked a questyon.” Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. ccxcii. (Table of Verbes).

ON TYME.

Page 137. v. 5. hym lyst] i. e. pleases him.

v. 6. couenable] i. e. fit.

v. 10. sad] i. e. serious.

v. 17. trauell] i. e. travail, labour.

v. 21. prease] i. e. press, throng.

Page 138. v. 23. lacke] i. e. blame.

v. 24. rotys] i. e. roots.

—— vere] i. e. spring.

Quod] i. e. Quoth.

PRAYER TO THE SECONDE PARSON.

Page 139. v. 7. Agayne] i. e. Against.

v. 8. woundis fyue] A common expression in our early poetry;

See too Dunbar’s Poems, i. 229. ed. Laing.

Page 140. v. 10. blo] i. e. livid; see note, p. 103. v. 3.

WOFFULLY ARAID

Is mentioned by our author as one of his compositions in the Garlande of Laurell, v. 1418. vol. i. 417.

With the opening of this piece compare Hawes’s Conuercyon of Swerers, where Christ is made to exclaim,

and a little after,

Barclay too has,

Woffully araid is, I believe, equivalent to—wofully disposed of or treated, in a woful condition. “Araye condicion or case poynt.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xviii. (Table of Subst.)—(and see note, p. 164. v. 163).

—“His [Tybert’s] body was al to beten, and blynde on the one eye. Whan the kynge wyste this, that tybert was thus arayed, he was sore angry, &c.” Reynard the Fox, sig. b 8. ed. 1481. Again in the same romance, when Isegrym the wolf has received a kick on the head from a mare, he says to Reynard, “I am so foule arayed and sore hurte, that an herte of stone myght haue pyte of me.” Sig. f 4.

“I am fowle arayed with a chyne cowgh. Laceor pertussi.”—“He was sore arayed with sycknesse. Morbo atrociter conflictus est.” Hormanni Vulgaria, sigs. II iii. I ii. ed. 1530.

Page 141. v. 4. naid] i. e. denied.

v. 5. bloo] i. e. livid; see note, p. 103. v. 3.

v. 8. encheson] i. e. cause.

v. 9. Sith] i. e. Since.

v. 12. fretid] Equivalent to—galled.

v. 14. mowid] i. e. made mouths at, mocked.

v. 19. hart rote] i. e. heart-root.

Page 141. v. 20. panys] i. e. pains.

—— vaynys] i. e. veins.

—— crake] i. e. crack.

Page 142. v. 24.

Entretid, i. e. Treated. So in a “litel dite” by Lydgate, appended to his Testamentum;

v. 29. bobbid] i. e. struck. So Lydgate in the piece just cited;

and in the Coventry Mysteries, Nichodemus seeing Christ on the cross, says

—— robbid] i. e. (I suppose) robed.

v. 30. Onfayned] Generally means un-glad, displeased, which even in the forced sense of—to my sorrow, is against the intention of the passage: it seems to be used here for—Unfeignedly: and see note, p. 207. v. 81.

—— deynyd] i. e. disdained;

v. 33. myȝt] i. e. might.

v. 39. enterly] i. e. entirely.

v. 43. ȝytt] i. e. yet.

v. 45. race] i. e. tear, wound.

v. 48. Butt gyve me thyne hert]—hert, i. e. heart. With this and v. 41 compare Lydgate’s “litel dite” already cited;

Page 143. v. 49. wrouȝt] i. e. wrought, formed.

—— bowgȝt] i. e. bought, redeemed.

v. 50. hyȝt] i. e. high.

v. 55. sawlys] i. e. soul’s.

v. 59. Hytt] i. e. It.

—— nayd] i. e. denied.

v. 60. blow] i. e. livid; see note, p. 103. v. 3.

NOW SYNGE WE, &c.

This piece is mentioned by Skelton as his own composition in the Garlands of Laurell, v. 1420. vol. i. 417.

Page 144. v. 1.

Compare Lydgate;

The hymn Vexilla regis prodeunt, &c. may be seen in Hymni Ecclesiæ e Breviario Parisiensi, 1838, p. 71. I ought to add that the present poem is not a translation of it.

v. 3. onfelde is [s]playd] i. e. is displayed on field.

v. 4. nayd] i. e. denied.

v. 11. thees] i. e. thighs.

v. 13. pyne] i. e. pain.

v. 14. spylt] i. e. destroyed, put to death.

v. 17. dong] i. e. dung, struck.

Page 145. v. 25. fote] i. e. foot.

v. 31. Syth] i. e. Since.

v. 33. chere] i. e. spirit,—or reception.

v. 35. lykes] i. e. pleases.

v. 40. eysell] i. e. vinegar.

v. 51. doone] i. e. done.

Page 146. v. 60. isprode] i. e. spread.

v. 68. payne] i. e. labour, strive.

v. 71. mys] i. e. miss, fail.

v. 72. Withouten nay] i. e. Without contradiction, assuredly.

v. 74. hardnes] i. e. cruelty.

LATIN POEM.

Page 147. v. 7. gentis Agarenæ] i. e. of the race of Hagar.

THE MANER OF THE WORLD NOW A DAYES.

