There are other poems showing how
dangerous
it was to offend
Skelton or to be disliked by him.
Skelton or to be disliked by him.
Cambridge History of English Literature - 1908 - v03
' This Codrus declines to admit, but wishes
to hear some old song; whereupon the other replies that a poet
cannot thrive on idle flattery, and that he cannot look after his
flock and write poetry at the same time. Everybody, retorts
Codrus, ought to be content with his lot; for, if one man has the
gift of riches, another has that of poetry; but he is by no
means disposed to exchange the comforts of wealth for delight in
song, and listens impatiently to the poet's complaints. By vague
promises, Minalcas, at last, is induced to give some stanzas 'of
fruitful clauses of noble Solomon. ' As these are not to Codrus's
liking, he recites a rather long 'wofull' elegy on the death of lord
Edward Howard, high admiral, son of the duke of Norfolk, Bar-
clay's patron, who lost his life in a daring attack on the French
fleet before Brest, 25 April 1513. It is written in the usual style
of this kind of poetry and contains a fairly good allegoric descrip-
tion of Labour, 'dreadfull of visage, a monster intreatable. ' When
Minalcas has finished, Codrus promises him some reward in the
future; whereupon the disappointed poet swears at him and
invokes on him the fate of Midas for bis niggardliness.
The most interesting feature of the poem is the introduc-
tion of the two songs-a trick, however, used already by Mantuan
in one of his eclogues. The style of the two songs is purely
English.
In Barclay's first three Eclogues, the form only is taken from
## p. 65 (#87) ##############################################
Barclay's Eclogues
65
Mantuan, the matter, as we have said above, from Aeneas Sylvius's
Tractatus de curialium miseriis, a treatise in which the ambitious
churchman expresses his disappointments. Nevertheless, here also
Barclay owes a good deal to Mantuan in characterisation as well
as in detail.
In the first, Coridon, a young shepherd, who wants to try his
luck at court, is warned against doing so by his companion
Cornix, who proves to him that all such courtiers do live in
misery, which serve in the court for honour, laude or fame, and
might or power. A threatening storm compels the pair to break
off their conversation.
In the second Eclogue it is taken up again. They speak of
the court, and 'what pleasure is there sene with the fyve wittes,
beginning at the eyne. ' In a long dialogue on the discomforts of
courtiers, it is shown that whosoever hopes for pleasure at court
is certain to be disappointed. Barclay follows his source very
closely here; and, if in the first Eclogue we do not quite see
what a simple shepherd wants to do at the court, in the second
we are as much surprised as is good Coridon himself to hear
Cornis quote classical authors.
The third Eclogue completes the conversation with an exceed-
ingly vivid description of the courtiers' undesirable and filthy
dwellings. Bribery, in the case of influential officials and impudent
servants, is mentioned, the evils of war and town life are dwelt
upon, nepotism is blamed, and it is shown that court life spoils
the character, and hinders a man from reading and studying.
Coridon is convinced, at last, that he is much more comfortable in
his present condition, and gives up his idea of going to court.
Whereas, in the translation of The Ship of Fools, Barclay often
carefully tones down the strong language of the original, he is not
80 particular in his Eclogues. On the whole, their tone is that of
renascence eclogues in general, i. e. satire on the times, under the
veil of allegory. So we find it with Petrarch and Mantuan, so with
Boccaccio and the other Italian writers of bucolic poetry, so in
Spain and, later, in France in the case of Clément Marot, who,
again, exercised a great influence on English pastoral poetry.
But, besides these modern influences, we find throughout that of
Vergil, who first introduced moral and satirical elements into
bucolic poetry.
There are, also, some personal touches in Barclay's Eclogues.
In the first, he excepts with due loyalty the court of Henry
VII, 'which nowe departed late,' and that of Henry VIII, from
E. L. III.
CH, IV.
5
## p. 66 (#88) ##############################################
66
Alexander Barclay
all the miseries of which he is going to speak. There is, further,
a moving passage describing how Barclay, on a fine May morning,
visited Ely cathedral, where he laments the death of his patron,
bishop Alcock. Another patron, bishop Morton, is mentioned in
Eclogues III and iv. In the latter, he refers also to the 'Dean
of Powles,' Colet, as a good preacher.
In spite of their interest and in spite of the fact that Cawood
appended them to his edition of The Ship of Fools, in 1570,
Barclay's Eclogues were soon forgotten. Spenser ignores them
as he ignores other earlier attempts at pastoral poetry. In the
dedication of The Shepheards Calender, 1579, we are simply told
that the poet has chosen this poetical form ‘to furnish our tongue
with this kinde, wherein it faulteth. ' Spenser's contemporaries,
with whom pastoral poetry became fashionable under Italian in-
fluence, praised him as the father of the English eclogue, and had
completely forgotten that, more than sixty years before, Barclay
had sought for the first time to introduce the eclogue into English
literature.
Barclay never wrote without a moral, didactic or satirical
purpose, and his conception of literature was narrow. He was
certainly not an original writer ; but he was a steady and con-
scientious worker, who did some useful work as a translator of
classical and other literature, and set out on some tracks never
followed by English writers before him. In The Ship of Fools
and, still more in his Eclogues, he handled his originals with
remarkable freedom, and his attempts to meet the taste of his
readers make these, his main works, exceedingly interesting as
pictures of contemporary English life. As a scholar, he repre-
a
sents medieval, rather than renascence, ideals; as a man, he
was modest and grateful to his friends and patrons; and his
writings, as well as his will, prove him a kind-hearted friend of
the poor.
Though Barclay was well known, there are few contemporary
allusions to him. Bullein, perhaps a personal acquaintance,
in his Dialogue against the Fever Pestilence, 1564, mentions
him repeatedly; as does Bradshaw, in his Life of Saynt
Werburghe, 1521. We find 'preignaunt' Barclay there in the
distinguished company of Chaucer and Lydgate and, what
would assuredly have been to him a great annoyance, also in
that of “inventive' Skelton, whom he seems to have greatly
detested. As his book, Contra Skeltonum, is, unfortunately,
lost, we cannot tell whether he had any special reason for his
## p. 67 (#89) ##############################################
John Skelton
67
aversion to Skelton. The mere difference of character can
hardly account for the extremely sharp attack on Skelton in
The Ship of Fools as well as in the Eclogues, the less so, as
Barclay usually expresses personal dislike in a tame, and un-
malicious way.
John Skelton, born about 1460, probably at Diss in Norfolk,
enjoyed a classical education like his younger rival. He studied
at Cambridge, where the name Skelton is a Peterhouse name, and,
perhaps, in Oxford. There, in 1489, he obtained the academical
degree of poeta laureatus ; this was also conferred on him in 1493
by the university of Louvain, and by his alma mater Canta-
brigiensis. Somewhat late in life, he took holy orders. In 1498,
when almost forty years old, he was ordained successively sub-deacon,
deacon and priest, perhaps because he was to be tutor of young
prince Henry, an appointment showing clearly that he was much
thought of as a scholar. Even so early as 1490, Caxton mentions
him in the introduction to his Eneydos as the translator of Cicero's
Epistolae familiares, and of Diodorus Siculus, and appeals to him
as an authority in that line. Later, in 1500, Erasmus, in an ode
De Laudibus Britanniae, calls him unum Britannicarum literarum
lumen ac decus, and congratulates the prince on having so splendid
a teacher. On the other hand, Lily, the grammarian, with whom
Skelton had a literary feud, did not think highly of him and said
of him: Doctrinam nec habes, nec es poeta. Perhaps he did not
like the poet's lost New Gramer in Englysshe compylyd, mentioned
in the Garlande of Laurell, l. 1182. Skelton's Latin poems are
rather bombastic, but smooth and polished. His Speculum prin-
cipis (G. of L. 1226 ff. ) is lost. He was well acquainted with
French, and, in his Garlande of Laurell, he speaks of having
translated Of Mannes Lyfe the Peregrynacioun in prose, out of
the French, probably for Margaret, countess of Richmond and
Derby, mother of Henry VII, on whose death, 29 June 1509, he
wrote a Latin elegy. His knowledge of classical, particularly Latin,
literature must have been very extensive. In his Garlande of
Laurell, he mentions almost all the more important Latin and
Greek authors, and, on the whole, shows a fair judgment of them.
His knowledge of Greek was, perhaps, not deep? Some passages
in Speke, Parrot even indicate that he did not much approve of
the study of Greek, then being energetically pursued at Oxford.
"His translation of Diodorus Siculus is done from the Latin version of Poggio, first
printed 1472.
5-2
## p. 68 (#90) ##############################################
68
John Skelton
He there complains, also, of the decay of scholastic educa-
tion and ridicules ignorant and pedantic philologists. He was
particularly fond of the old satirists, and Juvenal seems to have
been his special favourite. His poetry, however, does not betray
any classical influences. With the Italian poets of the renascence
he was, apparently, less familiar. He speaks of ‘Johun Bochas
with his volumys grete' (G. of L. 364), and mentions Petrarch and
old Plutarch together as 'two famous clarkis' (ibid. 379).
English literature he knew best. In Phyllyp Sparowe, he
judges Gower, Chaucer and Lydgate fairly well and lays stress
particularly on Chaucer's mastership of the English language,
whereas he calls Gower's English old-fashioned. On the other
hand, he places Lydgate on the same level with the two older poets,
finding fault only with the darkness of his language. He was ex-
tremely well versed in popular literature, and refers to it often.
