The works of Thomas Middleton, Volume 3 (of 5)
SCENE II.
_Another apartment in the house of the Duchess._
_Enter Duchess and_ CELIA.
DUCH. Thou tell’st me things are enemies to reason; I cannot get my faith to entertain 'em, And I hope never shall. CELIA. ’Tis too true, madam. DUCH. I say ’tis false: 'twere better th’hadst been dumb Than spoke a truth so unpleasing; thou shalt get But little praise by’t: he whom we affect To place his love upon so base a creature! CELIA. Nay, ugliness itself; you’d say so, madam, If you but saw her once; a strolling gipsy; No Christian that is born a hind could love her; She’s the sun’s masterpiece for tawniness; Yet have I seen Andrugio’s arms about her, Perceiv’d his hollow whisperings in her ear, His joys at meeting her. DUCH. What joy could that be? CELIA. Such, madam, I have seldom seen it equall’d; He kiss’d her with that greediness of affection, As if her[988] lips had been as red as yours; I look’d still when he would be black in mouth, Like boys with eating hedge-berries; nay, more, madam, He brib’d one of his keepers with ten ducats To find her out amongst a flight of gipsies. DUCH. I’ll have that keeper hang’d, and you for malice; She cannot be so bad as you report, Whom he so firmly loves; you’re false in much, And I will have you tried: go, fetch her to us. [_Exit_ CELIA.
He cannot be himself, and appear guilty Of such gross folly; has an eye of judgment, And that will overlook him. This wench fails In understanding service; she must home, Live at her house i’ th’ country; she decays In beauty and discretion.—
_Re-enter_ CELIA, _with_ AURELIA _disguised as a gipsy_.
Who hast brought there? CELIA. This is she, madam. DUCH. Youth and whiteness bless me! It is not possible: he talk’d sensibly Within this hour; this cannot be: how does he? I fear me my restraint has made him mad. CELIA. His health is perfect, madam. DUCH. You are perfect In falsehood still; he’s certainly distracted. Though I’d be loath to foul my words upon her, She looks so beastly, yet I’ll ask the question:— Are you beloved, sweet face, of Andrugio? AUR. Yes, showrly,[989] mistress; he done love me 'Bove all the girls that shine above me: Full often has he sweetly kiss’d me, And wept as often when he miss’d me; Swore he was to marry none But me alone. DUCH. Out on thee! marry thee?—away with her; Clear mine eyes of her;— A curate that has got his place by simony Is not half black enough to marry thee. [_Exit_ AURELIA _with_ CELIA, _who presently returns_.
Surely the man’s far spent; howe’er he carries it, He’s without question mad; but I ne’er knew Man bear it better before company. The love of woman wears so thick a blindness, It sees no fault, but only man’s unkindness, And that’s so gross, it may be felt.—Here, Celia, Take this [_giving signet-ring_]; with speed command Andrugio to us, And his guard from him. CELIA. It shall straight be done, madam. [_Exit._ DUCH. I’ll look into his carriage more judiciously When I next get him. A wrong done to beauty Is greater than an injury done to love, And we’ll less pardon it; for had it been A creature whose perfection had outshin’d me, It had been honourable judgment in him, And to my peace a noble satisfaction; But as it is, ’tis monstrous above folly. Look he be mad indeed, and throughly gone, Or he pays dearly for it; it is not The ordinary madness of a gentleman That shall excuse him here; had better lose His wits eternally than lose my grace: So strange is the condition of his fall, He’s safe in nothing but in loss of all. He comes:
_Enter_ ANDRUGIO _with_ CELIA.
Now by the fruits of all my hopes, A man that has his wits cannot look better! It likes[990] me well enough; there’s life in’s eye, And civil health in’s cheek; he stands with judgment, And bears his body well. What ails this man? Sure I durst venture him 'mongst a thousand ladies, Let 'em shoot all their scoffs, which makes none laugh But their own waiting-women, and they dare do no otherwise. [_Aside._ Come nearer, sir:—I pray keep further off, Now I remember you. AND. What new trick’s in this now? [_Aside._ DUCH. How long have you been mad, sir? AND. Mad? a great time, lady; Since I first knew I should not sin, yet sinn’d; That’s now some thirty years, byrlady,[991] upwards. DUCH. This man speaks reason wondrous feelingly, Enough to teach the rudest soul good manners. [_Aside._ You cannot be excus’d with lightness now, Or frantic fits; you’re able to instruct, sir, And be a light to men. If you have errors, They be not ignorant in you, but wilful, And in that state I seize on 'em. Did I Bring thee acquainted lately with my heart, And when thou thought’st a storm of anger took thee, It in a moment clear’d up all to love, To the abusing of thy spiteful enemy, That sought to fix his malice upon thee; And couldst thou so requite me? AND. How, good madam? DUCH. To wrong all worth in man, to deal so basely Upon contempt itself, disdain and loathsomeness; A thing whose face, through ugliness, frights children, A straggling gipsy! AND. See how you may err, madam, Through wrongful information; by my hopes Of truth and mercy, there is no such love Bestow’d upon a creature so unworthy. DUCH. No! then you cannot fly me.—Fetch her back. [_Exit_ CELIA. And though the sight of her displease mine eye Worse than th’ offensiv’st object earth and nature Can present to us, yet for truth’s probation We will endure’t contentfully.
_Re-enter_ CELIA _with_ AURELIA _in her own dress_.
What now? Art thou return’d without her? AND. No, madam; this is she my peace dwells in: If here be either baseness of descent, Rudeness of manners, or deformity In face or fashion, I have lost, I’ll yield it; Tax me severely, madam. DUCH. [_to_ CELIA] How thou stand’st, As dumb as the salt-pillar! where’s this gipsy? [CELIA _points to_ AURELIA. What, no? I cannot blame thee then for silence; Now I’m confounded too, and take part with thee. AUR. Your pardon and your pity, virtuous madam: [_Kneels._ Cruel restraint, join’d with the power of love, Taught me that art; in that disguise I ’scap’d The hardness of my fortunes; you that see What love’s force is, good madam, pity me! AND. Your grace has ever been the friend of truth, And here ’tis set before you. [_Kneels._ DUCH. I confess I have no wrong at all; she’s younger, fairer; He has not now dishonour’d me in choice; I much commend his noble care and judgment: 'Twas a just cross led in by a temptation, For offering but to part from my dear vow, And I’ll embrace it cheerfully. [_Aside._]—Rise, both; [ANDRUGIO _and_ AURELIA _rise_. The joys of faithful marriage bless your souls! I will not part you. AND. Virtue’s crown be yours, madam!
_Enter_ LACTANTIO.
