act iv.--

"I made my father's _old fox_ fly about his ears."

And in "Henry V.," by Shakespeare, act iv. sc. 4--

"Thou diest on point of _fox_."

See Steevens's note on the latter passage, where many passages of our ancient writers are produced to prove the explanation.

[203] [Old copy, _half_.]

[204] This custom, strange as it would now appear, was the constant practice of gentlemen in the 17th century. When on visits, either of ceremony or business, or even in company of ladies and at public places, their constant amusement was to comb their hair or wigs, and the fashion continued until the reign of Queen Anne. Dryden alludes to it in the Prologue to "Almanzor and Almahide"--

"But, as when vizard masque appears in pit Straight every man, who thinks himself a wit, Perks up; and managing _his comb_ with grace, With his white wig sets off his nut-brown face."

And Mincing, in "The Way of the World," says--

"The gentlemen stay but to _comb_, madam, and will wait on you."

These instances I am indebted for to Mr Steevens.--_Reed._

To the above instances may be added the following, which will show that the fashion mentioned in the text kept its ground a considerable length of time.

"How we rejoic'd to see 'em in our pit! What difference, methought, there was Betwixt a country gallant and a wit. When you did _order perriwig with comb_, They only us'd four fingers and a thumb."

--Epilogue to "The Wrangling Lovers," 1677.

"He looked, indeed, and sighed and set his cravat-string, and sighed again, and _combed his perriwig_: sighed a third time, and then took snuff, I guess to shew the whiteness of his hand."--"The Fortune Hunters," act i. sc. 2, 1689.

"How have I shook and trembling stood with awe, When here, behind the scenes, I've seen 'em draw ----A _comb_; that dead-doing weapon to the heart, And turn each powder'd hair into a dart."

--Prologue to "The Relapse," 1697.

[205] Terms at the game of gleek, which she is supposed to love immoderately.--_Pegge._

[206] William Lilly gives the following account of John Booker, the person here mentioned:--He "was born in Manchester, in the year 1601; was in his youth well instructed in the Latin tongue, which he understood very well. He seemed, from his infancy, to be designed for astrology; for, from the time he had any understanding, he would be always poring on and studying almanacks. He came to London at fitting years, and served an apprenticeship to an haberdasher in Lawrence Lane, London: but either wanting stock to set up, or disliking the calling, he left his trade, and taught to write, at Hadley, in Middlesex, several scholars in that school. He wrote singularly well both secretary and Roman. In process of time he served Sir Christopher Clethero, Knight, alderman of London, as his clerk, being a city justice of peace. He also was clerk to Sir Hugh Hammersley, alderman of London: both which he served with great credit and estimation, and, by that means, became not only well known, but as well respected, of the most eminent citizens of London, even to his dying day.

"He was an excellent proficient in astrology; whose excellent verses upon the twelve months, framed according to the configurations of each month, being blessed with success according to his predictions, procured him much reputation all over England. He was a very honest man; abhorred any deceit in the art he studied; had a curious fancy in judging of thefts, and as successful in resolving love-questions. He was no mean proficient in astronomy; he understood much in physic; was a great admirer of the antimonial cup; not unlearned in chymistry, which he loved well, but did not practise. He died in 1667."

[207] The etymology of this word is doubted; but as it was not used in English until about the time of the Restoration, it is most probably from the French _gentil_, and not from the Teutonic.--_Collier._ [The word is sometimes, but incorrectly, spelt _jaunty_.]

[208] A _bay-window_ is a [recess of a square or polygonal form, serving as a window, and is strictly distinct from a _bow_-window, the name of which indicates its character and shape; the two are often confounded.] The term frequently occurs in ancient writers. So in the "Second Part of Antonio and Melida," by Marston, act i. sc. 3--

"Three times I grasp'd at shades: And thrice deluded by erroneous sense, I forc'd my thoughts make stand; when, lo! I op'd A large _bay-window_, thorough which the night Struck terror to my soul."

