Chapter 2

“To all auncient poetes, litell boke, submytte the,Whilom flouryng in eloquence facundious,And to all other whiche present nowe be;Fyrst to maister Chaucer and Ludgate sentencious,Also to preignaunt Barkley nowe beying religious,Toinuentiue Skelton and poet laureate;Praye them all of pardon both erly and late.”[43]

“To all auncient poetes, litell boke, submytte the,

Whilom flouryng in eloquence facundious,

And to all other whiche present nowe be;

Fyrst to maister Chaucer and Ludgate sentencious,

Also to preignaunt Barkley nowe beying religious,

Toinuentiue Skelton and poet laureate;

Praye them all of pardon both erly and late.”[43]

Skelton frequently styles himself “orator regius;”[44]but the nature of the office from which he derived the title is not, I believe, understood. The lines in which, as we have just seen, Whittington so lavishly praises his “rhetoricus sermo,” allude most probably to his performances in the capacity of royal orator.

In 1498 Skelton took holy orders. The days on which, during that year, he was ordained successively subdeacon, deacon, and priest, are ascertained by the following entries:

“[In ecclesia conuentuali domus siue hospitalis sancti Thome martiris de Acon ciuitatis London. per Thomam Rothlucensem episcopum vltimo die mensis Marcii]M. Johannes Skelton London, dioc. ad titulum Mon. beate Marie de Graciis iuxta Turrim London.”“[In cathedra sancti Pauli London. apud summum altare eiusdem per Thomam permissione diuina London, episcopum in sabbato sancto viz. xiiii die mensis Aprilis]Johannes Skelton poete [sic] laureatus Lond. dioc. ad titulum Mon. de Graciis juxta turrim London.”“[In ecclesia conuentuali hospitalis beate Marie de Elsyng per Thomam Rothlucensem episcopum ix die mensis Iunii]M. Johannes Skelton poeta lureatus [sic] London. dioc. ad titulum Mon. de Graciis iuxta turrim London.”[45]

“[In ecclesia conuentuali domus siue hospitalis sancti Thome martiris de Acon ciuitatis London. per Thomam Rothlucensem episcopum vltimo die mensis Marcii]

M. Johannes Skelton London, dioc. ad titulum Mon. beate Marie de Graciis iuxta Turrim London.”

“[In cathedra sancti Pauli London. apud summum altare eiusdem per Thomam permissione diuina London, episcopum in sabbato sancto viz. xiiii die mensis Aprilis]

Johannes Skelton poete [sic] laureatus Lond. dioc. ad titulum Mon. de Graciis juxta turrim London.”

“[In ecclesia conuentuali hospitalis beate Marie de Elsyng per Thomam Rothlucensem episcopum ix die mensis Iunii]

M. Johannes Skelton poeta lureatus [sic] London. dioc. ad titulum Mon. de Graciis iuxta turrim London.”[45]

When Arthur, the eldest son of Henry the Seventh, was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, in 1489,[46]Skelton celebrated the event in a composition (probably poetical) calledPrince Arturis Creacyoun,[47]of which the title alone remains; and when Prince Henry, afterwards Henry the Eighth, was created Duke of York, in 1494,[48]he was hailed by our author in some Latin verses—Carmen ad principem, quando insignitus erat ducis Ebor. titulo,—a copy of which (not to be found at present) was once among the MSS. in the Library of Lincoln Cathedral, having been seen by Tanner, who cites the initial words,—“Si quid habes, mea Musa.”[49]

As at the last-mentioned date Prince Henry was a mere infant, there can be no doubt that the care of his education had not yet been entrusted to our poet. It must have been several years after 1494 that Skelton was appointed tutor to that prince,—an appointment which affords a striking proof of the high opinion entertained of his talents and learning, as well as of the respectability of his character. He has himself recorded that he held this important situation:

“The honor of Englond I lernyd to spelle,In dygnyte roialle that doth excelle:Note and marke wyl[50]thys parcele;I yaue hym drynke of the sugryd welleOf Eliconys waters crystallyne,Aqueintyng hym with the Musys nyne.Yt commyth thé wele me to remorde,That creaunser[51]was to thy sofre[yne] lorde:It plesyth that noble prince roialleMe as hys master for to calleIn hys lernyng primordialle.”[52]

“The honor of Englond I lernyd to spelle,

In dygnyte roialle that doth excelle:

Note and marke wyl[50]thys parcele;

I yaue hym drynke of the sugryd welle

Of Eliconys waters crystallyne,

Aqueintyng hym with the Musys nyne.