Guy of Warwick, Gawain, Lancelot, Tristram and all the other
heroes of popular romance, were well known to him. We also find
in his writings many allusions to popular songs, now partly un-
known. He had himself written a Robin Hood pageant, to
which Barclay alludes scornfully and which is also referred to
later by Anthony Munday! When, and how long, Skelton stayed
.
at court, we cannot tell. In a special poem he boasts that
he had a white and green garment embroidered with the name
‘Calliope' given him by the king; but, as the official docu-
ments never mention his name, it is not likely that he ever stood
in
any closer relation to the court after his pupil had come to the
throne. That he must have been there occasionally is proved by
the poems against Garnesche. Skelton was rector of Diss in 1507,
and held this office nominally till his death in 1529, when bis
successor is mentioned. Some of his poems certainly were written
there ; but, in others, particularly in his later satires, he shows
himself so well acquainted with the sentiments of the London
people that he must, at least, have visited the capital frequently.
There is a tradition that Skelton was not very much liked by his
parishioners on account of his erratic nature, and that he had
quarrels with the Dominicans, who denounced him spitefully to
the bishop of Norwich for being married? .
Of Skelton's patrons, besides members of the royal family,
а
1 Cf. Brie, · Skelton-Studien,' in Engl. Stud. XXXVII, pp. 35 ff. ; the figure of Skelton
appears in Munday's Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntingdon, and in Ben Jonson's
Fortunate Isles.
2 Cf. Merie Tales of Skelton (1561).
## p. 69 (#91) ##############################################
Minor Poems
69
the countess of Surrey, at whose castle, Sheriff Hutton, he wrote
his Garlande of Laurell (c. 1520), may be mentioned. As the dedi-
cations of some of Skelton's works to cardinal Wolsey are later
additions of the publishers", it is doubtful if the omnipotent
minister of Henry VIII was his patron too. In any case, Skelton
attacked him from about 15192, and so unsparingly that he was
at last compelled to take sanctuary at Westminster with his friend
abbot Islip. There he remained until his death, 21 June 1529.
He was buried in St Margaret's Church, Westminster; but no
trace is left of his tomb.
As a poet, Skelton is extremely versatile. He practised his
pen in almost every kind of poetry. Unfortunately, many of his
works are lost. We know them only from the enumeration in the
Garlande of Laurell (1170 ff); and even this is incomplete, as the
author self-complacently states. In many cases the titles given
there do not even enable us to draw any conclusions as to their
contents or character. Even his extant works offer many diffi-
culties—sometimes to be met by conjecture only-as regards inter-
pretation and chronology. First editions are missing in most
cases, and, owing probably to their personal and satirical character,
some of the poems must have circulated in manuscript for a con-
siderable time before they were printed'.
Of Skelton's religious poems not many are extant, and, even of
those ascribed to him, some, probably, are not his. From the titles
in The Garlande of Laurell we must, however, conclude that he
wrote many poems of this kind. Satires against the church, and
even irreverence for her rites, are, with him, no signs of irreligious-
ness. He was as ardent a champion of the old faith as Barclay.
In Colyn Clout he speaks contemptuously of Hus, Luther, and of
Wyclif, whom he calls a 'develysshe dogmatist, but the best
proof of his keen hatred for beretics is the Replycacion agaynst
certayne yong scolers abjured of late, written, probably, in 1526*.
The poem is far too long to be impressive; but it is evidently
dictated by strong conviction.
Skelton was not only a loyal son of the church, but, also, a
patriotic Englishman, who hated his country's enemies and exulted
when they were defeated. When Dundas charged the English with
cowardice, Skelton wrote a very vigorous little poem in defence of
1 Cf. Brie, pp. 11 ff.
• But of. Ramsay, Magnificence, pp. cvi ff.
3 Brie, p. 87, has attempted to date all Skelton's works, but admits himself that
the results are not always satisfactory.
• Cf. Brie, pp. 64 ff.
## p. 70 (#92) ##############################################
70
John Skelton
his countrymen. A splendid opportunity for showing his patriotism
presented itself to the poet when James IV was defeated and
killed with a great number of Scots nobles, on Brankston moor
and Flodden hills, in 1513. Immediately after the event, he wrote
a ballad which he retouched later and called Against the Scottes.
And, again, ten years later, when the duke of Albany, allied with
the French, was beaten, Skelton celebrated the victory in a long
and vigorous poem. On 22 September 1513, a choir at Diss
recited an enthusiastic Latin hymn by Skelton on the victory
of Flodden. A similar hymn was composed by him about the
same time on the occasion of the conquest of Terouenne by
Henry VIII and the battle of Spurs (16 August 1513).
As Skelton's authorship of an elegy Of the death of the noble
prince, Kynge Edwarde the Forth seems a little doubtful', his
first authentic court poem would seem to have been the lost
Prince Arturis Creacyoun, 1489 (G. of L. 1178). In the same
year he wrote a long elegy Upon the doulourus dethe of the Erle
of Northumberlande, killed by Northumbrian rebels on 28 April
1489.
Skelton admired Henry VII, but he did not ignore his weak-
nesses. In a Latin epitaph he laments the king's death and
praises him as a successful politician, but he alludes also to the
avarice which made the first Tudor unpopular with his subjects.
The general feeling of relief after Henry VII's death reveals
itself in Eulogium pro suorum temporum conditione, written
in the beginning of Henry VIII's reign. Skelton expected much
of the young monarch, whom he praises in A Lawde and
Prayse made for our Sovereigne Lord the Kyng, and especially
at the end of the poem mentioned above on the victory over the
duke of Albany.
Skelton knew, also, how to glorify noble ladies, especially when
they patronised him and flattered his vanity. Most of his poems in
this vein are inserted in The Garlande of Laurell, an allegorical
poem, full of grotesque self-glorification, and telling how Skelton
is summoned before lady Pallas, to prove himself worthy of his
name's being 'regestred with lawreate tryumphe. ' Among the
crowd of all the great poets of the world he meets Gower, Chaucer
and Lydgate, and is at last crowned with a 'cronell of lawrell'
by the countess of Surrey and her ladies.
The Garlande of Laurell is a very long poem, of 1600 lines,
built up with motives from Chaucer's House of Fame and the
i Brie, p. 27.
## p. 71 (#93) ##############################################
Phyllyp Sparowe
71
Prologue of the Legend of Good Women, and Skelton's self-
conceit shown therein is not relieved by any touch of humour.
The eleven little lyrics in praise of the poet's patroness and
her ladies are somewhat monotonous ; but they have a certain
grace and are good examples of conventional poetry. Skelton's
originality is more evident in Phyllyp Sparowe, a poem addressed
to Jane Scroupe, a young lady who was a pupil of the black
nuns at Carow, and whose pet sparrow had been killed by a
cat. The bird is pictured at great length and its mistress's
grief described in exaggerated language. All the birds under
the sky are summoned to the burial, and each one there is
appointed to its special office. Amongst the mourners we find
our old friend Chaunteclere and his wife Pertelote from Chaucer's
Nun's Priest's Tale, and the fabulous Phoenix, as described
by Pliny. The sparrow's soul is recommended to God and
Jupiter. To compose an epitaph for him proves too much for
Jane, who, however, shows herself a well read young lady. The
second part of the poem, connected rather loosely with the first, is
a praise of the heroine in the typical manner. There is no clear
design in the poem. Skelton seems quite unable, or unwilling,
to stick to his theme. The whole is an odd medley of the
most incongruous ideas, full of literary reminiscences and long
digressions, which, very often, have no relation to the subject.
But the short and lively metre is very effective and keeps up
the attention throughout. The 'addition' shows that there were
people who did not like this sort of poetry, especially as the
ceremonial of the requiem is used for comic purposes in a manner
that must have shocked pious souls. Barclay had mentioned the
poem scornfully at the end of his Ship of Fools and the 'addition'
seems to be Skelton's reply? . Barclay's allusion proves that Phyllyp
Sparowe was written before 1508.
There are other poems of Skelton, written for ladies with
whom he was acquainted, as conventional and insincere as are other
productions of their kind. One of them even ends with the laconic
remark: ‘at the instance of a nobyll lady. Who the lady was, we
cannot tell; but another of Skelton's friends was ‘mastres Anne,
that farly swete, that wonnes at the Key in Temmys strete,'
with whom the poet must once have been on very good terms.
Of his 'pretty lines' to her, none are extant; but there are
two poems in which he treats her in a different fashion,
evidently because she had slighted him and had chosen a new
i Cf. also G. of L. 1257 f.
? G. of L. 1240 ff.
## p. 72 (#94) ##############################################
72
John Skelton
lover? Another poem, caused by a similar disappointment, de-
scribes the once beloved lady at first very eloquently and then,
all of a sudden, takes a sarcastic turn.
The satirical poem
“My darlyng dere, my daysy floure' is very impressive and a most
happy attempt to write in a popular vein.
As we have seen already, it was not advisable to rouse Skelton's
anger. Vain and irritable, he was bent on quarrelling with every-
body, especially when his pride in his knowledge or academic
honours was hurt. Besides the quarrel with Lily, mentioned above,
he had an encounter with the French historian Gaguin (G. of L.
374 ff. , 1187)? One of Skelton's satirical productions, now lost,
Apollo that whirrlyd up his chare (G. of L. 1471 ff. ), seems
to have particularly annoyed certain people. Skelton himself,
wonderful to relate, is sorry for having written it. The some-
what loosely constructed poem Against venemous tongues is worth
mentioning only as the expression of personal experience.
