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).
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.
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.
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.
“Georgius Dundas, Græce Latineque doctissimus habitus, Equitum Hierosolymitanorum intra Regnum Scotiæ præfectus, sed prius Aberdoniæ Professor. Scripsit diligenter, et laboriose. Historiam Equitum Hierosolymitanorum, lib. ii. Claruit anno MDXX.” Dempsteri Hist. Eccles. Gentis Scotorum, &c. 1627, p. 234. This George Dundas was, I apprehend, the person who excited the wrath of Skelton.
Page 192. v. 1.
These three hexameters are, it would seem, the composition of Dundas.
“After this saynt austyn entryd in to dorsetshyre, and came in to a towne where as were wycked peple & refused his doctryne and prechyng vtterly & droof hym out of the towne castyng on hym the tayles of thornback or like fisshes, wherfore he besought almyghty god to shewe his jugement on them, and god sente to them a shameful token, for the chyldren that were borne after in that place had tayles as it is sayd, tyl they had repented them. It is sayd comynly that thys fyl at strode in kente, but blessyd be god at this day is no suche deformyte.” The lyf of saynt Austyn,—Golden Legende, fol. clxxiiii. ed. 1483. See too Nova Legenda Anglie (by Capgrave), 1516. fol. xxx.
“Anglos quosdam caudatos esse.
Svspicabar quod de Anglorum caudis traditur, nugatorium esse, nec hoc meminissem loco, nisi ipsi Anglicarum rerum conditores id serio traderent: nasci videlicet homines, instar brutorum animalium caudatos apud Strodum Angliæ vicum, ad ripam fluuii Meduciæ, qui Roffensem, siue Rocestrensem agrum alluit. Narrantque eius vici incolas, iumento quod D. Thomas Canthuariensis episcopus insideret, per ludibrium caudam amputasse, ob idque diuina vltione adnatas incolis eius loci caudas: vt in hos fatidici regis carmen torqueri possit: Percussit eos (inquit) in posteriora eorum, opprobrium sempiternum dedit illis. De huiusmodi caudis quidam in hunc modum lusit:
On the proverbial expression Kentish Long-Tailes, Fuller has the following remarks. “Let me premise, that those are much mistaken who first found this Proverb on a Miracle of Austin the Monk.... I say they are much mistaken, for the Scæne of this Lying Wonder was not laied in any Part of Kent, but pretended many miles off, nigh Cerne in Dorsetshire. To come closer to the sence of this Proverb, I conceive it first of outlandish extraction, and cast by forraigners as a note of disgrace on all the English, though it chanceth to stick only on the Kentish at this Day. For when there happened in Palestine a difference betwixt Robert brother of Saint Lewis King of France and our William Longspee Earle of Salisbury, heare how the French-man insulted over our nation:
Matthew Paris. Anno Dom. 1250. pag. 790.
O timidorum caudatorum formidolositas! quam beatus, quam mundus præsens foret exercitus, si a caudis purgaretur et caudatis.
O the cowardliness of these fearful Long-tails! How happie, how cleane would this our armie be, were it but purged from tails and Long-tailes.
That the English were nicked by this speech appears by the reply of the Earle of Salisbury following still the metaphor; The son of my father shall presse thither to day, whither you shall not dare to approach his horse taile. Some will have the English so called from wearing a pouch or poake, (a bag to carry their baggage in) behind their backs, whilest probably the proud Monsieurs had their Lacquies for that purpose. In proof whereof they produce ancient pictures of the English Drapery and Armory, wherein such conveyances doe appear. If so, it was neither sin nor shame for the common sort of people to carry their own necessaries, and it matters not much whether the pocket be made on either side, or wholly behinde. If any demand how this nick-name (cut off from the rest of England) continues still entaild on Kent? The best conjecture is, because that county lieth nearest to France, and the French are beheld as the first founders of this aspersion. But if any will have the Kentish so called from drawing and dragging boughs of trees behind them, which afterwards they advanced above their heads and so partly cozened partly threatned King William the Conqueror to continue their ancient customes, I say, if any will impute it to this original, I will not oppose.” Worthies (Kent, p. 63), ed. 1662. The preceding passage of Fuller, somewhat abridged, is copied by Ray into his Proverbs, p. 245. ed. 1768. For fanciful stories concerning the origin of Kentish long-tails, see also Cornv-copiæ, Pasquils Night-cap, 1612, (attributed to S. Rowlands), p. 42. sqq.; and the commencement of Robin Good-fellow, His mad Prankes and Merry Jests, 1628, (a tract which originally appeared at an earlier date).
