Book xx
. cap. iiii. vol. ii. 394. ed. Southey.
v. 106. _reason and skyll_] An expression which Skelton has elsewhere; but the words are nearly synonymous. “_Skyll_. Racio.” _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499.
v. 113. _chere_] i. e. spirit,—or reception.
v. 114. _intere_] i. e. entire.
v. 115. _Oracius to recorde_] i. e. Horace to witness.
v. 117. _to_] i. e. too.
v. 126. _Measure is treasure_] Lydgate mentions this as “an olde prouerbe:” see his verses on Moderation, _MS. Harl._ 2251. fol. 29, and his poem beginning “Men wryte of oold how _mesour is tresour.” Id._ 2255. fol. 143.
—— _this_] i. e. thus: see note, p. 86. v. 38.
Page 230. v. 131. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
v. 133. _kynde_] i. e. nature.
v. 134. _renne_] i. e. run.
v. 137. _a rest_] i. e. a wrest—by which the strings of harps and other musical instruments were drawn up.
v. 138. _All trebyllys and tenours be rulyd by a meyne_] “Intercentus, a _meane_ of a songe.” _Ortus Vocab._ fol. ed. W. de Worde, n. d. In the notes on Shakespeare, in Todd’s _Johnson’s Dict._ &c., _mean_ is wrongly explained—tenor: what the _mean_ was, depended entirely on the nature of the composition.
v. 139. _beste_] i. e. beast.
v. 149. _skyll_] i. e. reason: see note on v. 106.
v. 150. _sad_] i. e. grave, serious, sober.
v. 151. _It is no maystery_] “_Maystry_ done by delyuernesse _ung tovr de souplesse, appertise_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. xlvi. (Table of Subst.); and see note, p. 113. v. 329.
“So me helpe God! queth Beues tho, _Hit were no meistri_ me to slo, For this is the ferthe dai agon Mete ne drinke ne bot I non.”
_Sir Beues of Hamtoun_, p. 68. Maitl. ed.
“That is _lytel maystry_ sayd syre launcelot to slee myn hors.” _Morte d’Arthur_, B. xix. c. iiii. vol. ii. 369. ed. Southey.
Page 230. v. 153. _herdely_] i. e. firmly.
Page 231. v. 166. _hyght_] i. e. am called.
v. 175. _Conuenyent_] i. e. Fit, suitable.
—— _ryall_] i. e. royal.
v. 178. _syttynge_] i. e. proper, becoming,—a word very common in our early poetry (altered unnecessarily to “fyttynge” in the Roxburgh reprint of this piece).
v. 182. _his large_] i. e. his range.
v. 184. _hooly_] i. e. wholly.
v. 189. _sawe_] i. e. sow.
v. 190. _nother to_] i. e. neither too.
—— _lawe_] i. e. low: so again in v. 2541, “nowe hy, nowe _lawe_ degre.”
v. 193. _consayte_] i. e. conception.
Page 232. v. 202. _losyll so lyther_] i. e. scoundrel so wicked.
v. 209. _plenarly_] i. e. fully, entirely.
v. 213. _Had I wyste_] See note, p. 86. v. 40.
v. 216. _to fer_] i. e. too far.
v. 219. _defaute_] i. e. default, want.
v. 226. _mone_] i. e. moon.
v. 230. _lyghtly_] “_Lightly_ or sone [i. e. soon]. Leuiter.” _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499: or, easily.
Page 233. v. 231. _to moche_] i. e. too much.
v. 233. _scole_] i. e. school.
v. 234. _a poppynge fole_]—_fole_, i. e. fool. “He is a _popte fole_ or a starke fole for the nones. Homo fatuitate monstrabilis.” Hormanni _Vulgaria_, sig. P iii. ed. 1530. And see note, p. 231. v. 39.
v. 239. _delyaunce_] i. e. dalliance, delay.
v. 249. _endure_] i. e. remain, dwell.
v. 256. _Here is none forsyth whether you flete or synke_]—_forsyth_, i. e. regardeth, careth: _flete_, i. e. float, swim. So Chaucer;
“Him _recketh neuer whether she flete or sinke_.”
_Annel. and Ar._,—_Workes_, fol. 244. ed. 1602.
v. 257. _lokyd_] i. e. looked.
v. 259. _hafter_] See note, p. 107. v. 138.
Page 234. v. 260. _iangelynge Jacke of the vale_] i. e. chattering, &c.; see note, p. 104. v. 6.
v. 266. _Mary_] i. e. by the Virgin Mary.
v. 267. _largesse_] i. e. bounty, liberality.
v. 269. _worshyp_] i. e. honour, dignity.
v. 272. _hyght_] i. e. am called.
v. 274. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
v. 280. _hardely_] i. e. firmly.
Page 234. v. 280. _auaunce_] i. e. advance.
v. 283. _reporte me_] i. e. refer.
—— _Kynge Lewes_] i. e. King Louis the twelfth: see note on title, p. 236.
v. 285. _syth_] i. e. since.
v. 290. _Jacke shall haue Gyl_] So Heywood;
“Come chat at home, all is well, _Jack shall haue Gill_.”
_Dialogue_, sig. F 3.—_Workes_, ed. 1598.
Page 235. v. 295. _broder_] i. e. brother.
v. 296. _I set not by_] i. e. I value not.
—— _Dauncaster cuttys_] i. e. Doncaster horses.—_Cut_ was a term for a common horse, from its having the tail cut short.
v. 297. _bolte_] i. e. arrow (for a description of it, see Nares’s _Gloss._ in v.).
—— _shote_] i. e. shoot.
v. 298. _hyght_] i. e. be called.
v. 300. _this checke if ye voyde canne_] “_Checke_ a mery taunt.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, fol. xxiii. (Table of Subst.). “I _Voyde_ a thyng out of the way or out of syght, _Ie oste_.” _Id._ fol. ccclxxxxix. (Table of Verbes).
v. 301. _to longe to scole_] i. e. too long to school.
v. 302. _gose_] i. e. goose.
v. 303. _pole_] i. e. pool, water.
v. 304. _fole_] i. e. fool.
v. 306. _Go, shake the dogge, hay_] See note, p. 226. v. 28.
v. 310. _to play with me checke mate_] In allusion to the king being put in _check_ at the game of chess.
v. 311. _your noble estate_] Equivalent to—your noble lordship.
v. 312. _recorde_] i. e. testimony.
v. 314. _Sad_] i. e. Grave, serious, sober.
v. 318. _hele_] i. e. health.
v. 319. _commaunde_] i. e. commend.
v. 321. _ony_] i. e. any.
v. 322. _sone_] i. e. soon.
v. 323. _kepe_] i. e. heed, care, attention.
Page 236. v. 325. _after none_] i. e. afternoon.
v. 327. _Whylest_] i. e. Until.
v. 333. _mynde_] i. e. fancy.
v. 336. _beholde_] i. e. beholden.
v. 341. _By lakyn_] i. e. by our Lady: _lakyn_ is the contraction of _ladykyn_, little lady.
v. 346. _Pountesse_] i. e. Pontoise.
Page 236. v. 347. _taken me_] i. e. committed, consigned to me.
Page 237. v. 355. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
v. 357. _They bare me in hande that I was a spye_] i. e. They accused me, laid to my charge, that, &c.
“This false knight, that hath this treson wrought, _Bereth hire in hond_ that she hath don this thing.”
Chaucer’s _Man of Lawes Tale_, v. 5039. ed. Tyr.
“I _Beare in hande_ I threp vpon a man that he hath done a dede, or make hym byleue so, _Ie fais accroyre_” ... “What crime or yuell mayest thou _beare me in hande of: Quel crime ou mal me peulx tu mettre sus_.” Palgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. clxii. (Table of Verbes). “Many be _borne an hande_ of a faute, and punysshed therfore, that were neuer gylty. Plerique facinoris _insimulantur_,” &c. Hormanni _Vulgaria_, sig. m ii. ed. 1530. This expression occurs with a different shade of meaning in our author’s _Why come ye nat to Courte_,—
“_He bereth the kyng on hand_, That he must pyll his lande,” &c.
v. 449. vol. ii. 40.
v. 362.
_And wolde haue made me Freer Tucke,_ _To preche out of the pylery hole_]
Friar Tuck was one of Robin Hood’s merry companions. Concerning these lines Ritson remarks that there is “an evident allusion to some game or practice now totally forgotten and inexplicable.” _Robin Hood_, i. xxvi.
v. 364. _antetyme_] i. e. text. So in the absurd story of Skelton’s preaching, _Merie Tales_, (reprinted in Appendix to _Account of his Life and Writings_), “I say, as I said before in my _antethem, vos estis_.” _Tale vii_.
v. 366. _moche warke_] i. e. much work, trouble.
v. 367. _Mary_] i. e. By the Virgin Mary.
v. 369. _made largesse as I hyght_] i. e. made donation of money according to my name (Fancy’s assumed name being Largesse, see v. 272).
v. 375. _grete estates_] i. e. persons of great estate or rank.