There are other poems showing how dangerous it was to offend
Skelton or to be disliked by him. When he was rector of Diss, he
punished two 'knaves' of his parish who had shown disrespect to
him and did not go to church (G. of L. 1247 ff. ), by composing a
very unflattering epitaph for them. In a similar strain is the
epitaph In Bedel. In these poems, church rites are travestied
as in Phyllyp Sparowe. In Ware the Hauke, Skelton censures
a parson who had profaned his church by baiting a hawk in it.
Except for its length and exaggerated language, the poem is
not remarkable. Two other obscure poems, apparently directed
against certain musicians or minstrels may also be mentioned.
All the poems referred to above show that Skelton had an
amazingly large stock of abusive terms. But by far the best
examples of his talent in this direction are his poems against the
royal chamberlain Christopher Garnesche, who, at the king's com-
mand, had challenged him. Unfortunately, the poems of Skelton's
adversary, which might have thrown some light on the poet's
biography, especially on his relation to the court, are not extant.
He abuses the chamberlain violently, using the strongest expres-
sions imaginable and the most grotesque comparisons. That the
whole was not a serious affair is repeatedly stated in the poems.
It was nothing but an imitation of the Flyting of Dunbar and
Kennedy, composed 1504–5, and printed in 1508, and, like its
1 One of the two poems has been found only lately by Brie and is published in his
Skelton-Studien, p. 29.
Brie, p. 31.
2
## p. 73 (#95) ##############################################
The Bowge of Courte
73
model, is an interesting instance of the coarse vituperation common
to the time.
Remarkable, also, for its coarseness is The Tunnyng of Elynour
Rummyng, a fantastical description of an old ale-wife and her
guests. Again, there is no plan to be discerned; but, sometimes,
a sort of dramatic action is suggested, as the tipsy women come
and go, misbehave themselves, chat and quarrel, or are turned
out. There are some touches of humour in the poem; but it is
drawn out too long and many accessories render it somewhat
monotonous. The metre is the same short verse as in Phyllyp
Sparowe.
The poems against Garnesche were not the only fruit of Skelton's
sojourn at the court. As we have said before, it is not likely that
he stayed there for any length of time after the accession of his
former pupil; but, in any case, he must have seen a good deal of
court life when he was the prince's tutor. Very soon after that
time, probably, he set forth his unfavourable impressions in The
Bouege of Courte, an allegorical poem, written in Chaucer's seven-
lined stanza
In a lengthy prologue, Skelton tells how he wanted to compete
with the old poets, but was discouraged by Ignoraunce. He falls
asleep in his host's house, 'Powers Keye' at 'Harwyche Port,'
and has a strange dream. A stately ship enters the harbour and
casts anchor. Merchants go aboard to examine the costly freight,
and, with them, the poet, who does not perceive a single acquaint-
ance among the noisy crowd. The name of the ship is 'Bowge
of Courte' (free board at the king's table); her owner is the noble
lady Sauncepere, rich and desirable is her merchandise, Favour,
but also very dear. There is a general press to see the beautiful
lady, who sits on a magnificent throne inscribed with the words
'Garder le fortune que est mauelz et bone. Addressed harshly by
Daunger, the lady's chief waiting-woman, the poet, who introduces
himself as Drede, feels crushed; but another gentlewoman, Desire,
cheers him up and presents him with the helpful jewel Bone
Aventure. She further advises him to make friends with Fortune,
a somewhat capricious lady of great influence. Drede feels rather
uneasy from the very beginning, but, like the rest, asks her favour,
which she gives to them all.
The ship goes to sea with full sails. All seems well, until
Drede notices aboard seven ‘full subtyll persons,' all old friends of
Fortune. They bluntly decline any communication with the
stranger, whom, nevertheless, they approach, one after the other,
## p. 74 (#96) ##############################################
74
John Skelton
trying, each in his own way, to deceive and to harm him. Most of
them hide their hatred and jealousy under the mask of dis-
interested friendship, play the humble admirer of his superior
scholarship, warn him against supposed foes, promise their help
and prophesy for him a brilliant career. The only exception is
Dysdayne, a haughty, objectionable fellow, who shows his aversion
openly by picking a quarrel with him. Behind his back, they all
join to ruin the inconvenient new-comer, who notices their whisper-
ing together with increasing misgivings. The last of the seven is
still speaking to him, when, all of a sudden, he sees ‘lewde felawes'
rushing upon him from all sides with murderous purpose. In an
agony of fear, he seizes the ship-board to leap into the water, wakes
up and writes his ‘lytyll boke. ' In a concluding stanza, the poet
affirms his good intention. What he has written was a dream-but
sometimes there is some truth in dreams!
The poem may have been written a little before 1509. At
all events it is one of Skelton's earlier productions, for he would
not have used the allegorical framework for satirical purposes at
a later time. His handling of the traditional form is here highly
original. The seven figures are not of the usual bloodless kind
of personified abstractions, but more like types taken from real
life; and, even if one is not inclined to admit the direct influence
of Brant on Skelton in this poem, their strong resemblance to the
courtiers in The Ship of Fools is not to be denied. The cha-
racterisation shows a powerful imagination, combined with a strong
talent for description. Even the recurrence of the same motives
does not impair the strong impression of the whole, and there are
none of the tiresome digressions here of which Skelton seems
enamoured in other poems. Almost dramatic life pervades the
whole poem, which is called by Warton, very appropriately, a
poem 'in the manner of a pageant. With all its personal or
traditional features, The Bowge of Courte is a classic satire on
court life.
In Colyn Clout, written about 1519, we are told by Colyn, the
roaming vagabond, that everything is wrong in England and that the
clergy are to blame for it. The bishops do not look after their flocks,
but strive after worldly honours and promotion by every means.
Haughty, covetous and ignorant, they set a bad example to all the
rest, are fond of hunting and hawking and live in luxury, whereas
the poor people starve. The worst are the upstart prelates, whose
former poor lives Colyn describes with grim humour. They should
beware of God's punishment and mend their ways, for 'after gloria,
## p. 75 (#97) ##############################################
Colyn Clout
75
laus, may come a soure sauce. ' There is, however, little hope;
for, blinded by flatterers, they are incorrigible. Like ‘prynces
aquilonis' they sit on their thrones, live in great palaces and
erect costly tombs for themselves. They vex the poor people
with arbitrary jurisdiction and take away from them the little
they have with high taxes. For many other things they are also
to blame. 'Bestiall and untaught' men, who are not able to read
or to spell their names, they appoint as priests, preferring habitual
drunkards that lead disorderly lives to worthy candidates. Monks
and nuns are seen roving about everywhere, their monasteries
being dissolved. Swarming all over the country, also, are
glosing friars, flattering the people, especially silly women, to get
a scanty living, and cheating poor parish-priests of their small
revenues. Partly the lay-folk, especially noblemen, are also to
blame. For, if they tried to become better educated and cared
more for politics than for pleasure, they would not be compelled
to leave the rule of the country to the clergy. The most dangerous
thing seems to Colyn-or the poet—that one man has all the power.
This, of course, is a hint at the omnipotent minister-cardinal
Wolsey, who, towards the end of the poem, appears more and
more as the representative of the higher clergy.
Skelton's heavy charges against the clergy, and especially
against prelates, are the same as Barclay's, only put forward
with far greater energy and passion. They are not arranged after
a fixed plan. His method is, as ten Brink has put it, 'concentric. '
The same reproaches recur again and again, intensified continually
by the addition of new instances, until we get an all-round picture
of the general corruption. The idea of putting the whole into
the mouth of a representative of the people is extremely happy.
With increasing interest we follow the arguments of Colyn, who
tells only what he has heard the people say. We even see the
effect on the stubborn prelates, who declare that they will go on
in their wickedness in spite of all attacks. The idea, however, is
not kept up to the end. The personality of the poet comes forth
more and more till, at last, he throws off the mask altogether.
But, for all that, the poem appears throughout as the expression
of popular sentiment. The lively metre adds considerably to the
vivacity of the whole and is much more developed and refined than,
for instance, in Phyllyp Sparowe.
At the end of Colyn Clout, Skelton had declared the intention
to let his pen rest. Nevertheless, he began his next satire, Speke,
Parrot, a very short time afterwards. Written down, probably, at
6
## p. 76 (#98) ##############################################
76
John Skelton
1
intervals, and preserved in a greatly mutilated condition', it is the
most incoherent of all his poems and, in parts, absolutely un-
intelligible. Parrot, the pet bird of a noble lady, of fabulous
origin and a wonderfully clever linguist, after some other satirical
remarks, says unpleasant things about Wolsey, who had been the
object of the poet's satire at the end of Colyn Clout. He is
characterised as the all-powerful favourite, who rules even the
king, his master. Many of the satirical hints are incomprehensible;
but they seem to bear some relation to certain of Wolsey's political
missions (in 1521? ). He is called 'a malyncoly mastyf' and
‘mangye curre dog' because he was said to be the son of a
butcher at Ipswich, and appears as a senseless busybody, under-
taking too much and spending large sums of money to no effect.
The king is warned emphatically against him. ‘His woluys hede,
wanne, bloo as lede, gapythe over the crowne' says the poet.
The poem ends in a general satire on the time.
Skelton's invectives against Wolsey in Colyn Clout and Speke,
Parrot were strong enough, but there was more in store.