Again, in "Cynthia's Revels," act iv. sc. 3: "In which time (retiring myself into a _bay-window_) the beauteous lady Annabel," &c.

And in "A Chast Mayd in Cheape-side," by Middleton, 1630, p. 62--

"In troth a match, wench: We are simply stock'd with cloth of tissue, cushions, To furnish out _bay-windows_."

[209] So in the epilogue to "Evening Love, or the Mock Astrologer," by Dryden--

"Up starts a _Monsieur_, new come o'er; and warm In the _French stoop_, and the pull back o' th' arm; Morbleu, dit il," &c.]

[210] [The sign of an inn there. See x. 212.]

[211] The manner in which houses were marked in which the plague was raging.--_Collier._

[212] The usual manner in which ladies formerly addressed their lovers. See Ben Jonson's "Every Man in his Humour," act iv. sc. 2, and "Every Man out of his Humour," act iii. sc. 9; Massinger's "Fatal Dowry," act ii. sc. 2; "Bashful Lover," act iv. sc. 1; "A Very Woman," act i. sc. 1; Shakespeare's "Two Gentlemen of Verona," act ii. sc. 1, and the same is to be seen in most of the dramatic productions of the times.--_Reed._

This title, which was a mark of favouritism tolerated by married women towards unmarried gentlemen in the reigns of James and Charles, is found in almost every old play. The plot of Chapman's "Monsieur D'Olive," turns upon the not very unnatural jealousy of a husband towards this equivocal service in a friend. See [the new edition of Chapman's plays.]--_Gilchrist._

[213] [A translation from the French by the Honourable Walter Montague, 8^o, 1656.]

[214] [Medlars.]

[215] The weight of a wedding-ring, in Middleton's time (a little earlier than that of Killigrew), may be seen by the following part of a dialogue from his "Chaste Maid in Cheapside," 1630, p. 7--

"TOUCHWOOD, _jun_. I would have a wedding-ring made for a gentlewoman, with all speed that may be.

"YELLOWHAMMER. Of what _weight_, sir?

"TOUCHWOOD, _jun_. Of some _half ounce_."

--_Collier._

[216] A _gredaline petticoat_ is probably a petticoat _puckered_, or _crumpled_, from the French word _grediller_. See Cotgrave. In Boyer's Dictionary it is explained, _Gris de lin, sorte de couleur_.

[217] Paulo Purganti's wife has the same sentiment. She

"thought the nation ne'er wou'd thrive, Till all the whores were burnt alive."

--_Prior._

[218] [Pearl here, and in three or four other places below, is used as a plural, _quasi_ a rope of pearl.]

[219] Or lief.

[220] [_i.e._, On all sides, both by the bye and the main passages.]

[221] [Old copy, _your_.]

[222] See note to "Albumazar" [xi. 328].

[223] [Old copy, _your_.]

[224] [Hazlitt's "Proverbs," 1869, p. 343, and note to Tomkis's "Albumazar," xi. 334-5.]

[225] [Platonic lovers.]

[226] [A very ancient office at the court; but here, of course, intended in another sense.]

[227] This word is seldom used as a verb: as an adjective it is not uncommon. See note to "Cornelia," [v. 230]. In this place it ought to be understood as "_was haught_ among the men." It was anciently printed _hault_ and _halty_, to be nearer the etymology: thus in Wilson's "Rhetorique," 1558, fol. 9, in the eulogy upon the Duke of Suffolk and his brother, we are told that they were "_hault_ without hate, kynde without crafte:" and in "The Orator, handling a hundred severall Discourses," by L. Piot [_i.e._, Anthony Munday], Decl. 81, p. 327, "for to say the truth, every _haulty_ spirit are in that like unto women, who do for the most part covet after that which they are forbidden to touch."--_Collier._

[228] Bows. So in the "Wonderful Yeare, 1603" [attributed to Dekker]: "Janus (that beares two faces under one hood) made a very mannerly _lowe legge_," &c. And again--

"He calls forth one by one, to note their graces; Whilst they _make legs_, he copies out their faces."

