iii. 5, 47, which the shepherdess recalls as a sneer: "He said mine eyes
were black," etc.
_Thorough._ Through. Cf. _M.N.D._ ii. 1. 3, 5, _W.T._ iii. 2. 172, _J.C._ iii. 1. 136, v. 1. 110, etc.
16. _The very pin_, etc. The allusion is to archery. The _clout_ (cf. _L. L. L._ iv. 1. 136), or white mark at which the arrows were aimed, was fastened by a black pin in the centre. Cf. Marlowe, _Tamburlane_, 1590:--
"For kings are clouts that every man shoots at, Our crown the pin that thousands seek to cleave."
17. _Butt-shaft._ A kind of arrow used for shooting at butts; formed without a barb, so as to be easily extracted (Nares).
20. _Prince of cats._ _Tybert_ is the name of the cat in _Reynard the Fox_. Steevens quotes Dekker, _Satiromastix_, 1602: "tho' you were Tybert, the long-tail'd prince of cats;" and _Have with You_, etc.: "not Tibalt, prince of cats." _Tibert_, _Tybert_, and _Tybalt_ are forms of the ancient name _Thibault_. Cf. iii. 1. 77 below.
21. _Captain of compliments._ A complete master of etiquette. Cf. _L. L. L._ i. 1. 169:--
"A man of compliments, whom right and wrong Have chose as umpire of their mutiny."
As Schmidt remarks, the modern distinction of _compliment_ and _complement_ is unknown to the orthography of the old eds. See on ii. 2. 89 above.
22. _Prick-song._ Music sung from notes (Schmidt); so called from the points or dots with which it is expressed. S. uses the word only here. When opposed to _plain-song_, it meant counter-point as distinguished from mere melody. Here, as Elson shows, there is a reference to marking the time "by tapping the foot in time with the music, or, more frequently and more artistically, by waving the hand as the conductor of an orchestra waves his baton."
23. _Me._ For the "ethical dative," cf. _J.C._ i. 2. 270: "He plucked me ope his doublet," etc.
25. _Button._ Steevens quotes _The Return from Parnassus_, 1606: "Strikes his poinado at a button's breadth." Staunton cites George Silver's _Paradoxes of Defence_, 1599: "Signior Rocco, ... thou that takest upon thee to hit anie Englishman with a thrust upon anie button," etc. Duels were frequent in England in the time of S. The matter had been reduced to a science, and its laws laid down in books. The _causes_ of quarrel had been duly graded and classified, as Touchstone explains in _A.Y.L._ v. 4. 63 fol.
26. _Of the very first house._ Of the first rank among duellists.
27. _Passado._ "A motion forwards and thrust in fencing" (Schmidt). Cf. _L. L. L._ i. 2. 184: "the passado he respects not." The _punto reverso_ was a back-handed stroke. We have _punto_ (= thrust) in _M.W._ ii. 3. 26: "to see thee pass thy punto." The _hay_ was a home-thrust; from the Italian _hai_ = thou hast it (not "he has it," as Schmidt and others explain it). Johnson gives it correctly: "The _hay_ is the word _hai_, you _have_ it, used when a thrust reaches the antagonist, from which our fencers, on the same occasion, without knowing, I suppose, any reason for it, cry out ha!"
30. _Fantasticoes._ Steevens quotes Dekker, _Old Fortunatus_: "I have danced with queens, dallied with ladies, worn strange attires, seen fantasticoes," etc.
32. _Grandsire._ Addressed to Benvolio in raillery of his staid demeanour.
33. _Fashion-mongers._ Cf. _Much Ado_, v. 1. 94: "fashion-monging boys."
34. _Pardonnez-mois._ Fellows who are continually saying _pardonnez-moi_; a hit at Frenchified affectation. The Cambridge ed. has "perdona-mi's" (Italian, suggested by the "pardona-mees" of the 4th and 5th quartos). Herford reads "pardon-me's."
35. _Form._ There is a play on the word, as in _L. L. L._ i. 1. 209: "sitting with her upon the form ... in manner and form following." Blakeway remarks: "I have heard that during the reign of large breeches it was necessary to cut away hollow places in the benches in the House of Commons, to make room for those monstrous protuberances, without which contrivance they who stood on the new form could not sit at ease on the old bench."
