Compare also Hormanni Vulgaria: “This is a fayre and swete mullynge. Blandus est puerulus insigni festiuitate.” Sig. dd vii. ed. 1530.

—— mytyng] In the Towneley Mysteries, one of the shepherds says to the infant Saviour,

and Jamieson gives myting as a fondling designation for a child, Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang.—In our author’s third poem Against Garnesche, v. 115. vol. i. 123, “myteyng”—(but used as a term of contempt)—is, as here, the rhyme to “wyteyng.”

Since writing the above note, I have met with a passage in the comedy called Wily Beguilde, which might be adduced in support of the reading, “nytyng;” but I still think that “mytyng” is the true one: the dramatist evidently recollected Skelton’s poem, in the ed. of which he had found “nytyng,” “nittinge,” or “nittine:”—“Comely Pegge, my nutting, my sweeting, my Loue, my doue, my honnie, my bonnie, my ducke, my deare and my deareling.” Sig. C 4. ed. 1606.

Page 102. v. 225. His nobbes and his conny] So in a song in The Triall of Treasure, 1567;

conny, i. e. rabbit.

v. 227. Bas] i. e. Kiss.

—— bonny] i. e. precious one (rather than—beautiful one,—for it has the epithet “prety”).

v. 229. This make I my falyre fonny] This, i. e. Thus; see note, p. 86. v. 38: it has been suggested that falyre means fellow; which I doubt: fonny is, I suppose, foolishly amorous; compare—

v. 230. dronny] i. e. drone.

v. 232. rout] i. e. snore.

Page 103. v. 245. conny] i. e. rabbit.

v. 247. a salt] i. e. a salt-cellar.

—— spone] i. e. spoon.

v. 248. shone] i. e. shoon, shoes.

v. 250. a skellet] i. e. a skillet, a small kettle: in Suffolk it means a brass perforated implement for skimming the cream off milk; see Moor’s Suff. Words.

v. 251.

The meaning is—in the pot which was to hold the ale they brought wool “instede of monny” (v. 244).

Page 103. v. 254. athrust] i. e. a-thirst.

v. 258. slaty or slyder] i. e. miry or slippery.

Page 104. v. 266. renne] i. e. run.

v. 269. byrle] The word birl—to pour out, furnish for, or part drink among guests—(see Jamieson’s Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang. in v., and Leyden’s Gloss. to The Comp. of Scotland in v. Beir)—is not very common in English literature: “the olde God of wyne called Baccus birlyng the wyne.” Hall’s Chronicle, (Hen. viii.) fol. lxxiii. ed. 1548.

v. 270. gest] i. e. guest.

v. 271. She swered by the rode of rest]—rode, i. e. rood,—cross: see note on Ware the Hauke, v. 69.

v. 280. haruest gyrdle] i. e. perhaps, a girdle worn at the feast after the gathering in of the corn.

v. 286. To offer to the ale tap] So in Jak Hare, a poem attributed to Lydgate;

v. 288. sowre dowe]—dowe, i. e. dough. “Sower dough leuayn.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lxv. (Table of Subst.).

v. 289. howe] i. e. ho.

v. 292. And pype tyrly tyrlowe] Compare a Song belonging to the Tailors’ and Shearmen’s Pageant;

v. 295. hekell] i. e. comb for dressing flax.

v. 296. rocke] i. e. distaff.—In a poem entitled Cryste Crosse me Spede. A. B. C. Imprynted at London in Fletestrete at the sygne of the Sonne, by me Wynkyn de Worde, 4to. (which I know only from the account of it in Typog. Antiq. ii. 367. ed. Dibdin) are the following lines;

Though no edition of Elynour Rummyng has come down to us printed anterior to Cryste Crosse me Spede, the evident imitation of the former in the passage just quoted, shews that it must have existed.