In giving this poem a place among our author’s undoubted productions, I now apprehend that I deferred too much to the judgment of my friend Mr. J. P. Collier, who had recently reprinted it without suspecting its genuineness. It may, after all, be Skelton’s; but at any rate it is only a rifacimento of the following verses,—found in MS. Sloane, 747. fol. 88, and very difficult to decipher:

Page 148. v. 9. gardes] i. e. facings, trimmings.

v. 10. Jagged] See note, p. 163. v. 124: but here probably (as certainly in v. 54) something ornamental is meant.

—— al to-torne] See note, p. 100. v. 32.

v. 15. hostryes] i. e. inns.

v. 17. warkes] i. e. works.

v. 22. preves] i. e. proves; equivalent, perhaps, to—turn out well.

Page 149. v. 25. garded hose] i. e. faced, trimmed breeches.

v. 26. cornede] i. e. horned, pointed.

v. 29. questes] i. e. inquests.

v. 31. quitte] i. e. acquitted.

v. 50. crakers] i. e. vaunters, big talkers.

v. 54. cultyng and jagging] See note above, v. 10: cultyng, I believe, should be cuttyng.

Page 150. v. 57. knackes] i. e. trifles, toys, or perhaps tricks.

v. 58. naughty packes] An expression which occurs again in our author’s Garlande of Laurell, v. 188. vol. i. 369, is common in writers of a much later date, and is not yet altogether obsolete (see The Dialect of Craven, &c. in Noughty-Pack),—equivalent to worthless, loose persons (properly, it would seem, cheaters; see Richardson’s Dict. in v. Pack).

Page 151. v. 90. kepe tuche] i. e. keep contract, agreement.

v. 93. pore] i. e. poor.

v. 94. bordoure] i. e. border.

v. 101. bowyers] i. e. bow-makers.

v. 102. fletchers] i. e. arrow-makers.

v. 105. chepers] i. e. traffickers, sellers (compare the fourth stanza on the opposite page).

v. 109. alle sellers] i. e. ale-sellers.

v. 110. baudy] i. e. foul; see note, p. 161. v. 90.

—— sellers] i. e. cellars.

v. 113. pinkers] Some cant term which I do not understand.

Page 152. v. 121. vacabounde] i. e. vagabond.

v. 122. londe] i. e. land.

v. 123. bonde] i. e. bound.

v. 129. fleyng] i. e. flying.

v. 130. males] i. e. bags, wallets, pouches.

Page 152. v. 138. covetous] i. e. covetise, covetousness.

v. 141. carders] i. e. card-players.

v. 143. yl ticers] i. e. evil-enticers.

v. 145. lollers] “Apostaticus ... anglice a renegade or loller.” Ortus Vocab. ed. 1514. “Lollar heretique.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xlv. (Table of Subst.). So at the conclusion of The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy, the term Lollard is used to signify a heretic: see Dunbar’s Poems, ii. 445 (note), ed. Laing. Compare too our author’s Replycacion, &c. v. 204. vol. i. 215.

v. 146. tollers] i. e. tellers, speakers.

v. 147. pollers] i. e. plunderers.

Page 153. v. 153. So many avayles] An expression which I do not understand: the poem just given from MS. Sloane has “So lytle avayles;” see p. 201, last stanza but two.

v. 154. geales] i. e. gaols.

v. 161. jackes] i. e. jackets.

v. 163. partlettes] i. e. ruffs.

v. 166. tucking hookes] Another expression which I do not understand.

v. 169. song] i. e. sung.

v. 178. brybors] i. e. thieves,—properly, pilferers. “Briboure. Manticulus.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499; and see note on our author’s Magnyfycence, v. 1242.

v. 182. everichone] i. e. every one.

Page 154. v. 186. convenient] i. e. fitting, suitable.

WARE THE HAUKE.

This poem was evidently called forth by a real event; but the name of the “hawking parson” has not transpired. According to Barclay, skill in hawking sometimes advanced its possessor to a benefice;

I may add, that afterwards, in the same work, when treating of indecorous behaviour at church, Barclay observes;

Page 155. v. 5. abused] i. e. vitiated, depraved.

v. 8. daw] i. e. simpleton, fool; see note, p. 113. v. 301.

v. 16. him fro] i. e. from him.

Page 156. v. 22. dysgysed] i. e. guilty of unbecoming conduct: so again in our author’s Colyn Cloute;

v. 30. apostrofacion] i. e. apostrophe.

v. 34. wrate] i. e. wrote.

v. 35. lewde] i. e. ignorant, worthless.

v. 42. Dis] Of which Skelton was rector; see Account of his Life and Writings.

v. 43. fonde] i. e. foolish.

—— fauconer] i. e. falconer.

v. 44. pawtenar] “Pautner [Pawtenere, MS. Harl. 221.]. Cassidile.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499. “Will. Brito: Cassidile dicitur pera Aucupis in modum reticuli facta, in quo ponit quos in casse, id est, rete, cepit.” Du Cange’s Gloss. in v. “Pera ... anglice a skryppe or a pawtner.” Ortus Vocab. fol. ed. W. de Worde, n. d.

v. 48. hogeous] i. e. hugeous, huge.

v. 49. auter] i. e. altar.

v. 50. craked] i. e. talked vauntingly.

Page 157. v. 55. yede] i. e. went.

v. 56. pray] i. e. prey.

v. 60. tyrid] A term in falconry: the hawk tired on what was thrown to her, when she pulled at and tore it.

v. 62. mutid] i. e. dunged.