Page 193. v. 1. Gup] See note, p. 99. v. 17.
v. 23. Agayn] i. e. Against.
v. 26. dur] i. e. door.
v. 28. Go shake thy dog, hey] In our author’s Magnyfycence, v. 306. vol. i. 235, is,—
and had the expression occurred only in these two passages of Skelton, I should have felt confident that in the present one “thy” was a misprint for “the,” and that both were to be explained—“Go shake thee, dog,” &c.; but again, in his poem Howe the douty Duke of Albany, &c. v. 159. vol. ii. 72, we find,
Page 194. v. 34. hose] i. e. breeches.
v. 37. A spectacle case, &c.] See note, p. 193. v. 133.
v. 40. A tolman to blot] A friend queries “tal man?” but tolman is, I believe, pen-man: compare our author’s third poem Against Garnesche;
also the commencement of the present piece,—
v. 41. rough foted] See note, p. 222. v. 170.
v. 43. depraue] i. e. vilify, defame.
v. 44. reame] i. e. realm.
v. 56. rankis] i. e., perhaps, wrangles.
v. 58. Huntley bankes] See note, p. 221. v. 149.
v. 60. Dunde, Dunbar] See note, p. 219. v. 121.
v. 63. to far] i. e. too far.
This illustrious and excellent lady, born in 1441, was Margaret, the only child of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. Her first husband was Edmund, Earl of Richmond, who died in 1456, a little more than a year after their marriage, the sole issue of which was Henry, afterwards King Henry the Seventh. Her second husband was Sir Henry Stafford, second son of Humphrey, the great Duke of Buckingham. Her third husband was Thomas Lord Stanley, afterwards the first Earl of Derby of his name. Having survived him, as also her son King Henry, she died June 29, 1509, in her 69th year, and was buried in the magnificent chapel then lately erected in Westminster Abbey.
Page 195. v. 5. polyandro] Polyandrum or polyandrium, (properly, multorum commune sepulchrum—πολυάνδριον)—“Interdum et sæpius apud ævi inferioris scriptores sumitur pro monumento aut sepulcro unius hominis.” Du Cange’s Gloss.—Here it means, of course, the tomb of Henry vii.—Whiting has anglicised the word in a poem appended to his Albino and Bellama, 1638;
v. 7. Titus hanc, &c.] i. e. Livy, who gives an account of Tanaquil, wife of Tarquinius Priscus: see his Hist. i. 34, &c.—“Tanaquilem Sidonius Apollinaris et Ausonius pro egregia uxore.” Cassellii Var. lib. i. c. xiii. p. 210 (Gruteri Lampas, iii.).
v. 19. Abyron] i. e. Abiram: see Numbers, ch. xvi.
Page 196. v. 25. perituræ parcere chartæ] Juvenal, Sat. i. 18.
—— phagolœdoros] i. e. (φαγολοιδόρους) convicia et maledicta devorantes.
were, i. e. wear: concerning this dress, worn, it would seem, by Skelton as Laureat, see Account of his Life and Writings.
Page 197. v. 16. somdele sere] i. e. somewhat dry, withered.
v. 17. fayne] i. e. glad, willing.
This piece is a paraphrase of three portions of Brant’s Ship of Fools: see the Latin version by Locher, Stultifera Nauis, ed. 1497,—Vxorem ducere propter opes, fol. lx., De livore et inuidia, fol. lxi., and De voluptate corporali, fol. lviii.: the same sections will be found accompanying Barclay’s Ship of Fooles, ed. 1570,—fol. 95, fol. 97, and fol. 92.
Page 199. v. 3. lygnage femynatyfe] i. e. lineage feminine.
v. 9. sythe] i. e. since.
Page 200. l. 1. boke] i. e. book.
l. 2. iyen] i. e. eyes.
—— loke] i. e. look.
l. 3. folysh] i. e. foolish.
l. 4. Pecunyous] i. e. Money-loving.
—— bee] i. e. by.
l. 5. wyddred] i. e. withered.
l. 6. nobles] i. e. the gold coins so called.
l. 8. habandoneth] i. e. abandoneth.
Page 200. l. 9. for to gather togyther the donge ... grese] In the Latin of Locher;
l. 18. thoughte] See note, p. 101. v. 10.
l. 20. debylyte] i. e. debilitated.
l. 21. vnpropyce] i. e. unpropitious.
l. 23. esperaunce] i. e. hope, expectation.