Page 238. v. 384. _ye_] i. e. yea.
v. 385. _mesure is a mery mene_] Heywood in his _Epigrammes vpon Prouerbs_ has ten on “Measure is a mery meane.” Sig. N iiii.,—_Workes_, ed. 1598.
v. 388. _ryall_] i. e. royal.
v. 391. _oder_] i. e. other.
v. 405. _blunderyng_] i. e. disturbance. “I _Blonder, Ie perturbe_.”
Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. clxviii. (Table of Verbes).
Page 238. v. 406. _betake_] i. e. commit, consign.
v. 411. _to put the stone_] i. e. to throw the stone above hand, from the uplifted hand, for trial of strength.
Page 239. v. 413. _gyse_] i. e. guise, fashion, manner.
v. 417. _I set not by_] i. e. I value not.
v. 423. _lurdayne_] i. e. lumpish, lazy fellow, clown,—worthless person in general.
v. 425. _tappyster_] i. e. woman presiding over the tap in a public house.
v. 429. _can_] i. e. know.
—— _praty_] i. e. pretty.
v. 430. _occupy_] i. e. use: see note, p. 86. v. 52.
—— _kayes_] i. e. keys.
v. 433. _at all assayes_] Occurs again in v. 2303. “_At all assayes, En tous poynts_, or _a tous poynts_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. ccccxxxviii. (Table of Aduerbes). “He is a frende _at all assayes_. _Omnium horarum_ amicus est.” Hormanni _Vulgaria_, sig. Y iiii. ed. 1530.
v. 435. _mekyll_] i. e. much.
v. 444. _sleyght_] i. e. trick, artful contrivance.
Page 240. v. 446. _fayty bone geyte_] Perhaps corrupted French—_fait a bon get_ or _geste_.
v. 449. _consayte_] i. e. conceit, conception.
v. 453. _noppe is rughe_] i. e. nap is rough.
v. 455. _chafer_] i. e. merchandise.
v. 458. _The courtly gyse of the newe iet_] A somewhat pleonastic expression,—the courtly guise of the new fashion. “_Gette_ a custome _guise nouuelle_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. xxxvi. (Table of Subst.).
“Yit a poynte _of the new gett_ to telle wille I not blyn.”
_Juditium_,—_Towneley Mysteries_, p. 312.
v. 460. _ferre fet_] i. e. far fetched.
v. 461. _ymet_] i. e. met.
v. 462. _Margery Mylke Ducke_] See note, p. 172. v. 418.
—— _mermoset_] A kind of ape or monkey.
v. 465. _fresshe_] i. e. smart.
v. 469. _praty_] i. e. pretty.
v. 470. _iet_] i. e. strut; see note, p. 94. v. 43.
v. 472. _pope holy_] See note, p. 230. l. 24.
v. 473. _sadnesse_] i. e. gravity, seriousness, soberness, discreetness.
Page 240. v. 475. _not worth a flye_] See note, p. 219. v. 104.
v. 477. _occupy_] i. e. use; see note, p. 86. v. 52.
v. 478. _worshyp_] i. e. honour, dignity.
Page 241. v. 482. _tehe wehe_] See note, p. 232. v. 75.
v. 485. _knokylbonyarde_] Compare Palsgrave’s _Acolastus_, 1540; “Do I raygne here on this facion, being a swynherde amongest swyne of Boeatia. i. amongest a meyny of iacke holde my staues, or _knockyldeboynyardes_, beinge but of late a kynge,” &c. Sig. Y iiii.; and Heywood’s _Dialogue_, &c.,—
“He is a _knuckilbonyard_ very meete To match a minion neither fayre nor sweete.”
Sig. D 4.,—_Workes_, ed. 1598.
v. 486. _to_] i. e. too.
v. 488. _warke_] i. e. work, business, matter.
v. 489. _yarke_] i. e. strike, lash.
v. 490. _custrell_] “_Coustrell_ that wayteth on a speare _covsteillier_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. xxvii. (Table of Subst.). “_Coustillier_: An Esquire of the body; an Armour-bearer unto a Knight; the servant of a man at Armes; also, a groom of a stable, a horse-keeper.” Cotgrave’s _Dict._
v. 492. _this_] i. e. thus; see note, p. 86. v. 38 (and so in the next line).
—— _freers_] i. e. friars.
—— _famine_] “_Famen_, sermo, verbum.” Du Cange’s _Gloss._
v. 506. _By God, I haue bene about a praty pronge_]—_praty_, i. e. pretty: in the present line at least, _pronge_ seems to mean—prank (Dutch _pronk_), whatever be its signification in the following passage of our author’s _Colyn Cloute_;
“And howe at _a pronge_ We tourne ryght into wronge.”
v. 1196. vol. i. 357.
Page 242. v. 510. _pagent_] i. e. part: see notes, p. 88. v. 85; p. 189. v. 190.
v. 512. _by lakyn_] See note on v. 341. p. 240.
v. 513. _heyre parent_] i. e. heir apparent.
v. 514. _rome_] i. e. room, place.
v. 516. _to_] i. e. too.
v. 518. _Cockys harte_] i. e. God’s heart (_Cock_, a corruption of _God_).
v. 521. _thee_] i. e. thrive.
v. 526. _hyght_] i. e. am called.
v. 529. _large_] A play on the meanings of the word,—big, and liberal.
Page 242. v. 533. _cofer kay_] i. e. coffer-key.
v. 535. _auowe_] i. e. vow: see note, p. 109. v. 199.
Page 243. v. 539. _alowde_] i. e. approved.
v. 554. _in same_] i. e. in the same place (a pleonasm,—since “_togyder_” precedes).
v. 561. _Can_] i. e. Know.
v. 562. _spedde_] i. e. versed.
v. 564. _iapes_] i. e. jests, jokes.
v. 568. _ouerwharte_] i. e. overthwart—cross, perverse, wrangling.
v. 569. _beshrowe_] i. e. curse.
v. 571. _iangle_] i. e. babble, chatter.
Page 244. v. 573. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
v. 575. _my botes and my spores_] i. e. my boots and my spurs.
v. 578. _Cockes woundes_] i. e. God’s wounds; see note on v. 518, preceding page.
v. 580. _loketh_] i. e. looketh.
v. 585. _iurde hayte_] Words (French perhaps) which I do not understand.
v. 591. _quod_] i. e. quoth.
v. 592. _a leysshe of ratches to renne an hare_] i. e. a leash of—three—hounds to run a hare.
v. 597. _prece_] i. e. press.
Page 245. v. 609. _to_] i. e. too.
v. 625. _Mary_] i. e. By the Virgin Mary.
v. 628. _do togyder_] i. e. put it together.
v. 629. _ony_] i. e. any.
v. 633. _wonne_] i. e. dwell.
v. 635. _a captyuyte_] Is rather, I suspect, a misprint for, than used in the sense of—_in_: compare v. 2543.
Page 246. v. 639. _the playnesse_] i. e. the plain fact.
v. 644. _thee_] i. e. thrive.
v. 658. _a pystell of a postyke_]—_pystell_, i. e. epistle, letter; but I do not understand the expression.
v. 659. _fonnysshe_] i. e. foolish.
v. 666. _freke_] i. e. fellow: see notes, p. 109. v. 187; p. 178. v. 15.
v. 667. _peke_] “I _Peke_ or prie.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. cccxvii. [—xv.] (Table of Verbes).
Page 247. v. 672. _rome_] i. e. room, place.
v. 679. _hyght_] i. e. be called.
v. 681. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
v. 685. _By the armes of Calys_] See note, p. 118. v. 398.
v. 687. _slyght_] i. e. trick, artful contrivance.
v. 688. _fonde consayte_] i. e. foolish conceit,—fantasies.
Page 247. v. 690. _sadnesse_] See note on v. 473. p. 242.
v. 692. _Cockys body_] i. e. God’s body: see note on v. 518. p. 243.
v. 695. _whylyst_] i. e. until.
v. 698. _quyte_] i. e. acquit.
—— _praty_] i. e. pretty.
Page 248. v. 707. _haftynge_] See note, p. 107. v. 138.
v. 713. _geste_] i. e. guest.
v. 719. _hynder_] “_Hyndringe_ or harmynge. Dampnificacio.” _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499. “I _Hynder_ I hurte, _Ie porte dommage_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. cclxii. (Table of Verbes).
“Lest the reporte in _hinderyng_ of his name,” &c.
Lydgate’s _Warres of Troy_, B. iii. sig. Q ii. ed. 1555.
v. 720. _hode_] i. e. hood.
v. 722. _fole_] i. e. fool.
v. 730. _lacke_] i. e. blame.
v. 732. _sped_] i. e. versed.
v. 733. _lytherly_] i. e. wickedly.
v. 734. _Paynte_] See note, p. 176. v. 583.
Page 249. v. 737. _fauell_] See note, p. 107. v. 134.