AUR. O, there appears the life of all my wishes! [_Aside._ Is your grace pleas’d, out of your bounteous goodness To a poor virgin’s comforts, I shall freely Enjoy whom my heart loves? DUCH. Our word is past; Enjoy without disturbance. AUR. There, Lactantio, Spread thy arms open wide, to welcome her That has wrought all this means to rest in thee. AND. Death of my joys! how’s this? LAC. Prithee, away, fond fool; hast no shame in thee? Thou’rt bold and ignorant, whate’er thou art. AUR. Whate’er I am? do not you know me then? LAC. Yes, for some waiting-vessel; but the times Are chang’d with me, if y’had the grace to know 'em: I look’d for more respect; I am not spoke withal After this rate, I tell you; learn hereafter To know what belongs to me; you shall see All the court teach you shortly. Farewell, manners. DUCH. I’ll mark the event of this. [_Aside._ AUR. I have undone myself Two ways at once; lost a great deal of time, And now I’m like to lose more. O my fortune! I was nineteen yesterday, and partly vow’d To have a child by twenty, if not twain: To see how maids are cross’d! but I’m plagu’d justly; And she that makes a fool of her first love, Let her ne’er look to prosper. [_Aside._—Sir—— [_To_ ANDRUGIO. AND. O falsehood! AUR. Have you forgiveness in you? there’s more hope of me Than of a maid that never yet offended. AND. Make me your property?[992] AUR. I’ll promise you I’ll never make you worse; and, sir, you know There are worse things for women to make men. But, by my hope of children, and all lawful, I’ll be as true for ever to your bed As she in thought or deed that never err’d. AND. I’ll once believe a woman, be’t but to strengthen Weak faith in other men: I have a love That covers all thy faults.
_Enter Cardinal and Lords._
CAR. Nephew, prepare thyself With meekness and thanksgiving to receive Thy reverend fortune: amongst all the lords, Her close affection now makes choice of thee. LAC. Alas, I’m not to learn to know that now! Where could she make choice here, if I were missing? 'Twould trouble the whole state, and puzzle 'em all, To find out such another. CAR. ’Tis high time, madam, If your grace please, to make election now: Behold, they’re all assembled. DUCH. What election? You speak things strange to me, sir. CAR. How, good madam? DUCH. Give me your meaning plainly, like a father; You’re too religious, sir, to deal in riddles. CAR. Is there a plainer way than leads to marriage, madam, And the man set before you? DUCH. O blasphèmy To sanctimonious faith! comes it from you, sir? An ill example! know you what you speak, Or who you are? is not my vow in place? How dare you be so bold, sir? Say a woman Were tempt with a temptation, must you presently Take all th’ advantage on’t? CAR. Is this in earnest, madam? DUCH. Heaven pardon you! if you do not think so, sir. You’ve much to answer for: but I will leave you; Return I humbly now from whence I fell. All you bless’d powers that register the vows Of virgins and chaste matrons, look on me With eyes of mercy, seal forgiveness to me By signs of inward peace! and to be surer That I will never fail your good hopes of me, I bind myself more strictly; all my riches I’ll speedily commend to holy uses, This temple[993] unto some religious sanctuary, Where all my time to come I will allow For fruitful thoughts; so knit I up my vow. LAC. This ['t]is to hawk at eagles: pox of pride! It lays a man i’ th’ mire still, like a jade That has too many tricks, and ne’er a good one. I must gape high! I’m in a sweet case now! I was sure of one, and now I’ve lost her too. [_Aside._ DUCH. I know, my lord, all that great studious care Is for your kinsman; he’s provided for According to his merits. CAR. How’s that, good madam? DUCH. Upon the firmness of my faith, it’s true, sir:
_Enter Page[994] in a female dress._
See, here’s the gentlewoman; the match was made Near forty weeks ago: he knows the time, sir, Better than I can tell him, and the poor gentlewoman Better than he; But being religious, sir, and fearing you, He durst not own her for his wife till now; Only contracted with her in man’s apparel, For the more modesty, because he was bashful, And never could endure the sight of woman, For fear that you should see her: this was he Chose for my love, this page preferr’d to me. LAC. I’m paid with mine own money. [_Aside._ CAR. Dare hypocrisy, For fear of vengeance, sit so close to virtue? Steal’st thou a holy vestment from religion To clothe forbidden lust with? th’ open villain[995] Goes before thee to mercy, and his penitency Is bless’d with a more sweet and quick return. I utterly disclaim all blood in thee; I’ll sooner make a parricide my heir Than such a monster.—O, forgive me, madam! The apprehension of the wrong to you Has a sin’s weight at it. I forget all charity When I but think upon him. DUCH. Nay, my lord, At our request, since we are pleas’d to pardon, And send remission to all former errors, Which conscionable justice now sets right, From you we expect patience; has had punishment Enough in his false hopes; trust me he has, sir; They have requited his dissembling largely: And to erect your falling goodness to him, We’ll begin first ourself; ten thousand ducats The gentlewoman shall bring out of our treasure To make her dowry. CAR. None has the true way Of overcoming anger with meek virtue, Like your compassionate grace.
LAC. Curse of this fortune! this ’tis to meddle with taking stuff, whose belly cannot be confined in a waistband. [_Aside._]—Pray, what have you done with the breeches? we shall have need of 'em shortly, and[996] we get children so fast; they are too good to be cast away. My son and heir need not scorn to wear what his mother has left off. I had my fortune told me by a gipsy seven years ago; she said then I should be the spoil of many a maid, and at seven years’ end marry a quean for my labour, which falls out wicked and true. DUCH. We all have faults; look not so much on his: Who lives i’ th’ world that never did amiss?— For you, Aurelia, I commend your choice, You’ve one after our heart; and though your father Be not in presence, we’ll assure his voice; Doubt not his liking, his o’erjoying rather.— You, sir, embrace your own, ’tis your full due; No page serves me more that once dwells with you. O, they that search out man’s intents shall find There’s more dissemblers than of womankind.[997] [_Exeunt omnes._
END OF VOL. III.
LONDON: PRINTED BY LEVEY, ROBSON, AND FRANKLYN, 46 St. Martin’s Lane.
# 1:
Of the ed. of 1605, I have met with no other copy except that in my own possession, which formerly belonged to Mr. Heber.
# 2:
_Prodigious_] “That is, _portentous_, so deformed as to be taken for a _foretoken of evil_.” REED.
# 3:
_torrent_] Old eds. “torment.”
# 4:
_Aligant_] As our early writers commonly spell the word—i. e. a red wine of Alicant, in the province of Valencia.
# 5:
_byrlady_] i. e. By our lady.
# 6:
_marginal finger_] i. e. the index (☞) on the margins of old books, to direct the reader’s attention to particular passages.
# 7:
_jig-makers_] “i. e. ballad-makers.” REED.
# 8:
_and_] i. e. if.
# 9:
_with a wet finger_] i. e. easily, readily.
# 10:
_clarissimo’s_] i. e. grandee’s.
# 11:
_true house_ ... _no thieves_] _True men_ being a cant term for honest men—in opposition to _thieves_.
# 12:
_do_] Old eds. “does.”
# 13:
_mandrake_] “The root of it is great and white like a radish-root, and is divided into two or more parts, growing sometimes like the legs of a man.” Blount’s _Glossographia_. REED.—According to the old superstitious notions, the mandrake possessed an inferior degree of animal life, &c.
