Here after foloweth a lytell boke, whiche hath to name, Why come ye nat to courte compyled by maystr Skelton poete Laureate. Why come ye nat to courte Skelton, John, 1460?-1529. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A12297 of text S110981 in the English Short Title Catalog (STC 22615). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 45 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 32 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2018 A12297 STC 22615 ESTC S110981 99846423 99846423 11388 2240903037

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Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A12297) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 11388) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1475-1640 ; 19:19) Here after foloweth a lytell boke, whiche hath to name, Why come ye nat to courte compyled by maystr Skelton poete Laureate. Why come ye nat to courte Skelton, John, 1460?-1529. [64] p. : ill., port. (woodcuts) By [R. Copland for] me Richard kele dwellig [sic] in the powltry at the longe shop vnder saynt myldredes chyrch, [Imprinted at london : [1545?]] In verse. Publisher's name and address from colophon; actual printer's name and conjectured publication date from STC. Signatures: A-D. The last leaf is blank. Variant: with woodcuts on A1v. Reproduction of the original in the British Library. eng eebo Here after foloweth a lytell boke, whiche hath to name, Why come ye nat to courte, compyled by maystr Skelton poete Laureate. Skelton, John 1545 64 6388 114 0 0 0 0 0 178.46 F The rate of 178.46 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the F category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2002-05 Assigned for keying and markup 2002-06 Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2002-07 Sampled and proofread 2002-07 Text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-08 Batch review (QC) and XML conversion

Here after foloweth a lytell boke , whiche hath to name , why come ye nat to courte , compyled by mayster Skelton poete Laureate .

All noble men of this take hede And beleue it as your Crede . TO hasty of sentence To ferce for none offence To scarce of your expence To large in neglygence To slacke in recompence To haute in excellence To lyght intellegence And to lyght in credence where these kepe resydence Reson is banysshed thence And also dame prudence with sober sapyence All noble men . &c. Than withont collusyon Marke well this conclusyon Through suche abusyon And by suche Illusyon Vnto great confusyon Anoble man may fall And his honour appall And yf ye thynke this shall Not rubbe you on the gall Than the deuyll take all . &c. Hee va●es ille , de quo loquntur mille Why come ye nat to court ? ● Or age is a page For the courte full vnmete For age can nat rage Nor basse her swete swete But whan age seeth that rage Dothe aswage and refrayne Than wyll age haue a corage To come to court agayne But Helas / sage ouerage So madly decayes That age for dottage Is reco●●ed now adayes Thus age agraunt domage Is nothynge set by And rage in a rerage Lothe rynne lam●ntably So That rage must make ●yllage To catche that catche may And with suche forage Hunte the boskage That hartes wyll ronne away Bothe hartes and hyndes With all good myndes Fare well / than haue good day Than haue good daye a dewe For defaute of rescew Some men may happely rew And some theyr hedes mew The tyme dothe fast ensew That bales begynne to brew I drede by swete Iesu This tale wyll be to trew In faythe dycken thou krew In fayth dicken thou krew . &c. O Icken / thou krew doutlesse For trewly to expresse There hath ben moche excesse With banketynge braynlesse With tyotynge rechelesse With gambaudynge thryftlesse With spende / and , wast witlesse Creatinge of trewse restlesse Pratynge for peace peaslesse They countrynge at Cales Wrang vs on the wales Chefe counselour was carlesse Gronynge grouchyng gracelesse And to none entente Our talwod is all brent Our fagottes are all spent We may blowe at the cole Our mare hath cast her fole And mocke hath lost her sho What may she do ther to An ende of an olde song Do ryght and do no wronge As ryght as a rammes horne For thrifte is threde bare worn● Our shepe are shrewdly shorn And trouthe is all to torne Wysdom is laught to skorne Fauell is false forsworne Iauell is nobly borne Hauell and Haruy hafter Iack Trauell and Cole Crafter We shall here more herafter With pollynge and shauynge With borowynge and crauyne With reuynge and rauynge With swerynge and starynge Ther vayleth no resonynge For wyll dothe rule all thynge Wyll / wyll / wyll / wyll / wyll He ruleth alway styll Good reason and good skyll They may garlycke pyll Cary sackes to the myll Or pescoddes they may shyll Or elles go rost a stone There is no man but one That hathe the strokes alone Be it blacke or whight All that he dothe is ryght As right as a Cammocke croked This byll well ouer loked Clerely perceuye we may There went the hare away The hare / the fox / the gray The harte / the hynde / the buch God sende vs better luck
