v. 1250. _sadly_] i. e. seriously, soberly. v. 1251. _gyse_] i. e. guise, fashion. Page 90. —— _an adicyon_] Though found in all the eds. of _Phyllyp Sparowe_ which I have seen, it was not, I apprehend, originally published with the poem. It is inserted (and perhaps first appeared) in our author’s _Garlande of Laurell_, v. 1261. vol. i. 412, where he tells us that some persons “take greuaunce, and grudge with frownyng countenaunce,” at his poem on Philip Sparrow,—alluding probably more particularly to Barclay; see note, p. 120, and _Account of Skelton and his Writings_. v. 1269. _ianglynge iayes_] See note on v. 396, p. 128. Page 90. v. 1274. _depraue_] i. e. vilify, defame. “Thus was syr Arthur _depraued_ and euyl sayd of.” _Morte d’Arthur_, B. xxi. c. i. vol. ii. 433. ed. Southey. v. 1289. _estate_] i. e. high rank, dignity. Page 91. v. 1291. _Hercules that hell dyd harow_]—_harow_, i. e. lay waste, plunder, spoil,—overpower, subdue,—Hercules having carried away from it his friends Theseus and Pirithous, as well as the dog Cerberus. The _harrowing of hell_ was an expression properly and constantly applied to our Lord’s descent into hell, as related in the Gospel of Nicodemus. There were several early miracle-plays on this favourite subject; and Lydgate strangely enough says that Christ “Took out of helle soulys many a peyre Mawgre Cerberus and al his cruelte.” _Testamentum_,—_MS. Harl._ 2255. fol. 49. I may add, that Warner, speaking of Hercules, uses the words “harrowed hell.” _Albion’s England_, p. 23. ed. 1612. v. 1293. _Slew of the Epidaures, &c._] Qy. is not the text corrupted here? v. 1295. _Onocentaures_] i. e. Centaurs, half human, half asses. See Ælian _De Nat. Anim._ lib. xvii. c. 9. ed. Gron., and Phile _De Anim. Prop._ c. 44. ed. Pauw. Both these writers describe the onocentaur as having the bosom of a woman. R. Holme says it “is a Monster, being the Head and Breasts of a Woman set upon the Shoulders of a Bull.” _Ac. of Armory_, 1688. B. ii. p. 208. v. 1296. _Hipocentaures_] i. e. Centaurs, half human, half horses. v. 1302. _Of Hesperides withhold_] i. e. Withheld by the Hesperides. v. 1314. _rounses_] i. e. common hackney-horses (though the word is frequently used for horses in general). v. 1318. _He plucked the bull_ _By the horned skull,_ _And offred to Cornucopia_] The “bull” means Achelous, who, during his combat with Hercules, assumed that shape: “rigidum fera dextera cornu Dum tenet, infregit; truncaque a fronte revellit. Näides hoc, pomis et odoro flore repletum, Sacrarunt; divesque meo bona Copia cornu est.” Ovid. _Met._ ix. 85. Page 92. v. 1322. _Ecates_] i. e. Hecate’s. Page 92. v. 1326. —— _the venemous serpent,_ _That in hell is neuer brent_] —_brent_, i. e. burned. A somewhat profane allusion to the scriptural expression “the worm dieth not;”—(_worm_ and _serpent_ were formerly synonymous).