# 14:
_whiblins_] i. e., perhaps, eunuchs, says Nares, _Gloss._ in v.
# 15:
_in print_] “Exactly, perfectly.” REED.
# 16:
_Albertus Magnus_] “i. e. de Secretis Mulierum.” STEEVENS.
# 17:
_Problems_] Old eds. “Emblemes,” which in Dodsley’s _Old Plays_ is rightly altered to _Problems_. An absurd book, called _The Problems of Aristotle, with other Philosophers and Physitions_, &c., was printed at London, in 1595, 1607, &c.
# 18:
_wide a’ th’ bow-hand_] i. e. your arrow has flown a good way from the mark, on the left hand (in which the bow was held).
# 19:
_cut off his beard_] “To cut off the hair of any person was, in our author’s time, a mark of disgrace, and esteemed a very great indignity.” REED.
# 20:
_scald hair_] “i. e. scattered or dispersed hair. Mr. Lambe, in his notes on _Flodden Field_, observes, that the word _scale_ is used in the North in the above-mentioned sense.” REED. Nonsense! _scald_ is scabby—paltry.
# 21:
_brave_] i. e. finely dressed—a quibble.
# 22:
_ingle_] i. e. bosom friend: see note, vol. ii. p. 498.
# 23:
_madcaps_] So ed. 1605. Other eds. “old dames.”
# 24:
_one a’ mine aunts_] Ed. 1605, “_one a’_ my naunts.”— _Aunt_ was a cant term for a prostitute, as in the present passage, and more frequently (see vol. ii. p. 21, line 1) for a bawd.
# 25:
_welkin_] i. e. sky.
# 26:
_cony-catch_] i. e. cheat, deceive: see note, vol. i. p. 290.
# 27:
_beg me for a fool_] “Sir William Blackstone, in his _Commentaries_, vol. i. p. 303, says,—‘By the old common law there is a writ _de idiota inquirendo_, to inquire whether a man be an idiot or not; which must be tried by a jury of twelve men: and if they find him _purus idiota_, the profits of his lands, and the custody of his person, may be granted by the king to some subject who has interest enough to obtain them.’ And he observes, that this power, though of late very rarely exerted, is still alluded to in common speech by that usual expression of _begging_ a man for a fool.” REED.
# 28:
_Benedict_] So ed. 1605. Other eds. “Benedick.”
# 29:
_near_] Old eds. “meere.”
# 30:
_Softly!—See, doctor, what_, &c.] So ed. 1605. Other eds. “_Softly_ sweet _Doctor: what_,” &c.
# 31:
_rust_] Qy. “crust?”
# 32:
_fond_] i. e. foolish.
# 33:
_the midst_] So the excellent ed. of 1605. Other eds. “_the_ deadst,” which is given in Dodsley’s _Old Plays_, and which, as Nares (_Gloss._ in v.) remarks, is “but awkwardly applied to the height or meridian of feasting, which surely has nothing _dead_ in it.” Perhaps the misprint arose from the compositor’s eye having caught the word _death_ in the next line but two.
# 34:
_alter_] So ed. 1605. Other eds. “alterd.”
# 35:
_good knaves_] So ed. 1605. Other eds. “God knowes.”
# 36:
_thy_] So ed. 1605. Other eds. “the.”
# 37:
_I’d_] So ed. 1605. Other eds. “Ile.”
# 38:
_hurts_] Ed. 1605, “hnrts.” Other eds. “haunts.”
# 39:
_goddess in the Cyprian_] So ed. 1605. Other eds. “gods _in the_ Coprian.”
# 40:
_her_] So ed. 1605. Other eds. “it.”
# 41:
_a tavern-token_] “During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and from thenceforward to that of Charles the Second, very little brass or copper money was coined by authority. For the convenience of trade, victuallers and other tradesmen, without any restriction, were therefore permitted to coin small money, or _tokens_, as they were called, which were used for change. These _tokens_ were very small pieces, and, probably, at first coined chiefly by tavern-keepers; from whence the expression a _tavern-token_ might have been originally derived.” REED. “That most of them would travel to the _tavern_, may be easily supposed, and hence, perhaps, the name. Their usual value seems to have been a farthing.” Gifford, note on B. Jonson’s _Works_, vol. i. p. 30.
# 42:
_of all loves_] i. e. for the sake of all love—by all means.
# 43:
_tempted_] So other eds. First ed. “tempred.”
# 44:
_lay_] i. e. wager.
# 45:
_golls_] A cant term for hands—fists, paws.
# 46:
_Gentlemen, what_, &c., _fine cambrics, fine lawns_] Is one speech in old eds., with the prefix “_All Three_.”—_What do you lack?_ was the constant address of shopkeepers to customers: see note, vol. i. p. 447.
# 47:
_and_] i. e. if.
# 48:
_Pax_] See note, vol. ii. p. 24.
# 49:
_companions_] i. e. fellows.
# 50:
_leese_] i. e. lose.
# 51:
_shrow_] i. e. shrew.
# 52:
_I pledge you_] “The following account of the forms prescribed in health-drinking in our author’s time, is taken from _The Irish Hubbub, or the English Hue and Crie_, by Barnaby Rich, 1623, p. 24. He calls it _The Ruffingly Order of drinking Healths used by the Spendalls of this age_. ‘He that beginnes the health hath his prescribed orders: first uncovering his head, hee takes a full cup in his hand, and setting his countenance with a grave aspect, hee craves for audience: silence being once obtained, hee beginnes to breath out the name peradventure of some honourable personage, that is worthy of a better regard, then to have his name polluted at so unfitting a time amongst a company of Drunkards: but his health is drunke to, and he that pledgeth must likewise off with his cap, kisse his fingers, and bowing himselfe in signe of a reverent acceptance; when the Leader sees his follower thus prepared, hee sups up his broath, turnes the bottom of the cup upward, and in ostentation of his dexteritie, gives the cup a phillip to make it cry _Twango_. And thus the first scene is acted. The cup being newly replenished to the breadth of an haire, he that is the pledger must now beginne his part, and thus it goes round throughout the whole company, provided alwayes, by a canon set downe by the Founder, there must be three at the least still uncovered, till the health hath had the full passage: which is no sooner ended, but another begins againe, and hee drinkes an Health to his _Lady of little worth_, or peradventure to his _light-hele’d mistres_.’” REED.
# 53:
_Blurt_] An exclamation of contempt, equal to—a fig for.
# 54:
_on my thumb-nail_] In Nash’s _Pierce Pennilesse_, a marginal note explains the words “drinke _super nagulum_” to be “a deuise of drinking new come out of Fraunce, which is, after a man hath turnd vp the bottome of the cup, to drop it on his naile and make a pearle with that is left, which if it shed and he cannot make stand on, by reason there’s too much, he must drinke againe for his penance.” Sig. F. ed. 1595.
# 55:
_wish_] i. e. desire.
# 56:
_meacock_] “i. e. a timorous, dastardly creature.” REED.
