v. 162. _yonge lyon_] See note on v. 109. The fifth Earl of Northumberland was only eleven years old at his father’s death.
v. 172. _faytors_] “i. e. deceivers, dissemblers.” PERCY.—“_Faytoure_, Fictor, Simulator.” _Prompt. Parv._ ed. 1499.
Page 12. v. 176. _chere_] i. e. countenance, or (as it may mean here) spirit.
Page 13. v. 179. _Algife_] i. e. Although.
—— _thorow saught_] i. e. sought through.
v. 195. _finaunce_] i. e. fine, forfeiture.
v. 196. _from the fendys pray_] “i. e. from being the prey of the fiends.” PERCY.
v. 199. _eterminable_] i. e. interminable.
Page 14. v. 212. _hole sorte_] i. e. whole company.
—— _ad magistrum Rukshaw_] The person here addressed was perhaps “William Rowkshaw, priest,” by whom a letter, dated from the Gilbertine priory of Watton in the east riding of Yorkshire, is printed among the _Plumpton Correspondence_, p. 82. Camd. Soc. ed.
AGAYNSTE A COMELY COYSTROWNE, THAT CURYOWSLY CHAWNTYD, AND CURRYSHLY COWNTRED, &c.
Page 15. _Coystrowne_ (which Skelton uses again in his poem _Howe the douty Duke of Albany_, &c., v. 171. vol. ii. 73., and has Latinized in his _Speke, Parot_, v. 125. vol. ii. 7.) is written by Chaucer _quistron_;
“This God of Loue of his fashion Was like no knaue ne _quistron_, [_Ne resembloit pas un garçon_].”
_Rom. of the Rose_, fol. 113,—_Workes_, ed. 1602.
Urry renders it—a beggar (Fr. _questeur_); but Tyrwhitt observes, “I rather believe it signifies a scullion, _un garçon de cuisine_.” _Gloss. to C.T._—Douce says that Tyrwhitt’s explanation is correct, citing the words “_un quistron de sa cusyne_” from the prose French chronicle of the Brut of England, and Caxton’s version of them, “a knave of his kychen.” See _Gloss._ to Weber’s _Met. Rom._—Roquefort has “_Questron_: bâtard, enfant d’une prostituée.” _Gloss. de la Lang. Rom._—In Scottish poetry _custroun_ occurs several times: see Jamieson’s _Et. Dict. of Scot. Lang._ and _Suppl._, where are various conjectures on the derivation and meaning of the word.
In _Prompt. Parv._ we find “_Cowntryn_ in songe. Occento.” ed. 1499. To _counter_ is properly—to sing an extemporaneous part upon the plain chant. Skelton uses the word in other places, and perhaps not always in its strict sense.