God sende vs better lucke . &c. Twit Andrewe / twit scote Ge heme / ge scour thy pot For we haue spente our shot We shall haue a tot quot From the pope of Rome To weue all in one lome A webbe of Lyife wulse Opus male du●ce The deuyll kysse hes cuse For whyles he doth rule All is warse and warse The deuyll kysse his arse For whether he blesse or curse It can not be moche worse From Baumberow to Bothōbar We haue cast vp our war And mad a worthy trewse With gup leuell suse Our mony madly lent And mor madly spent From Croydon into Kent Wote ye whyther they went From wynchelsey to Rye And all nat worth a flye From wentbridge to Hull Our armye waxeth dull With tourne all home agayne And neuer a scot slayne Yet the good erle of Surray The frenche men he doth fray And vexeth them day by day With all the power he may Tho french men he hath faynted And mad theyr hertes attaynted Of cheualry he is the floure Our lorde be his soccoure The french men he hathe so mated And theyr courage abated That they are but halfe men Lyke foxes in theyr denne Lyke cankerd cowardes all Lyke Vrcheons in a stone wall They kepe them in theyr holdes Lyke hen herted cokoldes But yet they ouer shote vs Wyth crownes & wyth Scutus With Scutis & crownes of gold : I drede we are bought and solde It is a wonders warke They shote all at one marke At the Cardynals hat Thy shote all at that Oute of theyr stronge townes They shote at him with crownes With crownes of golde enblased They make him so amased And his eyen so dased That he nese can To know god nor man He is set so hye In his Ierarchy Of frantycke frenesy And folysshe Fantasy That in the chambre of sterres All maters there he marres Clappyng his rod on the borde No man dare speke a worde For he hathe all the sayenge With out any renayenge He rolleth in his recordes He sayth / how saye ye my lordes Is nat my reason good Good euyn good Robyn hode Some say yes . And some Syt styll / as they were dom Thus thwartyng ouer them He ruleth all the roste With braggynge and with bost Borne vp on euery fyde With pompe and withpryde With trompe vp Alleluya For dame Philargera Hathe so his herte in holde He loueth nothyng but golde And Asmodeus of hell Maketh his membres swell With Dalyda to mell That wanton damosell Adew philosophia Aoew Theologia Welcome dame Simonia With dame Castrimergia To drynke and for to eate Swete ypocrus and swete meate To kepe his flesshe chast In lent for a repast He eateth copons stewed Fesaunt / and partriche mewed Hennes / checkynges / and pygges He foynes and he frygges Spareth neither mayde ne wyfe This is a postels lyfe Helas / my herte is sory To tell of vayne glory But now vpon this story I wyll no further ryme Tyll another tyme
Tyll another tyme . &c. What newes what news Small newes y● true is That be worth . 〈◊〉 kues But at the naked stewes I vnder stande how that The sygne of the Cardynall hat That Inne is now shyt vp With gup hore gup / now gup Gup Guilliam Trauillian With ●ast you I say Iullian Wyll ye bere no coles A mayny of marefoles That occupy theyr holys ●ull of pocky molys What here ye of Lancashyre They were nat payde their hyre They are felas any fyre What here ye of Ch●sshyre They haue la●de all in the myre They grugyd and sayde Theyr wages were nat payde Some sayde they were afrayde Of the scortysshe hoost For all theyr crack and bost Wylde fyre and thonder For all this worldly wonder A hundred myle a sonder They were / whan the were next That is a trew text What here ye of the scottes They make vs all sottes Poppynge folysshe dawes They make vs to pyll strawes They play their olde pranckes After huntley bankes At the streme of Banock● burne They dyd vs a shrewde turne Whan Edwarde of Karnaruan Lost all his father wan What here ye of the lorde Dakers He maketh vs Iacke rakers He sayes we ar but crakers He calleth vs England men Stronge herted lyke an hen For the scottes and he To well they do agre With do thou for me And I shall do for the Whyles the red hat doth endure He mketh him selfe rock sure The red hat with his lure Bryngeth all thyuges vnder cure But as the worlde now gose What here ye of the lorde Rose Nothynge to purpose Nat worth a cockly fose Their hertes