# 57:
_swaddle_] i. e. strap, beat soundly.
# 58:
_goodman Abra’m_] A sort of cant term: Bellafront applies it to Roger at p. 36.
# 59:
_chafing-dish_] “To heat the poking-irons.” REED.
# 60:
_ready_] i. e. dressed: compare vol. ii. pp. 57, 224, and notes.
# 61:
_curls her hair_, &c.] This direction perhaps applies to what Bellafront is to do presently—when Roger holds the glass and candle for her.
# 62:
_poker_] “This instrument, of which mention is frequently made in contemporary writers, is sometimes called _poting stick_, and at others a _poking stick_. It was used to adjust the plaits of ruffs, which were then generally worn by the ladies. Stowe says, that these _poking sticks_ were made of wood or bone until about the 16th year of Queen Elizabeth, when they began to be made of steel,” [that they might be used hot]. REED.
# 63:
_court-cupboard_] A sort of buffet: see note, vol. ii. p. 506.
# 64:
_goodman Abra’m_] See note, p. 32.
# 65:
_of_] Old eds. “if.”
# 66:
_and_] i. e. if.
# 67:
_Marry muff_] An expression of contempt, which frequently occurs in our early writers: compare vol. i. p. 258, and note.
# 68:
_Sings_] “This word has hitherto been printed as part of the text [“_Sing pretty_,” &c.]; but it is clearly a stage-direction, referring to the ballad Bellafront commences.” COLLIER.
# 69:
_fall_] i. e. falling band, which lay flat upon the dress from the neck.
# 70:
_God’s my pittikins_] A corruption of _God’s my pity_, an expression which Bellafront afterwards makes use of in this scene (p. 40). Shakespeare puts _ods-pittikins_ into the mouth of a lady of very different character: see _Cymbeline_, act iv. sc. 2.
# 71:
_marmoset_] i. e. monkey.
# 72:
_Exit_] Old eds. “Exit _for a candle_.”
# 73:
_another light angel_] Angel was a gold coin worth about 10 shillings. Compare Dekker’s _Satiromastix_, 1602, “I markt, by _this Candle, which is none of God’s Angels_.” Sig. C.
# 74:
_curtal_] i. e. docked horse.
# 75:
_Hippocras_] A beverage composed generally of red wine, but sometimes of white, with spices and sugar,— strained through a woollen bag.
# 76:
_teston_] See note, vol. i. p. 258.
# 77:
_manchet_] i. e. a roll of the finest bread.
# 78:
_the canaries_] A quick and lively dance, frequently mentioned by our early writers: “As to the air itself, it appears, by the example in the Opera of _Dioclesian_ [set to music by Purcell, and containing a dance called the _Canaries_], to be a very sprightly movement of two reprises or strains, with eight bars in each,” &c. Hawkins’s _Hist. of Music_, vol. iv. p. 391—cited by Reed.
# 79:
_scorn’t_] Several eds. “I _scorn’t_.”
# 80:
_of all filthy, dry-fisted knights_] “A moist hand is vulgarly accounted a sign of an amorous constitution.” REED.
# 81:
_cony_] i. e. rabbit-skin.
# 82:
_sweet Oliver_] “It may be just worth noticing, that this epithet almost always accompanies the mention of this gentle rival of the mad Orlando in fame.” Gifford’s note on B. Jonson’s _Works_, vol. i. p. 98.
# 83:
_set him beneath the salt_] “This refers to the manner in which our ancestors were seated at their meals. ‘The tables being long,’ says Mr. Whalley, note to _Cynthia’s Revels_, act ii. sc. 2. [sc. 1.] ‘the salt [i. e. salt-cellar—of a very large size] was commonly placed about the middle, and served as a kind of boundary to the different quality of the guests invited. Those of distinction were ranked above; the space below was assigned to the dependents or inferior relations of the master of the house.’” REED.
# 84:
_to_] So some eds. First ed. “of.”
# 85:
_walks off_] i. e. retires behind.
# 86:
_aloof off_] This expression is twice used by Middleton in _Michaelmas Term_ (see vol. i. pp. 427, 469), and its repetition here is a slight confirmation (if any were needed) of the correctness of Henslowe’s statement: vide p. 3.
# 87:
_signors have_] First two eds. “signior.” Others, “signiors.” All, “has.”
# 88:
_little_] Spelt in the first two eds. “litle:” therefore qy. “tilt?”
# 89:
_cony-catch_] See note, p. 16.
# 90:
_mother_] i. e. hysterical passion.
# 91:
_scald_] i. e. paltry: see note, p. 15.
# 92:
_What gentleman_] Here the last editor of Dodsley inserted a stage-direction, “_Enter Hippolito_,” which he says is absolutely necessary: but see note, p. 40.
# 93:
_respectively_] i. e. respectfully: compare vol. i. p. 425.
# 94:
_Beseech you_, &c.] Bellafront, I suppose, having shewn some displeasure at the commendation of Infelice.
# 95:
_the_] Old eds. “my.”
# 96:
_Hippolito, acquaintance_] Old eds. “Hipolitos acquaintance.”
# 97:
_Marry muff_] See note, p. 36.
# 98:
_and_] i. e. if.
# 99:
_sirrah_] Often applied to women: compare vol. ii. p. 491.
# 100:
_you soused gurnet_] “An appellation of contempt very frequently employed in the old comedies.” REED.
# 101:
_shaall_] So spelt in the first two eds., to mark the prolonged emphasis.
# 102:
_in your waistcoat_] i. e. (as Nares rightly explains the passage, _Gloss._ in v.) in that alone, without a gown or upper dress. Low prostitutes were generally so attired, and were hence called _waistcoateers_.
# 103:
_Bastard wine_] In a note, vol. ii. p. 347, I have said that bastard was “a sweet _Spanish_ wine:” “That it was a sweetish wine, there can be no doubt; and that it came from some of the countries which border the Mediterranean, appears equally certain,” observes Henderson; who supposes that it approached to the muscadel wine in flavour, and was made from a _bastard_ species of muscadine grape. _Hist. of Wines_, pp. 290-1.
# 104:
_poulter’s_] i. e. poulterer’s.
# 105:
_one_] He means Hippolito: _woodcock_ was a cant term for a foolish fellow.
# 106:
_I_] So several eds. Not in first ed.
# 107:
_proper_] i. e. personable.
# 108:
_have_] Old eds. “has.”
# 109:
_Back_] Old eds. “Black.”
