Note return to page 1 * It appears from the induction of Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair to have been acted before the year 1590. Steevens.

Note return to page 2 * It is extraordinary that this gentleman should attempt so voluminous a work, as the Revisal of Shakespeare's text, when he tells us in his preface, “he was not so fortunate as to be furnished with either of the folio editions, much less any of the ancient quartos: and even Sir Thomas Hanmer's performance was known to him only by Dr. Warburton's representation.” Farmer.

Note return to page 3 † Republished by him in 1748, after Dr. Warburton's edition, with alterations, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 4 *“I must not (says Mr. Rowe in his dedication to the duke of Somerset) pretend to have restor'd this work to the exactness of the author's original manuscripts: those are lost, or, at least, are gone beyond any inquiry I could make; so that there was nothing left, but to compare the several editions, and give the true reading as well as I could from thence. This I have endeavour'd to do pretty carefully, and render'd very many places intelligible, that were not so before. In some of the editions, especially the last, there were many lines (and in Hamlet one whole scene) left out together; these are now all supply'd. I fear your grace will find some faults, but I hope they are mostly litteral, and the errors of the press.” Would not any one, from this declaration, suppose that Mr. Rowe (who does not appear to have consulted a single quarto) had at least compared the folios with each other?

Note return to page 5 *Mr. T. Warton in his excellent Remarks on the Fairy Queen of Spenser, offers a similar apology for having introduced illustrations from obsolete literature. “I fear (says he) I shall be censured for quoting too many pieces of this sort. But experience has fatally proved, that the commentator on Spenser, Jonson, and the rest of our elder poets, will in vain give specimens of his classical erudition, unless, at the same time, he brings to his work a mind intimately acquainted with those books, which, though now forgotten, were yet in common use and high repute about the time in which his authors respectively wrote, and which they consequently must have read. While these are unknown, many allusions and many imitations will either remain obscure, or lose half their beauty and propriety: “as the figures vanish when the canvas is decayed.” “Pope laughs at Theobald for giving us, in his edition of Shakespeare, a sample of &lblank; all such reading as was never read. But these strange and ridiculous books which Theobald quoted, were unluckily the very books which Shakespeare himself had studied; the knowledge of which enabled that useful editor to explain so many difficult allusions and obsolete customs in his poet, which otherwise could never have been understood. For want of this sort of literature, Pope tells us that the dreadful Sagittary in Troilus and Cressida, signifies Teucer, so celebrated for his skill in archery. Had he deigned to consult an old history, called the Destruction of Troy, a book which was the delight of Shakespeare and of his age, he would have found that this formidable archer, was no other than an imaginary beast, which the Grecian army brought against Troy. If Shakespeare is worth reading, he is worth explaining; and the researches used for so valuable and elegant a purpose, merit the thanks of genius and candour, not the satire of prejudice and ignorance. That labour, which so essentially contributes to the service of true taste, deserves a more honourable repository than The Temple of Dullness.”

Note return to page 6 *There is reason to think that about the time of the Reformation, great numbers of plays were printed, though few of that age are now to be found; for part of queen Elizabeth's injunctions in 1559, are particularly directed to the suppressing of “Many pamphlets, playes, and ballads: that no manner of person shall enterprize to print any such, &c. but under certain restrictions.” Vid. Sect. V. This observation is taken from Dr. Percy's Additions to his Essay on the Origin of the English Stage. It appears likewise from a page at the conclusion of the second vol. of the entries belonging to the Stationers' company, that in the 41st year of queen Elizabeth, many new restraints on booksellers were ibid. Among these are the following, “That no plaies be printed excepte they bee allowed by such as have auctoritye.” The records of the Stationers however contain the entries of some which have never yet been met with by the most successful collectors; nor are their titles to be found in any registers of the stage, whether ancient or modern. It should seem from the same volumes that it was customary for the Stationers to seize the whole impression of any work that had given offence, and burn it publickly at their hall, in obedience to the edicts of the archbishop of Canterbury, and the bishop of London, who sometimes enjoyed these literary executions at their respective palaces. Among other works condemned to the flames by these discerning prelates, were the complete satires of bishop Hall. Mr. Theobald, at the conclusion of the preface to his first edition of Shakespeare, asserts, that exclusive of the dramas of Ben Jonson, and B. and Fletcher, he had read “above Soo of old English plays.” He omitted this assertion, however, on the republication of the same work, and, I hope, he did so, through a consciousness of its utter falshood; for if we except the plays of the authors already mentioned, it would be difficult to discover half the number that were written early enough to serve the purpose for which he pretends to have perused this imaginary stock of ancient literature. I might add, that the private collection of Mr. Theobald, which, including the plays of Jonson, Fletcher and Shakespeare, did not amount to many more than an hundred, remained entire in the hands of the late Mr. Tonson, till the time of his death. It does not appear that any other collection but the Harleian was at that time formed; nor does Mr. Theobald's edition contain any intrinsic evidences of so comprehensive an examination of our eldest dramatic writers, as he assumes to himself the merit of having made.

Note return to page 7 †In the year 1707 Mr. N. Tate published a tragedy called Injured Love, or the Cruel Husband, and in the title page of it calls himself, “Author of the tragedy called King Lear.”

Note return to page 8 *In the first vol. of the books of entries belonging to the Stationers' company is the following: “Henry Bynneman] Nov. 1580, lycensed unto him under the wardens' hands tenne bookes of the Iliades of Homer.” Again, Nov. 14, 1608. “Seven bookes of Homer's Iliades translated into Englsh by Geo. Chapman.” Again, April 8, 1611, “A booke called Homer's Iliades in Englishe, containing 24 Bookes.” Again, Nov. 2, 1614, “Homer's Odisses 24 bookes translated by George Chapman.”

Note return to page 9 †Meres, in his Second part of Wit's Common-wealth, 1598, says that Chapman is “of good note for his inchoate Homer.”

Note return to page 10 ‡In the first volume of the entries of the Stationers' company is the following: “T. Purfoote.] The Battell of the Frogges and Myce, and certain orations of Isocrates. Jan. 4th 1579.”

Note return to page 11 *This translation, or at least Marlow's part in it, must have been published before 1599, being twice mentioned in Nash's Lenten Stuff, &c. which bears that date. “Leander and Hero of whom divine Musæus sung, and a diviner muse than him, Kit Marlow.” Again, “She sprung after him, and so resigned up her priesthood, and left worke for Musæus and Kit Marlow.” Among the entries at Stationers' hall I find the following made by John Wolfe in 1593, Sept. 8th, “A booke entitled Hero and Leander, being an amorous poem devised by Christopher Mar-Marlow.” At the same time, “Lucan's first booke of the famous Cyvill Warr betwixt Pompey and Cæsar. Englished by Christopher Marlow.” Again, in 1597, “A booke in English called Hero and Leander.” Again, April 1598, “The seconde Parte of Hero and Leander by Henry Petowe.” Andrew Harris enter'd it. Again, in 1600, “Hero and Leander by Marlowe.” In 1614 an entire translation of Lucan was published by Sir Arthur Gorges, and enter'd as such on the same books.

Note return to page 12 †This book was entered in May 1592, at Stationers' hall.

Note return to page 13 *Among the entries in the books at Stationers-hall this appears to be one. “John Denham.] The famous Herodotus in Englyshe, June 13, 1581.”

Note return to page 14 †On the Stationers' books in 1607 either this or some other translation is enter'd, called “The History of Thucidides the Athenian translated into English.”

Note return to page 15 *Caxton tells us, that “Skelton had translated Diodorus Siculus, the Epistles of Tulle, and diverse other Workes:” but I know not that they were ever printed.

Note return to page 16 †In the first volume of the entries in the books of the Stationers' company, Feb. 5, 1577, is the following: “Henry Binneman. Appianus Alexandrinus of the Romaine Civill Warres.”

Note return to page 17 ‡Oct. 1591, Herodian in English was entered at Stationers-hall by—Adams.

Note return to page 18 §Thus entered in the books of the Stationers' company. “April 1579—Vautrouller—Wright, a booke in Englishe called Plutarch's Lyves.”

Note return to page 19 *On the Stationers' books in the year 1600 is the following entry. “A booke to be translated out of Frenche into Englishe, and so printed, called the Morall Woorkes of Plutarque.” Again in 1602. Again in the same year, “The morral worke of Plutarque, being translated out of French into English.”

Note return to page 20 †Of the Ethicks of Aristotle some more early translation must have appeared; as Sir Tho. Elyot in his Boke named the Governour, 1537, says, “they are to be learned in Greke; for the translations that we have, be but a rude and grosse shadowe of the eloquence and wysdome of Aristotle.”

Note return to page 21 ‡This translation is entered in the books at Stationers-hall. “Adam Islip] Aristotle's Politiques with expositions; to be translated into Englyshe by the Frenche copie, 1598.”

Note return to page 22 §In the books of the Stationer's company, Feb. 12, 1581, Tho. Easte entered Enchiridion in English.

Note return to page 23 *Thus entered in the books of the Stationer's company. “Richard Jones. The Lives of divers excellente Orators and Philosophers written in Greeke by Enapius of the city of Sardis in Lydia, and translated into Englishe by—”

Note return to page 24 †This book was entered in the same year by Thomas Creede, on the books of the Stationers' company.

Note return to page 25 ‡This book is only introduced, that an opportunity may be obtained of excluding it from any future catalogue of translated classics. It was a fraud of Guevara's, but not undetected; for Chapman, in his Gentleman Usher, 1602, speaks of the book as Guevara's own. “If there be not more choice words in that letter, than in any three of Guevara's Golden Epistles, I am a very ass.” See his article in Bayle. Our countryman Elyott did somewhat of the same kind. He pretended to translate the Actes and Sentences notable, of the Emperor Alexander Severus, (from the Greek of Encolpius. See Fabricius' and Tanner's Bibliothec. &c.

Note return to page 26 *A translation of the same book is likewise entered at Stationer's hall 1602, and again twice in 1604, for different printers.

Note return to page 27 †This is a translation of the second and fourth books into blank verse, and is perhaps the oldest specimen of that metre in the English language.

Note return to page 28 ‡Among the entries in the books of the Stationer's company, is the following. “Tho. Creede.] Virgil's Æneidos in Englishe verse, 1595.” Again in 1600. Again his Bucolics and Georgies in the same year.

Note return to page 29 *The copy which I have seen, was in 4to, printed at Leiden, and was entered as such on the books of the Stationers on the 24th of January, 1582.

Note return to page 30 †There is an entry at Stationer's hall of the Epistles of Horace in 1591.

Note return to page 31 *Among the Stationers' entries I find in 1594, “A booke entitled Oenone and Paris, wherein is described the extremity of love, &c.” This may be a translation from Ovid.

Note return to page 32 †This book was enter'd at Stationers' hall by Tho. Easte, July 1, 1577, and by Thomas Orwin in 1591.

Note return to page 33 ‡Among the entries in the books of the Stationers' company is the following. Henry Bynneman] July 1, 1577, Ovid's Invective against Ibis. Bought of Tho. Easte.

Note return to page 34 §In the forty-first of Q. Eliz. these translations from Ovid were commanded by the archbishop of Canterbury and the bishop of London, to be burnt at Stationers' hall.

Note return to page 35 &sign;On the books of the Stationers' company, Dec. 23, 1599, is entered “Ovidius Naso his Remedy of Love.” Again, in the same year, “Ovydes Epistles in Englyshe,” and “Ovydes Metamorphosis in Englyshe.”

Note return to page 36 ¶This piece was enter'd at Stationers' hall June 10th 1594. In 1520, viz. the 11th year of Hen. VIII. it appears from Holinshed, that a comedy of Plautus was played before the king.

Note return to page 37 **Entered at Stationers' hall Feb. 1576.

Note return to page 38 *As the following metrical introduction to this play, relates chiefly to the improvements at that time supposed to have been made in the English language, I could not prevail on myself to suppress it. The Poet. The famous renown through the worlde is sprong Of poetys ornate that usyd to indyte Of dyvers matters in theyr moder tong Some toke uppon them translacions to wryte Some to compile bokys for theyr delyte But in our English tong for so to speke playn I rede but of few have take any gret payn. Except master Gowre which furst began And of moralite wrote ryght craftely Than master Chaucer that excellent man Which wrote as compendious as elygantly As in any other tong ever dyd any Ludgate also which adournyd our tong Whose noble famys through the world be sprong. By these men our tong is amplyfyed so That we therin now translate as well may As in eny other tongis other can do Yet the Greke tong and Laten dyvers men say Have many wordys can not be Englyshid this day So lyke wyse in Englysh many wordys do habound That no Greke nor Laten for them can be found. And the cause that our tong is so plenteouse now For we kepe our Englysh contynually And of other tongis many wordis we borow Which now for Englysh we use and occupy These thingis have gyven corage gretly To dyvers and specyally now of late To them that this comedy have translate. Which all discrete men now do besech And specyally lernyd men to take no dysdayn Though this be compylyd in our vulgare spech Yet lernyng thereby some men may attayn For they that in this comedy have take payn Pray you to correct where faut shal be found And of our matter so here is the ground. In the metrical peroration to this piece, is the following stanza: Wherefore the translatours now require you this Yf ought be amys ye wold consyder The Englysh almost as short as the Latten is And still to kepe ryme a dyffycult matter To make the sentence opynly to appere Which if it had a long expocysion Then were it a comment and no translacyon.

Note return to page 39 *At Stationer's hall in 1597, “the second comedy of Terence, called Eunuchus” was entered by W. Leake; and the first and second comedie in 1600.

Note return to page 40 †In the first volume of the entries of the Stationers' company, Aug. 1579, Rich. Jones, and John Charlewood entered the 4th tragedie of Seneca. And again all the ten in 1581.

Note return to page 41 ‡In the first volume of the entries in the books of the Stationers' company, is the following, “March 26, 1579, Seneca de Beneficiis in Englyshe”

Note return to page 42 §In the first volume of the entries in the books of the Stationers' company, anno 1597, is the following note, “Memorandum that Mr. Alexander Nevill, Gent. is appointed to translate Titus Livius into the Englyshe tongue: expressed, the same is not to be printed, by anie man, but only such as shall have his translacion.” Again, in 1598, “The history of Titus Livius” was entered by Adam Islip.

Note return to page 43 *A translation of Sallust was entered at Stationers' hall in 1588. Again, in 1607, “The historie of Sallust in Englishe.”

Note return to page 44 †This translation was entered at Stationers' hall 1604.

Note return to page 45 ‡In the entries made in the books of the Stationers' company is the following, “John Charlewood] Sept. 1581, Abstracte of the historie of Cesar and Pompeius.”

Note return to page 46 *In the Stationers' books this or some other translation of the same author was entered by Richard Tottell, Feb. 1582, and again by Tho. Creede, &c. 1599.

Note return to page 47 †Mattaire says [Ann. Typog. B. 5. 290.] “In florulentâ tituli margunculâ (vulgo vignette) superiore, inscribitur 1534.” This was a wooden Block used by the Printer Tottel, for many Books in small 8vo. and by no means determines their Date. There may however, have been some earlier translation than any here enumerated, as in Sir Tho. Elyot's Boke named the Governour, 1537, is mentioned “the worke of Cicero, called in Latine De Officiis, whereunto yet is no propre English worde, &c.”

Note return to page 48 ‡In the books belonging to Stationers' hall, “Tullies Offices in Latin and English” is entered Feb. 1582, for R. Tottell. Again, by Tho. Orwin, 1591.

Note return to page 49 *ast;These are perhaps the same as the two foregoing Translations.

Note return to page 50 *ast;These are perhaps the same as the two foregoing Translations.

Note return to page 51 †In the Stationers' books Jan. 13th 1608, Matthew Lownes entered “Anitius Manlius Torquatus Severinus Boethius, a Christian Consul of Rome, newly translated out of Latin, together with original notes explaining the obscurest places.”

Note return to page 52 *There is an entry of this translation in the books at Stationers' hall in 1595. Valentine Simes is the name of the printer who entered it. It is again entered by Clement Knight in 1600.

Note return to page 53 †On the books of the Stationers' company is this entry. “Adam Islip, 1600. The xxxvii bookes of C. Plinius Secundus his historie of the worlde. To be translated out of Latin into Englyshe and so printed.”

Note return to page 54 ‡Probably this was never printed.

Note return to page 55 *There is an entry of Caton at Stationers' hall in 1591 by —Adams, Eng. and Lat. Again in the year 1591 by Tho. Orwin. Again in 1605, “Four bookes of morall sentences entituled Cato, translated out of Latin into English by J. M. Master of Arts.”

Note return to page 56 †“Æsop's Fables in Englyshe” were entered May 7th 1590, on the books of the Stationers' company. Again, Oct. 1591. Again Esop's Fables in Meter, Nov. 598. Some few of them had been paraphrased by Lydgate, and I believe are still unpublished. See the Brit. Mus. MSS. Harl 2251. It is much to be lamented that Andrew Maunsell, a bookseller in Lothbury, who published two parts of a catalogue of English printed books, fol. 1595, did not proceed to his third collection. This, according to his own account of it, would have consisted of “Grammar, Logick, and Rhetoricke, Lawe, Historie, Poetrie, Policie, &c.” which, as he tells us, “for the most part concerne matters of delight and pleasure.”

Note return to page 57 *Mr. Farmer closes these general testimonies of Shakespeare's having been only indebted to nature, by saying, “He came out of her hand, as some one else expresses it, like Pallas out of Jove's head, at full growth and mature.” It is whimsical enough, that this some one else, whose expression is here quoted to countenance the general notion of Shakespeare's want of literature, should be no other than myself. Mr. Farmer does not chuse to mention where he met wit this expression of some one else; and some one else does not chuse to mention where he drop it.

Note return to page 58 †In defence of the various reading of this passage, given in the preface to the last edition of Shakespeare, “small Latin, and no Greek,” Mr. Farmer tells us, that “It was adopted above a century ago by W. Towers, in a panegyrick on Cartwright.” Surely, Towers having said that Cartwright had no Greek, is no proof that Ben Jonson said so of Shakespeare.

Note return to page 59 *Enter three witches solus.] This blunder appears to be of Mr. Pope's own invention. It is not to be found in any one of the four folio copies of Macbeth, and there is no quarto edition of it extant, Steevens.

Note return to page 60 *Much Ado about Nothing, Act ii. Enter Prince Leonato, Claudio, and Jack Wilson, instead of Balthasar. And in Act iv. Cowley and Kemp constantly through a whole scene. Edit. fol. of 1623, and 1632.

Note return to page 61 *This is Mr. Theobald's preface to his second edition in 1740, and had been much curtailed by himself after its appearance before the impression in 1733. Steevens.

Note return to page 62 *This is a mistake. Susanna was the poet's eldest daughter. See the extracts from the register-book of the parish of Stratford, in one of the following pages. Steevens.

Note return to page 63 *The first syllable in Socratem is here made short, which cannot be allowed. Perhaps we should read Sophoclem. Shakespeare is then appositely compared with a dramatic author among the ancients: but still it should be remembered that the elogium is lessen'd while the metre is reform'd; and it is well known that some of our early writers of Latin poetry were uncommonly negligent in their prosody, especially in proper names. The thought of this disrich, as Mr. Tollet observes, might have been taken from the Faëry Queene of Spenser, b. ii. c. 9. ft. 48, and c. 10. ft. 3. To this Latin inscription on Shakespeare should be added the lines which are found underneath it on his monument. Stay, passenger, why dost thou go so fast? Read, if thou canst, whom envious death hath plac'd Within this monument; Shakespeare, with whom Quick nature dy'd, whose name doth deck the tomb Far more than cost; since all that he hath writ Leaves living art but page to serve his wit. Again, near the wall on which this monument is erected, is a plain free-stone, under which his body is buried, with another epitaph, expressed in the following uncouth mixture of small and capital letters: Good Frend for Iesus SAKE forbeare To digg THE Dust EncloAsed HERe Blese be THE Man &YT; spares THEs Stones And curst be He &YT; moves my Bones. Steevens.

Note return to page 64 *See his Letters to me.

Note return to page 65 *It may be proper on this occasion to observe, that the actors printed several of the plays in their folio edition from the very quarto copies which they are here striving to depreciate; and additional depravation is the utmost that these copies gained by passing through their hands.

Note return to page 66 *It will be obvious to every one acquainted with the ancient English language, that in almost all the titles of plays in this catalogue of Mr. William Rufus Chetwood, the spelling is constantly overcharged with such a superfluity of letters as is not to be found in the writings of Shakespeare or his contemporaries. A more bungling attempt at a forgery was never obtruded on the public. See the British Theatre 1750, reprinted by Dodsley in 1756, under the title of “Theatrical Records, or an Account of English Dramatic Authors, and their Works,” where all that is said concerning an advertisement at the end of Romeo and Juliet 1597 is equally false, no copy of that play having been ever published by Andrew Wise.

Note return to page 67 †Locrine, 1595. Sir John Oldcastle, 1600. London Prodigal, 1605. Pericles Prince of Tyre, 1609. Puritan, 1600. Thomas Lord Cromwell, 1613. Yorkshire Tragedy, 1608.

Note return to page 68 *The highest date of any I can yet find, is Romeo and Juliet in 1597, when the author was 33 years old; and Richard the Second, and Third, in the next year, viz. the 34th of his age.

Note return to page 69 *See the Epilogue to Henry the Fourth.

Note return to page 70 *The Rev. Francis Peck, in his Memoirs of the Life and Poetical Works of Mr. John Milton, 4to. 1740, p. 223, has introduced another epitaph imputed (on what authority is unknown) to Shakespeare. It is on Tom a Combe, alias Thin-beard, brother to this John, who is mentioned by Mr. Rowe. “Thin in beard, and thick in purse; “Never man beloved worse; “He went to the grave with many a curse: “The devil and he had both one nurse.” Steevens.

Note return to page 71 *He died on his birth-day, April 23, 1616, and had exactly compleated his fifty-second year. Malone.

Note return to page 72 *Lord Falkland, Lord C. J. Vaughan, and Mr. Selden.

Note return to page 73 *This Account of the Life of Shakespeare is printed from Mr. Rowe's second edition, in which it had been abridged and altered by himself after its appearance in 1709. Steevens.

Note return to page 74 *In the Herald's Office are the first draughts of John Shakespeare's grant or confirmation of arms, by William Dethick, Garter, Principal King at Arms, 1596. See Vincents Press, vol. 157, No. 23, and No 24. Steevens.

Note return to page 75 *It is said by the modern editor of Arden of Feversham (first published in 1592 and republished in 1770) that Shakespeare descended by the female line from the gentleman whose unfortunate end is the subject of this tragedy. But the assertion appears to want support, the true name of the person who was murdered at Feversham being Ardern and not Arden. Ardern might be called Arden in the play for the sake of better sound, or might be corrupted in the chronicle of Holingshed: yet it is unlikely that the true spelling should be overlooked among the Heralds, whose interest it is to recommend by ostentatious accuracy the trifles in which they deal. Steevens.

Note return to page 76 *Among the unpublished collections of Rymer which are now in the British Museum, is the following patent granted in the 16th year of Q. Elizabeth, (viz. 1574). See MSS. Rymer, vol. I. The James Burbage mentioned therein, was in all probability father to Richard Burbage the contemporary of Shakespeare, and chief performer in his plays. I have printed it, because perhaps it is the first regular licence ever granted to players. “Pro Jacobo Burbage et aliis, de licentia speciali Elizabeth by the grace of God, quene of England, &c. To all justices, mayors, sheriffes, baylyffes, head constables, under constables, and all other oure officers and mynisters gretinge. Know ye, that we of our especiall grace, certen knowledge, and mere motion have licensed and auctorised, and by these presents do lycence and auctorise oure lovinge subjectes James Burbage, John Perkyn, John Lanham, William Johnson, and Robert Wilson, servaunts to our trustie and well beloved cosen and counseyllour the Earle of Leycester, to use, exercyse and occupie the arte and facultye of playenge commedies, tragedies, enterludes, stageplayes, and suche other like as they have alredie used and studied, or hereafter shall use and studie, as well for the recreation of oure lovinge subjectes as for oure solace and pleasure when we shall thinke good to see them, as also to use and occupie all suche instrumentes as they have alredie practised or hereafter shall practise for and duringe our pleasure; and the said commedies, tragedies, enterludes, and stage-plaies, together with their musicke, to shew, publishe, exercise and occupie to their best commoditie, during all the terme aforesaide, as well within the liberties and freedomes of anye our cities, townes, bouroughs, &c. whatsoever, as without the same, thoroughoute our realme of England. Wyllinge and commaundinge yowe and every of you as ye tender oure pleasure to permitt and suffer them herein withoute anye lettes, hynderaunce or molestation duringe the terme aforesaide, any acte, statute, or proclamation or commaundement heretofore made or hereafter to be made notwythstandynge; provyded that the saide commedies, tragedies, enterludes and stage-playes be by the master of our revells for the tyme beyinge before sene and allowed; and that the same be not published or shewen in the tyme of common prayer or in the tyme of greate and common plague in our saide citye of London. In wytnes whereof, &c. Wytnes our selfe at Westminster the 10th daye of Maye. Per breve de privato sigillo.” Mr. Dodsley in the preface to his collection of old plays 1744, p. 21. says that the first company of players we have any account of in history, are the children of Pauls' in 1578. Steevens.

Note return to page 77 *It appears from the registers in Doctors' Commons, that Burbage died in 1629. The wills of Hemynge and Cundell I could not meet with, though I sought for them as low as the year 1641. Several wills indeed I found with the names of J. Hemynge and Henry Cundell annexed, but they contain nothing characteristick of Shakespeare's associates. Steevens.

Note return to page 78 *It appears, in the original will of Shakespeare (now in the Prerogative Office Doctors' Commons) that he had forgot his wife; the legacy to her being expressed by an interlineation, as well as those to Hemynge, Burbage, and Condell. The will is written on three sheets of paper, the two last of which are undoubtedly subscribed with Shakespeare's own hand. The first indeed has his name in the margin, but it differs somewhat in spelling as well as manner, from the two signatures that follow. The reader will find a fac-simile of all the three, as well as those of the witnesses, over-leaf. This information was not obtained till it was too late to correct the mode in which our author's name has hitherto been printed, except in the title pages, where it now stands as it should be given —Shakspeare. Steevens.

Note return to page 79 *Plays were at this time performed in the afternoon. “The pollicie of plaies is very necessary, howsoever some shallow-brained censurers (not the deepest searchers into the secrets of government) mightily oppugne them. For whereas the afternoone being the idlest time of the day wherein men that are their own masters (as gentlemen of the court, the innes of the court, and a number of captains and soldiers about London) do wholly bestow themselves upon pleasure, and that pleasure they devide (how vertuously it skills not) either in gaming, following of harlots, drinking, or seeing a play, is it not better (since of four extreames all the world cannot keepe them but they will choose one) that they should betake them to the least, which is plaies?” Nash's Pierce Pennilesse his Supplication to the Devil, 1595. Steevens.

Note return to page 80 †I cannot dismiss this anecdote without observing that it seems to want every mark of probability. Though Shakespeare quitted Stratford on account of a juvenile irregularity, we have no reason to suppose that he had forfeited the protection of his father who was engaged in a lucrative business, or the love of his wife who had already brought him two children, and was herself the daughter of a substantial yeoman. It is unlikely therefore, when he was beyond the reach of his prosecutor, that he should conceal his plan of life, or place of residence from those who if he found himself distressed, could not fail to afford him such supplies as would have set him above the necessity of holding horses for subsistence. Mr. Malone has remarked in his Attempt to ascertain the Order in which the Plays of Shakespeare were written, that he might have found an easy introduction to the stage; for Thomas Green, a celebrated comedian of that period, was his townsman, and perhaps his relation. The genius of our author prompted him to write poetry; his connection with a player might have given his productions a dramatick turn; or his own sagacity might have taught him that fame was not incompatible with profit, and that the theatre was an avenue to both. That it was once the custom to ride on horseback to the play, I am likewise yet to learn. The most popular of the theatres were on the Bank-side; and we are told by the satirical pamphleteers of the time, that the usual mode of conveyance to these places of amusement, was by water: but not a single writer so much as hints at the custom of riding to them, or at the practice of having horses held during the hours of exhibition. Some allusion to this usage (if it had existed) must, I think, have been discovered in the course of our researches after contemporary fashions. Let it be remembered too, that we receive this tale on no higher authority than that of Cibber's Lives of the Poets, vol. I. p. 130. “Sir William Davenant told it to Mr. Betterton, who communicated it to Mr. Rowe,” who (according to Dr. Johnson) related it to Mr. Pope. Mr. Rowe (if this intelligence be authentic) seems to have concurred with me in opinion, as he forebore to introduce a circumstance so incredible into his life of Shakespeare. As to the book which furnishes the anecdote, not the smallest part of it was the composition of Mr. Cibber, being entirely written by a Mr. Shiells, amanuensis to Dr. Johnson, when his Dictionary was preparing for the press. T. Cibber was in the King's Bench, and accepted of ten guineas from the booksellers for leave to prefix his name to the work; and it was purposely so prefixed as to leave the reader in doubt whether himself or his father was the person designed. Steevens.

Note return to page 81 *Fasti. 2d Edit. V. 1. 208.—It will be seen on turning to the former edition, that the latter part of the paragraph belongs to another Stafford.—I have since observed, that Wood is not the first, who hath given us the true author of the pamphlet.

Note return to page 82 *This place is not met with in Spelman's Villare, or in Adam's Index; nor in the first and the last performance of this sort, Speed's Tables, and Whatley's Gazetteer: perhaps, however, it may be meant under the name of Crandon;—but the inquiry is of no importance. —It should, I think, be written Credendon; though better antiquaries than Aubrey have acquiesced in the vulgar corruption.

Note return to page 83 *To this observation of Dr. Farmer it may be added, that the play of Hamlet was better known by this scene, than by any other. In Decker's Satiromastix the following passage occurs. Asinius. “Would I were hang'd if I can call you any names but captain, and Tucca.” Tucca. “No, fye; my name's Hamlet Revenge: thou hast been at Paris Garden, hast thou not?” Again, in Westward Hoe, by Decker and Webster, 1607. “Let these husbands play mad Hamlet, and cry revenge!” Steevens. Dr. Farmer's observation may be further confirmed by the following passage in an anonymous play, called A Warning for faire Women, 1599. We also learn from it the usual dress of the stage ghosts of that time. “&lblank; A filthie whining ghost “Lapt in some foule sheet, or a leather pilch, “Comes screaming like a pigge half stickt, “And cries vindicta—revenge, revenge.” The leathern pilch, I suppose, was a theatrical substitute for armour. Malone.

Note return to page 84 †These people, who were the Curls of the last age, ascribe likewise to our author those miserable performances, Mucedorus, and the Merry Devil of Edmonton.

Note return to page 85 ‡Mr. Pope asserts “The troublesome Raigne of King John,” in 2 parts, 1611, to have been written by Shakespeare and Rowley: —which edition is a mere copy of another in black letter, 1591. But I find his assertion is somewhat to be doubted: for the old edition hath no name of author at all; and that of 1611, the initials only, W. Sb. in the title-page.

Note return to page 86 *Peele seems to have been taken into the patronage of the Earl of Northumberland about 1593, to whom he dedicates in that year, “The Honour of the Garter, a poem gratulatorie—the Firstling consecrated to his noble name.”—“He was esteemed, says Anthony Wood, a most noted poet, 1579; but when or where he died, I cannot tell, for so it is, and always hath been, that most Poets die poor, and consequently obscurely, and a hard matter it is to trace them to their graves. Claruit 1599.” Ath. Oxon. vol. I. p. 300. We had lately in a periodical pamphlet, called, The Theatrical Review, a very curious letter under the name of George Peele, to one Master Henrie Marle; relative to a dispute between Shakespeare and Alleyn, which was compromised by Ben Jonson.— “I never longed for thy companye more than last night; we were all verie merrie at the Globe, when Ned Alleyn did not scruple to affyrme pleasauntly to thy friende Will, that he had stolen hys speeche about the excellencie of acting in Hamlet hys tragedye, from conversaytions manifold, whych had passed between them, and opinions gyven by Alleyn touchyng that subjecte. Shakespeare did not take this talk in good forte; but Jonson did put an end to the stryfe wyth wittelie saying, thys affaire needeth no contentione: you stole it from Ned no doubte: do not marvel: haue you not seene hym acte tymes out of number?”—This is pretended to be printed from the original MS. dated 1600; which agrees well enough with Wood's Claruit: but unluckily, Peele was dead at least two years before. “As Anacreon died by the pot, says Meres, so George Peele by the pox.” Wit's Treasury, 1598. p. 286.

Note return to page 87 *With this extract from the register of Stratford, I was favoured by the Hon James West, esq. Steevens.

Note return to page 88 †She married the ancestor of the Harts of Stratford.

Note return to page 89 ‡Born April 23, 1564.

Note return to page 90 §This seems to be a grand-daughter of the first John.

Note return to page 91 &sign;This Samuel, only son of the poet, died aged 12.

Note return to page 92 *This gentleman was a physician: he married the poet's eldest daughter. 9Q0011

Note return to page 93 †Judith was the poet's youngest daughter.

Note return to page 94 ‡As Shakespeare the poet married his wife from Shottery, a village near Stratford, possibly he might become possessor of a remarkable house there, as part of her portion; and jointly with his wife convey it as part of their daughter Judith's portion to Thomas Queeny. It is certain that one Queeny, an elderly to gentleman, sold it to—Harvey, esq. of Stockton, near Southam, Warwickshire, father of John Harvey Thursby, esq. of Abington, near Northampton; and that the aforesaid Harvey sold it again to Samuel Tyler, esq. whose sisters, as his heirs, now enjoy it.

Note return to page 95 &sign;Died the 23d.

Note return to page 96 §No one hath protracted the life of Shakespeare beyond 1616, except Mr. Hume; who is pleased to add a year to it, in contradiction to all manner of evidence. Farmer.

Note return to page 97 ¶The poet's widow. She died at the age of sixty-seven.

Note return to page 98 *“The portrait palmed upon Mr. Pope (I use the words of the late Mr. Oldys in a MS. note to his edition of Langbaine) for an original of Shakespeare, from which he had his fine plate engraven, is evidently a juvenile portrait of K. James I.” I am no judge in these matters, but only deliver an opinion, which if ill grounded, may be easily overthrown. The portrait, to me at least, has no traits of Shakespeare. The following observations are from the printed work of Mr. Granger. Steevens.

Note return to page 99 †“It has been said that there never was an original portrait of Shakespeare; but that Sir Thomas Clarges, after his death, caused a portrait to be drawn for him, from a person who nearly resembled him. Mr. Walpole informs me, that the only original picture of Shakespeare is that which belonged to Mr. Keck, from whom it passed to Mr. Nicoll, whose only daughter married the marquis of Caernarvon. This agrees with what is said in the Critical Review for Dec. 1770, in relation to the same portrait, which is there also said to have been “painted either by Richard Burbage, or John Taylor the player, the latter of whom left it by will to Sir William Davenant. After his death, Betterton, the actor, bought it; and when he died, Mr. Keck of the Temple gave forty guineas for it to Mrs. Barry the actress.” Mr. Walpole adds, that Marshall's print is genuine too, and probably drawn from the life.”

Note return to page 100 *The reader will find a faithful copy of this head, prefixed to the will of Shakespeare. There is a small head of Shakespeare in an oval, before his Rape of Lucrece, republished in 12mo. 1655, with the banishment of Tarquin, by John [the son of Philip] Quarles: but it is apparently copied from the first folio. Steevens.

Note return to page 101 †From this print the head of Shakespeare prefixed to our present edition is engraved. Steevens.

Note return to page 102 *“On the monument is inscribed—Amor publicus posuit. Dr. Mead objected to the word amor, as not occurring in old classical inscriptions; but Mr. Pope, and the other gentlemen concerned, insisting that it should stand, Dr. Mead yielded the point saying, Omnia vincit amor, et nos cedamus amori. This anecdote was communicated by Mr. Lort, late Greek professor of Cambridge, who had it from Dr. Mead himself.”

Note return to page 103 *This and the next lines have reference to the following epitaph on Shakespeare, written by Dr. Donne, and printed among his poems: “Renowned Spenser, lie a thought more nigh9Q0013 “To learned Chaucer, and rare Beaumont lie “A little nearer Spenser, to make room “For Shakespeare in your threefold, fourfold tomb. “To lie all four in one bed make a shift, “Until doomsday; for hardly will a fifth “Betwixt this day and that, by fates be slain, “For whom your curtains need be drawn again. “But if precedency in death doth bar “A fourth place in your sacred sepulchre, “Under this curled marble of thine own, “Sleep, rare tragedian; Shakespeare, sleep alone! “Thy unmolested peace, in an unshar'd cave, “Possess as lord, not tenant of thy grave; “That, unto us, and others it may be “Honour, hereafter to be laid by thee!” Steevens.

Note return to page 104 †Lylly wrote nine plays during the reign of Q. Eliz. viz. Alexander and Campaspe, T. C; Endymion, C; Galatea, C; Love his Metamorphosis, Dram. Past; Maid her Metamorphosis, C; Mother Bombie, C; Mydas, C; Sapho and Phao, C; and Woman in the Moon, C. To the pedantry of this author perhaps we are indebted for the first attempt to polish and reform our language. See his Euphues and his England. Steevens.

Note return to page 105 ‡&lblank; or sporting Kyd. It appears from Heywood's Actor's Vindication that Thomas Kyd was the author of the Spanish Tragedy. The late Mr. Hawkins was of opinion that Soliman and Perseda was by the same hand. The only piece however, which has descended to us, even with the initial letters of his name affixed to it, is Pompey the Great his fair Cornelia's Tragedy, which was first published in 1594, and, with some alteration in the title-page, again in 1595. This is no more than a translation from Robert Garnier, a French poet, who distinguished himself during the reigns of Charles IX. Henry III. and Henry IV. and died at Mans in 1602, in the 56th year of his age. Steevens.

Note return to page 106 §&lblank; or Marlow's mighty line.] Marlow was a performer as well as an author. His contemporary Heywood calls him the best of poets. He wrote six tragedies, viz. Dr. Faustus's Tragical History; K. Edward II; Jew of Malta; Lust's Dominion; Massacre of Paris; and Tamburlaine the Great, in two parts. He likewise joined with Nash in writing Dido Queen of Carthage, and had begun a translation of Musæus's Hero and Leander, which was finished by Chapman, and published in 1606. Steevens.

Note return to page 107 *&lblank; extinctus amabitur idem. This observation of Horace was never more completely verified than by the posthumous applause which Ben Jonson has bestowed on Shakespeare: &lblank; the gracious Duncan Was pitied of Macbeth:—marry, he was dead. Let us now compare the present elogium of old Ben with such of his other sentiments as have reached posterity. In April 1748, when the Lover's Melancholy by Ford, (a friend and contemporary of Shakespeare) was revived for a benefit, the following letter appeared in the General, now the Public, Advertiser. ‘&lblank; It is hoped that the following gleaning of theatrical history will readily obtain a place in your paper. It is taken from a pamphlet written in the reign of Charles I. with this quaint title, “Old Ben's Light Heart made heavy by Young John's Melancholy Lover;” and as it contains some historical anecdotes and altercations concerning Ben Jonson, Ford, Shakespeare, and the Lover's Melancholy, it is imagined that a few extracts from it at this juncture, will not be unentertaining to the public.’ ‘Those who have any knowledge of the theatre in the reigns of James and Charles the First, must know, that Ben Jonson, from great critical language, which was then the portion but of very few, his merit as a poet, and his constant association with men of letters, did, for a considerable time, give laws to the stage.’ ‘Ben was by nature splenetic and sour; with a share of envy, (for every anxious genius has some) more than was warrantable in society. By education rather critically than politely learned; which swell'd his mind into an ostentatious pride of his own works, and an overbearing inexorable judgment of his contemporaries.’ ‘This raised him many enemies, who towards the close of his life endeavoured to dethrone this tyrant, as the pamphlet stiles him, out of the dominion of the theatre. And what greatly contributed to their design, was the slights and malignances which the rigid Ben too frequently threw out against the lowly Shakespeare, whose fame since his death, as appears by the pamphlet, was grown too great for Ben's envy either to bear with or wound.’ ‘It would greatly exceed the limits of your paper to set down all the contempts and invectives which were uttered and written by Ben, and are collected and produced in this pamphlet, as unanswerable and shaming evidences to prove his ill-nature and ingratitude to Shakespeare, who first introduced him to the theatre and fame. ‘But though the whole of these invectives cannot be set down at present, some few of the heads may not be disagreeable, which are as follow.’ “That the man had imagination and wit none could deny, but that they were ever guided by true judgment in the rules and conduct of a piece, none could with justice assert, both being ever servile to raise the laughter of fools and the wonder of the ignorant. That he was a good poet only in part—being ignorant of all dramatic laws,—had little Latin—less Greek—and speaking of plays, &c. ‘To make a child new swaddled, to proceed ‘Man, and then shoot up, in one beard and weed, ‘Past threescore years: or, with three rusty swords, ‘And help of some few foot and half-foot words, ‘Fight over York and Lancaster's long jars, ‘And in the tyring-house bring wounds to scars. ‘He rather prays you will be pleas'd to see ‘One such to-day, as other plays should be; ‘Where neither chorus wafts you o'er the seas, &c.” ‘This, and such like behaviour, brought Ben at last from being the lawgiver of the theatre to be the ridicule of it, being personally introduced there in several pieces, to the satisfaction of the public, who are ever fond of encouraging personal ridicule, when the follies and vices of the object are supposed to deserve it.’ ‘But what wounded his pride and fame most sensibly, was the preference which the public and most of his contemporary wits, gave to Ford's Lover's Melancholy, before his New Inn or Light Heart. They were both brought on in the same week and on the same stage; where Ben's was damn'd, and Ford's received with uncommon applause: and what made this circumstance still more galling, was, that Ford was at the head of the partisans who supported Shakespeare's fame against Ben Jonson's invectives.’ ‘This so incensed old Ben, that as an everlasting stigma upon his audience, he prefixed this title to his play—“The New Inn or Light Heart. A comedy, as it was never acted, but most negligently play'd by some, the King's idle servants; and more squeamishly beheld and censur'd by others, the King's foolish subjects.” This title is followed by an abusive preface upon the audience and reader.’ ‘Immediately upon this, he wrote his memorable ode against the public, beginning “Come leave the loathed stage, “And the more loathsome age, &c.” The revenge he took against Ford, was to write an epigram on him as a plagiary. “Playwright, by chance, hearing toys I had writ, “Cry'd to my face—they were th' elixir of wit. “And I must now believe him, for to-day “Five of my jests, then stoln, pass'd him a play.” Alluding to a character in the Ladies Trial, which Ben says Ford stole from him.’ ‘The next charge against Ford was, that the Lover's Melancholy was not his own, but purloined from Shakespeare's papers, by the connivance of Hemings and Condel, who in conjunction with Ford, had the revisal of them.’ ‘The malice of this charge is gravely refuted, and afterwards laughed at in many verses and epigrams, the best of which are those that follow, with which I shall close this theatrical extract.’ “To my worthy friend, John Ford. “'Tis said, from Shakespeare's mine, your play you drew, “What need?—when Shakespeare still survives in you: “But grant it were from his vast treasury rest, “That plund'rer Ben ne'er made so rich a theft.” Thomas May. Upon Ben Jonson, and his Zany, Tom Randolph. “Quoth Ben to Tom, the Lover's stole,   “'Tis Shakespeare's every word; “Indeed, says Tom, upon the whole,   “'Tis much too good for Ford. “Thus Ben and Tom the dead still praise,   “The living to decry; “For none must dare to wear the bays,   “Till Ben and Tom both die. “Even Avon's swan could not escape   “These letter-tyrant elves; “They on his fame contriv'd a rape,   “To raise their pedant selves. “But after times with full consent   “This truth will all acknowledge,— “Shakespeare and Ford from heaven were sent,   “But Ben and Tom from college. Endymion Porter.” Mr. Macklin the comedian was the author of this letter; but the pamphlet which furnished his materials, was lost in its passage from Ireland. The following stanza, from a copy of verses by Shirley, prefixed to Ford's Love's Sacrifice, 1633, alludes to the same dispute, and is apparently addressed to Ben Jonson. “Look here thou that hast malice to the stage, “And impudence enough for the whole age; “Voluminously ignorant! be vext “To read this tragedy, and thy owne be next.” Steevens.

Note return to page 108 *See Wood's Athenæ Oxon. edit. 1721, vol. I. p. 583.

Note return to page 109 *See Wood's Athenæ Oxonienses, vol. I. p. 599, and 600, edit. 1721.

Note return to page 110 †Perhaps John Marston.

Note return to page 111 *Author of the Two Maids of Moorclacke, Com. 1609.

Note return to page 112 †Author of Amends for Ladies, Com. 1639, and Woman is a Weathercock, Com. 1612. He also assisted Massinger in the Fatal Dowry.

Note return to page 113 †These three are only copies of the spurious play.

Note return to page 114 *For correcting the press and making an index to Mr. Rowe's 12mo edition.

Note return to page 115 †For assistance to Mr. Pope in correcting the press.

Note return to page 116 ‡For the same services.

Note return to page 117 §For correcting the sheets of Pope's 12mo.

Note return to page 118 &sign;Of Mr. Theobald's edition no less than 11360 have been printed.

Note return to page 119 *See the following Extract of Entries in the books of the Stationers' Company.

Note return to page 120 †It appears from an epistle prefixed to Greene's Arcadia, that the Arraignment of Paris was written by George Peele, the author of King David and Fair Bethsabe, &c. 1599.

Note return to page 121 ‡See the following extracts from the books at Stationers' hall.

Note return to page 122 § Fair Em] In Mr. Garrick's Collection, is a volume, formerly belonging to King Charles I. which is lettered on the back, SHAKESPEARE, vol. I. This vol. consists of Fair Em, The Merry Devil, &c. Mucedorus, &c. There is no other authority for ascribing Fair Em to our author.

Note return to page 123 &sign;The title-page of this play offers no sufficient evidence to convict Shakespeare of having been its author, as it only says, “newly set foorth, overseene and corrected by W. S.” Supposing W. S. to have been meant for W. Shakespeare; as the manager of a theatre, or as a friend to the author, he might have condescended to correct what his genius could not have stoop'd to write. This piece likewise exhibits several antiquated and affected words never used by Shakespeare; as lore for lesson, stoure for tumult, virent for green, and occision for slaughter; besides equalize, rosiall, mavortial Eos, Fames (a personification of Hunger,) Puriphlegeton, macerate, venerean, suspires (for sighs subst.) frumps, arcane for secret, feer for wife, exequies for obsequies, &c. It contains also a Spanish quotation and many Latin verses; and is full of those inexplicable dumb shews which Shakespeare has ridiculed in Hamlet. Whoever was the author of Locrine, it could not have been printed till after the 17th of November 1595, when Queen Elizabeth entered into the 38th year of her reign, as at the conclusion of it is the following prayer for her Majesty: “So let us pray for that renowned Maid “That eight and thirty years the sceptre sway'd, &c.” The story of this play9Q0014 is taken from Gower, or in part from the ancient romance of Kynge Appolyn of Thyre, which was translated from the French by Robert Copland, who had worked under Caxton. I have a copy of it printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1510.

Note return to page 124 *See the following extracts from the books at Stationers' hall.

Note return to page 125 †See, &c.

Note return to page 126 ‡Ben Jonson, in an ode published at the end of his New Inn, has the following sarcasm on this piece:   “No doubt some mouldy tale   “Like Pericles, and stale “As the shrieves crusts, &c.”—

Note return to page 127 §See, &c.

Note return to page 128 &sign;See, &c.

Note return to page 129 *Perhaps the original work on which Shakespeare founded his play of Romeo and Juliet.

Note return to page 130 †This play was reprinted in 1770 at Feversham, with a preface attributing it to Shakespeare. The collection of parallel passages which the editor has brought forward to justify his suppositon, is such as will make the reader smile. The following is a a specimen. Arden of Feversham, p. 74. “Fling down Endimion, and snatch him up.” Merchant of Venice, Act V. Sc. i. “Peace! how the moon sleeps with Endymion!” Arden of Feversham, p. 87. “Let my death make amends for all my sin.” Much Ado about Nothing, Act IV. Sc. ii. “Death is the fairest cover for her shame.”