36. _Bons._ The early eds. have "bones," which is unintelligible. The correction is due to Theobald, and is generally adopted.
38. _Without his roe._ "That is, he comes but half himself; he is only a sigh--_O me!_ that is, _me O!_ the half of his name" (Seymour). It may mean without his mistress, whom he has had to leave; roe meaning a female deer as well as the spawn of a fish. Cf. _L. L. L._ v. 2. 309, where the Princess says: "Whip to our tents, as roes run over land;" and _T. and C._ v. 1. 68: "a herring without a roe."
42. _Be-rhyme._ Cf. _A.Y.L._ iii. 2. 186: "I was never so be-rhymed," etc.
43. _Hildings._ Base menials; used of both sexes. Cf. _T. of S._ ii. 1. 26: "For shame, thou hilding;" _A.W._ iii. 6. 4: "If your lordship find him not a hilding, hold me no more in your respect," etc. See also iii. 5. 167 below. It is used as an adjective in _2 Hen. IV._ i. 1. 57 and _Hen. V._ iv. 2. 29.
44. _Grey eye._ Here Malone and others make _grey_ = blue; while Steevens and Ulrici take the ground that it has its ordinary meaning. The latter quote _Temp._ i. 2. 269 ("This blue-eyed hag") in proof that blue eyes were accounted ugly; but the reference there, as in _A.Y.L._ iii. 2. 393 ("a blue eye and sunken"), seems to be to a bluish circle about the eyes. It is curious that these are the only specific allusions to blue eyes in S. In _W.T._ i. 2. 136, some make "welkin eye" = blue eye; but it is more probably = heavenly eye, as Schmidt gives it. In _V. and A._ 482 ("Her two blue windows faintly she upheaveth") the eyelids, not the eyes, are meant, on account of their "blue veins" (_R. of L._ 440). Cf. _Cymb._ ii. 2. 21:--
"would under-peep her lids, To see the enclosed lights, now canopied Under these windows, white and azure lac'd With blue of heaven's own tinct."
Malone cites both this last passage and _V. and A._ 482 as referring to blue eyes; but the "azure _lac'd_" ought to settle the question in regard to the former, and "windows" evidently has the same meaning in both. If the "blue windows" _were_ blue eyes, Malone would make out his case, for in _V. and A._ 140 the goddess says "Mine eyes are grey and bright." But why should the poet call them _blue_ in the one place and _grey_ in the other, when the former word would suit the verse equally well in both? In my opinion, when he says _blue_ he means blue, and when he says _grey_ he means grey. See on ii. 3. 1 above. The _New Eng. Dict._ does not recognize blue as a meaning of _grey_. It seems, however, from certain passages in writers of the time that the word was sometimes = bluish grey or bluish; but never "bright blue" (as Delius defines it) or clear blue, as Dyce and others assume.
46. _Slop._ For _slops_ (= large loose breeches), see _Much Ado_, iii. 2. 36, etc. _Gave us the counterfeit_ = played a trick on us. _Counterfeit_ is used for the sake of the coming play on _slip_, which sometimes meant a counterfeit coin. Cf. Greene, _Thieves Falling Out_, etc.: "counterfeit pieces of money, being brasse, and covered over with silver, which the common people call slips." There is also a play upon the word in the only other instance in which S. uses it, _V. and A._ 515:--
"Which purchase if thou make, for fear of slips Set thy seal-manual on my wax-red lips."
58. _Kindly._ The word literally means "naturally, in a manner suited to the character or occasion" (Schmidt); hence aptly, pertinently.
63. _Then is my pump_, etc. The idea seems to be, my shoe or _pump_, being _pinked_ or punched with holes, is well _flowered_. Cf. _unpinked_ in _T. of S._ iv. 1. 136: "And Gabriel's pumps were all unpink'd i' the heel."
68. _Single-soled._ "With a quibble on _sole_ and _soul_ = having but one sole, and silly, contemptible" (Schmidt). Steevens gives several examples of _single-soled_ = mean, contemptible. _Singleness_ here = simplicity, silliness.