# 110:
_ador’d her eyes_] “In a pamphlet attributed to Robert Greene, called _Theeves falling out Truemen come by their goods_, printed in 1615, and probably earlier, there is a story entitled ‘The Conversion of an English Curtezan,’ which, in some points, bears a resemblance to a main incident in this play. Her conversion is wrought by a young man who visits her as in ‘the way of her trade:’ at his request she takes him into a dark loft, under pretence that he cannot bear to commit ‘the act of sin’ in the light; but still the day peeps in through a hole in the roof: on his complaining that it was not quite dark, she replies, that ‘none but God could see them.’ Hence he takes occasion to read her a lecture very similar to that of Hippolito in Dekker. ‘Oh! thou art made beautiful, fair, and well formed, and wilt thou then by thy filthy lust make thy body, which if thou be honest is the temple of God, the habitation of the Devil?’ In one place he says,—‘But suppose while thou art young thou art favoured of thy companions; when thou waxest old, and that thy beauty is faded, then thou shalt be loathed and despised even of them that professed most love unto thee.’ After she has been thoroughly reformed, he marries her.” COLLIER.
# 111:
_O yes_, &c.] An imperfect couplet: see notes, vol. i. p. 424, vol. ii. pp. 7, 307.
# 112:
_mete_] i. e. measure, embrace.
# 113:
_luxurious_] i. e. lascivious.
# 114:
_I_] So ed. 1605. Not in other eds.
# 115:
_dagger’d arms_] See note, vol. ii. p. 99.
# 116:
_What, has he left his weapon here behind him, And gone forgetful? O fit instrument_] Ed. 1605 has only “_His weapon left heere? O fit instrument._”
# 117:
_split my heart upon_] Ed. 1605, “cleaue my bosome on.”
# 118:
_Not speak to me? not bid farewell? a scorn?_] Ed. 1605, “_Not speake to me! not looke! not_ bid farewell!”
# 119:
_walking by_] It must be remembered that the shops in London (and of London only our authors thought) were formerly “open” (see stage-direction, vol. ii. p. 453), and resembled booths or stalls at a fair.
# 120:
_what you lack_] See note, p. 24.
# 121:
_squall_] This word, which seems to be equivalent to wench, is by no means common: Middleton uses it several times (see, for instance, vol. i. p. 431); and its occurrence here is another proof (see note, p. 40) that he was concerned in the composition of the present drama.
# 122:
_chaldrons_] Or _chaudrons_—i. e. particular entrails.
# 123:
_cracked in the ring_] See note, vol. ii. p. 253.
# 124:
_malicholly_] A corruption of _melancholy_.
# 125:
—_when I touch her lip I shall not feel his kisses_]
“Imitated by Shakespeare in _Othello_, act iii. sc. 3.
‘I slept the next night well, was free and merry; _I found not Cassio’s kisses on her lips_.’” REED.
If there be any imitation in the case, I believe it to be on the part of Dekker or Middleton. Malone ultimately assigned the production of _Othello_ to 1604, having ascertained (on what evidence we know not) that it was acted in that year: but if it be imitated in the present passage, it must have been produced at an earlier period: see p. 3.
# 126:
_falling-bands_] Or _falls_: see note, p. 37.
# 127:
_napery_] i. e. linen.
# 128:
_the posts of his gate are a-painting too_] “i. e. he will soon be sheriff. At the door of that officer large posts, on which it was customary to stick proclamations, were always set up.” STEEVENS.
# 129:
_Prentices within_] Old eds. here and afterwards, “_Omnes._”
# 130:
_flat-cap_] The citizens of London, both masters and journeymen, continued to wear flat round caps long after they had ceased to be fashionable, and were hence in derision termed _flat-caps_.
# 131:
_here’s_] So ed. 1605. Other eds. “here.”
# 132:
_likes_] i. e. pleases.
# 133:
_to call coz_] This passage, and what Fustigo says to the same purpose, p. 15, seem to confirm my remark on the word _cousin_, vol. i. p. 499.
# 134:
_ningle_] i. e. bosom friend: see note, vol. ii. p. 498.—So ed. 1605. Other eds. “mingle.”
# 135:
_gules_] i. e. red—an heraldic term.
# 136:
_wish_] i. e. desire.
# 137:
_Peize_] i. e. weigh.
# 138:
_on_] So ed. 1635. Other eds. “an.”
# 139:
_carpets_] i. e. table-covers: see note, vol. i. p. 385.
# 140:
_cruzadoes_] “A cruzado is a Portuguese coin, struck under Alphonsus V. about the year 1457, at the time when Pope Calixtus sent thither a bull for a croisade against the infidels. It had its name from a cross which it bears on one side, the arms of Portugal being on the other. The value of it is 40 French sols, or upwards of 2_s._ 10_d._ sterling.” REED. It varied in value at different times.
# 141:
_conster_] i. e. construe.
# 142:
_carpet knights_] On these words Reed has a note of formidable length, and very little to the purpose. _Carpet knights_ (repeatedly mentioned with great contempt by our early writers) were knights dubbed on a carpet, not on the field of battle,—on occasion of public festivities, not after a victory. See Gifford’s note on Massinger’s _Works_, vol. iii. p. 47. ed. 1813.
# 143:
_I am with child_] i. e. I long greatly.
# 144:
_covert barn_] See note, vol. i. p. 370.
# 145:
_hippocras_] See note, p. 38.
# 146:
_loose gown_] The common dress of courtesans: see note, vol. i. p. 431.
# 147:
_felt_] i. e. hat.
# 148:
_properest_] i. e. handsomest.
# 149:
_hose_] i. e. breeches.
# 150:
_And_] i. e. if.
# 151:
_blurt_] See note, p. 30.
# 152:
_made_] Old eds. “make.”
# 153:
_cockatrice_] A cant term for a harlot: so in _The Family of Love_, vol. ii. p. 148, “Love, _subaudi_ lust”—another parallelism which shews the hand of Middleton in the present play: see notes, pp. 40, 55.
# 154:
_cony-catching_] See note, p. 16.
# 155:
_fist_]—or, as several eds. have, _foist_—i. e. stink.
# 156:
_Pio._] Old eds. “_Omnes_:” but Castruchio is the next speaker; and Bellafront, it should seem, has no share in the present speech.
# 157:
_wet finger_] See note, p. 10.
# 158:
_God be wi’ thee_] Old eds. “God buy thee,” and “God bwith thee.”
# 159:
_Ostend_] “The siege of this place is frequently alluded to in our ancient writers. It was taken by the Marquis of Spinola on the 8th of September, 1604, after it had held out three years and ten weeks. See ‘_A True History of the memorable Siege of_ OSTEND, _and what passed on either side from the beginning of the Siege unto the yielding up of the town_.’ 4to. 1604.” REED.
# 160:
_fond_] i. e. foolish.
# 161:
_parson_] So old eds.—to mark how the servant was to pronounce the word.
# 162:
_potato-pies_] Potatoes were formerly esteemed a strong provocative: see the long and _instructive_ note of Collins (i. e. Steevens) appended to _Troilus and Cressida_—Malone’s _Shakespeare_ (by Boswell), vol. viii. p. 450.
# 163:
_from_] Old eds. “for.”
# 164:
_male varlet_] “So in _Troilus and Cressida_, act v. sc. 1: ‘Thou art thought to be Achilles’ _male varlet_.’” REED.
# 165:
_Fata_, &c.] From Seneca,—_Œdipus_, 882.
# 166:
_meditation’s spotless wings_] “So in _Hamlet_, act i. sc. 1.