Note return to page 131 N. B. The terms book and ballad were anciently used to signify dramatic works as well as any other forms of composition; while tragedy and comedy were titles very often bestowed on novels of the serious and the lighter kind.

Note return to page 132 *The last stanza of a poem entitled “Mirrha the Mother of Adonis; or Lustes Prodegies, by William Barksted,” 1607, has the following praise of Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis. “But stay, my muse, in thy own confines keepe;   “And wage not warre with so deere lov'd a neighbor; “But having sung thy day-song rest and sleepe,   “Preserve thy small fame and his greater favor. “His song was worthie merit (Shakspeare hee) “Sung the faire blossome, thou the withered tree: “Laurel is due to him; his art and wit “Hath purchas'd it; cypress thy brow will fit.”

Note return to page 133 †I suppose this to be Daniel's tragedy of Cleopatra, Simon Waterson was one of the printers of his other works.

Note return to page 134 *I conceive it to be the play that furnished Shakespeare with the materials which he afterwards worked up into another with the same title.

Note return to page 135 †This might have been the very displeasing play mentioned in the epilogue to the second part of King Henry IV.

Note return to page 136 ‡I suppose this to be the play on the same subject as that of our author, but written before it.

Note return to page 137 §Query, if the Winter's Tale.

Note return to page 138 &sign;This could not have been the work of Shakespeare, as the death of Jane Shore makes no part of his drama.

Note return to page 139 *Probably the play before that of Shakespeare.

Note return to page 140 †This is ascribed to Shakespeare by the compilers of ancient catalogues.

Note return to page 141 ‡Quere, if Shakespeare's play, the first edition of which appeared in 1597.

Note return to page 142 §Perhaps the song on which the play with the same title was founded. It may, however, be the play itself. It was not uncommon to divide one dramatic piece, though designed for a single exhibition, into two parts. See the K. John before that of Shakespeare.

Note return to page 143 *Though it be uncertain whether this Enterlude was Shakespeare's King Henry VIII. or not, yet we have never heard of any other play professedly written on the same subject; and have reason to think that our author's performance was produced during the reign of queen Elizabeth, on account of the compliment paid to her at the conclusion of it. Nathaniel Butter was the publisher of Shakespeare's King Lear. The particular cautions shown concerning the licence to print the present dramatic piece, might lead us to suspect it to have been Shakespeare's, and that the sagacious Company of Stationers were of opinion that this compliment to the memory of the queen, might not prove very pleasing to her inglorious successor.

Note return to page 144 *This is the King Lear before that of Shakespeare.

Note return to page 145 †Query, if the play.

Note return to page 146 ‡Perhaps this is Marston's comedy of What you Will. I have a copy of it dated 1607. What you Will, however, is the second title to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

Note return to page 147 §The Merry Devil of Edmonton is mentioned in the Blacke Booke by T. M. 1604. “Give him leave to see the Merry Divel of Edmunton, or A Woman kill'd with Kindnesse.”

Note return to page 148 *Bound up in a volume of plays attributed to Shakespeare, and once belonging to King Charles I. but now in Mr. Garrick's collection. The initial letters at the end of this entry, sufficiently free Shakespeare from the charge of having been its author.

Note return to page 149 †Query, if this was Shakespeare's K. John, or some old romance like that of Richard Coeur de Lion.

Note return to page 150 ‡Bound up in a volume of plays attributed to Shakespeare, and once belonging to King Charles the First. See Mr. Garrick's Collection.

Note return to page 151 *See the notes at the end of this play.

Note return to page 152 *See the notes of Mr. Collins and Mr. Malone at the end of the third part of K. Henry VI.

Note return to page 153 †From the year 1570 to the year 1629, when the playhouse in White Friars was finished, it appears that no less than seventeen theatres had been built.

Note return to page 154 *Mr. Dodsley, in a note to the preface to his collection of Old Plays, has the following enumeration of the different theatres which had been built between the years 1570 and 1629, when that in White Friars was finished:—“St. Paul's Singing-school. The Globe on the Bank-side, Southwark. The Swan and the Hope there. The Fortune between Whitecross Street and Golding Lane, which Maitland tells us was the first playhouse erected in London. The Red Bull in St. John's Street. The Cross Keys in Gracechurch Street. The Tuns. The Theater. The Curtain. The Nursery in Barbican. One in Black Friers. One in White Friers. One in Salisbury Court. The Cockpit, and the Phœnix in Drury Lane.” To this account I may subjoin, that the Fortune (as appears from the following advertisement in the Mercurius Politicus, Tuesday Feb. 14, to Tuesday 21, 1661,) must have been a place of considerable extent; and it is by no means improbable that all the actors resided within its precincts. “The Fortune playhouse situate between Whitecross Street and Golding Lane, in the parish of St. Giles Cripplegate, with the ground thereunto belonging, is to be lett to be built upon; where 23 tenements may be erected, with gardens; and a street may be cut through for the better accommodation of the buildings.” The Curtain was in Shoreditch, a part of which district still retains the name of The Curtain. The original sign hung out at this theatre was the painting of a striped Curtain. We learn likewise from Prynne's Histriomastix, that in the time of Queen Elizabeth there were two other playhouses, the one called the Bell Savage (situated, very probably, on Ludgate Hill,) the other in Bishopsgate Street: and Taylor the Water-poet in “The true Cause of the Water-men's Suit concerning Players, 1613,” mentions another theatre called the Rose.

Note return to page 155 [a] aWithin the period here mentioned, the commentaries of Warburton, Edwards, Heath, Johnson, Tyrwhitt, Farmer, and Steevens, have been published.

Note return to page 156 [b] bIt is not pretended that a regular scale of gradual improvement is here presented to the publick; or that, if even Shakspeare himself had left us a chronological list of his dramas, it would exhibit such a scale. All that is meant, is, that, as his knowledge increased, and as he became more conversant with the stage and with life, his performances in general were written more happily and with greater art; or (to use the words of Dr. Johnson) “that however favoured by nature, he could only impart what he had learned, and as he must encrease his ideas, like other mortals, by gradual acquisition, he, like them, grew wiser as he grew older, could display life better as he knew it more, and instruct with more efficacy, as he was himself more amply instructed.” Of this opinion also was Mr. Pope. “It must be observed, (says he) that when his performances had merited the protection of his prince, and when the encouragement of the court had succeeded to that of the town, the works of his riper years are manifestly raised above those of his former.—And I make no doubt that this observation would be found true in every instance, were but editions extant from which we might learn the exact time when every piece was composed, and whether writ for the town or the court.”—From the following lines it appears, that Dryden also thought that our author's most imperfect plays were his earliest dramatick compositions: “Your Ben and Fletcher in their first young flight, “Did no Volpone, no Arbaces write; “But hopp'd about, and short excursions made “From bough to bough, as if they were afraid; “And each were guilty of some Slighted Maid. “Shakspeare's own muse his Pericles first bore, “The Prince of Tyre was elder than the Moor: “'Tis miracle to see a first good play; “All hawthorns do not bloom on Christmas-day. “A slender poet must have time to grow, “And spread and burnish as his brothers do: “Who still looks lean, sure with some p&wblank; is curst, “But no man can be Falstaff fat at first.” Prologue to the tragedy of Circe. The plays which Shakspeare produced before the year 1600, are known, and are about eighteen in number. The rest of his dramas, we may conclude, were composed between that year and the time of his retiring to the country. It is incumbent on those, who differ in opinion from the great authorities abovementioned, who think with Rowe, that “we are not to look for his beginning in his least perfect works,” it is incumbent, I say, on those persons, to enumerate in the former class, that is, among the plays produced before 1600, compositions of equal merit with Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, the Tempest and Twelfth Night, which we have reason to believe were all written in the latter period; and among his late performances, that is, among the plays which are supposed to have appeared after the year 1600, to point out five pieces, as hasty, indigested, and uninteresting, as the first and third parts of K. Henry VI. Love's Labour Lost, the Comedy of Errors, and the Two Gentlemen of Verona, which, we know, were among his earlier works.

Note return to page 157 [c] cThey are, King Henry VI. P. I. The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Winter's Tale, The Comedy of Errors, King John, All's Well that End's Well, As you like it, King Henry VIII. Measure for Measure, Cymbeline, Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew, Julius Cæsar, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Timon of Athens, Othello, The Tempest, and Twelfth Night. Of these nineteen plays, four, viz. The first part of K. Henry VI. King John, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and The Comedy of Errors, were certainly early compositions, and are an exception to the general truth of this observation. Perhaps, the ill success of the two latter, was the occasion that they were not printed so soon as his other early performances. Two others, viz. The Winter's Tale, and All's well that ends well, though supposed to have been early productions, were, it must be acknowledged, not published in Shakspeare's lifetime; but for the dates of these we rely only on conjecture.

Note return to page 158 [d] dThis supposition is strongly confirmed by Meres's list of our author's plays, in 1598. From that list, and from other circumstances, we learn, that of the sixteen genuine plays which were printed in Shakspeare's life-time, thirteen were written before the end of the year 1600.—The sixteen plays published in our author's life-time, are—Love's Labour Lost, The Second and Third Parts of K. Henry VI. A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, K. Richard II. K. Richard III. The First Part of K. Henry IV. The Merchant of Venice, The Second Part of K. Henry IV. K. Henry V. Much Ado about Nothing, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Troilus and Cressida, and K. Lear.

Note return to page 159 [e] eNone of the plays which in the ensuing list are supposed to have been written subsequently to this year, were printed till after the author's death, except K. Lear, the publication of which was probably hastened by that of the old play with the same title, in 1605.—The copy of Troilus and Cressida, which seems to have been composed the year before K. James granted a licence to the company at the Globe Theatre, appears to have been obtained by some uncommon artifice. “Thank fortune (says the Editor) for the scape it hath made amongst you; since, by the grand possessors' wills, I believe, you should have pray'd for them, rather than been pray'd.”—By the grand possessors, Shakspeare and the other managers of the Globe Theatre, were clearly intended.

Note return to page 160 [f] f“There was not (says Heywood in his preface to Greene's Tu quoque, a comedy,) an actor of his nature in his time, of better ability in the performance of what he undertook, more applauded by the audience, of greater grace at the court, or of more general love in the city.” The birth-place of Thomas Greene is ascertained by the following lines, which he speaks in one of the old comedies, in the character of a clown: “I pratled poesie in my nurse's arms, And, born where late our swan of Avon sung, In Avon's streams we both of us have lav'd, And both came out together.” Chetwood quotes this passage, in his British Theatre, from the comedy of the Two Maids of Moreclack; but no such passage is there to be found. He deserves but little credit; having certainly forged many of his dates; however, he probably met these lines in some ancient play, though he forgot the name of the piece from which he transcribed them. Greene was a writer as well as an actor. There are some verses of his prefixed to a collection of Drayton's poems, published in the year 1613. He was perhaps a kinsman of Shakspeare's. In the register of the parish of Stratford, Thomas Greene, alias Shakspere, is said to have been buried March 6, 1689 [Correction: 1Kb]

Note return to page 161 for 1689, read, 1589.

Note return to page 162 [g] gThe author of Promos and Cassandra, a play which furnished Shakspeare with the fable of Measure for Measure.

Note return to page 163 [h] hThis poet is mentioned by Meres, in his Wit's Treasury, as an eminent comick writer, and the best plotter of his time. He seems to have been introduced under the name of Don Antonio Balladino, in a comedy that has been attributed to Ben Jonson, called The Case is Altered, and from the following passages in that piece appears to have been city-poet; whose business it was to compose an annual panegyrick on the Lord Mayor, and to write verses for the pageants: an office which has been discontinued since the death of Elkanah Settle in 1722: Onion. “Shall I request your name? Ant. My name is Antonio Balladino. Oni. Balladino! You are not pageant poet to the city of Milan, Sir, are you? Ant. I supply the place, Sir, when a worse cannot be had, Sir.—Did you see the last pageant I set forth?” Afterwards Antonio, speaking of the plays he had written, says, “Let me have good ground—no matter for the pen; the plot shall carry it. Oni. Indeed that's right; you are in print, already, for the best plotter. Ant. Ay; I might as well have been put in for a dumb-shew too.” It is evident, that this poet is here intended to be ridiculed by Ben Jonson: but he might, notwithstanding, have been deservedly eminent. That malignity which endeavoured to tear a wreath from the brow of Shakspeare, would, certainly, not spare inferior writers.

Note return to page 164 [i] iThe thirty-first chapter of the first book of Puttenham's Art of English Poesy is thus entitled: “Who in any age have bene the most commended writers in our English Poesie, and the author's censure given upon them.” After having enumerated several authors who were then celebrated for various kinds of composition, he gives this succinct account of those who had written for the stage: “Of the later sort I thinke thus;—that for tragedie, the Lord Buckhurst and Maister Edward Ferrys, for such doings as I have sene of theirs, do deserve the hyest price; the Earl of Oxford and Maister Edwardes of her Majestie's Chappell, for comedie and enterlude.”

Note return to page 165 [k] kSee vol. VI. p. ult. where the passage is given at large. The paragraph which immediately follows that quoted by Mr. Tyrwhitt, though obscure, is worth transcribing, as it seems to allude to Shakspeare's country education, and to intimate, that he had not removed to London long before the year 1592.—After having mentioned a person who had newly appeared in the double capacity of actor and author, one, “who is in his owne conceit the only Shake-scene in a country,” and exhorted his brother poets to seek better masters than the players, Greene proceeds thus: “In this I might insert two more, that both have written against these buckram gentlemen [the players:] but let their owne worke serve to witnesse against their own wickednesse, if they persever to maintaine any more such peasants. For other new-commers, I leave them to the mercie of these painted monsters, who, I doubt not, will drive the best minded to despise them, &c.” Greene's Groatsworth of Witte, &c. Sig. E. 4.

Note return to page 166 [l] lThis tract has no date, but was published after the author's death, agreeably to his dying request. It appears to have been written not long before his death; for near the conclusion he says, “Albeit weakness will scarce suffer me to write, yet to my fellow schollers about this citie will I direct these few insuing lines.” He died, according to Dr. Gabriel Harvey's account, on the third of September 1592. Additions by Oldys to Winstanley's Lives of the Poets, Ms.

Note return to page 167 for 1580, read, 1589.

Note return to page 168 [m] m“I have been told, by some anciently conversant with the stage, that it [Titus Andronicus] was not originally his, but brought by a private author to be acted, and he only gave some master touches to one or two of the principal parts or characters.” Ravenscroft's preface to Titus Andronicus, altered by him.

Note return to page 169 [n] nJohn Lowin, and Joseph Taylor, two of the actors in Shakspeare's plays, were alive a few years before the Restoration of K. Charles II; and Sir William D'Avenant, who had himself written for the stage in 1629, (thirteen years after the death of our author) did not die till April 1668. Ravenscroft's alteration of Titus Andronicus was published in 1687.

Note return to page 170 [o] oAs this circumstance is more than once mentioned, in the course of these observations, it may not be improper to add a few words on the subject of our author's metre. A mixture of rhymes with blank verse, in the same play, and sometimes in the same scene, is found in almost all his pieces, and is not peculiar to Shakspeare, being also found in the works of Jonson, and almost all our ancient dramatick writers. It is not, therefore, merely the use of rhymes, mingled with blank verse, but their frequency, that is here urged, as a circumstance which seems to characterize and distinguish our poet's earliest performances. In the whole number of pieces which were written antecedent to the year 1600, and which, for the sake of perspicuity, have been called his early compositions, more rhyming couplets are found, than in all the plays composed subsequently to that year; which have been named his late productions. Whether in process of time, Shakspeare grew weary of the bondage of rhyme, or whether he became convinced of its impropriety in a dramatick dialogue, his neglect of rhyming (for he never wholly disused it) seems to have been gradual. As, therefore, most of his early productions are characterized by the multitude of similar terminations which they exhibit, whenever, of two early pieces it is doubtful which preceded the other, I am disposed to believe, (other proofs being wanting) that play in which the greater number of rhymes is found, to have been first composed. This, however, must be acknowledged to be but a fallible criterion; for the Three Parts of K. Henry VI. which appear to have been among our author's earliest compositions, do not abound in rhymes.

Note return to page 171 [p] pThis writer, to whose list of our author's plays we are so much indebted, appears, from the following passage of the work here mentioned, to have been personally acquainted with Shakspeare: “As the soul of Euphorbus was thought to live in Pythagoras, so the sweet witty soul of Ovid lives in mellifluous and honey-tongued Shakespeare. Witness his Venus and Adonis, his Lucrece, his sugred Sonnets among his private friends, &c.” Wit's Treasury, p. 282. There is no edition of Shakspeare's Sonnets, now extant, of so early a date as 1598, when Meres's book was printed; so that we may conclude, he was one of those friends to whom they were privately recited, before their publication.

Note return to page 172 [q] qThis book was probably published in the latter end of the year 1598; for it was not entered at Stationers' hall till September in that year.

Note return to page 173 [r] rThis was the first edition, for it was not entered on the Stationers' books before that year.

Note return to page 174 [s] sThus Talbot is described in the first part of K. Henry VI. Act I. sc. iii. “Here, said they, is the terror of the French.” Again in Act V. sc. i. “Is Talbot slain, the Frenchmens' only scourge, “Your kingdom's terror?”—

Note return to page 175 [t] tSee vol. VI. p. ult.

Note return to page 176 [w] wSee the entry on the books of the Stationers' company, June 19, 1594, where the lamentable End of Shore's Wife is mentioned as a part of Richard III. This piece in which Shore's wife was introduced was, probably, in possession of the stage a year or two before this entry; and from the manner in which these plays are mentioned in the verses above quoted, we may conclude that Pericles was equally ancient, and equally well known.9Q0021

Note return to page 177 [x] xPrologue, to the tragedy of Circe, by Charles Davenant, 1677. —Mr. Rowe, in his Life of Shakespeare, (first edition) says, “There is good reason to believe that the greatest part of Pericles was not written by him, though it is owned, some part of it certainly was, particularly the last act.” I have not been able to learn on what authority this latter assertion was grounded.—Rowe, in his second edition, omitted the passage.

Note return to page 178 [y] yMs. of the late Mr. Vertue.

Note return to page 179 Historick Doubts.

Note return to page 180 [a] aAnte p. 282.9Q0022

Note return to page 181 [b] bThe learned editor of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, printed in 1775, observes in his introductory discourse (vol. IV. p. 161.) that Pluto and Proserpine in the Marchant's Tale, appear to have been “the true progenitors of Shakspeare's Oberon and Titania.” In a tract already quoted, Greene's Groatsworth of Witte, 1592, a player is introduced, who boasts of having performed the part of the King of Fairies with applause. Greene himself wrote a play, entitled The Scottishe Story of James the Fourthe, slaine at Floddon, intermixed with a pleasant Comedie presented by Oberon King of the Fairies; which was entered at Stationers' hall in 1594, and printed in 1599.9Q0023 Shakspeare, however, does not appear to have been indebted to this piece. The plan of it is shortly this. Bohan, a Scot, in consequence of being disgusted with the world, having retired to a tomb where he has fixed his dwelling, is met by After Oberon, king of the fairies, who entertains him with an antick or dance by his subjects. These two personages, after some conversation, determine to listen to a tragedy, which is acted before them, and to which they make a kind of chorus, by moralizing at the end of each act.

Note return to page 182 *“The thrice three muses mourning for the death Of learning, late deceas'd in beggary.

Note return to page 183 [c] cPreface to Spenser's View of the State of Ireland. Dublin, fol. 1633. This treatise was written, according to Sir James Ware, in 1596. The testimony of that historian, relative to the time of Spenser's death, is confirmed by a fact related by Ben Jonson to Mr. Drummond of Hawthornden, and recorded by that writer. When Spenser and his wife were forced in great distress to fly from their house, which was burnt in the Irish Rebellion, the Earl of Essex sent him twenty pieces; but he refused them; telling the person that brought them, he was sure he had no time to spend them. He died soon after, according to Ben Jonson's account, in King Street [Dublin.] Lord Essex was not in Ireland in 1598, and was there from April to September in the following year.—If Spenser had died in London, as Camden says he did, his death would probably have been mentioned by Rowland Whyte, in his letters to Sir Robert Sydney, (brother to the poet's great patron) which are still extant, and contain a minute detail of most of the memorable occurrences of that time.9Q0024

Note return to page 184 [d] dThere is no edition of any of our author's genuine plays extant, prior to 1597, when Romeo and Juliet was published.

Note return to page 185 [e] eThere is no entry in the Stationers' books relative to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, antecedent to its publication in 1597, if this does not relate to it. This entry was made by Edward Whyte, and therefore is not likely to have related to the poem called Romeo and Juletta, which was entered in 1582, by Richard Tottel. How vague the description of plays was at this time, may appear from the following entry, which is found in the Stationers' books, an. 1590, and seems to relate to Marlowe's tragedy of Tamburlaine, published in that year, by Richard Jones. “To Richard Jones] Twoe Commical Discourses of Tamburlein, the Cythian Shepparde.” In Marlowe's Tamburlaine, as originally performed, several comick enterludes were introduced; whence perhaps, the epithet comical was added to the title.—As tragedies were sometimes entitled discourses, so a grave poem or sad discourse in verse, (to use the language of the times) was frequently denominated a tragedy. All the poems inserted in the Mirrour for Magistrates, and some of Drayton's pieces, are called tragedies, by Meres and other ancient writers. Some of Sir David Lindsay's poems, though not in a dramatick form, are also by their author entitled tragedies.

Note return to page 186 [f] f“A booke called Delia containynge diverse sonates, with the Complainte of Rosamonde,” was entered at Stationers' hall by Simon Waterson in Feb. 1591–2.

Note return to page 187 [g] gSee Romeo and Juliet, Act I. Sc. iii.

Note return to page 188 [h] hThus Mrs. Quickly in K. Henry IV. reminds Falstaff, that he “swore on a parcel-gilt goblet, to marry her, sitting in her Dolphin chamber, at a round table, by a sea-coal fire, on Wednesday in Whitsun-week, when the prince broke his head for likening his father to a singing man of Windsor.”

Note return to page 189 [i] iSee Merry Wives of Windsor, Act II. Sc. last.—Meas. for Meas. Act I. Sc. iii. and iv.—As you Like It, Act IV. Sc. i. and iii.— Othello, Act III. Sc. iii. “I slept the next night well,” &c.

Note return to page 190 [k] k“Dr. Lodge published, in the year 1596, a pamphlet called Wit's Miserie, or the World's Madness, discovering the incarnate Devils of the age, quarto. One of these devils is Hate-virtue, or sorrow for another man's successe, who, says the doctor, is a foule lubber, and looks as pale as the vizard of the ghost, who cried so miserably at the theatre, Hamlet revenge.” Farmer's Essay on the Learning of Shakespeare.

Note return to page 191 [l] lThis comedy was not printed till 1609, but it had appeared many years before. The time when it was written, is ascertained with great precision by the following circumstances. It contains an allusion to Meres's Wit's Treasury, first printed in the latter end of the year 1598, (Ante p. 276.) and is itself mentioned by Nashe in his Lenten Stuff, 4to. 1599.—“It is right of the merry cobler's stuff, in that witty play of the Case is Altered.”

Note return to page 192 [m] mJonson's works, vol. VII. p. 362. Whalley's edit.

Note return to page 193 [n] nBetween the years 1595 and 1600, some of Lilly's comedies were performed by these children. Many of the plays of Jonson were represented by them between 1600 and 1609.—From a passage in Jack Drum's Entertainment, or the Comedy of Pasquil and Catherine, which was printed in 1601, we learn that they were much followed at that time.

Note return to page 194 [o] oIt has been observed to me, that there are other instances of this being used as christian name; it is certainly very uncommon; and may be fairly supposed, in this case, to have taken its rise from the play.—After all, however, it is not quite clear that this was his name. The name subscribed to Shakspeare's original Will (which I have seen) seems to be Hamnet: but in the body of the Will, he is called Hamlet Sadler.

Note return to page 195 [p] pMr. Oldys, in his Ms. Additions to Langbaine's Lives of the Dramatick Poets, says, on I know not what authority, that Greene's Arcadia was printed in 1589. If he is right, it is still less probable that this passage should have related to our author's Hamlet.

Note return to page 196 [q] q“The Country Lawyers too jog down apace, Each with his noverint universi face.” Ravenscroft's Prologue prefixed to Titus Andronicus. Our ancient deeds were written in Latin, and frequently began with the words, Noverint Universi. The form is still retained. Know all men, &c.

Note return to page 197 [r] rIt is observable, that on the republication of this old play in 1611, the two parts are set forth—“as they were (sundry times) lately acted by the Queene's Majesties servants”—a description, which, probably, was copied literally from the former edition in 1591. If this had been really Shakspeare's performance, it would have been described, on its re-impression, as acted by his Majesty's servants; for so runs the title of most of his genuine pieces, that were either originally printed or re-published after the year 1603. The bookseller, the better to impose on the publick, prefixed the letters W. Sh. to the new edition of this play in 1611, which do not appear in the former impression in 1591.

Note return to page 198 [s] sProceedings at the Arraignment of Sir Gilly Merricke, 4to. 1601.

Note return to page 199 [t] tOn the 16th of March 1599, in fact 1600. See the Letters of the Sydney Family, vol. II. p. 175.

Note return to page 200 [u] uThe old K. Henry V. must have been written before 1590, for Tarleton, who acted two parts in it, (the Clown, and the Judge) died in that year.

Note return to page 201 [x] xIf the allusion should be supposed to have been, not to the Oldcastle of the old play, but to our author's Sir John Falstaff, as exhibited in The First Part of King Henry IV. such a supposition will not at all weaken the argument in the text.

Note return to page 202 Since all our other sheets were printed off, it has been discovered, that the entry at Stationers' Hall, “Jan 9. 1598,” (see Prefaces, p. 257) was Haywarde's History of K. Henry IV. and not our author's play with the same title. Part of the argument therefore founded by Mr. Malone on the latter supposition (p. 300) must be considered as erroneous, whilst I alone remain answerable for his mistake, which happily does not affect the date allotted by him to the piece in question. Steevens.

Note return to page 203 [y] yThe circumstance of Hotspur's death in this play, and its being an historical drama, I suppose, induced Meres to denominate the First Part of Henry IV. a tragedy.

Note return to page 204 [z] zWit's Treasury, p. 282.

Note return to page 205 [a] aSee the Chorus to the fifth act of King Henry V.

Note return to page 206 [b] b“He rather prays you will be pleased to see “One such, to-day, as other plays should be; “Where neither Chorus wafts you o'er the seas, &c.” Prologue to Every Man in his Humour. These lines formerly appeared to me so decisive with respect to the date of this piece, that I have quoted them, in a note on K. Henry V. to shew that this historical drama must have been written before 1598; an opinion from which, for the reasons above stated, I am now disposed to recede.

Note return to page 207 [c] cThat this attack on King Henry V. was made in 1601, appears the more probable from this circumstance:—in Ben Jonson's Poetaster, which was first acted in that year, several passages of this play are ridiculed.

Note return to page 208 [d] dJonson himself tells us in his Induction to the Magnetick Lady, that this was his first dramatick performance.—“The author beginning his studies of this kind with Every Man in his Humour.”

Note return to page 209 [e] eIf the names of the actors, prefixed to this play, were arranged in the same order as the persons represented, which is very probable, Shakspeare played the part of Old Knowell. It is said, that he also played the part of Adam in As you Like It; and we are informed by Betterton that he performed the Ghost in his own Hamlet. We may presume, therefore, that he usually represented old men.

Note return to page 210 [f] fSee an old comedy called The Return from Parnassus: [This piece was not published till 1606; but appears to have been written in 1602—certainly was produced before the death of Queen Elizabeth, which happened on the 24th of March 1603.] “Why here's our fellow Shakespeare puts them all down; ay and Ben Jonson too. O that Ben Jonson is a pestilent fellow; he brought up Horace giving the poets a pill, but our fellow Shakespeare hath given him a purge that made him bewray his credit.” The play of Jonson's in which he gave the poets a pill, and endeavoured to ridicule some words used by Shakspeare, is the Poetaster, acted in 1601. In what manner Shakspeare put him down, or made him bewray his credit, does not appear. His retaliation, we may be well assured, contained no gross or illiberal abuse; and, perhaps, did not go beyond a ballad or an epigram, which may have perished with things of greater consequence. He has, however, marked his disregard for the calumniator of his fame, by not leaving him any memorial by his Will.—In an apologetical dialogue that Jonson annexed to the Poetaster, he says, he had been provoked for three years (i. e. from 1598 to 1601) on every stage by slanderers; as for the players, he says, “It is true, I tax'd them, And yet but some, and those so sparingly, As all the rest might have sat still unquestion'd &lblank; &lblank; What they have done against me I am not mov'd with. If it gave them meat, Or got them cloaths, 'tis well; that was their end. Only, amongst them, I am sorry for Some better natures, by the rest drawn in To run in that vile line.” By the words “Some better natures” there can, I think, be little doubt that Shakspeare was alluded to.

Note return to page 211 [g] gIn his Silent Woman, Act V. Sc. ii. 1609. Jonson seems to point at Shakspeare, as one whom he viewed with scornful, yet with jealous, eyes: “So, they may censure poets and authors, and compare them; Daniel with Spenser, Jonson with t'other youth, and so forth.” In the Induction to Bartholomew Fair, which was acted in 1614, two years before the death of our author, three of his plays, and in the piece itself two others, are attempted to be ridiculed.9Q0027 The Induction to The Staple of News, which appeared in 1625, not very long after the publication of our author's plays in folio, contains a sneer at a passage in Julius Cæsar— “Know Cæsar doth not wrong; nor without cause Will he be satisfied—” which for the purpose of ridicule is quoted unfaithfully; and in the same play may be found an effort, as impotent as that of Voltaire* [Footnote: 1Kb]

Note return to page 212 *“Ah! ma mere, s'érie-t-il, il y a un gros rat derriére la tapissirie—il tire son épée, court au rat, el tue le bon homme Polonius.”—Ouevres de Voltaire. Tome XV. p. 473. 4to.

Note return to page 213 *His misquoting a line of Julius Cæsar, so as to render it nonsense, at a time when the play was in print, is a strong illustration of this part of his character. The plea of an unfaithful memory cannot be urged in his defence, for he tells us in his Discoveries, that till he was past forty, he could repeat every thing that he had written.

Note return to page 214 [h] hOf this see a remarkable instance in K. Henry IV. P. II. Act I. sc. i. where Morton in a long speech having informed Northumberland that the archbishop of York had joined the rebel party, the Earl replies,—“I knew of this before”—The quarto contains the reply, but a single line of the narrative to which it relates.

Note return to page 215 [i] iSee Mr. Steevens's extracts from the books of the Stationers' company, ante p. 256.

Note return to page 216 [k] kThis appears to be one of the many titles by which plays were anciently described. “An Enterlude, entitled the tragedie of Richard III” (not our author's) was entered on the Stationers' books, by Thomas Creede, June 19, 1594; and in the same year, Mother Bombie, a comedy by Lilly, appears to have been entered under the description of “A booke entituled Mother Bumbye, being an Enterlude,”

Note return to page 217 [l] lAfter having enumerated some of the blessings that were to ensue from the birth of Elizabeth, and celebrated her majesty's various virtues, the poet thus proceeds: Cran. “In her days every man shall eat in safety Under his own vine, what he plants, and sing The merry songs of peace to all his neighbours. God shall be truly known; and those about her From her shall read the perfect ways of honour, And by those claim their greatness, not by blood, [Nor shall this peace sleep with her; but as when The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phænix, Her ashes new-create another heir, As great in admiration as herself; So shall she leave her blessedness to one, &c. &lblank; He shall flourish, And like a mountain cedar, reach his branches To all the plains about him:—our childrens' children Shall see this, and bless heaven. King. Thou speakest wonders.] Cran. She shall be, to the happiness of England, An aged princess; many days shall see her And yet no day without a deed to crown it. Wou'd I had known no more! but she must die, She must, the saints must have her; yet a virgin, &c.” The lines between crotchets, are those, supposed to have been inserted by the author after the accession of king James.

Note return to page 218 [m] mCamden 27. Melvil 49.

Note return to page 219 [n] nThe author of Shakespeare illustrated.

Note return to page 220 [o] oThus Henry IV. P. I. was called Hotspur; Henry IV. P. II. or The Merry Wives of Windsor, was exhibited under the name of Sir John Falstaff; Much Ado about Nothing was new named Benedict and Beatrix, and Julius Cæsar seems to have been represented under the title of Cæsar's Tragedy.

Note return to page 221 [p] pThe Prince Palatine was not present at the representation of K. Henry VIII. on the 30th of June O. S. when the Globe playhouse was burnt down, having left England some time before. But the play might have been revived for his entertainment in the beginning of the year 1613; and might have been occasionally repesented afterwards.

Note return to page 222 [q] qIn support of this conjecture it may be observed that Ben Jonson has in many places endeavoured to ridicule our author for representing battles on the stage. So in his prologue to Every Man in his Humour: &lblank; “Yet ours for want, hath not so lov'd the stage, As he dare serve the ill customs of the age, Or purchase your delight at such a rate As, for it, he himself must justly hate; To make, &c. &lblank; &lblank; or with three rusty swords, And help of some few foot and half-foot words, Fight over York and Lancaster's long jars, And in the tyring house bring wounds to scars.” Again, in his Silent Woman, Act IV. sc. iv. “Nay, I would sit out a play, that were nothing but fights at sea, drum, trumpet, and target.” We are told in the memoirs of Ben Jonson's life, that he went to France in the year 1613. But at the time of the revival of King Henry VIII. he either had not left England, or was then returned; for he was a spectator of the fire which happened at the Globe theatre during the representation of that piece. [See the next note.] It may, perhaps, seem extraordinary, that he should have presumed to prefix this covert censure of Shakspeare, to one of his own plays. But he appears to have eagerly embraced every opportunity of depreciating him. This occasional prologue (whoever was the writer of it) confirms the tradition handed down by Rowe, that our author retired from the stage about three years before his death. Had he been at that time joined with Heminge and Burbage in the management of the Globe theatre, he scarcely would have suffered the lines above alluded to, to have been spoken. In lord Harrington's9Q0031 account of the money disbursed for the plays that were exhibited by his majesty's servants, in the year 1613, before the Elector Palatine, all the payments are said to have been made to “John Heminge, for himself and the rest of his fellows;” from which we may conclude that he was then the principal manager. A correspondent, however, of Sir Thomas Puckering's (as I learn from Mr. Tyrwhitt) in a Ms. letter, preserved in the Museum, and dated in the year 1613, calls the company at the Globe, “Bourbage's company”—Shakspeare's name stands before either of these, in the licence granted by K. James; and had he not left London before that time, the players at the Globe theatre, I should imagine, would rather have been entitled, his company.—The burlesque parody on the account of Falstaff's death, which is contained in Fletcher's comedy of the Captain, acted in 1613, and the ridicule of Hamlet's celebrated soliloquy, and of Ophelia's death, in his Scornful Lady, which was represented about the same time, confirm the tradition that our author had then retired from the stage, careless of the fate of his writings, inattentive to the illiberal attacks of his contemporaries, and negligent alike of present and posthumous fame.

Note return to page 223 [r] rThe Globe theatre (as I learn from the Mss. of Mr. Oldys) was thatched with reeds, and had an open area in its center. This area we may suppose to have been filled by the lowest part of the audience, whom Shakspeare calls the groundlings.—Chambers are not, like other guns, pointed horizontally, but are discharged as they stand erect on their breeches. The accident may, therefore, be easily accounted for. If these pieces were let off behind the scenes, the paper or wadding with which their charges were confined, would reach the thatch on the inside; or if fixed without the walls, it might have been carried by the wind to the top of the roof. This accident is alluded to, in the following lines of Ben Jonson's Execration upon Vulcan, from which it appears, that he was at the Globe playhouse when it was burnt; a circumstance which in some measure strengthens the conjecture that he was employed on the revival of King Henry VIII. for this was not the theatre at which his pieces were usually represented: “Well fare the wise men yet on the Bank-side, “My friends, the watermen! they could provide “Against thy fury, when, to serve their needs, “They made a Vulcan of a sheaf of reeds; “Whom they durst handle in their holy-day coats, “And safely trust to dress, not burn their boats. “But O those reeds! thy mere disdain of them “Made thee beget that cruel stratagem, “(Which some are pleas'd to style but thy mad prank) “Against the Globe, the glory of the Bank: “Which, though it were the fort of the whole parish, “Flank'd with a ditch and forc'd out of a marish, “I saw with two poor chambers taken in, “And raz'd; ere thought could urge this might have been. “See the world's ruins! nothing but the piles “Left, and wit since to cover it with tiles. “The breth'ren, they straight nois'd it out for news, “'Twas verily some relick of the stews, “And this a sparkle of that fire let loose, “That was lock'd up in the Winchestrian goose, “Bred on the Bank in time of popery, “When Venus there maintain'd her mistery. “But others fell, with that conceit, by the ears, “And cried, it was a threat'ning to the bears, “And that accursed ground, the Paris-garden, &c.”

Note return to page 224 [s] sNo other play with this title has come down to us. We have therefore a right to conclude that the play entered in the books of the Stationers' company, was Shakspeare's.

Note return to page 225 [t] t“The tragedy which I have undertaken to correct, was in all probability, one of his first endeavours on the stage.— Shakespeare (as I hinted) in the apprenticeship of his writing modelled it [the story of Lollius] into that play which is now called by the name of Troilus and Cressida.”—Dryden's pref. to Troilus and Cressida.

Note return to page 226 [u] uSee Mr. Tyrwhitt's note.

Note return to page 227 [w] wWilson's Hist. of K. James, ad ann. 1603.

Note return to page 228 [y] yIn the last act of Cymbeline two sons are found. But the author might have written son on account of the rhyme.

Note return to page 229 [z] zAdditions to Langbaine's Account of the Dramatick Poets. Ms.

Note return to page 230 [a] a“These two epistles, being so pertinent to our historie, I thought necessarie to translate.”—Bryt. Troy, p. 211.

Note return to page 231 [b] bShakspeare has copied one of the passages in this old play. This he might have done, though we should suppose it not to have been published till after his K. Lear was written and acted; for the old play had been in possession of the stage for many years before 1605.

Note return to page 232 [c] cIn Rex Platonicus it is called Lusiuncula.

Note return to page 233 [d] dAb ejusdem collegii alumnis (qui et cothurno tragico et socco comico principes semper habebantur) Vertumnus, comœdia faceta, ad principes exhilarandos exhibetur. Rex Platonicus, p. 78. Arcadiam restauratam Isiacorum Arcadum lectissimi cecinerunt, unoque opere, principum omniumque spectantium animos immensa et ultra fidem affecerunt voluptate; simulque patrios ludiones, etsi exercitatissimos, quantum intersit inter scenam mercenariam & cruditam docuerunt, Ib. p. 228. See also the lines quoted above from the Return from Parnassus, and Act IV. Sc. iii. of that piece, which was acted publickly at St. John's college in Cambridge.

Note return to page 234 [e] eMacbeth, Act IV. Sc. i. ii.

Note return to page 235 [f] fMr. Upton was of opinion that this masque preceded Macbeth. But the only ground that he states for this conjecture, is, “that Jonson's pride would not suffer him to borrow from Shakespeare, though he stole from the ancients.”

Note return to page 236 [g] gIn an advertisement prefixed to an edition of A Mad World my Masters, a comedy by Thomas Middleton, 1640, the printer says, that the author was “long since dead.” Middleton probably died soon after the year 1626. He was chronologer to the city of London, and it does not appear that any masque or pageant, in honour of the Lord Mayor, was set forth by him after that year* [Footnote: 1Kb]

Note return to page 237 *The Triumph of Health and Prosperity at the Inauguration of the most worthy Brother, the Right Hon. Cuthbert Hasket, draper; composed by Thomas Middleton, draper, 1626, 4to.

Note return to page 238 [h] hIn a former note on this tragedy. [Correction: 1Kb]

Note return to page 239 In the first line of Steeven's note on Macbeth, dele the full point, and substitute a comma.

Note return to page 240 *That dramatic pieces were sometimes written long before they were printed, may be proved from the example of Marlowe's Rich Jew of Malta, which was entered on the books of the Stationers' company in the year 1594, but was not published till 1633, as we learn from the preface to it written by Heywood. It appears likewise from the same registers, that several plays were written, that were never published at all.

Note return to page 241 †The spelling in the MS. is sometimes more antiquated than any to be met with in the printed copies of Shakespeare, as the following instances may prove:— Byn for been—sollempnely for solemnly—dampnation for damnation—quight for quite —grizzel for gristle—doa for doe—ollyff for olive, &c.

Note return to page 242 *Sir William Davenant might likewise have formed his play of Albovine King of Lombardy on some of the tragic scenes in this unpublished piece by Middleton. Yet the chief circumstances on which they are both founded, occur in the fourth volume of the Histoires Tragiques, &c. par François de Belle-forest, 1580, p. 297, and at the beginning of Machiavel's Florentine History. Steevens.

Note return to page 243 [g] gFrom a passage in a tract written by Sir John Harrington, entitled The Metamorphoses of Ajax, 1596, this old play appears to have been printed before that year, though no edition of so early a date has hitherto been discovered. “Read the booke of Taming a Shrew, which hath made a number of us so perfect, that now every one can rule a shrew in our country, save he that hath hir.”

Note return to page 244 [h] h“This is a way to kill a wife with kindness.” The Taming of the Shrew. Act IV. Sc. i.

Note return to page 245 [i] iSee a note on Julius Cæsar, Act I. Sc. i. in which they are enumerated.

Note return to page 246 [k] kThis play, as appears by the title-page, was privately acted by the students of Trinity College in Oxford. In the running title it is called The Tragedy of Julius Cæsar; perhaps the better to impose it on the publick for the performance of Shakspeare.

Note return to page 247 [l] lThe following passages in Antony and Cleopatra, (and others of the same kind may perhaps be found) seem to me to discover such a knowledge of the appropriated characters of the persons exhibited in Julius Cæsar, and of the events there dilated and enlarged upon, as Shakspeare would necessarily have acquired from having previously written a play on that subject: “Pompey. &lblank; “I do not know Wherefore my father should revengers want, Having a son and friends, since Julius Cæsar, Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted, There saw you labouring for him. What was't That mov'd pale Cassius to conspire? And what Made all-honour'd, honest, Roman Brutus, With the arm'd rest, courtiers of beauteous freedom, To drench the capitol, but that they would Have one man but a man?” So, in another place, “When Antony found Julius Cæsar dead, He cry'd almost to roaring; and he wept When at Philippi he found Brutus slain.” Again, Ant. He at Philippi kept His sword ev'n like a dancer, while I struck The lean and wrinkled Cassius; and 'twas I That the mad Brutus ended.”

Note return to page 248 [m] m“Nor fire nor cank'ring age, as Naso said Of his, thy wit-fraught book shall once invade: Nor shall I e'er believe or think thee dead (Though miss'd) untill our bankrout stage be sped (Impossible!) with some new strain, t'out do Passions of Juliet and her Romeo; Or till I hear a scene more nobly take Than when thy half-sword-parlying Romans spake.” Verses by L. Digges, prefixed to the first edition of our author's plays, in 1623.

Note return to page 249 [n] nBy a similar figure these children are in Hamlet called “little Eyases.”—

Note return to page 250 [o] o“New titles warrant not a play for new, The subject being old; and 'tis as true, Fresh and neat matter may with ease be fram'd Out of their stories that have oft been nam'd With glory on the stage. What borrows he From him that wrought old Priam's tragedy, That writes his love for Hecuba? Sure to tell Of Cæsar's amorous heats, and how he fell In the Capitol, can never be the same To the judicious.” Prologue to the False One.

Note return to page 251 [p] pThis tragedy (as I learn from a Ms. of Mr. Oldys) was formerly in the possession of John Warburton, Esq. Somerset Herald. It had no author's name to it, when it was licensed, but was afterwards ascribed to George Chapman, whose name is erased by another hand, and that of Shakspeare inserted.

Note return to page 252 [q] qSee Dr. Farmer's Essay on the Learning of Shakespeare.

Note return to page 253 [r] rAnte No. 31.

Note return to page 254 [s] sAnte p. 324.

Note return to page 255 [t] t“I may quarter, coz,” says Slender in the Merry Wives of Windsor. “You may (replies justice Shallow) by marrying.”

Note return to page 256 [u] uMs. Vertue.

Note return to page 257 [x] xPerhaps it was formerly an established custom to have plays represented at court in the Christmas holydays, and particularly on Twelfth Night. Two of Lilly's comedies (Alexander and Campaspe, 1591—and Mydas, 1592) are said in their title pages, to have been played befoore the queenes majestie on Twelfe-day at night; and several of Ben Jonson's masques were presented at Whitehall, on the same festival. Our author's Love's Labour Lost was exhibited before queen Elizabeth in the Christmas holydays; and his King Lear was acted before king James on St. Stephen's night; (the night after Christmas-day.)

Note return to page 258 [y] y“Let greatness of her glassy scepters vaunt,   Not scepters, no but reeds, soon bruis'd, soon broken, And let this worldly pomp our wits enchant,   All fades, and scarcely leaves behind a token. Those golden palaces, those gorgeous halls,   With furniture superfluously fair, Those stately courts, those sky-encount'ring walls,   Evanish all like vapours in the air.” Darius, Act III. Ed. 1603. &lblank; “These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits, and Are melted into air, into thin air; And, like the baseless fabrick of this vision, The cloud-capt tow'rs, the gorgeous palaces The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, And like this unsubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind.” Tempest, Act IV. Sc. i. Whether we suppose Shakspeare to have imitated lord Sterline, or lord Sterline to have borrowed from him, the fourth line above quoted from the tragedy of Darius, renders it highly probable that Shakspeare wrote, (as Sir Thomas Hanmer conjectured,) “Leave not a track behind.”

Note return to page 259 [z] zSee a note on Julius Cæsar, Act I. Sc. i.

Note return to page 260 [a] aObservations on the Tempest, p. 67. Mr. Holt imagined, that lord Essex was united to lady Frances Howard in 1610; but he was mistaken: their union did not take place till the next year.

Note return to page 261 [b] bJan. 5, 1606–7. The earl continued abroad four years from that time; so that he did not cohabit with his wife till 1611.

Note return to page 262 [c] c“Nay, if you be an undertaker I am for you.” See Twelfth Night, Act IV. Sc. iii. and the note there.

Note return to page 263 [d] dComm. Journ. Vol. I. p. 456, 457, 470.

Note return to page 264 [e] eThe comedies particularly alluded to, are, Love's Labour Lost, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Comedy of Errors.

Note return to page 265 [f] fSee the first note on Twelfth Night, Act I. Sc. i.

Note return to page 266 [g] g“A comical satyre of Every Man out of his Humour,” was entered on the Stationers' books, by John Helme, in the year 1600; and the piece was, I suppose, then published, for several passages of it are found in a miscellaneous collection of poetry, entitled England's Parnassus, printed in that year.

Note return to page 267 *This enumeration of persons is taken from the Folio 1623. Steevens.

Note return to page 268 1Tempest.] The Tempest and The Midsummer's Night's Dream, are the noblest effort of that sublime and amazing imagination peculiar to Shakespeare, which soars above the bounds of nature without forsaking sense: or, more properly, carries nature along with him beyond her established limits. Fletcher seems particularly to have admired these two plays, and hath wrote two in imitation of them, The Sea Voyage and The Faithful Shepherdess. But when he presumes to break a lance with Shakespeare, and write in emulation of him, as he does in The False One, which is the rival of Anthony and Cleopatra, he is not so successful. After him, sir John Suckling and Milton catched the brightest fire of their imagination from these two plays; which shines fantastically indeed in The Goblins, but much more nobly and serenely in The Mask at Ludlow-Castle. Warburton. No one has been hitherto lucky enough to discover the romance on which Shakespeare may be supposed to have founded this play, the beauties of which could not secure it from the criticism of Ben Jonson, whose malignity appears to have been more than equal to his wit. In the induction to Bartholomew Fair, he says: “If there be never a servant monster in the fair, who can help it, nor a nest of antiques? He is loth to make nature afraid in his plays, like those that beget Tales, Tempests, and such like drolleries.” Steevens. Mr. Theobald tells us, that the Tempest must have been written after 1609, because the Bermuda islands, which are mentioned in it, were unknown to the English until that year; but this is a mistake. He might have seen in Hackluyt, 1600, folio, a description of Bermuda, by Henry May, who was shipwrecked there in 1593.9Q0035 It was however one of our author's last works. In 1598 he played a part in the original Every Man in his Humour. Two of the characters are Prospero and Stephano. Here Ben Jonson taught him the pronunciation of the latter word, which is always right in the Tempest. “Is not this Stephano, my drunken butler?” And always wrong in his earlier play, the Merchant of Venice, which had been on the stage at least two or three years before its publication in 1600. “My friend Stephano, signify, I pray you,” &c. —So little did a late editor know of his author, when he idly supposed his school literature might perhaps have been lost by the dissipation of youth, or the busy scenes of publick life! Farmer. See a Note on The cloud-capt Towers, &c. act III. [Correction: 1Kb]

Note return to page 269 for act III. read act IV.