Page 104. v. 298. wharrowe] i. e. whirl, or wharve, for a spindle. “A spyndell with a wharowe—fusus cum spondulo, siue verticillo siue harpage.” Hormanni Vulg. sig. t i. ed. 1530.

v. 299. rybskyn] In Prompt. Parv., ed. 1499, “Rybskyn” stands without a Latin term; but in the copy of that work, MS. Harl. 221, is “Rybbe skynn. Melotula.” In a MS. Catholicon in Lingua materna, dated 1483, I find “Rybbynge skyn. nebrida. pellicudia.” I may add that in Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530, “Rybbe skynne” occurs without the corresponding French, fol. lix. (Table of Subst.).—Does it mean (as Albert Way, Esq. has obligingly suggested to me) a leather apron, used during the operation of flax-dressing?

Page 105. v. 303. thrust] i. e. thirst.

v. 305.

So in The Worlde and the Chylde, 1522;

See also three epigrams by Heywood Of the winking Cat,—Workes, sig. P 4. ed. 1598.

v. 307. gommes] i. e. gums.

v. 308. crommes] i. e. crums.

v. 314. chaffer] i. e. merchandise.

v. 319. in all the hast] Compare: “Bulwarkes were made in all the haste.” Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. z iii. ed. 1530.

v. 320. vnlast] i. e. unlaced.

v. 323. all hallow] i. e. all saints,—perhaps, All-saints’ day.

v. 324.

For “stare,” which is the reading of all the eds., I have substituted “stale”—i. e. lure, decoy. “Stale of fowlys takinge.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499. So in Marmyon’s Hollands Leaguer, 1632;

Compare too an epigram by Heywood;

and Cavendish’s Life of Wolsey; “At last, as ye have heard here before, how divers of the great estates and lords of the council lay in a-wait with my Lady Anne Boleyn, to espy a convenient time and occasion to take the cardinal in a brake.” p. 147. ed. 1827.—In our text, and in the passages just quoted, brake seems to be used for trap: among its various significations, it means a strong wooden frame for confining the feet of horses, preparatory to their being shod; see Gifford’s note on Jonson’s Works, iii. 463.

Page 105. v. 327. gambone] i. e. gammon.

v. 328. resty] i. e. reasty, rancid.

v. 330. Angry as a waspy]—waspy, i. e. wasp. So Heywood;

v. 331. yane] “I yane I gaspe or gape.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. ccccxi. (Table of Verbes).

—— gaspy] i. e. gasp.

Page 106. v. 332. go bet] Compare;

who observes that in the following lines of Chaucer’s Legend of Dido (288), go bet seems to be a term of the chase;

who supposes the words to be the name of some old dance.

Page 106. v. 333. met] i. e. measure.

v. 334. fet] i. e. fetched.

v. 335. spycke] “Spyk of flesshe. Popa.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499. The copy of that work, MS. Harl. 221, has “Spyk or fet flesche,” &c.

v. 336. flycke] i. e. flitch.

v. 339. stut] i. e. stutter.

v. 343. sayne] i. e. says.

—— a fyest] So Hawes;

“A fiest, Tacitus flatus.” Withals’s Dict. p. 343. ed. 1634.

v. 346. wyth shamfull deth] Equivalent to—may you die with a shameful death! see Tyrwhitt’s Gloss. to Chaucer’s Cant. Tales, in v. With.

v. 347. callettes] i. e. trulls, drabs, jades.

v. 348. I shall breake your palettes]—palettes, i. e. crowns, pates. So in a poem by Sir R. Maitland;

who, in the Gloss., wrongly explains it “cut your throat.”

v. 350. And so was made the peace] In confirmation of the reading which I have given, compare Reynard the Fox; “Thus was the pees made by fyrapel the lupaerd frendly and wel.” Sig. e 5. ed. 1481; and see note on v. 319. p. 168.

v. 354. sainct James in Gales] The body of Saint James the Great having, according to the legend, been buried at Compostella in Galicia (Gales), a church was built over it. Pilgrims flocked to the spot; several popes having granted the same indulgences to those who repaired to Compostella, as to those who visited Jerusalem. In The foure P. P. by Heywood, the Palmer informs us that he has been

v. 355. Portyngales] i. e. Portuguese.