--_Ibid._

[229] [Pother.]

[230] _Outcry_ was the ancient term for _an auction_. As in Massinger's "City Madam," act i. sc. 3--

"The goods of this poor man sold at an _out-cry_. His wife turn'd out of doors, his children forc'd To beg their bread."

And again in Middleton's "Chast Mayd in Cheape-side" [Dyce's edit. iv. 58:]

"I'll sell all at an _out-cry_."

Again in Ben Jonson's "Catiline," act ii. sc. 3--

"Their houses, and fine gardens, given away, And their goods, under the spear at _outcry_."

Upon which last passage Mr Whalley observes, that "the Roman way of selling things by auction was setting up a spear; and hence the phrase _sub hasta vendere_."

[231] See Evans's "Collection of Old Ballads," i. 292.

The story of Whittington and his Cat, though under different names, is common to various languages. Messrs Grim have pointed it out in German, and it is given in Italian as one of [the "Facetie" of the] celebrated Arlotto under the following title: "_Il Piovano, a un prete che fece mercantia di palle, dice la novella della gatte._" He relates it of a _mercante Genovese avventurato il quale navigando fu portato dalla fortuna a una isola lontanissima_. The story was probably borrowed in English and assigned to Whittington: it is noticed in "Eastward Hoe" as "the famous fable of Whittington and his Puss." This play was written soon after 1603, and the ballad in Evans's collection is [certainly in its present form] not so old. The "Novella" was printed in Italy [soon after 1500]; and Arlotto, to whom it is attributed, died in 1483.

[232] [Old copy, _Hope, a half peny_, &c. This appears to be an allusion to the proverb,

"At the west-gate came Thornton in, With a hop, a halfpenny, and a lamb's skin."

See Hazlitt's "Proverbs," p. 78. Thornton was a merchant of Newcastle.]

[233] [In the modern editions, this speech improperly makes part of the next scene.]

[234] [The folio reads _Mistress_.]

[235] An _aunt of the suburbs_ was synonymous with _bawd_. See [Dyce's Middleton, i. 444.]

[236] [From the context, evidently a place of entertainment, a kind of restaurant. Perhaps the modern Glass-House Street may fix the site.]

[237] _i.e._, The bill of the mortality by the plague. The theatres were sometimes closed, in consequence of the prevalence of the disease. Such was the case in the latter end of the reign of Elizabeth. See note to Nash's "Summer's Last Will and Testament [viii. 15]."--_Collier._

[238] [The folio reads _hogough_.]

[239] [In old copy this word forms part of the next sentence.]

[240] [Probably a tavern so called.]

[241] [The weight inserted in a bowl.]

[242] This probably is the same tavern mentioned in "A Match at Midnight," act i.: "My master means the _sign of the Devil_," &c.--_Collier._

[243] [_i.e._, It is presumed, put a quart of sack into your head at my expense. He afterwards gives him an angel. A _half-moon_ was an old cant term for a wig. See Dyce's Middleton, ii. 382.]

[244] _i.e._, _Who_ can that be? In this manner the word _who_ is pronounced in some parts of the kingdom, particularly in the county of Kent.--_Pegge._

[245] _i.e._, The Tailor, who very suddenly got drunk, and as suddenly drowsy.--_Collier._

[246] Jolly makes his _exit_ at the same time, and returns again where his entrance is marked.--_Collier._

[247] [Probably Faithful's Christian name was _Moll_, which Jolly pronounces _Mull_.]

[248] [See Hazlitt's "Proverbs," 1869, p. 141.]

[249] [This word was perhaps then, as now, understood in a cant sense.]

[250] [A crowd had assembled outside, it appears, inquisitive to know what was going on within.]

[251] [Old copy, _thy_.]

[252] [A proverbial expression for a simpleton.]

[253] [In how stately a fashion she carries herself.]

[254] [Drunken, from the Dutch _op zee_, which means literally _at sea_, and thence drunk, like our own _half-seas-over_.]