Yt commyth thé wele me to remorde,

That creaunser[51]was to thy sofre[yne] lorde:

It plesyth that noble prince roialle

Me as hys master for to calle

In hys lernyng primordialle.”[52]

And in another poem he informs us that he composed a treatise for the edification of his royal pupil:

“The Duke of Yorkis creauncer whan Skelton was,Now Henry the viii. Kyng of Englonde,A tratyse he deuysid and browght it to pas,CallidSpeculum Principis, to here in his honde,Therin to rede, and to vnderstandeAll the demenour of princely astate,To be our Kyng, of God preordinate.”[53]

“The Duke of Yorkis creauncer whan Skelton was,

Now Henry the viii. Kyng of Englonde,

A tratyse he deuysid and browght it to pas,

CallidSpeculum Principis, to here in his honde,

Therin to rede, and to vnderstande

All the demenour of princely astate,

To be our Kyng, of God preordinate.”[53]

TheSpeculum Principishas perished: we are unable to determine whether it was the same work as that entitledMethodos Skeltonidis laureati, sc.Præcepta quædam moralia Henrico principi, postea Henr. viii, missa. Dat. apud Eltham A.D. MDI., which in Tanner’s days[54]was extant (mutilated at the beginning) among the MSS. in the Lincoln-Cathedral Library, but which (like the Latin verses mentioned in a preceding page) has since been allowed to wander away from that ill-guarded collection.

When Prince Henry was a boy of nine years old, Erasmus dedicated to him an odeDe Laudibus Britanniæ, Regisque Henrici Septimi ac Regiorum Liberorum. The Dedication contains the following memorable encomium on Skelton; “Et hæc quidem interea tamquam ludicra munuscula tuæ pueritiæ dicavimus, uberiora largituri ubi tua virtus una cum ætate accrescens uberiorem carminum materiam suppeditabit. Ad quod equidem te adhortarer, nisi et ipse jamdudum sponte tua velis remisque (ut aiunt) eo tenderes, etdomi haberes Skeltonum, unum Britannicarum literarum lumen ac decus, qui tua studia possit, non solum accendere, sed etiam consummare;” and in the Ode are these lines;

“Jam puer Henricus, genitoris nomine lætus,Monstrante fonteis vate Skeltono sacros,Palladias teneris meditatur ab unguibus arteis.”[55]

“Jam puer Henricus, genitoris nomine lætus,

Monstrante fonteis vate Skeltono sacros,

Palladias teneris meditatur ab unguibus arteis.”[55]

The circumstances which led to the production of this Ode are related by Erasmus in the following curious passage: “Is erat labor tridui, et tamen labor, quod jam annos aliquot nec legeram nec scripseram ullum carmen. Id partim pudor a nobis extorsit, partim dolor. Pertraxerat me Thomas Morus,[56]qui tum me in prædio Montjoii[57]agentem inviserat, ut animi causa in proximum vicum[58]expatiaremur. Nam illic educabantur omnes liberi regii, uno Arcturo excepto, qui tum erat natu maximus. Ubi ventum est in aulam, convenit tota pompa, non solum domus illius, verum etiam Montjoiicæ. Stabat in medio Henricus annos natus novem, jam tum indolem quandamregiam præ se ferens, h. e. animi celsitudinem cum singulari quadam humanitate conjunctam. A dextris erat Margareta, undecim ferme annos nata, quæ post nupsit Jacobo Scotorum Regi. A sinistris, Maria lusitans, annos nata quatuor. Nam Edmondus adhuc infans, in ulnis gestabatur. Morus cum Arnoldo sodali salutato puero Henrico, quo rege nunc floret Britannia, nescio quid scriptorum obtulit. Ego, quoniam hujusmodi nihil expectabam, nihil habens quod exhiberem, pollicitus sum aliquo pacto meum erga ipsum studium aliquando declaraturum. Interim subirascebar Moro, quod non præmonuisset; et eo magis, quod puer Epistolio inter prandendum ad me misso, meum calamum provocaret. Abii domum, ac vel invitis Musis, cum quibus jam longum fuerat divortium, Carmen intra triduum absolvi. Sic et ultus sum dolorem meum, et pudorem sarsi.”[59]