be in thyr hose The erle of Northumberlande Dare take nothynge on hande Our barons be so bolde In to a mouse hole they wolde Rynne away and crepe Lyke a mayny of shepe Dare nat loke out at dur For drede of the mastyue ●ur For drede of the bochers dogge Wold wyrry them lyke an hogge For and this curre do gnar They must stande all a far To holde vp their hande at the bar For all their noble blode He pluckes them by the hode And shakes them by the eare And brynge them in suche feare He bayteth them lyke a bere Lyke an oxe or a bull Theyr wyt●es he saith are dull He sayth they haue no brayne Theyr astate to mayntayne And maketh them to bow theyr kne Be fore his maieste Iuges of the kynges lawes He countys them foles & dawes Sergyantes of the coyfe eke He sayth they are to seke In pletynge of theyr case At the commune place Or at the kynges benche He wryngeth them suche a wrenche That all our lerned men Dare nat set theyr p●nne To plete a trew tryall With in westmynster hall In the Chauncery where he sytt●s But suche as he admyttes None so hatdy to speke He sayth , thou buddy p●●e Thy lernynge is to lewde Thy tonge is nat well ●hewde To ●●ke before our grace And openly in that place He rages and he rau●s And cals them cankerd knau●s Thus royally he dothe deale Vnder the kynges brode seale And in the checket ●he them cheks In ●●er chambre he noddis & be●s And ber●●h him thereso st●wte That no man dare rowte Duke / erle / baron nor lorde But to his sentence must accorde Whether he be knyght or ●●uyre All men mu●● folow his d●syre What say ye of the scottysh kynge That is another thyng He is but an yonglyng A stal worthy stryplyng There is a whysprīg & a whiplīg He shulde be hyder brought But and it were well sought I trow all wyll be nought Nat worth a shyttel cocke Nor worth a sowre calstocke There goth many a lye Of the duke of Albany That of shulde go his hede And brought in quycke or dede And all Scotlande owers The moūtenannce of two houres But as some men sayne I drede of some false trayne Subtelly wrought shall be Vnder a fayned treatee But with in monethes thre Men may happely se The trechery / and the prankes Of the Scottysshe bankes What here ye of Burgonyons And the Spainyardes onyons They haue slain our Englisshmen Aboue threscore and ten For all your amyte No better they agre God saue my lorde Admyrell What here ye of Mutrell There with I dare nat mell Yet what here ye tell Of our graunde counsell I coulde say some what But speke ye no more of that For drede of the red hat Take peper in the nose For than thyne heed of gose Of by the harde arse But there is some trauarse Bytwene some and some That makys our syre to glum It is some what wronge That his berde is so longe He morneth in blacke clothynge I pray god saue the kynge Where ener he go or ryde I pray god be his gyde Thus wyll I conclude my style And fall to rest a whyle
And so to rest a whyle . &c. ONes yet agayne Of you I wolde frayne Why come ye nat to court To whyche court ? To the kynges courte Or to Hampton court ? Nay / to the kynges court The kynges courte Shulde haue the excellence But Hampton court Hath the preemynence And yorkes place With my lordes grace To whose magnifycence Is all the con●●ewence Sutys and supplycacyons Embassades of all nacyons Strawe for lawe conon Or for the lawe common Or for lawe cyuyll It shall be as he wyll Stop at law tancrete An obstract or a concrete Be it soure be it swete His wysdome is so dyscrete That in a fume or an hete Wardeyn of the flete Set hym fast by the fete And of his royall powre Whan him lyst to lowre Than haue him to the towre Saunz aulter remedy Hane hym forthe by and by To the marshalsy Or to the kynges benche He dyggeth so in the crenche Of the court royall That he ruleth them all So he dothe vndermynde And suche sleyghtes dothe fynde That the kynges mynde By hym is subuerted And so streatly coarted In credenfynge his tales That all is but nutshales That any other sayth He hath in him suche fayth Now / yet all this myght be Suffred / and taken in gre If that that he wrought To any good ende were brought But all he bringeth to nought By god that me dere bought He bereth the dkeyng on hand That he must pyll his lande To make his cofers ryche But he laythe all in the dyche And vseth suche abusyoun That in the conclusyoun All commeth to confusyon Perceyue the cause why To tell the trouth playnly He is so ambicyous So shamles / an so vicyous And so supersticyous And so moche obliuyous From whens that he came That he falleth in to Acis●am Whiche truly to expresse Is a forgetfulnesse Or wylfull blyndnesse Wherwith the So domites Lost theyr