—— a chase] Compare a passage in that curious tract, by Walter Smith, xii Mery Jests of the wyddow Edyth;

in consequence of which, she is compelled suddenly to quit the supper-table, and,

“A chase at tennis is that spot where a ball falls, beyond which the adversary must strike his ball to gain a point or chace. At long tennis, it is the spot where the ball leaves off rolling.” Douce’s Illust. of Shakespeare, i. 485. Compare our author’s Why come ye nat to Courte, v. 880. vol. ii. 53.

Page 157. v. 63. corporas] i. e. communion-cloth, the fine linen cloth used to cover the body, or consecrated elements.

v. 65. gambawdis] i. e. gambols, pranks.

v. 66. wexid] i. e. waxed.

—— gery] “Gerysshe, wylde or lyght heeded farouche.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lxxxviii. (Table of Adiect.).

Tyrwhitt explains “gery—changeable.” Gloss. to Chaucer’s Cant. Tales. Richardson observes that in the present passage of Skelton “it seems to be giddy (sc.) with turning round.” Dict. in v.

v. 69. the rode loft] A loft (generally placed just over the passage out of the church into the chancel,) where stood the rood,—an image of Christ on the cross, with figures of the Virgin Mary and Saint John on each side of it: compare v. 126 of the present poem;

v. 70. perkyd] i. e. perched.

v. 71. fauconer] i. e. falconer.

—— prest] i. e. ready.

v. 72. dow] i. e. pigeon.

v. 73. And cryed, Stow, stow, stow!] So Fansy, in our author’s Magnyfycence, exclaims to his hawk,

Compare Brathwait’s Merlin;

“Make them come from it to your fist, eyther much or little, with calling and chirping to them, saying: Towe, Towe, or Stowe, Stowe, as Falconers vse.” Turbervile’s Booke of Falconrie, &c. p. 182. ed. 1611.

Page 157. v. 76. lure] See note, p. 147. v. 1100.

v. 78. endude] “She [the hawk] Enduyth whan her meete in her bowelles falle to dygestyon.” Book of St. Albans, by Juliana Barnes, sig. C iii.

v. 79. ensaymed] i. e. purged from her grease. “Ensayme of an hawke,” says the lady just quoted, “is the greeys.” Sig. A v. See too “How you shall enseame a Hawke,” &c. in Turbervile’s Booke of Falconrie, &c. p. 115. ed. 1611.

v. 80. reclaymed] i. e. tamed; see note, p. 148. v. 1125.

v. 81. fawconer] i. e. falconer.

—— vnfayned] Either, unfeignedly (in the next line but six is “not fayne nor forge”) or un-glad, displeased: see note, p. 198. v. 30.

Page 158. v. 83. lyst] i. e. liking, inclination.

v. 85. loked] i. e. looked.

—— the frounce] Is a distemper in which a whitish foam gathers in wrinkles (frounces) about the hawk’s mouth and palate. “The Frounce proceedeth of moist and cold humours, which descend from the hawkes head to their palate and the roote of the tongue. And of that cold is engendred in the tongue the Frownce,” &c. Turbervile’s Booke of Falconrie, &c. p. 303. ed. 1611.

v. 87. the gorge] “Is that part of the Hawk which first receiveth the meat, and is called the Craw or Crop in other fowls.” Latham’s Faulconry, (Explan. of Words of Art), 1658.

v. 89. clap] i. e. stroke.

v. 91. sparred] i. e. fastened, shut (“boltyd and barryd” being in the next line).

v. 93. wyth a prety gyn]—gyn, i. e. contrivance.

v. 100. On Sainct John decollacion] i. e. On the festival of the beheading of St. John.

Page 158. v. 103. secundum Sarum] So in Sir D. Lyndsay’s Complaynt of the Papingo;

The proverbial expression, “It is done secundum usum Sarum,” is thus explained by Fuller: “It began on this occasion; Many Offices or forms of service were used in severall Churches in England, as the Office of York, Hereford, Bangor, &c. which caused a deal of Confusion in Gods Worship, untill Osmond Bishop of Sarum, about the year of our Lord 1090, made that Ordinall or Office which was generally received all over England, so that Churches thence forward easily understood one another, all speaking the same words in their Liturgy. It is now applyed to those persons which do, and Actions which are formally and solemnly done, in so Regular a way by Authentick Precedents, and Paterns of unquestionable Authority, that no just exception can be taken thereat.” Worthies (Wilt-Shire), p. 146. ed. 1662.

v. 104. Marche harum] i. e. March hare.

v. 106. let] i. e. leave, desist.

v. 107. fet] i. e. fetch.

v. 110. to halow there the fox]—halow, i. e. halloo. “Men blewe the hornes and cryed and halowed the foxe.” Reynard the Fox, sig. h 5. ed. 1481.

v. 112. Boke] i. e. Book.

Page 159. v. 114. lectryne] “Lecterne to syng at.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xliiii. (Table of Subst.).

Or simply, a reading-desk: see note on v. 120.

v. 116. With, troll, cytrace, and trouy] So in Apius and Virginia, by R. B., 1575;

v. 117. hankin bouy] Compare Thersytes, n. d.;

and Nash’s Haue with you to Saffron-walden, 1596; “No vulgar respects haue I, what Hoppenny Hoe and his fellow Hankin Booby thinke of mee.” Sig. K 2: and Brome’s Joviall Crew, 1652; “he makes us even sick of his sadness, that were wont to see my Ghossips cock to day, mould Cocklebread, daunce clutterdepouch and Hannykin booby, binde barrels, or do any thing before him, and he would laugh at us.” Act ii. sc. i. sig. D 2.