Note return to page 270 2In this naval dialogue, perhaps the first example of sailor's language exhibited on the stage, there are, as I have been told by a skilful navigator, some inaccuracies and contradictory orders. Johnson.

Note return to page 271 3&lblank; fall to't yarely, &lblank;] i. e. Readily, nimbly. Our author is frequent in his use of this word. So in Decker's Satiromastix. “They'll make his muse as yare as a tumbler.” Steevens. Here it is applied as a sea-term, and in other parts of the scene. So he uses the adjective, act V. sc. v. “Our ship is tight and yare.” And in one of the Henries, “yare are our ships.” To this day the sailors say, “sit yare to the helm.” Again in Anton. and Cleop. II. iii. “The tackles yarely frame the office.” It occurs in its general acceptation, in Robert of Gloster's Chronicle; where Edward the Confessor receives from two pilgrims the notice of his approaching death, edit. Hearne, vol. I. p. 348. In consequence of this unexpected admonition, says the chronicler, “His gold he delde to pouere men, and made his bernes bare, “And his tresorie al so gode, and to God hym made at gare.” Gare is yare, g and y being convertible. “He distributed his goods to the poor, and made himself ready for God.” The same writer has also gare y made, i. e. “finished, well-prepared.” Chaucer, who wrote many years afterwards, has it both as a ship-phrase, and in its general sense. But the common and unrestrained use of this word was grown obsolete before the age of Shakespeare; who, notwithstanding, seems affectedly fond of introducing it in that signification. In Twelfth Night, act III. sc. xii. Sir Toby says, “Dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation.” And in Ant. and Cleop. and other plays. Warton.

Note return to page 272 4Perhaps it might be read,—blow till thou burst, wind, if room enough. Johnson. Perhaps rather—blow till thou burst thee, wind! if room enough. Beaum. and Fletcher have copied this passage in The Pilgrim. &lblank; Blow, blow west wind, Blow till thou rive! Again in Pericles Prince of Tyre, 1609. “1st Saylor. Blow and split thyself! “2d Saylor. But sea-room, and the brine and cloudy billow “Kiss the moon, I care not.” And yet, desiring the winds to blow till they burst their winds, is not unlike many other conceits of Shakespeare. Steevens.

Note return to page 273 5Play the men,] i. e. act with spirit, behave like men. So in K. Henry VI. p. I. sc. vi. “When they shall hear how we have play'd the men.” Again in Marlow's Tamburlaine, 1590, p. 2. “Viceroys and peeres of Turkey, play the men.” &grA;&grn;&gre;&grr;&gre;&grst; &gre;&grs;&grt;&gri; &grf;&gri;&grl;&gro;&gri;. Steevens.9Q0037

Note return to page 274 6&lblank; of the present,] It may mean of the present instant. Steevens.

Note return to page 275 7Gonzalo.] It may be observed of Gonzalo, that, being the only good man that appears with the king, he is the only man that preserves his cheerfulness in the wreck, and his hope on the island. Johnson.

Note return to page 276 8&lblank; an unstanch'd wench.] Unstanch'd, I believe, means incontinent. Steevens.

Note return to page 277 9Lay her a-hold, a-hold; &lblank;] To lay a ship a-hold, is to bring her to lie as near the wind as she can, in order to keep clear of the land, and get her out to sea. Steevens.

Note return to page 278 1&lblank; set her two courses off to sea again, &lblank;] The courses are the main-sail and foresail. This term is used by Raleigh, in his Discourse on Shipping. Johnson. The passage, as Mr. Holt has observed, should be pointed, Set her two courses; off, &c. Such another expression occurs in Decker's, If this be not a good Play, the Devil is in it. 1612. “&lblank; off with your Drabiers and your Banners; out with your Courses.” Steevens.

Note return to page 279 2&lblank; merely &lblank;] In this place signifies absolutely. In which sense it is used in Hamlet, act I. sc. iii. “&lblank; Things rank and gross in nature “Possess it merely.”— So in Ben Jonson's Poetaster: “&lblank; at request “Of some mere friends, some honourable Romans.” Steevens.9Q0038

Note return to page 280 3&lblank; to glut him.] Shakespeare probably wrote, t'englut him, to swallow him; for which I know not that glut is ever used by him. In this signification englut, from engloutir, French, occurs frequently, as in Henry VI. “&lblank; Thou art so near the gulf “Thou needs must be englutted.” And again in Timon and Othello. Yet Milton writes glutted offal for swallowed, and therefore perhaps the present text may stand. Johnson. Thus in Sir A. Gorges's translation of Lucan. B. 6. “&lblank; oylie fragments scarcely burn'd, “Together she doth scrape and glut.” i. e. swallow. Steevens.

Note return to page 281 4Brother, farewell!] All these lines have been hitherto given to Gonzalo, who has no brother in the ship. It is probable that the lines succeeding the confused noise within should be considered as spoken by no determinate characters, but should be printed thus. 1 Sailor. Mercy on us! We split, we split! 2 Sailor. Farewell, my, &c. 3 Sailor. Brother, farewell, &c. Johnson.

Note return to page 282 5&lblank; long heath, &lblank;] This is the common name for the erica baccifera. Warburton. &lblank; long heath.] The distinctions between the different sorts of erica, are either—vulgaris, tenuifolia or brabantica. There is no such plant as erica baccifera. Warner. “An acre of barren ground, long heath, brown furze,” &c. Sir T. Hanmer reads ling, heath, broom, furze.—Perhaps rightly, though he has been charged with tautology. I find in Harrison's Description of Britain, prefixed to our author's good friend Holingshead, p. 91. “Brome, heth, firze, brakes, whinnies, ling,” &c. Farmer. Mr. Tollet has sufficiently vindicated Sir Thomas Hanmer from the charge of tautology, by favouring me with specimens of three different kinds of heath which grow in his own neighbourhood. I would gladly have inserted his observations at length, but, to say the truth, our author, like one of Cato's soldiers who was bit by a serpent, Ipse latet penitus congesto corpore mersus. Steevens.

Note return to page 283 6Or ere, is before. Of this use, many instances are given hereafter. Steevens.

Note return to page 284 7Pro. No harm.] I know not whether Shakespeare did not make Miranda speak thus: O, woe the day! no harm? To which Prospero properly answers: I have done nothing but in care of thee. Miranda, when she speaks the words, O, woe the day! supposes, not that the crew had escaped, but that her father thought differently from her, and counted their destruction no harm. Johnson

Note return to page 285 8&lblank; more better. &lblank;] This ungrammatical expression is very frequent among our oldest writers. So in the History of Helyas Knight of the Swan. bl. L. no date: imprinted by William Copland “And also the more sooner to come, without prolixity, to the true Chronicles, &c.” Again in the True Tragedies of Marius and Scilla. 1594. “To wait a message of more better worth.” Again, ibid “That hale more greater than Cassandra now.” Steevens.

Note return to page 286 9&lblank; full poor cell, i e. a cell in a great degree of poverty. Go in Antony and Cleopatra, act I. sc. i.—I am full sorry. Steevens.

Note return to page 287 1Did never meddle with my thoughts.] To meddle, in this instance, seems to signify to mingle. Hence the substantive medley. To meddle for to mix is used at least twenty times in the ancient Book of Hawking, &c. commonly called the Book of St. Alban's, and yet more often by Chaucer. Steevens.

Note return to page 288 2Lye there my art.] Sir W. Cecil, lord Burleigh, lord high treasurer, &c. in the reign of queen Elizabeth, when he put off his gown at night, used to say, Lie there, lord treasurer. See Peck's Desiderata Curiosa. Steevens.

Note return to page 289 3&lblank; virtue of compassion &lblank;] Virtue; the most efficacious part, the energetic quality; in a like sense we say, The virtue of a plant is in the extract. Johnson.

Note return to page 290 4&lblank; that there is no soul &lblank;] Thus the old editions read, but this is apparently defective. Mr. Rowe, and after him Dr. Warburton, read that there is no soul lost, without any notice of the variation. Mr. Theobald substitutes no foil, and Mr. Pope follows him. To come so near the right, and yet to miss it, is unlucky: the author probably wrote no soil, no stain, no spot: for so Ariel tells, Not a hair perish'd; On their sustaining garments not a blemish, But fresher than before. And Gonzalo, The rarity of it is, that our garments being drench'd in the sea, keep notwithstanding their freshness and glosses. Of this emendation I find that the author of notes on The Tempest had a glimpse, but could not keep it. Johnson. &lblank; no soul &lblank;] Such interruptions are not uncommon to Shakespeare. He sometimes begins a sentence, and before he concludes it, entirely changes the construction, because another, more forcible, occurs. As this change frequently happens in conversation, it may be suffered to pass uncensured in the language of the stage. Steevens.

Note return to page 291 5Out three years old.] i. e. Quite three years old, three years old full-out, complete. Mr. Pope, without occasion, reads, Full three years old. Steevens.

Note return to page 292 6&lblank; abysm of time.] This method of spelling the word, is common to other ancient writers. They took it from the French abysme, now written abîme. So in Heywood's Brazen Age, 1613. “And chase him from the deep abysms below. Steevens.

Note return to page 293 7Perhaps—and thou his only heir. Johnson. The old copy reads &lblank; and his only heir and princess &lblank; Perhaps we should read, &lblank; and his only heir A princess:—no worse issued. Issued is descended. So in Greene's Card of Fancy, 1608. “For I am by birth a gentleman, and issued of such parents,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 294 8&lblank; teen. &lblank;] Is sorrow, grief, trouble. So in Romeo and Juliet: “&lblank; to my teen be it spoken.” Steevens.

Note return to page 295 9To trash for over-topping;] To trash, as Dr. Warburton observes, is to cut away the superfluities. This word I have met with in books containing directions for gardeners, published in the time of queen Elizabeth. The present explanation may be countenanced by the following passage in Warner's Albions England, 1602. b. x. ch. 57. “Who suffreth none by might, by wealth or blood to overtopp, “Himself gives all preferment, and whom listeth him, doth lop.” Again in our author's K. Richard II. Go thou, and like an executioner, Cut off the heads of too-fast-growing sprays That look too lofty in our commonwealth. Mr. Warton's note, however, on—“trash for his quick hunting,” in the second act of Othello, leaves my interpretation of this passage exceedingly disputable. Steevens.

Note return to page 296 1&lblank; both the key] Key in this place seems to signify the key of a musical instrument, by which he set Hearts to tune. Johnson. This doubtless is meant of a key for tuning the harpsichord, spinnet, or virginal; we call it now a tuning hammer, as it is used as well to strike down the iron pins whereon the strings are wound, as to turn them. As a key it acts like that of a watch. Sir J. Hawkins.

Note return to page 297 2Like a good, &c.] Alluding to the observation, that a father above the common rate of men has commonly a son below it. Heroum filii noxæ. Johnson.

Note return to page 298 3&lblank; like one, Who having, into truth, by telling of it, Made such a sinner of his memory, To credit his own lie, &lblank;] The corrupted reading of the second line has rendered this beautiful similitude quite unintelligible. For what is [having into truth?] or what doth [it] refer to? not to [truth,] because if he told truth he could never credit a lie. And yet there is no other correlative to which [it] can belong. I read and point it thus: &lblank; like one Who having, unto truth, by telling OFT, Made such a sinner of his memory, To credit his own lie, &lblank; i. e. by often repeating the same story, made his memory such a sinner unto truth, as to give credit to his own lie. A miserable delusion, to which story-tellers are frequently subject. The Oxford Editor having, by this correction, been let into the sense of the passage, gives us this sense in his own words: Who loving an untruth, and telling't oft, Makes &lblank; Warburton. I agree with Dr. Warburton, that perhaps there is no correlative to which the word it can with grammatical propriety belong, and that unto was the original reading. Lie, however, seems to have been the correlative to which the poet meant to refer, however ungrammatically. Steevens. I would read:   &lblank; like one Who having sin'd to truth, by telling oft Makes such a sinner of his memory too To credit his own lie &lblank; Musgrave.

Note return to page 299 4&lblank; out of the substitution.] Is the old reading. The modern editors, for the sake of smoother versification, read—from substitution. Steevens.

Note return to page 300 5So dry he was for sway, &lblank;] i. e. So thirsty. The expression, I am told, is not uncommon in the midland counties. Steevens.

Note return to page 301 6To think but nobly.] But in this place signifies otherwise than. Steevens.

Note return to page 302 7&lblank; cried out.] Perhaps we should read—on't. Steevens.

Note return to page 303 8&lblank; a hint.] Hint is suggestion. So in the beginning speech of the second act. &lblank; our hint of woe Is common &lblank; Steevens.

Note return to page 304 9&lblank; deck'd the sea &lblank;] To deck the sea, if explained, to honour, adorn, or dignify, is indeed ridiculous, but the original import of the verb deck is, to cover; so in some parts they yet say deck the table. This sense may be borne, but perhaps the poet wrote fleck'd, which I think is still used in rustic language of drops falling upon water. Dr Warburton reads mock'd, the Oxford edition brack'd. Johnson. Verstegan, p. 61. speaking of Beer, says—“So the overdecking or covering of beer came to be called berham, and afterwards barme.” This very well supports Dr. Johnson's explanation. The following passage in Antony and Cleopatra may countenance the verb deck in its common acceptation. “&lblank; do not please sharp fate “To grace it with your sorrows.” What is this but decking it with tears? Steevens.

Note return to page 305 1An undergoing stomach] Stomach is pride, stubborn resolution. So Horace, “&lblank; gravem Pelidæ stomachum.” Steevens.

Note return to page 306 2&lblank; who being then appointed, &c] Such is the old reading. We might better read, &lblank; he being, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 307 3Now my dear lady, is, now my auspicious mistress. Steevens

Note return to page 308 4&lblank; 'tis a good dulness.] Dr. Warburton rightly observes, that this sleepiness, which Prospero by his art had brought upon Miranda, and of which he knew not how soon the effect would begin, makes him question her so often whether she is attentive to his story. Johnson.

Note return to page 309 5On the curl'd clouds.] So in Timon—Crisp heaven. Steevens.

Note return to page 310 6Perform'd to point &lblank;] i. e. to the minutest article. So in the Chances, by Beaum. and Fletcher. “&lblank; are you all fit? “To point, sir.” Steevens.

Note return to page 311 7&lblank; now on the beak,] The beak was a strong pointed body at the head of the ancient gallies; it is used here for the forecastle, or the bolt-sprit. Johnson.

Note return to page 312 8Now in the waste, &lblank;] The part between the quarter-deck and the forecastle. Johnson.

Note return to page 313 9But felt a fever of the mad, &lblank;] In all the later editions this is changed to a fever of the mind, without reason or authority, nor is any notice given of an alteration. Johnson. If it be at all necessary to explain the meaning, it is this: Not a soul but felt such a fever as madmen feel, when the frantic fit is upon them. Steevens.

Note return to page 314 1&lblank; sustaining &lblank;] i. e. Their garments that bore them up and supported them. So K. Lear, act IV. sc. iv. “In our sustaining corn.” Mr. Edwards was of opinion that we should read sea-stained garments; for (says he) it was not the floating of their cloaths, but the magic of Prospero which preserved, as it it had wrecked them. Nor was the miracle, that their garments had not been at first discoloured by the sea-water, which even that sustaining would not have prevented, unless it had been on the air, not on the water; but, as Gonzalo says, “that their garments being (as they were) drenched in the sea, held notwithstanding their freshness and gloss, being rather new-dyed than stained with salt-water.” For this, and all such notes as are taken from the MSS. of the late Mr. Edwards, I am indebted to the friendship of Benjamin Way, Esq; who very obligingly procured them from the executors of that gentleman, with leave for their publication. Such of them as are omitted in this edition had been sometimes forestalled by the remarks of others, and sometimes by my own. The reader, however, might have been justly offended, had any other reasons prevented me from communicating the unpublished sentiments of that sprightly critick and most amiable man, as entire as I received them. Steevens. This note of Mr. Edwards, with which I suppose no reader is satisfied, shews with how much greater ease critical emendations are destroyed than made, and how willingly every man would be changing the text, if his imagination would furnish alterations. Johnson.

Note return to page 315 2From the still-vex'd Bermoothes. &lblank;] Theobald says Bermoothes is printed by mistake for Bermudas. No. That was the name by which the islands then went, as we may see by the voyages of that time; and by our author's contemporary poets. Fletcher, in his Women Pleased, says, The devil should think of purchasing that egg-shell to victual out a witch for the Bermoothes. Smith, in his account of these islands, p. 172. says, that the Bermudas were so fearful to the world, that many called them The Isle of Devils.—P. 174.—to all seamen no less terrible than an inchanted den of furies. And no wonder, for the clime was extremely subject to storms and hurricanes; and the islands were surrounded with scattered rocks lying shallowly hid under the surface of the water. Warburton. Again in Decker's If this be not a good Play, the Devil is in it, 1612. “Sir, if you have made me tell a lye, they'll send me on a voyage to the island of Hogs and Devils, the Bermudas.” Steevens. The opinion that Bermudas was haunted with evil spirits continued so late as the civil wars. In a little piece of sir John Berkinhead's, intitled, Two Centuries of Paul's Chruch-yard, una cum indice expurgatorio, &c. 12o, in page 62, under the title of Cases of Conscience, is this. 34. “Whether Bermudas and the parliament-house lie under one planet, seeing both are haunted with devils.” Percy. Bermudas was on this account the cant name for some privileged place, in which the cheats and riotous bullies of Shakespeare's time assembled. So in The Devil is an Ass, by Ben. Jonson.   “&lblank; keeps he still your quarter “In the Bermudas?” Again in one of his Epistles, “Have their Bermudas, and their straights i'th' Strand.” Again in The Devil is an Ass,   “&lblank; I gave my word “For one that's run away to the Bermudas.” Steevens.

Note return to page 316 3&lblank; the Mediterranean slote.] Flote is wave. Flot. Fr. Steevens.

Note return to page 317 4What is the time o' the day?] This passage needs not be disturbed, it being common to ask a question, which the next moment enables us to answer; he that thinks it faulty may easily adjust it thus: Pro. What is the time o' the day? Past the mid season? Ari. At least two glasses. Pro. The time 'twixt six and now &lblank; Johnson.

Note return to page 318 5Dost thou forget] That the character and conduct of Prospero may be understood, something must be known of the system of enchantment, which supplied all the marvellous found in the romances of the middle ages. This system seems to be founded on the opinion that the fallen spirits, having different degrees of guilt, had different habitations allotted them at their expulsion, some being confined in hell, some (as Hooker, who delivers the opinion of our poet's age, expresses it) dispersed in air, some on earth, some in water, others in caves, dens, or minerals under the earth. Of these, some were more malignant and mischievous than others. The earthy spirits seem to have been thought the most depraved, and the aerial the least vitiated. Thus Prospero observes of Ariel: &lblank; Thou wast a spirit too delicate To act her earthy and abhorr'd commands. Over these spirits a power might be obtained by certain rites performed or charms learned. This power was called The Black Art, or Knowledge of Enchantment. The enchanter being (as king James observes in his Demonology) one who commands the devil, whereas the witch serves him. Those who thought best of this art, the existence of which was, I am afraid, believed very seriously, held, that certain sounds and characters had a physical power over spirits, and compelled their agency; others, who condemned the practice, which in reality was surely never practised, were of opinion, with more reason, that the power of charms arose only from compact, and was no more than the spirits voluntary allowed them for the seduction of man. The art was held by all, though not equally criminal, yet unlawful, and therefore Casaubon, speaking of one who had commerce with spirits, blames him, though he imagines him one of the best kind who dealt with them by way of command. Thus Prospero repents of his art in the lost [Correction: 1Kb]

Note return to page 319 for lost, read last.

Note return to page 320 6To run upon the sharp wind of the north;] Sir W. Davenant and Dryden, in their alteration of this play, have made a very wanton change in the line, and read, To run against, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 321 7&lblank; in Argier.] Argier is the ancient English name for Algiers. See a pamphlet entitled, “A true Relation of the Travailes, &c. of William Davies, barber-surgeon, &c.” 1614. In this is a chapter “on the description, &c. of Argier.” Steevens.

Note return to page 322 8&lblank; a nymph o' the sea.] There does not appear to be sufficient cause why Ariel should assume this new shape, as he was to be invisible to all eyes but those of Prospero. Steevens.

Note return to page 323 9The strangeness &lblank;] Why should a wonderful story produce sleep? I believe experience will prove, that any violent agitation of the mind easily subsides in slumber, especially when, as in Prospero's relation, the last images are pleasing. Johnson. The poet seems to have been apprehensive that the audience, as well as Miranda, would sleep over this long but necessary tale, and therefore strives to break it. First, by making Prospero divest himself of his magic robe and wand; then by waking her attention no less than six times by verbal interruption; then by varying the action when he rises and bids her continue sitting: and lastly, by carrying on the business of the fable while Miranda sleeps, by which she is continued on the stage till the poet has occasion for her again. Warner.

Note return to page 324 1Cal. As wicked dew, as e'er my mother brush'd With raven's feather from unwholsome fen, Drop on you both!] Shakespeare hath very artificially given the air of the antique to the language of Caliban, in order to heighten the grotesque of his character. As here he uses wicked for unwholesome. So sir John Maundevil, in his travels, p. 334. edit. Lond. 1725.—at alle tymes brennethe a vesselle of cristalle fulle of bawme for to zeven gode smelle and odour to the emperour, and to voyden awey alle wykkede eyres and corrupciouns. It was a tradition, it seems, that lord Falkland, lord C. J. Vaughan, and Mr. Selden concurred in observing, that Shakespeare had not only found out a new character in his Caliban, but had also devised and adapted a new manner of language for that character. What they meant by it, without doubt, was, that Shakespeare gave his language a certain grotesque air of the savage and antique; which it certainly has. But Dr. Bentley took this, of a new language, literally; for speaking of a phrase in Milton, which he supposed altogether absurd and unmeaning, he says, Satan had not the privilege as Caliban in Shakespeare, to use new phrase and diction unknown to all others—and again—to practise distances is still a Caliban stile. Note on Milton's Paradise Lost, l. iv. v. 946. But I know of no such Caliban stile in Shakespeare, than hath new phrase and diction unknown to all others. Warburton. Whence these critics derived the notion of a new language appropriated to Caliban, I cannot find: they certainly mistook brutality of sentiment for uncouthness of words. Caliban had learned to speak of Prospero and his daughter, he had no names for the sun and moon before their arrival, and could not have invented a language of his own without more understanding than Shakespeare has thought it proper to bestow upon him. His diction is indeed somewhat clouded by the gloominess of his temper, and the malignity of his purposes; but let any other being entertain the same thoughts, and he will find them easily issue in the same expressions. Johnson. As wicked dew,—] Wicked; having baneful qualities. So Spenser says, wicked weed; so, in opposition, we say herbs or medicines have virtues. Bacon mentions virtuous bezoar, and Dryden virtuous herbs. Johnson. So in the Booke of Haukyng, &c. bl. l. no date. “If a wycked fellon be swollen in such maner that a man may hele it, the hauke shall not dye.” Steevens.

Note return to page 325 2&lblank; urchins,] i. e. hedgehogs. Urchins are enumerated by Reginald Scott among other terrific beings. “&lblank; to fold thyself up like an urchin.” Chapman's May Day, 1611. Again in Selimus Emperor of the Turks, 1638. “What are the urchins crept out of their dens “Under the conduct of this porcupine!” Urchins are perhaps here put for fairies. Milton in his Masque speaks of “urchin blasts,” and we still call any little dwarfish child, an urchin. The word occurs again in the next act. The ochinus, or sea hedge-hog, is still called the urchin. Steevens.

Note return to page 326 3&lblank; for that vast of night that they may work,] The vast of night means the night which is naturally empty and deserted, without action; or when all things lying in sleep and silence, makes the world appear one great uninhabited waste. So in Hamlet; “In the dead waste and middle of the night.” It has a meaning like that of nox vasta. Perhaps, however, it may be used in a signification somewhat different, in Pericles Prince of Tyre, 1609. “Thou God of this great vast, rebuke the surges.” Vastum is likewise the ancient law term for waste uncultivated land; and, with this meaning, vast is used by Chapman in his Shadow of Night, 1594. “&lblank; When unlightsome, vast and indigest “The formeless matter of this world did lye.” It should be remembered, that, in the pneumatology of former ages, these particulars were settled with the most minute exactness, and the different kinds of visionary beings had different allotments of time suitable to the variety or consequence of their employments. During these spaces, they were at liberty to act, but were always obliged to leave off at a certain hour, that they might not interfere in that portion of night which belong'd to others. Among these we may suppose urchins to have had a part subjected to their dominion. To this limitation of time Shakespeare alludes again in K. Lear. He begins at curfew, and walks till the second cock. Steevens.

Note return to page 327 4Abhorred slave;] This speech, which the old copy gives to Miranda, is very judiciously bestowed by Mr. Theobald on Prospero. Johnson. The modern editions take this speech from Miranda, and give it to Prospero; though there is nothing in it but what she may speak with the greatest propriety; especially as it accounts for her being enough in the way and power of Caliban, to enable him to make the attempt complained of. The poet himself shews he intended Miranda should be his tutoress, when he makes Caliban say, “I've seen thee in her, my mistress shewed me thee and thy dog, and thy bush;” to Stephano, who had just assured the monster he was the man in the moon. Holt.

Note return to page 328 5&lblank; When thou didst not, savage, Know thy own meaning, but wouldst gabble like A thing most brutish, I endow'd thy purposes With words to make them known.] The benefit which Prospero here upbraids Caliban with having bestowed, was teaching him language. He shews the greatness of this benefit by marking the inconvenience Caliban lay under for want of it. What was the inconvenience? This, that he did not know his own meaning. But sure a brute, to which he is compared, doth know its own meaning, that is, knows what it would be at. This, indeed, it cannot do, it cannot shew its meaning to others. And this certainly is what Prospero would say: &lblank; When thou couldst not, savage, Show thy own meaning, &lblank; The following words make it evident, &lblank; but wouldst gabble like A thing most brutish, &lblank; And when once [show] was corrupted to [know] the transcribers would of course change [couldst] into [didst] to make it agree with the other false reading. There is indeed a sense, in which Know thy own meaning, may be well applied to a brute. For it may signify the not having any reflex knowledge of the operations of its own mind, which, it would seem, a brute hath not. Though this, I say, may be applied to a brute, and consequently to Caliban, and though to remedy this brutality be a nobler benefit than even the teaching language; yet such a sense would be impertinent and absurd in this place, where only the benefit of language is talked of by an exact and learned speaker. Besides, Prospero expresly says, that Caliban had purposes; which, in other words, is, that he did know his own meaning. Warburton. &lblank; When thou didst not, savage, Know thy own meaning, &lblank;] By this expression, however defective, the poet seems to have meant—When thou didst utter sounds, to which thou hadst no determinate meaning: but the following expression of Mr. Addison, in his 389th Spectator, concerning the Hottentots, may prove the best comment on this passage, “&lblank; having no language among them but a confused gabble, which is neither well understood by themselves, or others.” Steevens.

Note return to page 329 6&lblank; But thy vild race] Race, in this place, seems to signify original disposition, inborn qualities. In this sense we still say— The race of wine; thus in Massinger's New Way to pay old Debts. “There came, not six days since, from Hull, a pipe “Of rich Canary.— “Is it of the right race?” and sir W. Temple has somewhere applied it to works of literature. Steevens.9Q0050

Note return to page 330 7&lblank; the red plague &lblank;] I suppose from the redness of the body, universally inflamed. Johnson. The erysipelas was anciently called the red plague. Steevens.

Note return to page 331 8&lblank; “My dam's god, Setebos.” A gentleman of great merit, Mr. Warner, has observed on the authority of John Barbot, that “the Patagons are reported to dread a great horned devil, called Setebos.”—It may be asked however, how Shakespeare knew any thing of this, as Barbot was a voyager of the present century?—Perhaps he had read Eden's History of Travayle, 1577, who tells us, p. 434. that “the giantes, when they found themselves fettered, roared like bulls, and cryed upon Setebos to help them.”—The metathesis in Caliban from Canibal is evident. Farmer. We learn from Magellan's voyage, that Setebos was the supreme god of the Patagons, and Cheleule was an inferior one. Tollet.

Note return to page 332 9Court'sied when you have, and kiss'd,] As was anciently done at the beginning of some dances. The wild waves whist; i. e. the wild waves being silent (or whist) as in Spenser's Fairy Queen, b. vii. c. 7. f. 59. So was the Titaness put down, and whist. And Milton seems to have had our author in his eye. See stanza 5. of his Hymn on the Nativity. The winds with wonder whist, Smoothly the waters kiss'd. So again, both lord Surrey and Phaer, in their translations of the second book of Virgil: &lblank; Conticuere omnes. “They whisted all.” and Lylly in his Maid's Metamorphosis, 1600. “But every thing is quiet, whist, and still.” Steevens.

Note return to page 333 1This music crept by me upon the waters;] So in Milton's Masque. “&lblank; a soft and solemn breathing sound “Rose like a steam of rich distill'd perfumes, “And stole upon the air.” Steevens.

Note return to page 334 2Full fathom five thy father lies, &c.] Gildon, who has pretended to criticise our author, would give this up as an insufferable and senseless piece of trifling. And I believe this is the general opinion concerning it. But a very unjust one. Let us consider the business Ariel is here upon, and his manner of executing it. The commission Prospero had intrusted to him, in a whisper, was plainly this; to conduct Ferdinand to the sight of Miranda, and to dispose him to the quick sentiments of love, while he, on the other hand, prepared his daughter for the same impressions. Ariel sets about his business by acquainting Ferdinand, in an extraordinary manner, with the afflictive news of his father's death. A very odd apparatus, one would think, for a love-fit. And yet, as odd as it appears, the poet has shewn in it the finest conduct for carrying on his plot. Prospero had said I find my zenith doth depend upon A most auspicious star; whose influence If now I court not, but omit, my fortunes Will ever after droop. &lblank; In consequence of this his prescience, he takes advantage of every favourable circumstance that the occasion offers. The principal affair is the marriage of his daughter with young Ferdinand. But to secure this point, it was necessary they should be contracted before the affair came to Alonso the father's knowledge. For Prospero was ignorant how this storm and shipwreck, caused by him, would work upon Alonso's temper. It might either soften him, or increase his aversion for Prospero as the author. On the other hand, to engage Ferdinand, without the consent of his father, was difficult. For, not to speak of his quality, where such engagements are not made without the consent of the sovereign, Ferdinand is represented (to shew it a match worth the seeking) of a most pious temper and disposition, which would prevent his contracting himself without his father's knowledge. The poet therefore, with the utmost address, has made Ariel persuade him of his father's death to remove this remora. Warburton. I know not whether Dr. Warburton has very successfully defended these songs from Gildon's accusation. Ariel's lays, however seasonable and efficacious, must be allowed to be of no supernatural dignity or elegance, they express nothing great, nor reveal any thing above mortal discovery. The reason for which Ariel is introduced thus trifling is, that he and his companions are evidently of the fairy kind, an order of beings to which tradition has always ascribed a sort of diminutive agency, powerful but ludicrous, a humorous and frolick controlment of nature, well expressed by the songs of Ariel. Johhson.

Note return to page 335 3But doth suffer a sea-change.] “And underwent a quick immortal change.” Milton's Masque. Steevens.

Note return to page 336 4That the earth owes: &lblank;] To owe, in this place, as well as many others, signifies to own. So in Othello: “&lblank; that sweet sleep, “Which thou ow'dst yesterday.” Again in the Tempest.   “&lblank; thou dost here usurp “The name thou ow'st not.” To use the word in this sense is not peculiar to Shakespeare, I meet with it in B. and Fletcher's Beggar's Bush: “If now the beard be such, what is the prince, “That owes the beard?” Steevens.

Note return to page 337 5The fringed curtains, &c.] The same expression occurs in Pericles Prince of Tyre, 1609.   “&lblank; her eyelids “Begin to part their fringes of bright gold.” Steevens.

Note return to page 338 6Most sure, &c.] It seems, that Shakespeare, in The Tempest, hath been suspected of translating some expressions of Virgil; witness the O Dea certe. I presume we are here directed to the passage, where Ferdinand says of Miranda, after hearing the songs of Ariel: Most sure, the goddess On whom these airs attend! &lblank; And so very small Latin is sufficient for this formidable translation, that if it be thought any honour to our poet, I am loth to deprive him of it; but his honour is not built on such a sandy foundation. Let us turn to a real translator, and examine whether the idea might not be fully comprehended by an English reader, supposing it necessarily borrowed from Virgil. Hexameters in our own language are almost forgotten; we will quote therefore this time from Stanyhurst: “O to thee, fayre virgin, what terme may rightly be fitted? “Thy tongue, thy visage no mortal frayltie resembleth. “&lblank; No doubt, a goddesse!” Edit. 1583. Farmer.

Note return to page 339 7&lblank; certainly, a maid] Nothing could be more prettily imagined to illustrate the singularity of her character, than this pleasant mistake. She had been bred up in the rough and plain-dealing documents of moral philosophy, which teaches us the knowledge of ourselves; and was an utter stranger to the flattery invented by vicious and designing men to corrupt the other sex. So that it could not enter into her imagination, that complaisance, and a desire of appearing amiable, qualities of humanity which she had been instructed, in her moral lessons, to cultivate, could ever degenerate into such excess, as that any one should be willing to have his fellow-creature believe that he thought her a goddess, or an immortal. Warburton. Dr. Warburton has here found a beauty, which I think the author never intended. Ferdinand asks her not whether she was a created being, a question which, if he meant it, he has ill expressed, but whether she was unmarried; for after the dialogue which Prospero's interruption produces, he goes on pursuing his former question. O, if a virgin, I'll make you queen of Naples. Johnson. A passage in Lilly's Gallathea seems to countenance the present text, “The question among men is common, are you a maide?” —yet I cannot but think, that Dr. Warburton reads very rightly, “If you be made, or no.” When we meet with an harsh expression in Shakespeare, we are usually to look for a play upon words. Fletcher closely imitates the Tempest in his Sea Voyage: and he introduces Albert in the same manner to the ladies of his Desert Island. “Be not offended, goddesses, that I fall “Thus prostrate,” &c. Shakespeare himself had certainly read, and had probably now in his mind, a passage in the third book of the Fairy Queen, between Timias and Belphæbe, “Angel or goddess! do I call thee right?” “There-at she blushing, said, ah! gentle squire, “Nor goddess I, nor angel, but the maid “And daughter of a woody nymph,” &c. Farmer.

Note return to page 340 8And his brave son, being twain.] This is a slight forgetfulness. Nobody was left in the wreck, yet we find no such character as the son of the duke of Milan. Theobald.

Note return to page 341 9&lblank; controul thee.] Confute thee, unanswerably contradict thee. Johnson.

Note return to page 342 1I fear you have done yourself some wrong: &lblank;] i. e. I fear that, in asserting yourself to be king of Naples, you have uttered a falshood, which is below your character, and consequently injurious to your honour. So in the Merry Wives of Windsor—“This is not well, master Ford, this wrongs you.” Steevens.

Note return to page 343 2He's gentle, and not fearful.] Fearful signifies both terrible and timorous. In this place it may mean timorous. She tells her father, that as he is gentle, rough usage is unnecessary, and as he is brave, it may be dangerous. Fearful, however, may signify formidable, as in K. Hen. IV. “A mighty and a fearful head they are;” and then the meaning of the passage is obvious. Steevens.

Note return to page 344 3&lblank; come from thy ward;] Desist from any hope of awing me by that posture of defence. Johnson.

Note return to page 345 4Thy nerves are in their infancy again,] So Milton, in his Masque at Ludlow-Castle. “Thy nerves are all bound up in alabaster.” Steevens.

Note return to page 346 5&lblank; our hint of woe] Hint is that which recalls to the memory. The cause that fills our minds with grief is common. Dr. Warburton reads stint of woe. Johnson.

Note return to page 347 6Alon. Pr'ythee, peace.] All that follows from hence to this speech of the king's, You cram these words into my cars against The stomach of my sense, seems to Mr. Pope to have been an interpolation by the players. For my part, though I allow the matter of the dialogue to be very poor, I cannot be of opinion that it is interpolated. For should we take out this intermediate part, what would become of these words of the king, &lblank; Would I had never Married my daughter there! What daughter? and where married? For it is in this intermediate part of the scene only that we are told the king had a daughter named Claribel, whom he had married into Tunis. 'Tis true, in a subsequent scene betwixt Anthonio and Sebastian, we again hear her and Tunis mentioned; but in such a manner, that it would be obscure and unintelligible without this previous information. Theobald.

Note return to page 348 7The visitor &lblank;] Why Dr. Warburton should change visitor to 'viser for adviser, I cannot discover. Gonzalo gives not only advice, but comfort, and is therefore properly called The Visitor, like others who visit the sick or distressed to give them consolation. In some of the Protestant churches there is a kind of officers termed consolators for the sick. Johnson.

Note return to page 349 8A Dollar. Gon. Dolour comes to him indeed;] The same quibble occurs in the tragedy of Hoffman, 1637. “And his reward be thirteen hundred dollars, “For he hath driven dolour from our heart.” Steevens.

Note return to page 350 9&lblank; and delicate temperance.] Temperance here means temperature. Steevens.

Note return to page 351 1Temperance was a delicate wench.] In the puritanical times it was usual to christen children from the titles of religious and moral virtues. So Taylor, the water-poet, in his description of a strumpet, “Though bad they be, they will not bate an ace, “To be call'd Prudence, Temperance, Faith, or Grace.” Steevens.

Note return to page 352 2How lush, &c.] Lush, i. e. of a dark full colour, the opposite to pale and faint. Sir T. Hanmer.

Note return to page 353 3With an eye of green in't.] An eye is a small shade of colour. “Red, with an eye of blue, makes a purple.” Boyle. Steevens.

Note return to page 354 4&lblank; Widow Dido!] The name of a widow brings to their minds their own shipwreck, which they consider as having made many widows in Naples. Johnson. This passage may contain some allusion to the play of Dido Queen of Carthage, by Nash and Marlow, which was acted before queen Elizabeth in 1594.9Q0053 Preston, the author of Cambyses, was a performer in it; and to this circumstance our author seems to have alluded in the M. N. Dream, act IV. scene ii. See a note on it. The tragedy of Dido is so very scarce, that I have never been able to meet with it. Steevens.

Note return to page 355 5&lblank; the miraculous harp.] Alluding to the wonders of Amphion's music. Steevens.

Note return to page 356 6The stomach of my sense.] By sense, I believe is meant both reason and natural affection. So in Measure for Measure. “Against all sense do you importune her.” Steevens.

Note return to page 357 7Than we bring men to comfort them:] It does not clearly appear whether the king and these lords thought the ship lost. This passage seems to imply, that they were themselves confident of returning, but imagined part of the fleet destroyed. Why, indeed, should Sebastian plot against his brother in the following scene, unless he knew how to find the kingdom which he was to inherit? Johnson.

Note return to page 358 8Bourn, bound of land, &c.] A bourn, in this place, signifies a limit, a meer, a land-mark. Steevens.

Note return to page 359 9The latter end of his commonwealth forgets the beginning.] All this dialogue is a fine satire on the Utopian treatises of government, and the impracticable inconsistent schemes therein recommended. Warburton.

Note return to page 360 1&lblank; any engine.] An engine is the rack. So in K. Lear. “&lblank; like an engine, wrench'd my frame of nature “From the fix'd place.” It may, however, be used here in its common signification of instrument of war, or military machine. Steevens.

Note return to page 361 2&lblank; all foizon, &lblank;] Foison or foizon signifies plenty, ubertas, not moisture, or juice of grass or other herbs, as Mr. Pope says. Edwards. Foyson is pure French, and signifies plenty. So in Warner's Albion's England, 1602, b. xiii. ch. 78. “Union, in breefe, is foysonous, and discorde works decay.” Mr. Pope however is not entirely mistaken, as foison, or fizon, sometimes bears the meaning which he has affixed to it. See Ray's Collection of South and East Country words. Steevens.

Note return to page 362 2&lblank; this lord of weak remembrance, &lblank;] This lord, who, being now in his dotage, has outlived his faculty of remembering; and who, once laid in the ground, shall be as little remembered himself, as he can now remember other things. Johnson.

Note return to page 363 3For he's a spirit of persuasion,] Of this entangled sentence I can draw no sense from the present reading, and therefore imagine that the author gave it thus: For he, a spirit of persuasion, only Professes to persuade. Of which the meaning may be either, that he alone, who is a spirit of persuasion, professes to persuade the king; or that, He only professes to persuade, that is, without being so persuaded himself, he makes a show of persuading the king. Johnson. The meaning may be—He is a mere rhetorician, one who professes the art of persuasion, and nothing else; i. e. he professes to persuade another to believe that of which he himself is not convinced: he is content to be plausible, and has no further aim. The construction from which I draw this sense, is undoubtedly harsh; but in a writer like Shakespeare, all that is perplexed and irregular is not to be regarded as a corruption of the text. Steevens.

Note return to page 364 4&lblank; a wink beyond,] That this is the utmost extent of the prospect of ambition, the point where the eye can pass no farther, and where objects lose their distinctness, so that what is there discovered, is faint, obscure, and doubtful. Johnson.

Note return to page 365 5&lblank; she that from Naples Can have no note, &c.] Shakespeare's great ignorance of geography is not more conspicuous in any instance than in this, where he supposes Tunis and Naples to have been at such an immeasurable distance from each other. He may however be countenanced by Apollonius Rhodius, who says, that both the Rhone and Po meet in one, and discharge themselves into the gulph of Venice; and by Æschylus, who has placed the river Eridanus in Spain. Steevens.

Note return to page 366 6These lines stand in the old edition thus: &lblank; though some cast again; And, by that destiny, to perform an act, Whereof what's past is prologue; what to come, In your and my discharge. The reading in the latter editions is without authority. The old text may very well stand, except that in the last line in should be is, and perhaps we might better say—and that by destiny. It being a common plea of wickedness to call temptation destiny. Johnson. It should be remembered, that cast is here used in the same sense as in Macbeth, act II. sc. iii. “&lblank; though he took my legs from me, I made a shift to cast him.” The modern editors published, Is yours and my discharge. I think we may safely retain the old reading in the last hemistich, &lblank; what is yet to come, In yours and my discharge. i. e. Depends on what you and I are to perform. Steevens.

Note return to page 367 7&lblank; destiny.] I should prefer destin'd. Musgrave.

Note return to page 368 8&lblank; Keep in Tunis.] There is in this passage a propriety lost, which a slight alteration will restore: &lblank; Sleep in Tunis, And let Sebastian wake! Johnson. The old reading is sufficiently explicable. Claribel, (says he) keep where thou art, and allow Sebastian time to awaken those senses, by the help of which he may perceive the advantage which now presents itself. Steevens.

Note return to page 369 9A chough is a bird of the jack-daw kind. Steevens.

Note return to page 370 1And melt e'er they molest:] I had rather read, Would melt e'er they molest. i. e. Twenty consciences, such as stand between me and my hopes, though they were congealed, would melt before they could molest one, or prevent the execution of my purposes. Johnson. The old copy reads—And melt, which is as intelligible as or, which was substituted in its place.—Let twenty consciences be first congealed, and then dissolved, ere, &c. Malone. In the later editions, these lines are thus arranged: Ay, sir, where lyes that? If 'twere a kybe, 'twould put me to my slipper: But I feel not this deity in my bosom. Ten consciences, that stand 'twixt me and Milan, Candy'd be they, and melt, e'er they molest! Here lies your brother &lblank; This modern reading was quite arbitrary, as appears by the necessity of changing twenty to ten. Steevens.

Note return to page 371 2&lblank; that's dead;] i. e. that is, id est. Steevens.

Note return to page 372 3&lblank; for aye] &lblank; i. e. for ever. So in K. Lear,   “&lblank; I am come “To bid my king and master aye good night.” Steevens.

Note return to page 373 4This ancient morsel, &lblank;] For morsel Dr. Warburton reads ancient moral, very elegantly and judiciously, yet I know not whether the author might not write morsel, as we say a piece of a man. Johnson. So in Hamlet, What, is Horatio there? A piece of him. Again in Measure for Measure, “How doth my dear morsel; thy mistress?” In Coriolanus,—“Hence you fragments.” Steevens. So in Ant. and Cleopatra,   “&lblank; As a morsell cold “Upon dead Cæsar's trencher.” Malone.

Note return to page 374 5&lblank; take suggestion, &lblank;] i. e. Receive any hint of villainy. Johnson.

Note return to page 375 6&lblank; to keep them living.] i. e. Alonso and Anthonio; for it was on their lives that his project depended. Yet the Oxford Editor alters them to you, because in the verse before, it is said —you his friend; as if, because Ariel was sent forth to save his friend, he could not have another purpose in sending him, viz. to save his project too. Warburton. I think Dr. Warburton and the Oxford Editor both mistaken. The sense of the passage, as it now stands, is this: He sees your danger, and will therefore save them. Dr. Warburton has mistaken Anthonio for Gonzalo. Ariel would certainly not tell Gonzalo, that his master saved him only for his project. He speaks to himself as he approaches, My master through his art foresees the danger That these his friends are in. These written with a y, according to the old practice, did not much differ from you. Johnson.

Note return to page 376 7&lblank; drawn? Having your swords drawn. So in Romeo an Juliet: “What art thou drawn among these heartless hinds?” Johnson.

Note return to page 377 8That's verity.] The old copy reads, that's verily. Steevens.

Note return to page 378 9&lblank; that moe, &c.] i. e. Make mouths. So in the old version of the Psalms: “&lblank; making moes at me.” So in the old mystery of Candlemas-Day, 1512: “And make them to lye and mowe like an ape.” Steevens. So in Nashe's Apologie of Pierce Penniless, 1593: “Found nobody at home but an ape, that sate in the porch and made mops and mows at him.” Malone.

Note return to page 379 1&lblank; wound] Enwrapped by adders wound or twisted about me. Johnson.

Note return to page 380 2&lblank; looks like a foul bumbard &lblank;] This term again occurs in The First Part of Henry IV.—“that swoln parcel of dropsies, that huge bumbard of sack”—and again in Henry VIII. “And here you lie baiting of bumbards, when ye should do service.” By these several passages, 'tis plain, the word meant a large vessel for holding drink, as well as the piece of ordnance so called. Theobald. Ben Jonson, in his Masque of Augurs, confirms the conjecture of Theobald.—“The poor cattle yonder are passing away the time with a cheat loaf, and a bumbard of broken beer.” So in Middleton's Inner Temple Masque, 1619:—“they would have beat out his brains with bombards.” So again in The Martyr'd Soldier, by Shirley, 1658. “His boots as wide as the black-jacks, “Or bumbards toss'd by the king's guards.” And it appears from a passage in Ben Jonson's Masque of Love Restor'd, that a bombard-man was one who carried about provisions. “I am to deliver into the buttery so many firkins of aurum potabile, as it delivers out bombards of bouge,” &c. Again in Decker's Match me in London, 1631. “You are ascended up to what you are, from the black-jack to the bumbard distillation.” Steevens.

Note return to page 381 3&lblank; this fish painted.] To exhibit fishes, either real or imaginary, was very common about the time of our author. So in Maine's comedy of the City Match: “Enter Bright, &c. hanging out the picture of a strange fish.” &lblank; “This is the fifth fish now “That he hath shewn thus.” It appears, from the books at Stationers' Hall, that in 1604 was published, “A strange reporte of a monstrous fish, that appeared in the form of a woman from her waist upward, seene in the sea.” Steevens.