inward syghtes The gōmoryans also Were brought to deedly wo As scrypture recordis A cecitate cordis In the latyne synge we Lybera nos domine But this madde Amalecke Lyke to Amamelek He regardeth lordes No more than potshordes He is in suche clacyon Of his exaltacyon And the supportacyon Of our souerayne lorde That god to recorde He ruleth all at wyll With out reason or skyll How be it the primordyall Of his wretched originall And his base progeny And his gresy ●enealogy He came of the sank royall that was cast out of a bochers stall But how euer he was borne Men wolde haue the lesse scorne If he coulde consyder His byrth and rowme to geder And call to his mynde How noble and how kynds To him he hathe founde Our souereyne lorde / chyfe grounde Of all this prelacy And set hym nobly In great auc●oryte Out from a low degre Whiche he cannat se For he was parde No doctor of deuinyte Nor doctor of the law Nor of none other saw But a poore maister of arte God wot had lytell parte Of the Quatriuials Nor yet of triuials Nor of philosophy Nor of Philology Nor of good pollycy Nor of astronomy Nor acquaynted worth a 〈◊〉 With honorable Haly Nor with royall Ptholomy Nor with Albumasar Totreate of any star Fyxtor els mobyll His latyne tonge dothe hobbyll He doth but cloute and cobbill In Cullis Faculte Called humanyte Yet proudly he dare pretende How no man can him amende But haue ye nat harde this How an one eyed man is Well syghted / when He is amonge blynde men Than our processe for to stable This man was full vnable To reche to suche degre Had nat our prynce be Royall Henry the eyght Take him in suche conceyght That he set him on heyght In exemplyfyenge Great Alexander the kynge In writynge as we fynde Whiche of his royall mynde And of his noble pleasure Transcendynge out of mesure Thought to do a thynge That perteyneth to a kynde To make vp one of nought Aud made to him be brought A wretched poore man Whiche his lyuenge wan With plantyng of lekes By the dayes and by the wekes And of this poore vassall He made a kynge royall And gaue him a realme to rule That occupyed a showell A mattoke / and a spade Before that he was made A kynge / as I haue tolde And ruled as he wolde Suche is a kynges power To make with in an hower And worke suche a myracle That shall be a spectacle Of renowme and worldly fame In lykewyse now the same Cardynall / is promoted Yet with lewde condicyons cotyd As herafter ben notyd Presumcyon and vayne glory Enuy / wrath / and lechery Couetys / and glotony Slouthfull to do good Now frantick / now starke wode Shulde this man of suche mode Rule the swerde of myght How can he do ryght For he wyll as sone smyght His trende / as his fo A prouerbe longe a go Set vp a wretche on hye In a trone triumphantlye Make him a great astate And he wyll play checke mate with ryall maieste Counte him selfe as good as he A prelate potencyall To rule vnder Belly all As ferce and as cruell As the fynd of hell His seruauntes meny all He dothe reuyle and brall Lyke Mahounde in a play No man dare him with say He hath dispyght and scorne At them that be well borne He rebukes them and rayles Ye horsons / ye bassayles Ye knaues / ye churles sonnys Ye rebads nat worth two plūmis Ye raynbetyn beggers reiagged Ye recrayed ruffyns all ragged With stowpe thou hauell Rynne thou iauell Thou peuysshe pye pyepecked Thou losell longe necked Thus dayly they be decked Taunted and checked That they ar so wo They wot not whether to go No man dare come to the speche Of this gentell Iacke breche Of what estate he be Of spirituall dygnyte Nor duke of hye degre Nor Marques / erle / nor lorde Whiche shrewdly doth accorde Thus he borne so base All noble men shulde out face His countynaunce lyke a kayser My lorde is nat at layser Syr ye must tary a stounde Tyll better layser be founde And syr , ye must daunce attendaunce And take pacient sufferaunce For my lordes grace Hath nowe no tyme nor space To speke with you / as yet And thus they shall syt Chuse them syt or flyt Stande / walke / or ryde And his layser abyde Parchaunce halfe a yere And yet neuer the nere This daungerous dowsy pere Lyke a kynges pere And within this . xvi . yere He wolde haue ben ryght fayne To haue ben a chapleyne And haue taken ryght gret payne With a poore knyght What soeuer he hyght The chefe of his owne counsell They can nat well ●ell Whan they with hym shulde mell He is so fyers and fell He rayles and he ratis He calleth them doddy patis He grynnes and he gapis As it were Iack napis Suche a madde bedleme For to rewle this reame It is a wonders case That the kynges grace Is toward him so mynded And so farre blynded That he can