The mother of Henry the Seventh, the Countess of Richmond and Derby, is well known to have used her utmost exertions for the advancement of literature: she herself translated some pieces from the French; and, under her patronage, several works (chiefly works of piety) were rendered into English by the most competent scholars of the time. It is to her, I apprehend, that Skelton alludes in the following passage of theGarlande of Laurell, where he mentions one of his lost performances;

“Ofmy ladys graceat the contemplacyoun,Owt of Frenshe into Englysshe prose,Of Mannes Lyfe the Peregrynacioun,He did translate, enterprete, and disclose.”[60]

“Ofmy ladys graceat the contemplacyoun,

Owt of Frenshe into Englysshe prose,

Of Mannes Lyfe the Peregrynacioun,

He did translate, enterprete, and disclose.”[60]

According to Churchyard, Skelton was “seldom out of princis grace:”[61]yet among theActes, Orders, and Decrees made by the King and his Counsell, remaining amongst the Records of the Court, now commonly called the Court of Requests, we find, underanno17.Henryvii.; “10 Junii apud WestminsterJo. Skeltoncommissus carceribus Janitoris Domini Regis.”[62]What could have occasioned this restraint, I cannot even conjecture: but in those days of extra-judicial imprisonments he might have been incarcerated for a very slight offence. It is, however, by no means certain that the “Jo. Skelton” of the above entry was the individual who forms the subject of the present essay;[63]and it is equally doubtful whether or not the following entry, dated the same year, relates to the mother of the poet;

It has been already shewn that Skelton took holy orders in 1498.[65]How soon after that period he became rector ofDiss in Norfolk, or what portion of his life was spent there in the exercise of his duties, cannot be ascertained. He certainly resided there in 1504 and 1511,[66]and, as it would seem from some of his compositions,[67]in 1506, 1507, and 1513; in the year of his decease he was, at least nominally, the rector of Diss.[68]

We are told[69]that for keeping, under the title of a concubine,a woman whom he had secretly married, Skelton was called to account, and suspended from his ministerial functions by his diocesan, the bloody-minded and impure Richard Nykke (or Nix),[70]at the instigation of the friars, chiefly the Dominicans, whom the poet had severely handledin his writings. It is said, too, that by this woman he had several children, and that on his death-bed he declared that he conscientiously regarded her as his wife, but that such had been his cowardliness, that he chose rather to confess adultery (concubinage) than what was then reckoned more criminal in an ecclesiastic,—marriage.

It has been supposed that Skelton was curate of Trumpington near Cambridge[71](celebrated as the scene of Chaucer’sMilleres Tale), because at the end of one of his smaller poems are the following words:

“Auctore Skelton, rectore de Dis.Finis, &c. Apud Trumpinton scriptum[72]per Curatum ejusdem, quinto die Januarii Anno Domini, secundum computat. Angliæ,MDVII.”[73]

“Auctore Skelton, rectore de Dis.

Finis, &c. Apud Trumpinton scriptum[72]per Curatum ejusdem, quinto die Januarii Anno Domini, secundum computat. Angliæ,MDVII.”[73]

But the meaning evidently is, that the curate of Trumpington had written out the verses composed by the rector of Diss; and that the former had borrowed them from the latter for the purpose of transcription, is rendered probable by two lines which occur soon after among some minor pieces of our author;

“Hanc volo transcribas, transcriptam moxque remittasPagellam; quia sunt qui mea scripta sciunt.”[74]

“Hanc volo transcribas, transcriptam moxque remittas

Pagellam; quia sunt qui mea scripta sciunt.”[74]

Anthony Wood affirms that “at Disse and in the diocese” Skelton “was esteemed more fit for the stage than the pew or pulpit.”[75]It is at least certain that anecdotes of the irregularity of his life, of his buffoonery as a preacher, &c. &c. were current long after his decease, and gave rise to that tissue of extravagant figments which was put together for the amusement of the vulgar, and entitled theMerie Tales of Skelton.[76]

Churchyard informs us that Skelton’s “talke was as he wraet [wrote];”[77]and in this propensity to satire, as well in conversation as in writing, originated perhaps those quarrels with Garnesche, Barclay, Gaguin, and Lily, which I have now to notice.