—— _tyned_] i. e. pointed, pronged.
v. 745. _shrewdenes_] i. e. wickedness, evil.
v. 746. _grete estates_] i. e. persons of great estate, or rank.
v. 748. _flery_] i. e. fleer.
—— _pretence_] i. e. intent.
v. 751. _bronde_] i. e. brand.
v. 752. _mase_] i. e. bewilder, confound.
—— _fonde_] i. e. foolish.
v. 754. _bale_] i. e. sorrow, trouble.
v. 755. _Huffa, huffa_] See note, p. 181. v. 16.
v. 756. _a_] i. e. he.
v. 757. _Rutty bully_] See note, p. 94. v. 29.
—— _ioly rutterkyn, heyda_] Occurs in a song preserved in the Fairfax MS. which once belonged to Ralph Thoresby, and is now among the Additional MSS. in the British Museum (5465, fol. 114):
“Hoyda _joly rutterkyn hoyda_ Lyke a rutterkyn hoyda.
Rutterkyn is com vnto oure towne In a cloke withoute cote or gowne Save a raggid hode to kouer his crowne Like a rutter hoyda.
Rutterkyn can speke no englissh His tonge rennyth all on buttyrd fyssh Besmerde with grece abowte his disshe Like a rutter hoyda.
Rutterkyn shall bryng you all good luk A stoup of bere vp at a pluk Till his brayne be as wise as a duk Like a rutter hoyda.
When rutterkyn from borde will ryse He will piss a galon pott full at twise And the ouerplus vndir the table of the newe gyse Like a rutter hoyda.”
Sir John Hawkins printed the above song (with the music) and tells us that it “is supposed to be a satire on those drunken Flemings who came into England with the princess Anne of Cleve, upon her marriage with king Hen. viii.” _Hist. of Music_, iii. 2. But if it be the very song quoted in our text, it must allude to “rutterkyns” of a considerably earlier period; and, as the Fairfax MS. contains two other pieces which are certainly known to be from Skelton’s pen, there is a probability that this also was composed by him.
_Court. Ab._ in his next speech but one says, “am not I a ioly _rutter_?” and (v. 846)
“My robe russheth So _ruttyngly_.”
_Rutter_, which properly means—a rider, a trooper (Germ. _reiter_, _reuter_), came to be employed, like its diminutive _rutterkin_, as a cant term, and with various significations, (see Hormanni _Vulgaria_, sig. q iii. ed. 1530; Drant’s _Horace His Arte of Poetrie, pistles_, &c. sig. D ii. ed. 1567). When _Court. Ab._ asks “am not I a ioly _rutter_?” he evidently uses the word in the sense of—dashing fellow, gallant, alluding to his dress, on which he afterwards enlarges in a soliloquy. In v. 805 _Cr. Con._ terms him “this ioly _ietter_.” Compare the following passage of Medwall’s _Interlude of Nature_, n. d.;
“And whan he is in suche aray There goth _a rutter_ men wyll say _a rutter huf a galand_.”
Sig. d ii.
Page 249. v. 759. _Decke your hofte, &c._.]—_hofte_, i. e. head. If I rightly understand the passage, _Court. Ab._ desires _Cl. Col._ to put on his hat, or cap: see note below the text.
v. 760. _Say vous, &c._] i. e. _Savez vous_, &c.: the last three words of the line seem to be the beginning of some French song.
Page 249. v. 761. _Wyda_] i. e. _Oui da!_
v. 763. _rome_] i. e. room, place.
—— _stonde vtter_] i. e. stand out, back.
v. 765. _a betell or a batowe, or a buskyn lacyd_] In _Ortus Vocab._ fol. ed. W. de Worde, n. d., besides “Feritorium. anglice a battynge staffe a batyll dur or _a betyll_,” we find “Porticulus. anglice a lytell handstaff or a _betyll_.” For “batowe” I have proposed in a note below the text “_batone_” (baton), a conjecture which is somewhat supported by the preceding word; but it seems more probable that the right reading is “_botowe_,” i. e. boot, for the work above cited has “Ocree ... anglice botis or _botwes_ [ed. 1514—_botowes_],” and _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499 gives “_Botewe_. Coturnus.”
Page 250. v. 768. _Jacke Hare_] See note, p. 211. v. 270.
—— _loke thou be not rusty_] i. e. look that thou be not cankered, uncivil.
v. 769. _nother_] i. e. neither.
v. 770. _lusty_] See note, p. 183, heading of poem.
v. 773. _Mary_] i. e. By the Virgin Mary.
v. 775. _swap_] i. e. swop: see Richardson’s _Dict._ in v. “I _Swappe_ I stryke.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. ccclxxxi. (Table of Verbes).
—— _fotys_] i. e. foots, footest.
v. 776. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
—— _gere_] i. e. apparel.
v. 780. _mo_] i. e. more.
v. 782. _a bole of newe ale in cornys_] i. e. a bowl, &c.: see note, p. 171. v. 378.
v. 784. _auysed_] i. e. purposed on consideration.
v. 786. _rome_] i. e. room, place, office.
Page 251. v. 789. _Cockys harte_] i. e. God’s heart: see note on v. 518. p. 243.
v. 790. _for the armys of the dyce_] Some cant exclamation.
v. 793. _fayne_] i. e. glad.
v. 795. _rynne_] i. e. run.
v. 796. _cayser_] i. e. Cæsar, or, as it is generally explained, emperor: in the _Coventry Mysteries_, however, a distinction is made between these terms;
“Bothe kynge and _caysere_ and grett _empere_.”
_MS. Cott. Vesp._ D viii. fol. 113.
v. 798. _quod_] i. e. quoth.
v. 799. _tende_] i. e. attend.
v. 805. _ietter_] i. e. strutter,—gallant: see note, p. 94. v. 43, and note on v. 757. p. 246.
Page 251. v. 806. _supplye_] i. e. supplicate.
v. 810. _I ne tell can_] i. e. I cannot tell.
Page 252. v. 818. _gyse_] i. e. guise, fashion.
v. 819. _we wyll be aduysed twyse_] i. e. we will consider of it twice.
v. 821. _crake_] i. e. speak vauntingly.
v. 827. _bende_] i. e. band.
v. 830. _tawle_] i. e. brave, bold.
v. 832. _defaute_] i. e. default, defect.
v. 833. _hawte_] i. e. haughty.
v. 834. _pose_] i. e. rheum in the head.
v. 839. _loketh_] i. e. looketh.
Page 253. v. 843. _gere_] i. e. apparel.
v. 844. _My heyre bussheth_]—_heyre_, i. e. hair. So Barclay, alluding to the “newe fassions and disguised garmentes” of the time;
“To Ship, galants, come nere I say agayne, With your set _bushes_ curling as men of Inde.”
_The Ship of Fooles_, fol. 8. ed. 1570.
v. 847. _ruttyngly_] i. e. dashingly, gallantly: see note on v. 757. p. 246.
v. 850. _To daunce delyght_] So afterwards, Magnyfycence, exulting in his prosperity, says, “I dawnce all in delyte,” v. 1510.
v. 852. _poynte deuyse_] i. e. perfectly exact: see Gifford’s note on B. Jonson’s _Works_, iv. 169.
v. 855. _gyse_] i. e. guise, fashion.
v. 857. _route_] i. e. crowd, assembly.
v. 859. _My sleue is wyde_] So Barclay describes the young gallants of the time with “Their _sleues_ blasing like to a Cranes winges.” _The Ship of Fooles_, fol. 8. ed. 1570. Wide sleeves are also mentioned in the following curious passage of Medwall’s _Interlude of Nature_, n. d. (written before the year 1500); the speaker is Pride:
“Behold the bonet vppon my hed a staryng colour of scarlet red I promyse you a fyne threde and a soft wull It cost me a noble at one pyche The scald capper sware sythyche That yt cost hym euen as myche But there Pryde had a pull. I loue yt well to haue syde here Halfe a wote byneth myne ere For euer more I stande in fere That myne nek shold take cold I knyt yt vp all the nyght and the day tyme kemb yt down ryght And then yt cryspeth and shyneth as bryght as any pyrled gold. My doublet ys on laced byfore A stomacher of saten and no more Rayn yt snow yt neuer so sore Me thynketh I am to hote Than haue I suche a short gown Wyth _wyde sleues_ that hang a down They wold make some lad in thys town a doublet and a cote. Som men wold thynk that this were pryde But yt ys not so, ho ho abyde I haue a dagger by my syde yet therof spake not I I bought thys dagger at the marte A sharp poynt and a tarte He that had yt in hys hart Were as good to dye. Than haue I a sworde or twayn To bere theym my selfe yt were a payne They ar so heuy that I am fayne to puruey suche a lad Though I say yt a praty boy It ys halfe my lyues ioy He maketh me laugh wyth many a toy The vrchyn ys so mad.”
Sig. c ii.
Page 253. v. 861. _hose_] i. e. breeches.
v. 866. _hyght_] i. e. am called.
v. 871. _thee_] i. e. thrive.
v. 872. _fon_] i. e. fool.
