The relation between the poems and Lauder's biography is discussed in the Introduction. That information is not repeated here: instead, cross-references to the relevant pages of the Introduction are supplied. The aims of the Commentary are: to elucidate particular details in the poems themselves; to provide lexical glosses where necessary; to call attention to places where the physical features of the relevant copy-text impact on the text presented in this edition. Identifications of common or standard references (e.g. from mythology) are normally given only on their first occurrence.

NB: Poems 15, 19 and 24 are untraced.

THE POPES NEW-YEARS GIFT

Copy-text: NLS H.29.b.51. Also seen: NLS 1.425(4).

See Introduction, pp. 21–3. Only matter not reappearing (if in revised form) in the Anatomie of the Romane Clergie (1623) is included in the present edition and noted in the Commentary. Comments on Raban's Preface are here numbered by paragraph.

1.0

Roma diu titubans … esse caput. [Rome, long in a staggering state, and driven by ancient errors, shall collapse in ruin and no more be the head of the world.] See the commentary to 3.0, below. 1.0.1

Psalm: Ps. 68:1 (Geneva Bible).

1.0.2

Although the printer-publisher Raban is the sole named author of the prefatory letter, it is conceivable that Lauder contributed the paragraphs (§§2–3), which reappear in the Anatomie. On Raban and his career see Iain Beavan, ‘Raban, Edward (d. 1658), printer’, in ODNB; E. Gordon Duff, ‘The Early Career of Edward Raban, afterwards First Printer at Aberdeen’, The Library, 4th series, 2 (1922), 239–56.

§1 we, our: the plural pronouns may be either quite general, or an indication of joint action by Raban and Lauder.

§4 Hole-lye: here and elsewhere, a pun on ‘holy’ and ‘whole lie’.

Guesen: an originally deprecatory term (Gueux) for the Dutch anti-Spanish rebels. Jesebell: Ahab, king of the Jews, took Jezebel to wife (cf. I Kings 16:31).

Spalato: Georg Spalatin [Burckhart], 1484–1545, supporter of Luther; humanist and historian.