As the four poemsAgainst Garneschewere composed “by the kynges most noble commaundement,” we may conclude that the monarch found amusement in the angry rhymes with which Skelton overwhelmed his opponent. Garnesche, it appears, was the challenger in this contest;[78]and it is to be regretted that his verses have perished, because in all probability they would have thrown some light on the private history of Skelton.The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy[79]bears a considerable resemblanceto the verses against Garnesche; but the two Scottish poets are supposed to have carried on a sportive warfare of rude raillery, while a real animosity seems to have existed between our author and his adversary.[80]At the time of this quarrel (the exact date of which cannot be determined) Christopher Garnesche was gentleman-usher to Henry the Eighth, and dignified with knighthood;[81]and (if Skelton may be credited) had risen from the performance of very menial offices to the station which he then occupied. As he had no claims on the remembrance of posterity, little is known concerning him; but since we have evidence that his services were called for on more than one occasion of importance, he must have been a person of considerable note. He is twice incidentally mentioned in connexion with the royal sisters of Henry the Eighth. In 1514, when the Princess Mary embarked for France, in order to join her decrepit bridegroom Louis the Twelfth, Garnesche formed one of the numerous retinue selected toattend her, and had an opportunity of particularly distinguishing himself during that perilous voyage: “The ii. daye of October at the hower of foure of the clocke in the morenynge thys fayre ladye tooke her ship with all her noble compaignie: and when they had sayled a quarter of the see, the wynde rose and seuered some of the shyppes to Caleys, and some in Flaunders, and her shippe with greate difficultie was brought to Bulleyn, and with great ieopardy at the entryng of the hauen, for the master ran the ship hard on shore, but the botes were redy and receyued this noble lady, and at the landyngSir Christopher Garnyshestode in the water, and toke her in his armes, and so caryed her to land, where the Duke of Vandosme and a Cardynall with many estates receyued her and her ladyes,”[82]&c. Again, in a letter, dated Harbottle 18th Oct. 1515, from Lord Dacre of Gillesland and T. Magnus to Henry the Eighth, concerning the confinement in childbed of Margaret widow of James the Fourth, &c. we find; “Sir Christofer Garneiscame to Morpeth immediatly vpon the queneis delyueraunce, and by our aduice hath contynued there with suche stuff as your grace hath sent to the said quene your suster till Sondaye laste paste, whiche daye he delyuered your letter and disclosed your credence, gretely to the quenes comforte. And for somiche as the quene lieth as yet in childe bedde, and shall kepe her chambre these thre wookes at the leiste, we haue aduised the saidsir Christofer Garneisto remaigne at Morpeth till the queneis comyng thidder, and then her grace may order and prepare euery parte of the said stuf after her pleasure and as her grace semeth moste conuenient,” &c.[83]A few particulars concerning Garneschemay be gleaned from the Books in the Public Record Office:

(i. e. in reward out of moneys forfeited by John Crawford and another upon bail-bond.)

and we find that afterwards by letters patent dated 21st May, 7th Henry viii., in consideration of his services the king granted him an annuity of thirty pounds for life, payable half-yearly at the Exchequer.[87]

see above: this entry is several times repeated, and occurs for the last time in 26th Henry viii.[91]

Bale mentions among the writings of Alexander Barclay a piece “against Skelton.”[92]It has not come downto us; but the extant works of Barclay bear testimony to the hearty dislike with which he regarded our author. At the conclusion ofThe Ship of Foolesis this contemptuous notice of one of Skelton’s most celebrated poems;

“Holde me excused, for why my will is good,Men to induce vnto vertue and goodnes;I write no ieste ne tale of Robin Hood,Nor sowe no sparkles ne sede of viciousnes;Wise men loue vertue, wilde people wantonnes;It longeth not to my science nor cunning,For Philip the Sparow the Dirige to singe:”[93]

“Holde me excused, for why my will is good,

Men to induce vnto vertue and goodnes;

I write no ieste ne tale of Robin Hood,

Nor sowe no sparkles ne sede of viciousnes;

Wise men loue vertue, wilde people wantonnes;

It longeth not to my science nor cunning,

For Philip the Sparow the Dirige to singe:”[93]

a sneer to which Skelton most probably alludes, when, enumerating his own productions in theGarlande of Laurell, he mentions,

“OfPhillip Sparowthe lamentable fate,The dolefull desteny, and the carefull chaunce,Dyuysed by Skelton after the funerall rate;Yet sum there be therewith that take greuaunce,And grudge therat with frownyng countenaunce;But what of that? hard it is to please all men;Who list amende it, let hym set to his penne.”[94]

