Chapter 148

p. 423 _bear the bob._ To join in the chorus. Bob is the burden or refrain of a song.

p. 423 _Colt-staff._ Or col-staff (Latin _collum_). A staff by which two men carry a load, one end of the pole resting on a shoulder of each porter. cf. _Merry Wives of Windsor_, iii, 3, ‘Where’s the cowl-staff?’

p. 423 _Fortune my Foe._ This extremely popular old tune is in Queen Elizabeth’s _Virginal Book_; in William Ballet’s MS. Lute Book; in _Bellerophon_ (1622), and in numerous other old musical works. There are allusions to it in Shakespeare and many of the dramatists.