Between November 1522 and January 1523, he wrote another
‘lytell boke' against Wolsey, called Why come ye nat to courte,
by far the most pungent and most daring satire he ever com-
posed. It is a crushing judgment upon Wolsey's whole life and
character. Again the poet asserts how dangerous it is to leave the
rule of a whole realm to one man, and shows the fatal effect of
that measure in Wolsey's special case. Everything is wrong now
in England. The old trustworthy men have withdrawn from court,
where the wilful upstart reigns despotically, bullying the nobles
and respecting not even the orders of the king, who trusts him
blindly. The failures in foreign policy, the general poverty, caused
by heavy taxation, the reigning injustice-all are Wolsey's doing.
There is a striking picture of the cardinal's haughty behaviour in
the Starchamber, where nobody dares contradict him. At last,
the poet comes to the conclusion that the most appropriate
place for Wolsey would be in Hell, on Lucifer's throne. He even
appears as ‘Of Jeremy the whyskynge rod the flayle, scourge of
almighty God' (1160), and, finally, is dismissed with a hearty:
“God sende him sorowe for his sinnes ! ' Skelton's method is the
same here as in Colyn Clout. There are some tiresome digressions
in the poem; but, on the other hand, there are passages of really
dramatic vivacity.
All Skelton's poems against Wolsey are full of exaggerations and
1 Cf. G. of L. l. 1188.
6
6
## p. 77 (#99) ##############################################
)
Why come ye nat to courte?
77
unjust imputations. Wolsey's statesmanship, his learning and the
,
services he rendered to his country, are grossly underrated; but,
here again, Skelton expresses not only his personal opinion but
that of a large portion of the nation, which hated the omnipotent
minister and held him responsible for many things, not all of which
could be laid to his charge. In any case, we must admire the
poet's courage. For, even if Why come ye nat to courte was not
printed then, the poem must have circulated in numerous copies.
Wolsey must have heard of it pretty soon, if he did not even get a
sight of it himself, and Skelton must have been well aware of the
consequences. As has been seen, he had a very narrow escape
from the cardinal's revenge.
We have not yet spoken of Skelton's extant dramatic production.
The lost Robin Hood pageant, mentioned above, was not his only
attempt in that direction. In the Garlande of Laurell he men-
tions of Vertu the soverayne enterlude' (1177) and the commedy,
Achademios callyd by name' (1184). Neither has been preserved,
and the loss of the latter is to be regretted particularly, because,
probably, it would have shown Skelton's views on educational
questions, whereas now we have only a few dark passages in
Speke, Parrot for information on that point. Another of Skelton's
comedies, De bono ordine, is mentioned by Bale; and Warton
relates the plot of a play called Negromansir, which treated of
a lawsuit against Simony and Avarice, with the devil as judge
and a public notary as barrister or scribe. Warton's account is
somewhat mysterious but the subject would have been truly
Skeltonic. The poet is said to have used all sorts of metres and
to have interspersed the English text with numerous scraps of
Latin and French. What the ‘paiauntes that were played in
Joyows Garde' (G. of L. 1583) were like, it is impossible to say.
The Enterlude of Godly Queene Hester is probably not by Skelton ?
The morality Magnyfycence, written about 15165, is the only
specimen of the poet's dramatic production that has come down to
us. The hero, Magnyfycence, is brought to ruin by the joint efforts
of Fancy, Counterfet Countenaunce, Crafty Conveyaunce, Clokyd
Colusyon, Courtly Abusyon, Lyberte and Folly. Left alone after
his fall, 'naked as an asse,' he is visited by Adversyte, Poverte,
Dyspare and Myschefe, and is just about to slay himself, when
Goodhope, Redresse, Sad Cyrcumspeccyon and Perseveraunce save
2
1 Cf. Greg, Queene Hester, pp. viii ff. ; Brie, p. 33; Ramsay, pp. xix.
· Brie, p. 33; Ramsay, pp. cxvi.
Ramsay, pp. xxii, cviii.
## p. 78 (#100) #############################################
78
John Skelton
a
>
him and restore him to his former prosperity. There is a good
deal of tedious moralising in the play. Especially at the end,
Magnyfycence, whose change of mind is somewhat sudden, is simply
drowned in good lessons. His grandiloquence before his fall,
reminding one of Herod in the miracle-play, is as exaggerated as
are his pitiful lamentations after it. The intrigue is rather cheap and
by no means new; and the allegorical characters, except, perhaps,
Poverty, are not so well drawn as in The Bowge of Courte, where
Skelton had treated a similar subject. The length of the play is out
of proportion to its meagre contents, and the whole is somewhat
monotonous and lifeless, except for a few comic scenes, written in
the short verse Skelton favoured. There are many satirical hints
all through the play, and it has been suggested that it was meant
as a warning to Henry VIII and as a first veiled attack on Wolsey'.
In construction and plan, Magnyfycence is very much like the older
moralities, and there are analogies even in single traits. In one
respect, however, it is entirely different. Whereas, in the others, the
subject is always very much the same, namely, the struggle of good
and evil in human nature, we find here, for the first time, an attempt
to treat a special case. Magnyfycence is not man in general, who
falls, repents and is forgiven, but he is the type of a noble-minded
prince who is ruined by misapplied liberality. So, in spite of its
obvious shortcomings, the play holds an important place in the
history of English drama. It marks the transition from the older
purely religious moralities to the secular allegorical drama?
Skelton has often been judged too severely for the coarseness
of some of his poems. Pope was particularly hard on him. On the
other hand, such men as Southey and the elder Disraeli liked his
' ragged' rime and found some pith in it. His poetic production
shows an extraordinary variety. He moves with ease, sometimes
even with mastership, in all the traditional forms of poetry. In
his longer poems he is very original, particularly where he uses his
characteristic style, the short 'breathless rimes,' not unknown
before him, but never used so largely and effectively as by him.
Sometimes they literally chase along, and the reader is carried
away by them. A good specimen of Skeltonic verse is the
beginning of Colyn Clout :
What can it avayle
To dryve forth a snayle,
Or to make a sayle
Of an herynges tayle,
To ryme or to rayle,
1 Ramsay, pp. ovi ff.
? Ibid. pp. x ff. , lxxi ff.
## p. 79 (#101) #############################################
Characteristics of Skelton
79
To wryte or to indyte,
Eyther for delyte
Or elles for despyte;
Or bokes to compyle
Of dyvers maner style,
Vyce to revyle
And synne to exyle;
To teche or to preche,
Aş reason wyll reche?
Lack of constructive power often spoils the impression of
Skelton's poems; but this deficiency is made up for in many cases
by an immense vivacity and by the originality of the ideas. His
satires against the clergy in general, and, particularly, those
against Wolsey, are remarkable for their boldness. Of all the poetical
successors of Chaucer in England Skelton is by far the most original.
a
Compared with The Ship of Fools, most of the other contribu-
tions of German to English literature in the beginning of the
sixteenth century seem insignificant'. That German influence
should be felt in England at the time was only natural. In
Germany, the reformation had its chief seat, many publications of
a reformatory character were printed there or in Holland, and it
became a second home to many refugees, who became acquainted
with German literature and adopted what they found useful
for their purpose. But, as most of these men were not great
writers, and, as Germany was very soon left behind by Elizabethan
England, this influence, in most cases, was not lasting.
Of German popular poetry, next to nothing became known in
England, and it is not before 1593 that we find the titles of a few
stray German ballads mentioned in the Stationers' Register. Miles
Coverdale tried to introduce the protestant hymn into England
about 1540. His Goosily Psalmes and Spiritual Songes are a fair
selection of the first period of protestant hymnology (1527—31),
and might have been effective under more favourable conditions.
But the translation was too poor; moreover, Italian influence was
so strong just at that time that the attempt proved a failure.
From Germany, the English reformers learned how to use the
dialogue as a weapon in the religious struggle. A great many
polemical dialogues were written in Germany by advocates of
either side, with a decided balance in favour of the protestant,
in number as well as in literary value. The most distinguished
1 Fuller information concerning the subjects treated in the remaining paragraphs
of this chapter will be found in Herford's Studies, and Brie's Eulenspiegel in England.
See also the chapter that follows this.
## p. 80 (#102) #############################################
80
Early German Influences
6
>
9
>
names in the beginning of the movement were those of Erasmus
and Hutten, who were followed by a host of more or less capable
men. The strain of these discussions' varies very much, accord-
ing to the individuality of the authors. Learned and popular
elements were blended in various ways; and sometimes we have
miniature dramas, especially when the writers, to illustrate their
point, used the background of contemporary life.
In England, the number of controversial dialogues is com-
paratively small; and there is no such continuous tradition as in
Germany. One of the first is Rede me and be not wrothe, com-
posed by two converted Greenwich friars, William Roy and Jerome
Barlow, in Strassburg, in 1528. The framework is suggested by
Niclas Manuel's famous Krankheit der Messe-, of which the dialogue
is simply a continuation; the contents are English- a violent
attack on the English clergy and its highest representative,
cardinal Wolsey. Numerous striking parallels to Skelton's satires
occur; but the tone of the whole is emphatically protestant.