[255] [Summoner.]

[256] [A play on words.]

[257] [Alluding to the common expression, Fools have fortune.]

[258] [The folio, _you he_.]

[259] Alluding to the acts of Oliver Cromwell's parliament for punishing adultery, incest, and fornication; by which it was declared that the two former should be punishable with death on the first offence, and the latter upon the second conviction. "These acts," an excellent writer (Mr Barrington on the Statutes) observes, "could not have continued long unrepealed, _even if Charles II._ had not succeeded to the throne." It has been doubted whether there were any instances of carrying them into execution, notwithstanding the rigidness of the times wherein they were enacted. A newspaper, however, of that period furnishes an example which, from the extraordinary circumstances attending it, may perhaps be considered as not unworthy of being preserved. In _Mercurius Politicus_, No. 168, from Thursday, Aug. 25, to Thursday, Sept. 1, 1653, p. 2700, is the following passage:--"At Monmouth Assize an old man of _eighty-nine years_ was put to death for adultery, committed with a woman above _sixty_."

[260] [Lindabrides is a character in the "Mirror of Knighthood," once a famous romance. The name was afterwards applied to women of a certain class. She is mentioned in act ii. of "A Match at Midnight."]

[261] [Dragged.]

[262] This incident is borrowed from the Italian, and it is employed by many of their novelists. It also forms the eighth story of "Les Comptes du Monde adventureux," printed at [Paris in 1555, and a translation from the Italian.] Casti founded his tale of "La Celia" upon it, with the variation of making the old woman a negress; but in this change he was not original. Richard Brome employed it in his "Novella," acted at the Blackfriars Theatre thirty years before Killigrew's play was published.--_Collier._

[263] [A hit at some of the frivolous poetry of an earlier period. See Hazlitt's "Handbook" _v._ Lenton.]

[264] The _sickness_ was the common name for the plague. See Gifford's Ben Jonson, iii. 353, iv. 9, &c.--_Collier._

[265] This alludes to one of the regulations made to prevent the spreading of the plague. When a house became infected, the officers empowered for that purpose immediately placed a guard before it, which continued there night and day, to prevent any person going from thence until the expiration of forty days. At the same time, _red crosses, of a foot long_ were painted on the doors and windows, with the words LORD HAVE MERCY UPON US, in great letters, wrote over them, to caution all passengers to avoid infected places.

In a collection of epigrams, entitled, "More Fools Yet," written by R. S. (Roger Sharpe), 1610, 4^o, is the following--

"Rusticus, an honest country swayne, Whose education simple was, and plaine, Having survey'd the citie round about, Emptyed his purse, and so went trudging out. But by the way he saw, and much respected, A doore belonging to a house infected; Whereon was plac't (as 'tis the custome still) _Lord have mercy upon us!_ This sad bill The sot perusde; and having read, he swore, All London was, ungodly, but that doore. Here dwells some vertue yet, sayes he; for this A most devout religious saying is: And thus he wisht (with putting off his hatte) That every doore had such a bill as that."

[266] Robert Gomersall, in 1628, published a poem, in three cantos, called "The Levite's Revenge." It arrived at a second edition in 1633, and seems to have been popular.--_Collier._

[267] This is probably meant to ridicule John Ball, a celebrated puritan divine, born in 1585, and died in 1640, after publishing many religious controversial works.--_Collier._

[268] It seems doubtful whether the preceding part of this speech does not belong to Wanton.--_Collier._

[269] [Mistress.]

[270] _To fling an old shoe_ after a person to produce good luck is a custom still spoken of, and hardly yet disused. It is mentioned in many writers: as in "The Wild Goose Chase," act ii. sc. 1--

"If ye see us close once, Begone, and leave me to my fortune suddenly, For I am then determined to do wonders. Farewell, _and fling an old shoe_."

[271] See note to "A Match at Midnight" [xiii. 81].

[272] One of the original actors in the plays of Shakespeare. See an account of him in Wright's "Historia Histrionica" _infrAc_, vol. xv.

