Part 23

FESTINATION, "with all _festination_" (R204,_c_), speed, hurry, expedition. "Sweet Frank, when shall my father Security present me?" "With all _festination_."--Jonson and Chapman, _Eastward Hoe_ (1605), ii. 1.

FETCHES, "beware the _fetches_ of Tediousness" (WS143,_a_), stratagems, tricks, contrivances, artifices: the word does not always carry a bad or unworthy meaning.

FICHANT, "Ise cannot be _fichant_ enough" (R267,_c_), sufficient; _i.e._ better received and esteemed. Mr. Magnus suggests _Je m'en fiche_, as origin.

FIDE, W[illiam] (M22,_d_), so given in the E.E.T.S. text, _Fide_ being _Fyde_.

FIERCE, "a likely man and a _fierce_" (M27,_d_)--"how valiant ... and _fierce_" (WH293,_d_), strong, full of fire and ardour. "Yet have I _fierce_ affections."--Shakespeare, _Antony and Cleopatra_ (1608), i. 5. "The ships, though so great, are driven of _fierce_ winds; yet are they turned about with a very small helm."--_Bible_, Auth. Vers. (1611), _James_ iii. 4.

FIRIBUSQUE, see Breadibus.

FIST, "a good running _fist_" (M30,_b_), writing: an early example of a common present-day colloquialism.

FLATERABUNDUS, "ye _flaterabundus_ you" (R188,_a_), see Clawback.

FLEAR, FLEARING, FLEERETH (_passim_), mock, gibe, leer, smirk; and as _verb_ = to grin contemptuously or scornfully, sneer, smirk.

FLEXIBLE, "Mankind is so _flexible_" (M33,_a_), pliant, easily influenced, wavering in disposition.

FLITCHED, "hath _flitched_ the bishopricks" (R218,_b_), so in orignal, but? _filched_. Mr. Magnus says, "Cut up into strips."

FLITTANCE (R183,_d_), "a ghost word for fleetings, _i.e._ skimmings" (Mr. Magnus quoting Prof. Skeat).

FLIX, "die of the _flix_" (R271,_c_), flux, dysentery. Mr. Magnus glosses this "flyxe [_flixe_ in E.E.T.S. text], flick, thief, 62, 1908." The mistake in giving the text spelling in glossary leads one to suspect that all the rest, save the page and line reference, is wrong also. At all events, how could Avarice "die of the thief"? Perhaps, however, the E.E.T.S. editor meant the Great Thief of Thieves--Old Age!! "Diseased with the bluddy _flixe_."--Udal, _Matt._ ix.

FLORENT, "so _florent_ estate" (R200,_d_), flourishing, prosperous. "Sinopa was a _florent_ citee."--Udal, _Apoph. of Erasmus_ (1543), p. 77.

FLOUTHY, "full of _flouthy_ bushes" (JE355,_b_)? _slouthy_ as in my text and in original: if _flouthy_ from flout = mock, jeer, treat with contempt: cf. lecherous thorns, backbiting briars, elders of envy, and other kindred similes in the same passage.

FOND, "each _fond_ opinion" (N58,_a_; _et passim_), foolish, silly, unwise.

FONE, "God shield you from your _fone_" (M14,_d_; _et passim_), foes: an old plural.

FOOT, "I hope to have his _foot met_" (M23,_d_), _i.e._ caught by the foot, tripped.

FOOTBALL, "lend us a _football_" (M32,_c_). Dr. Brandl says this is the earliest mention of the game.

FORBORNE, "it may no longer be _forborne_" (N51,_d_), endured. "I may not certes, though I shulde die, _Forbere_ to ben out of your compagnie."--Chaucer, _Cant. Tales_ (1383), 10,056.

FORCE, FORCETH (_passim_), as _sub._ = matter, consequence, importance, ground for care or anxiety; as _verb_ = to care, regard, value, to be of importance or signify. "What _fors_ were it though al the town bihelde?"--Chaucer, _Troilus and Cressida_ (1369), ii. 373. "It little _forceth_ how long a man liue, but how wel and vertuously."--Udal, _Mark_ v. "I _force_ not argument a straw."--Shakespeare, _Rape of_ _Lucrece_ (1594), 1021.