Compared with Manuel's spirited production, the English imitation
seems dull, and it is far too long to be impressive. Wolsey's
agents bought up all copies obtainable almost instantly, and, in
1531, it was proscribed and soon forgotten. According to Tindale,
Roy had translated another reformatory work, Dialogus inter
patrem christianum et filium contumacem; but the translation,
as well as the original, are lost. Barlow recanted in 1533 and
wrote, probably very soon after, a somewhat feeble Dialogue upon
the origin of the protestant fashions.
to hear some old song; whereupon the other replies that a poet
cannot thrive on idle flattery, and that he cannot look after his
flock and write poetry at the same time. Everybody, retorts
Codrus, ought to be content with his lot; for, if one man has the
gift of riches, another has that of poetry; but he is by no
means disposed to exchange the comforts of wealth for delight in
song, and listens impatiently to the poet's complaints. By vague
promises, Minalcas, at last, is induced to give some stanzas 'of
fruitful clauses of noble Solomon. ' As these are not to Codrus's
liking, he recites a rather long 'wofull' elegy on the death of lord
Edward Howard, high admiral, son of the duke of Norfolk, Bar-
clay's patron, who lost his life in a daring attack on the French
fleet before Brest, 25 April 1513. It is written in the usual style
of this kind of poetry and contains a fairly good allegoric descrip-
tion of Labour, 'dreadfull of visage, a monster intreatable. ' When
Minalcas has finished, Codrus promises him some reward in the
future; whereupon the disappointed poet swears at him and
invokes on him the fate of Midas for bis niggardliness.
The most interesting feature of the poem is the introduc-
tion of the two songs-a trick, however, used already by Mantuan
in one of his eclogues. The style of the two songs is purely
English.
In Barclay's first three Eclogues, the form only is taken from
## p. 65 (#87) ##############################################
Barclay's Eclogues
65
Mantuan, the matter, as we have said above, from Aeneas Sylvius's
Tractatus de curialium miseriis, a treatise in which the ambitious
churchman expresses his disappointments. Nevertheless, here also
Barclay owes a good deal to Mantuan in characterisation as well
as in detail.
In the first, Coridon, a young shepherd, who wants to try his
luck at court, is warned against doing so by his companion
Cornix, who proves to him that all such courtiers do live in
misery, which serve in the court for honour, laude or fame, and
might or power. A threatening storm compels the pair to break
off their conversation.
In the second Eclogue it is taken up again. They speak of
the court, and 'what pleasure is there sene with the fyve wittes,
beginning at the eyne. ' In a long dialogue on the discomforts of
courtiers, it is shown that whosoever hopes for pleasure at court
is certain to be disappointed. Barclay follows his source very
closely here; and, if in the first Eclogue we do not quite see
what a simple shepherd wants to do at the court, in the second
we are as much surprised as is good Coridon himself to hear
Cornis quote classical authors.
The third Eclogue completes the conversation with an exceed-
ingly vivid description of the courtiers' undesirable and filthy
dwellings. Bribery, in the case of influential officials and impudent
servants, is mentioned, the evils of war and town life are dwelt
upon, nepotism is blamed, and it is shown that court life spoils
the character, and hinders a man from reading and studying.
Coridon is convinced, at last, that he is much more comfortable in
his present condition, and gives up his idea of going to court.
Whereas, in the translation of The Ship of Fools, Barclay often
carefully tones down the strong language of the original, he is not
80 particular in his Eclogues. On the whole, their tone is that of
renascence eclogues in general, i. e. satire on the times, under the
veil of allegory. So we find it with Petrarch and Mantuan, so with
Boccaccio and the other Italian writers of bucolic poetry, so in
Spain and, later, in France in the case of Clément Marot, who,
again, exercised a great influence on English pastoral poetry.
But, besides these modern influences, we find throughout that of
Vergil, who first introduced moral and satirical elements into
bucolic poetry.
There are, also, some personal touches in Barclay's Eclogues.
In the first, he excepts with due loyalty the court of Henry
VII, 'which nowe departed late,' and that of Henry VIII, from
E. L. III.
CH, IV.
5
## p. 66 (#88) ##############################################
66
Alexander Barclay
all the miseries of which he is going to speak. There is, further,
a moving passage describing how Barclay, on a fine May morning,
visited Ely cathedral, where he laments the death of his patron,
bishop Alcock. Another patron, bishop Morton, is mentioned in
Eclogues III and iv. In the latter, he refers also to the 'Dean
of Powles,' Colet, as a good preacher.
In spite of their interest and in spite of the fact that Cawood
appended them to his edition of The Ship of Fools, in 1570,
Barclay's Eclogues were soon forgotten. Spenser ignores them
as he ignores other earlier attempts at pastoral poetry. In the
dedication of The Shepheards Calender, 1579, we are simply told
that the poet has chosen this poetical form ‘to furnish our tongue
with this kinde, wherein it faulteth. ' Spenser's contemporaries,
with whom pastoral poetry became fashionable under Italian in-
fluence, praised him as the father of the English eclogue, and had
completely forgotten that, more than sixty years before, Barclay
had sought for the first time to introduce the eclogue into English
literature.
Barclay never wrote without a moral, didactic or satirical
purpose, and his conception of literature was narrow. He was
certainly not an original writer ; but he was a steady and con-
scientious worker, who did some useful work as a translator of
classical and other literature, and set out on some tracks never
followed by English writers before him. In The Ship of Fools
and, still more in his Eclogues, he handled his originals with
remarkable freedom, and his attempts to meet the taste of his
readers make these, his main works, exceedingly interesting as
pictures of contemporary English life. As a scholar, he repre-
a
sents medieval, rather than renascence, ideals; as a man, he
was modest and grateful to his friends and patrons; and his
writings, as well as his will, prove him a kind-hearted friend of
the poor.
Though Barclay was well known, there are few contemporary
allusions to him. Bullein, perhaps a personal acquaintance,
in his Dialogue against the Fever Pestilence, 1564, mentions
him repeatedly; as does Bradshaw, in his Life of Saynt
Werburghe, 1521. We find 'preignaunt' Barclay there in the
distinguished company of Chaucer and Lydgate and, what
would assuredly have been to him a great annoyance, also in
that of “inventive' Skelton, whom he seems to have greatly
detested. As his book, Contra Skeltonum, is, unfortunately,
lost, we cannot tell whether he had any special reason for his
## p. 67 (#89) ##############################################
John Skelton
67
aversion to Skelton. The mere difference of character can
hardly account for the extremely sharp attack on Skelton in
The Ship of Fools as well as in the Eclogues, the less so, as
Barclay usually expresses personal dislike in a tame, and un-
malicious way.
John Skelton, born about 1460, probably at Diss in Norfolk,
enjoyed a classical education like his younger rival. He studied
at Cambridge, where the name Skelton is a Peterhouse name, and,
perhaps, in Oxford. There, in 1489, he obtained the academical
degree of poeta laureatus ; this was also conferred on him in 1493
by the university of Louvain, and by his alma mater Canta-
brigiensis. Somewhat late in life, he took holy orders. In 1498,
when almost forty years old, he was ordained successively sub-deacon,
deacon and priest, perhaps because he was to be tutor of young
prince Henry, an appointment showing clearly that he was much
thought of as a scholar. Even so early as 1490, Caxton mentions
him in the introduction to his Eneydos as the translator of Cicero's
Epistolae familiares, and of Diodorus Siculus, and appeals to him
as an authority in that line. Later, in 1500, Erasmus, in an ode
De Laudibus Britanniae, calls him unum Britannicarum literarum
lumen ac decus, and congratulates the prince on having so splendid
a teacher. On the other hand, Lily, the grammarian, with whom
Skelton had a literary feud, did not think highly of him and said
of him: Doctrinam nec habes, nec es poeta. Perhaps he did not
like the poet's lost New Gramer in Englysshe compylyd, mentioned
in the Garlande of Laurell, l. 1182. Skelton's Latin poems are
rather bombastic, but smooth and polished. His Speculum prin-
cipis (G. of L. 1226 ff. ) is lost. He was well acquainted with
French, and, in his Garlande of Laurell, he speaks of having
translated Of Mannes Lyfe the Peregrynacioun in prose, out of
the French, probably for Margaret, countess of Richmond and
Derby, mother of Henry VII, on whose death, 29 June 1509, he
wrote a Latin elegy. His knowledge of classical, particularly Latin,
literature must have been very extensive. In his Garlande of
Laurell, he mentions almost all the more important Latin and
Greek authors, and, on the whole, shows a fair judgment of them.
His knowledge of Greek was, perhaps, not deep? Some passages
in Speke, Parrot even indicate that he did not much approve of
the study of Greek, then being energetically pursued at Oxford.
"His translation of Diodorus Siculus is done from the Latin version of Poggio, first
printed 1472.
5-2
## p. 68 (#90) ##############################################
68
John Skelton
He there complains, also, of the decay of scholastic educa-
tion and ridicules ignorant and pedantic philologists. He was
particularly fond of the old satirists, and Juvenal seems to have
been his special favourite. His poetry, however, does not betray
any classical influences. With the Italian poets of the renascence
he was, apparently, less familiar. He speaks of ‘Johun Bochas
with his volumys grete' (G. of L. 364), and mentions Petrarch and
old Plutarch together as 'two famous clarkis' (ibid. 379).
English literature he knew best. In Phyllyp Sparowe, he
judges Gower, Chaucer and Lydgate fairly well and lays stress
particularly on Chaucer's mastership of the English language,
whereas he calls Gower's English old-fashioned. On the other
hand, he places Lydgate on the same level with the two older poets,
finding fault only with the darkness of his language. He was ex-
tremely well versed in popular literature, and refers to it often.