v. 356. I wys] i. e. truly, certainly (i-wis, adv.).

v. 360. the Crosse in Chepe] Was originally erected in 1290 by Edward I. at one of the resting places of the body of his beloved Eleanor, in its progress from Herdeby, where she died, to Westminster Abbey, where she was buried; and was adorned with her image and arms. Of its being afterwards rebuilt,—of the conduits that were added to it, &c. &c. an account will be found in Stow’s Survey, B. iii. 35. ed. 1720, and Sup. to Gent. Mag. for 1764, vol. 34. 607. This structure was barbarously demolished in 1643, as a monument of Popish superstition.

Page 106. v. 362. route] i. e. disorderly crowd.

Page 107. v. 364.

—pose, i. e. a rheum in the head. So Chaucer;

See also Reves Tale, v. 4149.

v. 371. fyll] i. e. fell.

v. 372. barlyhood] Or barlikhood, is said to mean a fit of obstinacy or violent ill-humour produced by drunkenness: see Jamieson’s Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang. and Supp. in v.; also Stevenson’s addition to Boucher’s Gloss. in v. Barlic.

v. 378. newe ale in cornes] So in Thersytes, n. d.;

“New ale in cornes. Ceruisia cum recrementis.” Baret’s Alvearie, in v. Ale.

v. 386. fabell] i. e. talking.

v. 387. babell] i. e. babbling.

v. 388.

Whether folys fylly means a foolish young jade (a filly,—compare what follows), or foolish Philly (Phillis,—compare our author’s Bowge of Court, v. 370. vol. i. 44); and whether or not wylly is meant for a proper name (as it is given in the comparatively recent ed. of Rand), let the reader judge.

v. 390. Iast you, and, gup, gylly] See note, p. 99. v. 17. “What gyppe gyll with a galde backe, begynne you to kycke nowe: Hey de par le diable gilotte,” &c. Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. cclxxii. (Table of Verbes). So Dunbar uses gillot for a young mare; see his Poems, i. 65, ii. 459 (note), ed. Laing.

v. 394. sennet] i. e. sennight, week.

Page 108. v. 395. pay] i. e. satisfaction, content.

v. 397. Of thyne ale let vs assay]—assay, i. e. try, taste. So in Pierce Plowman;

Page 108. v. 398. pylche] i. e. cloak of skins.

v. 399. conny] i. e. rabbit.

v. 490. loke] i. e. look.

—— donny] Richardson, Dict. in vv. Dun, Dunny, cites this line as containing an example of the latter word,—rightly, perhaps, for donne (dun) occurs in Skelton’s Magnyfycence, v. 1102. vol. i. 257.—The common people of Ireland employ donny in the sense of—poor, mean-looking, as “a donny creature;” also in the sense of—poorly, as “How are you to-day?”—“Och! but donny, very donny.” For this information I am indebted to the kindness of Miss Edgeworth, who has used the word in one of her excellent tales.

v. 407. blommer] i. e., perhaps, noise, uproar.

v. 408. a skommer] i. e. a skimmer.

v. 409. a slyce] “Sclyce to tourne meate tournoire.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lxii. (Table of Subst.).

v. 412. sterte] i. e. started, rushed.

v. 414. somdele seke] i. e. somewhat sick.

v. 415. a peny cheke] Does it mean—a puny chick?

v. 418. Margery Mylkeducke] So again in our author’s Magnyfycence;

Compare one of the Coventry Mysteries;

v. 419.

—kyrtell; see note, p. 149. v. 1194.—So in our old ballad poetry;

v. 422. stubbed] i. e. short and thick.

v. 423. pestels] i. e. legs,—so called, perhaps, because the leg-bone resembles a pestle used in a mortar. The expression “pestle of pork” frequently occurs in our early writers; as in the following passage concerning the tremendous appetite of Charlemagne; “Whan he took hys repaast he was contente wyth lytel brede, but as touchyng the pytaunce, he ete at his repaast a quarter of moton, or ii hennes, or a grete ghoos, or a grete pestel of porke, or a pecok, or a crane, or an hare all hool.” Caxton’s Lyf of Charles the Grete, &c., 1485. sig. b iii.