FOR-COLD, "pottage shall be for-_cold_" (M13,_b_)--"when a man is _for-cold_" (M5,_c_), very cold: as a prefix _for-_ has (1) an intensive force; (2) a negative or privative force; and (3) a deteriorative force. Typical examples of each class are----(1) forlorn = utterly lonely; for-drunken = beastly drunk; (2) forbid, forfend; (3) forshapen = badly formed, etc.

FORMA, see In.

FORTY PENCE, see Jack Noble.

FOUNDER, "our _founder_ and chief--_founder_ me no foundering" (R186,_b_; 187_c_; 189_a_), patron, benefactor: see other volumes of this series.

FOUR EARS, see Horse.

FRAGILITY? "of your nature and of your _fragility_" (M14,_a_), frailty, weakness, proneness to fall. "Earnestly beseeching the dictatour to forgive this humane _fragilitie_ and youthful folly of Qu. Fabius."--P. Holland, _Livius_, p. 307.

FRAY, "how I _fray_" (R202,_c_), fear. "The troubled ghost of my father Anchises So oft in sleepe doth _fray_ me, and aduise."--Surrey, _Virgil_, _Æneis_, iv.

FRAYRY, "the demonical _frayry_" (M8,_d_), friary, conventicle.

FUSION, "God send it His _fusion_" (M15,_d_),? _foison_, _fusoan_, _fusin_ = plenty, abundance: in original, _fusyon_.

GAN, "how God ... _gan_ devise" (N46,_a_), began: auxiliary with force of _did_. "Not with less dread the loud Ethereal trumpet from on high _gan_ blow."--Milton, _Paradise Lost_ (1667), vi. 60.

GARD, "freshly _gard_" (N77,_c_), trimmed, edged. "Those of the forewarde vnder the Duke of Norffolke, were apparelled in blue coats _garded_ with redde."--Stow, _Henry VIII._ (1544).

GAUDIES, "no more _gaudies_ or japes" (R264,_b_), trick, jest. "Thynke wel that it is no _gaude_."--Chaucer, _Troilus_ (1369), ii. 351.

GEAR (_passim_), formerly a word-of-all-work = outfit, ornament, dress, accoutrements, arms, harness, tackle, goods, property, tools, implements, material, stuff, matter, business, affair, manners, habits, customs, rubbish, trash--and what not? See other volumes of this series.

GENERALIS, see Curia.

GENTLE-MEAT, "_Gentle meat_ for a hawk" (J.E. 363,_c_), the pun is double-barrelled: _gentle_ also = a trained hawk.

GENTMAN (R231,_b_), gentleman: cf. jentman.

GEOFFREY, "farewell, gentle _Geoffrey_" (M9,_a_), apparently a common tag or catch-phrase, or from some song of the period. Heywood (_Works_, E.E.D.S., II. 36_b_) quotes almost the identical words of _Mankind_: "Now, here is the door, and there is the way; And so, (quoth he), farewell, gentle _Geoffrey_!"

GERE, read Gear.

GESUMME, "a good horse should be _gesumme_" (M12,_d_). Dr. Bradley (quoted by E.E.T.S. editors) suggests _geason_ (A.S. _goesne_ = empty, scarce). The whole passage from the beginning of the speech is obscure and apparently corrupt: at all events, it hardly "reads" as it is. The following suggestion is made with a view to eliciting a re-examination. The original is (E.E.T.S.)--

"Ande my wyf wer_e_ yow_u_r hors, sche wolde yow att to-sa_m_ne [Gh]e fede yow_u_r hors in mesur_e_; ze ar_e_ a wyse man. I trow, & [Gh]e wer_e_ þe kyng_is_ palfrey-ma_n_, A goode horse xulde be gesum_m_e."