nat par●e yue How he doth hym disc●●ue I dought lest by Sorsery Or suche other loselry As wychecraft / or charmyng For he is the kynges derlyng And his swete hart rott And is gouerned by this mad ●ote For what is a man the better For the kynges letter For he wyll tere it a sonder Wherat moche I wonder How suche a hoddy poule So boldely dare controule And so malapertly withstande The kynges owne hande And settys nat by it a myte He sayth the kynge doth wryte And writeth he wottith nat what And yet for all that The kynge his clemency Despensyth with his demensy But what his grace ●oth thi●e I haue no pen nor inke That ther with can mell . But w●le I can tell How Frauncis Petrarke That moche noble clerke Wryteth how Charlemayn Coude nat him selfe refrayne But was rauysht with a rage Of a lyke dotage But how that came aboute Rede ye the story oute And ye shall fynde surely It was by ●ycromansy By carectes and coniuracyon Vnder a certeyne constellacion And a certayne fumygacion Vnder a stone on a golde ryng Wrought to Charlemayn the king Whiche constrayned him forcebly For to loue a certayne body Aboue all other inordinatly This is no fable nor no lye At Acon it was brought to pa● As by myne auctor tried it was But le●mi nasters mathematical Tell you the rest / for me they shal They haue the full intellygence And dare vse the experyens In there obsolute consciens To practyue suche abolete sciens For I abhore to smatter Of one so deuyllysshe a matter But I wyll make further relacion Of this Isagogicall colation How maister Gaguine the crownycler Of the feytis of war That were done in Fraunce Maketh remembraunce How kynge Lewes of late Made vp a great astate Of a poore wretchid man Wherof moche care began Iohannes Balua was his name Myne nuctor writeth the same Promoted was he To a Cardynalles dygnyte By Lewes the kyng a foresayd With hym so wele apayd That he made him his chauncelar To make all / or to mar And to rule as him lyst Tyll he cheked at the fyst And agayne all reason Commyted open trayson And against his lorde souerayn Wherfore he suffred payn Was hedyd / drawen / & quarterd And dyed stynkingly marterd Lo yet for all that He ware a cardynals hat In hym was small fayth As myne auctor sayth Nat for that I mene Suche a casuelte shulde be sene Or suche chaunce shulde fall Vnto our cardynall All myghty god I trust Hath for hindyscust That of force he must Be faythfull / trew / and iust To our most royall kynge Chefe rote of his makynge Yet it is a wyly mouse That can bylde his dwellinge house With in the cattes eare Withouten drede or feare It is a nyce reconynge To put all the gouernynge All the rule of this lande In to one mannys hande One wyse mannys hede May stande somwhat in stede But the wyttys of many wyse Moche better can deuy●e , By theyr cyrcumspection And theyr sad dyrcection To cause the commune weale Longe to endure in heale Christ kepe king Henry the eyght From trechery and dysceyght And ●raunt him grace to know The fau●on from the crow The wolfe from the lam From whens that mastyfe cam Let him neuer con founde The gentyll grey hownde Of this matter the grownde Is easy to expounde And soone may be perceyuid How the warlde is conueyed But harke my frende one worde In ernest or in borde Tell me nowe in this stede Is maister Mewtas dede The kynges frenshe secretary And his vntrew aduersary For he sent in writynge To Fraunces the french ky●g Of our maisters counsel in euerithing That was a peryllous rekenyg Nay nay / he is nat dede But he was so payned in the hede That he shall neuer ete more bred Now he is gone to another stede wirh a bull vnder lead By way of commissyon To a straunge iuris●ictyon Called Dymingis dale Farre by yonde Portyngale And hathe his pas port to pas Vltra sauromatas To the deuyll syr Sathanas To Pluto and syr Bellyall The deuyls vycare generall And to his college conuentuall As well calodemonyall As to cacademonyall To puruey for our Cardynall A palace pontifycall To kepe his court prouyncyall Vpon artycles iudicyall To ●●ntende and to stryne For his prerogatyue With in that consystory To make sommons peremtory Be fore some prothonetory Imperyall or papall Vpon this matter mistycall I haue tolde you part / but nat all Herafter perchaunce I shall Make a larger memoryall And a further rehersall And more paper I thinke to blot To the court why I cam not Desyring you aboue all thynge To kepe you from laughynge Whan ye fall to redynge Of this wanton scrowle And pray for Mewtas sowle For he is well past and gone That wolde god euerychone Of his affynyte Were gone as well as he Amen / amen / say ye Of your in ward charyte . Amen .