Page 159. v. 119. fawconer] i. e. falconer.

vv. 120, 121. gospellers ... pystillers] “Gospellar that syngeth the gospell.” “Pysteller [Epistler] that syngeth the masse.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fols. xxxvii., liiii. (Table of Subst.). But in our author’s Phyllyp Sparowe we find,

and see Todd’s Johnson’s Dict. in vv. Gospeller, Epistler.

v. 125. gydynge] “He controlled my lyuynge and gydynge.... mores.” Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. N vi. ed. 1530.

v. 127. The rode with Mary and John] See note on v. 69. p. 206.

v. 128. fon] i. e. fool.

v. 129. daw] i. e. simpleton; see note, p. 113. v. 301.

v. 137. hawkis bels] i. e. the bells attached to the feet of the hawk.

v. 138. losels] i. e. good-for-nothing fellows,—the same as lorels, which has several times occurred before (see note, p. 132. v. 488, &c.): “Lorell or losell or lurdeyn.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499. “Lorrell or losell.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xlv. (Table of Subst.).

v. 142. snappar] i. e. stumble; but see note, p. 92. v. 4.

v. 144. loke] i. e. look.

Page 160. v. 146. bokis] i. e. books.

v. 149. mayden Meed] See the allegorical account of Meed in Pierce Plowman; where we find,

and again, “Saue mede the mayde,” &c. sig. C iii. “Now is mede the mayde,” &c. ibid.

v. 158. toke] i. e. took.

v. 159. this] Perhaps for thus: compare v. 181.

v. 164. Exodi] i. e. the book of Exodus.

Page 160. v. 166. Regum] i. e. The Third, now called The First, Book of Kings.

Page 161. v. 178. the rode] See note on v. 69. p. 206.

v. 181. this] i. e. thus; see note, p. 86. v. 38.

v. 183. dowues donge] i. e. pigeon’s dung.

v. 194. croked] i. e. crooked.

—— Cacus] See extract from The Recuyel of the Historyes of Troy, in note, p. 213. v. 23.

v. 196. Nother] i. e. Neither.

—— Olibrius] Was “the provost” by whose order Saint Margaret, after being put to sundry tortures, was beheaded at Antioch. Golden Legende, fol. ccxiiii. sqq. ed. 1483. See also The Legend of Seynt Mergrete, printed from the Auchinleck MS., in Turnbull’s Legendæ Catholicæ. Most readers will recollect Mr. Milman’s dramatic poem, The Martyr of Antioch.

v. 198.

i. e. Phalaris, recorded in Valerius Maximus, lib. iii. cap. iii. (where it is related that the Agrigentines, at the instigation of Zeno Eleates, stoned the tyrant Phalaris to death. “’Tis plain,” says Bentley, “he mistakes Phalaris for Nearchus.” Diss. upon the Ep. of Phalaris,—Works, i. 241. ed. Dyce), and lib. ix. cap. ii.

v. 200. Sardanapall] So our early writers often spell his name;

Page 162. v. 204. Egeas] Is mentioned with various other evil personages in The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy,

and in the Second Part of Marlowe’s Tamburlaine;

v. 205. Syr Pherumbras] See note, p. 178. v. 15.

v. 211. poll by poll] i. e. head by head,—one by one.

v. 212. Arystobell] i. e. (I suppose) Aristobulus,—who, having succeeded his father Hyrcanus as high-priest and governor of Judea, assumed the title of king,—cast his mother into prison, and starved her to death,—caused his brother Antigonus to be assassinated,—and died after reigning a year. See Prideaux’s Connect. Part ii. B. vi.

Page 162. v. 214. miscreantys] i. e. infidels. “These thre kynges were the fyrst of myscreauntes that byleued on cryst.” The three kynges of Coleyne, sig. C ii. ed. 1526.

v. 216. Sowden] i. e. Soldan, Sultan.

v. 225. pekysh] See note, p. 129. v. 409.

v. 228. crokid] i. e. crooked.

v. 230. this] i. e. thus; as before, see v. 181.

—— ouerthwarted] i. e. cavilled, wrangled. “To hafte or ouerthwarte in a matter, to wrangle.” Baret’s Alvearie in v.

v. 231. proces] i. e. subject-matter; see notes, p. 143. v. 735. p. 146. v. 969. p. 194. v. 157.

Page 163. v. 233. loke] i. e. look.

v. 234. boke] i. e. book.

v. 239. rehers] i. e. tell, declare.

v. 240. sentence] i. e. meaning.

v. 241. scholys] i. e. schools.

v. 242. folys] i. e. fools.

v. 244. Dawcocke] See note, p. 113. v. 301.