—— lygnage] i. e. lineage.
l. 25. demoraunce] i. e. abiding.
l. 26. leseth] i. e. loseth.
l. 29. hert] i. e. heart.
l. 32. cure] i. e. care.
Page 201. l. 15. conninge] i. e. knowledge, learning, attainments.
l. 20. whereas] i. e. where.
l. 22. pore] i. e. poor.
l. 23. corrompeth] i. e. corrupteth,—destroyeth.
l. 30. defende] i. e. forbid.
Page 202. l. 3. condycions] See note, p. 183. v. 12.
l. 4. dyssypers] i. e., I suppose, disperser.
l. 5. brennest] i. e. inflamest.
l. 6. sleeth] i. e. slayeth, (slayest).
l. 7. traueyleth] i. e. causeth travail (trouble) to.
l. 15. reclaymeth] i. e. proclaimeth.
l. 16. courage] i. e. heart, mind, disposition.
l. 17. adnychell] i. e. annihilate.
l. 22. flambe] i. e. flame.
l. 24. where as] i. e. where.
l. 25. odyfferaunt] i. e. odoriferous.
l. 27. tho] i. e. those.
l. 29. dissolate] i. e. dissolute.
Page 203. l. 6. glauca] Properly, I believe, glaucus.
—— eyen beholdinge a trauers] i. e., I suppose, eyes looking askance.
l. 7. syntillously] i. e. so as to emit sparks.
l. 14. were delybered] i. e. were advised, were minded.
l. 16. domage] i. e. damage, loss.
l. 20. brenneth] i. e. burneth.
l. 21. edefyed] i. e. built.
l. 24. egally] i. e. equally, justly.
l. 28. incontinente] i. e. immediately.
Page 203. l. 29. Cayme] i. e. Cain. So formerly the name was often written:
l. 32. Thesius] Should of course be Thyestes, as in Locher’s Latin: yet Barclay in his version of the passage has,
Page 204. l. 4. rested] i. e. roasted.
—— theim] i. e., perhaps, (if it be not a misprint for “him”) the guests: but the whole passage is scarcely intelligible.
l. 6. Ethiocles] So written in Locher’s Latin for Eteocles; and so Lydgate,—
l. 12. collacion] Equivalent here, I believe, to comparison.
l. 17. cautellous] i. e. crafty, wily.
l. 25. pill] i. e. strip.
l. 26. mondayne] i. e. worldly, gross.
l. 27. cheseth] i. e. chooseth.
Page 205. l. 7. thoughte] See note, p. 101. v. 10.
l. 8. lenger] i. e. longer.
l. 17. sith] i. e. since.
l. 18. asprely] i. e. roughly, severely.
—— enforce] i. e. exert.
Concerning the “yong scolers” against whom this piece was composed, I can give no information.
Page 206. l. 9. contemplationem] See note, p. 214, title of Epitaph.
Page 207. l. 4. remordyng] See note, p. 193. v. 101.
—— recrayed] See note, p. 223. v. 26.
l. 5. rechelesse] i. e. reckless.
l. 25. enbolned] i. e. swollen, puffed up.
l. 26. pipplyng] i. e. piping: compare our author’s Garlande of Laurell, v. 676. vol. i. 388.
l. 29. lusty] i. e. pleasant, desirable.
Page 208. l. 1. sped] i. e. versed.
l. 2. connyng] i. e. knowledge, learning.
v. 8.
Here the tavern with the sign of the Three Cranes is meant: the three cranes were originally three strong cranes of timber, placed on the Vintry-wharf, for lifting from the ships the vessels of foreign wine which were landed there.
Page 208. v. 16. enflamed] i. e. burned.
last l. Ouer] i. e. Besides.
—— processe] i. e. treatise; see notes, p. 143. v. 735. p. 146. v. 969. p. 195. v. 157; and compare v. 160 of this piece with the heading before v. 343, where “matter” and “processe” are used as synonymous.