Now, take as miswritten the words _yow_ and _to-samne_ in the first line, and substitute respectively _be_ and _to-famen_, and sense is obtained. New Guise has overheard Mercy saying that too much corn for a horse makes it unruly and unmanageable. "Good!" says New Guise, "you are no liar, for I fed my wife so well that she has given me a clouting--here is the plaster!... If my wife were your horse she would be altogether famished. I trow if ye were the King's palfrey-man a good horse would go empty or be scarce (King's horses, for parade purposes requiring plenty of the best fodder). The misscripts are not unlikely ones, and--well, 'tis but a suggestion." "Steuen wille vs traueile and _famen_ vs to dede."--_Robert_ _de Brunne_, p. 122.

GHOST, GHOSTLY (_passim_), soul, breath, spirit, will; spiritual, not carnal or secular, religious: Ger., _geistlich_. As, his holy _ghost_ (of the will of a man), ghostly purpose, _ghostly_ enemy, _ghostly_ solace _ghostly_ comfort, _ghostly, ghostly_ to our purpose, father _ghostly, ghostly_ reason.

GINNETH, "when she _ginneth_ wane" (N44,_a_), beginneth. "This lessoun thus I _ginne_."--_William of_ _Palerne_, 1929. "Into hyr bedde the boy _gan_ crepe."--_Octovian_, 176.

GINST, "_ginst_ to err" (N52,_b_), see previous entry.

GIS, "by Gis" (_passim_), Jesus: also Jis and Gisse.

GIVE, "_give_ the rope just to thy neck" (M35,_d_), put, adjust.

GODAMIGHTIES (R225,_a_), a term applied to any person or thing greatly idolised: also and mostly, now-a-days, in sarcasm, _e.g._ a little God-almighty (of a conceited prig), etc. Avarice is speaking of his money bags.

GODIGOD (R182,_c_), "God give you good [day]," a gloss of Prof. Brandl's. Also (R258,_c_), _Godigod eve_ and _Godigod speed_.

GOD'S GOOD, "a hat of _God's good_" (R229,_b_), yeast; _sallet_ = helmet (see E.E.D.S., _Anon. Plays_, 1 Ser. 274_a_). People means that instead of being well enough off to get a helmet to serve the king, he is fain to be content with a yeast tub; probably it was meant also as a bit of "business" for the groundlings' sake.

GOSS, "by _Goss_" (R194,_c_), God.

GOVERNANCE, "this is his _governance_" (M26,_d_), behaviour, manners, conduct, mode of life. "Now schalle I telle you the _governance_ of the court of the grete Cham."--_Maundeville_, p. 232.

GOVERNY, "the whole rule and _governy_" (N60,_c_), control, management, guidance.

GRASS, "while the _grass_ shall grow the horse shall sterve" (R233,_d_), see Heywood (E.E.D.S., _Works_, II., 378), _s.v._ Grass.

GREEN CHEESE, "Ye can see no _green cheese_ but your teeth will water" (R216,_c_), cream cheese, the material of which "the moon is made": see Heywood, _Works_ (E.E.D.S.), II., 97_c_.

GREEN FRIARS (N92,_d_), no such order is known either to the highest living English authority on monastic orders, or to Helyot or Dugdale; _The Catholic Dictionary_ likewise makes no reference to Green Friars. And, in truth, having regard to the context, it seems tolerably certain that Medwall (a priest himself) was merely satirizing known abuses, with an eye perhaps on "Friar Tuck" and "Lincoln green": the "hedge-marriages" alluded to later (93,_c_) would also support this interpretation.

GROGE, GROGED (N75,_d_), grudge, grudged: as _subs_ = discontent, ill-will, anger, unwillingness to benefit; as _verb_ = grieve, repine, murmur, raise objection, feel ill-will. "Perish they That _grudge_ one thought against your Majesty."--Shakespeare, _1 Henry VI._ iii. (1592), iii. 1.

GROMWELL-SEED (R183,_b_), properly grey millet; here a slang term for money: see other volumes of this series.

