Hearken, hearken, sayd the sheriffe, I heare now tydings good, For yonder I heare Sir Guyes horne blowe, Yonder I heare Sir Guyes horne blowe, Come hyther, come hyther, thou good Sir Guy, O I will none of thy gold, sayd Robin, But now I have slaine the master, he sayes, This is all the rewarde I aske; Nor noe other will I have. Thou art a madman, said the sheriffe, Thou sholdest have had a knights fee: But seeing thy asking hath beene soe bad, Well granted it shale be. When Litle John heard his master speake, Fast Robin hee hyed him to Litle John, Stand abacke, stand abacke, sayd Robin; But Robin pulled forth an Irysh kniffe, And gave him Sir Guyes bow into his hand, Then John he took Guyes bow in his hand, When the sheriffe saw Little John bend his bow, Towards his house in Nottingham towne Not one behind wold stay. But he cold neither runne soe fast, *** The title of Sir was not formerly peculiar to knights; it was given to priests, and sometimes to very inferior personages. Dr. Johnson thinks this title was applied to such as had taken the degree of A. B. in the universities, who are still styled Domini, " Sirs," to distinguish them from Undergraduates, who have no prefix, and from Masters of Arts, who are styled Magistri, Masters. IX. AN ELEGY ON HENRY FOURTH EARL 1 The subject of this poem, which was written by Skelton, is the death of Henry Percy, fourth Earl of Northumberland, who fell a victim to the avarice of Henry VII. In 1489 the parliament had granted the king a subsidy for carrying on the war in Bretagne. This tax was found so heavy in the north, that the whole country was in a flame. The Earl of Northumberland, then lord lieutenant for Yorkshire, wrote to inform the king of the discontent, and praying an abatement. But nothing is so unrelenting as avarice: the king wrote back that not a penny should be abated. This message being delivered by the earl with too little caution, the populace rose, and, supposing him to be the promoter of their calamity, broke into his house, and murdered him, with several of his attendants, who yet are charged by Skelton with being backward in their duty on this occasion. This melancholy event happened at the earl's seat at Cocklodge, near Thirske, in Yorkshire, April 28, 1489. See Lord Bacon, &c. If the reader does not find much poetical merit in this old poem (which yet is one of Skelton's best), he will see a striking picture of the state and magnificence kept up by our ancient nobility during the feudal times. This great earl is described here as having, among his menial servants, knights, squires, and even barons. See ver. 32. 183. &c. which, however different from modern manners, was formerly not unusual with our greater barons, whose castles had all the splendour and offices of a royal court, before the laws against retainers abridged and limited the number of their attendants. John Skelton, who commonly styled himself Poet Laureat, died June 21, 1529. The following poem, which appears to have been written soon after the event, is printed from an ancient manuscript copy preserved in the British Museum, being much more correct than that printed among Skelton's poems, in black-letter, 12mo. 1568. It is addressed to Henry Percy, fifth Earl of Northumberland, and is prefaced, &c. in the following manner: L Poeta Skelton Laureatus libellum suum metrice alloquitur. Ad dominum properato meum mea pagina Percy, 1 SKELTON LAUREAT UPON THE DOLORUS DETHE AND MUCH LAMENTABLE CHAUNCE OF THE MOOST I WAYLE, I wepe, I sobbe, I sigh ful sore Of hevenly poems, O Clyo calde by name In the college of musis goddess hystoriall, * The mother of Henry, first Earl of Northumberland, was Mary, daughter to Henry Earl of Lancaster, whose father Edmond was second son of King Henry III. The mother and wife of the second Earl of Northumberland were both lineal descendants of King Edward III. The Percys also were lineally descended from the Emperor Charlemagne and the ancient Kings of France, by his ancestor Josceline du Lovain (son of Godfrey Duke of Brabant), who took the name of Percy on marrying the heiress of that house in the reign of Henry II. Vid. Camden Britan. Edmondson, &c. |