Of your inward charyte . IT were great rewth For wrytynge of trewth Any man shulde be In perplexyte Of dyspleasure For I make you sure Where trouth is abhorde It is a playne recorde That there wantys grace In whose place Dothe occupy Full vngracyously Fals flatery Fals terchery Fals brybery Subtyle Sym Sly With madde foly For who can bestlye He is best set by Than fare well to the Welthfull felycite For prosperyte Away than wyll lie Than must we agre With pouert● For mysery With penury Myserably And wrerchydly Hath made askrye And out cry Folowynge the chase To dryue away grace Yet sayst thou per case We can lacke no grace For my lordes grace And my ladies grace With trey duse ase And ase in the face Some hau●e and some base Some daunce the trace Euer in one case Marke me that chase In the tennys play For synke quater trey Is a tall man He rod / but we 〈◊〉 Hay the gye and the gan The gray gose is no swan The waters wax wan And beggers they ban And they cursed datan De tribu dan That this warke began Palam / et clam With Balak and Balam The golden ram Of flemmyng dam Sem / Iapheth / or cam ? But howe comme to pas Your cupbord that was Is tourned to glasse From syluer to brasse From golde to pewter Or els to a newter To copper / to tyn To lede or / alcumyn A goldsmyth your mayre But the chefe of your fayre Myght stande nowe by potters And suche as sell trotters Pyrchars / potshordis This shrewdly accordis To be a copborde for lordys My lorde now and syr knyght Good euyn and good nyght For now syr Trestram Ye must weare bukram Or canues of Cane For sylkes are wane Our royals that shone Our nobles are gone Amonge the Burgonyons And spanyardes onyons And the Flanderkyns Gyll swetis and Cate spynnys They are happy that wynnys But Englande may well say Fye on this wynnyng all way Now nothynge / but pay pay With laughe and lay downe Borowgh / cyte / and towne Good Sprynge of Lanam Must counte what became Of his clothe makynge He is at suche takynge Though his purse wax dull He must tax for his wull By nature of a newe writ My lordys grace nameth it A quia non satisfacit In the spyght of his tethe He must pay a gayne Athousande or twayne Of his golde in store And yet he payde before And hunderd pounde and more Whiche pyncheth him sore My lordis grace wyll brynge Downe this hye Sprynge And brynge it so lowe It shall nat euer flowe Suche a prelate I trowe Were worthy to rowe Thorow the streytes of Marock To the gybbet of Baldock He wolde dry vp the stremys Of .ix. kinges realmys All ryuers and wellys All waters that swellys For with vs he so mellys That within Englande dwellys I wolde he were somwhere ellys For els by and by He wyll drynke vs so drye And suck vs so nye That men shall scantly Haue peny or halpeny God saue his noble grace And graunt him a place Endlesse to dwell With the deuyll of hell For and he were there We nede neuer feere Of the fendys blake For I vnder take He wolde so brag and crake That he wolde than make The deuyls to quake To shudder and to shake Lyke a fyer drake And with a cole rake Brose them on a brake And bynde them to astake And set hell on fyer At his owne desyer He is suche a grym syer And suche a potestolate And suche a potestate That he wolde breke the braynes Of Lucyfers in his chaynes And rule them echone In Lucyfers trone I wolde he were gone For amonge vs is none That ruleth / but he alone With out all good reason And all out of season For Folam peason With him be natgeson They growwe very ranke Vpon euery banke Of his herbers grene With my lady bryght and shene On theyr game it is sene They play nat all clene And it be as I wene But as touchynge dystrectyō With sober dyrectyon He kepeth them in subiectyon They can haue no protectyon To rule nor to guyde But all must be tryde And abyde the correctyon Of his wylfull affectyon For as for wytte The deuyll spede whitte But