Page 254. v. 878. _pore_] i. e. poor.
v. 881. _to to_] So in v. 2121;
“To flatterynge, to smatterynge, _to to_ out of harre.”
Compare _M. Harry Whobals mon to M. Camel_, &c. (folio broadside among the “flytings” of Churchyard and Camell);
“My master Harry Whoball, sur, is _to to_ shamefull wrothe. ... ... for drinke is _to to_ nappye.”
Ray gives “_Too too_ will in two. _Chesh._” _Proverbs_, p. 163. ed. 1768.
v. 884. _crake_] i. e. vaunt.
Page 254. v. 885. _I befoule his pate_] i. e. I befool, &c. (not _befoul_), as it would seem from v. 1057, “I _befole_ thy face;” and v. 1829, “I _befole_ thy brayne pan.”
v. 886. _fonne iet_] i. e. foolish fashion (see note on v. 458. p. 242).
v. 887. _From out of Fraunce_] So Barclay;
“Reduce courtiers clerely vnto your remembraunce, From whence _this disguising_ was brought wherin ye go, As I remember _it was brought out of France_.”
_The Ship of Fooles_, fol. 9. ed. 1570.
Borde, in his _Boke of knowledge_, introduces a Frenchman saying,
“I am ful of new inuencions And dayly I do make new toyes and fashions Al necions of me example do take Whan any garment they go about to make.”
Sig. T. reprint.
v. 889. _purueaunce_] i. e. provision.
v. 907. _carlys_] i. e. churl’s.
v. 909. _wonne_] i. e. dwell.
Page 255. v. 915. _slyue_] i. e. sleeve.
v. 918. _preue_] i. e. prove.
v. 919. _A Tyborne checke_] i. e. a rope.
—— _craynge, Stow, stow_]—_craynge_, i. e. crying. See note, p. 206. v. 73.
v. 921. _out of harre_] i. e. out of hinge, out of order: see Jamieson’s _Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang._ and _Suppl._ in v. _Har._ The expression occurs again in v. 2121; and is found in the _Towneley Myst._ and G. Douglas’s Virgil’s _Æn._
v. 923. _warre_] i. e. worse.
v. 932. _farly_] i. e. strange.
v. 933. _lokys_] i. e. looks.
v. 934. _an hawke of the towre_] So again our author in the _Garlande of Laurell_;
“Ientill as fawcoun Or _hawke of the towre_.”
v. 1006. vol. i. 402.
i. e., says Warton, “in the king’s mews in the Tower,” _Hist. of E.P._ ii. 355. ed. 4to: and the following lines occur in a poem called _Armony of Byrdes_, n. d. (attributed without authority to Skelton), reprinted entire in _Typograph. Antiq._ iv. 380. ed. Dibdin;
“The Haukes dyd syng Their belles dyd ryng Thei said _they came frō the tower_. _We hold with the kyng_ _And wyll for him syng_ _To God, day, nyght, and hower.”_
p. 383.
But I apprehend that by a _hawke of the towre_ Skelton means—a hawk that towers aloft, takes a station high in the air, and thence swoops upon her prey. Juliana Berners mentions certain hawks which “ben _hawkes of the toure_.” _Book of St. Albans_, sig. c. v.: and Turbervile says; “Shee [the hobby] is of the number of those Hawkes that are hie flying and _towre Hawks_.” _Booke of Falconrie_, p. 53. ed. 1611.
Page 255. v. 935. _the malarde_] i. e. the wild-drake.
v. 936. _becked_] i. e. beaked.
v. 938. _Mary_] i. e. By the Virgin Mary.
Page 256. v. 940. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
v. 947. _spere_] i. e. spire, shoot,—stripling. So in our author’s third poem _Against Garnesche_, “But a slendyr _spere_.” v. 41. vol. i. 121.
v. 953. _mo_] i. e. more.
v. 954. _in the dyuyls date_] See note, p. 116. v. 375.
v. 956. _he playeth the state_] i. e. he playeth the person of consequence.
v. 957. _pyke out of the gate_] “I _Pycke_ me forth out of a place or I _pycke_ me hence, _Ie me tyre auant_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. cccxvi. (Table of Verbes).
v. 962. _out of consayte_] i. e. out of good opinion, favour.
v. 964. _a praty slyght_] i. e. a pretty trick, contrivance.
v. 971. _Cockes harte_] i. e. God’s heart: see note on v. 518. p. 243.
v. 973. _poynted after my consayte_] i. e. appointed, equipped according to my fancy.
v. 974. _thou iettes it of hyght_] i. e. thou struttest it in high style: see note, p. 94. v. 43.
Page 257. v. 975. _let vs be wyse_] Equivalent to—let us understand.
v. 977. _come of, it were done_] The expression “come of” has occurred before; see note on v. 103. p. 238. Compare _Mary Magdalene_;
“_Cum_ of ȝe harlotts _that yt wer don_.”
_An. Mysteries from the Digby MSS._ p. 97. ed. Abbotsf.
_Magnus Herodes_;
“Hens now go youre way that ye _were_ thore.”
_Towneley Mysteries_, p. 147.
Still’s _Gammer Gurtons Nedle_;
“Sir knaue make hast diccon _were_ here.”
Sig. E 3. ed. 1575.
See too our author’s _Garlande of Laurell_, v. 243. vol. i. 371.
Page 257. v. 979. _sone_] i. e. soon.
v. 980. _Stowe_] See note, p. 206. v. 73.
v. 982. _There is many euyll faueryd, and thou be foule_] i. e. There is many a one ill-looking, if thou be ugly: see note, p. 130. v. 442.
v. 985. _I wys_] i. e. truly, certainly (_i-wis_, adv.).
v. 987. _Jesse_] i. e. Jesus.
v. 992. _bent_] i. e. arched; see note, p. 146. v. 1014.
v. 993. _glent_] i. e. glancing, bright.
v. 1000. _Barbyd lyke a nonne_]—_nonne_, i. e. nun. “The feders vnder the becke [of a hawk] ben callyd the _Barbe feders_.” _Book of Saint Albans_, sig. a 5. _Barbe_ is explained by Tyrwhitt to mean a hood or muffler, which covered the lower part of the face and the shoulders; _Gloss._ to Chaucer’s _Cant. Tales_: and he refers to Du Cange in v. _Barbuta_. According to Strutt, it was a piece of white plaited linen, and belonged properly to mourning: in an edict concerning “The order and manner of apparell for greate estates of weomen in tyme of mourninge,” made by the mother of Henry vii. in the 8th year of his reign, we find “Everye one not beinge vnder the degree of a Baronesse to weare a _barbe_ aboue [Strutt prints by mistake—”about“] the chinne. And all other: as knightes wyfes, to weare yt vnder theire throtes, and other gentleweomen beneath the throte goyll.” _MS. Harl._ 1354. fol. 12. See _Dress and Habits_, pp. 323, 325, 326, 368, and plate cxxxv.
v. 1002. _donne_] i. e. dun.
v. 1003. _Well faueryd bonne_] So in our author’s _Elynour Rummyng_, v. 227, “my prety _bonny_;” see note, p. 166.
v. 1005. _rowte_] i. e. crowd, assembly.
Page 258. v. 1008. _prese_] i. e. press, throng.
v. 1009. _a hole mese_] i. e. a whole mess, set.
v. 1011. _I rede, we sease_] i. e. I advise that we cease.
v. 1012. _farly ... lokys_] i. e. strangely ... looks.
v. 1013. _becke ... crokys_] i. e. beak ... crooks.
v. 1014. _tenter hokys_] i. e. tenter-hooks.
v. 1015. _wokys_] i. e. weeks.
v. 1018. _The deuyll spede whyt_] So again in our author’s _Why come ye nat to Courte_;
“For as for wytte, _The deuyll spede whitte!_”
v. 1013. vol. ii. 58.
Page 258. v. 1020. _to_] i. e. too (as in the next two lines).
v. 1023. _solempne_] i. e. solemn.
v. 1027. _a pere_] i. e. a pear,—used frequently by our early writers for a thing of no value. “Vayne glory of the world, the whiche is not worth _a pere_.” _Morte d’Arthur_, B. xv. cap. vi. vol. ii. 254. ed. Southey.
v. 1028. _lese_] i. e. lose.
v. 1030. _And I may tende_] i. e. If I may attend.
v. 1032. _halfe_] i. e. side.
v. 1035. _Fansy seruyce_] i. e. Fancy-service.
—— _hyght_] i. e. am called.
v. 1038. _theke_] i. e. thatch.
v. 1040. _Make a wyndmyll of a mat_] Compare v. 2 of our author’s third set of verses _Against venemous Tongues_, vol. i. 132.
v. 1041. _and I wyst_] i. e. if I knew.
Page 259. v. 1049. _blunder_] See note on v. 405. p. 241.
—— _blother_] i. e. gabble; as in our author’s _Colyn Cloute_, v. 66. vol. i. 313.
v. 1054. _this_] i. e. thus: see note, p. 86. v. 38.
v. 1055. _euerychone_] i. e. every one.
v. 1057. _fonnysshe_] i. e. foolish.