[273] Banks, who was famous for a horse, which was taught to show tricks, and perform several feats of art, to the great admiration of the virtuoso spectator. This celebrated horse is mentioned by several writers of Queen Elizabeth's time, as Ben Jonson, in "Every Man out of his Humour," act iv. sc. 6: "He keeps more ado with this monster than ever _Banks_ did with his horse, or the fellow with the elephant."

Again, in "Jack Drum's Entertainment," sig. B 3: "It shall be chronicled next after the death of _Bankes his horse_."

Again, in Dekker's "Satiromastix," 1602: "I'll teach thee to turn me into _Bankes_ his horse, and to tell gentlemen I am a juggler, and can show tricks."

And in Dekker's "Wonderfull Yeare," 1603: "These are those ranck riders of art, that have so spur gal'd your lustie wing'd Pegasus, that now he begins to be out of flesh, and (even only for provander sake) is glad to show tricks like _Bankes_ his curtall."

See Digby "On Bodies," c. 37, p. 393. Sir Walter Raleigh's "History of the World," 1st part, p. 178. Gayton's "Notes on Don Quixote," part 4, p. 289.

[274] [_i.e._, Without their upper garments.]

[275] Stephen Marshall and Thomas Case, two of the most celebrated divines among the Presbyterians. Marshall was the person who preached the famous sermon before the House of Commons, Feb. 13, 1641, from Judges v. 23, "Curse ye Meroz," &c. This sermon is mentioned by Lord Clarendon. Both these sectaries are noticed by Butler. See Dr Grey's edition of "Hudibras," p. 3, c. i., l. 884; p. 3, c. ii., l. 636, and the notes.

[276] [Perhaps a play on _choler_ and _colour_ is intended here.]

[277] _Slot_, in hunting, means the print of the foot on the ground. See Todd's Johnson.--_Collier._

[278] [Bourbonne-les-Bains, in the Haute Marne.]

[279] Prologues and epilogues were formerly spoken in _black cloaks_.

[280] [He misunderstands the Parson's classical allusion to Nessus.]

[281] [The name of the actor who filled the part of Wild.]

* * * * *

Transcriber's Notes:

1. Minor punctuation errors have been corrected without comment.

2. A list of spelling corrections and other notes appears at the end of this e-text.

3. A Table of Contents does not appear in the original text. A brief Table of Contents has been created for this e-text.

4. All end-of-line stage directions have been moved onto their own lines and indented by a consistent amount under the dialogue.

5. Footnotes have been numbered sequentially and moved to the end of this e-text. Markers have been added indicating where footnotes for a particular play begin.

6. Sidenotes in Latin appear in "Lady Alimony". When these notes fell within an unbroken paragraph the paragraph has been broken and the Sidenote placed directly ABOVE the sentence where they appeared ADJACENT in the original text.

7. Spelling corrections:

p. 69, "emnity" to "enmity" (2) (that fatal enmity)

p. 132, "ElA(C)azar" (1) to "Eleazar" (60) (Until my Eleazar)

p. 186, "philip" (1) to "Philip" (88) (can I Philip him)

p. 253, "ememy's" to "enemy's" (36) (an enemy's advice)

p. 371, "KILLLGREW" to "KILLIGREW" (20) (THOMAS KILLIGREW)

p. 510, "aud" to "and" (envy and a dazzling power)

Footnote [265] "entituled" to "entitled" (3) (epigrams, entitled)

There are a number of spelling variants between the various authors, all of which have been retained.

There are a number of Word variants retained throughout the text, sometimes occuring within the SAME play (and often the same speaker), these include hyphenations, apostrophe's and accented characters.

8. OTHER CORRECTIONS and NOTES:

p. 212, corrected SCENE IV. to SCENE VI. For reference, Scene IV is on p. 205 and Scene V is on p. 209.

p. 301, added Footnote Anchor [125] missing in original text.

p. 353, changed ACT VIII. to SCENE VIII., this is correctly