Page 108. v. 423. clubbed] i. e. like clubs.

v. 425. fote] i. e. foot.

v. 426. foule] i. e. ugly: see note, p. 130. v. 442.

Page 109. v. 429. cantell] i. e. corner, piece, fragment.

v. 431. quycke] i. e. live.

v. 435. punyete] i. e. pungent.

v. 436. sorte] i. e. set, company.

v. 441. I wote nere] i. e. I know never, not.

v. 443. podynges and lynkes] “Links, a kind of Pudding, the skin being filled with Pork Flesh, and seasoned with diverse Spices, minced, and tied up at distances.” R. Holme’s Ac. of Armory, 1688. B. iii. p. 83. In Scotland the terms puddings and links are applied to various intestines of animals.

v. 447. leche] i. e. physician, doctor.—Dunbar makes a distinction, which I do not understand;

v. 450. keke] i. e. kick.

v. 451. the vertue of an vnset leke] “Vnsette lekes be of more vertue than they that be sette ... præstant in medicina.” Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. f ii. ed. 1530.

v. 452. breke] i. e. breeches.

v. 453. feders] i. e. feathers.

v. 460. noughty froslynges] i. e. worthless things, stunted by frost. In Suffolk, froslin is applied to any thing—a lamb, a goslin, a chicken, an apple, &c., nipped, or pinched, or injured by frost: see Moor’s Suffolk Words, Appendix.

Page 110. v. 462. callet] i. e. trull, drab, jade.

v. 465. wretchockes] “The famous imp yet grew a wretchock; and though for seven years together he was carefully carried at his mother’s back, rocked in a cradle of Welsh cheese, like a maggot, and there fed with broken beer, and blown wine of the best daily, yet looks as if he never saw his quinquennium.” Jonson’s Masque, The Gipsies Metamorphosed,—Workes, vii. 371. ed. Gifford, who thus comments on the passage in his authoritative style: “i. e. pined away, instead of thriving. Whalley appears to have puzzled himself sorely in this page, about a matter of very little difficulty. In every large breed of domestic fowls, there is usually a miserable little stunted creature, that forms a perfect contrast to the growth and vivacity of the rest. This unfortunate abortive, the goodwives, with whom it is an object of tenderness, call a wrethcock; and this is all the mystery. Was Whalley ignorant that what we now term chick, was once chocke and chooke?” The fol. ed. of the Masque of Gipsies has “wretch-cock,” which Nares, who does not know what to make of the word, observes “would admit of an easy derivation from wretch and cock, meaning a poor wretched fowl.” Gloss. in v.

Page 110. v. 466. shyre shakyng nought] i. e. sheer worthless. So again our author in his Magnyfycence;

v. 475. fall] i. e. fallen.

v. 483. foggy] “Foggy, to full of waste flesshe.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lxxxviii. (Table of Adiect.).

v. 489. craw] i. e. crop, stomach.

v. 491. on] i. e. of: compare v. 131.

Page 111. v. 492. an old rybibe] Chaucer, in The Freres Tale, says,

who says he cannot guess how this musical instrument came to be put for an old woman, “unless perhaps from its shrillness.” The word so applied occurs also in Jonson’s Devil is an Ass, act i. sc. 1, where Gifford observes, “Ribibe, together with its synonym rebeck, is merely a cant expression for an old woman. A ribibe, the reader knows, is a rude kind of fiddle, and the allusion is probably to the inharmonious nature of its sounds.” Works, v. 8.

v. 493. She halted of a kybe] i. e. She limped from a chap in the heel. The following remedy is seriously proposed in The Countrie Farme, and was no doubt applied by our ancestors: “For kibes on the heeles, make powder of old shooe soles burned, and of them with oile of roses annoint the kibes; or else lay vnto the kibes the rinde of a pomegranat boiled in wine.” p. 83. ed. 1600.

v. 496.