Page 164. v. 249. fista] i. e. fist.

v. 250. you lista] i. e. you please.

v. 260. Dialetica] i. e. Dialectica.

v. 264. forica] Is Latin for a public jakes; and compare vv. 62, 183: but I cannot determine the meaning of it here.

v. 270. Jacke Harys] Must not be mistaken for the name of the person who called forth this piece; we have been already told that he “shall be nameless,” v. 38. So in our author’s Magnyfycence, Courtly Abusyon terms Cloked Colusyon “cankard Jacke Hare.” v. 768. vol. i. 250. There is a poem by Lydgate (at least attributed to him) concerning a personage called Jak Hare, of which the first stanza is as follows:

Since the above note was written, the ballad on Jack Hare has been edited from MS. Lansd. 699. fol. 88. by Mr. Halliwell, among Lydgate’s Minor Poems, p. 52 (printed for the Percy Society). “The original of this,” says Mr. H. (p. 267), “is an Anglo-Norman poem of the 13th century, in MS. Digb. Oxon. 86. fol. 94, entitled ‘De Maimound mal esquier.’”

Page 164. v. 274. federis] i. e. feathers.

Page 165. v. 284. fisty] i. e. fist.

v. 290. Apostata] This form, as an English word, continued in use long after the time of Skelton.

v. 291. Nestorianus] “Nestoriani quidam heretici qui beatam mariam non dei, sed hominis dicunt genitricem.” Ortus Vocab. fol. ed. W. de Worde, n. d.: but here Nestorianus seems to be put for Nestorius, the founder of the sect.

v. 300. This] i. e. Thus; as before, see v. 181.

v. 301. Dys church ye thus deprauyd] To deprave generally means—to vilify in words (as in our author’s Colyn Cloute, “The Churche to depraue,” v. 515. vol. i. 330); but (and see the poem Howe the douty Duke of Albany, &c. v. 191. vol. ii. 73) here deprauyd must be equivalent to—defiled.

v. 305. Concha] “Concha recensetur vulgo inter vasa ac ministeria sacra, cujus varii fuere usus.” Du Cange’s Gloss.

v. 306. sonalia] i. e. the bells attached to the hawk’s feet.

Page 166. v. 313.

Occurs again in our author’s Garlande of Laurell, v. 1216. vol. i. 410.

v. 315. Galis] i. e. Galicia.

v. 320. chalys] i. e. chalice.

v. 324. Masyd] i. e. Bewildered, confounded.

v. 325. styth] i. e. anvil.

v. 327. daw] i. e. simpleton; see note, p. 113. v. 301.

Page 167. Quod] i. e. Quoth.

EPITAPHE, &c.

v. 3. this] i. e. these.

v. 4. queed] i. e. evil. The word is common in our earliest poetry:

A DEUOUTE TRENTALE, &c.

trentale] i. e. properly, a service of thirty masses for the dead, usually celebrated on as many different days.

Page 170. v. 44. I faith, dikkon thou crue] See note, p. 115. v. 360.

v. 46. knauate] i. e. knave.

v. 47. rode] i. e. rood, cross; see note, p. 206. v. 69.

v. 53. fote ball] i. e. foot-ball.

Page 171. v. 61. Wit[h], hey, howe, rumbelowe] See note, p. 110. v. 252.

Page 172. v. 23.

To readers of Skelton’s days Cacus was known not so much from the 8th book of Virgil’s Æneid, as from The Recuyel of the Historyes of Troy, (a translation by Caxton from the French of Raoul le Fevre), where his story is related at considerable length, and with great variation from the classical fable: “In the cyte of Cartagene, a kynge and geant regned. named Cacus whiche was passyng euyll and full of tyrannye, and had slayn by his cursidnes the kynges of Aragon and of Nauerre. their wyues and their children And possessid her seignouryes and also helde in subieccion alle the contrey into ytaly,” &c. Book ii. ed. 1471—about the middle of the volume, which is printed without paging or signatures. His death is afterwards thus described: “But hercules ranne after and retayned hym And enbraced hym in his armes so harde that he myght not meue And brought hym agayn And bare hym vnto a depe pytte that was in the caue where he had caste in all ordures and filthe, hercules cam vnto this fowle pytte that the grekes had founden And planted cacus there Inne. his heed dounward from on hye vnto the ordure benethe, Than the ytaliens cam aboute the pitte and caste so many stones vpon hym that he deyde there myserably. Suche was the ende of the poure kynge Cacus. he deyde in an hooll full of ordure and of styngkynge filthe.”

v. 28. best] i. e. beast.

Page 173. Apud Trumpinton scriptum per Curatum ejusdem, &c.] A passage wrongly understood by Skelton’s biographers: see Account of his Life and Writings.

Page 174.

The Rev. J. Mitford proposes to read—

understanding duo quintum to mean decimum, a tenth or tithe, and explaining the whole, I like the peasant when he brings his tithe to Dis, and sings “Delos,”—pays it from motives of devotion.

LAMENTATIO URBIS NORVICEN.

In 1507, the city of Norwich was “almost utterly defaced” by two dreadful fires: the first broke out on 25th April, and lasted for four days; the second began 4th June, and continued for two days and a night. See Blomefield’s Hist. of Norfolk, ii. 131. ed. fol.

IN BEDEL, &C.

Page 175.

“Mulum de asino pingere, Dici potest, quando exemplar et res efficta non multum inter se distant; vel quando ineptiæ ineptiis repræsentantur, vel mendacia mendaciis astruuntur. Magna similitudo inter asinum et mulum est. Tertullianus. [Adv. Valent. cap. xix.].” Erasmi Adagia, p. 1663. ed. 1606.

EPITAPHIUM IN HENRICUM SEPTIMUM.

