University of Virginia Library

Internal Evidence:

In Cocke Lorelles Bote are the following interesting lines:

Alexander Dyce, in the notes to his edition of the works of John Skelton, cites this passage in Cocke Lorelles Bote. "The winde from Winchester," writes Dyce, "alludes to the temporary suppression of the Southwarke stews at the intercession of the Bishop of Winchester."[6] Dyce gives neither the date of this suppression nor the source of his information. In John Stow's Survey of London, however, we find the following passage: "Also Robert Fabian writeth that in the yeare 1506 the 21. of Henry the seuenth, the saide stewe houses in Southwarke were for a season inhibited, and the dores close vp, but it was not long saith he, ere the houses there were set open againe."[7] Richard Fox was the Bishop of Winchester in 1506 and he was in a position to "inhibit" the stews, for he was the landlord. In a Harleian MS (293, ff.62-67) for 1506 there is a transcript of "Ordinances touching the governance of the stewhoulders in Southwarke under the direction of the bishope of Winchester, instituted in the tyme of Henry the Second." Thomas Fuller in his Church History (1648) also refers to the suppression of the stews by the Bishop of Winchester in 1506.[8] No doubt Dyce is right in his explanation of the allusion but there is another side to the matter. Fabian's original chronicle ended with the year 1485; the second edition, printed in 1532, included continuations to the year 1509 but most likely by another person. Now the reference to the temporary suppression of the stews for which Stow cites Fabian as his authority does not appear in this printed continuation of Fabian and I was unable to discover an actual source for Stow's remarks. In the printed continuation of Fabian, however, we do find the following interesting entry for the year 1506: "And vpon the euyn of seynt Maury, began an hidious wind, which endured vppon xi. dayes folowynge, more or lasse, in contynuall blowyng, by meane whereof the wedercok of Poules was blowen downe, & moche other harme done."[9] Also in Hall's Chronicle, in the entry for 1506, the 21st year of Henry VII's reign, we find mentioned a great tempest which was "wonderful straunge to many men, because the violencie of the wynde had blowen doune an Egle of brasse . . . fro a pynnacle or spire of Paules church."[10] The writer of Cocke Lorelles Bote is surely combining in his allusion two historical events. The big "wynde fro wynchester" refers both to the restraining order from the Bishop against the stews and to the real wind which blew from the south and toppled the weathercock of St. Paul's on the London side. The earliest date for the poem, then, is 1506.

What of the latest date for the poem? First, the events alluded to seem fresh in the mind of the poet. Secondly, the lines seem to imply that the "relygyous women" (prostitutes), having crossed the river in ferries ("In wherye"), settled chiefly at Colman hedge and that the stews on the bank side were by and large inoperative at the time of writing. Now we have seen Stow citing Fabian to the effect that "it was not long ere the houses there were set open againe." And Fuller, though he may be relying on Stow, assures us that the suppression was not long effective and that the stew houses were soon again in full operation (no dates are given).[11] Moreover in literature between 1506 and 1509 we find continued reference to the popularity of the stews. Though not conclusive, these facts argue that the poem was written not long after 1506 — two or three years at the most.