braynsyk and braynlesse Wytles and rechelesse Careles and shamlesse Thriftles and gracelesse to gether are bended And so condyscended That the commune welth Shall neuer haue good helth But tatterd and ruggyd Raggyd / and ruggyd Shauyn and shorne And all threde bare worne Suche gredynesse Suche nedynesse My serablenesse With wretchydnesse Hath brought in dystresse And moche heuyuesse And great dolowre Englande the flowre Of relucent honowre In olde commemoracion Most royall Englyssh nacion Now all is out of facion Almost in desolation I speke by protestacion God of his miseracyon Send better reformacyon Lo / for to do shamfully He iugeth it no foly But to wryte of his shame He sayth we ar to blame What a ●renly is this No shame to do amys And yet he is a shamed To be shamfully named And ofte prech●ues be blamed Bycause they haue proclamed His madnesse by writynge His symplenesse resytynge Remordynge and bytynge With chydyng and with ●y●y●ge Shewynge him goddis ●aw●s He calleth the prechours dawis And of holy scriptures saw●s He counteth them for gygawis And putteth them to sylence And with 〈◊〉 of vyolence Lyke Ph●●●● , 〈◊〉 of grace Dyd Moyses so●e 〈◊〉 And Aron so●e ●e three The worde of god to let This maumet in lyke wyse Against the churche doth ryse The prechour he dothe dyspys● With crakyyge in suche wyse So braggynge all with bost That no prechour almost Dare speke for his lyfe Of my lordis grace / nor his wyte For he hath suche a bull He may take whom he wull And as many as him lykys May ete pigges in lent for pikys After the sectes of heretykis For in lent he wyll et● All maner of flesshe mete That he can ony where gete With other abusyons grete Wherof for to trete It wolde make the deuyll to swete For all priuileged places He brekes and defaces All placis of relygion He hathe them in derisyon And makith suche prouisyon To dryue them at diuisyon And fynally in conclusyon To bringe them to confu●yon Saint Albons to recorde Wherof this vngracyous lorde Hathe made him selfe abbot Against their wylles god wot All this he dothe deale Vnder strength of the great seale And by his legacy Whiche madly he dothe apply Vnto an extrauagancy Pyked out of all good lawe With reasons that ben rawe Yet whan he toke first his hat He said he knew what was what All iustyce he pretended All thynges sholde be a mended All wronges he wolde redresse All iniuris he wolde represse All periuris he wolde oppresse And yet this gr●celesse elfe He is periured him selfe As playnly it dothe appere Who lyst to enquere In the regestry Of my lorde of Cantorbury To whom he was professed In thre poyntes expressed The fyrst to do him reuerence The seconde to owe hym obedynce The thirde with hole affectyon To be vnder his subi●ctyon But now hemaketh obiectyon Vnder the protectyon Of the kynges great seale That he setteth neuer a deale By his former othe Whether god be pleased or wroth He makith so proude pretens That in his equipolens He ingyth him equiualent With god omnipotent But yet be ware the rod And the stroke of god , The apostyll Peter Had a pore my●er And a poore cope Whan he was creat pope First in Antioche He dyd neuer approche Of Rome to the see Weth suche dygnyte Saynt Dunstane what was he Nothynge he sayth lyke to we There is a dyuersyte Bytwene him and me We passe hym in degre As legatus a latere Ecce sacerdos magnus That wyll hed vs and hange vs And strcitly strangle vs And he may fange vs Decre and deecetall Constytucyon prouineyall Nor no lawe canonicall Shall le● the preest pontyficall To syt in causa sanguinis Nowe god amende that is a mys For I suppose that he is Of Ieremy the whyskynge rod The flayle / the scourge Of almighty god This Naman Sirus So fell and so irous So full of maleucoly With a flap afore his eye Men wene that he is pocky Or els his surgions they lye For as far as the can spy By the craft of surgery