Skelton, John (1460?-1529), was a great satirist during the early part of the reign of the House of Tudor in England. Skelton lived at court and tutored Henry VIII, then a young prince. Skelton became a priest in 1498, and served as rector of Diss in Norfolk. There he wrote Ware the Hawk, a savage satire on a priest who preferred hunting with falcons to religion; and Philip Sparrow, a playful elegy about a young girl’s dead pet bird. About 1520, Skelton wrote three poems that satirize the church and Cardinal Thomas Wolsey—Colin Clout, Why Come Ye Not to Court?, and Speak, Parrot. Skelton wrote much poetry in blocks of short, irregular, consecutively rhymed lines, later called Skeltonic meter. Skelton was probably born in Norfolk. He died on June 21, 1529.