—— _I befole thy face_] See note on v. 885. p. 250.
v. 1058. _a foles case_] i. e. a fool’s habit.
v. 1059. _glede_] i. e. kite. Nares, _Gloss._ in v., observes that in the common version of the Bible, _Deut._ xiv. 13, the _glede_ and _kite_ are erroneously mentioned together as two distinct birds.
v. 1061. _thy lyppes hange in thyne eye_] So in _Thenterlude of Youth_, n. d.;
“Faine of him I wolde haue a sight But my _lyppes hange in my lyght_.”
Sig. A iiii.
See too Heywood’s _Dialogue_, &c. sig. F 4,—_Workes_, ed. 1598.
v. 1066. _pylde_] i. e. bald—mangy: see note, p. 184. v. 68.
v. 1068. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
v. 1069. _Mackemurre_] A proper name, though not printed as such in the old copy:
“The great Onele, and _Makmurre_ also, And al the lordes and kynges of Ireland.”
Hardyng’s _Chronicle_, fol. cxlix. ed. 1543.
v. 1070. _budge furre_] “_Budge_ or Lambes furre.” Minsheu’s _Guide into Tongues_. In an order respecting the scholastic habit in the University of Cambridge, dated 1414, (quoted by Todd from Farmer’s papers, in a note on Milton’s _Comus_, v. 707,) mention is made of “_furruris buggeis_ aut agninis.”
Page 260. v. 1073. _thou wylte coughe me a dawe_]—_dawe_, i. e. simpleton; see note, p. 113. v. 301. So in the fourth line after this, “ye shall _coughe me a fole_:” and in Lilly’s _Mother Bombie_, 1594; “I know hee will cough for anger that I yeeld not, but he shall _cough mee a foole_ for his labour.” Sig. B 2.
v. 1074. _Mary_] i. e. By the Virgin Mary.
v. 1079. _can_] i. e. know.
v. 1081. _broder_] i. e. brother.
v. 1082. _so hye fro me doth sprynge_] i. e. doth (dost) grow so much taller than I.
v. 1088. _gere_] i. e. apparel.
v. 1089. _folysshe_] i e. foolish.
v. 1093. _flete_] i. e. float, flow, abound.
v. 1095. _by_] i. e. buy.
v. 1096. _Cockys harte_] i. e. God’s heart: see note on v. 518. p. 243.
v. 1103. _syke_] i. e. such.
v. 1104. _a fole the tone_] i. e. a fool the one.
Page 261. v. 1107. _warke_] i. e. work, business.
v. 1108. _donnyshe_] i. e. dunnish.
v. 1109. _a fonde gest_] i. e. a foolish guest.
v. 1111. _so folysshe and so fonde_] i. e. so foolish and so silly (one of Skelton’s pleonasms).
v. 1118. _beshrowe_] i. e. curse.
v. 1119. _do_] i. e. done.
v. 1120. _Here is nothynge but the bockyll of a sho_] Compare _The Bowge of Courte_, v. 397. vol. i. 45.
v. 1121. _marke_] i. e. marks,—the coins so named.
v. 1123. _hyght_] i. e. is called.
v. 1124. _fole_] i. e. fool.
v. 1126. _a botchment_] “_Botchement_. Additamentum.” _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499.
v. 1127. _forfende_] i. e. prohibit, forbid.
v. 1128. _For Goddes cope_] So we find as an oath, “By gods blew _hood_.” _Tom Tyler and his Wife_, p. 5. ed. 1661.
v. 1131. _be tyme_] i. e. by time.
v. 1134. _praty_] i. e. pretty.
v. 1136. _Aungey_] Does it mean Angers, or Anjou?
Page 262. v. 1142. _gate_] i. e. got.
v. 1143. _puddynges_] See note, p. 173. v. 443.
—— _wortes_] Is here, I suppose, equivalent to—cabbages.
v. 1147. _marmosete_] A kind of ape, or monkey.
v. 1148. _iapes_] i. e. jests, jokes.
Page 262. v. 1150. _pultre_] i. e. poultry, fowl.
—— _catell_] i. e. beast.
v. 1154. _rode_] i. e. rood, cross: see note, p. 206. v. 69.
v. 1157. _nyfyls_] A word sufficiently explained by the context, and of frequent occurrence. So in _A Mery Play between Johan the Husbande, Tyb his Wyfe, and Syr Jhan the Preest_, 1533, attributed to Heywood;
“By God, I wolde ye had harde the tryfyls, The toys, the mokkes, the fables, and the _nyfyls_, That I made thy husbande to beleve and thynke.”
p. 21. reprint.
v. 1158. _canest_] i. e. knowest.
v. 1159. _mased_] i. e. bewildered, confounded.
v. 1165. _It forseth not_] i. e. It matters not.
v. 1168. _Mary_] i. e. By the Virgin Mary.
—— _sone_] i. e. soon.
Page 263. v. 1172. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
v. 1175. _a farle freke_] i. e. a strange fellow: see notes, p. 109. v. 187; p. 178. v. 15.
v. 1176. _play well at the hoddypeke_]—_hoddypeke_ is a common term of contempt or reproach (as in our author’s _Why come ye nat to Courte_, v. 326. vol. ii. 37), and is generally equivalent to—fool. The original meaning of the word is altogether uncertain. Steevens (note on _Gammer Gurtons Nedle_) explains it—hodmandod (shell-snail); and Nares (_Gloss._ in v.) is inclined to agree with him. In a passage of Dunbar’s _Dance of the Sevin Deidly Synnis_ (_Poems_, i. 51. ed. Laing), “_hud-pykis_” has been explained (on account of the context)—misers. In Cotgrave’s _Dict._ is “Noddy peke.”
v. 1182. _ne reckys_] i. e. recks not.
v. 1185. _mo folys_] i. e. more fools.
v. 1189. _kesteryll_] A sort of base-bred hawk.
v. 1190. _I wys_] i. e. truly, certainly (_i-wis_, adv.).
—— _doteryll_] See note, p. 129. v. 409.
v. 1191. _In a cote thou can play well the dyser_] “_Dysoure_. Bomolochus. Nugaculus.” _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499. “_Dissar_ a scoffar _saigefol_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. xxix. (Table of Subst.). “He can play the _desarde_ with a contrefet face properly. _Morionem_ scite representat.” Hormanni _Vulgaria_, sig. bb iiii. ed. 1530. “One that were skylled in the crafte of _dysours_ or skoffyng fellowes.” Palsgrave’s _Acolastus_, 1540. sig. H ii.
v. 1195. _gatte_] i. e. got.
v. 1200. _fon_] i. e. fool.
Page 264. v. 1205. _do mastryes_] See note on v. 151. p. 238.
v. 1206. _cocke wat_] See note, p. 108. v. 173.
v. 1211. _rode_] i. e. rood, cross: see note, p. 206. v. 69.
—— _semblaunt_] i. e. semblance.
v. 1215. _lyste_] i. e. liest.
v. 1216. _moght ... lyste_] i. e. moth ... list.
v. 1220. _Johnn a Bonam_] One of the persons who figure in the old metrical tale, _The Hunttyng of the Hare_, is called “Jac of Bonam:” see Weber’s _Met. Rom._ iii. 279.
v. 1223. _Shyt_] i. e. Shut.
—— _dawe_] i. e. simpleton; see note, p. 113. v. 301.
Page 265. v. 1230. _cayser_] See note on v. 796. p. 247.
v. 1232. _scoles_] i. e. schools,—teaching.
v. 1234. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
v. 1241. _renneth_] i. e. runneth.
v. 1242. _thefte and bryboury_]—_bryboury_, i. e. pilfering. “_Brybery_ or bribe. Manticulum.”—“_Briboure_. Manticulus.”—“_Bryben._ Latricino. Manticulo.” _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499. “I _Bribe_ I pull I pyll, _Ie bribe_. _Romant_, _ie derobbe_, ... and _ie emble_ ... He _bribeth_ and he polleth and he gothe to worke: _Il bribe_,” &c. Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. clxxiiii. (Table of Verbes). “_Bribors_, Cometh of the French _Bribeur_, i. e. Mendicus: It seemeth in a legal Signification one that pilfereth other Mens Goods, as Cloaths out of a Window, or the like. _Anno 28 Ed. 2. Stat. 1. cap. unico._” Cowel’s _Law Dictionary, or The Interpreter_, &c. _augmented and improved_, &c. ed. 1727. So again our author;
“Thefte also and pety _brybery_.”
v. 1370 of the present drama.
“Some haue a name for thefte and _brybery_.”
_Garlande of Laurell_, v. 183. vol. i. 369.
So too in _The Hye Way to the Spyttell Hous_, by Copland, n. d.;
“_Brybe_, and conuey, fro mayster and maystres.”
Utterson’s _Early Pop. Poet._ ii. 37.
and in _Gentylnes and Nobylyte_, n. d. (attributed without reason to Heywood);
“For _brybe_ and stele euery thyng they wyll If they may secretly come theruntyll.”
