v. 102. gose ... oliphaunt] i. e. goose ... elephant.

v. 103. ageyne] i. e. against.

Page 366. v. 110. confecture] i. e. composition.

v. 111. diffuse is to expounde] i. e. is difficult to expound: see note, p. 144. v. 768.

v. 112. make ... fawt] i. e. compose ... fault.

v. 114. motyue] i. e. motion. So in the next line but one is “promotyue,” i. e. promotion: and so Lydgate has “ymaginatyfe” for—imagination. Fall of Prynces, B. v. leaf cxvii. ed. Wayland.

v. 115. auaunce] i. e. advance.

v. 116. rowme] i. e. room, place.

v. 121. gyse] i. e. guise, fashion.

v. 122. iche man doth hym dres] i. e. each man doth address, apply, himself.

v. 124. bokis] i. e. books.

Page 366. v. 127. loke] i. e. look.

v. 129. mo] i. e. more.

Page 367. v. 133. Ageyne] i. e. Against.

v. 136. wele] i. e. well.

v. 137. rasid] i. e. erased.

v. 140. Sith] i. e. Since.

—— defaut] i. e. default, want.

—— konnyng] i. e. (not so much—knowledge, learning, as) skill, ability.

v. 141. apposelle] i. e. question.

—— wele inferrid] i. e. well brought in.

v. 142.

i. e. it is lively, subtly expressed: compare v. 592 and v. 1161, where the words are applied to visible objects.

—— debarrid] See note, p. 237. v. 60; and compare Gentylnes and Nobylyte (attributed without grounds to Heywood) n. d.;

Page 368. v. 149. sittyng] i. e. proper, becoming.

v. 152. corage] i. e. encourage.

v. 153. fresshely] i. e. elegantly: see note on v. 39. p. 302.

v. 155. bruitid] i. e. reported, spoken of.

v. 156. outray] See note, p. 123. v. 87, where this passage is examined.

v. 162. Ierome, in his preamble Frater Ambrosius, &c.] The Epistle of Jerome to Paulinus, prefixed to the Vulgate, begins, “Frater Ambrosius tua mihi munuscula perferens,” &c., and contains this passage: “Unde et Æschines, cum Rhodi exularet, et legeretur illa Demosthenis oratio, quam adversus eum habuerat, mirantibus cunctis atque laudantibus, suspirans ait, Quid, si ipsam audissetis bestiam sua verba resonantem?” It may be found also in Hieronymi Opp. I. 1005. ed. 1609.

Page 369. v. 172. most] i. e. must.

v. 180. wele ... avaunce] i. e. well ... advance.

v. 183. thefte and brybery] See note, p. 256. v. 1242.

v. 184. pyke] i. e. pick.

Page 369. v. 186. cokwoldes] i. e. cuckolds.

v. 187. wetewoldis] i. e. wittols, tame cuckolds.

v. 188. lidderons] So before, lydderyns; see note, p. 267. v. 1945: but here, it would seem, the word is used in the more confined sense of—sluggish, slothful, idle fellows.

—— losels] See note, p. 209. v. 138.

—— noughty packis] See note, p. 203. v. 58.—If Skelton had been required to distinguish exactly between the meanings of these terms of reproach, he would perhaps have been nearly as much at a loss as his editor.

v. 189. Some facers, some bracers, some make great crackis] See note, p. 216. v. 33.

v. 192. courte rowlis] i. e. court-rolls.—Warton cites this and the next two verses as “nervous and manly lines.” Hist. of E. P. ii. 354. ed. 4to.

v. 196. rinne] i. e. run.

Page 370. v. 198. cunnyng] i. e. knowledge, learning.

v. 200. a mummynge] See note, p. 278. v. 83.

v. 201. sadnesse] See note, p. 259. v. 1382.

v. 203. faute] i. e. fault.

v. 204. to] i. e. too.

v. 205. can ... scole] i. e. knows ... school.

v. 207. fole] i. e. fool.

v. 208. stole] i. e. stool.

v. 209. Iacke a thrummis bybille] See note, p. 189. v. 204.

v. 211. agayne] i. e. against.

v. 212. dwte] i. e. duty.

v. 218. to] i. e. too.