It is manus domini And yet this proude Antiochus He is so ambicious So elate / and so vitious And so cruell hertyd That he wyll nat be conuertyd For he setteth god a part He is nowe so ouerth wart And so payned with pangis That all his trust hangis In Balthasor / whiche heled Domingos nose / that was wheled That Lumberdes nose meane I That standeth yet a wrye It was nat heled alderbest It standeth somwhat on the west I meane Domyngo Lomelyn That was wont to wyn Moche money of the kynge At the cardys and haserdynge Balthasor y● helyd domingos uose From the puskylde pocky pose Now with his gūmys of araby Hath promised to hele our cardinals eye Yet sum surgions put a dout Lest he wyll put it clene out And make hi lame of his neder limes God sende him sorowe for his sines Some men myght aske a q̄stion By whose suggesty●n I toke on hand this warke Thus boldly for to barke And men lyst to harke And my wordes marke I wyll answere lyke a clerk● For trewly and vnfayned I am forcebly constrayned At Iuuynals request To wryght of this glorious gest Of this vayne gloryous best His fame to be encrest At euery solempne feest Quia difficile est Satiram non scribere ? Now mayster doctor / howe say y● What soeuer your name be What though ye be namelesse Ye , shall nat escape blamelesse Nor yet shall scape shamlesse Mayster doct●r in your degre yourselfe madly ye ouer se Blame Iuuinall & blame nat me Maister doctor diricum Omne / animi vicium● &c. As Iuuinall dothe recorde A small defaute in a great lorde A lytell cryme in a great astate Is moche more inordinate And more horyble to beholde Than any other a thousand folde Ye put to blame ye wot nere whom Ye may weare a cockes come your fonde hed in your furred hode Holde ye your tong ye can no goode And at more conuenye●t tyme I may fortune for to ryme Som what of your madnesse For small is your sadnesse To put any man in lack And say yll be●ynde his back And my wordes marke truly That ye can n●t byde thereby For Smigma non est sinamomum But de absentibus nil ni●i bonum Complayne or do what ye wyll Of your complaynt it shall nat skyl This is the tenor of my byl A daucock ye be / & so shal be styll .
Sequitur epitoma de morbilloso Thoma Nec nonobscend de poliphemo . &c. ●Orro perbelle dissimulatum Illum pādulphū tantum legatum Tam formidatum nuper prelatum Ceu / Naman sirsinu●e elongatum Insolitudine iam commoratum Nrapolitano morbo grauatum Malagmate / Cataplasmatistat● Pharmacapoli ferro foratum Nihilo magis alleniatum Nihilo melius aut medicatum Relictis famulis ad famulatum Quo tollatur infamia Sed maior patet insania A modo ergo Ganea Abhoreat ille Ganeus Dominus male Creticus Aptius Dictus Tetricus Phanaticus freneticus Graphicus sicut Metricus ●utumat , HOc genus dictaminis Non egit examinis In cen●iloquio nec centimetro Honorati Graminatici Mauri .
Decasticon virulentum in galeratum / Licaonta marinum● . &c. PRoghdolor / e●●e mar● lupus et nequissimus . vrsus Carnificis vitulus Britonum●● bubulcus iniquus Conflatus / vitulus● vel Oreb / vel Salmana / velzeb . Carduus / et erudelis Asaph que Datan reprobatus Blandus et Acchitiphel / regis scelus omne Britannum Ecclesias / qui namque Thomas confundit vbique Non sacer iste / Thomas / sed duro corde / Goleas Quem gestat Mulus sathane cacet ( obsecro ●culus Fundens Aspaltum ( precor hunc versum lege cautum ) Asperius nichll est misero quum surget in altum .
Apostropha an Londini ciues ( citanto mulum a●ino aureo gale rato ) in occursum aguile . &c. EXitat eu ●sious mulum ( mirabile / visu ) Calcibus : O vestro ciues occurite Asello . Qui regnum reg●●● regit qui vestra 〈◊〉 Predia diuitias / 〈◊〉 gasas spoli●nd● .

Dirit , alludens / i●mo ill●●dēs ●odo●ā de 〈…〉 to gale●●t●● xxxii●● .

Hec vates ille 〈…〉 mille

Imprinted at london by me Richard kele dwellig in the powltry at the longe shop vnder saynt myldredes chyrch .