Sig. B iii.
Other passages might be cited from various poets. And see Tyrwhitt’s _Gloss._ to Chaucer’s _Cant. Tales_, and Richardson’s _Dict._
v. 1244. _a nysot_] In _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499 is “_Anysot_ or a folt. Stolidus. Baburrus. Insons.” But in the present passage _nysot_ seems, from the context, to be equivalent to—lazy jade: and in the work just cited we find “_Nyce_. Iners.”—“_Nycehede_ or _nycete_. Inercia.”
Page 265. v. 1246. _warke_] i. e. work.
v. 1247. _lyther_] i. e. wicked, evil.
v. 1249. _Bytwene the tappet and the wall_]—_tappet_, i. e. tapestry. This line has occurred before, in our author’s fourth poem _Against Garnesche_, v. 75. vol. i. 128.
v. 1252. _ony_] i. e. any.
v. 1254. _sorte_] i. e. set, company,—people.
v. 1257. _ferre_] i. e. far.
Page 266. v. 1258. _dawys_] i. e. simpletons: see note, p. 113. v. 301.
v. 1261.
_He frownyth fyersly, brymly browde,_ _The knaue wolde make it koy, and he cowde_]
—_fyersly_ and _brymly_ are nearly synonymous: _make it koy_ means here—affect (not merely reserve, but) haughtiness;—and so in our author’s _Bowge of Courte_,—
“He bote the lyppe, he loked passynge _coye_.”
v. 288. vol. i. 41.
v. 1265. _besy_] i. e. busy.
v. 1270. _quod_] i. e. quoth.
v. 1275. _lese moche_] i. e. lose much.
v. 1278. _mo_] i. e. more.
v. 1280. _scolys_] i. e. schools.
v. 1281. _folys_] i. e. fools.
v. 1282. _lyther_] i. e. wicked,—rascals (as in the next line but one—“these _lythers_”).
v. 1283. _Symkyn Tytyuell_] See note on _Colyn Cloute_, v. 418.
v. 1284. _lere_] i. e. learn.
v. 1289. _mykyll_] i. e. much.
Page 267. v. 1291. _dell_] i. e. part.
v. 1293. _shroudly_] i. e. shrewdly.
v. 1297. _fonde_] i. e. foolish.
v. 1299. _auowe_] i. e. vow: see note, p. 109. v. 199.
v. 1301. _kynde_] i. e. nature.
v. 1303. _rutters_] See note on v. 757. p. 245.
v. 1308. _Mary_] i. e. By the Virgin Mary.
—— _boke_] i. e. book.
v. 1309. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
—— _loke_] i. e. look.
v. 1312. _howe_] i. e. ho! stop!
“Ye shall haue ay quhill you cry _ho_.”
_Philotvs_, sig. B. ed. 1612.
“Greit God defend I suld be one of tho Quhilk of thair feid and malice neuer _ho_.”
G. Douglas’s _Palice of Honour_, p. 30. Bann. ed.
Page 267. v. 1314. _scrat_] i. e. scratch.
v. 1315. _So how_] i. e. So ho.
v. 1317. _gadde_] Does it mean—gadding?
v. 1318. _brayne seke_] i. e. brain-sick.
v. 1319. _to shyre shakynge nought_] i. e. to sheer nothing. So in our author’s _Elynour Rummyng_, (v. 466. vol. i. 110), that lady pronounces a couple of stunted goslings to be “_shyre shakyng nought_,” i. e. sheer worthless.
v. 1323. _perde_] i. e. _par dieu_, verily.
—— _ryde or go_] See note, p. 125. v. 186.
Page 268. v. 1324. _slyght_] i. e. contrivance.
v. 1325. _hyght_] i. e. be called.
v. 1327. _wonne_] i. e. dwell.
v. 1334. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
v. 1338. _Cockes armes_] i. e. God’s arms: see note on v. 518. p. 243.
v. 1339. _whylest_] i. e. till.
v. 1341. _slee_] i. e. slay.
v. 1342. _away the mare_] See note, p. 162. v. 110.
v. 1345. _a rome ... in euery route_] i. e. a place in every crowd, assembly.
v. 1347. _face and brace_] See note, p. 216. v. 33.
v. 1348. _fotyth_] i. e. footeth.
Page 269. v. 1353. _poyntmentys_] i. e. appointments.
v. 1356. _mykyll praty_] i. e. much pretty.
v. 1358. _an hoby can make larkys to dare_]—_to dare_, i. e. to be terrified, to tremble,—(it also means—to lurk, lie hid; see note on the poem _Howe the douty Duke of Albany_, &c. v. 271). To _dare larks_ was an expression applied to the catching of larks by terrifying them; and there were several modes of _daring_ them. When the _hobby_ (a small hawk, see note, p. 135. v. 567) was employed for that purpose, the larks lay still in terror till a net was thrown over them.
v. 1360. _almesse_] i. e. alms.
v. 1363. _howe_] i. e. ho.
v. 1365. _loke_] i. e. look.
v. 1368. _hardely_] i. e. assuredly.
v. 1370. _pety brybery_] See note on v. 1242. p. 256.
v. 1373. _be_] i. e. by.
Page 269. v. 1376. _trew_] i. e. honest.
v. 1378. _checke_] i. e. taunt: see note on v. 300. p. 240.
v. 1379. _weltyth_] To _welt_ means—to border: but qy. is _weltyth_ here used for _weldyth_, i. e. wieldeth, directeth?
v. 1382. _sadnesse_] i. e. gravity, seriousness, soberness, discreetness.
Page 270. v. 1389. _sorte_] i. e. set, company.
v. 1390. _hokes vnhappy_]—_hokes_, i. e. hooks, a word frequently applied to persons as a term of reproach. “_Vnhappy_ of maners _maluays_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. xcviii. (Table of Adiect.). So in _Jacke Jugelar_, n. d.;
“Loo yender cumithe that _vnhappye hooke_.”
p. 26. Roxb. ed.
and in Heywood’s _Dialogue_, &c.;
“Since thou art crosse sailde, auale _vnhappie hooke_.”
Sig. E,—_Workes_, ed. 1598.
v. 1395. _dawe_] i. e. simpleton; see note, p. 113. v. 301.
v. 1396. _occupyed_] i. e. used, employed; see note, p. 86. v. 52.
v. 1397. _reason and skyll_] See note on v. 106. p. 238.
v. 1401. _Mary_] i. e. By the Virgin Mary.
v. 1405. _largesse_] i. e. liberality.
v. 1411. _Had I wyst_] See note, p. 86. v. 40.
Page 271. v. 1416. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
v. 1421. _Ye haue eten sauce_] Compare our author’s _Bowge of Courte_, v. 72. vol. i. 33.
v. 1422. _to_] i. e. too.
v. 1425. _worshyp_] i. e. honour, dignity.
v. 1436. _repryuable_] i. e. reprovable.
Page 272. v. 1441. _menys of to moche_] i. e. means of too much.
v. 1442. _What, can ye agree thus and appose?_]—_and appose_, i. e. and yet keep questioning, disputing: see note on _Colyn Cloute_, v. 267.
v. 1443. _faute_] i. e. fault.
v. 1444. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
—— _Jacke a thrommys bybyll_] See note, p. 189. v. 204.
—— _glose_] i. e. gloss.
v. 1446. _loke you vnder kay_] i. e. lock you under key.
v. 1456. _Take it in worthe_] See note, p. 95. v. 68.
v. 1458. _largesse_] i. e. liberality.
—— _kynde_] i. e. nature.
v. 1467. _stonde_] i. e. stand.
Page 273. v. 1473. _fonde_] i. e. foolish.
Page 273. v. 1474. _loke that ye occupye_] i. e. look that ye use; see note, p. 86. v. 52.
v. 1475. _For nowe, syrs, I am lyke as a prynce sholde be, &c._] This speech of Magnyfycence is very much in the style of Herod in the old miracle-plays: see, for instance, the _Coventry Mysteries_, _MS. Cott. Vesp. D._ viii. fol. 92. sqq.
v. 1477. _abandune_] i. e. subject.
“For _abandonit_ will he noght be to berne that is borne.”
_Golagros and Gawane_, p. 142,—_Syr Gawayne_, &c.
“Till all to yow _abandownyt_ be.”
Barbour’s _Bruce_, B. iii. v. 883. ed. Jam.
v. 1481. _mene_] See note on v. 138. p. 238.
v. 1491. _syar_] i. e. sire, lord.
v. 1493. _ryall trone_] i. e. royal throne.
v. 1496. _spyll_] i. e. destroy.
Page 274. v. 1502. _loke_] i. e. look.
v. 1504. _dynt_] i. e. blow.
v. 1505. _the cane_] Does it mean—the khan?
v. 1507. _I set not by_] i. e. I value not, regard not.
—— _prane_] i. e. prawn.
v. 1508. _Ne_] i. e. Nor.
