—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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
Page 147. v. 7. gentis Agarenæ] i. e. of the race of Hagar.
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:
[272] and large] Qy. “at large?” but it is by no means certain that “large” is the reading of the MS.
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.
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.).