‘Haste, let me know it; that I, with _wings_ as swift As _meditation_,’” &c. REED.
# 167:
_fellow_] Old eds. “fellowes.”
# 168:
_turn Turk again_] “To turn _Turk_ seems to have been a cant phrase for departing from the rules of chastity.” REED.
# 169:
_Though_] So some eds. First ed. “The.”
# 170:
_knaves_, &c.] See note, vol. i. p. 436.
# 171:
_half witches_] “One of the distinguishing qualities of a witch is supposed to have been hair on her chin.” REED.
# 172:
_codpiece_, &c.] The custom of sticking pins in this part of the male dress is often mentioned by our early writers.
# 173:
_Poh_] “The name is _Poh_, as it is generally printed in the edition of 1604, and as is evident from the way in which Fustigo plays upon it at the end of the scene. It has hitherto been misprinted _Poli_.” COLLIER.—In the first ed. of Dodsley’s _Old Plays_, “_Puff_.”
# 174:
_sound pistols_] “I suppose Fustigo means the Spanish coin _pistoles_.” STEEVENS. What else could he mean? see Todd’s Johnson’s _Dict._ in v. _pistol_.
# 175:
_cheaters do at a rifling_] Minsheu, in his _Guide into the Tongues_, explains _rifling_ to be “a kinde of game, where he that in casting doth throw most on the dice, takes up all that is laid down:” see note on Webster’s _Works_, vol. iii. p. 246, where I have shewn that our old writers used _rifle_ in the sense of _raffle_.
# 176:
_mazer_] i. e. head.
# 177:
_a_] So some eds. Not in first ed.
# 178:
_tall_] i. e. valiant.
# 179:
_legs_] “i. e. bows.” REED.
# 180:
_Comedy of Errors_] An allusion, probably, to Shakespeare’s play of that name.
# 181:
_Enter Candido_] There appears to be an inconsistency here, which cannot be remedied by any division of the play into acts. Candido has just returned from the senate-house; yet since he left home (see p. 64) it should seem, from the intermediate scenes, that a night had elapsed.
# 182:
_play my master’s prize_] A quibble.—In the art of fencing there were three degrees,—a _Master’s_, a Provost’s, and a Scholar’s, for each of which _a prize was played_ publicly.
# 183:
_Poh_] See note, p. 81.
# 184:
_what you lack_] See note, p. 24.
# 185:
_Be cover’d_] i. e. put on your cap.
# 186:
_welted gown_] “Barret, in his _Alvearie_, voce _gard_, explains the word as synonymous with _purfle_, or _welt_. A _welted gown_ is therefore one ornamented with purfles or fringe. They are often mentioned in ancient writers.” REED.
# 187:
_the shop_] See note, p. 54.
# 188:
_and_] i. e. if.
# 189:
_Exit Sec. Prentice_, &c.] Old eds. have no stage-direction here: qy. ought Candido to go out for the piece?
# 190:
_clubs, clubs_] Was the cry to call forth the London prentices when any fray arose.
# 191:
_agen_] The old spelling of _again_, and necessary here for the rhyme.
# 192:
_phrase_] So ed. 1605. Other eds. “praise.”
# 193:
_sister’s_] In Dodsley’s _Old Plays_, “silver.”
# 194:
_far_] So several eds. First ed. “for.”
# 195:
_conster_] See note, p. 64.
# 196:
_Janivere_] i. e. January.
# 197:
_sent_] So several eds. First ed. “send.”
# 198:
_bands_] So ed. 1605. Other eds. “bonds.”
# 199:
_mad Greeks_] He alludes to the common expression, “as mad as a Greek:” see Gifford’s excellent note on B. Jonson’s _Works_, vol. iii. p. 261.
# 200:
_painted cloth_] Is explained by Reed, in a note on this passage, to mean tapestry-hangings; but it was something more common and less expensive, viz. cloth or canvass painted in oil with a variety of devices, and verses interspersed: see Nares’s _Gloss._ in v.
# 201:
_With a wet finger_] See note, p. 10.
# 202:
_cheese-trenchers_] See note, vol. i. p. 31.
# 203:
_Tame_] Qy. “True?“
# 204:
_And_] i. e. if.
# 205:
_Duke_] So some eds. First ed. “Cast.”
# 206:
_work_] So several eds. First ed. “workes.”
# 207:
_Cas., Flu., &c._] Old eds. “_Omnes._”
# 208:
_Is’t so_, &c.] So several eds. First ed.
“_Ist_ euen _so, not maried till the afternoone_ you say.”
# 209:
_resolve_] i. e. satisfy—consent.
# 210:
_to steal mutton_] “i. e. to steal a wench. _Mutton_, in the language of the times, signified a _fille de joie_.” REED.
# 211:
_He took bread and salt_] i. e. he swore: bread and salt, according to ancient custom, were eaten by those who took oaths.
# 212:
_slights_] i. e. artifices.
# 213:
_prevent_] i. e. anticipate.
# 214:
_disguise_] So several eds. First ed. “disguisde.”
# 215:
_frighted_] So several eds. First ed. “fraighted.”
# 216:
_pray_] So several eds. First ed. “I _pray_”—but qy. ought we to read,
MAT. No words, Fluello, for’t stands us upon. FLU. O sir, I pray, let that be your lesson!
# 217:
_Enter a Sweeper_] Old eds. have, “_Enter_ Towne like _a sweeper_,” and prefix “Towne” to his speeches,—and so in Dodsley’s _Old Plays_! Towne was the name of the actor who played this part: there were two performers so called,—John and Thomas Towne: see Collier’s _Hist. of Engl. Dram. Poet._, vol. i. pp. 318, 351.
# 218:
_there’s no ho with them_] “i. e. there are no bounds or restraints with them.” REED.—They are not to be restrained by a call, or _ho!_ The expression is common.
# 219:
_blocks_] i. e. hats—a not unfrequent sense of the word: properly, the moulds on which the crowns of hats were formed.
# 220:
_countryman_] So several eds. First ed. “countrymen.”
# 221:
_Opens a door_, &c.] Old eds. have, “_Discouers an old man wrapt in a net_,” but prefix “_First Madman_” to his speeches. That he comes out, and is not merely shewn in his cell, is evident from what Anselmo afterwards says to the servant,—“Take him in there.”
# 222:
_ears_] So ed. 1635. Other eds. “ear.”
# 223:
_and_] i. e. if.
# 224:
_a polt foot_] “Seems to be the same we now call _a splay foot_.” REED. Rather, a club-foot.
# 225:
_pear-coloured_] i. e. red.
# 226:
_promoter_] i. e. informer.
# 227:
_go_] Old eds. “goes.”
# 228:
_pantofles_] A sort of slippers.
# 229:
_come aloft, Jack_] The exclamation of a master to an ape that had been taught to tumble and play tricks.