“OfPhillip Sparowthe lamentable fate,

The dolefull desteny, and the carefull chaunce,

Dyuysed by Skelton after the funerall rate;

Yet sum there be therewith that take greuaunce,

And grudge therat with frownyng countenaunce;

But what of that? hard it is to please all men;

Who list amende it, let hym set to his penne.”[94]

That a portion of the following passage in Barclay’sFourth Eglogewas levelled at Skelton, appears highly probable;

“Another thing yet is greatly more damnable:Of rascolde poetes yet is a shamfull rable,Which voyde of wisedome presumeth to indite,Though they haue scantly the cunning of a snite;[95]And to what vices that princes moste intende,Those dare these fooles solemnize and commende.Then is he decked asPoete laureate,When stinking Thais made him her graduate:When Muses rested, she did her season note,And she with Bacchus her camous[96]did promote.Such rascolde drames, promoted by Thais,Bacchus, Licoris, or yet by Testalis,Or by suche other newe forged Muses nine,Thinke in their mindes for to haue wit diuine;They laude their verses, they boast, they vaunt and iet,Though all their cunning be scantly worth a pet:If they haue smelled the artes triuiall,They count them Poetes hye and heroicall.Such is their foly, so foolishly they dote,Thinking that none can their playne errour note:Yet be they foolishe, auoyde of honestie,Nothing seasoned with spice of grauitie,Auoyde of pleasure, auoyde of eloquence,With many wordes, and fruitlesse of sentence;Unapt to learne, disdayning to be taught,Their priuate pleasure in snare hath them so caught;And worst yet of all, they count them excellent,Though they be fruitlesse, rashe and improuident.To such ambages who doth their minde incline,They count all other as priuate[97]of doctrine,And that the faultes which be in them alone,Also be common in other men eche one.”[98]

“Another thing yet is greatly more damnable:

Of rascolde poetes yet is a shamfull rable,

Which voyde of wisedome presumeth to indite,

Though they haue scantly the cunning of a snite;[95]

And to what vices that princes moste intende,

Those dare these fooles solemnize and commende.

Then is he decked asPoete laureate,

When stinking Thais made him her graduate:

When Muses rested, she did her season note,

And she with Bacchus her camous[96]did promote.

Such rascolde drames, promoted by Thais,

Bacchus, Licoris, or yet by Testalis,

Or by suche other newe forged Muses nine,

Thinke in their mindes for to haue wit diuine;

They laude their verses, they boast, they vaunt and iet,

Though all their cunning be scantly worth a pet:

If they haue smelled the artes triuiall,

They count them Poetes hye and heroicall.

Such is their foly, so foolishly they dote,

Thinking that none can their playne errour note:

Yet be they foolishe, auoyde of honestie,

Nothing seasoned with spice of grauitie,

Auoyde of pleasure, auoyde of eloquence,

With many wordes, and fruitlesse of sentence;

Unapt to learne, disdayning to be taught,

Their priuate pleasure in snare hath them so caught;

And worst yet of all, they count them excellent,

Though they be fruitlesse, rashe and improuident.

To such ambages who doth their minde incline,

They count all other as priuate[97]of doctrine,

And that the faultes which be in them alone,

Also be common in other men eche one.”[98]

In theGarlande of Laurellwe are told by Skelton, that among the famous writers of all ages and nations, whom he beheld in his vision, was

“a frere of Fraunce men callsir Gagwyne,That frownyd on me full angerly and pale;”[99]

“a frere of Fraunce men callsir Gagwyne,

That frownyd on me full angerly and pale;”[99]

and in the catalogue of his own writings which is subsequently given in the same poem, he mentions a piece which he had composed against this personage,

“The Recule ageinst Gaguyneof the Frenshe nacyoun.”[100]

Robert Gaguin was minister-general of the Maturines, and enjoyed great reputation for abilities and learning.[101]He wrote various works; the most important of which is hisCompendium supra Francorum gestisfrom the time of Pharamond to the author’s age. In 1490 he was sent by Charles the Eighth as ambassador to England, where he probably became personally acquainted with Skelton.

That Skelton composed certain Latin verses against the celebrated grammarian William Lily, we are informed by Bale,[102]who has preserved the initial words, viz.

