View source for 1509 - Barclay, Alexander - Ship of Fools (3)

{{AllusionsItemTop|About=Gest or tale of Robin Hood; Philip Sparrow; [John Skelton]|DatePrefix=|Date=|DateSuffix=|AuthorPrefix=|Author=Barclay, Alexander|AuthorSuffix=|Title=The Ship of Fools|PlainTitle=|Poem=|Chronicle=|AlCat1=Gest of Robyn Hode|Link1=1509 - Barclay, Alexander - Ship of Fools (1)|Link2=1509 - Barclay, Alexander - Ship of Fools (2)|Link3=1513 - Barclay, Alexander - Fourth Eclogue}}
[[File:Alexander_barclay.jpg|thumb|class=noframe|300px|right|Alexander Barclay, a woodcut included in many early editions of his works (from 
[[Barclay, Alexander 1874a|''The Ship of Fools'']], 1874).]]
<div class="no-img"><p>By Henrik Thiil Nielsen. 2013-07-28. Revised by {{#realname:{{REVISIONUSER}}}}, {{REVISIONYEAR}}-{{REVISIONMONTH}}-{{REVISIONDAY2}}.</p>
== Allusion ==
<onlyinclude>
{{quote|Holde me excusyd: for why my wyll is gode<br/>
Men to induce vnto vertue and goodnes<br/>
I wryte no <keyword>iest ne tale of Robyn hode</keyword><br/>
Nor sawe no sparcles ne sede of vyciousnes<br/>
Wyse men loue vertue, wylde people wantones<br/>
It longeth nat to my scyence nor cunnynge<br/>
For Phylyp the Sparowe the (Dirige) to synge.<ref>{{:Barclay, Alexander 1874a}}, vol. II, p. 331.</ref>}}</onlyinclude>
== IRHB comments ==
Alexander Barclay's ''Ship of Fools'', published 1509, is a Scottish rendering of Sebastian Brandt's ''Narrenschiff.'' Jamieson, the editor of the 1874 edition of ''The Ship of Fools'', discusses Barclay's animosity towards Skelton<ref>''op. cit.'', vol. I, pp. lxxviii, lxxx-lxxxii.</ref> &ndash; the last line cited above is a dig at Skelton's ''Philip the Sparrow'' &ndash; and mentions Barclay's lost work ''Contra Skeltonum''. He suggests Barclay may have been irked by Skelton's satirical comments on priests. 

This allusion together with Skelton's appearance as a character in Anthony Munday and Henry Chettle's ''[[Munday, Anthony - Downfall of Robert Earle of Huntington|Downfall of Robert Earle of Huntington]]'' (1599) led Paula Neuss,<ref>{{:Skelton, John 1980a}}, p. 88, n. to l. 357. See [[1515 - Skelton, John - Magnificence]].</ref> among others, to suggest that Skelton had written something about Robin Hood. The explicit mention of a "iest" of Robin Hood makes it tempting to go further and suggest that Skelton was in fact the author of ''[[Gest of Robyn Hode|A Gest of Robyn Hode]]''. The temptation becomes the greater when one remembers that Skelton was tutor to Prince Henry, the future Henry VIII, a monarch who was fond of both archery and Robin Hood. It must, however, be noted that Barclay has two more, quite similar, allusions to Robin Hood which do not mention Skelton, and since "gest" at this time meant an entertaining narrative poem, "iest [...] of Robyn hode" may refer to a kind of poem rather than the specific text that has come down to us. Still, I would not be surprised if it was discovered that Skelton was in fact the author of the poem. He is the best candidate we have.<ref>Note also that Skelton's [[1522 - Skelton, John - Why come ye not to Court|''Why come ye not to Court'']] (1522) mentions [[Wentbridge]], which also figures in the [[Gest of Robyn Hode]] and [[Robin Hood and the Potter]].</ref>



== Editions ==
* {{:Barclay, Alexander 1509a}}. First edition.
* {{:Barclay, Alexander 1570a}}.
* {{:Barclay, Alexander 1874a}}, vol. II, p. 331.

== Lists ==
* Not included in {{:Dobson, Richard Barrie 1976a}}.
* {{:Sussex, Lucy 1994a}}, see p. 269. Cites the three allusions to Robin Hood that occur in this work, noting that the last line includes a satirical attack on John Skelton.

== Background ==
* [http://purl.oclc.org/emls/01-1/carlskel.html Carlson, David R. 'Skelton and Barclay, Medieval and Modern', ''Early Modern Literary Studies 1.1 (1995): 2.1-17.]
* {{:Schultz, John Richie 1919a}}.
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Barclay Wikipedia: Alexander Barclay.]
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== Notes ==
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