GROSSERY, "such other _grossery_" (R263,_d_), _i.e._ grossness, enormities, obscurity, with an eye on "grocery" (fr. O.F. _grossier_, one who sells by the gross, or wholesale).

GRUTCH (_passim_), grudge: see Groge.

GUBBINGS, "the _gubbings_ of booties and preys" (R183,_d_), properly the parings of haberdine, but also generic for fragments of any kind.

GUISE, "good new _guise_ ... vicious _guise_," etc. (_passim_), generic for fashion, style, manner, mien, conduct.

'GYPTIAN, "the _'Gyptian_ thraldom" (R237,_c_), Egyptian.

HA (_passim_), have.

HAD, see Wist.

HAFTER, "ye are but an _hafter_" (WS141,_c_), wrangler, caviller: also a generic reproach; here specifically a falterer, laggard. "Of ale he doth so stinke, That whether he go before, or behynde, Ye shall hym smell without the winde. For when he goeth to it, he is no _hafter_."--_Doctour Double Ale_, 216 (_c._ 1547).

HAIK, HAKE (R191,_b_ and _c_; R219,_c_), "an exclamation, generally a signal of defiance" (Halliwell): cf. "hack" ("hawk") = to clear the throat.

HAIR, see Hood.

HALE, "What doth he after him _hale_" (R215,_d_), haul.

HALED, see States.

HALFPENNY, "your minds were all on your _halfpenny_" (R196,_d_), _i.e._ with an eye to the main chance, generally attentive, cautious, or prudent. The proverb is in Heywood (_Works_, E.E.D.S., II. 14,_c_; 174,_b_). "_Ri._: Dromio, looke heere, now is my hand on my _halfepeny_. _Half._: Thou liest, thou hast not a farthing to lay thy hands on."--Lyly, _Mother_ _Bombie_ (1594), ii. 1. "But the blinde [deafe] man, having his hand on another _halfe-penny_, said, What is that you say, sir? Hath the clocke strucken?"--_Notes_ _on Du Bartas_, _To the Reader_, 2nd page.

HALSED, "his fair wife _halsed_ in a corner" (M28,_d_), embraced (_hals_ = neck): the special use of the word is singularly appropriate, as Mischief had just escaped the halsman (= executioner or jailer) himself.

HANCE BEERPOT (W.H.), _i.e._ Hans, but there was no object in carrying the modernisation of the orthography so far as to alter the original Hance: see Wealth and Health.

HAND, "I bless you with my _left hand_" (M23,_c_), _i.e._ curse: cf. "over the left" = altogether wrong, or the reverse of what is said. Such "left-handed" colloquialisms are by no means rare to express insincerity, ill-omen, underhandness, or inferiority. The earliest quotation in the _O.E.D._, _s.v._ Left, is 1705, so this example carries its use back upwards of 200 years.

HANDS, see Aloft.

HANGMAN, see Calais.

HANSTON, see Respublica.

HARDELY (_passim_), steadily, boldly, certainly.

HARE, "this same way goeth the _hare_" (R212,_b_), _i.e._ that's the gist, trend, secret, why and wherefore of the matter: in Heywood.

HASSARD, "fet not _hassard_ nor rioter" (IP,320,_c_); so in original. It may be a contraction of _hasarder_ = gamester, or a misprint for _haskard_ = a rough, blustering fellow (Dekker); probably, however, the former fits the context best.

HASSE, "a fair manor _hasse_" (JE354,_a_), so in original; and but for the rhyme-word _bash_ being spelt _basshe_ one might suspect a misprint, especially as Dr. Murray records no such form as _hasse_ for _house_, nor anything like it. The meaning, however, is clear enough.

HAT (_passim_), have it--ha[ve i]t.

HAUT, HAUTY, "his _haut_ courage" (N60,_d_),--"Wealth is _hauty_" (WH276,_d_), high, lofty, proud. Also see N53,_c_, where _haut_ is misprinted _hawt_.