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.

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,—

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.

TETRASTICHON VERITATIS.

Page 181. v. 1. cuprum] i. e. cupreum. “The Tomb itself [principally of black marble], with the metal statues which lie upon it, and the beautiful casts in alto-relievo [of copper gilt], which ornament the sides, were executed by the celebrated Italian artist Pietro Torrigiano ... for the sum of 1500l. Its surrounding Screen, or ‘Closure’ [of gilt brass and copper], which is altogether in a different style of workmanship, though almost equally curious, was, most probably, both designed and wrought by English artizans.” Neale’s Account of Henry the Seventh’s Chapel, pp. 54, 59.

AGAINST THE SCOTTES.

The battle of Flodden, one of the most disastrous events in Scottish history, has been rendered so familiar to readers of our own day by the poem of Marmion, that a particular account of it here is unnecessary. It took place on September 9th, 1513. The English army was commanded by the Earl of Surrey [created Duke of Norfolk the February following]; the Scottish by their rash and gallant monarch James the Fourth, who perished in the field amid heaps of his slaughtered nobles and gentlemen.

Page 182. v. 2. tratlynge] i. e. prattling, idle talk.

v. 5. Lo, these fonde sottes, &c.]—fonde, i. e. foolish. This passage resembles a rhyme made in reproach of the Scots in the reign of Edward the First:

Page 182. v. 11. Branxton more] i. e. Brankston Moor.

v. 12. stowre] Means generally—hardy, stout; here perhaps it is equivalent to—obstinate: but in Palsgrave we find “Stowre of conversation estourdy.” Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xcvi. (Table of Adiect.).

v. 22. closed in led] The body of James, disfigured with wounds, was found the day after the battle; it was carried to Berwick, and ultimately interred in the priory of Shene: see Weaver’s Anc. Fun. Mon., p. 394. ed. 1631. After the dissolution of that house, according to Stow’s account, the body, enclosed in lead, was thrown into one of the lumber-rooms; and the head, which some workmen hewed off “for their foolish pleasure,” was brought to London and buried in St. Michael’s Church, Wood Street: Survey, B. iii. 81. ed. 1720.

Page 183. v. 26. byllys] i. e. bills,—a sort of beaked pikes,—battle-axes.

v. 30. Folys and sottys] i. e. Fools and sots.

v. 32. crake] i. e. vaunt.

v. 33. To face, to brace] So Borde in his Boke of knowlege introduces a Scotchman saying,

Compare our author’s Magnyfycence;

and his Garlande of Laurell;

In Hormanni Vulgaria we find, “He faceth the matter, and maketh great crakes. Tragice loquitur, et ampullosa verba proiicit.” Sig. P iiii. ed. 1530. “He is not aferde to face or brace with any man of worshyp. Nullius viri magnitudinem allatrare dubitat.” Sig. O ii. And in Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530, “I face as one dothe that brauleth or falleth out with a nother to make hym a frayde, Ie contrefays des mines ... I dare nat passe by his dore he faceth and braceth me so: ... il contrefait tellement des mines.” fol. ccxxx. (Table of Verbes). “I Brace or face, Ie braggue. He braced and made a bracyng here afore the dore as thoughe he wolde haue kylled.... Il braggoyt,” &c. fol. clxxi. (Table of Verbes).

Page 183. v. 36. ouerthwart] i. e. cross, perverse, wrangling.

v. 41. quayre] i. e. quire,—pamphlet, book.

v. 51. sumner] i. e. summoner (it generally meant what we now call apparitor).

v. 52. greyth] i. e. agreeth, suiteth.

v. 53. Our kynge of Englande for to syght]—syght, i. e. cite. While Henry viii. was encamped before Terouenne, James iv. sent his chief herald to him, with a letter (which may be found in Hall’s Chron. (Hen. viii.), fol. xxix. ed. 1548), reckoning up the various injuries and insults he had received from Henry, and containing what amounted to a declaration of war, unless the English monarch should desist from hostilities against the French king.

Page 184. v. 57. kynge Koppynge] Compare the Coliphizacio, where Cayphas exclaims—

the Glossary informing us that “A coppin is a certain quantity of worsted yarn wound on a spindle, and the spindle then extracted,”—which may be true, though it does not explain the passage. Some game must be alluded to.

v. 59. Hob Lobbyn of Lowdean] So again our author in Speke, Parrot;

Perhaps there is an allusion to some song or ballad: Lowdean is, I apprehend, Lothian.

v. 60. what good ye can] See note, p. 190. v. 23.

v. 61. Locrian] i. e. Loch Ryan—a large bay in Wigtonshire, which by approximating to the bay of Luce, forms the peninsula called the Rinns of Galloway. It is mentioned by Barbour;

In the poem Howe the douty Duke of Albany, &c. Skelton speaks of the Scots

and in his verses against Dundas, he calls him

See too v. 109 of the present poem. Our author uses Scottish names at random.