Guy of Warwick, Gawain, Lancelot, Tristram and all the other
heroes of popular romance, were well known to him. We also find
in his writings many allusions to popular songs, now partly un-
known. He had himself written a Robin Hood pageant, to
which Barclay alludes scornfully and which is also referred to
later by Anthony Munday! When, and how long, Skelton stayed
.
at court, we cannot tell. In a special poem he boasts that
he had a white and green garment embroidered with the name
‘Calliope' given him by the king; but, as the official docu-
ments never mention his name, it is not likely that he ever stood
in
any closer relation to the court after his pupil had come to the
throne. That he must have been there occasionally is proved by
the poems against Garnesche. Skelton was rector of Diss in 1507,
and held this office nominally till his death in 1529, when bis
successor is mentioned. Some of his poems certainly were written
there ; but, in others, particularly in his later satires, he shows
himself so well acquainted with the sentiments of the London
people that he must, at least, have visited the capital frequently.
There is a tradition that Skelton was not very much liked by his
parishioners on account of his erratic nature, and that he had
quarrels with the Dominicans, who denounced him spitefully to
the bishop of Norwich for being married? .
Of Skelton's patrons, besides members of the royal family,
а
1 Cf. Brie, · Skelton-Studien,' in Engl. Stud. XXXVII, pp. 35 ff. ; the figure of Skelton
appears in Munday's Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntingdon, and in Ben Jonson's
Fortunate Isles.
2 Cf. Merie Tales of Skelton (1561).
## p. 69 (#91) ##############################################
Minor Poems
69
the countess of Surrey, at whose castle, Sheriff Hutton, he wrote
his Garlande of Laurell (c. 1520), may be mentioned. As the dedi-
cations of some of Skelton's works to cardinal Wolsey are later
additions of the publishers", it is doubtful if the omnipotent
minister of Henry VIII was his patron too. In any case, Skelton
attacked him from about 15192, and so unsparingly that he was
at last compelled to take sanctuary at Westminster with his friend
abbot Islip. There he remained until his death, 21 June 1529.
He was buried in St Margaret's Church, Westminster; but no
trace is left of his tomb.
As a poet, Skelton is extremely versatile. He practised his
pen in almost every kind of poetry. Unfortunately, many of his
works are lost. We know them only from the enumeration in the
Garlande of Laurell (1170 ff); and even this is incomplete, as the
author self-complacently states. In many cases the titles given
there do not even enable us to draw any conclusions as to their
contents or character. Even his extant works offer many diffi-
culties—sometimes to be met by conjecture only-as regards inter-
pretation and chronology. First editions are missing in most
cases, and, owing probably to their personal and satirical character,
some of the poems must have circulated in manuscript for a con-
siderable time before they were printed'.
Of Skelton's religious poems not many are extant, and, even of
those ascribed to him, some, probably, are not his. From the titles
in The Garlande of Laurell we must, however, conclude that he
wrote many poems of this kind. Satires against the church, and
even irreverence for her rites, are, with him, no signs of irreligious-
ness. He was as ardent a champion of the old faith as Barclay.
In Colyn Clout he speaks contemptuously of Hus, Luther, and of
Wyclif, whom he calls a 'develysshe dogmatist, but the best
proof of his keen hatred for beretics is the Replycacion agaynst
certayne yong scolers abjured of late, written, probably, in 1526*.
The poem is far too long to be impressive; but it is evidently
dictated by strong conviction.
Skelton was not only a loyal son of the church, but, also, a
patriotic Englishman, who hated his country's enemies and exulted
when they were defeated. When Dundas charged the English with
cowardice, Skelton wrote a very vigorous little poem in defence of
1 Cf. Brie, pp. 11 ff.
• But of. Ramsay, Magnificence, pp. cvi ff.
3 Brie, p. 87, has attempted to date all Skelton's works, but admits himself that
the results are not always satisfactory.
• Cf. Brie, pp. 64 ff.
## p. 70 (#92) ##############################################
70
John Skelton
his countrymen. A splendid opportunity for showing his patriotism
presented itself to the poet when James IV was defeated and
killed with a great number of Scots nobles, on Brankston moor
and Flodden hills, in 1513. Immediately after the event, he wrote
a ballad which he retouched later and called Against the Scottes.
And, again, ten years later, when the duke of Albany, allied with
the French, was beaten, Skelton celebrated the victory in a long
and vigorous poem. On 22 September 1513, a choir at Diss
recited an enthusiastic Latin hymn by Skelton on the victory
of Flodden. A similar hymn was composed by him about the
same time on the occasion of the conquest of Terouenne by
Henry VIII and the battle of Spurs (16 August 1513).
As Skelton's authorship of an elegy Of the death of the noble
prince, Kynge Edwarde the Forth seems a little doubtful', his
first authentic court poem would seem to have been the lost
Prince Arturis Creacyoun, 1489 (G. of L. 1178). In the same
year he wrote a long elegy Upon the doulourus dethe of the Erle
of Northumberlande, killed by Northumbrian rebels on 28 April
1489.
Skelton admired Henry VII, but he did not ignore his weak-
nesses. In a Latin epitaph he laments the king's death and
praises him as a successful politician, but he alludes also to the
avarice which made the first Tudor unpopular with his subjects.
The general feeling of relief after Henry VII's death reveals
itself in Eulogium pro suorum temporum conditione, written
in the beginning of Henry VIII's reign. Skelton expected much
of the young monarch, whom he praises in A Lawde and
Prayse made for our Sovereigne Lord the Kyng, and especially
at the end of the poem mentioned above on the victory over the
duke of Albany.
Skelton knew, also, how to glorify noble ladies, especially when
they patronised him and flattered his vanity. Most of his poems in
this vein are inserted in The Garlande of Laurell, an allegorical
poem, full of grotesque self-glorification, and telling how Skelton
is summoned before lady Pallas, to prove himself worthy of his
name's being 'regestred with lawreate tryumphe. ' Among the
crowd of all the great poets of the world he meets Gower, Chaucer
and Lydgate, and is at last crowned with a 'cronell of lawrell'
by the countess of Surrey and her ladies.
The Garlande of Laurell is a very long poem, of 1600 lines,
built up with motives from Chaucer's House of Fame and the
i Brie, p. 27.
## p. 71 (#93) ##############################################
Phyllyp Sparowe
71
Prologue of the Legend of Good Women, and Skelton's self-
conceit shown therein is not relieved by any touch of humour.
The eleven little lyrics in praise of the poet's patroness and
her ladies are somewhat monotonous ; but they have a certain
grace and are good examples of conventional poetry. Skelton's
originality is more evident in Phyllyp Sparowe, a poem addressed
to Jane Scroupe, a young lady who was a pupil of the black
nuns at Carow, and whose pet sparrow had been killed by a
cat. The bird is pictured at great length and its mistress's
grief described in exaggerated language. All the birds under
the sky are summoned to the burial, and each one there is
appointed to its special office. Amongst the mourners we find
our old friend Chaunteclere and his wife Pertelote from Chaucer's
Nun's Priest's Tale, and the fabulous Phoenix, as described
by Pliny. The sparrow's soul is recommended to God and
Jupiter. To compose an epitaph for him proves too much for
Jane, who, however, shows herself a well read young lady. The
second part of the poem, connected rather loosely with the first, is
a praise of the heroine in the typical manner. There is no clear
design in the poem. Skelton seems quite unable, or unwilling,
to stick to his theme. The whole is an odd medley of the
most incongruous ideas, full of literary reminiscences and long
digressions, which, very often, have no relation to the subject.
But the short and lively metre is very effective and keeps up
the attention throughout. The 'addition' shows that there were
people who did not like this sort of poetry, especially as the
ceremonial of the requiem is used for comic purposes in a manner
that must have shocked pious souls. Barclay had mentioned the
poem scornfully at the end of his Ship of Fools and the 'addition'
seems to be Skelton's reply? . Barclay's allusion proves that Phyllyp
Sparowe was written before 1508.
There are other poems of Skelton, written for ladies with
whom he was acquainted, as conventional and insincere as are other
productions of their kind. One of them even ends with the laconic
remark: ‘at the instance of a nobyll lady. Who the lady was, we
cannot tell; but another of Skelton's friends was ‘mastres Anne,
that farly swete, that wonnes at the Key in Temmys strete,'
with whom the poet must once have been on very good terms.
Of his 'pretty lines' to her, none are extant; but there are
two poems in which he treats her in a different fashion,
evidently because she had slighted him and had chosen a new
i Cf. also G. of L. 1257 f.
? G. of L. 1240 ff.
## p. 72 (#94) ##############################################
72
John Skelton
lover? Another poem, caused by a similar disappointment, de-
scribes the once beloved lady at first very eloquently and then,
all of a sudden, takes a sarcastic turn.
The satirical poem
“My darlyng dere, my daysy floure' is very impressive and a most
happy attempt to write in a popular vein.
As we have seen already, it was not advisable to rouse Skelton's
anger. Vain and irritable, he was bent on quarrelling with every-
body, especially when his pride in his knowledge or academic
honours was hurt. Besides the quarrel with Lily, mentioned above,
he had an encounter with the French historian Gaguin (G. of L.
374 ff. , 1187)? One of Skelton's satirical productions, now lost,
Apollo that whirrlyd up his chare (G. of L. 1471 ff. ), seems
to have particularly annoyed certain people. Skelton himself,
wonderful to relate, is sorry for having written it. The some-
what loosely constructed poem Against venemous tongues is worth
mentioning only as the expression of personal experience.