HAVE (_a_) (_passim_) bears several idiomatic meanings in old writers. Thus _to have after_ = to follow; _to_ _have at_ (a person or thing) = to try, attempt, begin, strike, hit; _to have with_ (a person) = to go with, come on. Also, _have at him_ (subs.) = a thrust, blow; and so forth. "_Have after_, to what issue will this come."--Shakespeare, _Hamlet_ (1596), i. 4. "_Have at_ _it_, then."--Shakespeare, _Cymbeline_ (1605), v. 5. "_Have at thee_ with a downright blow."--Shakespeare, _2 Henry VI._ (1594), ii. 3. "I'll venture one _have-at-him_."--Shakespeare, _Henry VIII._ (1601), ii. 2.

(_b_) see Petticoat.

HAVIOUR, "a man of your _haviour_" (N85,_b_), conduct, manners, demeanour, as in Shakespearean usage. But possibly it may, and probably does, stand here for the Anglo-Norman _havoir_ = wealth, property. The context would seem to indicate this, "Into a _haviour_ of less fear."--Shakespeare, _Cymbeline_ (1605), iii. 4.

HAWT, see Haut.

HEADIBUS, "your headibus" (M18,_c_), heads.

HEAL (_passim_), health. HEDGE, "over the _hedge_ ere ye come at the stile" (R192,_a_), proverbial: in Heywood (_Works_, E.E.D.S., II. 97,_d_ and 443,_c_).

HEELS, see Lead.

HELPEN, "he can be _helpen_ thereof" (N122,_a_), helped; also _holpen_. Still in use.

HEND, "to me full _hend_" (M11,_c_), courteous, civil, polite. "So loveth she this _hendy_ Nicholas."--Chaucer, _Cant. Tales_ (1383), 3386.

HEY, "_Hey nonny nonny, ho for money_" (R222,_d_), if not a popular song, a popular refrain. The words occur in many old writers, not infrequently with an obscene meaning or reference: see _Slang and its_ _Analogues, s.v._ Nonny.

HIE, "_Hie_ you forth lively" (M17,_d_), probably a snatch of some old song, which, however, I have been unable to trace. A somewhat similar reference occurs in _Misognus_ (Anon. Plays, 2 Ser., E.E.D.S., 185,_d_) during a dancing scene: "O lively with high, child, and turn thee; ah, this is good sport!" Although this does not settle the source of the saying, yet it adds force to Mankind's words.

HIGH, "on _high_, on _high_" (JE357,_c_), a duplication necessitated by the rhyme--_Eli, Eli_, but all the same a very striking one.

HIGHT, "Health I _hight_" (WH277,_a_), am called, have for a name: the only passive verb in English: see other volumes of this series.

HIP, "have you on the _hip_" (R215,_c_), to have or get an advantage: see _Slang and its Analogues,_ _s.v._ Hip.

HITE, "when man is a little _hite_ and wealthy" (WH279,_c_) = idle: in original _hit_. I take the word to be akin to the northern _hite_, to run up and down idly (Halliwell). Still, this may be wrong, and the now obsolete sense of _hit_ = to be fortunate or successful may be meant.

HO (_passim_) is used in varying senses in all old writers. Thus _Ho!_ = a command to stop, cease, or refrain from the continuance of any action. Hence, as verb = to cry out, shout, etc. Whence many colloquialisms. _To be ho_ (JE367,_a_) = to be restrained, stopped, delayed; _out of all ho_ = out of all bounds or restraint; _no ho with_ = restive of control, out of hand; _let us ho_ = let us stop; and so forth. _Ho,_ _ho, ho!_ occurs in many old plays, being given to the devil or vice when making an entry.

HOLPEN, "if it be _holpen_" (N54,_b_), helped: see Helpen.

HOLYKE (M16,_c_). From the nature of the song itself it must be inferred that a triple pun was intended, _Holy_ (sacred refrain)--_wholly_ (holelyche = wholly)--_Hole-lick_ (osculare fundamentum): probably the "roof" was intended to be "raised" by the medley of interpretations thus offered, the business of each of the chorus being different.