Page 209. l. 5. tetrycall] i. e. sour, sullen, gloomy.
l. 6. friscaioly] So in the Interlude of the iiii Elementes, n. d.;
l. 7. moche better bayned than brayned] Does bayned here mean—boned? In (at least Scottish) poetry we frequently find the expression “bayne [bone] and brayne:” see, for instance, Henry’s Wallace, B. vii. v. 596. ed. Jam.
l. 9. burblyng] “I Burbyll or spring vp as water dothe out of a spring.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. clxxix. (Table of Verbes).
where a word has dropt out of the line. (The ed. reprinted for the Roxburgh Club has—
—— blode] i. e. blood.
l. 11. rechelesse] i. e. reckless.
l. 15. perihermeniall principles] i. e. principles of interpretation. “Periermeniæ, Interpretationes; vox Græcæ originis περὶ ἑρμηνείας.” Du Cange’s Gloss.
l. 17. leudly] i. e. ignorantly—or perhaps, wickedly.
l. 23. surcudant] i. e. presumptuous, arrogant.
l. 24. popholy] Occurs again several times in our author’s writings, and with the more correct spelling,—popeholy. In Pierce Plowman we find,
In Chaucer’s Romaunt of the Rose is the following description;
The original French of the preceding passage is,—
Roquefort (Gloss. de la Langue Romaine) cites these lines under “Papelardie, papelardise: Hypocrisie, tromperie, subtilité, mauvaise foi.” See too Du Cange’s Gloss. in vv. Papelardia, Papelardus. Compare also Lydgate;
and Barclay;
and the Interlude of the iiii Elementes, n. d.;
Page 209. l. 33. orgulyous] i. e. proud, insolent.
Page 210. v. 22. vnbrent] i. e. unburnt.
v. 23. content] As the marginal note has Convenio, is it not a misprint for “convent?”
v. 24. leudly] i. e. badly, wickedly.
v. 26. disable] i. e. disqualify, degrade, disparage: “disablinge hymself in wordes, though his entent was otherwise.” Hall’s Chron. (Hen. viii.) fol. lvii. ed. 1548.
v. 37. ianglyng] i. e. babbling, chattering,—noisy.
v. 38. clawes] i. e. clause.
v. 39. poppyng dawes] Compare our author’s Why come ye nat to Courte;
and v. 121 of the present piece;
“Popping, blabbing, like a popinjay or parrot.” Gloss. to Exmoor Scolding: dawes, i. e. simpletons; see note, p. 113. v. 301.
Page 210. v. 45. recrayed] See note, p. 223. v. 26.
v. 48. baudrie] i. e. foul language: see note, p. 161. v. 90.
v. 50. to] i. e. too.
Page 211. v. 54. confettred] i. e. confederated.
v. 61. attamed] i. e. tamed.
v. 65. sorte] i. e. set, company.
v. 66. fayne] i. e. glad.
v. 75. Te he, &c.] Expressions of laughter;
v. 76. mo] i. e. more.
Page 212. v. 87. reny] i. e. renounce, abjure.
v. 89. brende] i. e. burnt.
v. 92. discured] i. e. discovered.
v. 95.
The old (and unique) copy is without punctuation in this passage; but that the first line closes the sense, and that Skelton did not mean that these heretics were unhappely ured in their dialectical, &c. would appear from a comparison of other passages:
In our author’s Colyn Cloute we find,
in the note on which line I have cited various examples of vre in the sense of—hap, luck; and in his poem Against the Scottes,
which surely means—Ill-fortuned, &c. (Fr. malheur). Is vnhappely vred to be considered as nearly synonymous with male vryd, or is it to be explained,—unhappily (evilly) used, practised, habituated?
Page 212. v. 98.
“Nullus syllogismus categoricus communis, vel ex solis particularibus, vel ex solis negativis constare potest. Hanc [regulam] expresse tradit Aristoteles libro primo Prior. capite 24. numero primo. Hinc metrum hoc natum:
v. 107. Your hertes than were hosed] i. e. Your hearts were in your hose (breeches): so again our author in his Why come ye nat to Courte;
See too Ray’s Proverbs, (Scottish), p. 292. ed. 1768.
v. 113. quosshons] i. e. cushions.
v. 115. Harpocrates] The God of Silence.
Page 213. v. 120. folysshly] i. e. foolishly.
—— fopped] A singular example of the word as a verb.
v. 121. porisshly] In our author’s Garlande of Laurell is “porisshly pynk iyde,” v. 626. vol. i. 386 (and Palsgrave has “Porisshly, as one loketh that can nat se well”); see note on the passage: but I cannot determine the meaning of the word here.
v. 124. dawes] i. e. simpletons; see note, p. 113. v. 301.
v. 126. elenkes] i. e. elenchs (elenchus—in logic).
v. 132. prouoke and tyse] i. e. incite and entice.
v. 143. exhibycion] i. e. allowance of money.
v. 144. skoles] i. e. schools.
v. 145. foles] i. e. fools.
v. 147. founde] i. e. maintained.