Note return to page 382 4&lblank; make a man;] That is, make a man's fortune. So in Midsummer Night's Dream—“we are all made men.” Johnson. So in Ram-alley, or Merry Tricks, 1611:   “&lblank; She's a wench “Was born to make us all.” Steevens.

Note return to page 383 5&lblank; a dead Indian. &lblank;] And afterwards—Men of Inde. Probably some allusion to a particular occurrence, now obscured by time. In Henry VIII. the porter asks the mob, if they think —some strange Indian, &c. is come to court. In the year 1577 was entered on the books of the Stationers' Company, “A description of the purtrayture and shape of those strange kinde of people whiche the wurthie Mr. Martin Fourbosier brought into England in Ao 1576.” Steevens.

Note return to page 384 6&lblank; let loose my opinion, &c.] So in Love's Labour's Lost: “&lblank; Now you will be my purgation, and let me loose.” Steevens.

Note return to page 385 7&lblank; his gaberdine; &lblank;] A gaberdine is properly the coarse frock or outward garment of a peasant. Ital. gaverdina. [Correction: 1Kb]

Note return to page 386 for Ital. Gaverdina, read, Gabardina, Spanish. Baretti.

Note return to page 387 8&lblank; too much &lblank;] Too much means, any sum, ever so much. As in the Merry Wives: “&lblank; More money than I'll speak of.” Steevens.

Note return to page 388 9&lblank; I know it by thy trembling:] This tremor is always represented as the effect of being possess'd by the devil. So in the Comedy of Errors: “Mark how he trembles in his extasy!” Steevens.

Note return to page 389 1&lblank; cat; &lblank;] Alluding to an old proverb, that good liquor will make a cat speak. Steevens.

Note return to page 390 2His forward voice, &c.] The person of Fame was anciently described in this manner. So in Penelope's Web, by Greene, 1601: “Fame hath two faces, readie as well to back-bite as to flatter.” Steevens.

Note return to page 391 3&lblank; Amen! &lblank;] Means stop your draught; come to a conclusion. I will pour some, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 392 4I have no long spoon.] Alluding to the proverb, A long spoon to eat with the devil. Steevens. See Com. of Errors, act IV. sc. iii. and Chaucer's Squier's Tale, ver. 10916 of the late edit. “Therefore behoveth him a ful long spone, “That shall ete with a fend.”— Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 393 5&lblank; to be the siege of this moon-calf?] Siege signifies stool in every sense of the word, and is here used in the dirtiest. So in Holinshed, p. 705: “In this yeare also, a house on London bridge, called the common siege, or privie, fell downe into the Thames.” A moon-calf is an inanimate shapeless mass, supposed by Pliny to be engendered of woman only. See his Nat. Hist. b. x. ch. 64. Steevens,

Note return to page 394 6Hast thou not dropped from heaven?] The new-discovered Indians of the island of St. Salvador, asked, by signs, whether Columbus and his companions were not come down from heaven. Tollet.

Note return to page 395 7I afraid of him?—a very weak monster, &c.] It is to be observed, that Trinculo the speaker is not charged with being afraid; but it was his consciousness that he was so that drew this brag from him. This is nature. Warburton.

Note return to page 396 8&lblank; kiss thy foot: &lblank;] A sneer upon the papists for kissing the Pope's pantofle. Gray.

Note return to page 397 9&lblank; scamels &lblank;] This word has puzzled the commentators; Dr. Warburton reads shamois; Mr. Theobald would read any thing rather than scamels. Mr. Holt, who wrote notes upon this play, observes, that limpets are in some places called scams, therefore I have suffered scamels to stand. Johnson. Theobald substitutes shamois for scamels; which last word, he says, has possessed all the editions. I am inclined to retain scamels; for in an old will, dated 1593, I find the bequest of “a bed of scammel colour;” i. e. of the colour of an animal so called, whose skin was then in use for dress or furniture. This at least shews the existence of the word at the time, and in Shakespeare's sense. Warton. I take Mr. Warton's bed of scammel colour to be a mistake for stammel colour, i. e. of a light red colour. The light, pale stammel is mentioned in Ph. Holland's translation of Pliny's Nat. Hist. and is also there styled the light red, and fresh lusty gallant, p. 260 and 261. See also stammel in Ainsworth's Dict. Tollet. In Jonson's Underwoods, see the following passage: “Red-hood the first that doth appear “In stamel, scarlet is too dear.” And in Fletcher's Woman-hater: “Humble herself in an old stamel petticoat.” So in Middleton's Masque of the World toss'd at tennis: “They wear stammel cloaks instead of scarlet.” So in The Return from Parnassus, 1606. “Some stamel weaver, or some butcher's son.” Again, in The Turk turn'd Christian, 1612. “That fellow in the stammel hose is one of them.” Again, in Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay, 1599. “That seem'd so stately in her stammel red.” Again, in Monsieur D'Olive, 1606.   “&lblank; like those creatures “That live in the Bordello, now in sattin, “To-morrow next in stammell.” Theobald had very reasonably proposed to read sea-malls, or sea-mells. An e, by these careless printers, was easily changed into a c, and from this accident, I believe, all the difficulty arises, the word having been spelt by the transcriber seamels. Willoughby mentions the bird as Theobald has informed us. Had Mr. Holt told us in what part of England scamels are called scams, more attention would have been paid to his assertion. I should suppose, at all events, a bird to have been design'd, as young and old fish are taken with equal facility; but young birds are more easily surprised than old ones. Besides, Caliban had already proffered to fish for Trinculo. In Cavendish's second voyage, the sailors eat young gulls at the isle of Penguins. Steevens.

Note return to page 398 1&lblank; trencher,] The old copy reads trenchering. Steevens.

Note return to page 399 2&lblank; are painful;] i. e. laborious Steevens.

Note return to page 400 3&lblank; but their labour Delight in them sets off:] Molliter austerum studio fallente laborem. Hor. sat. 2. lib. ii. Steevens.

Note return to page 401 4The most first folios read: Most busy lest, when I do it. 'Tis true this reading is corrupt; but the corruption is so very little removed from the truth of the text, that I cannot afford to think well of my own sagacity for having discovered it. Theobald.

Note return to page 402 5And yours it is against.] Perhaps we should read, And yours is it against. Steevens.

Note return to page 403 6&lblank; hest &lblank;] For behest; i. e. command. Steevens.

Note return to page 404 7Of every creature's best.] Alluding to the picture of Venus by Apelles. Johnson.

Note return to page 405 8&lblank; than I would suffer, &c.] The old copy reads—Than to suffer. The emendation is Mr. Pope's. Steevens.

Note return to page 406 9I am a fool, To weep at what I am glad of.] This is one of those touches of nature that distinguish Shakespeare from all other writers. It was necessary, in support of the character of Miranda, to make her appear unconscious that excess of sorrow and excess of joy find alike their relief from tears; and as this is the first time that consummate pleasure had made any near approaches to her heart, she calls such a seeming contradictory expression of it, folly. The same thought occurs in Romeo and Juliet: “Back foolish tears, back to your native spring, “Your tributary drops belong to woe, “Which you, mistaking, offer up to joy.” Steevens.

Note return to page 407 1&lblank; your fellow,] i. e. companion. Steevens.

Note return to page 408 *Bear up, and board 'em:] A metaphor alluding to a chace at sea. Sir J. Hawkins.

Note return to page 409 2He were a brave monster indeed, if they were set in his tail.] I believe this to be an allusion to a story that is met with in Stowe, and other writers of the time. It seems, in the year 1574, a whale was thrown ashore near Ramsgate. “A monstrous fish (says the chronicler) but not so monstrous as some reported—for his eyes were in his head, and not in his back.” Summary, 1575, p. 562. Farmer.

Note return to page 410 3I swam, &c.] This play was not published till 1623. Albumazar made its appearance in 1614, and has a passage relative to the escape of a sailor yet more incredible. Perhaps, in both instances, a sneer was meant at the Voyages of Ferdinando Mendez Pinto, or the exaggerated accounts of other lying travellers: “&lblank; five days I was under water; and at length “Got up and spread myself upon a chest, “Rowing with arms, and steering with my feet, “And thus in five days more got land.” Act III. sc. v. Steevens.

Note return to page 411 4&lblank; or my standard. Trin. Your lieutenant, if you list; he's no standard.] Meaning, he is so much intoxicated, as not to be able to stand. The quibble between standard, an ensign, and standard, a fruit tree, that grows without support, is evident. Steevens.

Note return to page 412 5&lblank; thou debosh'd fish thou, &lblank;] I meet with this word, which I suppose to be the same as debauch'd, in Randolph's Jealous Lovers, 1634: “&lblank; See your house be stor'd “With the deboishest roarers in this city.” Again, All's Well that ends Well: “With all the spots o' th' world tax'd and debosh'd.” Again in Monsieur Thomas, 1639: “&lblank; saucy fellows, “Debosh'd and daily drunkards.” The substantive occurs in the Partheneia Sacra, 1633: “&lblank; A hater of men, rather than the deboishments of their manners.” When the word was first adopted from the French language, it appears to have been spelt according to the pronunciation, and therefore wrongly; but ever since it has been spelt right, it has been uttered with equal impropriety. Steevens.

Note return to page 413 6What a py'd ninny's this? &lblank;] This line should certainly be given to Stephano. Py'd ninny alludes to the striped coat worn by fools, of which Caliban could have no knowledge. Trinculo had before been reprimanded and threatened by Stephano for giving Caliban the lie, he is now supposed to repeat his offence; upon which Stephano cries out, What a py'd ninny's this? Thou scurvy patch! &lblank; Caliban, now seeing his master in the mood that he wished, instigates him to vengeance: I do beseech thy greatness, give him blows. Johnson. It should be remember'd that Trinculo is no sailor, but a jester, and is so called in the ancient dramatis personæ; he therefore wears the party-colour'd dress of one of these characters. See fig. XII. in the plate annexed to the first part of K. Henry IV. and Mr. Tollet's explanation of it. So in the Devil's Law Case, 1623: “Unless I wear a py'd fool's coat.” Again in the prologue to If this be not a good play, the devil is in it, 1612, by Decker: “Pied and bold ideots durst not then sit kissing “A muse's cheek.” Steevens.

Note return to page 414 7&lblank; Remember, First to possess his books, &c.] So in Milton's Masque: “Oh, ye mistook; ye should have snatch'd his wand, “And bound him fast; without his rod revers'd, “And backward mutterings of dissevering power, “We cannot free the lady.” &lblank; Steevens.

Note return to page 415 8&lblank; Will you troul the catch,] Ben Jonson uses the word in Every Man in his Humour: “If he read this with patience, I'll troul ballads.” So Milton: “To dress, to troul the tongue,” &c. Again in the Cobler's Prophecy, 1594: “A fellow that will troul it off with tongue.” “Faith, you shall hear me troll it after my fashion.” To troul a catch, I suppose, is to dismiss it trippingly from the tongue. Steevens.

Note return to page 416 9&lblank; affeard.] Thus the old copy. To affear, is an obsolete verb with the same meaning as to affray. So in the Shipmannes Tale of Chaucer, v. 13330: “This wif was not aferde ne affraide.” Between aferde and affraide, in the time of Chaucer, there might have been some nice distinction which is at present lost. Steevens.

Note return to page 417 1By'r lakin, &lblank;] i. e. The diminutive only of our lady, i. e. ladykin. Steevens.

Note return to page 418 2A living drollery: &lblank;] Shows, called drolleries, were in Shakespeare's time performed by puppets only. From these our modern drolls, exhibited at fairs, &c. took their name. So in B. and Fletcher's Valentinian: “I had rather make a drollery till thirty.” Steevens.

Note return to page 419 3&lblank; one tree the phœnix throne;] For this idea, our author might have been indebted to Phil. Holland's Translation of Pliny, b. XIII. chap. 4. “I myself verily have heard straunge things of this kind of tree; and namely in regard of the bird Phœnix, which is supposed to have taken that name of this date tree; [called in Greek &grf;&gro;&gric;&grn;&gri;&grc;] for it was assured unto me, that the said bird died with that tree, and revived of itselfe as the tree sprung again.” Steevens.

Note return to page 420 4For certes, &c.] Certes is an obsolete word, signifying certainly. So in Othello:   “&lblank; certes, says he, “I have already chose my officer.” Steevens.

Note return to page 421 5&lblank; too much muse.] To muse, in ancient language, is to admire. So in Macbeth: “Do not muse at me, my most worthy friends.” Steevens.

Note return to page 422 6Praise in departing.] i. e. Do not praise your entertainment too soon, lest you should have reason to retract your commendation. It is a proverbial saying. So in the Two angry Women of Abington, 1599: “And so she doth; but praise your luck at parting.” Again in Tom Tyler and his Wife, 1598: “Now praise at thy parting.” Stephen Gosson, in his pamphlet entitled, Playes confuted in five Actions, &c. (no date) acknowledges himself to have been the author of a morality called, Praise at Parting. Steevens.

Note return to page 423 7&lblank; that there were mountaineers, &c.] Whoever is curious to know the particulars relating to these mountaineers, may consult Maundeville's Travels, printed in 1503, by Wynken de Worde; but it is yet a known truth that the inhabitants of the Alps have been long accustom'd to such excrescences or tumours. Quis tumidum guttur miratur in Alpibus? Steevens.

Note return to page 424 8&lblank; men, Whose heads stood in their breasts?] Our author might have had this intelligence likewise from the translation of Pliny, b. V. chap. 8. “The Blemmyi, by report, have no heads, but mouth and eies both in their breast.” Steevens.

Note return to page 425 9Each putter out, &c.] This passage alluding to a forgotten custom is very obscure: the putter out must be a traveller, else how could he give this account? the five for one is money to be received by him at his return. Mr. Theobald has well illustrated this passage by a quotation from Jonson. Johnson. The ancient custom was this. In this age of travelling, it was customary for those who engaged in long expeditions, to place out a sum of money on condition of receiving great interest for it at their return home. So Puntarvolo (it is Theobald's quotation) in Ben Jonson's Every Man out of his Humour: “I do intend, this year of jubilee coming on, to travel; and (because I will not altogether go upon expence) I am determined to put forth some five thousand pound, to be paid me five for one, upon the return of my wife, myself, and my dog, from the Turk's court in Constantinople.” To this instance I may add another from The Ball, a comedy, by Chapman and Shirley, 1639: “I did most politickly disburse my sums “To have five for one at my return from Venice.” Again in Amends for Ladies, 1639: “I would I had put out something upon my return; “I had as lieve be at the Bermoothes.” Again in Brome's Antipodes, 1638: “Like the reports of those, that beggingly “Have put out on returns from Edingbrough.” Steevens.

Note return to page 426 1Enter Ariel like a harpy, &c.] Milton's Par. Reg. b. II. &lblank; “with that “Both table and provisions vanish'd quite, “With sound of harpies wings, and talons heard.” “At subitæ horrifico lapsu de montibus adsunt “Harpyiæ, & magnis quatiunt clangoribus alas “Diripiuntque dapes.” Virg. Æn. iii. Steevens.

Note return to page 427 2That hath to instrument this lower world, &c.] i. e. that makes use of this world, and every thing in it, as its instruments to bring about its ends. Steevens.

Note return to page 428 3One dowle that's in my plume;] The old copy exhibits the passage thus: One dowle that's in my plumbe.— Bailey, in his Dictionary, says, that dowle is a feather, or rather the single particles of the down. Since the first appearance of this edition, my very industrious and learned correspondent, Mr. Tollet, of Betley, in Staffordshire, has enabled me to retract a too hasty censure on Bailey, to whom we were long indebted for our only English Dictionary. In a small book, entitled Humane Industry: or, A History of most Manual Arts, printed in 1661, page 93, is the following passage: “The wool-bearing trees in Æthiopia, which Virgil speaks of, and the Eriophori Arbores in Theophrasius, are not such trees as have a certain wool or dowl upon the outside of them, as the small cotton, but short trees that bear a ball upon the top, pregnant with wool, which the Syrians call Cott, the Grecians Gossypium, the Italians Bombagio, and we Bombase.”— “There is a certain shell-fish in the sea, called Pinna, that bears a mossy dowl, or wool, whereof cloth was spun and made.” —Again, page 95: “Trichitis, or the hayrie stone, by some Greek authors, and Alumen plumaceum, or downy alum, by the Latinists: this hair or dowl is spun into thread, and weaved into cloth.” I have since discovered the same word in The Ploughman's Tale, attributed to Chaucer, v. 3202. “And swore by cock' is herte and blode, “He would tere him every doule.” Steevens.9Q0069

Note return to page 429 4&lblank; clear life &lblank;] Pure, blameless, innocent. Johnson. So in Timon: “&lblank; roots you clear heavens.” Steevens.

Note return to page 430 5&lblank; with mops and mowes.] So in K. Lear, “&lblank; and Flibbertigibbet of mopping and mowing.” To mop and to mowe seem to have the same meaning, i. e. to make mouths or wry faces. Steevens.

Note return to page 431 6&lblank; with good life,] This seems a corruption. I know not in what sense life can here be used, unless for alacrity, liveliness, vigour; and in this sense the expression is harsh. Perhaps we may read,—with good list, with good will, with sincere zeal for my service. I should have proposed,—with good lief, in the same sense, but that I cannot find lief to be a substantive. With good life may however mean, with exact presentation of their several characters, with observation strange of their particular and distinct parts. So we say, he acted to the life. Johnson. Thus in the 6th canto of the Barons' Wars, by Drayton: “Done for the last with such exceeding life “As art therein with nature seem'd at strife.” Good life, however, in Twelfth Night, seems to be used for innocent jollity, as we now say a bon vivant: “Would you (says the Clown) have a love song, or a song of good life?” Sir Toby answers, “A love song, a love song;” Ay, ay, (replies Sir Andrew) “I care not for good life.” It is plain, from the character of the last speaker, that he was meant to mistake the sense in which good life is used by the Clown. It may therefore, in the Tempest, mean honest alacrity, or chearfulness. Life seems to be used in the chorus to the fifth act of K. Henry V. with some meaning like that wanted to explain the approbation of Prospero: “Which cannot in their huge and proper life “Be here presented.” Steevens.

Note return to page 432 7&lblank; bass my trespass.] The deep pipe told it me in a rough bass sound. Johnson. So in Spenser's Faery Queen, B. II. c. 12:   “&lblank; the rolling sea resounding soft, “In his big base them fitly answered.” Steevens.

Note return to page 433 8Like poison given, &c.] The natives of Africa have been supposed to be possessed of the secret how to temper poisons with such art as not to operate till several years after they were administered, and were then as certain in their effect, as they were subtle in their preparation. Steevens.

Note return to page 434 9&lblank; this ecstasy] Ecstacy meant not anciently, as at present, rapturous pleasure, but alienation of mind. Mr. Locke has not inelegantly stiled it dreaming with our eyes open. Steevens.

Note return to page 435 1&lblank; a third of mine own life,] Thus all the impressions in general; but why is she only a third of his own life? He had no wife living, nor any other child, to rob her of a share in his affection: so that we may reckon her at least half of himself. Nor could he intend, that he loved himself twice as much as he did her; for he immediately subjoins, that it was she for whom he liv'd. In Othello, when Iago alarms the senator with the loss of his daughter, he tells him: “Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul.” And dimidium animæ meæ was the current language with the Latines on such occasions. Theobald. In consequence of this ratiocination Mr. Theobald printed the text, a thread of my own life. I have restored the ancient reading. Prospero, in his reason subjoined why he calls her the third of his life, seems to allude to some logical distinction of causes, making her the final cause. Johnson. Though this conjecture be very ingenious, I cannot think the poet had any such idea in his mind. The word thread was formerly spelt third; as appears from the following passage: “Long maist thou live, and when the sisters shall decree “To cut in twaine the twisted third of life, “Then let him die, &c.” See comedy of Mucedorus, 1619. signat. c. 3. Hawkins. “A thrid of my own life” is a fibre or a part of my own life. Prospero considers himself as the stock or parent-tree, and his daughter as a fibre or portion of himself, and for whose benefit he himself lives. In this sense the word is used in Markham's English Husbandman, edit. 1635. p. 146: “Cut off all the maine rootes, within half a foot of the tree, only the small thriddes or twist rootes you shall not cut at all.” Again, ibid. “Every branch and thrid of the root.” This is evidently the same word as thread, which is likewise spelt thrid by lord Bacon. Tollet. The late Mr. Hawkins has properly observed that the word thread was anciently spelt third. So in Lingua, &c. 1607; and I could furnish many more instances: “For as a subtle spider closely sitting “In center of her web that spreadeth round, “If the least fly but touch the smallest third, “She feels it instantly.” The following quotation, however, should seem to place the meaning beyond all dispute. In Acolastus, a comedy, 1529, is this passage: “&lblank; one of worldly shame's children, of his countenaunce, and threde of his body.” Steevens.

Note return to page 436 2&lblank; strangely stood the test:] Strangely is used by way of commendation, merveilleusement, to a wonder; the sense is the same in the foregoing scene, with observation strange. Johnson.

Note return to page 437 3&lblank; my gift, &lblank;] My guest, first folio. Johnson.

Note return to page 438 4her virgin knot, &lblank;] The same expression occurs in Pericles Prince of Tyre, 1609: “Untide I still my virgin knot will keepe.” Steevens.

Note return to page 439 5No sweet aspersion] Aspersion is here used in its primitive sense of sprinkling. At present it is expressive only of calumny and detraction. Steevens.

Note return to page 440 6&lblank; the rabble,] The crew of meaner spirits. Johnson.

Note return to page 441 7&lblank; Come, and go, &lblank; Each one, tripping on his toe,] So Milton: “Come, and trip it as you go “On the light fantastic toe.” Steevens.

Note return to page 442 8&lblank; bring a corollary,] That is, bring more than are sufficient, rather than fail for want of numbers. Corollary means surplus. Corolaire, Fr. See Cotgrave's Dictionary. Steevens.

Note return to page 443 9No tongue; &lblank;] Those who are present at incantations are obliged to be strictly silent, “else,” as we are afterwards told, “the spell is marred.” Johnson.

Note return to page 444 1&lblank; thatch'd with stover, &lblank;] Stover, from Estovers, a law word, signifies an allowance in food or other necessaries of life. It is here used for provision in general for animals. From the following instance, stover should mean the pointed blades of grass or corn: “Beard, be confin'd to neatness, that no hair “May stover up to prick my mistress' lip “More rude than bristles of a porcupine.” Love's Sacrifice, 1633. The word occurs again in the 25th song of Drayton's Polyolbion: “To draw out sedge and reed, for thatch and stover fit.” Again in his Muses Elyzium: “Their brows and stover waxing thin and scant.” Steevens.

Note return to page 445 2Thy banks with pionied, and twilled brims,] The old edition reads pioned and twilled brims, which gave rise to Mr. Holt's conjecture, that the poet originally wrote, &lblank; with pioned and tilled brims. Spenser and the author of Muleasses the Turk, a tragedy, 1610, use pioning for digging. It is not therefore difficult to find a meaning for the word as it stands in the old copy; and remove a letter from twilled and it leaves us tilled. I am yet, however, in doubt whether we ought not to read lillied brims, for Pliny, b. XXVI. ch. x. mentions the water-lilly as a preserver of chastity; and says, elsewhere, that the Pæony medetur Faunorum in Quiete Ludibriis, &c. In the Arraignment of Paris, 1584, are mentioned “The watry flow'rs, and lillies of the banks.” In the 20th song of Drayton's Polyolbion, the Naiades are represented as making chaplets with all the tribe of aquatic flowers; and Mr. Tollet informs me that Lyte's Herbal says “one kind of peonie is called by some, maiden or virgin peonie.” In Ovid's Banquet of Sense, by Chapman, 1595, I met with the following stanza, in which twill-pants are enumerated among flowers: “White and red jasmines, merry, melliphill,   “Fair crown-imperial, emperor of flowers, “Immortal amaranth, white aphrodill,   “And cup-like twill-pants strew'd in Bacchus bowers.” If twill be the ancient name of any flower, the present reading, pionied and twilled may uncontrovertibly stand. Steevens.

Note return to page 446 3&lblank; and thy broom groves,] A grove of broom, I believe, was never heard of, as it is a low shrub and not a tree. Hanmer reads brown groves. Steevens. Disappointed lovers are still said to wear the willow, and in these lines broom groves are assigned to that unfortunate tribe for a retreat. This may allude to some old custom. We still say that a husband hangs out the broom when his wife goes from home for a short time; and on such occasions a broom besom has been exhibited as a signal that the house was freed from uxorial restraint, and where the master might be considered as a temporary bachelor. Broom grove may signify broom bushes. See Grava in Cowel's Law Dict. Tollet.

Note return to page 447 4Being lass-lorn;] Lass-lorn is forsaken of his mistress. So Spenser: “Who after that he had fair Una lorn.” Steevens.

Note return to page 448 5&lblank; thy pole-clipt vineyard,] To clip is to twine round or embrace. The poles are clipt or embraced by the vines. Steevens.

Note return to page 449 6My bosky acres, &c.] Bosky is woody. Bosquet, Fr. So Milton: “And every bosky bourn from side to side.” Again in K. Edward I. 1599: “Hale him from hence, and in this bosky wood “Bury his corps.” Steevens.

Note return to page 450 7&lblank; to this short-grass'd green?] The old copy reads short-graz'd green. Short-graz'd green means grazed so as to be short. Steevens.

Note return to page 451 8High queen of state,] Mr. Whalley thinks this passage in The Tempest: High queen of state, Great Juno comes; I know her by her gait, a remarkable instance of Shakespeare's knowledge of ancient poetic story; and that the hint was furnished by the Divûm incedo Regina of Virgil. John Taylor, the water-poet, declares, that he never learned his Accidence, and that Latin and French were to him Heathen Greek; yet by the help of Mr. Whalley's argument, I will prove him a learned man, in spite of every thing he may say to the contrary: for thus he makes a gallant address his lady; “Most inestimable magazine of beauty! in whom the port and majesty of Juno, the wisdom of Jove's braine-bred girle, and the feature of Cytherea, have their domestical habitation.” Farmer. So in The Arraignment of Paris, 1584: “First statelie Juno, with her porte and grace.” Steevens.

Note return to page 452 9Earth's increase, &lblank;] All the editions, that I have ever seen, concur in placing this whole sonnet to Juno; but very absurdly, in my opinion, I believe every accurate reader, who is acquainted with poetical history, and the distinct offices of these two goddesses, and who then seriously reads over our author's lines, will agree with me, that Ceres's name ought to have been placed where I have now prefixed it. Theobald.

Note return to page 453 1&lblank; foison plenty;] i. e. plenty to the utmost abundance; foison signifying plenty. So in Adam Davie's poem of the Life of Alexander: “All the innes of the ton “Hadden litel foyson.” Steevens.

Note return to page 454 2Harmonious charmingly: &lblank;] Mr. Edwards would read, Harmonious charming lay: &lblank; For though (says he) the benediction is sung by two goddesses, it is yet but one lay or hymn. I believe this passage appears as it was written by the poet, who, for the sake of the verse, made the words change places; and then the meaning is sufficiently obvious. Steevens.

Note return to page 455 3&lblank; wandring brooks,] The modern editors read winding brooks. The old copy—windring. I suppose we should read wandring, as it is here printed. Steevens.

Note return to page 456 4Leave your crisp channels, &lblank;] Crisp, i. e. curling, winding. Lat. crispus. So Hen. IV. part 1. act I. sc. iv. Hotspur speaking of the river Severn: “And hid his crisped head in the hollow bank.” Crisp, however, may allude to the little wave or curl (as it is commonly called) that the gentlest wind occasions on the surface of waters. Steevens.

Note return to page 457 5And, like the baseless fabrick of this vision, &c.] The exact period at which this play was produced, is unknown: It was not, however, published before 1623. In the year 1603, the Tragedy of Darius, by Lord Sterline, made its appearance, and there I find the following passage: “Let greatness of her glassy scepters vaunt,   “Not scepters, no, but reeds, soon bruis'd, soon broken; “And let this worldly pomp our wits enchant,   “All fades, and scarcely leaves behind a token. “Those golden palaces, those gorgeous halls,   “With furniture superfluously fair, “Those stately courts, those sky-encount'ring walls,   “Evanish all like vapours in the air.” Lord Sterline's play must have been written before the death of queen Elizabeth, (which happen'd on the 24th of March 1603) as it is dedicated to James VI. King of Scots. Whoever should seek for this passage, (as here quoted from the 4to, 1603) in the folio edition, 1637, will be disappointed, as Lord Sterline made considerable changes in all his plays, after their first publication. Steevens.

Note return to page 458 6Leave not a rack behind: &lblank;] “The winds” (says lord Bacon) “which move the clouds above, which we call the rack, and are not perceived below, pass without noise.” The word is common to many authors contemporary with Shakespeare. So in the Faithful Shepherdess, by B. and Fletcher: “&lblank; shall I stray “In the middle air, and stay “The sailing rack.”— Again in David and Bethsabe, 1599: “Beating the clouds into their swiftest rack.” Again in the prologue to the Three Ladies of London, 1584: “We list not ride the rolling rack that dims the chrystal skies.” Again in Shakespere's 33d Sonnet: “Anon permits the basest clouds to ride “With ugly rack on his celestial face.” Sir T. H. instead of rack, reads track, which may be supported by the following passage in the first scene of Timon of Athens: “But flies an eagle flight, bold, and forth on, “Leaving no tract behind. Steevens.9Q0077

Note return to page 459 7&lblank; Sir, I am vex'd; Bear with my weakness; my old brain is troubled:] Prospero here discovers a great emotion of anger on his sudden recollection of Caliban's plot. This appears from the admirable reflection he makes on the insignificancy of human things. For thinking men are never under greater depression of mind than when they moralize in this manner; and yet, if we turn to the occasion of his disorder, it does not appear, at first view, to be a thing capable of moving one in Prospero's circumstances. The plot of a contemptible savage and two drunken sailors, all of whom he had absolutely in his power. There was then no apprehension of danger. But if we look more nearly into the case, we shall have reason to admire our author's wonderful knowledge of nature. There was something in it with which great minds are most deeply affected, and that is, the sense of ingratitude. He recalled to mind the obligations this Caliban lay under for the instructions he had given him, and the conveniencies of life he had taught him to use. But these reflexions on Caliban's ingratitude would naturally recall to mind his brother's; and then these two working together, were very capable of producing all the disorder of passion here represented.—That these two, who had received at his hands the two best gifts mortals are capable of, when rightly employed, regal power, and the use of reason; that these, in return, should conspire against the life of the donor, would surely afflict a generous mind to its utmost bearing. Warburton.

Note return to page 460 8Thy thoughts I cleave to:] To cleave to is to unite with closely. So in Macbeth: “Like our strange garments cleave not to their mold.” Again— “If you shall cleave to my consent.” Steevens.

Note return to page 461 9&lblank; to meet with Caliban.] To meet with is to counteract; to play stratagem against stratagem.—The parson knows the temper of every one in his house, and accordingly either meets with their vices, or advances their virtues. Herbert's Country Parson. Johnson. So in Cinthia's Revenge, 1613:   “&lblank; You may meet “With her abusive malice, and exempt “Yourself from the suspicion of revenge.” Steevens.

Note return to page 462 1&lblank; advanced their eye-lids, &c.] Thus Drayton, in his Court of Fairie of Hobgoblin caught in a Spell: “But once the circle got within, “The charms to work do straight begin, “And he was caught as in a gin:   “For as he thus was busy, “A pain he in his head-piece feels, “Against a stubbed tree he reels, “And up went poor Hobgoblin's heels:   “Alas, his brain was dizzy. “At length upon his feet he gets, “Hobgoblin fumes, Hobgoblin frets; “And as again he forward sets,   “And through the bushes scrambles, “A stump doth hit him in his pace, “Down comes poor Hob upon his face, “And lamentably tore his case   “Among the briers and brambles.” Johnson.

Note return to page 463 2&lblank; pricking goss, &lblank;] I know not how Shakespeare distinguished goss from furze; for what he calls furze, is called goss or gorse in the midland counties. This word is used in the first chorus to Kyd's Cornelia, 1595: “With worthless gorse that yearly, fruitless dies.” Steevens. By the latter, Shakespeare means the low sort of gorse that only grows upon wet ground, and which is well described by the name of whins in Markham's Farewell to Husbandry. It has prickles like those on a rose-tree or a gooseberry. Furze and whins occur together in Mr. Farmer's quotation from Holinshed. Tollet.

Note return to page 464 3For stale to catch these thieves.] Stale is a word in fowling, and is used to mean a bait or decoy to catch birds. So in A Looking Glass for London and England, 1617: “Hence tools of wrath, stales of temptation!” So in Greene's Mamillia, 1593: “&lblank; that she might not strike at the stale, lest she were canvassed in the nets.” Steevens.

Note return to page 465 4Nurture can never stick;] Nurture is education. Steevens.

Note return to page 466 5He has play'd Jack with a lantern] Has led us about like an ignis fatuus, by which travellers are decoyed into the mire. Johnson.

Note return to page 467 6Trin. O king Stephano! o peer! o worthy Stephano! Look, what a wardrobe here is for thee!] The humour of these lines consists in their being an allusion to an old celebrated ballad, which begins thus: King Stephen was a worthy peer—and celebrates that king's parsimony with regard to his wardrobe.— There are two stanzas of this ballad in Othello. Warburton. The old ballad is printed at large in The Reliques of Ancient Poetry, vol. i. Percy.

Note return to page 468 7&lblank; we know what belongs to a frippery: &lblank;] A frippery was a shop where old cloaths were sold. Fripperie, Fr. Beaumont and Fletcher use it in this sense, in Wit without Money, act II: “As if I were a running frippery.” So in Monsieur de Olive, a comedy, by Chapman, 1606: “Passing yesterday by the frippery, I spied two of them hanging out at a stall with a gambrell thrust from shoulder to shoulder.” The person who kept one of these shops, was called a fripper. So again in Monsieur de Olive, 1606: “Taylors, frippers, brokers.” Again, ibid: “What is your profession, I pray?—Fripperie, my lord.” Again: “Farewell fripper, farewell petty broker.” Strype, in the life of Stowe, says, that these frippers lived in Birchin-lane and Cornhill. Steevens.

Note return to page 469 8First edit. Let's alone. Johnson. Let's alone may mean—Let you and I only go to commit the murder, leaving Trinculo, who is so solicitous about the trash of dress, behind us. Steevens.

Note return to page 470 9&lblank; under the line:] An allusion to what often happens to people who pass the line. The violent fevers, which they contract in that hot climate, make them lose their hair. Edwards' MSS. Perhaps the allusion is to a more indelicate disease than any peculiar to the equinoxial. So in The Noble Soldier, 1632: “'Tis hot going under the line there.” Again, in Lady Alimony, 1659: “&lblank; Look to the clime “Where you inhabit; that's the torrid zone. “Yea, there goes the hair away.” Shakespeare seems to design an equivoque between the equinoxial and the girdle of a woman. Steevens.

Note return to page 471 1&lblank; put some lime, &c.] That is, birdlime. Johnson.

Note return to page 472 2&lblank; to barnacles, or to apes] Skinner says barnacle is Anser Scoticus. The barnacle is a kind of shell-fish growing on the bottoms of ships, and which was anciently supposed, when broken off, to become one of these geese. Hall, in his Virgedemiarum, lib. iv. sat. 2. seems to favour this supposition: “The Scottish barnacle, if I might choose, “That of a worme doth waxe a winged goose,” &c. So likewise Marston, in his Malecontent, 1604: “&lblank; like your Scotch barnacle, now a block, “Instantly a worm, and presently a great goose.” “There are,” (says Gerard, in his Herbal, edit. 1597. page 1391) “in the north parts of Scotland certaine trees, whereon do growe shell-fishes, &c. &c. which, falling into the water, do become fowls, whom we call barnakles; in the north of England brant geese; and in Lancashire tree geese,” &c. This vulgar error deserves no serious confutation. Commend me, however, to Holinshed, (vol. I. p. 38.) who declares himself to have seen the feathers of these barnacles “hang out of the shell at least two inches.” And in the 27th song of Drayton's Polyolbion, the same account of their generation is given. Again, in Valentinian, by B. and Fletcher:   “&lblank; not till barnacles “Breed in my sides.” Collins.

Note return to page 473 3A noise of hunters heard. &lblank;] Shakespeare might have had in view “Arthur's Chace, which many believe to be in France, and think that it is a kennel of black dogs followed by unknown huntsmen with an exceeding great sound of horns, as if it was a very hunting of some wild beast.” See a Treatise of Spectres translated from the French of Peter de Loier, and published in quarto, 1605. Dr. Gray.

Note return to page 474 4&lblank; and time Goes upright with his carriage. &lblank;] Alluding to one carrying a burthen. This critical period of my life proceeds as I could wish. Time brings forward all the expected events, without faultering under his burthen. Steevens.

Note return to page 475 5&lblank; a touch, a feeling] A touch is a sensation. So in Cymbeline:   “&lblank; a touch more rare “Subdues all pangs, all fears.” So in the 141st sonnet of Shakespeare: “Nor tender feeling to base touches prone.” Again in the Civil Wars of Daniel, b. I: “I know not how their death gives such a touch.” Steevens.

Note return to page 476 6&lblank; that relish all as sharply, Passion as they, &lblank;] Passion is a verb in Shakespeare. I feel every thing with the same quick sensibility, and am moved by the same passions as they are. So in The Gent. of Verona: “Madam, 'twas Ariadne passioning “For Theseus' perjury,” &c. Again, in his Venus and Adonis: “Dumbly she passions, frantickly she doateth.” Again, in Love's Labour's Lost, act I. sc. i: “&lblank; I passion to say wherewith.” Again, in Spenser's Faery Queen, b. II. c. 9:   “&lblank; to see the maid “So strangely passioned &lblank;” A similar thought occurs in K. Rich. II: “Taste grief, need friends, like you,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 477 7Ye elves of hills, of standing lakes, and groves;] This speech Dr. Warburton rightly observes to be borrowed from Medea's in Ovid: and “it proves, says Mr. Holt, beyond contradiction, that Shakespeare was perfectly acquainted with the sentiments of the ancients on the subject of inchantments.” The original lines are these: “Auræque, & venti, montesque, amnesque, lacusque, “Diique omnes nemorum, diique omnes noctis adeste.” The translation of which, by Golding, is by no means literal, and Shakespeare hath closely followed it: “Ye ayres and winds; ye elves of hills, of brookes, of woods alone; “Of standing lakes, and of the night, approche ye everych one.” Farmer.9Q0080 Ye elves of hills, &c.] Fairies and elves are frequently in the poets mentioned together, without any distinction of character that I can recollect. Keysler says that alp and alf, which is elf with the Suedes and English, equally signified a mountain, or a dæmon of the mountains. This seems to have been its original meaning; but Somner's Dict. mentions elves or fairies of the mountains, of the woods, of the sea and fountains, without any distinction between elves and fairies. Tollet.

Note return to page 478 8&lblank; with printless foot Do chase the ebbing Neptune, &lblank;] So Milton in his Masque: “Whilst from off the waters fleet, “Thus I set my printless feet.” Steevens.

Note return to page 479 9(Weak masters though ye be) &lblank;] The meaning of this passage may be; Though you are but inferior masters of these supernatural powers,—though you possess them but in a low degree. Spenser uses the same kind of expression, b. III. cant. 8. st. 4. “Where she (the witch) was wont her sprights to entertain, “The masters of her art: there was she fain “To call them all in order to her aid.” Steevens.

Note return to page 480 &lblank; boil'd within thy skull] So in the Midsummer Night's Dream: “Lovers and madmen have such seething brains, &c.” Steevens.9Q0082

Note return to page 481 2Thou'rt pinch'd for't now, Sebastian.—Flesh and blood,] Thus the old copy: Theobald points the passage in a different manner, and perhaps rightly: “Thou'rt pinch'd for't now, Sebastian, flesh and blood. Steevens.

Note return to page 482 3After summer, merrily:] This is the reading of all the editions. Yet Mr. Theobald has substituted sun-set, because Ariel talks of riding on the bat in this expedition. An idle fancy, That circumstance is given only to design the time of night in which fairies travel. One would think the consideration of the circumstances should have set him right. Ariel was a spirit of great delicacy, bound by the charms of Prospero to a constant attendance on his occasions. So that he was confined to the island winter and summer. But the roughness of winter is represented by Shakespeare as disagreeable to fairies, and such like delicate spirits, who, on this account, constantly follow summer. Was not this then the most agreeable circumstance of Ariel's new-recovered liberty, that he could now avoid winter, and follow summer quite round the globe? But to put the matter quite out of question, let us consider the meaning of this line: There I couch when owls do cry. Where? in the cowslip's bell, and where the bee sucks, he tells us: this must needs be in summer. When? when owls cry, and this is in winter: “When blood is nipp'd, and ways be foul, “Then nightly sings the staring owl.” The Song of Winter in Love's Labour Lost. The consequence is, that Ariel flies after summer. Yet the Oxford Editor has adopted this judicious emendation of Mr. Theobald. Warburton. Ariel does not appear to have been confined to the island, summer and winter, as he was sometimes sent on so long an errand as to the Bermoothes. When he says, On the bat's back I do fly, &c. he speaks of his present situation only, nor triumphs in the idea of his future liberty, till the last couplet; Merrily, merrily, &c. The bat is no bird of passage, and the expression is therefore probably used to signify, not that he pursues summer, but that after summer is past, he rides upon the soft down of a bat's back, which suits not improperly with the delicacy of his airy being. Shakespeare, who, in his Midsummer Night's Dream, has placed the light of a glow-worm in its eyes, might, through the same ignorance of natural history, have supposed the bat to be a bird of passage. Owls cry not only in winter. It is well known that they are to the full as clamorous in summer; and as a proof of it, Titania, in the Midsummer Night's Dream, the time of which is supposed to be May, commands her faeries to—keep back The clamorous owl, the nightly hoots. &lblank; Steevens.

Note return to page 483 4To drink the air—is an expression of swiftness of the same kind as to devour the way in Henry IV. Johnson.

Note return to page 484 5Thy dukedom I resign, &lblank;] The duchy of Milan being through the treachery of Anthonio made feudatory to the crown of Naples, Alonso promises to resign his claim of sovereignty for the future. Steevens.

Note return to page 485 6&lblank; who three hours since] The unity of time is most rigidly observed in this piece. The fable scarcely takes up a greater number of hours than are employed in the representation; and from the very particular care which our author takes to point out this circumstance in so many other passages, as well as here, it should seem as if it were not accidental, but purposely designed to shew the admirers of Ben Jonson's art, and the cavillers of the time, that he too could write a play within all the strictest laws of regularity, when he chose to load himself with the critick's fetters. The Boatswain marks the progress of the day again—which but three glasses since, &c. and at the beginning of this act the duration of the time employed on the stage is particularly ascertained; and it refers to a passage in the first act, of the same tendency. The storm was raised at least two glasses after mid-day, and Ariel was promised that the work should cease at the sixth hour. Steevens.

Note return to page 486 7I am woe for't, sir.] i. e. I am sorry for it. To be woe, is often used by old writers to signify, to be sorry. So Chaucer: See The Court of Love, p. 36. “&lblank; I wolde be wo, “That presume to her to writin so.” So in the play of The Four Ps, 1569: “But be ye sure I would be woe “That you should chance to begyle me so.” Steevens.

Note return to page 487 8As great to me, as late; &lblank;] My loss is as great as yours, and has as lately happened to me. Johnson.

Note return to page 488 9Yes, for a score of kingdoms, &lblank;] I take the sense to be only this: Ferdinand would not, he says, play her false for the world; yes, answers she, I would allow you to do it for something less than the world, for twenty kingdoms, and I wish you well enough to allow you, after a little wrangle, that your play was fair. So likewise Dr. Gray. Johnson. I would recommend another punctuation, and then the sense would be as follows: Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle, And I would call it fair play; because such a contest would be worthy of you. Steevens.

Note return to page 489 1When no man was his own.] For when perhaps should be read where. Johnson. When is certainly right; i. e. at a time when no one was in his senses. Shakespeare could not have written where, (i. e. in the island) because the mind of Prospero, who lived in it, had not been disordered. It is still said, in colloquial language, that a madman is not his own man, i. e. is not master of himself. Steevens.

Note return to page 490 2My tricksy spirit!] is, I believe, my clever, adroit spirit. Shakespeare uses the same word elsewhere: “&lblank; that for a tricksy word “Defy the matter.” So in the interlude of the Disobedient Child, bl. l. no date:   “&lblank; invent and seek out “To make them go tricksie, gallaunt and cleane.” Again, in the interlude of Jacob and Esau, 1568: “Mary, sir, now is Maister Jacob trimme indeede, “That is all tricksie and gallant, &c.” Again, in Warner's Albion's England, 1602, b. VI. ch. 31: “There was a tricksie girl, I wot albeit clad in gray.” Steevens.

Note return to page 491 3&lblank; dead asleep,] The old copy reads—of sleep. Steevens.

Note return to page 492 4&lblank; conduct for conductor. So in Ben Jonson's Every Man out of his Humour: “Come, gentlemen, I will be your conduct.” Steevens.

Note return to page 493 5&lblank; with beating on The strangeness, &c.] A similar expression occurs in one of the parts of Hen. VI: “&lblank; your thoughts “Beat on a crown.” Beating may mean hammering, working in the mind, dwelling long upon. So in the preface to Stanyhurst's Translation of Virgil. 1582: “For my part, I purpose not to beat on everye childish tittle that concerneth prosodie.” Again, Miranda, in the second scene of this play, tells her father that the storm is still beating in her mind. Steevens.

Note return to page 494 6(Which to you shall seem probable)] These words seem, at the first view, to have no use; some lines are perhaps lost with which they were connected. Or we may explain them thus: I will resolve you, by yourself, which method, when you hear the story [of Anthonio's and Sebastian's plot] shall seem probable; that is, shall deserve your approbation. Johnson. Surely Prospero's meaning is: “I will relate to you the means by which I have been enabled to accomplish these ends; which means, though they now appear strange and improbable, will then appear otherwise.” Anonymous.

Note return to page 495 7Coragio!] This exclamation of encouragement I find in J. Florio's Translation of Montaigne, 1603: “&lblank; You often cried Coragio, and called ça, ça.” Again, in the Blind Beggar of Alexandria, 1598. Steevens.

Note return to page 496 8&lblank; true: &lblank;] That is, honest. A true man is, in the language of that time, opposed to a thief. The sense is, Mark what these men wear, and say if they are honest. Johnson.

Note return to page 497 9And Trinculo is reeling ripe; where should they Find this grand liquor that hath gilded them? &lblank;] Shakespeare, to be sure, wrote—grand 'lixir, alluding to the grand Elixir of the alchymists, which they pretend would restore youth, and confer immortality. This, as they said, being a preparation of gold they called Aurum potabile; which Shakespeare alluded to in the word gilded; as he does again in Anthony and Cleopatra: “How much art thou unlike Mark Anthony? “Yet coming from him, that great med'cine hath, “With his tinct gilded thee.” But the joke here is to insinuate that, notwithstanding all the boasts of the chymists, sack was the only restorer of youth, and bestower of immortality. So Ben Jonson, in his Every Man out of his Humour:—“Canarie the very Elixar and spirit of wine.” This seems to have been the cant name for sack, of which the English were, at that time, immoderately fond. Randolph, in his Jealous Lovers, speaking of it, says,—“A pottle of Elixar at the Pegasus bravely caroused.” So again in Fletcher's Monsieur Thomas, act III: “&lblank; Old reverend sack, which, for ought that I can read yet, “Was that philosopher's stone the wise king Ptolemeus “Did all his wonders by.”— The phrase too of being gilded was a trite one on this occasion. Fletcher, in his Chances:—“Duke. Is she not drunk too? Whore. A little gilded o'er, sir; old sack, old sack, boys!” Warb. As the alchymist's Elixir was supposed to be a liquor, the old reading may stand, and the allusion holds good without any alteration. Steevens.

Note return to page 498 1&lblank; fly-blowing.] This pickle alludes to their plunge into the stinking pool; and pickling preserves meat from fly-blowing. Steevens.

Note return to page 499 2&lblank; but a cramp.] i. e. I am all over a cramp. Prospero had ordered Ariel to shorten up their sinews with aged cramps. Touch me not alludes to the soreness occasioned by them. In the next line the speaker confirms this meaning by a quibble on the word sore. Steevens.