HOLY NATION (JE357,_b_), _i.e._ the Saints and redeemed. The reference to love and virginity is apparently founded on a passage in Revelations, attributed by many to St. John the Evangelist: see _Rev._ xi. 4, and John Evangelist, p. 416 _ante_.

HOOD, "his hair groweth through his _hood_" (IP340,_c_; also R229,_d_), _i.e._ comes to poverty.

HOOK, "by _hook_ or by crook" (R187,_b_), by some means or other, by fair means or foul, at all hazards, probably of forestal origin. "Their work was by _hook or crook_ ... to bring all under the emperor's power."--Thomas the Rymer, _On Parliaments_ (_d._ 1298).

HORSE, (_a_) "_horse_ with four ears" (JE364,_a_), apparently a reference to some form (or rather means) of punishment--the gallows (or mare with three legs), the pillory, or the timber-mare (or horse) for flogging purposes. Probably the latter, as its construction would justify the "four ears" of the text.

(_b_) see Grass.

HORSIBUS, see Breadibus.

HOURS, see Prime.

HUFFA GALLANT, see Rutter.

HYNGHAM, see Macro Plays.

I (_passim_) occurs in several connections now archaic. (_a_) It is frequently repeated in conversation for the sake of emphasis, "I am hight Mercy, _I_."

(_b_) = Ay.

(_c_) = An augment or prefix to represent the A.S. _ge_, the most frequent example being _i-wis_ = _gewiss_: see _i-fashion_ (JE365_b_) = fashioned.

ICH (_passim_), I: see other volumes of this series.

IGNORUM, "we _ignorum_ people" (R211,_a_)--"we _ignorams_ all would fain," etc. (R227,_c_), (_adj._ and _subs._: ignorant, ignoram[use]s.)

IMPATIENT POVERTY. The text will be found on pages 311-348. Hitherto little indeed seems to have been known concerning this interlude. As far as I can learn no copy has been traceable, at all events in modern days, until "the Irish find" was put up at Sotheby's in July 1906. Part of this "recovery" (see Preface) was a copy of _Impatient Poverty_, which is now national property in the custody of the trustees of the British Museum, the price paid for the item being no less than £150. It is true that the title, together with one or two details of the baldest description, occur in most catalogues of early English plays, from that of Rogers and Ley in 1656 down to Mr. W. W. Greg's "hand-list" prepared for, and issued by, the Bibliographical Society in 1900. It is, however, an obvious fact that in each case all the authorities appear to quote from mention only. Further, though "known" to a similar extent to latter-day critics--to Collier, Halliwell, Hazlitt, Fleay, Ward, Gayley, Brandl, Greg, and Pollard--all these, likewise, quote either from an early mention, or from one another; none seem to have seen a copy of the play. Dyce alone was explicit. In a note to _Sir Thomas More_ (Shakes. Soc., p. 55) he records _Impatient Poverty_ as "non-extant." After an interval of more than sixty years since Dyce wrote, and 350 years or more after publication, the "lost" play has been recovered; and it is now my good fortune to make it generally accessible to scholars. The British Museum Catalogue entry is as follows:

POVERTY. A new Interlude of Impacyente Poverte, newlye Impreynted, M.V.L.X., B.L. John Kynge, London [1560], 4^o.--c. 34. i. 26. The title-page is enclosed in a woodcut border bearing the initials T. R.

in which the Museum catalogue has made a slight blunder in copying from the title-page, which may be consulted on page 311. _Impatient Poverty_, as already stated, is mentioned in the old play of _Sir_ _Thomas More_, itself only extant in a somewhat mutilated manuscript. The passage is as follows:

_Moore._ I prethee, tell me, what playes have ye?

_Player._ Diuers, my lord; _The Cradle of Securitie_, _Hit Nayle o' th' Head_, _Impacient Povertie_, _The_ _Play of Foure Pees_, _Diues and Lazarus_, _Lustie_ _Juuentus_, and _The Mariage of Witt and Wisedome_.--Shakes. Soc. ed., 55-56.