# 230:
_virginals; and still his jacks_, &c.] The virginals was an instrument of the spinnet kind: for a correct description of it, see Nares’s _Gloss._ in v.—In a note on the Second Part of this drama Steevens cites from Bacon, “In a _virginal_ as soon as ever the _jack_ falleth and toucheth the string, the sound ceaseth.”
# 231:
_flap-dragon_] See note, vol. i. p. 66.
# 232:
_an almond for parrot_] “The title of a pamphlet [by Nash], called, '_An Almond for a Parrot, or Cuthbert Curry-knaves Almes_.' B. L., no date, is here alluded to.” REED.—There is no such allusion. The expression, “an almond for parrot,” is old (it occurs in Skelton), and by no means uncommon. See my note on Webster’s _Works_, vol. iii. p. 122.
# 233:
_a rope for parrot_] Another proverbial expression. Taylor, the water-poet, has an epigram beginning,
“Why doth the Parrat cry a Rope, a Rope? Because hee’s cag’d in prison out of hope.” _Epigrams_, p. 265—_Workes_, 1630.
# 234:
_and_] i. e. if.
# 235:
_in but_] So several eds. First ed. “but in.”
# 236:
_God’s-santy_] “See a note on _The Merchant of Venice_, vol. iii. p. 157, edit. 1778, [where Steevens says, ‘Perhaps it was once customary to swear by the _santé_, i. e. _health_, of the Supreme Being,’ &c.] Perhaps, however, _God’s-santy_ is only a corruption of _God’s sanctity_, or _God’s saints_.“ STEEVENS.
# 237:
_barley-break_] Or the _last couple in hell_,—was a game played by six people, three of each sex, who were coupled by lot: see Gifford’s description of it,—note on Massinger’s _Works_, vol. i. p. 104, ed. 1813.
# 238:
_little friar_] i. e., of course, Infelice:—in Dodsley’s _Old Plays_, “_little_ finger!”
# 239:
_friar Tuck_] The famous chaplain of Robin Hood.
# 240:
_table_] A quibble. _Table_ meant the palm of the hand.
# 241:
_I have a hand_, &c.] Given in old eds. as a continuation of Hippolito’s speech.
# 242:
_content_] First two eds. “consent” in both lines. Other eds. “consent” in first line and “content” in second.
# 243:
_mutton_] See note, p. 102.
# 244:
_O brave Arthur of Bradley_] “An allusion to the old ballad of that name, which is printed in 'An antidote against melancholy, made up in pills, 1661.'”—REED.
# 245:
_cony-catch’d_] See note, p. 16.
# 246:
_’found_] i. e. confound.
# 247:
_golls_] See note, p. 23.
# 248:
_was my_] So several eds. First ed. “_was_ yet _my_.”
# 249:
_skill_] i. e. reason.
# 250:
_See, my lord_, &c.] An imperfect couplet: see note, p. 52.
# 251:
_wasters_] i. e. cudgels.
# 252:
_I am no larke ... doe not dare me_] To _dare larks_ meant to catch larks by _terrifying_ them with a hawk, a mirror, &c.
# 253:
_Friscobaldo_] Ought, properly, to be written _Frescobaldo_; but I have not altered the orthography of the old ed., because Matheo says to him, “I’ll _frisco_ you,” act iv. sc. 1; and when Lodovico (forgetting to address him by his assumed name of Pacheco) calls him “Friscobaldo,” he replies, “_Frisking_ again?” act iv. sc. 2.
# 254:
_ningle_] See note, vol. ii. p. 498.
# 255:
_running heads_] Opposite these words is a stage-direction in old ed. “_Exchange Walke_”—meaning, I presume, that they were to walk up and down while they talked.
# 256:
_Ast., Ber., &c._] Old ed. here and afterwards, “_Omnes_.“
# 257:
_costermongers_] “Sellers of apples.” REED.
# 258:
_saint Patrick, &c._] Saint Patrick’s Purgatory was a cavern in the southern part of the county of Donegall, much frequented by pilgrims: see a long note concerning it, by Reed, on Heywood’s _Four P’s_,—Dodsley’s _Old Plays_, vol. i. p. 59, last ed.; also the prefatory matter to _Owain Miles_, in a very interesting volume, containing that and other pieces of early poetry, edited by Mr. W. B. D. D. Turnbull and Mr. D. Laing, Edinb. 1837.
# 259:
_footmen to noblemen and others_] When this play was written many English “noblemen and others” had Irish running footmen in their service. So in _Cupid’s Whirligig_, ed. 1616, “Come, thou hast such a running wit, ’tis like _an Yrish foote boy_,” sig. E 3; in Brathwait’s _Strappado for the Diuell_, 1615,
“For see those thin breech _Irish lackies_ runne,” p. 191;
and in Dekker’s _English Villanies six several times prest to death by the printers_, &c., 1632, “The Deuils _foote-man_ was very nimble of his heeles, for _no wild Irish-man could outrunne him_, sig. B 4. It appears (see note on _A Fair Quarrel_, act iv. sc. 4) that these Irish footmen used to carry “darts” in their hands.
# 260:
_Dunkirks_] i. e. privateers of Dunkirk. So Shirley,— “was ta’en at sea by _Dunkirks_,”—_Works_, vol. ii. p. 428.
# 261:
_bona-robas_] See note, vol. i. p. 258.
# 262:
_swabbers_] i. e. sweepers.
# 263:
_table-book_] i. e. memorandum-book.
# 264:
_if they be not yellow_, &c.] Lodovico means—it is time for you to be jealous: “Since Citizens wiues fitted their husbands with _yellow hose_, is not within the memory of man.” Dekker’s _Owles Almanacke_, 1618, p. 7. The word “yellows” was frequently used for jealousy.
# 265:
_The face I would not look on_] See p. 54.
# 266:
_have no ho_] See note, p. 106.
# 267:
_O sir_, &c.] This speech seems to have been intended for verse, and is most probably corrupted.
# 268:
_eat snakes_] A supposed receipt for restoring youth.
# 269:
_He that_, &c.] “The turn of this is the same with Iago’s definition of a deserving woman: ‘She that was ever fair, and never proud,’ &c. The matter is superior.” LAMB, _Spec. of Engl. Dram. Poets_, p. 65.
# 270:
_those_] Old ed. “these.”
# 271:
_sucket_] i. e. sweetmeat, preserve.
# 272:
_defy_] i. e. renounce.
# 273:
_quail-pipe_] Used by fowlers to allure quails.
# 274:
_the pelican does it_] “The young pelican is fabled to suck the mother’s blood.” REED.
# 275:
_to wear blue_] “The habit of servants at the time.” REED.
# 276:
_Lodovico, Carolo, and Astolfo_] Ought not Beraldo to be of the party (see p. 138)? but his name is not prefixed to any of the speeches in this scene.
# 277:
_caps_] See note, p. 58.
# 278:
_bucklers without pikes_] “The ancient _bucklers_ had a prominent _spike_, and sometimes a _pistol_ in the centre of them.” STEEVENS.
# 279:
_pair of organs_] i. e. an organ: compare vol. ii. p. 346, and note.