74. _Wild-goose chase._ A kind of horse-race, resembling the flight of wild geese. Two horses were started together; and if one got the lead the other was obliged to follow over whatever ground the foremost rider chose to take (Holt White).
77. _Was I with you_, etc. Was I even with you, have I paid you off? as, perhaps, in _T. of S._ iv. 1. 170: "What, do you grumble? I'll be with you straight!" For the allusion to _five wits_ see on i. 4. 47 above.
80. _I will bite thee by the ear._ A playful expression of endearment, common in the old dramatists.
81. _Good goose, bite not._ A proverbial phrase, found in Ray's _Proverbs_.
82. _Sweeting._ A kind of sweet apple. The word is still used in this sense, at least in New England. Steevens quotes Sumner's _Last Will and Testament_, 1600: "as well crabs as sweetings for his summer fruits." There was also a variety known as the _bittersweet_. Cf. _Fair Em_: "And left me such a bitter sweet to gnaw upon."
84. _And is it not well served in_, etc. White remarks that "the passage illustrates the antiquity of that dish so much esteemed by all boys and many men--goose and apple-sauce." Cf. the allusions to mutton and capers in _T.N._ i. 3. 129, and to beef and mustard in _M.N.D._ iii. 1. 197 and _T. of S._ iv. 3. 23.
86. _Cheveril._ Soft kid leather for gloves, proverbially elastic. Cf. _Hen. VIII._ ii. 3. 32:--
"which gifts, Saving your mincing, the capacity Of your soft cheveril conscience would receive, If you might please to stretch it."
See also _T.N._ iii. 1. 13: "a cheveril glove," etc.
90. _A broad goose._ No satisfactory explanation of this quibble has been given. Schmidt defines _broad_ here as "plain, evident." Dowden suggests that there is a play on _brood-goose_, which occurs in Fletcher, _Humorous Lieutenant_, ii. 1: "They have no more burden than a brood-goose" (breeding goose).
95. _Natural._ Fool, idiot. Cf. _Temp._ iii. 2. 37 and _A.Y.L._ i. 2. 52, 57.
97. _Gear._ Matter, business. Cf. _T. and C._ i. 1. 6: "Will this gear ne'er be mended?" _2 Hen. VI._ i. 4. 17: "To this gear the sooner the better," etc.
99. _Two, two_, etc. This is given to Mercutio in most of the early eds., and White doubts whether it belongs to the sober Benvolio; but he is not incapable of fun. Cf. 125 below.
102. _My fan, Peter._ Cf. _L. L. L._ iv. 1. 147: "To see him walk before a lady and to bear her fan!" The fans of the time of S. were large and heavy.
105. _God ye good morrow._ That is, God give ye, etc. For _good den_, see on i. 2. 57 above.
109. _Prick of noon._ Point of noon. Cf. 3 _Hen. VI._ i. 4. 34: "at the noontide prick." See also _R. of L._ 781.
123. _Confidence._ Probably meant for _conference_. Cf. _Much Ado_, iii. 5. 3, where Dogberry says, "Marry, sir, I would have some confidence with you that decerns you nearly."
125. _Indite._ Probably used in ridicule of the Nurse's _confidence_. Mrs. Quickly uses the word in the same way in _2 Hen. IV._ ii. 1. 30: "he is indited to dinner."
126. _So ho!_ The cry of the sportsmen when they find a hare. Hence Romeo's question that follows.
129. _Hoar._ Often = mouldy, as things grow white from moulding (Steevens).
134. _Lady, lady, lady._ From the old ballad of _Susanna_, also quoted in _T.N._ ii. 3. 85: "There dwelt a man in Babylon, lady, lady!"
136. _Merchant._ Used contemptuously, like _chap_, which is a contraction of _chapman_. Cf. _1 Hen. VI._ ii. 3. 57: "a riddling merchant;" and Churchyard's _Chance_, 1580: "What saucie merchaunt speaketh now, saied Venus in her rage?"
137. _Ropery._ Roguery. Steevens quotes _The Three Ladies of London_, 1584: "Thou art very pleasant and full of thy roperye." Cf. _rope-tricks_ in _T. of S._ i. 2. 112, which Schmidt explains as "tricks deserving the halter." Nares and Douce see the same allusion in _ropery_.