Page 184. v. 62. sence] i. e. cense.

v. 63. Saint Ionis towne] i. e. Perth. Compare Langtoft’s Chronicle, p. 333. ed. Hearne; Minot’s Poems, p. 6. ed. Ritson; and Barbour’s Bruce, B. ii. v. 53. ed. Jam. It is said that the Picts, after their conversion to Christianity, or the Scots, after their king had succeeded to the Pictish throne, consecrated the church and bridge of Perth to St. John the Baptist; and that hence in process of time many persons gave to the town the name of St. Johnston: see Jamieson’s note on the passage last referred to.

v. 72. tragedy] See note, p. 194. v. 155.

v. 79. enbybe] i. e. wet.

v. 83. Irysh keteringes]—Irysh, i. e. Highlanders and Islesmen:

—keteringes (see Jamieson’s Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang. in v. Cateranes), i. e. marauders who carried off cattle, corn, &c.

Page 185. v. 86. armony] i. e. harmony.

v. 89. me adres] i. e. apply myself.

v. 90. proces] i. e. story; see notes, p. 143. v. 735. p. 146. v. 969. p. 194. v. 157. p. 211. v. 231.

v. 91. Jocky my jo] Perhaps a fragment of some song or ballad. In Scotch, Jocky is the diminutive of Jock, the abbreviation of John: jo is sweetheart, dear, (joy.)

v. 92. summond] See note on v. 53, preceding page.

v. 97. to] i. e. too.

v. 98. harrold] i. e. herald: see note on v. 53.

v. 100. pye] i. e. magpie.

v. 101. Syr skyrgalyard] So again our author in his Speke, Parrot;

and in his poem Howe the douty Duke of Albany, &c.;

“William Johnstone of Wamphray, called the Galliard, was a noted freebooter.... His nom de guerre seems to have been derived from the dance called The Galliard. The word is still used in Scotland to express an active, gay, dissipated character.” Scott’s Minst. of the Scott. Bord. i. 305. ed. 1810. To skir (under which Richardson in his Dict. cites Skelton’s term “a skyrgaliarde”) is to scour, to move rapidly.

Page 185. v. 101. skyt] i. e. hasty, precipitate.

v. 103. layd] “I Laye for me or alledge to make my mater good.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. cclxxv. (Table of Verbes).

v. 104. not worth a fly] A common expression in our early poetry;

v. 106. brother] James married Margaret sister of Henry the Eighth.

v. 109. Gup] See note, p. 99. v. 17.

—— Syr Scot of Galawey] See note on v. 61. p. 217.

v. 110. fall] i. e. fallen.

v. 111. Male vryd] i. e. ill-fortuned (Fr. malheur).

Page 186. v. 117. Scipione] i. e. Scipio.

v. 119. Thoughe ye vntruly your father haue slayne] James iii. was slain by a ruffian whose name is not certainly known, under circumstances of great atrocity, in 1488, in a miller’s cottage, immediately after his flight from the battle of Sauchie-burn, where his son (then in his 17th year) had appeared in arms against him. The mind of James iv. was haunted by remorse for his father’s death; and he wore in penance an iron girdle, the weight of which he every year increased.

v. 121. Dunde, Dunbar] Scottish names used at random: so again in our author’s verses against Dundas, “Dunde, Dunbar,” v. 60. vol. i. 194; and in his poem Howe the douty Duke of Albany, &c. “Dunbar, Dunde,” v. 24. vol. ii. 68.

v. 122. Pardy] i. e. par dieu, verily.

v. 124. shent] i. e. destroyed, brought to disgrace or punishment.

v. 128. checkmate] See note, p. 96. v. 29.

v. 129. the castell of Norram] In taking the Castle of Norham, James wasted some days, previous to the battle of Flodden, while he ought to have employed his forces in more important enterprises.

v. 130. to sone] i. e. too soon.

v. 132. bylles] See note on v. 26. p. 216.

v. 133. Agaynst you gaue so sharpe a shower] Shower is often applied by our old writers to the storm, assault, encounter of battle:

and see our author’s poem Howe the douty Duke of Albany, &c. v. 240. vol. ii. 75.

Page 186. v. 135.

The White Lion was the badge of the Earl of Surrey, derived from his ancestors the Mowbrays. His arms were Gules, on a bend between six cross croslets, fitchy, argent: after the battle of Flodden, the king granted to him “an honourable augmentation of his arms, to bear on the bend thereof: in an escutcheon Or, a demi Lion rampant, pierced through the mouth with an arrow, within a double tressure flory and counterflory Gules; which tressure is the same as surrounds the royal arms of Scotland.” Collins’s Peerage, i. 77. ed. Brydges.

“George Buchanan reporteth that the Earle of Surrey gaue for his badge a Siluer Lion, which from Antiquitie belonged to that name, tearing in pieces a Lion prostrate Gules; and withall, that this which hee termes insolence, was punished in Him and his Posteritie,” &c. Drayton’s note on the preceding passage.

—— the Red] The royal arms of Scotland.

v. 139. quyt] i. e. requited.

v. 141. swete Sainct George, our ladies knyght] “Our Lady’s knight” is the common designation of St. George: so in a song written about the same time as the present poem, Cott. MS. Domit. A. xviii. fol. 248; in Sir Beues of Hamtoun, p. 102. Maitl. ed. &c. &c.

Page 186. v. 144. His grace beyng out of the way] i. e. Henry the Eighth being in France: see note on v. 53. p. 217.

v. 148. ye lost your sworde] The sword and dagger, worn by James at the battle of Flodden, are preserved in the college of Heralds. An engraving of them is prefixed to Weber’s ed. of the poem, Flodden Field.

Page 187. v. 149. buskyd] i. e. hied.