Page 371. v. 223. lay] See note, p. 219. v. 103.

—— werkis] i. e. works.

v. 227. most] i. e. must.

v. 232. condiscendid] See note, p. 237. v. 39.

v. 233. clarionar] Is used here for—trumpeter: but the words properly are not synonymous;

and Skelton himself has afterwards in the present poem, “trumpettis and clariouns.” v. 1507.

v. 235. Eolus, your trumpet] i. e. Æeolus, your trumpeter.

So Chaucer makes Æolus trumpeter to Fame: see House of Fame, B. iii.

Page 371. v. 236. mercyall] i. e. martial.

v. 239. prease] i. e. press, throng.

v. 240. hole rowte] i. e. whole crowd, assembly.

v. 243. this trumpet were founde out] See note, p. 251. v. 977.

v. 244. hardely] i. e. assuredly.

v. 245. eyne] i. e. eyes.

Page 372. v. 248. presid ... to] i. e. pressed ... too.

v. 250. Some whispred, some rownyd] See note, p. 120. v. 513.

v. 255. quod] i. e. quoth.

v. 258. plumpe] i. e. cluster, mass. “Stode stille as hit had ben a plompe of wood.” Morte d’Arthur, B. i. cap. xvi. vol. i. 27. ed. Southey. Dryden has the word; and the first writer perhaps after his time who used it was Sir W. Scott.

v. 260. timorous] i. e. terrible.

v. 264. rowte] i. e. crowd, assembly.

v. 265. girnid] i. e. grinned.

v. 266. peuysshe] i. e. silly, foolish.

—— masyd] i. e. bewildered, confounded.

v. 267. whyste] i. e. still.

—— the nonys] i. e. the occasion.

v. 268. iche ... stode] i. e. each ... stood.

v. 269. wonderly] i. e. wonderfully.

v. 270. A murmur of mynstrels] So in many of our early English dramas “a noise of musicians” is used for a company or band of musicians.

v. 272. Traciane] i. e. Thracian.

—— herped meledyously] i. e. harped melodiously.

Page 373. v. 274. armony] i. e. harmony.

v. 275. gree] i. e. agree.

v. 278. gle] i. e. music.

v. 279. auaunce] i. e. advance.

v. 282. Sterte ... fote] i. e. Started ... foot.

v. 285.

i. e. lack of,—less than.

v. 288. cronell] i. e. coronal, garland.

Page 373. v. 289. heris encrisped] i. e. hairs formed into curls, curling.

v. 290. Daphnes] i. e. Daphne. So our early poets wrote the name;

So afterwards in the present poem we find Cidippes for Cydippe, v. 885; and see note, p. 123. v. 70.

—— the darte of lede] From Ovid, Met. i. 471.

v. 291. ne wolde] i. e. would not.

v. 292. herte] i. e. heart.

v. 295. Meddelyd with murnynge] i. e. Mingled with mourning.

v. 296. O thoughtfull herte] See note, p. 101. v. 10.

v. 298. loke] i. e. look.

v. 300.

From Ovid, Met. i. 553.

Page 374. v. 302. he assurded into this exclamacyon]—assurded, i. e. broke forth—a word which I have not elsewhere met with, but evidently formed from the not uncommon verb sourd, to rise. “Ther withinne sourdeth and spryngeth a fontayne or welle.” Caxton’s Mirrour of the world, 1480. sig. e v.: in that work, a few lines after, occurs “resourdeth.”

v. 306. adyment] i. e. adamant.

v. 307. ouerthwhart] i. e. cross, perverse, adverse.

v. 310. Sith] i. e. Since.

v. 314. gresse] i. e. grass. This stanza is also imitated from Ovid, Met. i. 521.

v. 315. axes] See note, p. 100. v. 9.

v. 317. raist] i. e. arrayest: see note on title of poem, p. 197.

v. 318. But sith I haue lost, &c.] Again from Ovid, Met. i. 557.

v. 324. poetis laureat, &c.] It must be remembered that formerly a poet laureat meant a person who had taken a degree in grammar, including rhetoric and versification: and that the word poet was applied to a writer of prose as well as of verse; “Poet a connyng man.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. lv. (Table of Subst.).