# 280:
_First Guest_] Old ed. “Lod.”
# 281:
_felt_] i. e. hat
# 282:
_block_] i. e. mould: see note, p. 107.
# 283:
_'bove_] Old ed. “loue”—and so in Dodsley’s _Old Plays_!
# 284:
_Jets_] i. e. struts.
# 285:
_murrion_] “A head-piece, or cap of steel.” REED.
# 286:
_for when any bondman’s turn_, &c.] Here Reed has a _learned_ note on “the ceremony of manumission,” (from Kennet’s _Roman Antiq._), which I think it unnecessary to reprint.
# 287:
_out_] Old ed. “on’t.”
# 288:
_this steeple_] “Of such hats P. Stubbes speaks in his celebrated work, the _Anatomie of Abuses_, 1585. ‘Sometimes they use them sharp on the croune, pearking up like the spere or shaft of a steeple, standing a quarter of a yarde above the crowne of their heads, some more, some less, as please the phantasies of their unconstant mindes.’” REED.
# 289:
_Can._] Old ed. “Long.” Dodsley gives the exclamation to “Car.”
# 290:
_thus_] Qy. “though?”
# 291:
_the mother_] See note, p. 41.
# 292:
_rosemary_] Used at funerals: see note, vol. i. p. 231.
# 293:
_wry mouth ... like a plaice_] “So in Nash’s _Lenten Stuff_, 1599: ‘None won the day in this but the herring, whom all their clamorous suffrages saluted with Vive le Roy, God save the King, God save the King, save only the _playse_ and the butt, that made _wry mouths at him_, and for their mocking have _wry mouths_ ever since.’” REED. The wry mouth of the plaice was a favourite allusion with our old writers.
# 294:
_catso_] See note, vol. i. p. 296.
# 295:
_roaring boys_] See note on _A Fair Quarrel_, act ii. sc. 2, in this vol.
# 296:
_bizle_] “Or, as it is sometimes spelt, _bezzle_. He means to say, When shall I have an opportunity to drink to excess?” REED.
# 297:
_sort_] i. e. set, company.
# 298:
_And fed upon thee_, &c.] Old ed.
“And fed upon thee: good Mat. (if you please) so base as Scorne to spread wing amongst these.”
Mr. Collier, in a note on the last ed. of Dodsley’s _Old Plays_, first made the alteration which I have adopted: as Bellafront, he observes, here uses the contraction _Mat_, so her husband presently calls her _Front_.
# 299:
_and_] i. e. if.
# 300:
_jail_] Old ed. “Jayle.”—Qy. “javel?” i. e. worthless fellow.
# 301:
_vild_] i. e. vile: compare vol. ii. p. 393, note.
# 302:
_fond_] i. e. foolish.
# 303:
_blue coat_] See note, p. 146.
# 304:
_Come_, &c.] An imperfect couplet: see note, p. 52.
# 305:
_fly_] Old ed. “flyes.”
# 306:
_Weave thy nets_] Another imperfect couplet.
# 307:
_cony-catch_] See note, p. 16.
# 308:
_muttonmonger_] i. e. whoremonger: see note, p. 102.
# 309:
_percullis_] i. e. portcullis.
# 310:
_what do ye lack_] See note, p. 24.
# 311:
_drunk_] “i. e. _disguised_ in liquor.” COLLIER.
# 312:
_bud_] Old ed. “blood.”
# 313:
_overcharge_] Old ed. “ouerchange.”
# 314:
_Lod._ _Luke, I pray_, &c.] Lodovico repeats in scorn the gentle language used by Candido.
# 315:
_why, when_] A frequent expression of impatience. See note, vol. i. p. 360.
# 316:
_First P._] Old ed. “Luke”—which is the First Prentice’s name: see p. 150.
# 317:
_Then fast, then you may choose_] Old ed. makes this the first line of Candido’s speech; and so in Dodsley’s _Old Plays_!
# 318:
_shop_] See note, p. 54.
# 319:
_a prize_] See note, p. 86.
# 320:
_wasters_] i. e. “cudgels.” REED.—See, at p. 125, the passage quoted from Harington’s _Epigrams_.
# 321:
_Shall I_] “After ‘shall I’ in the old copy is inserted ‘_Prompt?_’ meaning that Lodovico is to prompt him.” COLLIER.
# 322:
_on_] Old ed. “vpon.”
# 323:
_wives_] A word seems to have dropt out: qy.
“_Can tame mad folks, and curst wives easily?_”
# 324:
_no longer_] Here, it should seem, Lodovico takes off the false hair which was part of his disguise.
# 325:
_You’ve_, &c.] Must stand as a line by itself, because it forms a couplet with the two next speeches.
# 326:
_ring him_] “To prevent swine from doing mischief, it is usual to put rings through their nostrils.” REED.
# 327:
_These lines_, &c.] “Probably, to amend the grammar, we ought to read,
‘These lines are ev’n the arrows Love lets fly, The very ink dropt out of Venus’ eye.’” COLLIER.
No: I believe the author wrote the couplet as given in the text.
# 328:
_parlous_] A corruption of _perilous_—i. e. dangerously shrewd.
# 329:
_shackatory_] “i. e. hound. So in _The Wandering Jew_, sig. F; ‘—for Time, though he be an old man, is an excellent footman: no _shackatory_ comes neere him, if hee once get the start, hee’s gone, and you gone too.’” REED.
# 330:
_run_, &c.] See note, vol. i. p. 390.
# 331:
_ourselves_] Old ed. “your _selues_.”
# 332:
_kern_] i. e., properly, an Irish foot-soldier—a low, savage fellow; “the very drosse and scum of the countrey,” says B. Riche, ... “that live by robbing and spoyling the poor countreyman:” (vide Boswell’s note on _Macbeth_—Malone’s _Shakespeare_, vol. xi. p. 16.) So too Bryan afterwards talks of going to steal cows again in Ireland, p. 177.
# 333:
_shag-hair’d_] “Shakespeare bestows the same epithet on a kern of Ireland, in the Second Part of _King Henry VI._ [act iii. sc. 1].” REED.
# 334:
_shall not thy disgrace_] Old ed. “shall thy disgrace;” but see Infelice’s repetition of the passage in the next page.
# 335:
_lubrican_] Compare Drayton;
“By the Mandrake’s dreadfull groanes, By the _Lubrican’s_ sad moanes,” &c.
_Nimphidia_ (appended to _Battaile of Agincourt_, &c.), p. 127, ed. 1627.
# 336:
_hooks_] Old ed. “Hawkes,” which in Dodsley’s _Old Plays_ is carefully modernised to “hawks!”
# 337:
_Two-wooes_] A play on the word which expresses the note of the owl;
“Then nightly sings the staring owl, _To-who_, Tu-whit, _to-who_, a merry note,” &c. Shakespeare’s _Love’s Labour’s Lost_, act v. sc. 2.
# 338:
_Irish dart_] An allusion to the darts carried by the Irish running footmen: see note on _A Fair Quarrel_,