Note return to page 500 3With the help, &c.] By your applause, by clapping hands. Johnson. Noise was supposed to dissolve a spell. So twice before in this play: “No tongue; all eyes; be silent.” Again: “&lblank; hush! be mute, “Or else our spell is marr'd.” Steevens.

Note return to page 501 4And my ending is despair, Unless I be reliev'd by prayer;] This alludes to the old stories told of the despair of necromancers in their last moments, and of the efficacy of the prayers of their friends for them. Warburton. It is observed of The Tempest, that its plan is regular; this the author of The Revisal thinks, what I think too, an accidental effect of the story, not intended or regarded by our author. But whatever might be Shakespeare's intention in forming or adopting the plot, he has made it instrumental to the production of many characters, diversified with boundless invention, and preserved with profound skill in nature, extensive knowledge of opinions, and accurate observation of life. In a single drama are here exhibited princes, courtiers, and sailors, all speaking in their real characters. There is the agency of airy spirits, and of an earthly goblin. The operations of magick, the tumults of a storm, the adventures of a desart island, the native effusion of untaught affection, the punishment of guilt, and the final happiness of the pair for whom our passions and reason are equally interested. Johnson.

Note return to page 502 1Panthino,] In the enumeration of characters in the old copy, this attendant on Anthonio is called Panthion, but in the play, always Panthino. Steevens.

Note return to page 503 1Some of the incidents in this play may be supposed to have been taken from The Arcadia, book I. chap. 6. where Pyrocles consents to head the Helots. (The Arcadia was entered on the books of the Stationers' Company, Aug. 23d, 1588.) The love-adventure of Julia resembles that of Viola in Twelfth Night, and is indeed common to many of the ancient novels. Steevens. Mrs. Lenox observes, and I think not improbably, that the story of Protheus and Julia might be taken from a similar one in the Diana of George of Montemayor.—“This pastoral romance,” says she, “was translated from the Spanish in Shakespeare's time.” I have seen no earlier translation, than that of Bartholomew Yong, who dates his dedication in November 1598, and Meres, in his Wit's Treasury, printed the same year, expresly mentions the Two Gentlemen of Verona. Indeed Montemayor was translated two or three years before, by one Thomas Wilson; but this work, I am persuaded, was never published entirely; perhaps some parts of it were, or the tale might have been translated by others. However Mr. Steevens says, very truly, that this kind of love-adventure is frequent in the old novelists. Farmer.9Q00869Q0087 There is no earlier translation of the Diana entered on the books of the Stationers' Company, than that of B. Younge, September 1598. Many translations, however, after they were licensed, were capriciously suppressed. Among others, “The Decameron of Mr. John Boccace Florentine,” was “recalled by my lord of Canterbury's commands.” I much lament having never met with a work entitled, “A Catalogue for Englishe printed Bookes,” entered at Stationers' Hall, May 8, 1595. Steevens.

Note return to page 504 2It is observable (I know not for what cause) that the style of this comedy is less figurative, and more natural and unaffected than the greater part of this author's, though supposed to be one of the first he wrote. Pope. It may very well be doubted, whether Shakespeare had any other hand in this play than the enlivening it with some speeches and lines thrown in here and there, which are easily distinguished, as being of a different stamp from the rest. Hanmer. To this observation of Mr. Pope, which is very just, Mr. Theobald has added, that this is one of Shakespeare's worst plays, and is less corrupted than any other. Mr. Upton peremptorily determines, that if any proof can be drawn from manner and style, this play must be sent packing, and seek for its parent elsewhere. How otherwise, says he, do painters distinguish copies from originals, and have not authors their peculiar style and manner from which a true critic can form as unerring judgment as a painter? I am afraid this illustration of a critic's science will not prove what is desired. A painter knows a copy from an original by rules somewhat resembling these by which critics know a translation, which if it be literal, and literal it must be to resemble the copy of a picture, will be easily distinguished. Copies are known from originals, even when the painter copies his own picture; so if an author should literally translate his work, he would lose the manner of an original. Mr. Upton confounds the copy of a picture with the imitation of a painter's manner. Copies are easily known, but good imitations are not detected with equal certainty, and are, by the best judges, often mistaken. Nor is it true that the writer has always peculiarities equally distinguishable with those of the painter. The peculiar manner of each arises from the desire, natural to every performer, of facilitating his subsequent works by recurrence to his former ideas; this recurrence produces that repetition which is called habit. The painter, whose work is partly intellectual and partly manual, has habits of the mind, the eye and the hand, the writer has only habits of the mind. Yet, some painters have differed as much from themselves as from any other; and I have been told, that there is little resemblance between the first works of Raphael and the last. The same variation may be expected in writers; and if it be true, as it seems, that they are less subject to habit, the difference between their works may be yet greater. But by the internal marks of a composition we may discover the author with probability, though seldom with certainty. When I read this play, I cannot but think that I find, both in the serious and ludicrous scenes, the language and sentiments of Shakespeare. It is not indeed one of his most powerful effusions, it has neither many diversities of character, nor striking delineations of life, but it abounds in &grg;&grn;&grw;&grm;&gra;&grig; beyond most of his plays, and few have more lines or passages, which, singly considered, are eminently beautiful. I am yet inclined to believe that it was not very successful, and suspect that it has escaped corruption, only because being seldom played, it was less exposed to the hazards of transcription. Johnson.

Note return to page 505 3Home-keeping youth have ever homely wits:] Milton has the same play on words: “It is for homely features to keep home, “They had their name thence.” Steevens.

Note return to page 506 4&lblank; shapeless idleness.] The expression is fine, as implying that idleness prevents the giving any form or character to the manners. Warburton.

Note return to page 507 5&lblank; nay, give me not the boots.] A proverbial expression, though now disused, signifying, don't make a laughing stock of me; don't play upon me. The French have a phrase, Bailler foin en corne; which Cotgrave thus interprets, To give one the boots; to sell him a bargain. Theobald. Perhaps this expression took its origin from a sport the country people in Warwickshire use at their harvest-home, where one sits as judge to try misdemeanors committed in harvest, and the punishment for the men is to be laid on a bench, and slapped on the breech with a pair of boots. This they call giving them the boots. I meet with the same expression in the old comedy called Mother Bombie, by Lylly: “What do you give me the boots?” Again, in The Weakest goes to the Wall, a comedy, 1618: “&lblank; Nor your fat bacon can carry it away, if you offer us the boots.” The boots, however, were an ancient engine of torture. In MS. Harl. 6999–48, Mr. T. Randolph writes to lord Hunsdon, &c. and mentions, in the P. S. to his letter, that Geo. Flecke had yesterday night the boots, and is said to have confessed that the E. of Morton was privy to the poisoning the E. of Athol, 16 March, 1580: and in another letter, March 18, 1580, “&lblank; that the laird of Whittingham had the boots, but without torment confess'd, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 508 6However, but a folly &lblank;] This love will end in a foolish action, to produce which you are long to spend your wit, or it will end in the loss of your wit, which will be overpowered by the folly of love. Johnson.

Note return to page 509 7Made wit with musing weak, &lblank;] For made read make. Thou, Julia, hast made me war with good counsel, and make wit weak with musing. Johnson. Surely there is no need of emendation. It is Julia, who has already made wit weak with musing, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 510 8This whole scene, like many others in these plays (some of which I believe were written by Shakespeare, and others interpolated by the players) is composed of the lowest and most trifling conceits, to be accounted for only from the gross taste of the age he lived in; Populo ut placerent. I wish I had authority to leave them out; but I have done all I could, set a mark of reprobation upon them throughout this edition. Pope. That this, like many other scenes, is mean and vulgar, will be universally allowed; but that it was interpolated by the players seems advanced without any proof, only to give a greater licence to criticism. Johnson.

Note return to page 511 9I, a lost mutton, gave your letter to her, a lac'd mutton; &lblank;] Speed calls himself a lost mutton, because he had lost his master, and because Protheus had been proving him a sheep. But why does he call the lady a lac'd mutton? Wenchers are to this day called mutton-mongers; and consequently the object of their passion must, by the metaphor, be the mutton. And Cotgrave, in his English-French Dictionary, explains lac'd mutton, Une garse, putain, fille de joye. And Mr. Motteux has rendered this passage of Rabelais, in the prologue of his fourth book, Cailles coiphees mignonnement chantans, in this manner; Coated quails and lac'd mutton waggishly singing. So that lac'd mutton has been a sort of standard phrase for girls of pleasure. Theobald. Nash, in his Have with you to Saffron Walden, 1595, speaking of Gabriel Harvey's incontinence, says: he would not stick to extoll rotten lac'd mutton. So in the comedy of The Shoemaker's Holiday, or the Gentle Craft, 1610: “Why here's good lac'd mutton, as I promis'd you.” Again, in Blurt Master Constable, 1602: “Cupid hath got me a stomach, and I long for lac'd mutton.” Again, in Whetstone's Promos and Cassandra, 1578: “And I smelt he lov'd lac'd mutton well.” Again, Heywood, in his Love's Mistress, 1636, speaking of Cupid, says, he is the “Hero of hie-hoes, admiral of ay-me's, and monsieur of mutton lac'd.” Steevens. A laced mutton was so established a name for a courtezan, that a street in Clerkenwell, which was much frequented by women of the town, was formerly called Mutton-lane. It is mentioned, with many others of the same character, in A New Trick to cheat the Devil, 1639: “Search all the alleys, Spittle or Pickthatch, “Turnbull, the Bank-side, or the Minories, “White Friars, St. Peter's Street, and Mutton-lane.” Again, in Blurt Master Constable, by Middleton, 1602: “Laz. Pilcher, Cupid hath got me a stomach, and I long for laced mutton. “Pilch. Plain mutton without a lace will do for me.” Before I met with this passage, I own I understood laced mutton in the sense of mouton galonée, and could not at all account for so strange an expression. From the above, it appears to have been a phrase much of the same kind as caille coiffée. Malone.9Q0088

Note return to page 512 1Nay, in that you are astray; &lblank;] For the reason Protheus gives, Dr. Thirlby advises that we should read, a stray, i. e. a stray sheep; which continues Protheus's banter upon Speed. Theobald.

Note return to page 513 2&lblank; did she nod?] These words have been supplied by some of the editors, to introduce what follows. Steevens.

Note return to page 514 3Noddy was a game at cards. So in The Inner Temple Mask, by Middleton, 1619: “I leave them wholly (says Christmas) to my eldest son Noddy, whom, during his minority, I commit to the custody of a pair of knaves and one and thirty.” Again, in Quarles's Virgin Widow, 1656: “Let her forbear chess and noddy, as games too serious.” Steevens.

Note return to page 515 4&lblank; telling her mind.] The old copy reads, your mind. Steevens.

Note return to page 516 5&lblank; you have testern'd me;] You have gratified me with a tester, testern, or testen, that is, with a sixpence. Johnson. The old reading is cestern'd. Mr. Rowe made the alteration. Steevens.

Note return to page 517 6&lblank; he never should be mine.] Perhaps the insignificancy of sir Eglamour's character is burlesqued in the following passage in Decker's Satiromastix. “Adieu, sir Eglamour; adieu lute-string, curtain-rod, goose-quill, &c.” Sir Eglamour of Artoys, is the hero of an ancient metrical romance, “Imprinted at London, in Foster-lane, at the sygne of the Harteshorne, by John Walley.” bl. l. no date. Steevens.

Note return to page 518 7Should censure thus &c.] To censure means, in this place, to pass sentence. So in Othello: “&lblank; to you, lord governor, “Remains the censure of this hellish villain.” Steevens.

Note return to page 519 8&lblank; a goodly broker!] A broker was used for matchmaker, sometimes for a procuress. Johnson. So in Daniel's Complaint of Rosamond, 1599: “And flie (oh flie) these bed-brokers unclean, “The monsters of our sex, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 520 9&lblank; say No, to that, &c.] A paraphrase on the old proverb, “Maids say nay, and take it.” Steevens.

Note return to page 521 1&lblank; stomach on your meat,] Stomach was used for passion or obstinacy. Johnson.

Note return to page 522 2Light o' love.] This tune is given in a note on Much ado about Nothing, act III. sc. iv. Steevens.

Note return to page 523 3&lblank; too harsh a descant:] Descant is a term in music. See Sir John Hawkins's note on the first speech in K. Richard III. Steevens.

Note return to page 524 4&lblank; but a mean &c.] The mean is the tenor in music. So in the enterlude of Mary Magdalene's Repentaunce, 1569: “Utilitie can sing the base full cleane, “And noble honour shall sing the meane.” Steevens.

Note return to page 525 5Indeed, I bid the base for Protheus.] The speaker here turns the allusion (which her mistress employed) from the base in musick to a country exercise, Bid the base: in which some pursue, and others are made prisoners. So that Lucetta would intend, by this, to say, Indeed I take pains to make you a captive to Protheus's passion.—He uses the same allusion in his Venus and Adonis: “To bid the winds a base he now prepares.” And in his Cymbeline he mentions the game: “&lblank; Lads more like “To run the country base. Warburton.

Note return to page 526 5I see you have a month's mind to them.] A month's mind was an anniversary in times of popery; or, as Mr. Ray calls it, a less solemnity directed by the will of the deceased. There was also a year's mind, and a week's mind. See Proverbial Phrases. This appears from the interrogatories and observations against the clergy, in the year 1552. Inter. 7. “Whether there are any month's minds, and anniversaries?” Strype's Memorials of the Reformation, vol. ii. p. 354. “Was the month's mind of sir Will. Laxton, who died the last month (July 1556.) his hearse burning with wax, and the morrow mass celebrated, and a sermon preached,” &c. Strype's Mem. vol. iii. p. 305. Dr. Gray. A month's mind, in the ritual sense, signifies not desire or inclination, but remonstrance; yet I suppose this is the true original of the expression. Johnson.9Q0090 9Q0091 Puttenham, in his Art of Poetry, 1589, chap. 24. speaking of Poetical Lamentations, says, they were chiefly used “at the burials of the dead, also at month's minds, and longer times:” and in the churchwarden's accompts of St. Helens in Abington, Berkshire, 1558, these month's minds, and the expences attending them, are frequently mentioned. Instead of month's minds, they are sometimes called month's monuments, and in the Injunctions of K. Edward VI. memories, Injunct. 21. By memories, says Fuller, we understand the Obsequia for the dead, which some say succeeded in the place of the heathen Parentalia. If this line was designed for a verse, we should read—monthes mind. So in the Midsummer Night's Dream: “Swifter than the moones sphere.” Both these are the Saxon genitive case. Steevens.

Note return to page 527 6&lblank; what sad talk &lblank;] Sad is the same as grave or serious. Johnson.

Note return to page 528 7Some, to discover islands far away;] In Shakespeare's time, voyages for the discovery of the islands of America were much in vogue. And we find, in the journals of the travellers of that time, that the sons of noblemen, and of others of the best families in England, went very frequently on these adventures. Such as the Fortescues, Collitons, Thornhills, Farmers, Pickerings, Littletons, Willoughbys, Chesters, Hawleys, Bromleys, and others. To this prevailing fashion our poet frequently alludes, and not without high commendations of it. Warburton.

Note return to page 529 8&lblank; great impeachment to his age,] Impeachment is hindrance. So in Henry V: “&lblank; but could be glad “Without impeachment to march on to Calais.” Steevens.

Note return to page 530 1Attends the emperor in his royal court.] The emperor's royal court is properly at Vienna, but Valentine, 'tis plain, is at Milan; where, in most other passages, it is said he is attending the duke, who makes one of the characters in the drama. This seems to convict the author of a forgetfulness and contradiction; but perhaps it may be solved thus, and Milan be called the emperor's court; as, since the reign of Charlemaigne, this dukedom and its territories have belonged to the emperors. I wish I could as easily solve another absurdity which encounters us, of Valentine's going from Verona to Milan, both inland places, by sea. Theobald. Mr. Theobald discovers not any great skill in history. Vienna is not the court of the emperor as emperor, nor has Milan been always without its princes since the days of Charlemaigne; but the note has its use. Johnson. Shakespeare has been guilty of no mistake in placing the emperor's court at Milan in this play. Several of the first German emperors held their courts there occasionally, it being, at that time, their immediate property, and the chief town of their Italian dominions. Some of them were crowned kings of Italy at Milan, before they received the imperial crown at Rome. Nor has the poet fallen into any contradiction by giving a duke to Milan at the same time that the emperor held his court there. The first dukes of that, and all the other great cities in Italy, were not sovereign princes, as they afterwards became; but were merely governors, or viceroys, under the emperors, and removeable at their pleasure. Such was the Duke of Milan mentioned in this play. Steevens.

Note return to page 531 2&lblank; in good time] In good time was the old expression when something happened which suited the thing in hand, as the French say, à propos. Johnson. So in Rich. III: “And, in good time, here comes the sweating lord.” Steevens.

Note return to page 532 3&lblank; exhibition] i, e. allowance. So in Othello: “Due reference of place and exhibition.” Again, in the Devil's Law-case, 1623: “&lblank; in his riot does far exceed the exhibition I allowed him.” Steevens.

Note return to page 533 4Oh, how this spring of love resembleth] At the end of this verse there is wanting a syllable, for the speech apparently ends in a quatrain. I find nothing that will rhyme to sun, and therefore shall leave it to some happier critic. But I suspect that the author might write thus: Oh, how this spring of love resembleth right,   The uncertain glory of an April day; Which now shews all the glory of the light,   And, by and by, a cloud takes all away! Light was either by negligence or affectation changed to sun, which, considered without the rhyme, is indeed better. The next transcriber, finding that the word right did not rhyme to sun, supposed it erroneously written, and left it out. Johnson. It was not always the custom among our early writers, to make the first and third lines rhime to each other; and when a word was not long enough to complete the measure, they occasionally extended it. Thus Spenser, in his Faery Queen, b. II. c. 12: “Formerly grounded, and fast setteled.” Again, b. II. c. 12: “The while sweet Zephirus loud whisteled “His treble, a strange kind of harmony; “Which Guyon's senses softly tickeled,” &c. From this practice, I suppose our author wrote resembeleth, which, though it affords no jingle, completes the verse. The old ballad of Titus Andronicus is written in this measure, where the second and fourth lines only rhime. Steevens. Resembleth is here used as a quadrisyllable, as if it was written resembeleth. See Com. of Errors, act V. sc. the last: “And these two Dromios, one in semblance.” As you like it, act II. sc. ii. “The parts and graces of the wrestler.” And it should be observed, that Shakespeare takes the same liberty with many other words, in which l or r are subjoined to another consonant. See Com. of Errors, next verse but one to that cited above: “These are the parents to these children.” where some editors, being unnecessarily alarmed for the metre, have endeavoured to help it by a word of their own. “These plainly are the parents to these children.” Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 534 5&lblank; takes diet;] To take diet was the phrase for being under a regimen for a disease mentioned in Timon: “&lblank; bring down the rose-cheek'd youth “To the tub-fast and the diet. Steevens.

Note return to page 535 6&lblank; Hallowmas. &lblank;] That is, about the feast of All-Saints, when winter begins, and the life of a vagrant becomes less comfortable. Johnson. Is it worth remarking that on All-Saints-Day the poor people in Staffordshire, and perhaps in other country places, go from parish to parish a souling as they call it; i. e. begging and puling (or singing small, as Bailey's Dict. explains puling) for soul-cakes, or any good thing to make them merry? This custom is mentioned by Peck, and seems a remnant of Popish superstition to pray for departed souls, particularly those of friends. The souler's song, in Staffordshire, is different from that which Mr. Peck mentions, and is by no means worthy publication. Tollet.

Note return to page 536 7&lblank; none else would: &lblank;] None else would be so simple. Johnson.

Note return to page 537 8Oh excellent motion! &c.] Motion, in Shakespeare's time, signified puppet. In Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair it is frequently used in that sense, or rather perhaps to signify a puppet-show; the master whereof may properly be said to be an interpreter, as being the explainer of the inarticulate language of the actors. The speech of the servant is an allusion to that practice, and he means to say, that Silvia is a puppet, and that Valentine is to interpret to, or rather for her. Sir J. Hawkins. So, in The City Match, 1639, by Jasper Maine: “&lblank; his mother came, “Who follows strange sights out of town, and went “To Brentford for a motion.” &lblank; Again, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Rule a Wife, &c: “&lblank; let me see him, “And if he be that motion that thou speak'st of.” Again, in The Pilgrim: “&lblank; Nothing but a motion? “A puppet pilgrim?” &lblank; Again, in Love and Honour, by Sir W. Davenant, 1649: “&lblank; The motion of Queen Guinever's death “Acted by puppets would please you as well.” Steevens.

Note return to page 538 9Sir Valentine and servant, &lblank;] Here Silvia calls her lover servant, and again below her gentle servant. This was the language of ladies to their lovers at the time when Shakespeare wrote. Sir J. Hawkins. So in Marston's What you will, 1607: “Sweet sister, let's sit in judgment a little; faith upon my servant Monsieur Laverdure. Mel. Troth, well for a servant, but for a husband!” Again, in Ben Jonson's Every Man out of his Humour: “Every man was not born with my servant Brisk's features.” Steevens.

Note return to page 539 1&lblank; 'tis very clerkly done.] i. e. like a scholar. So in the Merry Wives of Windsor: “Thou art clerkly, sir John, clerkly.” Steevens.

Note return to page 540 2&lblank; it came hardly off;] A similar phrase occurs in Timon, act I. sc. i: “This comes off well and excellent.” Steevens.

Note return to page 541 3&lblank; reasoning with yourself?] That is, discoursing, talking. An Italianism. Johnson.

Note return to page 542 4&lblank; and there an end.] i. e. there's the conclusion of the matter. So in Macbeth:   “&lblank; a time has been “That when the brains were out, the man would die, “And there an end.”— Steevens.

Note return to page 543 5All this I speak in print;] In print means with exactness. So in the comedy of All Fooles, 1605: “&lblank; not a hair “About his bulk, but it stands in print.” Steevens.

Note return to page 544 6&lblank; I am the dog:—&c.] A similar thought occurs in a play of elder date than this. See A Christian turn'd Turk, 1612: “&lblank; you shall stand for the lady, you for her dog, and I the page; you and the dog looking one upon another: the page presents himself.” Steevens.

Note return to page 545 7&lblank; I am the dog, &c.] This passage is much confused, and of confusion the present reading makes no end. Sir T. Hanmer reads, I am the dog, no, the dog is himself and I am me, the dog is the dog, and I am myself. This certainly is more reasonable, but I know not how much reason the author intended to bestow on Launce's soliloquy. Johnson.

Note return to page 546 8&lblank; like a wood woman! &lblank;] The first folios agree in would-woman; for which, because it was a mystery to Mr. Pope, he has unmeaningly substituted ould woman. But it must be writ, or at least understood, wood woman, i. e. crazy, frantic with grief; or distracted, from any other cause. The word is very frequently used in Chaucer; and sometimes writ wood, sometimes wode. Theobald. Oh that she could speak now like a wood woman!] I am not certain that I understand this passage. Wood, or crazy women, were anciently supposed to be able to tell fortunes. Launce may therefore mean, that as her gestures are those of frantic persons, so he wishes she was possessed of their other powers, and could predict his fate. Or should we point the line as interrupted? Oh that she could speak now!—like a wood woman! meaning, I wish she could speak—but she behaves as if she were out of her senses! Steevens.

Note return to page 547 9&lblank; if the ty'd were lost; &c.] This quibble, wretched as it is, might have been borrowed by Shakespeare from Lylly's Endymion, 1591: “You know it is said, the tide tarrieth for no man.— “True. “A monstrous lye: for I was ty'd two hours, and tarried for one to unlose me.” The same occurs in Chapman's Andromeda Liberata, 1614: “And now came roaring to the tied the tide.” Steevens.

Note return to page 548 1Lose the tide, &lblank;] Thus the old copy. The modern editors read—the flood. Steevens.

Note return to page 549 2&lblank; and the tide?] I should suppose these three words to be repeated through some error of the printer. Steevens.

Note return to page 550 3&lblank; how quote you my folly?] To quote is to observe. So in Hamlet: “I am sorry that with better heed and judgment “I had not quoted him.” Steevens.

Note return to page 551 4&lblank; not without desert &lblank;] And not dignified with so much reputation without proportionate merit. Johnson.

Note return to page 552 5No; that you are worthless.] I have inserted the particle no to fill up the measure. Johnson.

Note return to page 553 6Thur. Madam, my lord your father &lblank;] This speech in all the editions is assigned improperly to Thurio; but he has been all along upon the stage, and could not know that the duke wanted his daughter. Besides, the first line and half of Silvia's answer is evidently addressed to two persons. A servant, therefore, must come in and deliver the message; and then Silvia goes out with Thurio. Theobald.

Note return to page 554 7Whose high imperious &lblank;] For whose I read those. I have contemned love and am punished. Those high thoughts by which I exalted myself above human passions or frailties, have brought upon me fasts and groans. Johnson.

Note return to page 555 8&lblank; no woe to his correction;] No misery that can be compared to the punishment inflicted by love. Herbert called for the prayers of the liturgy a little before his death, saying, None to them, none to them. Johnson. The same idiom occurs in an old ballad quoted in Cupid's Whirligig, 1616: “There is no comfort in the world   “To women that are kind.” Malone.

Note return to page 556 9&lblank; a principality,] The first or principal of women. So the old writers use state. “She is a lady, a great state.” Latymer. “This look is called in states warlie, in others otherwise.” Sir T. More. Johnson.

Note return to page 557 1&lblank; summer-swelling flower,] I once thought that the poet had written summer-smelling; but the epithet which stands in the text I have since met with in the translation of Lucan, by Sir Arthur Gorges, 1614, b. viii. p. 354: “&lblank; no Roman chieftaine should “Come neare to Nyles Pelusian mould, “But shun that sommer-swelling shore.” The original is, “&lblank; ripasque æstate tumentes,” l. 829. May likewise renders it summer-swelled banks. The summer-swelling flower is the flower which swells in summer, till it expands itself into bloom. Steevens.

Note return to page 558 2She is alone.] She stands by herself. There is none to be compared to her. Johnson.

Note return to page 559 3Is it mine then, or Valentino's praise,] Here Protheus questions with himself, whether it is his own praise, or Valentine's, that makes him fall in love with Valentine's mistress. But not to insist on the absurdity of falling in love through his own praises, he had not indeed praised her any farther than giving his opinion of her in three words, when his friend asked it of him. In all the old editions we find the line printed thus: It is mine, or Valentino's praise? A word is wanting. The line was originally thus: Is it mine eye, or Valentino's praise? Protheus had just seen Valentine's mistress, whom her lover had been lavishingly praising. His encomiums therefore heightening Protheus's idea of her at the interview, it was the less wonder he should be uncertain which had made the strongest impression, Valentine's praises, or his own view of her. Warburton. [Notes from the 1780 Supplement]9Q0095

Note return to page 560 4&lblank; a waxen image 'gainst a fire,] Alluding to the figures made by witches, as representatives of those whom they designed to torment or destroy. Steevens.

Note return to page 561 5&lblank; with more advice,] With more prudence, with more discretion. Johnson. With more advice, is on further knowledge, on better consideration. So in Titus Andronicus: “The Greeks, upon advice, did bury Ajax.” The word, as Mr. Malone observes, is still current among mercantile people, whose constant language is, “We are advised by letters from abroad,” meaning informed. So in bills, the conclusion always is—“Without further advice.” So in this very play: “This pride of hers, upon advice, &c.” So in Measure for Measure: “Yet did repent me after more advice.” Steevens.

Note return to page 562 6'Tis but her picture &lblank;] This is evidently a slip of attention, for he had seen her in the last scene, and in high terms offered her his service. Johnson. I believe Protheus means, that, as yet, he had seen only her outward form, without having known her long enough to have any acquaintance with her mind. So in Cymbeline: “All of her, that is, out of door, most rich! “If she be furnish'd with a mind so rare, &c.” Again, in the Winter's Tale, act II. sc. i: “Praise her but for this her without-door form.” Steevens.

Note return to page 563 7It is Padua in the former editions. See the note on act III. Pope.

Note return to page 564 8My staff understands me.] This equivocation, miserable as it is, has been admitted by Milton in his great poem. B. vi: “&lblank; The terms we sent were terms of weight, “Such as we may perceive, amaz'd them all, “And stagger'd many; who receives them right, “Had need from head to foot well understand; “Not understood, this gift they have besides, “To shew us when our foes stand not upright.” Johnson.

Note return to page 565 9&lblank; the ale-house] The old copy reads only—the ale; and Ales were merry-meetings instituted in country places. Thus Ben Jonson: “And all the neighbourhood, from old records “Of antique proverbs drawn from Whitson lords, “And their authorities at wakes and ales, “With country precedents and old wives' tales, “We bring you now.” Steevens.

Note return to page 566 1It is to be observed, that in the first folio edition, the only edition of authority, there are no directions concerning the scenes; they have been added by the later editors, and may therefore be changed by any reader that can give more consistency or regularity to the drama by such alterations. I make this remark in this place, because I know not whether the following soliloquy of Protheus is so proper in the street. Johnson.

Note return to page 567 2O sweet-suggesting love, &lblank;] To suggest is to tempt in our author's language. So again: “Knowing that tender youth is soon suggested.” The sense is. O tempting love, if thou hast influenced me to sin, teach me to excuse it. Dr. Warburton reads, if I have sinn'd; but, I think, not only without necessity, but with less elegance. Johnson.

Note return to page 568 3Myself, who am his competitor or rival, being admitted to his counsel. Johnson. Competitor is confederate, assistant, partner. So in Antony and Cleopatra: “It is not Cæsar's natural vice, to hate “One great competitor.” and he is speaking of Lepidus, one of the triumvirate. Steevens.

Note return to page 569 4&lblank; pretended flight;] We may read intended flight. Johnson. Pretended flight is proposed or intended flight. So in Macbeth: “&lblank; What good could they pretend?” Steevens.

Note return to page 570 5I suspect that the author concluded the act with this couplet, and that the next scene should begin the third act; but the change, as it will add nothing to the probability of the action, is of no great importance. Johnson.

Note return to page 571 6&lblank; with a cod-piece, &c.] Whoever wishes to be acquainted with this particular, relative to dress, may consult Bulwer's Artificial Changeling, in which such matters are very amply discussed. Ocular instruction may be had from the armour shewn as John of Gaunt's in the Tower of London. The same fashion appears to have been no less offensive in France. See Montaigne, chap. XXII. The custom of sticking pins in this ostentatious piece of indecency, was continued by the illiberal warders of the Tower, till forbidden by authority. Steevens.

Note return to page 572 7Out, out, Lucetta! &c.] Dr. Percy observes, that this interjection is still used in the North. It seems to have the same meaning as apage, Lat. Steevens.

Note return to page 573 8&lblank; of infinite &lblank;] Old edit. Johnson.

Note return to page 574 9&lblank; my longing journey.] Dr. Gray observes, that longing is a participle active, with a passive signification; for longed, wished or desired. Steevens.

Note return to page 575 1&lblank; jealous aim] Aim is guess, in this instance, as in the following. So in Romeo and Juliet: “I aim'd so near when I suppos'd you lov'd.” Steevens.

Note return to page 576 2&lblank; be not aimed at;] Be not guessed. Johnson.

Note return to page 577 3&lblank; of this pretence.] Of this claim made to your daughter. Johnson. Pretence is design. So in K. Lear: “&lblank; to feel my affection to your honour, and no other pretence of danger.” Again, in the same play: “&lblank; pretence and purpose of unkindness.” Steevens.

Note return to page 578 4&lblank; sir, in Milan, here,] It ought to be thus, instead of— in Verona, here—for the scene apparently is in Milan, as is clear from several passages in the first act, and in the beginning of the first scene of the fourth act. A like mistake has crept into the eighth scene of act II. where Speed bids his fellow-servant Launce welcome to Padua. Pope.

Note return to page 579 5&lblank; the fashion of the time &lblank;] The modes of courtship, the acts by which men recommended themselves to ladies. Johnson.

Note return to page 580 6What lets,] i. e. what hinders. Steevens.

Note return to page 581 7&lblank; for they are sent by me,] For is the same as for that, since. Johnson.

Note return to page 582 8&lblank; Merops' son)] Thou art Phaëton in thy rashness, but without his pretensions; thou art not the son of a divinity, but a terræ filius, a low born wretch; Merops is thy true father, with whom Phaëton was falsely reproached. Johnson. This scrap of mythology Shakespeare might have found in the spurious play of K. John, 1591, 1611, and 1622: “&lblank; as sometime Phaeton “Mistrusting silly Merops for his sire.” Or in Robert Greene's Orlando Furioso, 1594: “Why foolish, hardy, daring, simple groom, “Follower of fond conceited Phaeton, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 583 9I fly not death, to fly his deadly doom:] To fly his doom, used for by flying, or in flying, is a gallicism. The sense is, By avoiding the execution of his sentence I shall not escape death. If I stay here, I suffer myself to be destroyed; if I go away, I destroy myself. Johnson.

Note return to page 584 1Even in the milk-white bosom of thy love.] So in Hamlet: “These to her excellent white bosom, &c.” Trifling as the remark may appear, before the meaning of this address of letters to the bosom of a mistress can be understood, it should be known that women anciently had a pocket in the fore part of their stays, in which they not only carried love-letters and love tokens, but even their money and materials for needle work. In many parts of England the rustic damsels still observe the same practice; and a very old lady informs me that she remembers when it was the fashion to wear very prominent stays, it was no less the custom for stratagem or gallantry to drop its literary favours within the front of them. Steevens.

Note return to page 585 2Laun. I am but a fool, look you; and yet I have the wit to think my master is a kind of knave: but that's all one, if he be but one knave.] Where is the sense? or, if you won't allow the speaker that, where is the humour of this speech? Nothing had given the fool occasion to suspect that his master was become double, like Antipholis in The Comedy of Errors. The last word is corrupt. We should read &lblank; if he be but one kind. He thought his master was a kind of knave; however, he keeps himself in countenance with this reflection, that if he was a knave but of one kind, he might pass well enough amongst his neighbours. This is truly humourous. Warburton. This alteration is acute and specious, yet I know not whether, in Shakespeare's language, one knave may not signify a knave on only one occasion, a single knave. We still use a double villain for a villain beyond the common rate of guilt. Johnson. This passage has been altered, with little difference, by Dr. Warburton and sir Tho. Hanmer.—Mr. Edwards explains it,— “if he only be a knave, if I myself be not found to be another.” I agree with Dr. Johnson, and will support the old reading and his interpretation with indisputable authority. In the old play of Damon and Pythias, Aristippus declares of Carisophus, “you lose money by him if you sell him for one knave, for he serves for twayne.” This phraseology is often met with: Arragon says in the Merchant of Venice: “With one fool's head I came to woo, “But I go away with two.” Donne begins one of his sonnets: “I am two fools, I know, “For loving and for saying so, &c.” And when Panurge cheats St. Nicholas of the chapel, which he vowed to him in a storm, Rabelais calls him “a rogue—a rogue and an half—Le gallant, gallant et demy.” Farmer. Again, in Like will to Like, quoth the Devil to the Collier, 1587: “Thus thou may'st be called a knave in graine, “And where knaves be scant, thou may'st go for twayne.” Steevens. Again in Chapman's Two wise Men and all the rest Fools, 1619: “I desire no more cunning than I now have, and I'll serve you still and set up for myself; for I had rather be a double knave than a single fool.” Malone.

Note return to page 586 3&lblank; a team of horse shall not pluck &lblank;] I see how Valentine suffers for telling his love-secrets, therefore I will keep mine close. Johnson. Perhaps Launce was not intended to shew so much sense; but here indulges himself in talking contradictory nonsense. Steevens.

Note return to page 587 4&lblank; for she hath had gossips:] Gossips not only signify those who answer for a child in baptism, but the tattling women who attend lyings-in. The quibble between these is evident. Steevens.

Note return to page 588 5&lblank; a bare christian.] Launce is quibbling on. Bare has two senses; mere and naked. In Coriolanus it is used in the first: “'Tis but a bare petition of the state.” Launce uses it in both, and opposes the naked female to the water-spaniel cover'd with hairs of remarkable thickness. Steevens.

Note return to page 589 6In former editions it is, With my mastership? why, it is at sea. For how does Launce mistake the word? Speed asks him about his mastership, and he replies to it literatim. But then how was his mastership at sea, and on shore too? The addition of a letter and a note of apostrophe make Launce both mistake the word, and sets the pun right: it restores, indeed, but a mean joke; but, without it, there is no sense in the passage. Besides, it is in character with the rest of the scene; and, I dare be confident, the poet's own conceit. Theobald.

Note return to page 590 7&lblank; the son of thy grandmother:] It is undoubtedly true that the mother only knows the legitimacy of the child. I suppose Launce infers, that if he could read, he must have read this well known observation. Steevens.

Note return to page 591 8&lblank; St. Nicholas be thy speed!] St. Nicholas presided over scholars, who were therefore called St. Nicholas's clerks. Hence, by a quibble between Nicholas and Old Nick, highwaymen, in The First Part of Henry the Fourth, are called Nicholas's clerks. Warburton. That this saint presided over young scholars, may be gathered from Knight's Life of Dean Colet, p. 362. For by the statutes of Paul's school there inserted, the children are required to attend divine service at the cathedral on his anniversary. The reason I take to be, that the legend of this saint makes him to have been a bishop, while he was a boy. At Salisbury cathedral is a monument of a boy bishop; and it is said that a custom formerly prevailed there, of choosing, from among the choristers, a bishop, who actually performed the pastoral functions, and disposed of such prebends as became vacant during his episcopacy, which lasted but a few days. It is thought that the monument above-mentioned was for some boy who died in office.—See The Posthumous Works of Mr. John Gregory, 4to. Oxon. Sir. J. Hawkins. So Puttenham, in his Art of Poetry, 1589: “Methinks this fellow speaks like bishop Nicholas; for on Saint Nicholas' night commonly the scholars of the country make them a bishop, who, like a foolish boy, goeth about blessing and preaching with such childish terms, as maketh the people laugh at his foolish counterfeit speeches.” Steevens. In Hearne's Liber Niger Scaccarii, 1771, vol. ii. p. 674, and 686, we find that archbishop Rotherham bequeathed “a myter for the barne-bishop, of cloth of gold, with two knopps of silver gilt and enamyled.” And this was in a country village in Yorkshire. Tollet.

Note return to page 592 9Blessing o' your heart, &c.] So in Ben Jonson's Masque of Augurs: “Our ale's o' the best, “And each good guest   “Prays for their souls that brew it.” Steevens.

Note return to page 593 1&lblank; knit him a stock.] i. e. a stocking. So in Twelfth Night: “&lblank; it does indifferent well in a flame-colour'd stock.” Steevens.

Note return to page 594 2&lblank; she is not to be kiss'd fasting, &lblank;] The old copy reads,— she is not to be fasting, &c. The necessary word kiss'd, was first added by Mr. Rowe. Steevens.

Note return to page 595 3&lblank; sweet mouth.] This I take to be the same with what is now vulgarly called a sweet tooth, a luxurious desire of dainties and sweetmeats. Johnson. How a luxurious desire of dainties can make amends for offensive breath, I know not: I rather believe that by a sweet mouth is meant that she sings sweetly. In Twelfth Night we have heard of a sweet breast as the recommendation of a singer. It may however mean a liquorish mouth, in a wanton sense. So in Measure for Measure: “Their saucy sweetness that do coin heaven's image, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 596 4&lblank; praise her liquor.] That is, shew how well she likes it by drinking often. Johnson.

Note return to page 597 5&lblank; she is too liberal.] Liberal, is licentious and gross in language. So in Othello: “Is he not a profane and very liberal counsellor?” Johnson.

Note return to page 598 6&lblank; she hath more hair than wit, &lblank;] An old English proverb. See Ray's Collection: “Bush natural, more hair than wit.” Again, in Decker's Satiromastix: “Hair! 'tis the basest stubble; in scorn of it “This proverb sprung—He has more hair than wit.” Again, in Rhodon and Iris, 1631: “Now is the old proverb really perform'd, “More hair than wit.” Steevens.

Note return to page 599 7&lblank; makes the faults gracious:] Gracious, in old language, means graceful. So in K. John: “There was not such a gracious creature born.” Steevens.

Note return to page 600 8Trenched in ice; &lblank;] Cut, carved in ice. Trancher, to cut, French. Johnson. So in Arden of Feversham, 1633: “Is deeply trenched in my blushing brow.” Steevens.9Q0097

Note return to page 601 9&lblank; with circumstance, &lblank;] With the addition of such incidental particulars as may induce belief. Johnson.

Note return to page 602 1his very friend.] Very is immediate. So in Macbeth: “And the very points they blow.” Steevens.

Note return to page 603 2&lblank; as you unwind her love &lblank;] As you wind off her love from him, make me the bottom on which you wind it. The housewife's term for a ball of thread wound upon a central body, is a bottom of thread. Johnson. So in Grange's Garden, 1577, in answer to a letter written unto him by Curtyzan: “A bottome for your silke it seemes   “My letters are become, “Which oft with winding off and on   “Are wasted whole and some.” Steevens.

Note return to page 604 3&lblank; lime, &lblank;] That is, birdlime. Johnson.

Note return to page 605 4For Orpheus lute was strung with poets' sinews;] This shews Shakespeare's knowledge of antiquity. He here assigns Orpheus his true character of legislator. For under that of a poet only, or lover, the quality given to his lute is unintelligible. But, considered as a lawgiver, the thought is noble, and the imagery exquisitely beautiful. For by his lute is to be understood his system of laws; and by the poet's sinews, the power of numbers, which Orpheus actually employed in those laws to make them received by a fierce and barbarous people. Warburton.

Note return to page 606 5Tune a deploring dump;] A dump was the ancient term for a mournful elegy. Steevens.

Note return to page 607 6&lblank; will inherit her.] To inherit, is, by our author, sometimes used, as in this instance, for to obtain possession of, without any idea of acquiring by inheritance. So in Titus Andronicus: “He that had wit would think that I had none, “To bury so much gold under a tree, “And never after to inherit it.” Steevens.

Note return to page 608 7To sort] i e. to chuse out. So in K. Richard III: “Yet I will sort a pitchy hour for thee.” Steevens.

Note return to page 609 8&lblank; I will pardon you.] I will excuse you from waiting. Johnson.

Note return to page 610 9If not, we'll make you sit, and rifle you.] The old copy reads as I have printed the passage. Paltry as the opposition between stand and sit may be thought, it is Shakespeare's own. The editors read,—we'll make you, sir, &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 611 1Robin Hood was captain of a band of robbers, and was much inclined to rob churchmen. Johnson. So in A mery Geste of Robyn Hoode, &c. bl. l. no date: “These byshoppes and these archebyshoppes “Ye shall them beate and bynde, &c.” By Robin Hood's fat friar, I believe, Shakespeare means Friar Tuck, who was confessor and companion to this noted outlaw. So in one of the old songs of Robin Hood: “And of brave little John, “Of Friar Tuck and Will Scarlett, “Stokesly and Maid Marian.” Again, in the 26th song of Drayton's Polyolbion: “Of Tuck the merry friar which many a sermon made, “In praise of Robin Hoode, his outlawes, and his trade.” See figure III. in the plate at the end of the first part of K. Henry IV. with Mr. Tollet's observations on it. Steevens.

Note return to page 612 2&lblank; awful men:] Reverend, worshipful, such as magistrates, and other principal members of civil communities. Johnson. I think we should read lawful in opposition to lawless men. In judicial proceedings the word has this sense. Sir J. Hawkins. The author of The Revisal has proposed the same emendation. Steevens. Awful is used by Shakespeare, in another place, in the sense of lawful. Second part of Henry IV. act IV. sc. ii. “We come within our awful banks again.” Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 613 3All the impressions, from the first downwards, An heir and niece allied unto the duke. But our poet would never have expressed himself so stupidly, as to tell us, this lady was the duke's niece, and allied to him: for her alliance was certainly sufficiently included in the first term. Our author meant to say, she was an heiress, and near allied to the duke; an expression the most natural that can be for the purpose, and very frequently used by the stage-poets. Theobald. A niece or a nephew did not always signify the daughter of a brother or sister, but any remote descendant. Of this use I have given instances as to a nephew. See Othello, act I. Steevens.

Note return to page 614 4&lblank; in our quality] Quality is nature relatively considered. Steevens.

Note return to page 615 5&lblank; no outrages On silly women or poor passengers.] This was one of the rules of Robin Hood's government. Steevens.

Note return to page 616 6&lblank; sudden quips,] That is, hasty passionate reproaches and scoffs. So Macbeth is in a kindred sense said to be sudden; that is, irascible and impetuous. Johnson. The same expression is used by Dr. Wilson in his Arte of Rhetorique, 1553: “And make him at his wit's end through the sudden quip.” Malone.

Note return to page 617 7&lblank; beauty lives with kindness:] Beauty without kindness dies unenjoyed, and undelighting. Johnson.

Note return to page 618 8&lblank; out of all nick.] Beyond all reckoning or count. Reckonings are kept upon nicked or notched sticks or tallies. Warburton. So in a Woman never vex'd, 1632: “&lblank; I have carried “The tallies at my girdle seven years together, “For I did ever love to deal honestly in the nick.” As it is an inn-keeper who employs the allusion, it is much in character. Steevens.

Note return to page 619 9You have your wish; my will is even this, &lblank;] The word will is here ambiguous. He wishes to gain her will: she tells him, if he wants her will he has it. Johnson.

Note return to page 620 1But, since your falshood, shall become you well] This is hardly sense. We may read, with very little alteration, But since you're false, it shall become you well. Johnson. There is no occasion for any alteration, if we only suppose that it is understood here, as in several other places. But, since your falshood, shall become you well To worship shadows and adore false shapes, i. e. But, since your falshood, it shall become you well, &c. Or indeed, in this place, To worship shadows, &c. may be considered as the nominative case to shall become. Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 621 2&lblank; your ladyship's impose,] Impose is injunction, command. A task set at college, in consequence of a fault, is still called an imposition. Steevens.

Note return to page 622 3Remorseful is pitiful. So in the Maid's Metamorphosis, by Lilly, 1600: “Provokes my mind to take remorse of thee.” Again, in Chapman's translation of the 2d Book of Homer, 1598: “Descend on our long-toyled host with thy remorseful eye.” Steevens.

Note return to page 623 4Upon whose grave thou vow'dst pure chastity.] It was common in former ages for widowers and widows to make vows of chastity in honour of their deceased wives or husbands. In Dugdale's Antiquities of Warwickshire, page 1013, there is the form of a commission by the bishop of the diocese for taking a vow of chastity made by a widow. It seems that, besides observing the vow, the widow was, for life, to wear a veil and a mourning habit. The same distinction we may suppose to have been made in respect of male votarists; and therefore this circumstance might inform the players how sir Eglamour should be drest; and will account for Silvia's having chosen him as a person in whom she could conside without injury to her own character. Steevens.

Note return to page 624 5&lblank; grievances;] Sorrows, sorrowful affections. Johnson.

Note return to page 625 6Recking as little] To reck is to care for. So in Hamlet: “And recks not his own read.” Both Chaucer and Spenser use this word with the same signification. Steevens.

Note return to page 626 7&lblank; keep himself] i. e. restrain himself. Steevens.

Note return to page 627 8&lblank; to be a dog &lblank;] I believe we should read, I would have, &c. one that takes upon him to be a dog, to be a dog indeed, to be, &c. Johnson.

Note return to page 628 9&lblank; a pissing while,] This expression is used in Ben Jonson's Magnetic Lady: “&lblank; have patience but a pissing while.” It appears from Ray's Collection, that it is proverbial. Steevens.

Note return to page 629 1The fellow that whips the dogs:] This appears to have been part of the office of an usher of the table. So in Mucedorus: “&lblank; I'll prove my office good; for look you, &c. When a dog chance to blow his nose backward, then with a whip I give him good time of the day, and strew rushes presently.” Steevens.

Note return to page 630 2&lblank; their servant? &lblank;] The old copy reads, &lblank; his servant? &lblank; Steevens.

Note return to page 631 3&lblank; madam Silvia;] Perhaps we should read of madam Julia. It was Julia only of whom a formal leave could have been taken. Steevens.

Note return to page 632 4&lblank; the other squirrel, &c.] Sir T. Hanmer reads,—the other, Squirrel, &c. and consequently makes Squirrel the proper name of the beast. Perhaps Launce only speaks of it as a diminutive animal, more resembling a squirrel in size, than a dog. Steevens.