“Urgeor impulsus tibi, Lilli, retundere:”

and that Lily repaid our poet in kind, we have the following proof;

“Lilii Hendecasyllabi in Scheltonum ejuscarmina calumniantem.[103]“Quid me, Scheltone, fronte sic apertaCarpis, vipereo potens veneno?Quid versus trutina meos iniquaLibras? dicere vera num licebit?Doctrinæ tibi dum parare famamEt doctus fieri studes poeta,Doctrinam nec habes, nec es poeta.”

“Lilii Hendecasyllabi in Scheltonum ejuscarmina calumniantem.[103]

“Quid me, Scheltone, fronte sic apertaCarpis, vipereo potens veneno?Quid versus trutina meos iniquaLibras? dicere vera num licebit?Doctrinæ tibi dum parare famamEt doctus fieri studes poeta,Doctrinam nec habes, nec es poeta.”

“Quid me, Scheltone, fronte sic aperta

Carpis, vipereo potens veneno?

Quid versus trutina meos iniqua

Libras? dicere vera num licebit?

Doctrinæ tibi dum parare famam

Et doctus fieri studes poeta,

Doctrinam nec habes, nec es poeta.”

It would seem that Skelton occasionally repented of the severity of his compositions, and longed to recall them; for in theGarlande of Laurell, after many of them have been enumerated, we meet with the following curious passage;

“ItemApollo that whirllid up his chare,That made sum to snurre and snuf in the wynde;It made them to skip, to stampe, and to stare,Whiche, if they be happy, haue cause to bewareIn ryming and raylyng with hym for to mell,For drede that he lerne them there A, B, C, to spell.With that I stode vp, halfe sodenly afrayd;Suppleyng to Fame, I besought her grace,And that it wolde please her, full tenderly I prayd,Owt of her bokis Apollo to rase.Nay, sir, she sayd, what so in this placeOf our noble courte is ones spoken owte,It must nedes after rin all the worlde aboute.God wote, theis wordes made me full sad;And when that I sawe it wolde no better be,But that my peticyon wolde not be had,What shulde I do but take it in gre?For, by Juppiter and his high mageste,I did what I cowde to scrape out the scrollis,Apollo to rase out of her ragman rollis.”[104]

“ItemApollo that whirllid up his chare,

That made sum to snurre and snuf in the wynde;

It made them to skip, to stampe, and to stare,

Whiche, if they be happy, haue cause to beware

In ryming and raylyng with hym for to mell,

For drede that he lerne them there A, B, C, to spell.

With that I stode vp, halfe sodenly afrayd;Suppleyng to Fame, I besought her grace,And that it wolde please her, full tenderly I prayd,Owt of her bokis Apollo to rase.Nay, sir, she sayd, what so in this placeOf our noble courte is ones spoken owte,It must nedes after rin all the worlde aboute.

With that I stode vp, halfe sodenly afrayd;

Suppleyng to Fame, I besought her grace,

And that it wolde please her, full tenderly I prayd,

Owt of her bokis Apollo to rase.

Nay, sir, she sayd, what so in this place

Of our noble courte is ones spoken owte,

It must nedes after rin all the worlde aboute.

God wote, theis wordes made me full sad;And when that I sawe it wolde no better be,But that my peticyon wolde not be had,What shulde I do but take it in gre?For, by Juppiter and his high mageste,I did what I cowde to scrape out the scrollis,Apollo to rase out of her ragman rollis.”[104]

God wote, theis wordes made me full sad;

And when that I sawe it wolde no better be,

But that my peticyon wolde not be had,

What shulde I do but take it in gre?

For, by Juppiter and his high mageste,

I did what I cowde to scrape out the scrollis,

Apollo to rase out of her ragman rollis.”[104]

The piece which commenced with the words “Apollo that whirllid vp his chare,” and which gave such high displeasure to some of Skelton’s contemporaries, has long ago perished,—in spite of Fame’s refusal to erase it from her books!

The title-page of theGarlande of Laurell,[105]ed. 1523, sets forth that it was “studyously dyuysedat Sheryfhotton Castell,” in Yorkshire; and there seems no reason to doubt that it was written by Skelton during a residence at that mansion. The date of its composition is unknown; but it was certainly produced at an advanced period of his life;[106]and the Countess of Surrey, who figures in it so conspicuously as his patroness, must have been Elizabeth Stafford, daughter of Edward Duke of Buckingham, second wife of Thomas Howard Earl of Surrey, and mother of that illustrious Surrey “whose fame for aye endures.” Sheriff-Hutton Castle was then in the possession of her father-in-law, the Duke of Norfolk,[107]the victor of Flodden Field; and she was probably there as his guest, havingbrought Skelton in her train. Of this poem, unparalleled for its egotism, the greater part is allegorical; but the incident from which it derives its name,—the weaving of a garland for the author by a party of ladies, at the desire of the Countess, seems to have had some foundation in fact.