Compare The foure P. P. by Heywood;

v. 498. wroken] i. e. wreaked.

v. 501. on Gods halfe] i. e. “on God’s part, with God’s favour.” Tyrwhitt’s Gloss. to Chaucer’s Cant. Tales. “A goddes halfe: De par dieu.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. ccccxxxvi. (Table of Aduerbes).

Page 111. v. 503. beshrew] i. e. curse.

v. 506. lampatrams] A word which I am unable to explain.

v. 507. shap] i. e. pudendum: see Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xxvi. (Table of Subst.). So in a description of purgatory-punishments in the metrical legend of Owayne Myles;

v. 512. stert] i. e. started.

v. 515. dant] In Kilian’s Dict. is “Dante. Ambubaia, mulier ignaua.” ed. 1605; and in Gloss. to West. and Cumb. Dialect, “Dannet, a ... woman of disreputable character:” but, for aught I know, the word in the text may have some very different signification.

v. 516. a gose and a gant] Must mean here,—a goose and a gander: yet Skelton in Phyllyp Sparowe mentions first “the gose and the gander,” and afterwards “the gaglynge gaunte:” see note, p. 130. v. 447.

v. 517. wesant] i. e. weasand.

v. 519. olyfant] i. e. elephant.

v. 520. bullyfant] Another word which I do not understand.

v. 522. hedes] i. e. heads.

Page 112. v. 525. ale pole] i. e. pole, or stake, set up before an ale-house by way of sign.

v. 535. A strawe, sayde Bele, stande vtter]—stande vtter, i. e. stand more out, back.

v. 538. sterte] i. e. started.

—— fysgygge] “Trotiere: A raumpe, fisgig, fisking huswife, raunging damsell, gadding or wandring flirt.” Cotgrave’s Dict. “Fiz-gig, a wild flirting wench.” Dialect of Craven, &c.

v. 543. gat] i. e. got.

v. 549. quod] i. e. quoth.

—— hyght] i. e. called.

v. 550. bybyll] i. e. drink, tipple.

v. 553. Wheywormed] i. e. covered with whey-worms,—pimples from which a whey-like moisture exudes.

Page 113. v. 555. puscull] i. e. pustule.

v. 556. muscull] i. e. muscle,—the shell of which is frequently “scabbyd.”

Page 113. v. 557. noppy] i. e. nappy.

v. 558. soppy] i. e. sop.

v. 560. mote I hoppy] i. e. may I have good hap.

v. 561. coleth] i. e. cooleth.

—— croppy] i. e. crop, stomach.

v. 563. Haue here is for me] See note, p. 118. v. 413.

v. 573. defoyled] i. e. defiled.

v. 575. sorte] i. e. set, company.

v. 582. a pryckemedenty] i. e. one affectedly nice, finical.

v. 583.

—seynty, i. e. saint: paynty, i. e. paint,—feign: faynty, i. e. faint. Compare our author’s Colyn Cloute;

v. 587. a lege de moy] So again in our author’s Colyn Cloute;

I have not found elsewhere the term lege de moy. Mace, in his Musick’s Monument, 1676, mentions a Tattle de Moy,—“a New Fashion’d Thing, much like a Seraband; only It has more of Conceit in It, as (in a manner) speaking the word (Tattle de Moy),” &c. p. 129.

Page 114. v. 594. I wys] i. e. truly, certainly (i-wis, adv.).

v. 598. spence] i. e. store-room, for drink, or victuals: “Spens a buttrye despencier.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lxvi. (Table of Subst.).

v. 609. awne] i. e. own.

v. 610. Neyther gelt nor pawne] i. e. Neither money nor pledge.

v. 615. balke] i. e. beam, post: “Balke of an house pouste.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xix. (Table of Subst.).

v. 616. tayle] i. e. tally. “A payre of taylles, suche as folke vse to score vpon for rekennyng.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xiii. (Thirde Boke).

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,—