Note return to page 633 5&lblank; an end,] i. e. in the end, at the conclusion of every business he undertakes. Steevens.

Note return to page 634 6It seems, you lov'd not her, to leave her token:] Protheus does not properly leave his lady's token, he gives it away. The old edition has it: It seems you lov'd her not, not leave her token. I should correct it thus: It seems you lov'd her not, nor love her token. Johnson.

Note return to page 635 7To carry that, which I would have refus'd;] The sense is, To go and present that which I wish to be not accepted, to praise him whom I wish to be dispraised. Johnson.

Note return to page 636 8But since she did neglect her looking-glass, And threw her sun-expelling mask away, The air hath starv'd the roses in her cheeks, And pinch'd the lily-tincture of her face, That now she is become as black as I.] To starve the roses is certainly a very proper expression: but what is pinching a tincture? However, starved, in the third line, made the blundering editors write pinch'd in the fourth: though they might have seen that it was a tanning scorching, not a freezing air that was spoken of. For how could this latter quality in the air so affect the whiteness of the skin as to turn it black? We should read: And pitch'd the lily-tincture of her face. i. e. turned the white tincture black, as the following line has it: That now she is become as black as I: and we say, in common speech, as black as pitch.—By the roses being starv'd, is only meant their being withered, and losing their colour. Warburton. This is no emendation; none ever heard of a face being pitched by the weather. The colour of a part pinched, is livid, as it is commonly termed, black and blue. The weather may therefore be justly said to pinch when it produces the same visible effect. I believe this is the reason why the cold is said to pinch. Johnson. Cleopatra says of herself: “I that am with Phœbus' pinches black.” Steevens.

Note return to page 637 9&lblank; weep a-good;] i. e. in good earnest. Tout de bon. Fr. Steevens. So in Marlowe's Jew of Malta, 1633: “And therewithal their knees have rankled so “That I have laugh'd a-good.” Malone.

Note return to page 638 1&lblank; 'twas Ariadne, passioning For Theseus' perjury and unjust flight;] The history of this twice-deserted lady is too well known to need an introduction here; nor is the reader interrupted on the business of Shakespeare: but I find it difficult to refrain from making a note the vehicle for a conjecture like this, which I may have no better opportunity of communicating to the public.—The subject of a picture of Guido (commonly supposed to be Ariadne deserted by Theseus and courted by Bacchus) may possibly have been hitherto mistaken. Whoever will examine the fabulous history critically, as well as the performance itself, will acquiesce in the truth of the remark. Ovid, in his Fasti, tell us, that Bacchus (who left Ariadne to go on his Indian expedition) found too many charms in the daughter of one of the kings of that country. “Interea Liber depexos crinibus Indos   “Vincit, et Eoo dives ab orbe redit. “Inter captivas facie præstante puellas   “Grata nimis Baccho filia regis erat. “Flebat amans conjux, spatiataque littore curvo   “Edidit incultis talia verba sonis. “Quid me desertis perituram, Liber, arenis   “Servabas? potui dedoluisse semel.— “Ausus es ante oculos, adducta pellice, nostros   “Tam bene compositum sollicitare torum, &c.” Ovid. Fast. l. iii. lin. 465. In this picture he appears as if just returned from India, bringing with him his new favourite, who hangs on his arm, and whose presence only causes those emotions so visible in the countenance of Ariadne, who has been hitherto represented on this occasion, &lblank; as passioning For Theseus' perjury and unjust flight. From this painting a plate was engraved by Giacomo Freij, which is generally a companion to the Aurora of the same master. The print is so common, that the curious may easily satisfy themselves concerning the propriety of a remark which has perhaps intruded itself among the notes on this author. To passion is used as a verb by writers contemporary with Shakespeare. In The Blind Beggar of Alexandria, printed 1598, we meet with the same expression: “&lblank; what, are thou passioning over the picture of Cleanthes?” Again, in Eliosto Libidinoso, a novel, by John Hinde, 1606: “&lblank; if thou gaze on a picture, thou must with Pigmalion be passionate.” Again, in Spenser's Faery Queen, b. iii. c. 2: “Some argument of matter passioned.” Steevens.

Note return to page 639 2I'll get me such a colour'd periwig.] It should be remembered, that false hair was worn by the ladies, long before wigs were in fashion. These false coverings, however, were called periwigs. So in Northward Hoe, 1607: “There is a new trade come up for cast gentlewomen, of perriwig-making: let your wife set up in the Strand.” Steevens.

Note return to page 640 3&lblank; her forehead's low; &lblank;] A high forehead was in our author's time accounted a feature eminently beautiful. So in The History of Guy of Warwick: Felice his lady is said to have the same high forehead as Venus. Johnson.

Note return to page 641 4&lblank; respective] i. e. respectful, or respectable. Steevens.

Note return to page 642 5My substance should be statue in thy stead.] It is evident this noun should be a participle statued, i. e. placed on a pedestal, or fixed in a shrine to be adored. Warburton. Statued is, I am afraid, a new word, and that it should be received, is not quite evident. Johnson. It would be easy to read with no more roughness than is to be found in many lines of Shakespeare: &lblank; should be a statue in thy stead. The sense, as Mr. Edwards observes, is, “He should have my substance as a statue, instead of thee [the picture] who art a senseless form.” This word, however, is used without the article a in Massinger's Great Duke of Florence: “&lblank; it was your beauty “That turn'd me statue.” And again, in Lord Surrey's translation of the 4th Æneid: “And Trojan statue throw into the flame.” Again, in Dryden's Don Sebastian:   “&lblank; try the virtue of that Gorgon face, “To stare me into statue.” Steevens.

Note return to page 643 6&lblank; sure enough.] Sure is safe, out of danger. Johnson.

Note return to page 644 7“Black men are pearls, &c.] So in Heywood's Iron Age, 1632: “&lblank; a black complexion “Is always precious in a woman's eye.” Again, in Sir Giles Goosecap: “&lblank; but to make every black slovenly cloud a pearl in her eye.” Steevens.

Note return to page 645 8Jul. 'Tis true, &c.] This speech, which certainly belongs to Julia, is given in the old copy to Thurio. Mr. Rowe restored it to its proper owner. Steevens.

Note return to page 646 9That they are out by lease.] I suppose he means because Thurio's folly has let them on disadvantageous terms. Steevens.

Note return to page 647 9&lblank; record my woes.] To record anciently signified to sing. So in the Pilgrim, by B. and Fletcher: “&lblank; O sweet, sweet! how the birds record too?” Again, in a pastoral, by N. Breton, published in England's Helicon, 1614: “Sweet philomel, the bird that hath the heavenly throat, “Doth now, alas! not once afford recording of a note.” Again, in another Dittie, by Tho. Watson, ibid: “Now birds record with harmonie.” Sir John Hawkins informs me, that to record is a term still used by bird-fanciers, to express the first essays of a bird in singing. Steevens.

Note return to page 648 1O thou, that dost inhabit in my breast, Leave not the mansion so long tenantless; Lest, growing ruinous, the building fall, And leave no memory of what it was!] It is hardly possible to point out four lines in any of the plays of Shakespeare, more remarkable for ease and elegance. Steevens.

Note return to page 649 2&lblank; my meed] i. e. reward. So in another play of our author: “&lblank; thanks to men “Of noble minds is honourable meed.” Steevens.

Note return to page 650 4The private wound, &c.] I have a little mended the measure. The old edition, and all but sir T. Hanmer, read, The private wound is deepest, oh time most accurst. Johnson.

Note return to page 651 5All, that was mine in Silvia, I give thee.] It is (I think) very odd to give up his mistress thus at once, without any reason alledged. But our author probably followed the stories just as he found them in his novels as well as histories. Pope. This passage either hath been much sophisticated, or is one great proof that the main parts of this play did not proceed from Shakespeare; for it is impossible he could make Valentine act and speak so much out of character, or give to Silvia so unnatural a behaviour, as to take no notice of this strange concession, if it had been made. Hanmer. Valentine, from seeing Silvia in the company of Protheus, might conceive she had escaped with him, from her father's court, for the purposes of love, though she could not foresee the violence which his villainy might offer, after he had seduced her under the pretence of an honest passion. If Valentine, however, be supposed to hear all that passed between them in this scene, I am afraid I have only to subscribe to the opinions of my predecessors. Steevens.

Note return to page 652 6How oft hast thou with perjury cleft the root?] Sir T. Hanmer reads, cleft the root on't. Johnson.

Note return to page 653 7&lblank; if shame live] That is, if it be any shame to wear a disguise for the purposes of love. Johnson.

Note return to page 654 8&lblank; the measure &lblank;] The length of my sword, the reach of my anger. Johnson.

Note return to page 655 9Milan shall not behold thee. &lblank;] All the editions, Verona shall not hold thee. But, whether through the mistake of the first editors, or the poet's own carelessness, this reading is absurdly faulty. For the threat here is to Thurio, who is a Milanese; and has no concern, as it appears, with Verona. Besides, the scene is betwixt the confines of Milan and Mantua, to which Silvia follows Valentine, having heard that he had retreated thither. And, upon these circumstances, I ventured to adjust the text, as I imagine the poet must have intended; i. e. Milan, thy country shall never see thee again: thou shalt never live to go back thither. Theobald.

Note return to page 656 1Should not this begin a new sentence? Plead is the same as plead thou. Tyrwhitt. So I have printed it. Steevens.

Note return to page 657 2&lblank; include all jars] Sir Tho. Hanmer reads conclude. Johnson. To include is to shut up, to conclude. So in Macbeth: “&lblank; and shut up “In measureless content.” Again, in Spenser's Faery Queen, b. iv. c 9: “And for to shut up all in friendly love.” Steevens.

Note return to page 658 3In this play there is a strange mixture of knowledge and ignorance, of care and negligence. The versification is often excellent, the allusions are learned and just; but the author conveys his heroes by sea from one inland town to another in the same country; he places the emperor at Milan, and sends his young men to attend him, but never mentions him more; he makes Protheus, after an interview with Silvia, say he has only seen her picture; and, if we may credit the old copies, he has, by mistaking places, left his scenery inextricable. The reason of all this confusion seems to be, that he took his story from a novel, which he sometimes followed, and sometimes forsook, sometimes remembered, and sometimes forgot. That this play is rightly attributed to Shakespeare, I have little doubt. If it be taken from him, to whom shall it be given? This question may be asked of all the disputed plays, except Titus Andronicus; and it will be found more credible, that Shakespeare might sometimes sink below his highest flights, than that any other should rise up to his lowest. Johnson.

Note return to page 659 1A few of the incidents in this comedy might have been taken from some old translation of Il Pecorone by Giovanni Fiorentino. I have lately met with the same story in a very contemptible performance, intitled, The fortunate, the deceived, and the unfortunate Lovers. Of this book, as I am told, there are several impressions; but that in which I read it, was published in 1632, quarto. A something similar story occurs in Piacevoli Notti di Straparola. Nott. 4a. Fav. 4a. This comedy was first entered at Stationers' Hall, Jan. 18, 1601, by John Busby. Steevens. This play should be read between K. Henry IV. and K. Henry V. Johnson.9Q0109 The adventures of Falstaff in this play seem to have been taken from the story of the Lovers of Pisa, in an old piece, called “Tarleton's Newes out of Purgatorie.” A late editor pretended to much knowledge of this sort; and I am sorry that it proved to be only pretension. Mr. Warton observes, in a note to the last Oxford edition, that the play was probably not written, as we now have it, before 1607 at the earliest. I agree with my very ingenious friend in this supposition, but yet the argument here produced for it may not be conclusive. Slender observes to master Page, that his greyhound was out-run on Cotsale; [Cotswold-Hills in Gloucestershire] and Mr. Warton thinks, that the games established there by Capt. Dover in the beginning of K. James's reign, are alluded to.—But perhaps, though the Captain be celebrated in the Annalia Dubrensia as the founder of them, he might be the reviver only, or some way contribute to make them more famous; for in the 2d part of Henry IV. 1600, justice Shallow reckons amongst the Swinge-bucklers, “Will Squeele, a Cotsole man.” In the first edition of the imperfect play, sir Hugh Evans is called on the title-page, the Welch Knight; and yet there are some persons who still affect to believe, that all our author's plays were originally published by himself. Farmer. Mr. Farmer's opinion is well supported by “An eclogue on the noble assemblies revived on Cotswold Hills, by Mr. Robert Dover.” See Randolph's Poems, printed at Oxford, 4to. 1638, p. 114. The hills of Cotswold, in Gloucestershire, are mentioned in K. Rich. II. act II. sc. iii. and by Drayton, in his Polyolbion, song 14. Steevens.

Note return to page 660 2The Merry Wives of Windsor.] Queen Elizabeth was so well pleased with the admirable character of Falstaff in The Two Parts of Henry IV. that, as Mr. Rowe informs us, she commanded Shakespeare to continue it for one play more, and to shew him in love. To this command we owe The Merry Wives of Windsor: which, Mr. Gildon says, he was very well assured our author finished in a fortnight. But this must be meant only of the first imperfect sketch of this comedy; an old quarto edition which I have seen, printed in 1602, says, in the title-page—As it hath been divers times acted both before her majesty, and elsewhere. Pope. Theobald.

Note return to page 661 3Sir Hugh,] This is the first, of sundry instances in our poet, where a parson is called sir. Upon which it may be observed, that anciently it was the common designation both of one in holy orders and a knight. Fuller, somewhere in his Church History says, that anciently there were in England more sirs than knights; and so lately as temp. W. and Mar. in a deposition in the Exchequer in a case of tithes, the witness speaking of the curate, whom he remembered, stiles him, sir Gyles. Vide Gibson's View of the State of the Churches of Door, Home-Lacy, &c. page. 36. Sir J. Hawkins.9Q0110

Note return to page 662 4&lblank; a Star-chamber matter of it:] Ben Jonson intimates, that the Star-chamber had a right to take cognizance of such matters. See The Magnetic Lady, act III. sc. iv: “There is a court above, of the Star-chamber, “To punish routs and riots.” Steevens.

Note return to page 663 5custalorum.] This is, I suppose, intended for a corruption of Custos Rotulorum. The mistake was hardly designed by the author, who, though he gives Shallow folly enough, makes him rather pedantic than illiterate. If we read: Shal. Ay, cousin Slender, and Custos Rotulorum. It follows naturally: Slen. Ay, and Ratolorum too. Johnson. Ay, cousin Slender, and custalorum.] I think with Dr. Johnson, that this blunder could scarcely be intended. Shallow, we know, had been bred to the law at Clement's Inn.—But I would rather read custos only; then Slender adds naturally, “Ay, and rotulorum too.” He had heard the words custos rotulorum, and supposes them to mean different offices. Farmer.

Note return to page 664 6The luce &c.] I see no consequence in this answer. Perhaps we may read, the salt fish is not an old coat. That is, the fresh fish is the coat of an ancient family, and the salt fish is the coat of a merchant grown rich by trading over the sea. Johnson. Shakespeare, by hinting that the arms of the Shallows and the Lucys were the same, shews he could not forget his old friend sir Tho. Lucy, pointing at him under the character of justice Shallow. But to put the matter out of all doubt, Shakespeare has here given us a distinguishing mark, whereby it appears that sir Thomas was the very person represented by Shallow. To set blundering parson Evans right, Shallow tells him, the luce is not the louse, but the fresh fish, or pike, the salt fish (indeed) is an old coat. The plain English of which is (if I am not greatly mistaken) the family of the Charlcotts had for their arms a salt fish originally; but when William, son of Walter de Charlcott, assumed the name of Lucy, in the time of Henry III. he took the arms of the Lucys. This is not at all improbable; for we find, when Maud Lucy bequeathed her estates to the Percys, it was upon condition they joined her arms with their own. Says Dugdale, “it is likely William de Charlcott took the name of Lucy to oblige his mother.” And I say farther, it is likely he took the arms of the Lucys at the same time. Smith. The luce is the fresh fish, the salt fish is an old coat.] I am not satisfied with any thing that has been offered on this difficult passage. All that Mr. Smith tell us, is a mere gratis dictum. I cannot find that salt fish were ever really borne in heraldry. I fancy the latter part of the speech should be given to sir Hugh, who is at cross purposes with the Justice. Shallow had said just before, the coat is an old one; and now, that it is the luce, the fresh fish.—No, replies the parson, it cannot be old and fresh too—“the salt fish is an old coat.” I give this with rather the more confidence, as a similar mistake has happened a little lower in the scene.—“Slice, I say!” cries out Corporal Nym, “Pauca, pauca: Slice, that's my humour.” There can be no doubt, but pauca, pauca should be spoken by Evans. Again, a little before this, the copies give us: Slender. You'll not confess, you'll not confess. Shallow. That he will not—'tis your fault, 'tis fault—'tis a good dog. Surely it should be thus: Shallow. You'll not confess, you'll not confess. Slender. That he will not. Shallow. 'Tis your fault, 'tis your fault, &c. Farmer. This fugitive scrap of Latin, pauca, &c. is used in several old pieces, by characters, who have no more of literature about them, than Nym. So Skinke, in Look about you, 1600: “But pauca Verba, Skinke.” Again, in Every Man in his Humour, where it is called the benchers phrase. Steevens. Shakespeare seems to frolick here in his heraldry, with a design not to be easily understood. In Leland's Collectanea, vol. I. p. ii. p. 615. the arms of Geffrey de Lucy are “de goules poudre a croisil dor a treis luz dor.” Can the poet mean to quibble upon the word poudré that is, powdred, which signifies salted or strewed and sprinkled with any thing? In Measure for Measure, Lucio says— “Ever your fresh whore and your powder'd bawd.” Tollet. The luce is a pike or jack: “Ful many a fair partrich hadde he in mewe, “And many a breme, and many a luce in stewe.” Chaucer's Prol. of the Cant. Tales, late edit. 351, 352. In Ferne's Blazon of Gentry, 1586, quarto, the arms of the Lucy family are represented as an instance, that “signs of the coat should something agree with the name. It is the coat of Geffray Lord Lucy. He did bear gules, three lucies hariant, argent.” Mr. William Oldys, (Norroy King at Arms, and well known from the share he had in compiling the Biographia Britannica) among the collections which he left for a Life of Shakespeare, observes, that—“there was a very aged gentleman living in the neighbourhood of Stratford, (where he died fifty years since) who had not only heard, from several old people in that town, of Shakespeare's transgression, but could remember the first stanza of that bitter ballad, which, repeating to one of his acquaintance, he preserved it in writing; and here it is, neither better nor worse, but faithfully transcribed from the copy which his relation very curteously communicated to me.” “A parliemente member, a justice of peace, “At home a poor scare-crowe, at London an asse, “If lowsie is Lucy, as some volke miscalle it, “Then Lucy is lowsie whatever befall it:     “He thinks himself greate,     “Yet an asse in his state, “We allowe by his ears but with asses to mate.   “If Lucy is lowsie, as some volke miscalle it, “Sing lowsie Lucy, whatever befall it.” Contemptible as this performance must now appear, at the time when it was written it might have had sufficient power to irritate a vain, weak, and vindictive magistrate; especially as it was affixed to several of his park-gates, and consequently published among his neighbours.—It may be remarked likewise, that the jingle on which it turns, occurs in the first scene of the Merry Wives of Windsor. I may add, that the veracity of the late Mr. Oldys has never yet been impeached; and it is not very probable that a ballad should be forged, from which an undiscovered wag could derive no triumph over antiquarian credulity. Steevens.

Note return to page 665 7The council shall hear it; it is a riot.] He alludes to a statute made in the reign of K. Henry IV. (13, chap. 7.) by which it is enacted, “That the justices, three, or two of them, and the sheriff, shall certify before the king, and his counselle, all the deeds and circumstances thereof (namely the riot); which certification should be of the like force as the presentment of twelve: upon which certificate the trespassers and offenders shall be put to answer, and they which be found guilty shall be punished, according to the discretion of the kinge and counselle.” Dr. Gray.9Q0111

Note return to page 666 8Your vizaments in that.] Advisement is now an obsolete word. I meet with it in the ancient morality of Every Man: “That I may amend me with good advysement.” Again: “I shall smite without any advysement.” Again: “To go with good advysements and delyberacyon.” It is often used by Spenser in his Faery Queen. So, b. ii. c. 9: “Perhaps my succour and advizement meete.” Steevens.

Note return to page 667 9&lblank; which is daughter to master Thomas Page,] The whole set of editions have negligently blundered one after another in Page's Christian name in this place; though Mrs. Page calls him George afterwards in at least six several passages. Theobald.

Note return to page 668 1speaks small like a woman.] This is from the folio of 1623, and is the true reading. He admires her for the sweetness of her voice. But the expression is highly humourous, as making her speaking small like a woman one of her marks of distinction; and the ambiguity of small, which signifies little as well as low, makes the expression still more pleasant. Warburton.9Q0112 Thus Lear, speaking of Cordelia:   “—Her voice was ever soft, “Gentle and low:—an excellent thing in woman.” Steevens.

Note return to page 669 2How does your fallow greyhound, sir? I heard say, he was out-run on Cotsale.] He means Cotswold, in Gloucestershire. In the beginning of the reign of James the First, by permission of the king, one Dover, a public-spirited attorney of Barton on the Heath, in Warwickshire, instituted on the hills of Cotswold an annual celebration of games, consisting of rural sports and exercises. These he constantly conducted in person, well mounted, and accoutred in a suit of his majesty's old cloaths; and they were frequented above forty years by the nobility and gentry for sixty miles round, till the grand rebellion abolished every liberal establishment. I have seen a very scarce book, entitled, “Annalia Dubrensia. Upon the yearly celebration of Mr. Robert Dover's Olympick games upon Cotswold hills, &c.” Lond. 1636. 4to. There are recommendatory verses prefixed, written by Drayton, Jonson, Randolph, and many others, the most eminent wits of the times. The games, as appears by a curious frontispiece, were, chiefly, wrestling, leaping, pitching the bar, handling the pike, dancing of women, various kinds of hunting, and particularly coursing the hare with greyhounds. Hence also we see the meaning of another passage, where Falstaff, or Shallow, calls a stout fellow a Cotswold-man. But from what is here said, an inference of another kind may be drawn, respecting the age of the play. A meager and imperfect sketch of this comedy was printed in 1602. Afterwards Shakespeare new-wrote it entirely. This allusion therefore to the Cotswold games, not founded till the reign of James the First, ascertains a period of time beyond which our author must have made the additions to his original rough draught, or, in other words, composed the present comedy. James the First came to the crown in the year 1603. And we will suppose that two or three more years at least must have passed before these games could have been effectually established. I would therefore, at the earliest, date this play about the year 1607. It is not generally known, at least it has not been observed by the modern editors, that the first edition of the Merry Wives in its present state, is in the valuable folio, printed 1623. From whence the quarto of the same play, dated 1630, was evidently copied. The two earlier quartos, 1602, and 1619, only exhibit this comedy as it was originally written: and are so far curious, as they contain Shakespeare's first conceptions in forming a drama, which is the most complete specimen of his comick powers. Warton.9Q0113

Note return to page 670 3&lblank; and broke open my lodge.] This probably alludes to some real incident, at that time well known. Johnson.

Note return to page 671 4The old copies read, 'Twere better for you, if 'twere known in council. Perhaps it is an abrupt speech, and must be read thus: 'Twere better for you—if 'twere known in council, you'll be laugh'd at. 'Twere better for you, is, I believe, a menace. Johnson. The modern editors arbitrarily read—if 'twere not known in council;—but I believe Falstaff quibbles between council and counsel. The latter signifies secrecy. So in Hamlet: “The players cannot keep counsel, they'll tell all.” Falstaff's meaning seems to be—'twere better for you if it were known only in secrecy, i. e. among your friends. A more public complaint would subject you to ridicule. Thus, in Chaucer's prologue to the Squieres Tale, v. 10305, late edit: “But wete ye what? in conseil be it seyde, “Me reweth sore I am unto hire teyde.” Steevens.

Note return to page 672 5Good worts! good cabbage:—] Worts was the ancient name of all the cabbage kind. So in B. and Fletcher's Valentinian: “Planting of worts and onions, any thing.” Steevens.

Note return to page 673 6&lblank; coney-catching rascals, &lblank;] A coney-catcher was, in the time of Elizabeth, a common name for a cheat or sharper. Green, one of the first among us who made a trade of writing pamphlets, published A Detection of the Frauds and Tricks of Coney-catchers and Couzeners. Johnson. So in Deeker's Satiromastix: “Thou shalt not coney-catch me for five pounds.” Steevens.

Note return to page 674 7You Banbury cheese!] This is said in allusion to the thin carcase of Slender. The same thought occurs in Jack Drums Entertainment, 1601:—“Put off your cloaths, and you are like a Banbury cheese—nothing but paring.” So Heywood, in his collection of epigrams: “I never saw Banbury cheese thick enough, “But I have oft seen Essex cheese quick enough.” Steevens.

Note return to page 675 8How now, Mephostophilus?] This is the name of a spirit or familiar, in the old story book of Sir John Faustus, or John Faust: to whom our author afterwards alludes, p. 279. That it was a cant phrase of abuse, appears from the old comedy cited above, called A pleasant Comedy of the Gentle Craft, Signat. H. 3. “Away you Islington whitepot, hence you hopper-arse, you barley-pudding full of maggots, you broiled carbonado, avaunt, avaunt, Mephostophilus.” In the same vein, Bardolph here also calls Slender, “You Banbury cheese.” Warton. So in Decker's Satiromastix: “Thou must run of an errand for me, Mephostophilus.” Again, in the Muse's Looking Glass, 1638: “—We want not you to play Mephostophilus. A pretty natural vizard.” Steevens.

Note return to page 676 9&lblank; mill-sixpences,] It appears from a passage in Sir W. Davenant's News from Plimouth, that these mill'd-sixpences were used by way of counters to cast up money: “&lblank; A few mill'd sixpences with which “My purser casts accompt.” Steevens.

Note return to page 677 1&lblank; Edward shovel-boards, &lblank;] By this term, I believe, are meant brass castors, such as are shoveled on a board, with king Edward's face stamped upon them. Johnson. One of these pieces of metal is mentioned in Middleton's comedy of The Roaring Girl, 1611:—“away slid I my man, like a shovel-board shilling,” &c. Steevens. “Edward Shovel-boards,” were not brass castors, but the broad shillings of Edw. VI. Taylor, the water-poet, in his Travel of Twelve-pence, makes him complain: “&lblank; the unthrift every day “With my face downwards do at shoave-board play; “That had I had a beard, you may suppose, “They had worne it off, as they have done my nose.” And in a note he tells us: “Edw. shillings for the most part are used at shoave-board.” Farmer.

Note return to page 678 2I combat challenge of this Latin bilboe:] Our modern editors have distinguished this word Latin in Italic characters, as if it was addressed to Sir Hugh, and meant to call him pedantic blade, on account of his being a schoolmaster, and teaching Latin. But I'll be bold to say, in this they do not take the poet's conceit. Pistol barely calls Sir Hugh mountain-foreigner, because he had interposed in the dispute: but then immediately demands the combat of Slender, for having charged him with picking his pocket. The old quartos write it latten, as it should be, in the common characters: and as a proof that the author designed this should be addressed to Slender, Sir Hugh does not there interpose one word in the quarrel. But what then signifies—latten bilboe? Why, Pistol, seeing Slender such a slim, puny wight, would intimate, that he is as thin as a plate of that compound metal, which is called latten: and which was, as we are told, the old orichale. Monsieur Dacier, upon this verse in Horace's epistle de Arte Poetica, “Tibia non ut nunc orichalco vincta,” &c. says, C'est une espece de cuivre de montagne, comme son nom mesme le temoigne; c'est ce que nous appellons aujourd'huy du leton. “It is a sort of mountain-copper, as its very name imports, and which we at this time of day call latten.” Theobald. After all this display of learning in Mr. Theobald's note, I believe our poet had a much more obvious meaning. Latten may signify no more than as thin as a lath. The word in some counties is still pronounced as if there was no h in it; and Ray, in his Dict. of North Country Words, affirms it to be spelt lat in the north of England. Falstaff threatens, in another play, to drive prince Henry out of his kingdom, with a dagger of lath. A latten bilboe means therefore, I believe, no more than a blade as thin as a lath—a vice's dagger. Theobald, however, is right in his assertion that latten was a metal. So Turbervile, in his Book of Falconry, 1575: “—you must set her a latten bason, or a vessel of stone or earth.” Again, in Old Fortunatus, 1600: “Whether it were lead or lattin that hasp'd down those winking casements, I know not.” Again, in the old metrical Romance of Syr Bevis of Hampton, b. l. no date: “Windowes of latin were set with glasse.” Latten is still a common word for tin in the North. Steevens. I believe Theobald has given the true sense of latten, though he is wrong in supposing, that the allusion is to Slender's thinness. It is rather to his softness or weakness. Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 679 3Word of denial in thy labra's here;] I suppose it should rather be read: Word of denial in my labra's hear; that is, hear the word of denial in my lips. Thou ly'st. Johnson. We often talk of giving the lie in a man's teeth, or in his throat. Pistol chooses to throw the word of denial in the lips of his adversary, and is supposed to point to them as he speaks. Steevens.9Q0114

Note return to page 680 4&lblank; marry trap, &lblank;] When a man was caught in his own stratagem, I suppose the exclamation of insult was marry, trap! Johnson.

Note return to page 681 5&lblank; nuthook's humour &lblank;] Read, pass the nuthook's humour. Nuthook was a term of reproach in the vulgar way, and in cant strain. In The Second Part of Hen. IV. Dol Tearsheet says to the beadle, Nuthook, Nuthook, you lie. Probably it was a name given to a bailiff or catchpole, very odious to the common people. Hanmer. Nuthook is the reading of the folio, and the third quarto. The second quarto reads, base humour. If you run the Nuthook's humour on me, is in plain English, if you say I am a Thief. Enough is said on the subject of hooking moveables out at windows, in a note on K. Henry IV. Steevens.

Note return to page 682 6&lblank; Scarlet and John?] The names of two of Robin Hood's companions; but the humour consists in the allusion to Bardolph's red face; concerning which, see The Second Part of Hen. IV. Warburton.

Note return to page 683 7And being fap, &lblank;] I know not the exact meaning of this cant word, neither have I met with it in any of our old dramatic pieces, which have often proved the best comments on Shakespeare's vulgarisms. Steevens.

Note return to page 684 8&lblank; careires &lblank;] I believe this strange word is nothing but the French cariere; and the expression means, that the common bounds of good behaviour were overpassed. Johnson. &lblank; to pass the cariere was a military phrase. I find it in one of Sir John Smythe's Discourses, 1589, where, speaking of horses wounded, he says—“they, after the first shrink at the entering of the bullet, doo pass their carriere, as though they had verie little hurt.” Again, in Harrington's translation of Ariosto, book xxxviii. stanza 35. “To stop, to start, to pass carier, to bound.” Steevens.

Note return to page 685 9&lblank; upon Allhallowmas last, a fortnight afore Michaelmas?] Sure, Simple's a little out in his reckoning. Allhallowmas is almost five weeks after Michaelmas. But may it not be urged, it is designed Simple should appear thus ignorant, to keep up the character? I think not. The simplest creatures (nay, even naturals) generally are very precise in the knowledge of festivals, and marking how the seasons run: and therefore I have ventured to suspect our poet wrote Martlemas, as the vulgar call it: which is near a fortnight after All-Saint's day, i. e. eleven days, both inclusive. Theobald. This correction, thus seriously and wisely enforced, is received by sir Tho. Hanmer; but probably Shakespeare intended a blunder. Johnson.

Note return to page 686 1&lblank; the lips is parcel of the mouth;] Thus the old copies. The modern editors read—“parcel of the mind.” To be parcel of any thing is an expression that often occurs in the old plays. So in Decker's Satiromastix: “And make damnation parcel of your oath.” Again, in Tamburlaine, 1590: “To make it parcel of my empery.” Again, in Rowley's When you see me you know me, 1613: “For as I tak't 'tis parcel of your oath.” This passage, however, might have been designed as a ridicule on another, in John Lylly's Midas, 1592: “Pet. What lips hath she? “Li. Tush! Lips are no part of the head, only made for a double-leaf door for the mouth.” Steevens.

Note return to page 687 2&lblank; I hope, upon familiarity will grow more content: &lblank;] Certainly, the editors in their sagacity have murdered a jest here. It is designed, no doubt, that Slender should say decrease, instead of increase; and dissolved, dissolutely, instead of resolved and resolutely: but to make him say, on the present occasion, that upon familiarity will grow more content, instead of contempt, is disarming the sentiment of all its salt and humour, and disappointing the audience of a reasonable cause for laughter. Theobald. Theobald's conjecture may be supported by the same intentional blunder in Love's Labour Lost. “Sir, the contempts thereof are as touching me.” Steevens.

Note return to page 688 3&lblank; three veneys for a dish, &c.] i. e. three venues, French. Three different set-to's, bouts, a technical term. So in B. and Fletcher's Philaster:—“thou wouldst be loth to play half a dozen venies at Wasters with a good fellow for a broken head.” So in Chapman's comedy, The Widow's Tears, 1612: “So there's venie for venie, I have given it him.” So in The Two Maids of More-clacke, 1609: “This was a pass, 'twas fencer's play, and for the after veny, let me use my skill.” So in The famous Hist. &c. of Capt. Tho. Stukely, 1605:—“for forfeits and venneys given upon a wager at the ninth button of your doublet.” So in our author's Love's Labour Lost: “&lblank; a quick venew of wit.” Steevens.

Note return to page 689 4&lblank; Sackerson &lblank;] Seckerson is likewise the name of a bear in the old comedy of Sir Giles Goosecap. Steevens.

Note return to page 690 5&lblank; that it pass'd: &lblank;] It pass'd, or this passes, was a way of speaking customary heretofore, to signify the excess, or extraordinary degree of any thing. The sentence completed would be, This passes all expression, or perhaps, This passes all things. We still use passing well, passing strange. Warburton.

Note return to page 691 6By cock and pye, &lblank;] See a note on act V. sc. i. Hen. IV. P. II. Steevens.

Note return to page 692 7that altogethers acquaintance] Should not this be “that altogether's acquaintance,” i. e. that is altogether acquainted? The English, I apprehend, would still be bad enough for Evans. Tyrwhitt. I have availed myself of this remark. Steevens.

Note return to page 693 8&lblank; my bully rock?] The spelling of this word is corrupted, and thereby its primitive meaning is lost. The old plays have generally bully-rook, which is right; and so it is exhibited by the folio edition of Shakespeare, as well as the 4to, 1619. The latter part of this compound title is taken from the rooks at the game of chess. Steevens.

Note return to page 694 9&lblank; Keisar, &lblank;] The preface to Stowe's Chronicle observes, that the Germans use the K for C, pronouncing Keysar for Cæsar, their general word for an emperor. Tollet.

Note return to page 695 1&lblank; Let me see thee froth, and live:] &lblank;] This passage has passed through all the editions without suspicion of being corrupted; but the reading of the old quartos of 1602 and 1619, Let me see froth [Correction: 1Kb]

Note return to page 696 for see froth, read, see thee froth.

Note return to page 697 2&lblank; a wither'd servingman, a fresh tapster:] This is not improbably a parody on the old proverb—“A broken apothecary, a new doctor.” See Ray's Proverbs, 3d edit. p. 2. Steevens.

Note return to page 698 3O base Gongarian wight! &c.] This is a parody on a line taken from one of the old bombast plays, beginning: “O base Gongarian, wilt thou the distaff wield?” I had marked the passage down, but forgot to note the play. The folio reads Hungarian. Hungarian is likewise a cant term. So in the Merry Devil of Edmonton, 1626, the merry Host says, “I have knights and colonels in my house, and must tend the Hungarians.” Again: “Come ye Hungarian pilchers.” Again, in Westward Hoc, 1607: “Play you louzy Hungarians.” Steevens.9Q0116 The Hungarians, when infidels, over-ran Germany and France, and would have invaded England, if they could have come to it. See Stowe, in the year 930, and Holinshed's Invasions of Ireland, p. 56. Hence their name might become a proverb of baseness. Stowe's Chronicle, in the year 1492, and Leland's Collectanea, vol. i. p. 610, spell it Hongarian (which might be misprinted Gongarian) and this is right according to their own etymology. Hongyars, i. e. domus suæ strenui defensores. Tollet. The word is Gongarian in the first edition, and should be continued, the better to fix the allusion. Farmer.

Note return to page 699 4&lblank; humour of it.] This speech is partly taken from the corrected copy, and partly from the slight sketch in 1602. I mention it, that those who do not find it in either of the common old editions, may not suspect it to be spurious. Steevens.

Note return to page 700 5&lblank; at a minute's rest.] Our author probably wrote: &lblank; at a minim's rest. Langton. This conjecture seems confirmed by a passage in Romeo and Juliet: —“rests his minim,” &c. It may however mean, that, like a skilful harquebuzier, he takes a good aim, though he has rested his piece for a minute only. So in Daniel's Civil Wars, &c. b. vi: “To set up's rest to venture now for all.” Steevens. At a minute's rest.] A minim was anciently, as the term imports, the shortest note in musick. Its measure was afterwards, as it is now, as long as while two may be moderately counted. In Romeo and Juliet, act II. sc. iv. Mercutio says of Tibalt, that in fighting he rests his minim, one, two, and the third in your bosom. A minute contains sixty seconds, and is a long time for an action supposed to be instantaneous. Nym means to say that the perfection of stealing is to do it in the shortest time possible. Sir J. Hawkins.

Note return to page 701 6Convey, the wise it call:] So in the old morality of Hycke Scorner, bl. l. no date: “Syr, the horesones could not convaye clene; “For an they could have carried by craft as I can, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 702 7Young ravens must have food.] An adage. See Ray's Proverbs. Steevens.

Note return to page 703 8&lblank; about no waste; &lblank;] I find the same play on words in Heywood's Epigrams, 1562: “Where am I least, husband? quoth he, in the waist; “Which cometh of this, thou art vengeance strait lac'd. “Where am I biggest, wife? in the waste, quoth she, “For all is waste in you, as far as I see.” And again, in The Wedding, a comedy, by Shirley, 1626: “He's a great man indeed; “Something given to the wast, for he lives within no reasonable compass.” Steevens.

Note return to page 704 9&lblank; she carves,] It should be remembered, that anciently the young of both sexes were instructed in carving, as a necessary accomplishment. In 1508, Wynkyn de Worde published “A Boke of Kervinge.” So in Love's Labour's Lost, Biron says of Boyet, the French courtier: “—He can carve too, and lisp.” Steevens.

Note return to page 705 1The anchor is deep: Will that humour pass?] I see not what relation the anchor has to translation. Perhaps we may read, the author is deep, or perhaps the line is out of its place, and should be inserted lower after Falstaff has said, Sail like my pinnace to those golden shores. It may be observed, that in the tracts of that time anchor and author could hardly be distinguished. Johnson. The anchor is deep:] Dr. Johnson very acutely proposes “the author is deep.” He reads with the first copy, “he hath study'd her well.”—And from this equivocal word, Nym catches the idea of deepness. But it is almost impossible to ascertain the diction of this whimsical character: and I meet with a phrase in Fenner's Comptor's Commonwealth, 1617, which perhaps may support the old reading, “Master Decker's Bellman of London, hath set forth the vices of the time so lively, that it is impossible the anchor of any other man's braine can sound the sea of a more deepe and dreadful mischeese.” Farmer. —studied her will, and translated her will—is the reading of the first folio, 1623. The contested part of the passage may mean, His hopes are well founded. So in the Knight of the Burning Pestle, by B. and Fletcher: “&lblank; Now my latest hope “Forsake me not, but sting thy anchor out, “And let it hold.” Translation is not used in its common acceptation, but means to explain, as one language is explained by another. So in Hamlet: “&lblank; these profound heaves “You must translate, 'tis fit we understand them.” Again, in Troilus and Cressida: “Did in great Ilion thus translate him to me.” Steevens.

Note return to page 706 2As many devils entertain; &c.] The old quarto reads: As many devils attend her! &c. Steevens. I would read with the quarto—As many devils attend her! i. e. let as many devils attend her. Musgrave.

Note return to page 707 3&lblank; cyliads: &lblank;] This word is differently spelt in all the copies. I suppose we should write oëillades, French. Steevens.

Note return to page 708 4&lblank; that humour.] What distinguishes the language of Nym from that of the other attendants on Falstaff, is the constant repetition of this phrase. In the time of Shakespeare such an affectation seems to have been sufficient to mark a character. In Sir Giles Goosecap, a play of which I have no earlier edition than that of 1606, the same peculiarity is mentioned in the hero of the piece: “&lblank; his only reason for every thing is, that we are all mortal; then hath he another pretty phrase too, and that is, he will tickle the vanity of every thing.” Steevens.

Note return to page 709 5&lblank; intention,] i. e. eagerness of desire. Steevens.

Note return to page 710 6&lblank; she is a region in Guiana, all gold and bounty.] If the tradition be true (as I doubt not but it is) of this play being wrote at queen Elizabeth's command, this passage, perhaps, may furnish a probable conjecture that it could not appear till after the year 1598. The mention of Guiana, then so lately discovered to the English, was a very happy compliment to sir Walter Raleigh, who did not begin his expedition for South America till 1595, and returned from it in 1596, with an advantageous account of the great wealth of Guiana. Such an address of the poet was likely, I imagine, to have a proper impression on the people, when the intelligence of such a golden country was fresh in their minds, and gave them expectations of immense gain. Theobald.

Note return to page 711 7&lblank; I will be cheater to them both, and they shall be exchequers to me; &lblank;] The same joke is intended here, as in The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, act II: “&lblank; I will bar no honest man my house, nor no cheater.”— By which is meant Escheatour, an officer in the Exchequer, in no good repute with the common people. Warburton.

Note return to page 712 8&lblank; tightly;] Thus the folio; the 4to. rightly. Steevens.

Note return to page 713 9&lblank; my pinnace] A pinnace seems anciently to have signified a small vessel, or sloop, attending on a larger. So in Rowley's When you see me you know me, 1613:   “&lblank; was lately sent “With threescore sail of ships and pinnaces.” Again, in Muleasses the Turk, 1610: “Our life is but a sailing to our death “Thro' the world's ocean: it makes no matter then, “Whether we put into the world's vast sea “Shipp'd in a pinnace or an argosy.” At present it signifies only a man of war's boat. Steevens.

Note return to page 714 1&lblank; the humour of this age,] Thus the 4to, 1619: The folio reads—the honor of the age. Steevens.

Note return to page 715 2Let vultures gripe thy guts! &lblank;] This hemistich is a burlesque on a passage in Tamburlaine, or The Scythian Shepherd, of which play a more particular account is given in one of the notes to Henry IV. P. II. act II. sc. iv. Steevens.

Note return to page 716 3&lblank; for gourd, and fullam holds; And high and low beguiles the rich and poor:] Fullam is a cant term for false dice, high and low. Torriano, in his Italian dictionary, interprets Pise by false dice, high and low men, high fullams and low fullams. Jonson, in his Every Man out of his Humour, quibbles upon this cant term: “Who, he serve? He keeps high men and low men, he has a fair living at fullam.”—As for gourd, or rather gord, it was another instrument of gaming, as appears from Beaumont and Fletcher's Scornful Lady: “—And thy dry bones can reach at nothing now, but gords or nine-pins.” Warburton. In the London Prodigal I find the following enumeration of false dice.—“I bequeath two bale of false dice, videlicet, high men and low men, fulloms, stop cater-traies, and other bones of function.” In Monsieur D'Olive, a comedy, by Chapman, 1606, the gord, the fullam, and the stop-cater trée, are mentioned. Green, in his Art of Juggling, &c. 1612, says, “What should I say more of false dice, of fulloms, high men, lowe men, gourds, and brizled dice, graviers, demies, and contraries?” Again, in The Bell-man of London, by Decker, 5th edit. 1640; among the false dice are enumerated, “a bale of fullams.”—“A bale of gordes, with as many high-men as low-men for passage.” Again, in Soliman and Perseda: Piston. “Nay, I use not to go without a pair of false dice; “Here are tall men and little men. Julio. “High men and low men, thou wouldst say.” Again, in Monsieur D'Olive, 1606: “The gourd, the fulham, and the stop-cater-tre.” Again, in Nobody and Somebody, 1598: “Here fullams and gourds, here's tall-men and low-men.” Steevens.

Note return to page 717 4I will discuss the humour of this love to Ford.] The very reverse of this happens. See act II. where Nym makes the discovery to Page, and not to Ford, as here promised; and Pistol, on the other hand, to Ford, and not to Page. Shakespeare is frequently guilty of these little forgetfulnesses. Steevens.9Q0120

Note return to page 718 5&lblank; yellowness, &lblank;] Yellowness is jealousy. Johnson. So, in Law Tricks, &c. 1608: “If you have me you must not put on yellows.” Again, in The Arraignment of Paris, 1584: “&lblank; Flora well, perdie, “Did paint her yellow for her jealousy.” Steevens.

Note return to page 719 6&lblank; the revolt of mien &lblank;] I suppose we may read, the revolt of men. Sir T. Hanmer reads, this revolt of mine. Either may serve, for of the present text I can find no meaning. Johnson. The revolt of mine is the old reading. Revolt of mien, is change of countenance, one of the effects he has just been ascribing to jealousy. Steevens. This, Mr. Steevens truly observes to be the old reading, and it is authority enough for the revolt of mien in modern orthography. “Know you that fellow that walketh there? says Eliot, 1593— he is an alchymist by his mine, and hath multiplied all to moonshine.” Farmer.

Note return to page 720 7&lblank; at the latter end &c.] That is, when my master is in bed. Johnson.

Note return to page 721 8&lblank; no breed bate:] Bate is an obsolete word, signifying strife, contention. So, in the Countess of Pembroke's Antonius, 1590: “Shall ever civil bate “Gnaw and devour our state?” Again, in Acolastus, a comedy, 1529: “We shall not fall at bate, or stryve for this matter.” Stanyburst, in his translation of Virgil, 1582, calls Erinnys a make bate. Steevens.

Note return to page 722 9&lblank; peevish] Peevish is foolish. So in Cymbeline, act II. “&lblank; he's strange and peevish.” Steevens.

Note return to page 723 1&lblank; a little wee face,] Wee, in the northern dialect, signifies very little. Thus, in the Scottish proverb that apologizes for a little woman's marriage with a big man: “&lblank; A wee mouse will creep under a mickle cornstack.” Collins. So in Heywood's Fair Maid of the West, com. 1631: “He was nothing so tall as I, but a little wee man, and somewhat hutchback'd.” Again, in The Wisdom of Doctor Dodypoll, 1600: “Some two miles, and a wee bit, Sir.” Wee is derived from wenig. Dutch. On the authority of the 4to, 1619, we might be led to read whey-face: “&lblank; Somewhat of a weakly man, and has as it were a whay-colour'd beard.” Macbeth calls one of the messengers Whey-face. Steevens.

Note return to page 724 2&lblank; a Cane-colour'd beard.] Thus the latter editions. I have restored Cain from the old copies. Cain and Judas, in the tapestries and pictures of old, were represented with yellow beards. Theobald. Theobald's conjecture may be countenanced by a parallel expression in an old play called Blurt Master Constable, or, The Spaniard's Night-Walk, 1602: “&lblank; over all, “A goodly, long, thick, Abraham-colour'd beard.” Again, in Soliman and Perseda, 1599, Basilisco says: “&lblank; where is the eldest son of Priam, “That Abraham-colour'd Trojan?” &lblank; I am not however certain, but that Abraham may be a corruption of Auburn. Again, in The Spanish Tragedy, 1605: “And let their beards be of Judas his own colour.” Again, in A Christian turn'd Turk, 1612: “That's he in the Judas beard.” &lblank; In an age, when but a small part of the nation could read, ideas were frequently borrowed from representations in painting or tapestry. A cane-colour'd beard however, might signify a beard of the colour of cane, i. e. a sickly yellow; for straw-coloured beards are mentioned in the Mid-summer's Night Dream. Steevens. The new edition of Leland's Collectanea, vol. v. p. 295, asserts, that painters constantly represented Judas the traytor with a red head. Dr. Plot's Oxfordshire, p. 153, says the same. This conceit is thought to have arisen in England, from our ancient grudge to the red-haired Danes. Tollet. See my quotation in K. Hen. VIII. act V. sc. ii. Steevens.