Page 374. v. 328. Esiodus, the iconomicar] i. e. Hesiod, the writer on husbandry (the eds. by a misprint have “icononucar,”—which Warton says he “cannot decypher.” Hist. of E. P., ii. 352 (note), ed. 4to.) Among MSS. Dig. Bod. 147. is “Carmen Domini Walteri de Henleye quod vocatur Yconomia sive Housbundria:” compare Cicero; “quam copiose ab eo [Xenophonte] agricultura laudatur in eo libro, qui est de tuenda re familiari, qui Œconomicus inscribitur.” Cato Major, c. 17.

v. 329. fresshe] i. e. elegant: see note, p. 302. v. 39.

Page 375. v. 335. engrosyd] i. e. plumped up, swollen.

—— flotis] i. e. flowings,—drops: various reading, “droppes;” see note ad l. (“Flotyce. Spuma.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499, is a distinct word.)

v. 338. Percius presed forth with problemes diffuse]—presed, i. e. pressed: diffuse, i. e. difficult to be understood; see note, p. 144. v. 768. “Skelton, undoubtedly a man of learning, calls Persius (not unhappily for his mode of thinking) a writer of problems diffuse.” Gifford’s Introd. to Persius, p. xxxi. ed. 1817.

v. 340. satirray] Is this word to be explained—satirist, or satirical?

v. 344. auaunce] i. e. advance.

v. 345. mengith] i. e. mingleth.

v. 347. wrate ... mercyall] i. e. wrote ... martial.

v. 352. Orace also with his new poetry] “That is, Horace’s Art of Poetry. Vinesauf wrote De Nova Poetria. Horace’s Art is frequently mentioned under this title.” Warton’s Hist. of E. P., ii. 353 (note), ed. 4to.

Page 376. v. 359. Boyce] i. e. Boethius.

—— recounfortyd] i. e. recomforted,—comforted.

v. 360.

—iape, i. e. jest, joke. The Elegiarum Liber of Maximianus, which has been often printed as the production of Cornelius Gallus, may be found, with all that can be told concerning its author, in Wernsdorf’s Poetæ Latini Minores, tomi sexti pars prior. In these six elegies Maximianus deplores the evils of old age, relates the pursuits and loves of his youth, &c. &c. Perhaps the line “How dotynge age wolde iape with yonge foly” (in which case iape would have the same meaning here as in our author’s Manerly Margery Mylk and Ale, v. 20. vol. i. 28) is a particular allusion to Elegy v., where Maximianus informs us, that, having been sent on an embassy, at an advanced period of life, he became enamoured of a “Graia puella,” &c., the adventure being described in the grossest terms.

Page 376. v. 365. Johnn Bochas with his volumys grete] In Skelton’s time, the De Genealogia Deorum, the De Casibus Virorum et Fœminarum Illustrium, and other now-forgotten works of Boccaccio, were highly esteemed,—more, perhaps, than the Decamerone.

v. 366. full craftely that wrate] i. e. that wrote full skilfully.

v. 368. probate] See note, p. 236. v. 4.

v. 372. Poggeus ... with many a mad tale] When this poem was written, the Facetiæ of Poggio enjoyed the highest popularity. In The Palice of Honour, Gawen Douglas, enumerating the illustrious writers at the Court of the Muses, says,

v. 374. a frere of Fraunce men call sir Gagwyne, &c.]—frere, i. e. friar: concerning Gaguin, see Account of Skelton and his Writings.

v. 376. bote is of all bale] See note, p. 268. v. 2096.

