“A kyng to me myn habyte gaue: At Oxforth, the vniversyte, Auaunsid I was to that degre; By hole consent of theyr senate, I was made poete lawreate.”[32]

Our laureat, a few years after, was admitted ad eundem at Cambridge: “An. Dom. 1493, et Hen. 7 nono. Conceditur Johī Skelton Poete in partibus transmarinis atque Oxon. Laurea ornato, ut apud nos eadem decoraretur;” again, “An. 1504-5, Conceditur Johi Skelton, Poetæ Laureat. quod possit stare eodem gradu hic, quo stetit Oxoniis, et quod possit uti habitu sibi concesso a Principe.” Warton, who cites both these entries,[33] remarks, “the latter clause, I believe, relates to some distinction of habit, perhaps of fur or velvet, granted him by the king.” There can be no doubt that Skelton speaks of this peculiar apparel in the lines just quoted, as also in his third poem Against Garnesche, where he says,

“Your sworde ye swere, I wene, So tranchaunt and so kene, Xall kyt both wyght and grene: Your foly ys to grett The kynges colours to threte;”[34]

from which we may infer that he wore, as laureat, a dress of white and green, or, perhaps, a white dress with a wreath of laurel. It was most probably on some part of the same habit that the word Calliope was embroidered in letters of silk and gold:

“Calliope, As ye may se, Regent is she Of poetes al, Whiche gaue to me The high degre Laureat to be Of fame royall; Whose name enrolde With silke and golde I dare be bolde Thus for to were,”[35] &c.

In the following passage Barclay perhaps glances at Skelton, with whom (as will afterwards be shewn) he was on unfriendly terms;

“But of their writing though I ensue the rate, No name I chalenge of Poete laureate: That name vnto them is mete and doth agree Which writeth matters with curiositee. Mine habite blacke accordeth not with grene, Blacke betokeneth death as it is dayly sene; The grene is pleasour, freshe lust and iolite; These two in nature hath great diuersitie. Then who would ascribe, except he were a foole, The pleasaunt laurer vnto the mourning cowle?”[36]

Warton has remarked, that some of Skelton’s Latin verses, which are subscribed—“Hæc laureatus Skeltonis, regius orator”—“Per Skeltonida laureatum, oratorem regium,”—seem to have been written in the character of royal laureate;[37] and perhaps the expression “of fame royall” in Skelton’s lines on Calliope already cited, may be considered as strengthening this supposition. There would, indeed, be no doubt that Skelton was not only a poet laureated at the universities, but also poet laureat or court poet to Henry the Eighth, if the authenticity of the following statement were established; “la patente qui declare Skelton poète laureat d’Henry viii. est datée de la cinquième année de son règne, ce qui tombe en 1512 ou 1513:” so (after giving correctly the second entry concerning Skelton’s laureation at Cambridge) writes the Abbé du Resnel in an essay already mentioned; having received, it would seem, both these statements concerning Skelton from Carte the historian,[38] who, while he communicated to Du Resnel one real document, was not likely to have forged another for the purpose of misleading the learned Frenchman. On this subject I can only add, that no proof has been discovered of Skelton’s having enjoyed an annual salary from the crown in consequence of such an office.

The reader will have observed that in the first entry given above from the Cambridge Univ. Regist., Skelton is described as having been laureated not only at Oxford but also “transmarinis partibus.” That the foreign seat of learning at which he received this honour was the university of Louvaine,[39] may be inferred from the title of a poem which I subjoin entire, not only because it occurs in a volume of the greatest rarity, but because it evinces the celebrity which Skelton had attained.

“IN CLARISSIMI SCHELTONIS LOUANIENSIS POETÆ LAUDES EPIGRAMMA.