Note return to page 725 3&lblank; as tall a man of his hands, &lblank;] Perhaps this is an allusion to the jocky measure, so many hands high, used by grooms when speaking of horses. Tall, in our author's time, signified not only height of stature, but stoutness of body. The ambiguity of the phrase seems intended. Percy. Whatever be the origin of this phrase, it is very ancient, being used by Gower: “A worthie knight was of his honde, “There was none suche in all the londe.“ De Confessione Amantis. lib. v. fol. 118. b. Steevens.

Note return to page 726 4&lblank; we shall be shent:] i. e. Scolded, roughly treated. So in the old Interlude of Nature, bl. l. no date: “&lblank; I can tell thee one thyng, “In fayth you wyll be shent.” Steevens.

Note return to page 727 5&lblank; and down, down, a-down a, &c.] To deceive her master, she sings as if at her work. Sir J. Hawkins.

Note return to page 728 6Enter Doctor Caius.] It has been thought strange, that our author should take the name of Caius for his Frenchman in this comedy; but Shakespeare was little acquainted with literary history; and without doubt, from this unusual name, supposed him to have been a foreign quack. Add to this, that the doctor was handed down as a kind of Rosicrucian: Mr. Ames had in MS. one of the “Secret Writings of Dr. Caius.” Farmer.9Q0122

Note return to page 729 7&lblank; un boitier verd; &lblank;] Boitier in French signifies a case of surgeon's instruments. Dr. Gray. I believe it rather means a box of salve, or case to hold simples, for which Caius professes to seek. The same word, somewhat curtailed, is used by Chaucer, in the Pardoneres Prologue, v. 12241: “And every boist full of thy letuarie.” Again, in the Skynner's Play, in the Chester Collection of Mysteries. MS. Harl. p. 149: Mary Magdalen says: “To balme his bodye that is so brighte, “Boyste here have I brought.” Steevens.

Note return to page 730 8&lblank; What the goujere!] So in K. Lear: “The goujeers shall devour them.” The goujere; i. e. morbus Gallicus. See Hanmer's note, K. Lear, act V. sc. iii. Steevens.

Note return to page 731 9&lblank; though love use reason for his precisian, he admits him not for his counsellor: &lblank;] This is obscure; but the meaning is, though love permit reason to tell what is fit to be done, he seldom follows its advice. —By precisian, is meant one who pretends to a more than ordinary degree of virtue and sanctity. On which account they gave this name to the puritans of that time. So Osborne—“Conform their mode, words, and looks to these precisians.” And Maine, in his City Match: “&lblank; I did commend “A great precisian to her for her woman.” Warburton. &lblank; precisian, &lblank;] Of this word I do not see any meaning that is very apposite to the present intention. Perhaps Falstaff said, Though love use reason as his physician, he admits him not for his counsellor. This will be plain sense. Ask not the reason of my love; the business of reason is not to assist love, but to cure it. There may however be this meaning in the present reading. Though love, when he would submit to regulation, may use reason as his precisian, or director in nice cases, yet when he is only eager to attain his end, he takes not reason for his counsellor. Johnson. Dr. Johnson wishes to read physician; and this conjecture becomes almost a certainty from a line in our author's 147th sonnet, “My reason the physician to my love, &c.” Farmer. The character of a precisian seems to have been very generally ridiculed in the time of Shakespeare. So in the Malcontent, 1604: “You must take her in the right vein then; as, when the sign is in pisces, a fishmonger's wife is very sociable: in cancer, a precisian's wife is very flexible.” Again, Dr. Faustus, 1604: “I will set my countenance like a precisian?” Again, in Arden of Feversham, 1633: “How now, Will! become a precisian?” Again, in Ben Jonson's Case is alter'd, 1609: “It is precisianism to alter that, “With austere judgment, which is given by nature.” Steevens. If physician be the right reading, the meaning may be this: A lover uncertain as yet of success, never takes reason for his counsellor, but when desperate, applies to him as his physician. Musgrave.

Note return to page 732 1Thine own true knight, By day or night. This expression, which is ludicrously employed by Falstaff, anciently meant, at all times. So, in the third book of Gower, De Confessione Amantis: “The sonne cleped was Machayre, “The daughter eke Canace hight, “By daie bothe and eke by night.” Loud and still, was another phrase of the same meaning. Steevens.

Note return to page 733 2What an unweigh'd behaviour &c.] Thus the folio and 4to, 1630. It has been suggested to me, that we should read, one. Steevens.

Note return to page 734 3&lblank; I was then frugal of my mirth:] By breaking this speech into exclamations, the text may stand; but I once thought it must be read, If I was not then frugal of my mirth. Johnson.

Note return to page 735 4&lblank; a bill in the parliament for the putting down of men. &lblank;] What, Mrs. Page! put down the whole species, unius ob noxam, for a single offender's trespass? Don't be so unreasonable in your anger. But 'tis a false charge against you. I am persuaded, a short monosyllable is dropped out, which, once restored, would qualify the matter. We must necessarily read—for the putting down of fat men. Mrs. Ford says in the very ensuing scene, I shall think the worse of fat men, as long as I have an eye, &c. And in the old quartos, Mrs. Page, so soon as she had read the letter, says, Well, I shall trust fat men the worse, while I live, for his sake: and he is called the fat knight, the greasy knight, by the women, throughout the play. Theobald. &lblank; I'll exhibit a bill in parliament for putting down of men.] Mr. Theobald says, we must necessarily read—for putting down of fat men. But how is the matter mended? or the thought made less ridiculous? Shakespeare wrote—for the putting down of mum, i. e. the fattening liqour so called. So Fletcher in his Wild Goose Chace: “What a cold I have over my stomach, would I had some mum.” This is truly humorous, and agrees with the character she had just before given him of Flemish drunkard. But the greatest confirmation of this conjecture is the allusion the words, in question, bear to a matter then publicly transacting. The Merry Wives of Windsor appears to have been wrote in 1601, or very shortly after. And we are informed by Sir Simon D'Ewes' Journal, that no home affair made more noise in and out of parliament at that time, than the suppression and regulation of taverns, inns, ale-houses, strong liquors, and the drinkers of them. In the parliament held 1597, a bill was brought into both houses, “For suppressing the multitude of malsters,” &c. Another, “To restrain the excessive making of malt, and disorderly brewing of strong beer.” Another, “For regulating of inns, taverns,” &c. In the next parliament, held 1601, was a bill, “For the suppressing of the multitude of ale-houses and tipling-houses.” Another, “Against excessive and common drunkenness;” and several others of the same nature. Some of which, after much canvassing, were thrown out, and others passed into acts. Warburton. I do not see that any alteration is necessary; if it were, either of the foregoing conjectures might serve the turn. But surely Mrs. Ford may naturally enough, in the first heat of her anger, rail at the sex for the fault of one. Johnson.

Note return to page 736 5What?—thou liest!—Sir Alice Ford!—These knights will hack, and so thou shouldst not alter the article of thy gentry.] The unintelligible nonsense of this speech is hardly to be matched. The change of a single letter has occasioned it, which is thus easily removed. Read and point—These knights will lack, and so thou shouldst not alter the article of thy gentry. The other had said, I could be knighted, meaning, I could have a knight for my lover; her companion took it in the other sense, of conferring the title, and says, What?—thou liest!—Sir Alice Ford!—These knights will lack a title [i. e. risk the punishment of degradation] rather than not make a whore of thee. For we are to observe that—and so thou shouldst not, is a mode of speech, amongst the writers of that time, equivalent to—rather than thou shouldst not. Warburton. Upon this passage the learned editor has tried his strength, in my opinion, with more spirit than success. I read thus—These knights we'll back, and so thou shouldst not alter the article of thy gentry. The punishment of a recreant or undeserving knight, was to hack off his spurs: the meaning therefore is; it is not worth the while of a gentlewoman to be made a knight, for we'll degrade all these knights in a little time, by the usual form of hacking off their spurs, and thou, if thou art knighted, shalt be hacked with the rest. Johnson. Hanmer says, to hack, means to turn hackney, or prostitute. I suppose he means—These knights will degrade themselves, so that she will acquire no honour by being connected with them. Perhaps the passage has been hitherto entirely misunderstood. To hack, is an expression used in the ridiculous scene between Quickly, Evans, and the Boy; and signifies, to do mischief. The sense of this passage may therefore be, these knights are a riotous, dissolute sort of people, and on that account thou should'st not wish to be of the number. It is not, however, impossible that Shakespeare meant by—these knights will back—these knights will soon become hackney'd characters. —So many knights were made about the time this play was amplified (for the passage is neither in the copy 1602, nor 1619) that such a stroke of satire might not have been unjustly thrown in. In Hans Beer Pot's Invisible Comedy, 1618, is a long piece of ridicule on the same occurrence: “'Twas strange to see what knighthood once would do: “Stir great men up to lead a martial life— “To gain this honour and this dignity.— “But now, alas! 'tis grown ridiculous; “Since bought with money, sold for basest prize, “That some refuse it who are counted wise.” Steevens.

Note return to page 737 6We burn day-light: &lblank;] i. e. we have more proof than we want. The same proverbial phrase occurs in the Spanish Tragedy: Hier. “Light me your torches.” Pedro. “Then we burn day-light.” So in Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio uses the same expression, and then explains it: “We waste our lights in vain like lamps by day.” Steevens.9Q0125

Note return to page 738 7&lblank; Green Sleeves.] This song was entered on the books of the Stationers' Company, in September 1580: “Licenced unto Richard Jones, a newe northern dittye of the lady Greene Sleeves.” Again, “Licensed unto Edward White, a ballad, beinge the Lady Greene Sleeves, answered to Jenkyn hir frend.” Again, in the same month and year: “Green Sleeves moralized to the Scripture, &c.” Again, to Edward White: “Green Sleeves and countenaunce, “In countenaunce is Green Sleeves.” Again, “A New Northern Song of Green Sleeves, beginning, “The bonniest lass in all the land.” Again, in February 1580: “A Reprehension against Greene Sleeves, by W. Elderton.” From a passage in the Loyal Subject, by B. and Fletcher, it should seem that the original was a wanton ditty: “And set our credits to the tune of Greene Sleeves.” But whatever the ballad was, it seems to have been very popular. August 1581, was entered at Stationers' Hall, “A new Ballad, entitled: “Greene Sleeves is worn away, “Yellow sleeves come to decaie, “Black sleeves I hold in despite, “But white sleeves is my delight.” Mention of the same tune is made again in the fourth act of this play. Steevens.

Note return to page 739 8&lblank; press, &lblank;] Press is used ambiguously, for a press to print, and a press to squeeze. Johnson.

Note return to page 740 9&lblank; some strain in me, &lblank;] Thus the old copies. The modern editors read, “some stain in me,” but, I think, unnecessarily. A similar expression occurs in The Winter's Tale: “With what encounter so uncurrent, have I “Strain'd to appear thus?” And again in Timon: “&lblank; a noble nature “May catch a wrench”. Steevens.

Note return to page 741 1&lblank; the chariness of our honesty.] i. e. the caution which ought to attend on it. Steevens.

Note return to page 742 2Oh, that my husband saw this letter!] Surely Mrs. Ford does not wish to excite the jealousy, of which she complains. I think we should read—Oh, if my husband, &c. and thus the copy, 1619: “Oh lord, if my husband should see the letter! i' faith, this would even give edge to his jealousie.” Steevens.

Note return to page 743 3&lblank; curtail-dog &lblank;] That is, a dog that misses his game. The tail is counted necessary to the agility of a greyhound; and one method of disqualifying a dog, according to the forest laws, is to cut his tail, or make him a curtail. Johnson. This allusion is common to the old writers. So in Mucedorus: “I will not be made a curtail for no man's pleasure.” A curtail-dog was the dog of an unqualify'd person, whose tail, by the laws of the forest, was cut off. So, in the Unknown Shepherd's complaint, in England's Helicon, 1614: “My curtail-dog, that wont to have plaide,” &c. Steevens.

Note return to page 744 4&lblank; gally-mawfry;] i. e. A medley. So in the Winter's Tale: “They have a dance, which the wenches say is a gallimaufry of gambols.” Pistol ludicrously uses it for a woman. Thus, in A Woman never vex'd, 1632: “Let us show ourselves gallants or galli-maufries.” Steevens.

Note return to page 745 5&lblank; Ford, perpend.] This is perhaps a ridicule on a passage in the old comedy of Cambyses: “My sapient words I say perpend.” Again: “My queen perpend what I pronounce.” Shakespeare has put the same word into the mouth of Polonius. Steevens.

Note return to page 746 6&lblank; cuckoo-birds do sing. &lblank;] Such is the reading of the folio, and the quarto 1630. The quartos 1602, and 1619 read— when cuckoo-birds appear. The modern editors—when cuckoo-birds affright. For this last reading I find no authority. Steevens.

Note return to page 747 7Away, sir corporal Nym. &lblank; Believe it, Page; he speaks sense.] Nym, I believe, is out of place, and we should read thus: Away, sir corporal. Nym. Believe it, Page; he speaks sense. Johnson. Perhaps Dr. Johnson is mistaken in his conjecture. He seems not to have been aware of the manner in which the author meant this scene should be represented. Ford and Pistol, Page and Nym, enter in pairs, each pair in separate conversation; and while Pistol is informing Ford of Falstaff's design upon his wife, Nym is, during that time, talking aside to Page, and giving information of the like plot against him.—When Pistol has finished, he calls out to Nym to come away; but seeing that he and Page are still in close debate, he goes off alone, first assuring Page, he may depend on the truth of Nym's story. Believe it, Page. Nym then proceeds to tell the remainder of his tale out aloud. And this is true &c.—A little further on in this scene, Ford says to Page, You heard what this knave (i. e. Pistol) told me. Page replies, Yes, and you heard what the other (i. e. Nym) told me. Steevens.

Note return to page 748 8I have a sword, and it shall bite upon my necessity.—He loves your wife; &c.] This absurd passage may be pointed into sense. I have a sword, and it shall bite—upon my necessity, he loves your wife, &c.—Having said his sword should bite, he stops short, as was fitting: for he meant that it should bite upon the highway. And then turns to the subject of his conference, and swears, by his necessity, that Falstaff loved his wife. Warburton. I do not see the difficulty of this passage: no phrase is more common than—you may, upon a need, thus. Nym, to gain credit, says, that he is above the mean office of carrying love-letters; he has nobler means of living; he has a sword, and upon his necessity, that is, when his need drives him to unlawful expedients, his sword shall bite. Johnson.

Note return to page 749 9The humour of it, &lblank;] The following epigram, taken from an old collection without date, but apparently printed before the year 1600, will best account for Nym's frequent repetition of the word humour. Epig. 27. Aske Humors what a feather he doth weare, It is his humour (by the Lord) he'll sweare. Or what he doth with such a horse-taile locke; Or why upon a whore he spends his stocke? He hath a humour doth determine so. Why in the stop-throte fashion he doth goe, With scarfe about his necke, hat without band? It is his humour. Sweet sir, understand What cause his purse is so extreame distrest That oftentimes is scarcely penny-blest? Only a humour. If you question why His tongue is ne'er unfurnish'd with a lye? It is his humour too he doth protest. Or why with serjeants he is so opprest, That like to ghosts they haunt him ev'rie day? A rascal humour doth not love to pay. Object why bootes and spurres are still in season? His humour answers: humour is his reason. If you perceive his wits in wetting shrunke, It cometh of a humour to be drunke. When you behold his lookes pale, thin, and poore, Th' occasion is, his humour and a whoore. And every thing that he doth undertake, It is a veine, for senceless humour's sake. Steevens.

Note return to page 750 1I will not believe such a Cataian, &lblank;] Mr. Theobald has here a pleasant note, as usual. “This is a piece of satire that did not want its force at the time of this play's appearing; though the history on which it is grounded is become obsolete.” And then tells a long story of Martin Frobisher attempting the north-west passage, and bringing home a black stone, as he thought, full of gold ore: that it proved not so, and that therefore Cataians and Frobishers became by-words for vain boasters.—The whole is an idle dream. All the mystery of the term Cataian, for a liar, is only this. China was anciently called Cataia or Cathay, by the first adventures that travelled thither; such as M. Paulo, and our Mandeville, who told such incredible wonders of this new discovered empire (in which they have not been outdone even by the Jesuits themselves, who followed them) that a notorious liar was usually called a Cataian. Warburton. Mr. Theobald and Dr. Warburton have both told their stories with confidence, I am afraid, very disproportionate to any evidence that can be produced. That Cataian was a word of hatred or contempt is plain, but that it signified a boaster or a liar has not been proved. Sir Toby, in Twelfth Night, says of the Lady Olivia to her maid, “thy Lady's a Cataian;” but there is no reason to think he means to call her liar. Besides, Page intends to give Ford a reason why Pistol should not be credited. He therefore does not say, I would not believe such a liar: for that he is a liar is yet to be made probable: but he says, I would not believe such a Cataian on any testimony of his veracity. That is, “This fellow has such an odd appearance, is so unlike a man civilized, and taught the duties of life, that I cannot credit him.” To be a foreigner was always in England, and I suppose every where else, a reason of dislike. So Pistol calls Sir Hugh in the first act, a mountain foreigner; that is, a fellow uneducated, and of gross behaviour; and again in his anger calls Bardolph, Hungarian wight. Johnson. I believe that neither of the commentators is in the right, but am far from professing, with any great degree of confidence, that I am happier in my own explanation. It is remarkable, that in Shakespeare, this expression—a true man is always put in opposition (as it is in this instance) to—a thief. So in Hen. IV. Part I. “&lblank; now the thieves have bound the true men.” The Chinese (anciently called Cataians) are said to be the most dextrous of all the nimble-finger'd tribe; and to this hour they deserve the same character. Pistol was known at Windsor to have had a hand in picking Slender's pocket, and therefore might be called a Cataian with propriety, if my explanation be admitted. That by a Cataian some kind of sharper was meant, I infer from the following passage in Love and Honour, a play by Sir W. Davenant, 1649: “Hang him, bold Cataian, he indites finely, “And will live as well by sending short epistles, “Or by the sad whisper at your gamester's ear, “When the great By is drawn, “As any distrest gallant of them all.” From the use Sir Toby Belch makes of the word, little can be inferred with any certainty. Sir Toby is drunk, calls Malvolio by the name of an old song, and talks, in short, nonsense. Cathaia is mentioned in the Tamer Tamed, of B. and Fletcher: “I'll wish you in the Indies, or Cathaia.” The tricks of the Cataians are hinted at in one of the old bl. letter histories of that country; and again, in a dramatic performance, called the Pedler's Prophecy, 1595: “&lblank; in the east part of Inde, “Through seas and floods, they work all thievish.” Mr. Malone observes, that in a book of Shakespeare's age, entitled, A brief Description of the whole World, “&lblank; the people of China are (said to be) very politick and crafty, and in respect thereof contemning the wits of others; using a proverb, That all other nations do see but with one eye, but they with two.” Again, in the the Treasury of Ancient and Modern Time, 1613, the Cathaians are described in the same manner: “For myself, I condemn this custom as savage and brutish, and hold the Cathaians to be a very gross people, albeit they both say and believe, that the whole world beside them, doth see but with one eye, and they directly with both.” Steevens.

Note return to page 751 2'Twas a good sensible fellow:] This, and the two preceding speeches of Ford, are spoken to himself, and have no connection with the sentiments of Page, who is likewise making his comment on what had passed, without attention to Ford. Steevens.

Note return to page 752 3Very rogues, now they be out of service.] A rogue is a wanderer or vagabond, and, in its consequential signification, a cheat. Johnson.

Note return to page 753 4&lblank; cavalero-justice,] So in The Stately Moral of three Ladies of London, 1590: “Then know, Castilian cavalieros, this.” There is a book printed in 1599, called, A Countercuffe given to Martin Junior; by the venturous, hardie, and renowned Pasquil of Englande, Cavaliero. Steevens.

Note return to page 754 5&lblank; and tell him, my name is Brook; &lblank;] Thus both the old quartos; and thus most certainly the poet wrote. We need no better evidence than the pun that Falstaff anon makes on the name, when Brook sends him some burnt sack. Such Brooks are welcome to me, that overflow with such liquor. The players, in their editions, altered the name to Broom. Theobald.

Note return to page 755 6&lblank; said I well?] The learned editor of the Canterbury Tales of Chaucer, in 4 vols 8vo, 1775, observes, that this phrase is given to the host in the Pardonere's Prologue: “Said I not wel? I cannot speke in terme:” v. 12246. and adds, “it may be sufficient with the other circumstances of general resemblance, to make us believe, that Shakespeare, when he drew that character, had not forgotten his Chaucer.” The same gentleman has since informed me, that the passage is not found in any of the ancient printed editions, but only in the MSS. Steevens.

Note return to page 756 7&lblank; Will you go an-heirs?] This nonsense is spoken to Shallow. We should read, Will you go on, heris? i. e. Will you go on, master? Heris, an old Scotch word for master. Warburton. The merry Host has already saluted them separately by titles of distinction; he therefore probably now addresses them collectively by a general one—Will you go on, heroes? or, as probably &lblank; Will you go on, hearts? He calls Dr. Caius Heart of Elder; and adds, in a subsequent scene of this play, Farewell, my hearts. Again, in the Mid-summer's Night Dream, Bottom says, “—Where are these hearts?” My brave hearts, or my bold hearts, is a common word of encouragement. A heart of gold expresses the more soft and amiable qualities, the Mores aurei of Horace; and a heart of oak it a frequent encomium of rugged honesty. Hanmer reads—Mynheers. Steevens. Will you go an-heirs?] Perhaps we should read, Will you go and hear us? So in the next page—“I had rather hear them scold than fight.” Malone.

Note return to page 757 8&lblank; my long sword, &lblank;] Before the introduction of rapiers, the swords in use were of an enormous length, and sometimes raised with both hands. Shallow, with an old man's vanity, censures the innovation by which lighter weapons were introduced, tells what he could once have done with his long sword, and ridicules the terms and rules of the rapier. Johnson. The two-handed sword is mentioned in the ancient Interlude of Nature, bl. l. no date: “Somtyme he serveth me at borde, “Somtyme he bereth my two-hand sword.” See a note to the First Part of K. Hen. IV. act II. Steevens. Carleton, in his Thankful Remembrance of God's Mercy, 1625, speaking of the treachery of one Rowland York, in betraying the town of Deventer to the Spaniards in 1587, says; “he was a Londoner, famous among the cutters in his time, for bringing in a new kind of fight—to run the point of a rapier into a man's body. This manner of fight he brought first into England, with great admiration of his audaciousness: when in England before that time, the use was, with little bucklers, and with broad swords, to strike and not to thrust; and it was accounted unmanly to strike under the girdle.” Malone.

Note return to page 758 9&lblank; tall fellows &lblank;] The older quartos read—tall fencers. See note 5. p. 272. Steevens.

Note return to page 759 1&lblank; and stand so firmly on his wife's frailty, &lblank;] No, surely; Page stood tightly to the opinion of her honesty, and would not entertain a thought of her being frail. I have therefore ventured to substitute a word correspondent to the sense required; and one, which our poet frequently uses to signify conjugal faith. Theobald. &lblank; stand so firmly on his wife's frailty, &lblank;] Thus all the copies. But Mr. Theobald has no conception how any man could stand firmly on his wife's frailty. And why? Because he had no conception how he could stand upon it, without knowing what it was. But if I tell a stranger, that the bridge he is about to cross is rotten, and he believes it not, but will go on, may I not say, when I see him upon it, that he stands firmly on a rotten plank? Yet he has changed frailty for fealty, and the Oxford editor has followed him. But they took the phrase, to stand firmly on, to signify to insist upon; whereas it signifies to rest upon, which the character of a secure fool, given to him, shews. So that the common reading has an elegance that would be lost in the alteration. Warburton. To stand on any thing, does signify to insist on it. So in Heywood's Rape of Lucrece, 1630: “All captains, and stand upon the honesty of your wives.” Again, in Warner's Albion's England, 1602, book 6. chap. 30: “For stoutly on their honesties doe wylie harlots stand.” The jealous Ford is the speaker, and all chastity in women appears to him as frailty. He supposes Page therefore to insist on that virtue as steady, which he himself suspects to be without foundation. Steevens.

Note return to page 760 2&lblank; the world's mine oyster, &c.] Dr. Gray supposes Shakespeare to allude to an old proverb, “&lblank; The mayor of Northampton opens oysters with his dagger.”—i. e. to keep them at a sufficient distance from his nose, that town being fourscore miles from the sea. Steevens.

Note return to page 761 3&lblank; I will retort the sum in equipage.] This is added from the old quarto of 1619, and means, I will pay you again in stolen goods. Warburton. I rather believe he means, that he will pay him by waiting on him for nothing. So in Love's Pilgrimage, by B. and Fletcher: “And boy, be you my guide, “For I will make a full descent in equipage.” That equipage ever meant stolen goods, I am yet to learn. Steevens. Dr. Warburton may be right; for I find equipage was one of the cant words of the time. In Davies' Papers Complaint, (a poem which has erroneously been ascribed to Donne) we have several of them: “Embellish, blandishment, and equipage.” Which words, he tells us in the margin, overmuch savour of witlesse affectation. Farmer.

Note return to page 762 4&lblank; your coach-fellow, Nym; &lblank;] Thus the old copies. Coach-fellow has an obvious meaning, but the modern editors read, couch-fellow. The following passage from B. Jonson's Cynthia's Revels, may justify the reading I have chosen: “&lblank; 'Tis the swaggering coach-horse Anaides, that draws with him there.” Again, in Monsieur D'Olive, 1606: “Are you he my Page here makes choice of to be his fellow coach-horse?” Again, in Every Woman in her humour, 1609: “For wit, ye may be coach'd together.” Again, in 10th B. of Chapman's Translation of Homer: “&lblank; their chariot horse, as they coach-fellows were.” Steevens.

Note return to page 763 5&lblank; and tall fellows: &lblank;] A tall fellow, in the time of our author, meant, a stout, bold, or courageous person. In A Discourse on Usury, by Dr. Wilson, 1584, he says, “Here in England, he that can rob a man by the high-way, is called a tall fellow.” Lord Bacon says, “that bishop Fox caused his castle of Norham to be fortified, and manned it likewise with a very great number of tall soldiers.” In The Love of David and Bethsabe, 1599, Joab enters in triumph; and says—“Well done, tall soldiers,” &c. So B. Jonson, in Every Man out of his Humour: “Is he so tall a man?” So likewise in Soliman and Perseda: “Is this little desperate fellow gone? “Doubtless he is a very tall fellow.” Steevens.

Note return to page 764 6&lblank; lost the handle of her fan, &lblank;] It should be remembered, that fans, in our author's time, were more costly than they are at present, as well as of a different construction. They consisted of ostrich feathers, (or others of equal length and flexibility) which were stuck into handles. The richer sort of these were composed of gold, silver, or ivory of curious workmanship. One of them is mentioned in The Fleire, Com. 1610: “&lblank; she hath a fan with a short silver handle, about the length of a barber's syringe.” Again, in Love and Honour, by sir W. Davenant, 1649: “All your plate, Vasco, is the silver handle of your old prisoner's fan.” In the frontispiece to a play, called Englishmen for my Money, or A pleasant Comedy of a Woman will have her Will, 1616, is a portrait of a lady with one of these fans, which, after all, may prove the best commentary on the passage. The three other specimens are taken from the Habiti Antichi et Moderni di tutto il Mondo, published at Venice, 1598, from the drawings of Titian, and Cesare Vecelli, his brother. This fashion was perhaps imported from Italy, together with many others in the reign of king Henry VIII. if not in that of king Richard II. Steevens. Thus also Marston, in the Scourge of Villainie, lib. iii. sat. 8: “&lblank; Another he “Her silver-handled fan would gladly be.” And in other places. And Bishop Hall, in his Satires, published 1597, lib. v. sat. 4: “Whiles one piece pays her idle waiting-manne, “Or buys a hoode, or silver-handled fanne.” In the Sidney papers, published by Collins, a fan is presented to queen Elizabeth for a new year's gift, the handle of which was studded with diamonds. Warton. It appears from Marston's Satires, that the sum of 40l. was sometimes given for a fan in the time of queen Elizabeth. Malone.

Note return to page 765 7&lblank; A short knife and a throng: &lblank;] So Lear: “When cutpurses come not to throngs.” Warburton. Part of the employment given by Drayton, in The Mooncalf, to the Baboon, seems the same with this recommended by Falstaff: “He like a gypsy oftentimes would go, “All kinds of gibberish he hath learn'd to know; “And with a stick, a short string, and a noose, “Would show the people tricks at fast and loose.” Theobald has throng instead of thong. The latter seems right. Langton. Greene, in his Life of Ned Browne, 1592, says: “I had no other fence but my short knife, and a paire of purse-strings.” Steevens. See a note on Anthony and Cleopatra, that explains the trick of fast and loose. Sir J. Hawkins.

Note return to page 766 8&lblank; Pickt-hatch, &lblank;] A noted place for thieves and pickpockets. Theobald. Pict-hatch is frequently mentioned by contemporary writers. So, in B. Jonson's Every Man in his Humour: “From the Bordello it might come as well, “The Spital, or Pict-hatch.” Again, in Woman's a Weather-cock, 1612: “Scratch faces, like a wild cat of Pict-hatch.” Again, in Randolph's Muses Looking-glass, 1638:   “&lblank; the lordship of Turnbull so “Which with my Pict-hatch, Grange, and Shore-ditch farm &c.” Pict-hatch was in Turnbull-street: “&lblank; your whore doth live “In Pict-hatch, Turnbull-street.” Amends for Ladies, a Comedy by N. Field, 1639. The derivation of the word Pict-hatch may perhaps be discovered from the following passage in Cupid's Whirligig, 1630: “&lblank; Set some pickes upon your hatch, and I pray, profess to keep a bawdy-house.” Perhaps the unseasonable and obstreperous irruptions of the gallants of that age, might render such a precaution necessary. So in Pericles P. of Tyre, 1609: “&lblank; If in our youths we could pick up some pretty estate, 'twere not amiss to keep our door hatch'd, &c.” Steevens. This was a cant name of some part of the town noted for bawdy-houses; as appears from the following passage in Marston's Scourge for Villainie, lib. iii. sat. II: “&lblank; Looke, who yon doth go? “The meager letcher lewd Luxurio. &lblank; “No newe edition of drabbes come out, “But seene and allow'd by Luxurio's snout. “Did ever any man ere hear him talke “But of Pick-hatch, or of some Shoreditch balke, “Aretine's filth &c.” Sir T. H. says, that this was “a noted harbour for thieves and pickpockets,” who certainly were proper companions for a man of Pistol's profession. But Falstaff here more immediately means to ridicule another of his friend's vices; and there is some humour in calling Pistol's favourite brothel, his manor of Pickt-hatch. Marston has another allusion to Pickt-hatch or Pick-hatch, which confirms this illustration: “&lblank; His old cynicke dad “Hath forc't them cleane forsake his Pick-hatch drab.” Lib. i. sat. 3. Warton.

Note return to page 767 9&lblank; ensconce your rags, &c.] A sconce is a petty fortification. To ensconce, therefore, is to protect as with a sort. The word occurs again in K. Hen. IV. Part I. Steevens.

Note return to page 768 1&lblank; red-lattice phrases, &lblank;] Your ale-house conversation. Johnson. Red lattice at the doors and windows, were formerly the external denotements of an ale-house. So, in A Fine Companion, one of Shackerley Marmion's plays:—“A waterman's widow at the sign of the red lattice in Southwark.” Again, in Arden of Feversham, 1592: “&lblank; his sign pulled down, and his lattice borne away.” Again, in the Miseries of inforc'd Marriage, 1607: “&lblank;' tis treason to the red lattice, enemy to the sign-post.” Hence the present chequers. Perhaps the reader will express some surprize, when he is told that shops, with the sign of the chequers, were common among the Romans. See a view of the left-hand street of Pompeii, (No. 9) presented by Sir William Hamilton (together with several others, equally curious,) to the Antiquary Society. Steevens.

Note return to page 769 2&lblank; your bold-beating oaths, &lblank;] We should read, bold-bearing oaths, i. e. out-facing. Warburton. A beating oath, is, I think, right; so we now say, in low language, a thwacking or swinging thing. Johnson. We might read &lblank;bull-baiting. Steevens.

Note return to page 770 3&lblank; canaries, &lblank;] This is the name of a brisk light dance, and is therefore properly enough used in low language for any hurry or perturbation. Johnson. So, Nash, in Pierce Pennyless his Supplication, 1595, says: “A merchant's wife jets it as gingerly, as if she were dancing the canaries:” and our author, in All's well, &c. “Make you dance canary.” Again, in Decker's honest Whore, 1635: “At a place where your health danced the canaries.” It is highly probable, however, that canaries is only a mistake of Mrs. Quickly's for quandaries;! and yet the Clown, in, As you like it, says, “we that are true lovers run into strange capers.” Steevens.

Note return to page 771 4&lblank; earls, nay, which is more, pensioners; &lblank;] This may be illustrated by a passage in Gervase Holles's Life of the First Earl of Clare. Biog. Brit. Art. Holles. “I have heard the earl of Clare say, that when he was pensioner to the queen, he did not know a worse man of the whole band than himself; and that all the world knew he had then an inheritance of 4000l. a year.” Tyrwhitt. Barrett, in his Alvearie, or Quadruple Dictionary, 1580, says, that a pensioner was “a gentleman about his prince alwaie redie, with his speare.” Steevens.

Note return to page 772 5&lblank; you wot of; &lblank;] To wot is to know. Obsolete. So in K. Henry VIII. “&lblank; wot you what I found?” Steevens.

Note return to page 773 6&lblank; frampold &lblank;] This word I have never seen elsewhere, except in Dr. Hacket's Life of Archbishop Williams, where a frampul man signifies a peevish troublesome fellow. Johnson. In The Roaring Girl, a comedy, 1611, I meet with a word, which, though differently spelt, appears to be the same. Lax. “Coachman. Coach. “Anon, sir! Lax. “Are we fitted with good phrampell jades?” Ray, among his South and East country words, says, that frampald, or frampard, signifies fretful, peevish, cross, froward. As froward (he adds) comes from from, so may frampard. Nash, in his Praise of the Red Herring, 1599, speaking of Leander, says: “the churlish frampold waves gave him his belly full of fish-broth.” So, in The Inner Temple Masque, by Middleton, 1619:—“'tis so frampole, the puritans will never yield to it.” So, in The Blind Beggar of Bethnal-Green, by John Day: “I think the fellow's frampell,” &c. So, in B. and Fletcher's Wit at several Weapons: “Is Pompey grown so malapert, so frampel?” Again, in Ben Jonson's Tale of a Tub: “&lblank; I pray thee grow not frampul now.” Again, in The Isle of Gulls, 1633: “Are you so frampall, you know not your own daughter?” Steevens.

Note return to page 774 7&lblank; to send her your little page, of all loves: &lblank;] Of all loves, is an adjuration only, and signifies no more, than if she had said, desires you to send him by all means. It is used in Decker's Honest Whore, Part I. 1635:—“conjuring his wife, of all loves, to prepare cheer fitting,” &c. Again, in the old translation of Plautus's Menæchmi, 1595: “&lblank; Desire him, of all love, to come over quickly.” Again, in Acolastus, a comedy, 1529: “I pray thee, for all loves, be thou my mynde sens I am thyne.” Again, in Holinshed's Chronicle, p. 1064: “Mrs. Arden desired him of all loves, to come backe againe.” Steevens.

Note return to page 775 8&lblank;A nay-word, &lblank;] i. e. a watch-word. So in a subsequent scene: “&lblank; We have a nay-word to know one another, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 776 9In former editions, This Punk is one of Cupid's carriers: Clap on more sails; pursue; up with your fights; Give fire; she is my prize, &lblank;] This punk is one of Cupid's carriers, is a plausible reading, yet absurd on examination. For are not all punks Cupids carriers? Shakespeare certainly wrote: This Pink is one of Cupid's carriers: And then the sense is proper, and the metaphor, which is all the way taken from the marine, entire. A pink is a vessel of the small craft, employed as a carrier (and so called) for merchants. Fletcher uses the word in his Tamer Tamed: “This Pink, this painted foist, this cockle-boat, “To hang her fights out, and defy me, friends! “A well known man of war.” &lblank; As to the word fights, both in the text and in the quotation, it was then, and, for ought I know, may be now, a common sea-term. Sir Richard Hawkins, in his voyages, p. 66, says: “For once we cleared her deck, and had we been able to have spared but a dozen men, doubtless we had done with her what we would; for she had no close Fights,” i. e. if I understand it right, no small arms. So that by fights is meant any manner of defence, either small arms or cannon. So, Dryden, in his tragedy of Amboyna: “Up with your Fights, “And your nettings prepare, &c.” But, not considering this, I led the Oxford editor into a silly conjecture, which he has done me the honour of putting into his text, which is indeed a proper place for it: “Up with yond frigat.” Warburton. So, in The Ladies Privilege, 1640: “These gentlemen know better to cut a caper than a cable, or board a pink in the Bordells, than a pinnace at sea.” A small salmon is called a salmon-pink. Steevens. The quotation from Dryden might at least have raised a suspicion that fights were neither small arms, nor cannon. Fights and nettings are properly joined. Fights, I find, are cloaths hung round the ship to conceal the men from the enemy, and close-fights are bulk-heads, or any other shelter that the fabrick of a ship affords. Johnson. So, in Heywood and Rowley's comedy, called Fortune by Land and Sea:—“display'd their ensigns, up with all their feights, their matches in their cocks,” &c. So, in the Christian turned Turk, 1612: “Lace the netting, and let down the fights, make ready the shot, &c.” Again, in the Fair Maid of the West, 1615: “Then now up with your fights, and let your ensigns, “Blest with St. George's cross, play with the winds.” Again, in B. and Fletcher's Valentinian: “&lblank; while I were able to endure a tempest, “And bear my fights out bravely, till my tackle “Whistled i' th' wind” &lblank; [Subnote: add, Steevens.]

Note return to page 777 1&lblank; go to; via!] This cant phrase of exultation is common in the old plays. So, in Blurt Master Constable: “Via for fate! Fortune, lo! this is all.” Steevens. Markham uses this word as one of the vocal helps necessary for reviving a horse's spirits in galloping large rings, when he grows slothful. Hence this cant phrase (perhaps from the Italian, via) may be used on other occasions to quicken or pluck up courage. Tollet.

Note return to page 778 2&lblank; not to charge you; &lblank;] That is, not with a purpose of putting you to expence, or being burthensome. Johnson.

Note return to page 779 3&lblank; sith &lblank;] i. e. Since. Steevens.

Note return to page 780 4&lblank; meed, &lblank;] i. e. reward. So Spenser: “A rosy garland was the victor's meed.” Steevens.

Note return to page 781 5&lblank; of great admittance, &lblank;] i. e. admitted into all, or the greatest companies. Steevens.

Note return to page 782 6&lblank; generally allowed &lblank;] Allowed is approved. So in K. Lear: “&lblank; if your sweet sway “Allow obedience, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 783 7&lblank; instance and argument &lblank;] Instance is example. Johnson.

Note return to page 784 8&lblank; the ward of her purity, &lblank;] i. e. The defence of it. Steevens.

Note return to page 785 9&lblank; and I will aggravate his stile: &lblank;] Stile is a phrase from the herald's office. Falstaff means, that he will add more titles to those he already enjoys. So, in Heywood's Golden Age, 1611: “I will create lord of a greater style.” Again, in Spenser's Faery Queen, b. v. c. 2. “As to abandon that which doth contain “Your honour's stile, that is, your warlike shield.” Steevens.

Note return to page 786 1&lblank; Amaimon &lblank; Barbason, &lblank;] The reader who is curious to know any particulars concerning these dæmons, may find them in Reginald Scott's Inventarie of the Names, Shapes, Powers, Government, and Effects of Devils and Spirits, of their several Seignories and Degrees, a strange Discourse worth the reading, p. 377. &c. From hence it appears that Amaimon was king of the East, and Barbatos a great countie or earle. Steevens.

Note return to page 787 2&lblank; An Irishman with my aqua vitæ bottle, &lblank;] Heywood, in his Challenge for Beauty, 1636, mentions the love of aqua vitæ as characteristic of the Irish: “The Briton he metheglin quaffs,   “The Irish, aqua vitæ.” By aqua vitæ, was, I believe understood, not brandy, but usquebaugh, for which the Irish have been long celebrated. So, in Marston's Male content, 1604: “The Dutchman for a drunkard,   “The Dane for golden locks, “The Irishman for usquebaugh,   “The Frenchman for &lblank;” Malone.

Note return to page 788 3&lblank; Eleven o'clock &lblank;] Ford should rather have said ten o'clock: the time was between ten and eleven; and his impatient suspicion was not likely to stay beyond the time. Johnson.

Note return to page 789 4&lblank; to see the foin, [Correction: 1Kb]

Note return to page 790 for see the foin, read, see thee foin.

Note return to page 791 5&lblank; thy stock, &lblank;] Stock is a corruption of stocata, Ital. from which language the technical terms that follow, are likewise adopted. Steevens.

Note return to page 792 6&lblank; my heart of elder? &lblank;] It should be remember'd, to make this joke relish, that the elder tree has no heart. I suppose this expression was made use of in opposition to the common one, heart of oak. Steevens.

Note return to page 793 7&lblank; bully Stale? &lblank;] The reason why Caius is called bully Stale, and afterwards Urinal, must be sufficiently obvious to every reader, and especially to those whose credulity and weakness have enrolled them among the patients of the present German empiric, who calls himself Doctor Alexander Mayersbach. Steevens.

Note return to page 794 8&lblank; Castilian &lblank;] Sir T. Hanmer reads Cardalian, as used corruptedly for Cœur de lion. Johnson. Castilian and Ethiopian, like Cataian, appear in our author's time to have been cant terms. I have met with them in more than one of the old comedies. So, in a description of the Armada introduced in the Stately Moral of the Three Lords of London, 1590: “To carry as it were a careless regard “Of these Castilians, and their accustom'd bravado.” Again:— “To parly with the proud Castilians.” I suppose Castilian was the cant term for Spaniard in general. Steevens. “Thou art a Castilian king, Urinal!” quoth mine host to Dr. Caius. I believe this was a popular flur upon the Spaniards, who were held in great contempt after the business of the Armada. Thus we have a Treatise Parænetical, wherein is shewed the right way to resist the Castilian king: and a sonnet, prefixed to Lea's Answer to the Untruths published in Spain, in glorie of their supposed Victory atchieved against our English Navie, begins: “Thou fond Castilian king!” and so in other places. Farmer. Mr. Farmer's observation is just. Don Philip the Second, affected the title of King of Spain, but the realms of Spain would not agree to it, and only styled him King of Castile and Leon, &c. and so he wrote himself. His cruelty and ambitious views upon other states, rendered him universally detested. The Castilians, being descended chiefly from Jews and Moors, were deemed to be of a malign and perverse disposition; and hence perhaps, the term Castilian became opprobrious. I have extracted this note from an old pamphlet, called The Spanish Pilgrime, which I have reason to suppose is the same discourse with the Treatise Parænetical, mentioned by Dr. Farmer. Tollet.

Note return to page 795 9&lblank; against the hair &c.] This phrase is proverbial, and is taken from stroking the hair of animals a contrary way to that in which it grows.—We now say against the grain. Steevens.

Note return to page 796 1&lblank; mock-water.] The host means, I believe, to reflect on the inspection of urine, which made a considerable part of practical physick in that time; yet I do not well see the meaning of mock-water. Johnson. Perhaps by mock-water is meant—counterfeit. The water of a gem is a technical term. So in Timon, act I. sc. i: “—here is a water, look you.” Mock-water may therefore signify a thing of a counterfeit lustre. To mock, however, in Antony and Cleopatra, undoubtedly signifies to play with. Shakespeare may therefore chuse to represent Caius as one to whom a urinal was a play-thing. Steevens.

Note return to page 797 2In old editions, &lblank; I will bring thee where Anne Page is, at a farm-house a feasting; and thou shalt woo her: cry'd game, said I well?] Mr. Theobald alters this nonsense to try'd game; that is, to nonsense of a worse complexion. Shakespeare wrote and pointed thus, cry aim, said I well? i. e. consent to it, approve of it. Have not I made a good proposal? for to cry aim signifies to consent to, or approve of any thing. So again in this play: And to these violent proceedings all my neighbours shall cry aim, i. e. approve them. And again, in King John, act II. sc. ii: “It ill becomes this presence to cry aim “To these ill-tuned repetitions.” i. e. to approve of, or encourage them. The phrase was taken, originally, from archery. When any one had challenged another to shoot at the butts, (the perpetual diversion, as well as exercise, of that time) the standers-by used to say one to the other, Cry aim, i. e. accept the challenge. Thus Beaumont and Fletcher, in The Fair Maid of the Inn, act V. make the Duke say: “&lblank; must I cry aime “To this unheard of insolence?” &lblank; i. e. encourage it, and agree to the request of the duel, which one of his subjects had insolently demanded against the other.—But here it is remarkable, that the senseless editors, not knowing what to make of the phrase, Cry aim, read it thus: “&lblank; must I cry ai-me,” as if it was a note of interjection. So again, Massinger, in his Guardian: “I will cry aim, and in another room “Determine of my vengeance” &lblank; And again, in his Renegado: “&lblank; to play the pander “To the viceroy's loose embraces, and cry aim, “While he by force or flattery” &lblank; But the Oxford editor transforms it to Cock o' the Game; and his improvements of Shakespeare's language abound with these modern elegancies of speech, such as mynheers, bull baitings, &c. Warburton. Dr. Warburton is right in his explanation of cry aim, and in supposing that the phrase was taken from archery; but is certainly wrong in the particular practice which he assigns for the original of it. It seems to have been the office of the aim-crier, to give notice to the archer when he was within a proper distance of his mark, or in a direct line with it, and to point out why he failed to strike it. So, in All's lost by Lust, 1633: “He gives me aim, I am three bows too short; “I'll come up nearer next time.” Again, in Vittoria Corombona, 1612: “I'll give aim to you, “And tell how near you shoot.” Again, in the Spanish Gipsie, by Rowley and Middleton, 1653: “Though I am no great mark in respect of a huge butt, yet I can tell you, great bobbers have shot at me, and shot golden arrows; but I myself gave aim thus:—wide, four bows; short, three and a half, &c.” Again, in Green's Tu Quoque: (no date) “We'll stand by, and give aim, and holoo if you hit the clout.” Again, in Jarvis Markham's English Arcadia, 1607: “Thou smiling aim-crier at princes' fall.” Again, ibid. “&lblank; while her own creatures, like aim-criers, beheld her mischance with nothing but lip-pity.” In Ames's Typographical Antiquities, p. 402, a book is mentioned, called “Ayme for Finsburie Archers, or an Alphabetical Table of the name of every Mark in the same Fields, with their true Distances, both by the Map and the Dimensuration of the Line, &c. 1594.” Shakespeare uses the phrase again in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, scene the last, where it undoubtedly means to encourage: “Behold her that gave aim to all thy vows.” So, in The Palsgrave, by W. Smith, 1615: “Shame to us all if we give aim to that.” So, in the Revenger's Tragedy, 1608: “A mother to give aim to her own daughter!” The original and literal meaning of this expression, may be ascertained from some of the foregoing examples, and its figurative one from the rest; for as Dr. Warburton observes, it can mean nothing in these later instances, but to consent to, approve, or encourage. —It is not, however, the reading of Shakespeare in the passage before us, and therefore, we must strive to produce some sense from the words which we find there—cry'd game. We yet say, in colloquial language, that such a one is—game— or game to the back. There is surely no need of blaming Theobald's emendation with such severity. Cry'd game, might mean, in those days—a profess'd buck, one who was as well known by the report of his gallantry, as he could have been by proclamation. Thus, in Troilus and Cressida: “On whose bright crest, fame, with her loud'st O yes, “Cries, this is he.” Again, in All's well that ends well, act II. sc. i: “&lblank; find what you seek, “That fame may cry you loud.” Again, in Ford's Lover's Melancholy, 1629: “A gull, an arrant gull by proclamation.” Again, in King Lear: “&lblank; A proclaim'd prize.” Again, in Troilus and Cressida: “Thou art proclaim'd a fool, I think.” Cock of the game, however, is not, as Dr. Warburton pronounces it, a modern elegancy of speech, for it is found in Warner's Albions England, 1602: b. xii. c. 74. “This cocke of game, and (as might seeme) this hen of that same fether.” Again, in the Martial Maid, by B. and Fletcher: “Oh craven chicken of a cock o' th' game.” And in many other places. Steevens.