There are other poems showing how dangerous it was to offend
Skelton or to be disliked by him. When he was rector of Diss, he
punished two 'knaves' of his parish who had shown disrespect to
him and did not go to church (G. of L. 1247 ff. ), by composing a
very unflattering epitaph for them. In a similar strain is the
epitaph In Bedel. In these poems, church rites are travestied
as in Phyllyp Sparowe. In Ware the Hauke, Skelton censures
a parson who had profaned his church by baiting a hawk in it.
Except for its length and exaggerated language, the poem is
not remarkable. Two other obscure poems, apparently directed
against certain musicians or minstrels may also be mentioned.
All the poems referred to above show that Skelton had an
amazingly large stock of abusive terms. But by far the best
examples of his talent in this direction are his poems against the
royal chamberlain Christopher Garnesche, who, at the king's com-
mand, had challenged him. Unfortunately, the poems of Skelton's
adversary, which might have thrown some light on the poet's
biography, especially on his relation to the court, are not extant.
He abuses the chamberlain violently, using the strongest expres-
sions imaginable and the most grotesque comparisons. That the
whole was not a serious affair is repeatedly stated in the poems.
It was nothing but an imitation of the Flyting of Dunbar and
Kennedy, composed 1504–5, and printed in 1508, and, like its
1 One of the two poems has been found only lately by Brie and is published in his
Skelton-Studien, p. 29.
Brie, p. 31.
2
## p. 73 (#95) ##############################################
The Bowge of Courte
73
model, is an interesting instance of the coarse vituperation common
to the time.
Remarkable, also, for its coarseness is The Tunnyng of Elynour
Rummyng, a fantastical description of an old ale-wife and her
guests. Again, there is no plan to be discerned; but, sometimes,
a sort of dramatic action is suggested, as the tipsy women come
and go, misbehave themselves, chat and quarrel, or are turned
out. There are some touches of humour in the poem; but it is
drawn out too long and many accessories render it somewhat
monotonous. The metre is the same short verse as in Phyllyp
Sparowe.
The poems against Garnesche were not the only fruit of Skelton's
sojourn at the court. As we have said before, it is not likely that
he stayed there for any length of time after the accession of his
former pupil; but, in any case, he must have seen a good deal of
court life when he was the prince's tutor. Very soon after that
time, probably, he set forth his unfavourable impressions in The
Bouege of Courte, an allegorical poem, written in Chaucer's seven-
lined stanza
In a lengthy prologue, Skelton tells how he wanted to compete
with the old poets, but was discouraged by Ignoraunce. He falls
asleep in his host's house, 'Powers Keye' at 'Harwyche Port,'
and has a strange dream. A stately ship enters the harbour and
casts anchor. Merchants go aboard to examine the costly freight,
and, with them, the poet, who does not perceive a single acquaint-
ance among the noisy crowd. The name of the ship is 'Bowge
of Courte' (free board at the king's table); her owner is the noble
lady Sauncepere, rich and desirable is her merchandise, Favour,
but also very dear. There is a general press to see the beautiful
lady, who sits on a magnificent throne inscribed with the words
'Garder le fortune que est mauelz et bone. Addressed harshly by
Daunger, the lady's chief waiting-woman, the poet, who introduces
himself as Drede, feels crushed; but another gentlewoman, Desire,
cheers him up and presents him with the helpful jewel Bone
Aventure. She further advises him to make friends with Fortune,
a somewhat capricious lady of great influence. Drede feels rather
uneasy from the very beginning, but, like the rest, asks her favour,
which she gives to them all.
The ship goes to sea with full sails. All seems well, until
Drede notices aboard seven ‘full subtyll persons,' all old friends of
Fortune. They bluntly decline any communication with the
stranger, whom, nevertheless, they approach, one after the other,
## p. 74 (#96) ##############################################
74
John Skelton
trying, each in his own way, to deceive and to harm him. Most of
them hide their hatred and jealousy under the mask of dis-
interested friendship, play the humble admirer of his superior
scholarship, warn him against supposed foes, promise their help
and prophesy for him a brilliant career. The only exception is
Dysdayne, a haughty, objectionable fellow, who shows his aversion
openly by picking a quarrel with him. Behind his back, they all
join to ruin the inconvenient new-comer, who notices their whisper-
ing together with increasing misgivings. The last of the seven is
still speaking to him, when, all of a sudden, he sees ‘lewde felawes'
rushing upon him from all sides with murderous purpose. In an
agony of fear, he seizes the ship-board to leap into the water, wakes
up and writes his ‘lytyll boke. ' In a concluding stanza, the poet
affirms his good intention. What he has written was a dream-but
sometimes there is some truth in dreams!
The poem may have been written a little before 1509. At
all events it is one of Skelton's earlier productions, for he would
not have used the allegorical framework for satirical purposes at
a later time. His handling of the traditional form is here highly
original. The seven figures are not of the usual bloodless kind
of personified abstractions, but more like types taken from real
life; and, even if one is not inclined to admit the direct influence
of Brant on Skelton in this poem, their strong resemblance to the
courtiers in The Ship of Fools is not to be denied. The cha-
racterisation shows a powerful imagination, combined with a strong
talent for description. Even the recurrence of the same motives
does not impair the strong impression of the whole, and there are
none of the tiresome digressions here of which Skelton seems
enamoured in other poems. Almost dramatic life pervades the
whole poem, which is called by Warton, very appropriately, a
poem 'in the manner of a pageant. With all its personal or
traditional features, The Bowge of Courte is a classic satire on
court life.
In Colyn Clout, written about 1519, we are told by Colyn, the
roaming vagabond, that everything is wrong in England and that the
clergy are to blame for it. The bishops do not look after their flocks,
but strive after worldly honours and promotion by every means.
Haughty, covetous and ignorant, they set a bad example to all the
rest, are fond of hunting and hawking and live in luxury, whereas
the poor people starve. The worst are the upstart prelates, whose
former poor lives Colyn describes with grim humour. They should
beware of God's punishment and mend their ways, for 'after gloria,
## p. 75 (#97) ##############################################
Colyn Clout
75
laus, may come a soure sauce. ' There is, however, little hope;
for, blinded by flatterers, they are incorrigible. Like ‘prynces
aquilonis' they sit on their thrones, live in great palaces and
erect costly tombs for themselves. They vex the poor people
with arbitrary jurisdiction and take away from them the little
they have with high taxes. For many other things they are also
to blame. 'Bestiall and untaught' men, who are not able to read
or to spell their names, they appoint as priests, preferring habitual
drunkards that lead disorderly lives to worthy candidates. Monks
and nuns are seen roving about everywhere, their monasteries
being dissolved. Swarming all over the country, also, are
glosing friars, flattering the people, especially silly women, to get
a scanty living, and cheating poor parish-priests of their small
revenues. Partly the lay-folk, especially noblemen, are also to
blame. For, if they tried to become better educated and cared
more for politics than for pleasure, they would not be compelled
to leave the rule of the country to the clergy. The most dangerous
thing seems to Colyn-or the poet—that one man has all the power.
This, of course, is a hint at the omnipotent minister-cardinal
Wolsey, who, towards the end of the poem, appears more and
more as the representative of the higher clergy.
Skelton's heavy charges against the clergy, and especially
against prelates, are the same as Barclay's, only put forward
with far greater energy and passion. They are not arranged after
a fixed plan. His method is, as ten Brink has put it, 'concentric. '
The same reproaches recur again and again, intensified continually
by the addition of new instances, until we get an all-round picture
of the general corruption. The idea of putting the whole into
the mouth of a representative of the people is extremely happy.
With increasing interest we follow the arguments of Colyn, who
tells only what he has heard the people say. We even see the
effect on the stubborn prelates, who declare that they will go on
in their wickedness in spite of all attacks. The idea, however, is
not kept up to the end. The personality of the poet comes forth
more and more till, at last, he throws off the mask altogether.
But, for all that, the poem appears throughout as the expression
of popular sentiment. The lively metre adds considerably to the
vivacity of the whole and is much more developed and refined than,
for instance, in Phyllyp Sparowe.
At the end of Colyn Clout, Skelton had declared the intention
to let his pen rest. Nevertheless, he began his next satire, Speke,
Parrot, a very short time afterwards. Written down, probably, at
6
## p. 76 (#98) ##############################################
76
John Skelton
1
intervals, and preserved in a greatly mutilated condition', it is the
most incoherent of all his poems and, in parts, absolutely un-
intelligible. Parrot, the pet bird of a noble lady, of fabulous
origin and a wonderfully clever linguist, after some other satirical
remarks, says unpleasant things about Wolsey, who had been the
object of the poet's satire at the end of Colyn Clout. He is
characterised as the all-powerful favourite, who rules even the
king, his master. Many of the satirical hints are incomprehensible;
but they seem to bear some relation to certain of Wolsey's political
missions (in 1521? ). He is called 'a malyncoly mastyf' and
‘mangye curre dog' because he was said to be the son of a
butcher at Ipswich, and appears as a senseless busybody, under-
taking too much and spending large sums of money to no effect.
The king is warned emphatically against him. ‘His woluys hede,
wanne, bloo as lede, gapythe over the crowne' says the poet.
The poem ends in a general satire on the time.
Skelton's invectives against Wolsey in Colyn Clout and Speke,
Parrot were strong enough, but there was more in store.