From a passage in the poem just mentioned, we may presume that Skelton used sometimes to reside at the ancient college of the Bonhommes at Ashridge;

“Of the Bonehoms of Ashrige besyde Barkamstede,That goodly place to Skelton moost kynde,Where the sank royall is, Crystes blode so rede,Whervpon he metrefyde after his mynde;A pleasaunter place than Ashrige is, harde were to fynde,” &c.[108]

“Of the Bonehoms of Ashrige besyde Barkamstede,

That goodly place to Skelton moost kynde,

Where the sank royall is, Crystes blode so rede,

Whervpon he metrefyde after his mynde;

A pleasaunter place than Ashrige is, harde were to fynde,” &c.[108]

That Skelton once enjoyed the patronage of Wolsey, at whose desire he occasionally exercised his pen, and from whose powerful influence he expected preferment in the church, we learn from the following passages in his works:

“Honorificatissimo, amplissimo, longeque reverendissimo in Christo patri, ac domino, domino Thomæ, &c. tituli sanctæ Ceciliæ, sacrosanctæ Romanæ ecclesiæ presbytero, Cardinali meritissimo, et apostolicæ sedis legato, a latereque legato superillustri, &c. Skeltonis laureatus, ora. reg., humillimum dicit obsequium cum omni debita reverentia, tanto tamque magnifico digna principe sacerdotum, totiusque justitiæ æquabilissimo moderatore, necnon præsentis opusculi fautore excellentissimo, &c., ad cujus auspicatissimam contemplationem, sub memorabili prelo gloriosæ immortalitatis, præsens pagella felicitatur, &c.”[109]

“Ad serenissimam Majestatem Regiam, pariter cum Domino Cardinali, Legato a latere honorificatissimo, &c.Lautre Enuoy.Perge, liber, celebrem pronus regem venerareHenricum octavum, resonans sua præmia laudis.Cardineum dominum pariter venerando salutes,Legatum a latere, et fiat memor ipse precarePrebendæ, quam promisit mihi credere quondam,Meque suum referas pignus sperare salutisInter spemque metum.Twene hope and dredeMy lyfe I lede,But of my spedeSmall sekernes;Howe be it I redeBoth worde and dedeShould be agredeIn noblenes:Or els, &c.”[110]“To my Lorde Cardynals right noble grace, &c.Lenuoy.Go, lytell quayre, apace,In moost humble wyse,Before his noble grace,That caused you to deuiseThis lytel enterprise;And hym moost lowly pray,In his mynde to compriseThose wordes his grace dyd sayeOf an ammas gray.Ie foy enterment en sa bone grace.”[111]

“Ad serenissimam Majestatem Regiam, pariter cum Domino Cardinali, Legato a latere honorificatissimo, &c.

Lautre Enuoy.Perge, liber, celebrem pronus regem venerareHenricum octavum, resonans sua præmia laudis.Cardineum dominum pariter venerando salutes,Legatum a latere, et fiat memor ipse precarePrebendæ, quam promisit mihi credere quondam,Meque suum referas pignus sperare salutisInter spemque metum.Twene hope and dredeMy lyfe I lede,But of my spedeSmall sekernes;Howe be it I redeBoth worde and dedeShould be agredeIn noblenes:Or els, &c.”[110]

Lautre Enuoy.

Perge, liber, celebrem pronus regem venerareHenricum octavum, resonans sua præmia laudis.Cardineum dominum pariter venerando salutes,Legatum a latere, et fiat memor ipse precarePrebendæ, quam promisit mihi credere quondam,Meque suum referas pignus sperare salutisInter spemque metum.

Perge, liber, celebrem pronus regem venerare

Henricum octavum, resonans sua præmia laudis.

Cardineum dominum pariter venerando salutes,

Legatum a latere, et fiat memor ipse precare

Prebendæ, quam promisit mihi credere quondam,

Meque suum referas pignus sperare salutis

Inter spemque metum.