—— Huntley bankys] So again in our author’s verses against Dundas;

and in his Why come ye not to Courte;

and in his poem Howe the douty Duke of Albany, &c.;

Here again Skelton uses a Scottish name at random. The Huntly-bank, where, according to the charming old poem, Thomas the Rhymer met the Queen of Faery, is situated on one of the Eldoun hills.

v. 153.

—reme, i. e. realm. In a letter despatched from the camp before Terouenne, in answer to the epistle of the Scottish king (see note on v. 53. p. 217), Henry says; “And yf the example of the kyng of Nauarre beynge excluded from his royalme for assistence gyuen to the Frenche kyng cannot restrayne you from this vnnaturall dealynge, we suppose ye shall haue lyke assistence of the sayde Frenche kynge as the kyng of Nauarre hath nowe: Who is a kynge withoute a realme, &c.” Hall’s Chron. (Henry viii.) fol. xxxi. ed. 1548. James, however, never received this letter: he was slain before the herald who bore it could procure a passage from Flanders.

v. 158. brake] See note, p. 168. v. 324.

v. 161. Your beard so brym as bore at bay]—brym, i. e. fierce,—rugged, bristly. James wore “his Beerde somethynge longe.” Lelandi Collect. iv. 285. ed. 1770.

v. 162. Your Seuen Systers, that gun so gay] Lindsay of Pitscottie informs us that when James was making preparations for his fatal expedition against England “he had sewin great cannones out of the castle of Edinburgh, quhilkis was called the Sewin Sisteris, castin be Robert Borthik; and thrie maister gunneris, furnisched with pouder and leid to thame at thair pleasure.” Cron. of Scotl. i. 266. ed. 1814. These canons were named Sisters because they were all of the same great size and fine fabric. Concerning Borthwick, master of the artillery to James, the following mention is made by Lesley: “Rex amplo stipendio Robertum Borthuik, insignem tormenti fabricandi artificem donauit, vt tormenta bellica maiora in arce Edinburgensi aliquamdiu conflaret: quorum permulta hodie in Scotia reperiuntur, hoc versu incisa:

Page 187. v. 169. The Popes curse gaue you that clap]—clap, i. e. stroke. James died under a recent sentence of excommunication for infringing the pacification with England.

v. 170. Of the out yles the roughe foted Scottes] i. e. the rough-footed Scots of the Hebrides: the epithet rough-footed was given to them, because they wore, during the frost, a rude sort of shoe, made of undressed deer-skin, with the hairy side outwards; see MS. quoted in Pinkerton’s Hist. of Scotland, ii. 397.

v. 171. the bottes] i. e. the worms.

v. 172. dronken dranes]—dranes, i. e. drones. The Editor of Skelton’s Workes, 1736, printed “dronken Danes;” and Weber (Flodden Field, p. 276) proposes the same alteration; but though the Danes (as the readers of our early dramatists know) were notorious for deep potations, the text is right. Our author has again, in his poem Howe the douty Duke of Albany, &c.;

“Drane. Fucus.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499. And compare Pierce Plowman’s Crede;

v. 175. sumner] See note on v. 51. p. 217.

Page 188. v. 177. to] i. e. too.

Quod] i. e. Quoth.

per desertum Sin] “Profectique sunt de Elim, et venit omnis multitudo filiorum Israel in desertum Sin, quod est inter Elim et Sinai,” &c. Exod. xvi. l. (Vulgate).

VNTO DIUERS PEOPLE THAT REMORD THIS RYMYNGE, &c.

Page 188. remord] See note, p. 193. v. 101.

v. 7. makynge] i. e. composing, composition.

v. 8. Their males therat shakynge]—males, i. e. bags, wallets: compare our author’s Colyn Cloute;

v. 14. brother] See note, p. 219. v. 106.

Page 189. v. 21. pyketh mood] i. e. grows angry, picks a quarrel.

v. 26. recrayed] i. e. recreant, false (the idea of cowardice is certainly not implied here).

v. 30. died excomunycate] See note, p. 222. v. 169.

v. 37. ouerthwartes] i. e. cross, perverse objections, cavils.

CHORUS DE DIS, &c.

Dis] Of which Skelton was rector; see Account of his Life and Writings.

Page 190. vv. 17, 18. Leo Candidus ... Leo tu Rubeus] See note, p. 220. v. 135.

CHORUS DE DIS, &c. SUPER TRIUMPHALI VICTORIA CONTRA GALLOS, &c.

These verses (placed immediately after the poems on the Battle of Flodden, in the eds.) relate to an event which happened about the same period. Henry viii. having in person invaded France, in conjunction with the Emperor Maximilian, they proceeded to the siege of Terouenne. An attempt on the part of Louis to relieve the town occasioned the Battle of the Spurs, August 16, 1513, in which the Duke of Longueville, Clermont, &c. were made prisoners. Terouenne surrendered to Henry on the 22d of that month, and its defences were razed to the ground on the 27th. In these dates I follow Lingard.

Page 191. v. 13. Gloria Cappadocis, divæ milesque Mariæ] i. e. St. George, whom our author has before termed “our Ladies knyght,” see note, p. 220. v. 141. During this war, the Emperor, to flatter Henry’s vanity, wore his badge of the red rose, assumed the cross of St. George, and accepted a hundred crowns daily as the soldier of the English king.