Between November 1522 and January 1523, he wrote another
‘lytell boke' against Wolsey, called Why come ye nat to courte,
by far the most pungent and most daring satire he ever com-
posed. It is a crushing judgment upon Wolsey's whole life and
character. Again the poet asserts how dangerous it is to leave the
rule of a whole realm to one man, and shows the fatal effect of
that measure in Wolsey's special case. Everything is wrong now
in England. The old trustworthy men have withdrawn from court,
where the wilful upstart reigns despotically, bullying the nobles
and respecting not even the orders of the king, who trusts him
blindly. The failures in foreign policy, the general poverty, caused
by heavy taxation, the reigning injustice-all are Wolsey's doing.
There is a striking picture of the cardinal's haughty behaviour in
the Starchamber, where nobody dares contradict him. At last,
the poet comes to the conclusion that the most appropriate
place for Wolsey would be in Hell, on Lucifer's throne. He even
appears as ‘Of Jeremy the whyskynge rod the flayle, scourge of
almighty God' (1160), and, finally, is dismissed with a hearty:
“God sende him sorowe for his sinnes ! ' Skelton's method is the
same here as in Colyn Clout. There are some tiresome digressions
in the poem; but, on the other hand, there are passages of really
dramatic vivacity.
All Skelton's poems against Wolsey are full of exaggerations and
1 Cf. G. of L. l. 1188.
6
6
## p. 77 (#99) ##############################################
)
Why come ye nat to courte?
77
unjust imputations. Wolsey's statesmanship, his learning and the
,
services he rendered to his country, are grossly underrated; but,
here again, Skelton expresses not only his personal opinion but
that of a large portion of the nation, which hated the omnipotent
minister and held him responsible for many things, not all of which
could be laid to his charge. In any case, we must admire the
poet's courage. For, even if Why come ye nat to courte was not
printed then, the poem must have circulated in numerous copies.
Wolsey must have heard of it pretty soon, if he did not even get a
sight of it himself, and Skelton must have been well aware of the
consequences. As has been seen, he had a very narrow escape
from the cardinal's revenge.
We have not yet spoken of Skelton's extant dramatic production.
The lost Robin Hood pageant, mentioned above, was not his only
attempt in that direction. In the Garlande of Laurell he men-
tions of Vertu the soverayne enterlude' (1177) and the commedy,
Achademios callyd by name' (1184). Neither has been preserved,
and the loss of the latter is to be regretted particularly, because,
probably, it would have shown Skelton's views on educational
questions, whereas now we have only a few dark passages in
Speke, Parrot for information on that point. Another of Skelton's
comedies, De bono ordine, is mentioned by Bale; and Warton
relates the plot of a play called Negromansir, which treated of
a lawsuit against Simony and Avarice, with the devil as judge
and a public notary as barrister or scribe. Warton's account is
somewhat mysterious but the subject would have been truly
Skeltonic. The poet is said to have used all sorts of metres and
to have interspersed the English text with numerous scraps of
Latin and French. What the ‘paiauntes that were played in
Joyows Garde' (G. of L. 1583) were like, it is impossible to say.
The Enterlude of Godly Queene Hester is probably not by Skelton ?
The morality Magnyfycence, written about 15165, is the only
specimen of the poet's dramatic production that has come down to
us. The hero, Magnyfycence, is brought to ruin by the joint efforts
of Fancy, Counterfet Countenaunce, Crafty Conveyaunce, Clokyd
Colusyon, Courtly Abusyon, Lyberte and Folly. Left alone after
his fall, 'naked as an asse,' he is visited by Adversyte, Poverte,
Dyspare and Myschefe, and is just about to slay himself, when
Goodhope, Redresse, Sad Cyrcumspeccyon and Perseveraunce save
2
1 Cf. Greg, Queene Hester, pp. viii ff. ; Brie, p. 33; Ramsay, pp. xix.
· Brie, p. 33; Ramsay, pp. cxvi.
Ramsay, pp. xxii, cviii.
## p. 78 (#100) #############################################
78
John Skelton
a
>
him and restore him to his former prosperity. There is a good
deal of tedious moralising in the play. Especially at the end,
Magnyfycence, whose change of mind is somewhat sudden, is simply
drowned in good lessons. His grandiloquence before his fall,
reminding one of Herod in the miracle-play, is as exaggerated as
are his pitiful lamentations after it. The intrigue is rather cheap and
by no means new; and the allegorical characters, except, perhaps,
Poverty, are not so well drawn as in The Bowge of Courte, where
Skelton had treated a similar subject. The length of the play is out
of proportion to its meagre contents, and the whole is somewhat
monotonous and lifeless, except for a few comic scenes, written in
the short verse Skelton favoured. There are many satirical hints
all through the play, and it has been suggested that it was meant
as a warning to Henry VIII and as a first veiled attack on Wolsey'.
In construction and plan, Magnyfycence is very much like the older
moralities, and there are analogies even in single traits. In one
respect, however, it is entirely different. Whereas, in the others, the
subject is always very much the same, namely, the struggle of good
and evil in human nature, we find here, for the first time, an attempt
to treat a special case. Magnyfycence is not man in general, who
falls, repents and is forgiven, but he is the type of a noble-minded
prince who is ruined by misapplied liberality. So, in spite of its
obvious shortcomings, the play holds an important place in the
history of English drama. It marks the transition from the older
purely religious moralities to the secular allegorical drama?
Skelton has often been judged too severely for the coarseness
of some of his poems. Pope was particularly hard on him. On the
other hand, such men as Southey and the elder Disraeli liked his
' ragged' rime and found some pith in it. His poetic production
shows an extraordinary variety. He moves with ease, sometimes
even with mastership, in all the traditional forms of poetry. In
his longer poems he is very original, particularly where he uses his
characteristic style, the short 'breathless rimes,' not unknown
before him, but never used so largely and effectively as by him.
Sometimes they literally chase along, and the reader is carried
away by them. A good specimen of Skeltonic verse is the
beginning of Colyn Clout :
What can it avayle
To dryve forth a snayle,
Or to make a sayle
Of an herynges tayle,
To ryme or to rayle,
1 Ramsay, pp. ovi ff.
? Ibid. pp. x ff. , lxxi ff.
## p. 79 (#101) #############################################
Characteristics of Skelton
79
To wryte or to indyte,
Eyther for delyte
Or elles for despyte;
Or bokes to compyle
Of dyvers maner style,
Vyce to revyle
And synne to exyle;
To teche or to preche,
Aş reason wyll reche?
Lack of constructive power often spoils the impression of
Skelton's poems; but this deficiency is made up for in many cases
by an immense vivacity and by the originality of the ideas. His
satires against the clergy in general, and, particularly, those
against Wolsey, are remarkable for their boldness. Of all the poetical
successors of Chaucer in England Skelton is by far the most original.
a
Compared with The Ship of Fools, most of the other contribu-
tions of German to English literature in the beginning of the
sixteenth century seem insignificant'. That German influence
should be felt in England at the time was only natural. In
Germany, the reformation had its chief seat, many publications of
a reformatory character were printed there or in Holland, and it
became a second home to many refugees, who became acquainted
with German literature and adopted what they found useful
for their purpose. But, as most of these men were not great
writers, and, as Germany was very soon left behind by Elizabethan
England, this influence, in most cases, was not lasting.
Of German popular poetry, next to nothing became known in
England, and it is not before 1593 that we find the titles of a few
stray German ballads mentioned in the Stationers' Register. Miles
Coverdale tried to introduce the protestant hymn into England
about 1540. His Goosily Psalmes and Spiritual Songes are a fair
selection of the first period of protestant hymnology (1527—31),
and might have been effective under more favourable conditions.
But the translation was too poor; moreover, Italian influence was
so strong just at that time that the attempt proved a failure.
From Germany, the English reformers learned how to use the
dialogue as a weapon in the religious struggle. A great many
polemical dialogues were written in Germany by advocates of
either side, with a decided balance in favour of the protestant,
in number as well as in literary value. The most distinguished
1 Fuller information concerning the subjects treated in the remaining paragraphs
of this chapter will be found in Herford's Studies, and Brie's Eulenspiegel in England.
See also the chapter that follows this.
## p. 80 (#102) #############################################
80
Early German Influences
6
>
9
>
names in the beginning of the movement were those of Erasmus
and Hutten, who were followed by a host of more or less capable
men. The strain of these discussions' varies very much, accord-
ing to the individuality of the authors. Learned and popular
elements were blended in various ways; and sometimes we have
miniature dramas, especially when the writers, to illustrate their
point, used the background of contemporary life.
In England, the number of controversial dialogues is com-
paratively small; and there is no such continuous tradition as in
Germany. One of the first is Rede me and be not wrothe, com-
posed by two converted Greenwich friars, William Roy and Jerome
Barlow, in Strassburg, in 1528. The framework is suggested by
Niclas Manuel's famous Krankheit der Messe-, of which the dialogue
is simply a continuation; the contents are English- a violent
attack on the English clergy and its highest representative,
cardinal Wolsey. Numerous striking parallels to Skelton's satires
occur; but the tone of the whole is emphatically protestant.
Compared with Manuel's spirited production, the English imitation
seems dull, and it is far too long to be impressive. Wolsey's
agents bought up all copies obtainable almost instantly, and, in
1531, it was proscribed and soon forgotten. According to Tindale,
Roy had translated another reformatory work, Dialogus inter
patrem christianum et filium contumacem; but the translation,
as well as the original, are lost. Barlow recanted in 1533 and
wrote, probably very soon after, a somewhat feeble Dialogue upon
the origin of the protestant fashions.