Page 377. v. 380. Valerius Maximus by name] i. e. Valerius who has the name Maximus (to distinguish him from Valerius Flaccus).

v. 381. Vincencius in Speculo, that wrote noble warkis]—warkis, i. e. works. The Speculum Majus of Vincentius Bellovacensis (naturale, morale, doctrinale, et historiale), a vast treatise in ten volumes folio, usually bound in four, was first printed in 1473. See the Biog. Univ., and Hallam’s Introd. to the Lit. of Europe, i. 160.

v. 382. Pisandros] “Our author,” says Warton, “got the name of Pisander, a Greek poet, from Macrobius, who cites a few of his verses.” Hist. of E. P., ii. 353 (note), ed. 4to. A mistake: Macrobius (Sat. v. 2.) mentions, but does not cite, Pisander.

v. 383. blissed Bachus, that mastris oft doth frame]—mastris, i. e. disturbances, strifes: see note, p. 264. v. 1738.

v. 386. sadly ... auysid] i. e. seriously, earnestly ... considered, observed.

v. 389. fresshely be ennewed] See notes, p. 144. v. 775. p. 302. v. 39.

v. 390.

—Dane, equivalent to Dominus. So at the commencement of his Lyfe of our Lady, printed by Caxton, folio, n. d.; “This book was compyled by dan John lydgate monke of Burye,” &c. He belonged to the Benedictine abbey of Bury in Suffolk.

Page 377. v. 391. theis Englysshe poetis thre] “That only these three English poets [Gower, Chaucer, Lydgate] are here mentioned, may be considered as a proof that only these three were yet thought to deserve the name.” Warton’s Hist. of E. P., ii. 354. ed. 4to. So the Scottish poets of Skelton’s time invariably selected these three as most worthy of praise: see Laing’s note on Dunbar’s Poems, ii. 355.

v. 393. Togeder in armes, as brethern, enbrasid] So Lydgate;

v. 395. tabers] i. e. tabards: see the earlier portion of note, p. 283. v. 318.

v. 397. Thei wantid nothynge but the laurell] Meaning,—that they were not poets laureate: see note on v. 324. p. 307.

v. 398. godely] i. e. goodly.

v. 402. enplement] i. e. employment, place.

Page 378. v. 405. The brutid Britons of Brutus Albion]—brutid, i. e. famed. So Lydgate;

v. 410. Arrectinge vnto your wyse examinacion] See note, p. 237. v. 95.

v. 414. besy] i. e. busy.

v. 417. hooll] i. e. whole.

v. 420. poynted] i. e. appointed.

v. 421. pullisshyd] i. e. polished.

v. 425. mowte] i. e. might.

Page 379. v. 428. preuentid] i. e. anticipated.

v. 429. meritory] i. e. deserved, due.

v. 431. regraciatory] i. e. return of thanks.

v. 432. poynt you to be prothonatory] i. e. appoint you to be prothonotary.

v. 433. holl] i. e. whole.

v. 434. Auaunced] i. e. Advanced.

v. 439. warkes] i. e. works.

v. 444. I made it straunge] i. e. I made it a matter of nicety, scruple.

v. 445. presed] i. e. pressed.

Page 380. v. 455. prese] i. e. press, throng.

v. 460. Engolerid] i. e. Engalleried.

v. 466. turkis and grossolitis] i. e. turquoises and chrysolites.

Page 380. v. 467. birrall enbosid] i. e. beryl embossed.

v. 469.

i. e. Having many goodly plates of gold shaped like lozenges (quadrilateral figures of equal sides, but unequal angles).