Twene hope and dredeMy lyfe I lede,But of my spedeSmall sekernes;Howe be it I redeBoth worde and dedeShould be agredeIn noblenes:Or els, &c.”[110]

Twene hope and drede

My lyfe I lede,

But of my spede

Small sekernes;

Howe be it I rede

Both worde and dede

Should be agrede

In noblenes:

Or els, &c.”[110]

“To my Lorde Cardynals right noble grace, &c.

Lenuoy.Go, lytell quayre, apace,In moost humble wyse,Before his noble grace,That caused you to deuiseThis lytel enterprise;And hym moost lowly pray,In his mynde to compriseThose wordes his grace dyd sayeOf an ammas gray.Ie foy enterment en sa bone grace.”[111]

Lenuoy.

Go, lytell quayre, apace,In moost humble wyse,Before his noble grace,That caused you to deuiseThis lytel enterprise;And hym moost lowly pray,In his mynde to compriseThose wordes his grace dyd sayeOf an ammas gray.Ie foy enterment en sa bone grace.”[111]

Go, lytell quayre, apace,

In moost humble wyse,

Before his noble grace,

That caused you to deuise

This lytel enterprise;

And hym moost lowly pray,

In his mynde to comprise

Those wordes his grace dyd saye

Of an ammas gray.

Ie foy enterment en sa bone grace.”[111]

We also find that Skelton “gaue to my lord Cardynall”The Boke of Three Fooles.[112]

What were the circumstances which afterwards alienated the poet from his powerful patron, cannot now be discovered: we only know that Skelton assailed the full-blown pride of Wolsey with a boldness which is astonishing, and with a fierceness of invective which has seldom been surpassed. Perhaps, it would have been better for the poet’s memory, if the passages just quoted had never reached us; but nothing unfavourable to his character ought to be hastily inferred from the alteration in his feelings towards Wolsey while the cause of their quarrel is buried in obscurity. The provocation must have been extraordinary, which transformed the humble client of the Cardinal into his “dearest foe.”

We are told by Francis Thynne, that Wolsey was his father’s “olde enymye, for manye causes, but mostly for that my father had furthered Skelton to publishe hisCollin Clouteagainste the Cardinall, the moste parte of whiche Booke was compiled in my fathers howse at Erithe in Kente.”[113]But thoughColyn Cloutecontains passages which manifestly point at Wolsey, it cannot be termed a piece “againste the Cardinall:” and I have no doubt that the poem which Thynne had in view, and which by mistake he has mentioned under a wrong title, was ourauthor’sWhy come ye nat to Courte. InColyn ClouteSkelton ventured to aim only a few shafts at Wolsey: inWhy come ye nat to Courte, and inSpeke, Parrot, he let loose against him the full asperity of reproach.

The bull appointing Wolsey and Campeggio to be Legatesa laterejointly, is dated July 27th, 1518, that appointing Wolsey to be sole Legatea latere, 10th June, 1519;[114]and from the first two passages which I have cited above (pp. xl, xli) we ascertain the fact, that Wolsey continued to be the patron of Skelton for at least some time after he had been invested with the dignity of papal legate. If the third passage cited above (p. xli), “Go, lytell quayre, apace,” &c. really belong to the poemHow the douty Duke of Albany, &c., to which it is appended in Marshe’s ed. of Skelton’sWorkes, 1568, our author must have been soliciting Wolsey for preferment as late as November 1523: but his most direct satire on the Cardinal,Why come ye nat to Courte, was evidently composed anterior to that period; and hisSpeke, Parrot(which would require the scholia of a Tzetzes to render it intelligible) contains seeming allusions to events of a still earlier date. The probability (or rather certainty) is, that the L’Envoy, “Go, lytell quayre,” &c. has no connexion with the poem on the Duke of Albany: in Marshe’s volume the various pieces are thrown together without any attempt at arrangement; and it ought to be particularly noticed that betweenthe poem against Albany and the L’Envoy in question,another L’Envoy is interposed.[115]Wolsey might have forgiven the allusions made to him inColyn Cloute; but it would be absurd to imagine that, in 1523, he continued to patronise the man who had writtenWhy come ye nat to Courte.

The following anecdote is subjoined from Hall: “And in this season [15 Henry viii.], the Cardinall by his power legantine dissolued the Conuocacion at Paules, called by the Archebishop of Cantorbury [Warham], and called hym and all the clergie to his conuocacion to Westminster, which was neuer seen before in Englande, wherof master Skelron, a mery Poet, wrote,

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