—— _rehersse_] i. e. mention.
v. 1513. _cache_] i. e. couch.
v. 1515. _mell_] i. e. meddle.
v. 1518. _to lowte man be sene_] i. e. (if the text be right; see foot-note _ad l._) must be seen to bow, pay obeisance.
v. 1520. _brymme_] i. e. fierce, rugged, bristly.
v. 1521. _Basyan the bolde, for all his brybaunce_] _Basyan_ is, I suppose, Antoninus Bassianus Caracalla (he is called “_Basian_” in Robert of Gloucester’s _Chron_. p. 76. sqq.): _brybaunce_ would seem to mean—plundering (properly, pilfering); see note on v. 1242. p. 256.
v. 1522. _Alerycus_] i. e. Alaric.
—— _the Gothyaunce_] i. e. the Goths.
—— _swerd_] i. e. sword.
v. 1524. _maysyd_] i. e. bewildered, confounded—stupid.
v. 1525. _fole_] i. e. fool.
v. 1526. _Galba, whom his galantys garde for agaspe_] i. e. (I suppose) Galba, whom his gallants (soldiers) made to gasp:—they assassinated him:—see _gar_ in v. 1532.
v. 1527. _nother set by_] i. e. neither valued, regarded.
v. 1528. _Vaspasyan, that bare in his nose a waspe_] This passage is explained by the following lines of a poem never printed, entitled _The Sege of Jerusalem_:
“His fader Vaspasiane ferly bytydde A byke of waspes bredde in his nose Hyved vp in his hedde he hadde hem of thoght And Vaspasiane is called by cause of his waspes.”
_MS. Cott. Calig. A._ ii. fol. 109.
Page 274. v. 1529. _agayne_] i. e. against.
Page 275. v. 1531. _crake_] i. e. vaunt, talk bigly.
v. 1532. _I shall frounce them on the foretop_] To _frounce_ is—to wrinkle, ruffle up, &c. In our author’s _Phyllyp Sparowe_, v. 1340. vol. i. 92, Charon is described as having a “_frownsid_ fore top;” and in his _Colyn Cloute_, v. 533. vol. i. 331, “foretop” means simply—head, pate.
—— _gar_] i. e. make, cause.
v. 1538. _auaunce_] i. e. advance.
v. 1539. _take it in degre_] Seems equivalent here to—“take it in gre” (which occurs in v. 2005), i. e. take it kindly: see note, p. 95. v. 68.
v. 1544. _ferre_] i. e. far.
v. 1547. _supprysed_] i. e. overpowered, smitten.
v. 1549. _Pullyshyd_] i. e. Polished.
—— _ornacy_] i. e. ornate diction.
v. 1551. _electe vtteraunce_] i. e. choice expression.
v. 1554. _feffyd and seasyd_] i. e. enfeoffed and seised,—law-terms.
v. 1556. _Mary_] i. e. By the Virgin Mary.
v. 1557. _comon_] i. e. communing, discourse.
v. 1558. _Poynt deuyse_] See note on v. 852. p. 248.
Page 276. v. 1561. _pore_] i. e. poor.
v. 1564. _semynge_] i. e. beseeming, fitting.
v. 1568. _maystresse_] i. e. mistress.
v. 1569. _That quyckly is enuyued with rudyes of the rose_] i. e. That is lively envived with hues, or complexion, of the rose. This somewhat pleonastic expression is found again in our author’s _Garlande of Laurell_;
“_Enuyuid_ picturis well touchid and _quikly_.”
v. 1161. vol. i. 408.
v. 1570. _Inpurtured_] i. e. Portrayed, pictured,—adorned.
v. 1571. _The streynes of her vaynes_] i. e. The strains, runnings of her veins.
“Rills rising out of euery banck, In wilde meanders _strayne_.”
Drayton’s _Muses Elizium_, p. 2. ed. 1630.
Page 276. v. 1571. _as asure inde blewe_] See note, p. 101. v. 17.
v. 1573. _loke_] i. e. look.
—— _leyre_] i. e. complexion, skin.
v. 1576. _lusty_] i. e. pleasant, desirable.
v. 1578. _to brace and to basse_] i. e. to embrace and to kiss.
v. 1579. _by hym that hell dyd harowe_] i. e. by our Saviour: see note, p. 150. v. 1291.
v. 1580. _a Phylyp sparowe_] See note, p. 121. v. 7.
v. 1581. _whylest my hede dyd warke_] i. e. until my head did work, ache. “_Hedwerke_ sekenesse. Cephalia.” _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499. “_Wark_, to ache.” Hunter’s _Hallam. Gloss_. “But I may not stonde, _myn hede werches soo_.” _Morte d’Arthur_, B. xxi. c. v. vol. ii. 440. ed. Southey.
v. 1582. _hobby for suche a lusty larke_] See note on v. 1358. p. 258. The same metaphorical use of this expression occurs in our author’s _Colyn Cloute_, v. 194. vol. i. 318.
v. 1584. _my flesshe wolde be wroken_]—_wroken_, i. e. wreaked, satiated.
“Whyles thou art yonge ... _Wreke_ the with wiueryng, if thou wilt be excused.”
_Pierce Plowman_, sig. M iii. ed. 1561.
v. 1585. _consayte_] i. e. conceit, fancy.
v. 1586. _weryed I wolde be on_] i. e. I would worry, eagerly devour: compare our author’s _Phyllyp Sparowe_, v. 29. vol. i. 52.
v. 1587. _Cockes armes_] i. e. God’s arms: see note on v. 518. p. 243.
v. 1588. _ony_] i. e. any.
v. 1589. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
v. 1590. _to be sped_] i. e. to be made successful.
Page 277. v. 1592. _make suche one to the call_] A metaphor from falconry.
v. 1600. _a sawte_] i. e. an assault.
v. 1601. _prece_] i. e. press.
v. 1603. _sone_] i. e. soon.
v. 1604. _intreted_] i. e. prevailed on by solicitation.
v. 1606. _broken_] Seems to mean here—tame, assuage.
v. 1610. _consayte_] i. e. conceit, conception.
v. 1615. _it shall not gretely skyll_] i. e. it shall not make much difference, it shall not much signify.
Page 278. v. 1620. _face it_] See note, p. 216. v. 33.
v. 1621. _Frete_] i. e. Gnaw, fret.
v. 1626. _lust and lykynge_] See note, p. 98, v. 23.
Page 278. v. 1633. _your gorge_] i. e. what you have swallowed, the contents of your stomach: see note, p. 207. v. 87.
v. 1636. _wambleth_] “I _Wamble_ as ones stomake dothe _Ie allecte_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. cccc. (Table of Verbes). “Nauseo ... to _wamble_.” _Ortus Vocab._ fol. ed. W. de Worde, n. d.
v. 1638. _wonder_] i. e. wondrous.
v. 1640. _harte seke_] i. e. heart-sick.
—— _me lyst_] i. e. it pleases me.
v. 1641. _coryed_] i. e. curried, drubbed.
—— _blyst_] i. e. wounded,—thumped.
“Your lasy bones I pretende so to _blisse_, That you shall haue small luste to prate any more.”
_The Triall of Treasure_, 1567. sig. A iiii.
v. 1642. _loute_] i. e. bow, pay obeisance.
Page 279. v. 1652. _at the contemplacyon_] See note, p. 214, heading of Epitaph.
v. 1653. _pore_] i. e. poor.
v. 1657. _sone_] i. e. soon.
v. 1664. _rowne_] i. e. whisper: see note, p. 120. v. 513.
v. 1671. _dyssayued_] i. e. deceived.
v. 1673. _wete_] i. e. know.
v. 1677. _I wyll haue hym rehayted and dyspysed_] Our early poets frequently use _rehete_ in the sense of—revive, cheer; a meaning foreign to the present passage. In the _Towneley Mysteries_, we find “_rehett_” and “_rehete_,” pp. 143, 198, which the _Gloss._ explains “to threaten;” qy. if rightly? In some copies of Chaucer’s _Troilus and Creseide_, B. iii. 350, is “reheting;” of which, says Tyrwhitt (_Gloss._ to _Cant. Tales_), “I can make no sense.” In G. Douglas’s Virgil’s _Æneidos_, B. xiii. p. 467. l. 53. ed. Rudd., and in the _Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy_, Dunbar’s _Poems_, ii. 74, 80. ed. Laing, is “rehatoure,” which has been referred to the French _rehair_: and perhaps _rehayted_ in our text is—re-hated (Skelton afterwards in this piece, v. 2458, has the uncommon word _inhateth_).
v. 1679. _rest_] i. e. remain.
Page 280. v. 1682. _supplyed_] i. e. supplicated.
v. 1687. _But for all that he is lyke to haue a glent_] _Glent_ is frequently found in the sense of—glance; but its meaning here, as would seem from the context, is—slip, fall: and in our author’s _Garlande of Laurell_ we find,
“Go softly, she sayd, the stones be full _glint_ [i. e. slippery].”
v. 572. vol. i. 384.