—— entachid with many a precyous stone]—entachid may be used in the sense of—tacked on; but qy. is the right reading “enhachid?” as in v. 40 of the present poem, “Enhachyde with perle,” &c., (and v. 1078 of Phyllyp Sparowe,) see note, p. 302.

v. 472. whalis bone] In our early poetry “white as whales bone” is a common simile; and there is reason to believe that some of our ancient writers supposed the ivory then in use (which was made from the teeth of the horse-whale, morse, or walrus) to be part of the bones of a whale. Skelton, however, makes a distinction between “whalis bone” and the real ivory (see v. 468). The latter was still scarce in the reign of Henry the Eighth; but, before that period, Caxton had told his readers that “the tooth of an olyfaunt is yuorye.” Mirrour of the world, 1480. sig. f i.

v. 474. The carpettis within and tappettis of pall]—tappettis of pall, i. e. coverings of rich or fine stuff (perhaps table-covers): that tappettis does not here mean tapestry, is proved by the next line; and compare v. 787,

Page 381. v. 475. clothes of arace] See note, p. 192. v. 78.

v. 476. Enuawtyd ... vawte] i. e. Envaulted ... vault.

v. 477. pretory] Lat. prætorium.

v. 478. enbulyoned] i. e. studded; see note on v. 1165.

—— indy blew] See note, p. 101. v. 17.

v. 480. Iacinctis and smaragdis out of the florthe they grew]—Iacinctis, i. e. Jacinths: smaragdis, i. e. emeralds (but see note, p. 102. v. 20): “Vng planché, a plancher or a florthe that is boorded.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. iii. (Thirde Boke). “Florthe of a house astre.”—“Gyst that gothe ouer the florthe soliue, giste.” Id. fols. xxxiiii. xxxvi. (Table of Subst.). “I Plaster a wall or florthe with plaster ... I wyl plaster the florthe of my chambre to make a gernyer there, Ie plastreray latre de ma chābre pour en faire vng grenier.” Id. fol. cccxviii. (Table of Verbes).

v. 483. most rychely besene] i. e. of a most rich appearance,—most richly arrayed: see notes, p. 112. v. 283, p. 295. v. 957.

v. 484. cloth of astate] i. e. cloth of estate,—canopy.

v. 487. ryally] i. e. royally.

Page 381. v. 489. enuyrowne] i. e. in compass, about.

v. 490. stode] i. e. stood.

v. 492. presid] i. e. pressed.

v. 493. Poyle ... Trace] i. e. Apulia ... Thrace.

v. 499. metely wele] See note, p. 270. v. 2196.

Page 382. v. 502. a kyby hele] See note, p. 174. v. 493.

v. 503. salfecundight] i. e. safe-conduct.

v. 504. lokyd ... a fals quarter]—lokyd, i. e. looked: “The false quarters is a soreness on the inside of the hoofs, which are commonly called quarters, which is as much as to say, crased unsound quarters, which comes from evil Shooing and paring the Hoof.” R. Holme’s Ac. of Armory, 1688. B. ii. p. 152.

v. 505. I pray you, a lytyll tyne stande back] So Heywood;

v. 514. the ballyuis of the v portis] i. e. the bailiffs of the Cinque Ports.

v. 519. besines] i. e. business.

v. 520. most] i. e. must.

v. 521. maystres] i. e. mistress.

v. 523. sufferayne] i. e. sovereign.

v. 525. And we shall se you ageyne or it be pryme] I have my doubts about what hour is here meant by pryme. Concerning that word see Du Cange’s Gloss. in Prima and Horæ Canonicæ, Tyrwhitt’s Gloss. to Chaucer’s Cant. Tales, Sibbald’s Gloss. to Chron. of Scot. Poetry, and Sir F. Madden’s Gloss. to Syr Gawayne, &c.

Page 383. v. 531. kest ... loke] i. e. cast ... look.

v. 532. boke] i. e. book.

v. 537. supprysed] i. e. overpowered, smitten.

v. 541. the port salu] See note, p. 299. v. 1262.

v. 547. hertely as herte] i. e. heartily as heart.

v. 548. hole] i. e. whole.

v. 550. aquyte] i. e. discharge, pay.