Page 214. v. 156. brute] i. e. saying, proverb.
v. 165. skyes] i. e. clouds.
v. 168. dawns] i. e. dance.
v. 169. ray] See note, p. 194. v. 170.
v. 171. lau] i. e. law.
v. 172. shayle] See note, p. 97. v. 19.
Page 214. v. 175. babyls] i. e. baubles.
Page 215. v. 196. face] i. e. face out.
v. 199. to] i. e. too.
v. 204. lollardy] i. e. heretical; see note, p. 204. v. 145.
v. 206. predycacion] i. e. declaration,—or preaching.
v. 207. knowlege] i. e. acknowledge.
v. 212. muse] Is properly the opening in a fence or thicket, through which a hare or other beast of sport, is accustomed to pass: see Nares’s Gloss. in v. and Moor’s Suff. Words, in v. Mewse.
v. 215.
Whatever Skelton may have meant by “chatyng,”—(perhaps he uses it for chatting,—in the next line we have “pratyng”),—rechatyng is properly a hunting-term, and signifies sounding the rechate or recheat (Fr.), a certain set of notes blown with the horn to recal the dogs.
v. 219. pystels] i. e. epistles.
Page 216. v. 220. bremely] i. e. fiercely, roughly.
v. 234. lydder] i. e. bad.
v. 247. popeholy] See note on prose of this piece, l. 24. p. 230.
Page 217. v. 260. echone] i. e. each one.
v. 264. iangle] i. e. babble, chatter.
v. 267. the people of lay fee] i. e. the laity; as again in our author’s Colyn Cloute;
fee, i. e. possessions; see Tyrwhitt’s Gloss. to Chaucer’s Cant. Tales, Jamieson’s Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang., and Todd’s Johnson’s Dict. in v.
v. 274. snapper] i. e. stumble; but see note, p. 92. v. 4.
—— werkes] i. e. works.
v. 280. mo] i. e. more.
v. 281. latria] “Le culte que nous déférons à Dieu seul, nous l’appellons Latrie [λατρεία].” Perroniana, p. 312. ed. 1740.
v. 285.
—ouerse, i. e. overlook: longeth, i. e. belongeth. “L’adoration de Superdulie est celle qui se défère à la Vierge, et elle est plus eminente pour la grace qu’elle a reçu de Dieu, plus particuliere que les autres Saints, pour avoir porté le Fils de Dieu en ses entrailles.” Perroniana, p. 71. “Aux Saints nous déférons l’honneur qu’on appelle Dulie.” Id. p. 312. ed. 1740. “Dulia [δουλεία] enim adoratio est, quæ etiam creaturæ exhibetur, quæ duas species habet, unam quæ hominibus indifferenter, alteram quæ soli humanitati Christi exhibetur.” Gaufridus Abbas in Epist. ad Albinum Cardinalem,—cited by Du Cange, Gloss. in v.
Page 218. v. 293. mased] i. e. bewildered, confounded.
v. 295. brent] i. e. burnt.
v. 296. bvsynesse] i. e. trouble.
v. 297. vyse] i. e. advise.
v. 298. scoles] i. e. schools.
v. 299. foles] i. e. fools.
Page 219. v. 303. replycable] i. e. such as can be replied to.
Page 220. v. 323. remorded] See note, p. 193. v. 101.
v. 225. his pystell ad Paulinum] i. e. his Epistle ad Paulinum presbyterum de omnibus divinæ historiæ libris, prefixed to the Vulgate: the passage quoted by Skelton is also to be found in Hieronymi Opera, I. 1011. ed. 1609.
—— Serenus] The Scholium on this name in Hieronymi Opera is: “Aulus Serenus lyricus ipse etiam fuit, et, ut Terentianus est auctor, eleganti ac facili ingenio, et ad jocos amoresque describendos accommodato: Martianus Capella ac Nonius sæpius ejus carmina citant.” I. 1017. ed. 1609.—See also an account of Serenus, prefixed to his extant pieces, in Wernsdorf’s Poetæ Latini Minores, tom. ii.
v. 337. armony] i. e. harmony.
Page 221. processe] See note, p. 230, on last line (prose) of p. 208.
v. 359.