Page 280. v. 1688. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
v. 1692. _What force ye_] i. e. What care ye.
v. 1695. _loke_] i. e. look.
v. 1698. _haftynge_] See note, p. 107. v. 138.
v. 1702. _woke_] i. e. week.
v. 1703. _sone_] i. e. soon.
v. 1706. _Mary_] i. e. By the Virgin Mary.
v. 1709. _comonynge_] i. e. communing, conversing.
v. 1711. _sad_] i. e. grave, serious, sober, discreet.
Page 281. v. 1713. _doute_] i. e. fear.
v. 1715. _ony_] i. e. any.
v. 1718. _be lykelyhod_] i. e. by likelihood,—as it appeared.
v. 1719. _to fode_] i. e. to feed with words,—deceive. So in our author’s _Bowge of Courte_;
“Than Fauell gan _wyth fayre speche me to fede_.”
v. 147. vol. i. 36.
v. 1723. _reserued_] i. e. retained.
v. 1725. _set a gnat By_] i. e. value at a gnat, care a gnat for.
v. 1738. _suche maystryes gan make_]—_suche maystryes_, i. e. such disturbances from the consequence which you assumed: and see note on v. 151. p. 238.
Page 282. v. 1745. _lurden_] See note on v. 423. p. 242.
v. 1748. _haynyarde_] A term of reproach which I do not understand: but in our author’s _Bowge of Courte_, v. 327. vol. i. 42, _hayne_ seems to mean—hind, slave, peasant.
v. 1749. _cast_] i. e. throw up.
v. 1751. _bolle_] i. e. bowl.
—— _Goddes brede_] i. e. God’s bread.
v. 1754. _praty_] i. e. pretty.
v. 1758. _Cockes armes_] i. e. God’s arms: see note on v. 518. p. 243.
v. 1759. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
v. 1766. _ony_] i. e. any.
Page 283. v. 1772. _Where as_] i. e. Where.
v. 1775. _No force_] i. e. No matter.
v. 1776. _pollynge_] i. e. plundering.
v. 1778. _parde_] i. e. _par dieu_, verily.
—— _largesse_] i. e. liberality.
v. 1779. _vergesse_] i. e. verjuice.
v. 1782. _gyse_] i. e. guise, fashion.
v. 1786. _taken_] i. e. committed, consigned.
v. 1802. _lowte_] i. e. bow, pay obeisance.
Page 284. v. 1813. _syth_] i. e. since.
v. 1817. _acquyte_] i. e. requite.
v. 1820. _solace_] i. e. pleasure.
v. 1821. _dyntes_] i. e. blows.
v. 1822. _Well were_] i. e. In good condition were.
v. 1824. _halse_] }
v. 1825. _clepe_] }
Both words signify—embrace; with this distinction, that the former means properly—to throw the arms round the neck.
v. 1829. _I befole thy brayne pan_] i. e. I befool thy skull, head: see note, p. 100. v. 31.
Page 285. v. 1830. _By our lakyn_] See note on v. 341. p. 240.
v. 1831. _My hawke is rammysshe_] “_Ramage_ is when a Hawk is wilde, coy, or disdainfull to the man, and contrary to be reclamed.” Latham’s _Faulconry_ (_Explan. of Words of Art_), 1658.
v. 1833. _warne_] i. e. prevent.
v. 1835. _ronner_] i. e. runner.
—— _fole_] i. e. fool.
v. 1836. _iarfawcon_] See note, p. 134. v. 557.
v. 1838. _ydder_] i. e. udder.
v. 1840. _slydder_] i. e. slippery.
v. 1841. _for God auowe_] So presently, v. 1851, “I make God _auowe_:” see note, p. 109. v. 199.
—— _chiydder_] i. e. shiver.
v. 1842. _Thy wordes hange togyder as fethers in the wynde_] An expression which occurs again in our author’s _Speke, Parrot_, v. 295. vol. ii. 14. So too in a comedy (before quoted), _The longer thou liuest, the more foole thou art_, &c. _Newly compiled by W. Wager_, n. d.;
“A song much like thauthour of the same, _It hangeth together like fethers in the winde_.”
Sig. D ii.
v. 1844. _carle_] i. e. churl.
v. 1848. _a losell lede a lurden_] i. e. one good-for-nothing fellow lead another: see note, p. 209. v. 138, and note on v. 423 of the present poem, p. 242.
v. 1849. _sowter_] i. e. shoemaker, cobbler.
v. 1850. _Cockes harte_] i. e. God’s heart: see note on v. 518. p. 243.
v. 1853. _Mary_] i. e. By the Virgin Mary.
v. 1854. _I shall gyue you a gaude of a goslynge that I gaue_] _Gaud_ is found in the sense of—jest, trick, toy, &c.: but the line (perhaps corrupted) is beyond my comprehension.
v. 1856. _reue_] i. e. steward, bailiff.
v. 1858. _syke_] i. e. such.
Page 285. v. 1859. _Sadylgose_] i. e. Saddle-goose.
—— _Dawcocke_] See note, p. 113. v. 301.
Page 286. v. 1860. _garre_] i. e. make, cause.
v. 1862. _bytter_] i. e. bittern.
v. 1864. _to grame_] i. e. to be angry,—or perhaps to grieve; the word being found in both senses.
v. 1865. _snyte_] i. e. snipe.
v. 1868. _loke_] i. e. look.
v. 1871. _Ye_] i. e. Yea.
—— _iapes_] i. e. jests, jokes.
v. 1876. _sone_] i. e. soon.
v. 1882. _mo_] i. e. more.
v. 1886. _payntyd_] See note, p. 176. v. 583.
v. 1887. _demenour_] i. e. director: see note, p. 134. v. 553.
Page 287. v. 1891. _largesse_] i. e. liberality.
v. 1892. _fondnesse_] i. e. folly.
v. 1896. _rode_] i. e. rood, cross: see note, p. 206. v. 69.
v. 1898. _broder_] i. e. brother.
v. 1899. _lokys_] i. e. looks.
v. 1900. _clokys_] i. e. claws—clutches; see Jamieson’s _Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang._ in v. _Cleuck_.
v. 1903. _quyte_] i. e. requite.
v. 1904. _velyarde_] i. e. old man, dotard.
—— _dynt_] i. e. blow.
v. 1906. _losell_] See note, p. 209. v. 138.
v. 1908. _hyght_] i. e. am called.
v. 1910. _rughly_] i. e. roughly.
v. 1912. _lust_] i. e. pleasure, liking.
v. 1913. _lurden_] See note on v. 423. p. 242.
v. 1915. _set by hym a flye_] i. e. value him at a fly, care a fly for him.
v. 1916. _brace_] See note, p. 216. v. 33.
v. 1917. _loke_] i. e. look.
v. 1918. _to_] i. e. too.
Page 288. v. 1928. _carbuckyls_] i. e. carbuncles.
v. 1930. _lyppers_] i. e. lepers.
v. 1932. _Some with the marmoll to halte I them make_]—_marmoll_, i. e. old sore, ulcer, gangrene. “_Marmoll_ a sore _lovp_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. xlvii. (Table of Subst.). Skelton recollected Chaucer;
“But gret harm was it, as it thoughte me, That _on his shinne a mormal_ hadde he.”
_Prol. to Cant. Tales_, v. 387.
on which passage see Tyrwhitt’s note.
Page 288. v. 1934. _brennynge_] i. e. burning.
v. 1936. _walter_] i. e. tumble, roll. “I _Walter_ I tumble, _Ie me voystre_.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. cccc. (Table of Verbes).
v. 1939. _sle_] i. e. slay.
v. 1945. _Lydderyns_] i. e. _Lydder_, wicked, persons: so in our author’s _Garlande of Laurell_, “Some _lidderons_, some losels,” &c. v. 188. vol. i., 369.
—— _set by_] i. e. value, regard.
Page 289. v. 1958. _franesy_] i. e. frensy.
v. 1960. _worshyp_] i. e. honour, dignity.
v. 1961. _fole_] i. e. fool.
v. 1962. _loke_] i. e. look.
v. 1966. _sadly_] i. e. gravely, seriously, soberly, discreetly.
v. 1967. _preposytour_] i. e. a scholar appointed by the master to overlook the rest. “I am _preposyter_ of my boke. Duco classem.” Hormanni _Vulgaria_, sig. R viii. ed. 1530.
v. 1968. _theyr wanton vagys_]—_vagys_, i. e. vagaries, strayings. Richardson in his _Dict._ gives an example of this substantive (_vagues_) from Holinshed.
v. 1977. _mo_] i. e. more.
v. 1979. _Howe_] i. e. Ho.
v. 1980. _lore_] i. e. teaching.
v. 1984. _vnlykynge_] i. e. in poor condition of body. “The strength and lustinesse, or _well lykyng_ of my body.” Palsgrave’s _Acolastus_, 1540. sig. U iiii. “I am withered,” says Falstaff, “like an old apple-John. Well, I’ll repent, and that suddenly, while I am in some _liking_.” Shakespeare’s _Henry IV._