Page 384. v. 554. moche] i. e. much.

v. 555. Affyaunsynge her myne hole assuraunce] i. e. Pledging her my whole, &c.

v. 559. stonde] i. e. stand.

v. 560. toke ... honde] i. e. took ... hand.

v. 566. iangelers] i. e. babblers, chatterers.

v. 570. moche costious] i. e. much costly.

v. 572. the stones be full glint]—glint must mean here—slippery: see note, p. 263. v. 1687.

v. 574. yatis] i. e. gates.

Page 385. v. 585. carectis] i. e. characters.

v. 586. where as I stode] i. e. where I stood.

v. 590. a lybbard] i. e. a leopard.—“There is,” says Warton, who quotes the stanza, “some boldness and animation in the figure and attitude of this ferocious animal.” Hist. of E. P., ii. 352. ed. 4to.

v. 592. As quikly towchyd] i. e. touched, executed, as much to the life.

v. 595. forme foote] i. e. fore-foot.

—— shoke] i. e. shook.

v. 597.

The whole of this “Cacosyntheton ex industria” is beyond my comprehension. Here Skelton has an eye to Juvenal;

v. 601. Spreto spineto cedat saliunca roseto] Here he was thinking of Virgil;

v. 602. loked] i. e. looked.

v. 603. presed] i. e. pressed, thronged.

v. 604. Shet] i. e. Shut.

v. 605. to] i. e. too.

v. 606. astate] i. e. estate, condition.

v. 607. quod] i. e. quoth.

—— haskardis] “Haskerdes went in the queste: not honeste men. Proletarii & capite censi: non classici rem trāsegerunt.” Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. n iiii. ed. 1530.

who in the Gloss. queries if haskerde mean “dirty fellow? from the Scotch hasky.” The latter word is explained by Jamieson “dirty, slovenly.” Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang.

—— rebawdis] i. e. ribalds.

v. 608. Dysers, carders] Dicers, card-players.

—— gambawdis] i. e. gambols.

Page 386. v. 609. Furdrers of loue] i. e. Furtherers of love—pimps, pandars.

v. 610. blow at the cole] A friend suggests that there is an allusion here to alchemists; but I believe he is mistaken. It is a proverbial expression. So our author again;

The proverb given by Davies of Hereford;

and by Ray, Proverbs, p. 90. ed. 1768, seems to have a quite different meaning.

Page 386. v. 611. kownnage] i. e. coinage,—coining.

v. 612. Pope holy ypocrytis] i. e. Pope-holy hypocrites: see note, p. 230. l. 24 (prose).

—— as they were golde and hole]—hole, i. e. whole. Heywood also has this expression;

v. 613. Powle hatchettis] See note, p. 98. v. 28.

—— ale pole] i. e. pole, or stake, set up before an ale-house by way of sign.

v. 614. brybery, theft] See note, p. 256. v. 1242.

v. 615. condycyons] See note, p. 183. v. 12.

v. 616. folys] i. e. fools.

v. 618. dysdanous dawcokkis] i. e. disdainful simpletons, empty fellows: see note, p. 113. v. 301.

v. 619. fawne thé] i. e. fawn on thee.

—— kurris of kynde] i. e. curs by nature.

v. 620. shrewdly] i. e. evilly.

v. 625. broisid] i. e. bruised, broke.

v. 626. peuysshe] i. e. foolish, silly.

—— porisshly pynk iyde] “Porisshly, as one loketh yᵗ can nat se well, Louchement.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. ccccxliiii. (Table of Aduerbes): pynk iyde, i. e. pink-eyed; “Some haue myghty eyes, and some be pynkeyed ... peti.” Hormanni Vulgaria, sig. G vi. ed. 1530; and see Nares’s Gloss. in v.

v. 627. aspyid] i. e. espied, marked.

v. 629. a gun stone] After the introduction of iron shot (instead of balls of stone) for heavy artillery, the term gunstone was retained in the sense of—bullet: “Gonne stone, plombee, boulet, bovle de fonte.” Palsgrave’s Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr., 1530. fol. xxxvii. (Table of Subst.).

