Court?_ and _Colin Clout_, both
directed against the clergy, and the former against Wolsey in particular.
Piqued at his inconstancy (for S. had previously courted him) the
Cardinal would have imprisoned him, had he not taken sanctuary in
Westminster, where he remained until his death. Other works of his are
_The Tunning_ (brewing) _of Elynor Rummynge_, a coarsely humorous picture
of low life, and the tender and fanciful _Death of Philip Sparrow_, the
lament of a young lady over her pet bird killed by a cat.

SKELTON, SIR JOHN (1831-1897).--Miscellaneous writer. _B._ in Edinburgh,
_ed._ at the Univ. there, and called to the Scottish Bar 1854, he was
Sec. and ultimately Chairman of the Local Government Board for Scotland.
He wrote _Maitland of Lethington and the Scotland of Mary Stuart_ (1887),
_The Crookit Meg_ (1880), and _The Table Talk of Shirley_. He contributed
to _Fraser's_ and _Blackwood's Magazines_. He received the degree of
LL.D. from Edin. 1878, and was made K.C.B. 1897.

SKENE, WILLIAM FORBES (1807-1892).--Historian, 2nd _s._ of James S. of
Rubislaw, friend of Sir Walter Scott, was a Writer to the Signet in
Edinburgh, and Clerk of the Bills in the Court of Session. He wrote and
ed. historical works of considerable authority, _The Highlanders of
Scotland_ (1837), and his most important work, _Celtic Scotland_
(1876-80), and ed. of _The Four Ancient Books of Wales_ (1868), and other
Celtic writings.

SKINNER, JOHN (1721-1807).--Historian and song-writer, _s._ of a
schoolmaster at Birse, Aberdeenshire, was _ed._ at Marischal Coll.
Brought up as a Presbyterian, he became an Episcopalian and ministered to
a congregation at Longside, near Peterhead, for 65 years. He wrote _The
Ecclesiastical History of Scotland_ from the Episcopalian point of view,
and several songs of which _The Reel of Tullochgorum_ and _The Ewie wi'
the Crookit Horn_ are the best known, and he also rendered some of the
Psalms into Latin. He kept up a rhyming correspondence with Burns.

SKIPSEY, JOSEPH (1832-1903).--Poet, _b._ near North Shields, and from
childhood worked in the mines. He _pub._ a few pieces of poetry in 1859,
and soon after left working underground and became caretaker of
Shakespeare's house at Stratford-on-Avon. During the last 30 years of his
life he _pub._ several vols. of poetry, including _The Collier Lad_ and
_Carols from the Coal Fields_; and he ed. some vols. for the "Canterbury
Poets." _Memoir_ by R.S. Watson