Note 1. The two following poems are given from a very curious MS. of the time of Henry the VIIIth, belonging to the Duke of Devonshire. The greater part of the poems in that MS. have the names, or the initials of their respective authors subscribed. The signatures originally affixed to those here printed have been much effaced. What remains of them, however, is sufficient to lead to some conjecture. The first is subscribed “Finis qd. W. t.” The second, “Finis qd. S e.” Respecting the first of these names I apprehend no doubt can be entertained, especially as a large number of the poems in the volume bear Wyatt’s signature. That the latter name was designed for Surrey’s, I think extremely probable; for his name was generally spelt “Surreye:” and the letter preceding the final “e,” though erased in part, seems to have been “y.” I believe that many compositions have been ascribed to authors on presumptive evidence less strong than the present. It should be observed, that Surrey and Wyatt were in the habit of frequently communicating their verses to each other. See the poems in this volume, which begin; “As oft as I behold and see;” p. 37: and “Love that liveth and reigneth in my thought;” p. 11.—Dr. Nott. [back]