—— all to-iaggid] See notes, p. 100. v. 32. p. 163. v. 124.

v. 630. daggid] See note, p. 163. v. 123.

v. 631. byrnston] i. e. brimstone.

Page 386. v. 632. Masid] i. e. Bewildered, confounded.

—— a scut] “Scut or hare. Lepus.” Prompt. Parv. ed. 1499.

v. 635. dysour] See note, p. 255. v. 1191.

—— a deuyl way] See note, p. 287. v. 672.

Page 387. v. 637. peuisshenes] i. e. foolishness, silliness: compare v. 626.

v. 639. foisty bawdias] See note, p. 192. v. 76.

v. 641. Dasyng after dotrellis, lyke drunkardis that dribbis]—Dasying i. e. gazing with a stupified look: dotrellis; see note, p. 129. v. 409: dribbis, i. e. drip, drivel, slaver.

v. 642. titiuyllis] See note, p. 284. v. 418.

—— taumpinnis] i. e. tampions,—wooden stoppers, put into the mouths of cannon to keep out rain or sea-water. In The foure P. P. by Heywood, the Poticary tells a facetious story about “a thampyon.” Sig. D i. ed. n. d. (Fr. tampon).

v. 643. I hyght you] i. e. I assure you.

v. 644. mone light] i. e. moonlight.

v. 648. wele] i. e. well.

v. 649. auenturis] i. e. adventure.

v. 652. herber] See note, p. 101. v. 13.

v. 653. brere] i. e. briar.

v. 654. With alys ensandid about in compas] “i. e. it was surrounded with sand-walks.” Warton’s Hist. of E. P., ii. 350 (note), ed. 4to. So the garden, in which Chaucer describes Cressid walking, was “sonded all the waies.” Troilus and Creseide, B. ii. fol. 152, —Workes, ed. 1602: and compare Lydgate;

v. 655. with singular solas] i. e. in a particularly pleasant manner.

v. 656. rosers] i. e. rose-bushes.

v. 658. coundight] i. e. conduit.

—— coryously] i. e. curiously. So Lydgate;

v. 662. ensilured again the son beames] i. e. ensilvered against the sunbeams.

Page 388. v. 664. reuolde] i. e. revolved, turned.

v. 669. bet vp a fyre] See note, p. 146. v. 930.

v. 671. flagraunt flower]—flagraunt, i. e. fragrant. Compare v. 978. So Hawes;

Page 388. v. 673. baratows broisiours] i. e. contentious bruisers,—unless (as the context seems rather to shew) broisiours means—bruisures, bruises.

v. 674. passid all bawmys] i. e. surpassed all balms.

v. 676. gardynge] i. e. garden.

—— piplyng] i. e. piping; as in our author’s Replycacion, &c. vol. i. 207. l. 26 (prose).

v. 680. the nyne Muses, Pierides by name] So Chaucer;

v. 681. Testalis] i. e. Thestylis. So Barclay;

v. 682. enbybid] i. e. made wet, soaked.

v. 683. moche solacyous] i. e. much pleasant, mirthful.

v. 686. somer] i. e. summer.

—— fotid] i. e. footed.

v. 687. twynklyng upon his harpe stringis]—twynklyng, i. e. tinkling. So, at a much later period, Dekker; “Thou (most cleare throated singing man,) with thy Harpe, (to the twinckling of which inferior Spirits skipt like Goates ouer the Welsh mountaines),” &c. A Knights Coniuring, 1607. sig. D 2.

Page 389. v. 688. And Iopas, &c.] Here, and in the next two stanzas, Skelton has an eye to Virgil;