Quum terra omnifero lætissima risit amictu, Plena novo fœtu quælibet arbor erat; Vertice purpurei vultus incepit honores Extensis valvis pandere pulchra rosa; Et segetum tenero sub cortice grana tumescunt, Flavescens curvat pendula spica caput. Vix Cancri tropicos æstus lustravit anhelans Pythius, et Nemeæ vertit ad ora feræ, Vesper solis equos oriens dum clausit Olympo, Agmina stellarum surgere cuncta jubet: Hic primo aspiceres ut Cynthia vecta sereno Extulerat surgens cornua clara polo; Inde Hydram cernas, stravit quam clava trinodis Alcidæ, nitidis emicuisse comis; Tum[40] Procyon subiit, præpes Lepus, hinc Jovis ales, Arctos, et Engonasus, sidus et Eridani; Ignivomis retinet radiis quæ stellifer orbis (Quid multis remorer?) sidera cuncta micant. Nutat Atlanteum convexum pondus, ocellis Dum lustro hæc ægris, vergit et oceano. Tum furtim alma quies repens mihi membra soporat, Curaque Lethæo flumine mersa jacet: O mihi quam placidis Icelos tulit aurea somnis Somnia, musiphilis non caritura fide! Nuncia percelebris Polyhymnia blanda salutans Me Clarii ut visam numina sacra citat. Ut sequar hanc lætus, mihi visus amœna vireta Et nemorum umbrosos præteriisse sinus: Scilicet hæc montes monstraverat inter eundum Et fontes Musæ quos coluere sacros; Castalios latices, Aganippidos atque Medusei Vidimus alipedis flumina rupta pede; Antra hinc Libethri monstrat Pimpleidos undas, Post vada Cephisi, Phocidos atque lacus; Nubifer assurgit mons Pierus atque Cithæron, Gryneumque nemus dehinc Heliconque sacer; Inde et Parnasi bifidi secreta subimus, Tota ubi Mnemosynes sancta propago manet. Turba pudica novem dulce hic cecinere sororum; Delius in medio plectra chelynque sonat: Aurifluis laudat modulis monumenta suorum Vatum, quos dignos censet honore poli: De quo certarunt Salamin, Cumæ, vel Athenæ, Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, primus Homerus erat; Laudat et Orpheum, domuit qui voce leones, Eurydicen Stygiis qui rapuitque rogis; Antiquum meminit Musæum Eumolpide natum, Te nec Aristophanes Euripidesque tacet; Vel canit illustrem genuit quem Teia tellus, Quemque fovit dulci Coa camena sinu; Deinde cothurnatum celebrem dat laude Sophoclem, Et quam Lesbides pavit amore Phaon; Æschylus, Amphion, Thespis nec honore carebant, Pindarus, Alcæus, quem tuleratque Paros; Sunt alii plures genuit quos terra Pelasga, Daphnæum cecinit quos meruisse decus: Tersa Latinorum dehinc multa poemata texit, Laude nec Argivis inferiora probat; Insignem tollit ter vatem, cui dedit Andes Cunas urbs, clarum Parthenopæa taphum; Blanda Corinna, tui Ponto religatus amore, Sulmoni natus Naso secundus erat; Inde nitore fluens lyricus genere Appulus ille Qui Latiis primus mordica metra tulit; Statius Æacidem sequitur Thebaida pingens, Emathio hinc scribens prælia gesta solo; Cui Verona parens hinc mollis scriptor amorum, Tu nec in obscuro, culte Tibulle, lates; Haud reticendus erat cui patria Bilbilis, atque Persius hinc mordax crimina spurca notans; Eximius pollet vel Seneca luce tragœdus, Comicus et Latii bellica præda ducis; Laudat et hinc alios quos sæcula prisca fovebant; Hos omnes longum jam meminisse foret. Tum[41] Smintheus, paulo spirans, ait, ecce, sorores, Quæ clausa oceano terra Britanna nitet! Oxoniam claram Pataræa ut regna videtis, Aut Tenedos, Delos, qua mea fama viret: Nonne fluunt istic nitidæ ut Permessidos undæ, Istic et Aoniæ sunt juga visa mihi? Alma fovet vates nobis hæc terra ministros, Inter quos Schelton jure canendus adest: Numina nostra colit; canit hic vel carmina cedro Digna, Palatinis et socianda sacris; Grande decus nobis addunt sua scripta, linenda Auratis, digna ut posteritate, notis; Laudiflua excurrit serie sua culta poesis, Certatim palmam lectaque verba petunt; Ora lepore fluunt, sicuti dives fagus auro, Aut pressa Hyblæis dulcia mella favis; Rhetoricus sermo riguo fecundior horto, Pulchrior est multo puniceisque rosis, Unda limpidior, Parioque politior albo, Splendidior vitro, candidiorque nive, Mitior Alcinois pomis, fragrantior ipso Thureque Pantheo, gratior et violis; Vincit te, suavi Demosthene, vincit Ulyxim Eloquio, atque senem quem tulit ipse Pylos; Ad fera bella trahat verbis, nequiit quod Atrides Aut Brisis, rigidum te licet, Æacides; Tantum ejus verbis tribuit Suadela Venusque Et Charites, animos quolibet ille ut agat, Vel Lacedæmonios quo Tyrtæus pede claudo Pieriis vincens martia tela modis, Magnus Alexander quo belliger actus ab illa Mæonii vatis grandisonante tuba; Gratia tanta suis virtusque est diva camenis, Ut revocet manes ex Acheronte citos; Leniat hic plectro vel pectora sæva leonum, Hic strepitu condat mœnia vasta lyræ; Omnimodos animi possit depellere morbos, Vel Niobes luctus Heliadumque truces; Reprimat his rabidi Saulis sedetque furores, Inter delphinas alter Arion erit; Ire Cupidineos quovis hic cogat amores, Atque diu assuetos hic abolere queat; Auspice me tripodas sentit, me inflante calores Concipit æthereos, mystica diva canit; Stellarum cursus, naturam vasti et Olympi, Aeris et vires hic aperire potest, Vel quid cunctiparens gremio tellus fovet almo, Gurgite quid teneat velivolumque mare; Monstratur digito phœnice ut rarior uno, Ecce virum de quo splendida fama volat! Ergo decus nostrum quo fulget honorque, sorores, Heroas laudes accumulate viro; Laudes accumulent Satyri, juga densa Lycæi, Pindi, vel Rhodopes, Mænala quique colunt; Ingeminent plausus Dryades facilesque Napææ, Oreadum celebris turba et Hamadryadum; Blandisonum vatem, vos Oceanitidesque atque Naiades, innumeris tollite præconiis; Æterno vireat quo vos celebravit honore, Illius ac astris fama perennis eat: Nunc maduere satis vestro, nunc prata liquore Flumina, Pierides, sistite, Phœbus ait. Sat cecinisse tuum sit, mi Schelton, tibi laudi Hæc Whitintonum: culte poeta, vale.