143. _Jacks._ For the contemptuous use of the word, cf. _M. of V._ iii. 4. 77: "these bragging Jacks;" _Much Ado_, v. 1. 91: "Boys, apes, braggarts, Jacks, milksops!" etc.
144. _Flirt-gills._ That is _flirting Gills_ or women of loose behaviour. _Gill_ or _Jill_ was a familiar term for a woman, as _Jack_ was for a man. Cf. the proverb, "Every Jack must have his Jill;" alluded to in _L. L. L._ v. 2. 885 and _M.N.D._ iii. 2. 461. The word is a contraction of _Gillian_ (see _C. of E._ iii. 1. 31), which is a corruption of _Juliana_. _Gill-flirt_ was the more common form.
145. _Skains-mates._ A puzzle to the commentators. As _skein_ is an Irish word for knife (used by Warner, Greene, Chapman, and other writers of the time) Malone and Steevens make _skains-mates_ mean "cut-throat companions" or fencing-school companions. Schmidt defines it as "messmates," and Nares as probably = "roaring or swaggering companions." Various other explanations have been suggested; but there is probably some corruption in the first part of the compound.
153. _Afore._ Not a mere vulgarism. It is used by Capulet in iii. 4. 34 and iv. 2. 31 below. Cf. _Temp._ iv. 1. 7:--
"here afore Heaven, I ratify this my rich gift," etc.
158. _In a fool's paradise._ Malone cities _A handfull of Pleasant Delightes, 1584_:--
"When they see they may her win, They leave then where they did begin; They prate, and make the matter nice, And leave her in fooles paradise."
and Barnaby Rich's _Farewell_: "Knowing the fashion of you men to be such, as by praisyng our beautie, you think to bring into a fooles paradize."
162. _Weak._ Explained by Schmidt as "stupid." Clarke thinks that "she intends to use a most forcible expression, and blunders upon a most feeble one."
177. _And stay_, etc. The pointing is White's. Most editors follow the early eds. and read "And stay, good nurse, behind the abbey wall, etc."
180. _A tackled stair._ That is, a rope-ladder. Cf. "ladder-tackle" in _Per._ iv. 1. 61.
181. _High top-gallant._ The top-gallant mast; figuratively for summit or climax. Steevens quotes Markham, _English Arcadia_, 1607: "the high top-gallant of his valour." S. uses the term only here.
183. _Quit._ Requite, reward. Cf. _Ham._ v. 2. 68, 280, etc.
184. _Mistress._ A trisyllable here.
188. _Two may keep counsel._ That is, keep a secret. Cf. _T.A._ iv. 2. 144: "Two may keep counsel when the third's away."
191. _Lord_, etc. Cf. Brooke's poem:--
"A prety babe (quod she) it was when it was yong: Lord how it could full pretely haue prated with it [its] tong."
194. _Lieve._ Often used for _lief_ in the old eds. It is sometimes found in good writers of recent date. Mätzner quotes Sheridan: "I had as lieve be shot."
195. _Properer._ Handsomer. Cf. _A.Y.L._ i. 2. 129, iii. 5. 51, etc. See also _Hebrews_, xi. 23.
197. _Pale as any clout._ A common simile of which Dowden cites examples from Bunyan and others. _Versal_ is a vulgarism for _universal_.
198. _A letter._ One letter. Cf. _Ham._ v. 2. 276: "These foils have all a length," etc. For _rosemary_ as the symbol of remembrance, see _Ham._ iv. 5. 175.
200. _The dog's name._ _R_ was called "the dog's letter." Cf. Jonson, _Eng. Gram._: "R is the dog's letter and hurreth in the sound." Farmer cites Barclay, _Ship of Fools_, 1578:--
"This man malicious which troubled is with wrath, Nought els soundeth but the hoorse letter R. Though all be well, yet he none aunswere hath Save the dogges letter glowming with nar, nar."
Dyce remarks: "Even in the days of the Romans, _R_ was called _the dog's letter_, from its resemblance in sound to the snarling of a dog."
208. _Before, and apace._ Go before, and quickly. For _apace_, cf. iii. 2. 1 below.