Chris Emerson - "Ballad of the Scottish King" (John Skelton)

  

John Skelton: Many Meanings

            The difficulty I have with looking at Skelton was the lack of supplementary material that covers a time period of his work.  Criticisms of individual pieces did exist, but only proved historically worthwhile and not contextually or syntactically. 

The fame orbiting John Skelton it centered on his command of the English language at such an infantile stage for the future worldly language.  His work as a translator, tutor to Henry VIII and man of the church put him in an excellent position to return to the court after a long retirement from 1503 to 1513.  There are instances where Skelton will insult a character or group in his works for misinterpretation of words or phrases.  The position orator regius (king’s orator) comes into question on multiple occasions when looking at Skelton’s work before and after his retirement.  Political motivation was a very big part of the piece I read, and knowing that helped to determine a few context-based meanings in “Ballad of the Scottish King”.

What I found most appealing was that Skelton knew just how many meanings were in his words.  I found that there was a phrase here on line 10 that confused me, but in context seems to mean a poor outcome.  The phrase is recognized as obscure in origin, so it seems that Skelton had as good an understanding in what English was as he did an understanding that it would evolve with use.

Works Cited

Jokinen, Anniina.  “The Life of John Skelton”.  Luminarium.  Web.  1 December 2011.

Kinney, Arthur F.  "John Skelton And Poetic Authority: Defining The Liberty To Speak."  

            Modern Philology 107.2 (2009): 180-183.  Web.  1 December 2011.           

Ballad of the Scottish King.

King Jamy, Jomy[i] your Joye˚ is all go

Satisfaction

You sommnoed˚ our king why did you so

Submerged (has to do with naval encounters)

To you no thing it did accorde˚

Reconcile

To sommon our king your soverayne lorde.

A king a somner[ii] it is wonder

Know you not salt and sugar asonder˚

Aside or apart

In your somnynge˚ you were to malaperte[iii]

Summoning

And your harolde no thing expert

You thought you did it full valyauntolye

But not worth three skppes of a pye;

Sir squyer galyarde[iv] ye were too swift.

Your wyll˚ renne˚ before your wytte˚.

Cunning/expedite/weight

To be so scornful to your alye˚,

Ally

Your counseyle˚ was not worth a fly.

Counsel

Before the French kings, danes, and other

You ought to honour your lord and brother

Trowe̊ you sir Iames his noble grace,

Trust

For you and your scottes would tourne his face

Now you proud scottes of gelawaye.

For your king may synge welawaye[v]

Now must you know our king for your regent,

Your soverayne lorde and presedent[vi],

In hym is figured melchisedeche,

And you be desolate as armeleche

He is our noble champion.

A king anoynted and you be none

Through your counseyle your father was slain

Wherfore I fear you wyll suffer pain,

And ye proude scottes of dunbar

Parde,[vii] you be his homager̊.

One who holds land by homage.

And suters to his parlyment,

You did not your duty therein.

Wyerfore you may it now repent…

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[i] King James IV of Scotland, for whom other works of Skelton’s are dedicated to.

[ii] Summoner: a fictitious post, but respected in the work as a counselor to the King.

[iii] A presumptuous or saucy person.

[iv] An exact trade of sorts – ‘squyer’ is a tool of exact measurement, while ‘galyarde’ is a trade designation.

[v] A song of lament.

[vi] Appears as law in multiple English works.

[vii] Punctuation is mentioned here.

Tags: James IV, King, Scots, Skelton, Summoner