Note return to page 798 3&lblank; the Pitty-wary, &lblank;] The old editions read, the Pittie-ward, the modern editors the Pitty-wary. There is now no place that answers to either name at Windsor. The author might possibly have written the City-ward, i. e. towards London. Petty-ward might, however, signify some small district in the town which is now forgotten. Steevens.

Note return to page 799 4By shallow rivers, &c.] This is part of a beautiful little poem of the author's; which poem, and the answer to it, the reader will not be displeased to find here. The Passionate Shepherd to his Love. Come live with me, and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove That hills and vallies, dale and field, And all the craggy mountains yield. There will we sit upon the rocks, And see the shepherds feed their flocks, By shallow rivers, by whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals: There will I make thee beds of roses With a thousand fragrant posies, A cap of flowers, and a kirtle Imbroider'd all with leaves of myrtle; A gown made of the finest wool, Which from our pretty lambs we pull; Fair lined slippers for the cold, With buckles of the purest gold; A belt of straw, and ivy buds, With coral clasps, and amber studs: And if these pleasures may thee move, Come live with me, and be my love. Thy silver dishes for thy meat, As precious as the gods do eat, Shall on an ivory table be Prepar'd each day for thee and me. The shepherd swains shall dance and sing, For thy delight each May morning: If these delights thy mind may move* [Subnote: *The conclusion of this and the following poem, seem to have furnished Milton with the hint for the last lines both of his Allegro and Penseroso. Steevens.] , Then live with me, and be my love. The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd. If that the world and love were young, And truth in every shepherd's tongue, These pretty pleasures might me move To live with thee, and be thy love. But time drives flocks from field to fold, When rivers rage, and rocks grow cold, And Philomel becometh dumb, And all complain of cares to come: The flowers do fade, and wanton fields To wayward winter reckoning yields: A honey tongue, a heart of gall, Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall. Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses, Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies, Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten, In folly ripe, in reason rotten. Thy belt of straw, and ivy buds, Thy coral clasps, and amber studs; All these in me no means can move To come to thee, and be thy love. What should we talk of dainties then, Of better meat than's fit for men? These are but vain: that's only good Which God hath bless'd, and sent for food. But could youth last, and love still breed, Had joys no date, and age no need; Then these delights my mind might move To live with thee, and be thy love. These two poems, which Dr. Warburton gives to Shakespeare, are, by writers nearer that time, disposed of, one to Marlow, the other to Raleigh. They are read in different copies with great variations. Johnson. In England's Helicon, a collection of love-verses printed in Shakespeare's life-time, viz. in 1600, the first of them is given to Marlow, the second to a person unknown; and Dr. Percy, in the first volume of his Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, observes, that there is good reason to believe that (not Shakespeare, but) Christopher Marlow wrote the song, and sir Walter Raleigh the Nymph's Reply: for so we are positively assured by Isaac Walton, a writer of some credit, who has inserted them both in his Compleat Angler, under the character of “That smooth song which was made by Kit Marlow, now at least fifty years ago; and an answer to it, which was made by sir Walter Raleigh in his younger days ..... Old fashioned poetry, but choicely good.” See the Reliques, &c. vol. I. p. 218, 221, third edit. In Shakespeare's sonnets, printed by Jaggard, 1599, this poem is attributed to Shakespeare. Mr. Malone, however, observes, that “What seems to ascertain it to be Marlowe's, is, that one of the lines is found (and not as a quotation) in a play of his—The Jew of Malta; which, though not printed till 1633, must have been written before 1593, as he died in that year.” “Thou in those groves, by Dis above, “Shalt live with me, and be my love.” Steevens. The tune to which the former was sung, I have lately discovered in a MS. as old as Shakespeare's time, and it is as follows:

Note return to page 800 5Peace, I say, Gallia and Gaul, French and Welch, &lblank;] Sir Thomas Hanmer reads Gallia and Wallia: but it is objected that Wallia is not easily corrupted into Gaul. Possibly the word was written Guallia. Farmer. Thus, in K. Hen. VI. Gualtier for Walter. Steevens.9Q0132

Note return to page 801 6&lblank; scall, scurvy, &lblank;] Scall was an old word of reproach, as scab was afterwards. Chaucer imprecates on his scrivener: “Under thy longe lockes mayest thou have the scalle.” Johnson.

Note return to page 802 7&lblank; so seeming mistress Page, &lblank;] seeming is specious. So, in K. Lear: “If ought within that little seeming substance.” Steevens.

Note return to page 803 8&lblank; shall cry aim.] i. e. shall encourage. The phrase is taken from archery: See a note on the first scene of this act, and another in K. John, act II. sc. i. Steevens.

Note return to page 804 9We have linger'd &lblank;] They have not linger'd very long. The match was proposed by Sir Hugh but the day before. Johnson. Shallow represents the affair as having been long in hand, that he may better excuse himself and Slender from accepting Ford's invitation on the day when it was to be concluded. Steevens.

Note return to page 805 1&lblank; he writes verses, he speaks holy-day, &lblank;] i. e. in an highflown, fustian style. It was called a holy-day style, from the old custom of acting their farces of the mysteries and moralities, which were turgid and bombast, on holy-days. So, in Much Ado about Nothing—“I cannot woo in festival terms.” And again, in The Merchant of Venice—“thou spend'st such high-day wit in praising him.” Warburton.

Note return to page 806 2&lblank; he speaks holy-day, &lblank;] So in K. Hen. IV. P. I. “With many holiday and lady terms.” Steevens.

Note return to page 807 3&lblank;'tis in his buttons;&lblank;] Alluding to an ancient custom among the country fellows, of trying whether they should succeed with their mistresses, by carrying the batchelor's buttons (a plant of the Lychnis kind, whose flowers resemble a coat button in form) in their pockets. And they judged of their good or bad success, by their growing, or their not growing there.Smith. Greene mentions these batchelor's buttons, in his Quip for an upstart Courtier:—“I saw the batchelor's buttons, whose virtue is, to make wanton maidens weep, when they have worne them forty weeks under their aprons, &c.” The same expression occurs in Heywood's Fair Maid of the West, 1631:   “He wears batchelor's buttons, does he not?” Again, in The Constant Maid, by Shirley, 1640:   “I am a batchelor,   “I pray let me be one of your buttons still then.” Again, in A Fair Quarrel, by Middleton and Rowley, 1617;   “I'll wear my batchelor's buttons still.” Again, in A Woman never Vex'd, com. by Rowley, 1632:   “Go, go and rest on Venus' violets; shew her   “A dozen of batchelor's buttons, boy.” Again, in Westward Hoe, 1606: “Here's my husband, and no batchelor's buttons are at his doublet.”Steevens.

Note return to page 808 4&lblank;of no having:&lblank;] Having is the same as estate or fortune. Johnson. So, in Macbeth:   “Of noble having, and of royal hope.” Steevens.

Note return to page 809 5Host. Farewell, my hearts: I will to my honest knight Falstaff, and drink canary with him. Ford. [Aside.] I think, I shall drink IN PIPE-wine first with him: I'll make him dance.&lblank;]To drink in pipe-wine, is a phrase which I cannot understand. May we suppose that Shakespeare rather wrote? I think I shall drink HORN-PIPE wine first with him: I'll make him dance. Canary is the name of a dance, as well as of a wine. Ford lays hold of both senses; but, for an obvious reason, makes the dance a horn-pipe. It has been already remarked, that Shakespeare has frequent alusions to a cuckold's horns.Tyrwhitt. Pipe is know to be a vessel of wine, now containing two hofsheads. Pipe wine is therefore wine, not from the bottle, but the pipe; and the text consists in the ambiguity of the word, which signifies both a cask of wine, and a musical instrument. Johnson.

Note return to page 810 6&lblank; take this basket on your shoulders: &lblank;] It is not improbable but that Shakespeare, in the character of Falstaff, might have aimed some strokes at the corpulence and intemperance of Ben Jonson. Mr. Oldys, in his MS. additions to Langbaine's account of English dramatic poets, introduces the following story of Ben, which was found in a memorandum book, written in the time of the civil wars, by Mr. Oldisworth, who was secretary to Philip, earl of Pembroke. “Mr. Cambden recommended him to Sir Walter Raleigh, who trusted him with the care and instruction of his eldest son, Walter, a gay spark, who could not brook Ben's rigorous treatment; but perceiving one foible in his disposition, made use of that to throw off the yoke of his government. This was an unlucky habit that Ben had contracted, through his love of jovial company, of being overtaken with liquor, which Sir Walter of all vices did most abominate, and hath most exclaimed against. One day when Ben had taken a plentiful dose, and was fallen into a sound sleep, young Raleigh got a great basket and a couple of men, who laid Ben in it, and then with a pole carried him between their shoulders to Sir Walter, telling him, that their young master had sent home his tutor.” Steevens.9Q0133

Note return to page 811 7How now, my eyas-musket? &lblank;] Eyas is a young unfiedg'd hawk; I suppose from the Italian Niaso, which originally signified any young bird taken from the nest unfledg'd, afterwards a young hawk. The French, from hence, took their niais, and used it in both those significations; to which they added a third, metaphorically a silly fellow; un garçon fort niais, un niais. Musket signifies a sparrow hawk, or the smallest species of hawks. This too is from the Italian Muschetto, a small hawk, as appears from the original signification of the word, namely, a troublesome stinging fly. So that the humour of calling the little page an eyas-musket is very intelligible. Warburton. So, in Greene's Card of Fancy, 1608: “—no hawk so haggard but will stoop to the lure: no niesse so ramage but will be reclaimed to the lunes.” Eyas-musket is the same as infant Lilliputian. Again, in Spenser's Faery Queen, b. i. c. &lblank; “&lblank; youthful gay “Like eyas-hauke, up mounts into the skies, “His newly budded pinions to essay.” In the Booke of Haukyng, &c. commonly called the Book of St. Albans, bl. l. no date, is the following derivation of the word; but whether true or erroneous, is not for me to determine: “An hauke is called an eyesse from her eyen. For an hauke that is brought up under a busiarde or puttock, as many ben, have watry eyen, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 812 8&lblank; Jack-a-lent, &lblank;] A Jack o' lent was a puppet thrown at in Lent, like shrove-cocks. So, in The Weakest goes to the Wall, 1618: “A mere anatomy, a Jack of Lent.” Again, in the Four Prentices of London, 1632: “Now you old Jack of Lent, six weeks and upwards.” Again, in Greene's Tu Quoque, 1599: “&lblank; for if a boy that is throwing at his Jack o' Lent, chance to hit me on the shins, &c.” See a note on the last scene of this comedy. Steevens.

Note return to page 813 9&lblank; from jays.] So, in Cymbeline: “&lblank; some jay of Italy, “Whose mother was her painting, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 814 1Have I caught my heavenly jewel?] This is the first line of the second song in Sidney's Astrophel and Stella. Tollet.

Note return to page 815 2&lblank; Why, now let me die; for I have lived long enough; &lblank;] This sentiment, which is of sacred origin, is here indecently introduced. It appears again, with somewhat less of profaneness, in the Winter's Tale, act IV. and in Othello, act II. Steevens.

Note return to page 816 3&lblank; arched bent &lblank;] Thus the quartos 1602, and 1619. The folio reads—arched beauty. Steevens.

Note return to page 817 4&lblank; that becomes the ship tire, the tire-valiant, or any Venetian attire.] The old quarto reads, tire-vellet and the old folio reads, or any tire of Venetian admittance. So that the true reading of the whole is this, that becomes the ship-tire, the tire-valiant, or any sire of Venetian admittance. The speaker tells his mistress, she had a face that would become all the head dresses in fashion. The ship-tire was an open head-dress, with a kind of scarf depending from behind. Its name of ship-tire was, I presume, from its giving the wearer some resemblance of a ship (as Shakespeare says) in all her trim: with all her pennants out, and flags and streamers flying. Thus Milton, in Samson Agonistes, paints Dalila: “But who is this, what thing of sea or land? “Female of sex it seems, “That so bedeck'd, ornate and gay, “Comes this way sailing “Like a stately ship “Of Tarsus, bound for the isles “Of Javan or Gadier, “With all her bravery on, and tackle trim, “Sails fill'd, and streamers waving, “Courted by all the winds that hold them play.” This was an image familiar with the poets of that time. Thus Beaumont and Fletcher, in their play of Wit without Money:— “She spreads sattens as the king's ships do canvas every where, she may space her misen, &c.” This will direct us to reform the following word of tire-valiant, which I suspect to be corrupt, valiant being a very incongruous epithet for a woman's head-dress. I suppose Shakespeare wrote tire-voilant. As the ship-tire was an open head-dress, so the tire-voilant was a close one; in which the head and breast were covered as with a veil. And these were, in fact, the two different head-dresses then in fashion, as we may see by the pictures of that time. One of which was so open, that the whole neck, breasts, and shoulders, were opened to view: the other, so securely inclosed in kerchiefs, &c. that nothing could be seen above the eyes, or below the chin. &lblank; or any Venetian attire.] This is a wrong reading, as appears from the impropriety of the word attire here used for a woman's head-dress: whereas it signifies the dress of any part. We should read therefore, or any 'tire of Venetian admittance. For the word attire, reduced by the aphæresis, to 'tire, takes a new signification, and means only the head dress. Hence tire-woman, for a dresser of the head. As to the meaning of the latter part of the sentence, this may be seen by a paraphrase of the whole speech.— Your face is so good, says the speaker, that it would become any head-dress worn at court, either the open or the close, or indeed any rich and fashionable one worth adorning with Venetian point, or which will admit to be adorned. [Of Venetian admittance.] The fashionable lace, at that time, was Venetian point. Warburton. This note is plausible, except in the explanation of Venetian admittance: but I am afraid this whole system of dress is unsupported by evidence. Johnson. &lblank; of Venetian admittance.] i. e. of a fashion received from Venice. So, in Westward Hoe, 1606, by Decker and Webster: “&lblank; now she's in that Italian head-tire you sent her.” Dr. Warburton might have found the same reading in the quarto, 1630. Instead of tire-valiant, I would read tire-volant. Stubbs, who describes most minutely every article of female-dress, has mentioned none of these terms, but speaks of vails depending from the top of the head, and flying behind in loose folds. The word volant was in use before the age of Shakespeare. I find it in Wilfride Holme's Fall and evil Successe of Rebellion, 1537: “high volant in any thing divine.” Tire vellet, in the old 4to, may be printed, as Mr. Tollet observes, by mistake, for tire-velvet. We know that velvet-hoods were worn in the age Shakespeare. Steevens.

Note return to page 818 5&lblank; a traitor &lblank;] i. e. to thy own merit. Steevens.

Note return to page 819 6&lblank; like Bucklers-bury, &c.] Bucklers-bury, in the time of Shakespeare, was chiefly inhabited by druggists, who sold all kind of herbs, green as well as dry. Steevens.

Note return to page 820 7Speak louder &lblank;] i. e. that Falstaff who is retired may hear. This passage is only found in the two elder quartos. Steevens.

Note return to page 821 8&lblank; how you drumble: &lblank;] The reverend Mr. Lambe, the editor of the ancient metrical history of the Battle of Floddon, observes, that—look how you drumble, means—how confused you are; and that in the North, drumbled ale is muddy, disturbed ale. Thus, a Scottish proverb in Ray's collection: “It is good fishing in drumbling waters.” Again, in Have with you to Saffron Walden, or Gabriel Harvey's Hunt is up, this word, occurs: “&lblank; gray-beard drumbling over a discourse.” Again: “&lblank; your fly in a boxe is but a drumble-bee in comparison of it.” Again: “&lblank; this drumbling course.” Steevens.

Note return to page 822 9&lblank; So now uncape.] So the folio of 1623 reads, and rightly. It is a term in fox-hunting, which signifies to dig out the fox when earth'd. And here is as much as to say, take out the foul linen under which the adulterer lies hid. The Oxford editor reads uncouple, out of pure love to an emendation. Warburton. Dr. Warburton seems to have forgot that the linen was already carried away. The allusion in the foregoing sentence is to the stopping every hole at which a fox could enter, before they uncape or turn him out of the bag in which he was brought. I suppose every one has heard of a bag-fox. Steevens.

Note return to page 823 1In your teeth: &lblank;] This dirty restoration was made by Mr. Theobald. Evans's application of the doctor's words, is not in the folio. Steevens.

Note return to page 824 2&lblank; father's wealth] Some light may be given to those who shall endeavour to calculate the increase of English wealth, by observing, that Latymer, in the time of Edward VI. mentions it as a proof of his father's prosperity, That though but a yeoman, he gave his daughters five pounds each for her portion. At the latter end of Elizabeth, seven hundred pounds were such a temptation to courtship, as made all other motives suspected. Congreve makes twelve thousand pounds more than a counterbalance to the affectation of Belinda. No poet would now fly his favourite character at less than fifty thousand. Johnson.

Note return to page 825 3If opportunity and humblest suit] Dr. Thirlby imagines, that our author with more propriety wrote: If importunity and humblest suit. I have not ventur'd to disturb the text, because it may mean, “If the frequent opportunities you find of solliciting my father, and your obsequiousness to him, cannot get him over to your party, &c.” Theobald.

Note return to page 826 4&lblank; come cut and long tail &lblank;] i. e. come poor, or rich, to offer himself as my rival. The following is the origin of the phrase. According to the forest laws, the dog of a man, who had no right to the privilege of chace, was obliged to cut, or law his dog, amongst other modes of disabling him, by depriving him of his tail. A dog so cut was called a cut, or curt-tail, and by contraction cur. Cut and long-tail therefore signified the dog of a clown, and the dog of a gentleman. Steevens.9Q0140 &lblank; come cut and long tail, &lblank;] I can see no meaning in this phrase. Slender promises to make his mistress a gentlewoman, and probably means to say, he will deck her in a gown of the court cut, and with a long train or tail. In the comedy of Eastward Hoe, is this passage: “The one must be ladyfied forsooth, and be attired just to the court cut and long tayle;” which seems to justify our reading—Court cut and long tail. Sir J. Hawkins.

Note return to page 827 5&lblank; happy man be his dole!] A proverbial expression. See Ray's collection, p. 116. edit. 1737. Steevens.

Note return to page 828 6Anne. Alas, I had rather be set quick i' the earth, And bowl'd to death with turnips.] Can we think the speaker would thus ridicule her own imprecation? We may be sure the last line should be given to the procuress, Quickly, who would mock the young woman's aversion for her master the doctor. Warburton. &lblank; be set quick i' the earth, And bowl'd to death with turnips.] This is a common proverb in the southern counties. I find almost the same expression in Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair: “Would I had been set in the ground, all but the head of me, and had my brains bowl'd at.” Collins.

Note return to page 829 7&lblank; fool, and a physician?] I should read fool or a physician, meaning Slender and Caius. Johnson. Sir Tho. Hanmer reads according to Dr. Johnson's conjecture. This may be right.—Or my Dame Quickly may allude to the proverb, a man of forty is either a fool or a physician; but she asserts her master to be both. Farmer. So, in Microcosmus, a masque by Nabbes, 1637: “Choler. Phlegm's a fool. “Melan. Or a physician.” Again, in a Maidenhead well lost, 1632: “No matter whether I be a fool or a physician.” Mr. Dennis of irascible memory, who altered this play, and brought it on the stage, in the year 1702, under the title of The Comical Gallant, (when, thanks to the alterer, it was fairly damn'd) has introduced the proverb at which Mrs. Quickly's allusion appears to be pointed. Steevens.

Note return to page 830 8&lblank; once to-night &lblank;] i. e. sometime to-night. So in a letter from the sixth earl of Northumberland; (quoted in the notes on the household book of the fifth earl of that name:) “&lblank; notwithstanding I trust to be able ons to set up a chapell off myne owne.” Steevens.

Note return to page 831 9&lblank; speciously &lblank;] She means to say specially. Steevens.

Note return to page 832 1In former copies: &lblank; as they would have drown'd a blind bitch's puppies, &lblank;] I have ventured to transpose the adjective here, against the authority of the printed copies. I know, in horses, a colt from a blind stallion loses much of the value it might otherwise have; but are puppies ever drown'd the sooner, for coming from a blind bitch? The author certainly wrote, as they would have drown'd a bitch's blind puppies. Theobald. The transposition may be justified from the following passage in the Two Gentlemen of Verona: “&lblank; one that I saved from drowning, when three or four of his blind brothers and sisters went to it.” Steevens.

Note return to page 833 2&lblank; several deaths:] Thus the folio and the most correct of the quartos. The first quarto reads—egregious deaths. Steevens.

Note return to page 834 3&lblank; detected with &lblank;] Thus the old copies. With was sometimes used for of. So, a little after: “I sooner will suspect the sun with cold.” Detected of a jealous &c.] would have been the common grammar of the times. The modern editors read by. Steevens.

Note return to page 835 4&lblank; bilbo, &lblank;] A bilbo is a Spanish blade, of which the excellence is flexibleness and elasticity. Johnson. &lblank; bilbo, from Bilboa. Steevens.

Note return to page 836 5&lblank; kidney;] Kidney in this phrase now signifies kind or qualities, but Falstaff means, a man whose kidnies are as fat as mine. Johnson.

Note return to page 837 6&lblank; address me &lblank;] i. e. make myself ready. So in K. Henry V: “To-morrow for our march we are addrest.” Steevens.

Note return to page 838 7&lblank; I'll be horn-mad.] There is no image which our author appears so fond of, as that of cuckold's horns. Scarcely a light character is introduced that does not endeavour to produce merriment by some allusion to horned husbands. As he wrote his plays for the stage rather than the press, he perhaps reviewed them seldom, and did not observe this repetition; or finding the jest, however frequent, still successful, did not think correction necessary. Johnson.

Note return to page 839 8This is a very trifling scene, of no use to the plot, and I should think of no great delight to the audience; but Shakespeare best knew what would please. Johnson. We may suppose this scene to have been a very entertaining one to the audience for which it was written. Many of the old plays exhibit pedants instructing their scholars. Marston has a very long one in his What you Will, between a schoolmaster, and Holofernes, Nathaniel, &c. his pupils. The title of this play was perhaps borrowed by Shakespeare, to join to that of Twelfth Night. What you Will, appeared in 1607. Twelfth Night, in 1623. Steevens.

Note return to page 840 9&lblank; horum, harum, horum.] Taylor, the water-poet, has borrowed this jest, such as it is, in his character of a strumpet: “And come to horum, harum, whorum, then “She proves a great proficient among men.” Steevens.

Note return to page 841 1&lblank; your kies, your kæs, &c.] All this ribaldry is likewise found in Taylor the water-poet. See fol. edit. p. 106. Steevens.

Note return to page 842 2&lblank; you must be preeches.] Sir Hugh means to say—you must be breech'd: i. e. flogg'd. To breech is to flog. So, in the Taming of the Shrew: “I am no breeching scholar in the schools.” Again, in the Humorous Lieutenant, of Beaumont and Fletcher: “Cry like a breech'd boy, not eat a bit.” Steevens.

Note return to page 843 3&lblank; sprag &lblank;] I am told that this word is still used by the common people in the neighbourhood of Bath, where it signifies ready, alert, sprightly, and is pronounced as if it was written—sprack. Steevens.

Note return to page 844 4&lblank; lunes &lblank;] i. e. lunacy, frenzy. See a note on the Winter's Tale. The quarto 1630, and the folio, read lines, instead of lunes. The elder quartos—his old vaine again. Steevens.

Note return to page 845 5&lblank; be so takes on &lblank;] To take on, which is now used for to grieve, seems to be used by our author for to rage. Perhaps it was applied to any passion. Johnson.9Q0142

Note return to page 846 6&lblank; Peer-out,] That is, appear horns. Shakespeare is at his old lunes. Johnson.

Note return to page 847 7&lblank; an abstract &lblank;] i. e. a list, an inventory. Steevens.

Note return to page 848 8&lblank; her thrum hat, and her muffler too: &lblank;] The thrum is the end of a weaver's warp, and we may suppose, was used for the purpose of making coarse hats. In the Midsummer Night's Dream: “O fates, come, come, “Cut thread and thrum.” A muffler was some part of dress that covered the face. So, in the Cobler's Prophecy, 1594: “Now is she bare-fac'd to be seen:—strait on her Muffler goes.” Again, in Laneham's account of Queen Elizabeth's entertainment at Kenelworth castle, 1575: “&lblank; his mother lent him a nu mufflar for a napkin, that was tyed to hiz gyrdl for lozyng.” Steevens.

Note return to page 849 9&lblank; this passes!] The force of the phrase I did not understand when our former impression of Shakespeare was prepared; and therefore gave these two words as part of an imperfect sentence. One of the obsolete senses of the verb, to pass, is, to go beyond bounds. So, in Sir Clyomon, &c. Knight of the Golden Shield, 1599: “I have such a deal of substance here when Brian's men are slaine, “That it passeth. Oh that I had while to stay!” Again, in the translation of the Menæchmi, 1595: “This passeth, that I meet with none, but thus they vexe me with strange speeches.” Steevens.

Note return to page 850 1&lblank; this wrongs you.] This is below your character, unworthy of your understanding, injurious to your honour. So, in The Taming of the Shrew, Bianca, being ill treated by her rugged sister, says: “You wrong me much, indeed you wrong yourself.” Johnson.

Note return to page 851 2&lblank; his wife's leman.] Leman, i. e. lover, is derived from leef, Dutch, beloved, and man. Steevens.

Note return to page 852 3She works by charms, &c.] Concerning some old woman of Brentford, there are several ballads; among the rest, Julian of Brentford's last Will and Testament, 1599. Steevens.9Q0147

Note return to page 853 4&lblank; such daubery &lblank;] Dauberies are disguises. So, in K. Lear, Edgar says: “I cannot daub it further.” Steevens.

Note return to page 854 5&lblank; ronyon! &lblank;] Ronyon, applied to a woman, means, as far as can be traced, much the same with scall or scab spoken of a man. Johnson. So, in Macbeth: “Aroint thee witch, the rump-fed ronyon cries.” From Rogneux, Fr. So again: “The roynish clown,” in As you like it. Steevens.

Note return to page 855 6&lblank; a great peard; &lblank;] One of the marks of a supposed witch, was a beard. So in Macbeth: “&lblank; you should be women, “And yet your beards forbid me to interpret “That you are so.” Again, in the Duke's Mistress, 1638: “&lblank; a chin, without all controversy, good “To go a fishing with; a witches beard on't.” Steevens.

Note return to page 856 7&lblank; I spy a great peard under his muffler.] As the second stratagem, by which Falstaff escapes, is much the grosser of the two, I wish it had been practised first. It is very unlikely that Ford, having been so deceived before, and knowing that he had been deceived, would suffer him to escape in so slight a disguise. Johnson.

Note return to page 857 8&lblank; cry out thus upon no trail, &lblank;] The expression is taken from the hunters. Trail is the scent left by the passage of the game. To cry out, is to open or bark. Johnson. So, in Hamlet: “How chearfully on the false trail they cry: “Oh this is counter, ye false Danish dogs!” Steevens.

Note return to page 858 9&lblank; in the way of waste, attempt us again.] i. e. he will not make further attempts to ruin us, by corrupting our virtue, and destroying our reputation Steevens.

Note return to page 859 1&lblank; no period &lblank;] Shakespeare seems, by no period, to mean, no proper catastrophe. Of this Hanmer was so well persuaded, that he thinks it necessary to read—no right period. Steevens.

Note return to page 860 2&lblank; they must come off; &lblank;] This never can be our poet's or his host's meaning. To come off being, in other terms, to go scotfree. We must read, compt off, i. e. clear their reckoning. Warburton. To come off, signifies, in our author, sometimes, to be uttered with spirit and volubility. In this place it seems to mean what is in our time expressed by to come down, to pay liberally and readily. These accidental and coloquial senses are the disgrace of language, and the plague of commentators. Johnson. To come off, is, to pay. In this sense it is used by Massinger, in The Unnatural Combat, act IV. sc. ii. where a wench, demanding money of the father to keep his bastard, says: “Will you come off, sir?” Again, in Decker's If this be not a good Play the Devil is in it, 1612: “Do not your gallants come off roundly then?” Again, in Heywood's If you know not me you know Nobody, 1633, p. 2: “&lblank; and then if he will not come off, carry him to the compter.” Again, in A Trick to catch the Old One, 1616: “Hark in thine ear:—will he come off think'st thou, and pay my debts?” Again, in the Return from Parnassus, 1606: “It is his meaning I should come off.” Again, in The Widow, by B. Jonson, Fletcher, and Middleton, 1652: “I am forty dollars better for that: an 'twould come off quicker 'twere nere a whit the worse for me.” Again, in A merye Jest of a Man called Howleglas, bl. l. no date: “Therefore come off lightly, and geve me my mony.” Steevens. “They must come off, says mine host; I'll sauce them.” This passage has exercised the critics. It is altered by Dr. Warburton; but there is no corruption, and Mr. Steevens has rightly interpreted it. The quotation however from Massinger, which is referred to likewise by Mr. Edwards in his Canons of Criticism, scarcely satisfied Mr. Health, and still less the last editor, who gives us, “They must not come off.” It is strange that any one conversant in old language, should hesitate, at this phrase. Take another quotation or two, that the difficulty may be effectually removed for the future. In John Heywood's play of the Four P's, the pedlar says: &lblank; “If you be willing to buy, “Lay down money, come of quickly.” In The Widow, by Jonson, Fletcher, and Middleton,—“if he will come off roundly, he'll set him free too.” And, again, in Fennor's Comptor's Commonwealth:—“except I would come off roundly, I should be bar'd of that priviledge,” &c. Farmer. The phrase is used by Chaucer, Friar's Tale, 338. edit. Urry: “Come off, and let me riden hastily, “Give me twelve pence; I may no longer tarie.” Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 861 3I rather will suspect the sun with cold,] Thus the modern editions. —The old ones read—with gold, which may mean, I rather will suspect the sun can be a thief, or be corrupted by a bribe, than thy honour can be betrayed to wantonness. Mr. Rowe silently made the change, which succeeding editors have as silently adopted. A thought of a similar kind occurs in Hen. IV. Part I: “Shall the blessed sun of heaven prove a micher?” I have not, however, displaced Mr. Rowe's emendation; as a zeal to preserve old readings without distinction, may sometimes prove as injurious to the author's reputation, as a desire to introduce new ones, without attention to the quaintness of phraseology then in use. Steevens.

Note return to page 862 4&lblank; and takes the cattle;] To take, in Shakespeare, signifies to seize or strike with a disease, to blast. So, in Lear: “&lblank; Strike her young bones, “Ye taking airs, with lameness.” Johnson. So, in Markham's Treatise of Horses, 1595, chap. 8. “Of a horse that is taken. A horse that is bereft of his feeling, mooving, or styrring, is said to be taken, and in sooth so hee is, in that he is arrested by so villanous a disease; yet some farriors, not well understanding the ground of the disease, conster the word taken, to be striken by some planet or evil-spirit, which is false, &c.” Thus our poet: &lblank; “No planets strike, no fairy takes.” Tollet.

Note return to page 863 5&lblank; idle-headed eld] Eld seems to be used here, for what our poet calls in Macbeth—the olden time. It is employed in Measure for Measure, to express age and decrepitude: “&lblank; doth beg the alms “Of palsied eld.” Steevens.

Note return to page 864 6Mrs. Ford. Marry, this is our device; &lblank; That Falstaff at that oak shall meet with us. Page. Well, let it not be doubted, but he'll come, And in this shape; when you have brought him thither,] Thus this passage has been transmitted down to us, from the time of the first edition by the players: but what was this shape, in which Falstaff was to be appointed to meet? For the women have not said one word to ascertain it. This makes it more than suspicious, the defect in this point must be owing to some wise retrenchment. The two intermediate lines, which I have restored from the old quarto, are absolutely necessary, and clear up the matter Theobald.

Note return to page 865 7&lblank; urchins, ouphes,&lblank;] The primitive signification of urchin is a hedge-hog. In this sense it is used in the Tempest. Hence it comes to signify any thing little and dwarfish. Ouph is the Teutonic word for a fairy or goblin. Steevens.

Note return to page 866 8With some diffused song: &lblank;] A diffused song signifies a song that strikes out into wild sentiments beyond the bounds of nature, such as those whose subject is fairy land. Warburton. Diffused may mean confused. So in Stowe's Chronicle, p. 553: “Rice, quoth he, (i. e. Cardinal Wolsey,) speak you Welch to them: I doubt not but thy speech shall be more diffuse to him, than his French shall be to thee.” Tollet. By diffused song, Shakespeare may mean such irregular songs as mad people sing. Edgar, in K. Lear, when he has determined to assume the appearance of a travelling lunatic, declares his resolution to diffuse his speech, i. e. to give it the turn peculiar to madness. Steevens.

Note return to page 867 9And, fairy-like, to pinch the unclean knight;] The grammar requires us to read: And, fairy-like too, pinch the unclean knight. Warb. This should perhaps be written to-pinch, as one word. This use of to in composition with verbs, is very common in Gower and Chaucer, but must have been rather antiquated in the time of Shakespeare. See, Gower, De Confessione Amantis, B. iv. fol. 7: “All to-tore is myn araie.” And Chaucer, Reeve's Tale, 1169: “&lblank; mouth and nose to-broke.” The construction will otherwise be very hard. Tyrwhitt. I add a few more instances to shew that this use of the preposition to was not entirely antiquated. Spenser's F. Q. b. iv. c. 7: “With briers and bushes all to-rent and scratched.” Again, b. v. c. 8: “With locks all loose, and raiment all to-tore.” Again, b. v. c. 9: “Made of strange stuffe, but all to-worne and ragged, “And underneath the breech was all to-torne and jagged.” Again, in the Three Lords of London, 1590: “The post at which he runs, and all to-burns it.” Again, in Arden of Feversham, 1592: “A watchet sattin doublet, all to-torn.” Steevens.

Note return to page 868 1&lblank; pinch him sound,] i. e. soundly. The adjective used as an adverb. The modern editors read—round. Steevens.

Note return to page 869 2That silk will I go buy;—and, in that time] Mr. Theobald, referring that time to the time of buying the silk, alters it to tire. But there is no need of any change; that time evidently relating to the time of the mask with which Falstaff was to be entertained, and which makes the whole subject of this dialogue. Therefore the common reading is right. Warburton.

Note return to page 870 3&lblank; properties &lblank;] Properties are little incidental necessaries to a theatre, exclusive of scenes and dresses. So, in the Taming the Shrew: “—a shoulder of mutton for a property.” Steevens.

Note return to page 871 4&lblank; tricking for our fairies.] To trick, is to dress out. So, in Milton: “Not trick'd and frounc'd as she was wont, “With the Attic boy to hunt; “But kerchief'd in a homely cloud.” Steevens.

Note return to page 872 5&lblank; what, thick-skin?] I meet with this term of abuse in Warner's Albions England, 1602, book vi. chap. 30: “That he so soul a thick-skin should so fair a lady catch.” Steevens.

Note return to page 873 6&lblank; standing-bed, and truckle-bed; &lblank;] The usual furniture of chambers in that time was a standing-bed, under which was a trochle, truckle, or running bed. In the standing-bed lay the master, and in the truckle-bed the servant. So, in Hall's Account of a Servile Tutor: “He lieth in the truckle-bed, “While his young master lieth o'er his head.” Johnson. So, in the Return from Parnassus, 1606: “When I lay in a trundle-bed under my tutor.” And here the tutor has the upper bed. Again, in Heywood's Royal King, &c. 1637: “&lblank; shew these gentlemen into a close room with a standing-bed in't, and a truckle too,” Steevens.

Note return to page 874 7&lblank; Anthropophaginian &lblank;] i. e. a canibal. See Othello, act I. sc. iii. It is here used as a sounding word to astonish Simple. Ephesian, which follows, has no more meaning. Steevens.

Note return to page 875 8&lblank; Bohemian-Tartar &lblank;] The French call a Bohemian what we call a Gypsey; but I believe the Host means nothing more than, by a wild appellation, to insinuate that Simple makes a strange appearance. Johnson. In Germany, there were several companies of vagabonds, &c. called Tartars and Zigens. “These were the same in my opinion,” says Mezeray, “as those the French call Bohemians, and the English Gypsies.” Bulteel's Translation of Mezeray's History of France, under the year 1417. Tollet.

Note return to page 876 9&lblank; mussel-shell; &lblank;] He calls poor Simple mussel-shell, because he stands with his mouth open. Johnson.

Note return to page 877 1Simple. May I be so bold to say so, sir? Falstaff. Ay, sir, like who more bold.] In the first edition, the latter speech stands: I Tike, who more bolde.—And should plainly be read here, Ay, sir Tike, &c. Farmer.

Note return to page 878 2&lblank; clerkly, &lblank;] i. e. scholar-like. So, in the Two Gentlemen of Verona: “&lblank; 'Tis very clerkly done. Steevens.

Note return to page 879 3&lblank; I paid nothing for it neither, but was paid for my learning.] He alludes to the beating which he had just received. The same play on words occurs in Cymbeline, act V. “—sorry you have paid too much, and sorry that you are paid too much.” Steevens.

Note return to page 880 4&lblank; three German devils, three Doctor Faustus's.] John Faust, commonly called Doctor Faustus, was a German. Steevens.

Note return to page 881 5&lblank; Primero.] A game at cards. Johnson. &lblank; since I foreswore myself at Primero.] Primero was in Shakespeare's time the fashionable game. In the Earl of Northumberland's letters about the powder plot, Josc. Percy was playing at Primero on Sunday, when his uncle, the conspirator, called on him at Essex House. This game is again mentioned in our author's Hen. VIII. Percy.

Note return to page 882 6&lblank; action of an old woman, &lblank;] What! was it any dexterity of wit in Sir John Falstaff to counterfeit the action of an old woman, in order to escape being apprehended for a witch? Surely, one would imagine, this was the readiest means to bring him into such a scrape: for none but old women have ever been suspected of being witches. The text must certainly be restor'd, a wood woman, a crazy frantick woman; one too wild, and silly, and unmeaning, to have either the malice, or mischievous subtlety of a witch in her. Theobald. This emendation is received by Sir Thomas Hanmer, but rejected by Dr. Warburton. To me it appears reasonable enough. Johnson. I am not certain that this change is necessary. Falstaff, by counterfeiting such weakness and infirmity, as would naturally be pitied in an old woman, averted the punishment to which he would otherwise have been subjected, on the supposition that he was a witch. Steevens.

Note return to page 883 7&lblank; what ado is here to bring you together! &lblank;] The great fault of this play is the frequency of expressions so profane, that no necessity of preserving character can justify them. There are laws of higher authority than those of criticism. Johnson.

Note return to page 884 8&lblank; the image of the jest] Image is representation. So, in K. Rich. III: “And liv'd by looking on his images.” Steevens.

Note return to page 885 9&lblank; is here; &lblank;] i. e. in the letter. Steevens.

Note return to page 886 1&lblank; are somewhat rank on foot,] i. e. while they are hotly pursuing other merriment of their own. Steevens.

Note return to page 887 2&lblank; even strong against that match,] Thus the old copies. The modern editors read ever, but perhaps without necessity. Even strong, is as strong, with a similar degree of strength. So, in Hamlet: “&lblank; even christian” is fellow christian. Steevens.

Note return to page 888 3&lblank; tasking of their minds,] So, in another play of our author: “&lblank; some things of weight “That task our thoughts concerning us and France.” Steevens.

Note return to page 889 4&lblank; to devote &lblank;] We might read—denote. So afterwards: “&lblank; the white will decipher her well enough.” Steevens.

Note return to page 890 5&lblank; quaint in green,—may mean fantastically drest in green. So, in Milton's Masque at Ludlow Castle: “&lblank; lest the place, “And this quaint habit, breed astonishment.” Quaintness, however, was anciently used to signify gracefulness. So, in Greene's Dialogue between a He and She Coney-catcher, 1592: “I began to think what a handsome man he was, and wished that he would come and take a night's lodging with me, fitting in a dump to think of the quaintness of his personage.” In the Two Gentlemen of Verona, act III. sc. i. quaintly is used for ingeniously: “&lblank; ladder quaintly made of cords.” Steevens.

Note return to page 891 6&lblank; hold up your head, and mince.] To mince is to walk with affected delicacy. So, in the Merchant of Venice: “&lblank; turn two mincing steps “Into a manly stride. Steevens.

Note return to page 892 7&lblank; a nay-word &lblank;] i. e. watch-word. Mrs. Quickly has already used it in this sense. Steevens.

Note return to page 893 8&lblank; No man means evil but the devil, &lblank;] This is a double blunder; for some, of whom this was spoke, were women. We should read them, No one means. Warburton. There is no blunder. In the ancient interludes and moralitics, the beings of supreme power, excellence, or depravity, are occasionally styled men. So, in Much Ado about Nothing, Dogberry says: “God's a good man.” Again, in an Epitaph, part of which has been borrowed as an absurd one, by Mr. Pope and his associates, who were not very well acquainted with ancient phraseology: “Do all we can, “Death is a man   “That never spareth none.” Again, in Jeronimo, or the First Part of the Spanish Tragedy, 1605: “You're the last man I thought on, save the devil.” Steevens.

Note return to page 894 9&lblank; and the Welch devil Evans?] The former impression, and the Welch devil Herne? But Falstaff was to represent Herne, and he was no Welchman. Where was the attention or sagacity of our editos, not to observe that Mrs. Ford is enquiring for Evans by the name of the Welch devil? Dr. Thirlby likewise discover'd the blunder of this passage. Theobald. I suppose only the letter H. was set down in the MS; and therefore, instead of Hugh (which seems to be the true reading,) the editors substituted Herne. Steevens.

Note return to page 895 1&lblank; in a pit hard by Herne's oak, &lblank;] An oak, which may be that alluded to by Shakespeare, is still standing close to a pit in Windsor forest. It is yet shewn as the oak of Herne. Steevens.

Note return to page 896 2&lblank; When gods have hot backs, what shall poor men do?] Shakespeare had perhaps in his thoughts, the argument which Cherea employed in a similar situation. Ter. Eun. act III. sc v: “&lblank; Quia consimilem luserat “Jam olim ille ludum, impendio magis animus gaudebat mihi “Deum sese in hominem convertisse, atque per alienas tegulas “Venisse clanculum per impluvium, fucum factum mulieri. “At quem deum? qui templa cœli summa sonitu concutit. “Ego homuncio hoc non facerem? Ego vero illud ita feci, ac lubens.” A translation of Terence was published in 1598. Malone.

Note return to page 897 3&lblank; Send me a cool rut-time, Jove; or who can blame me to piss my tallow? &lblank;] This, I find, is technical. In Turberville's Booke of Hunting, 1575: “During the time of their rut, the harts live with small sustenance.—The red mushroome helpeth well to make them pysse their greace, they are then in so vehement heate, &c.” Farmer. In Ray's Collection of Proverbs, the phrase is yet further explained: “He has piss'd his tallow. This is spoken of bucks who grow lean after rutting-time, and may be applied to men.” Steevens.

Note return to page 898 4&lblank; rain potatoes; &lblank;] Potatoes, when they were first introduced in England, were supposed to be strong provocaties. See Mr. Collins's note on a passage in Troilus and Cressida, act V. sc. ii. Steevens.

Note return to page 899 5&lblank; kissing-comfits, &lblank;] These were sugar-plums, perfum'd to make the breath sweet. So, in Webster's Dutchess of Malfy, 1623: “&lblank; Sure your pistol holds “Nothing but perfumes or kissing-comfits.” In Swetnam Arraign'd, 1620, these confections are called—“kissing-causes.” “Their very breath is sophisticated with amber-pellets, and kissing-causes.” Again, in The Siege, or Love's Convert, by Cartwright: “&lblank; kept musk-plumbs continually in my mouth, &c.” Again, in A Very Woman, by Massinger: “Comfits of ambergris to help our kisses.” For eating these, queen Mab may be said, in Romeo and Juliet, to plague their lips with blisters. Steevens.

Note return to page 900 6Divide me like a brib'd buck, &lblank;] Thus all the old copies, mistakingly: it must be bribe-buck; i. e. a buck sent for a bribe. Theobald.

Note return to page 901 7&lblank; fellow of this walk, &lblank;] Who the fellow is, or why he keeps his shoulders for him, I do not understand. Johnson. To the keeper the shoulders and humbles belong as a perquisite. Gray. So, in Friar Bacon, and Friar Bungay, 1599: “Butter and cheese, and humbles of a deer, “Such as poor keepers have within their lodge” So, in Holinshed, 1586, vol. I. p. 204: “The keeper, by a custom—hath the skin, head, umbles, chine and shoulders.” Steevens. A walk, is that district in a forest, to which the jurisdiction of a particular keeper extends. So, in Lodge's Rosalynd, 1592: “Tell me forester, under whom maintainest thou thy walke?” Again, ibid. “Thus, for two or three days he walked up and down with his brother, to shew him all the commodities that belonged to his walke.” Malone.

Note return to page 902 8You orphan-heirs of fixed destiny,] But why orphan-heirs? Destiny, whom they succeeded, was yet in being. Doubtless the poet wrote: You ouphen heirs of fixed destiny, i. e. you elves, who minister, and succeed in some of the works of destiny. They are called, in this play, both before and afterwards, ouphes; here ouphen; en being the plural termination of Saxon nouns. For the word is from the Saxon Alpenne, lamiæ, dæmones. Or it may be understood to be an adjective, as wooden, woolen, golden, &c. Warburton. Dr. Warburton corrects orphan to ouphen; and not without plausibility, as the word ouphes occurs both before and afterwards. But, I fancy, in acquiescence to the vulgar doctrine, the address in this line is to a part of the troop, as mortals by birth, but adopted by the fairies: orphans in respect of their real parents, and now only dependent on destiny herself. A few lines from Spenser will sufficiently illustrate this passage: “The man whom heavens have ordaynd to bee   “The spouse of Britomart is Arthegall. “He wonneth in the land of Fayeree,   “Yet is no Fary borne, ne sib at all, “To elfes, but sprong of seed terrestriall,   “And whilome by false Faries stolen away, “Whiles yet in infant cradle he did crall, &c.” Edit. 1590. b. iii. st. 26. Farmer.

Note return to page 903 9Crier Hobgoblin, make the fairy o-yes Eva. Elves, lift your names; silence, you airy toys.] These two lines were certainly intended to rhime together, as the preceding and subsequent couplets do; and accordingly, in the old editions, the final words of each line are printed, oyes and toyes. This therefore is a striking instance of the inconvenience which has arisen from modernizing the orthography of Shakespeare. Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 904 1&lblank; as bilberry.] The bilberry is the whortleberry. Fairies were always supposed to have a strong aversion to sluttery. Thus, in the old song of Robin Good Fellow. See Dr. Percy's Reliques, &c. vol. III: “When house or hearth doth sluttish lye,   “I pinch the maidens black and blue, &c.” Steevens.

Note return to page 905 2Raise up the organs of her fantasy;] The sense of this speech is—that she, who had performed her religious duties, should be secure against the illusion of fancy; and have her sleep, like that of infancy, undiscurbed by disordered dreams. This was then the popular opinion, that evil spirits had a power over the fancy; and, by that means, could inspire wicked dreams into those who, on their going to sleep, had not recommended themselves to the protection of heaven. So Shakespeare makes Imogen, on her lying down, say: From fairies, and the tempters of the night, Guard me, beseech ye! As this is the sense, let us see how the common reading expresses it; Raise up the organs of her fantasy; i. e. inflame her imagination with sensual ideas; which is just the contrary to what the poet would have the speaker say. We cannot therefore but conclude he wrote: Rein up the organs of her fantasy; i. e. curb them, that she be no more disturbed by irregular imaginations, than children in their sleep. For he adds immediately: Sleep she as sound as careless infancy. So, in The Tempest: “Give not dalliance too much the Rein.” And, in Measure for Measure: “I give my sensual race the rein.” To give the rein, being just the contrary to rein up. The same thought he has again in Macbeth: “&lblank; Merciful powers! “Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature “Gives way to in repose.” Warburton. This is highly plausible; and yet, raise up the organs of her fantasy, may mean, elevate her ideas above sensuality, exalt them to the noblest contemplation. Steevens.

Note return to page 906 3In state as wholesome, &lblank;] The Oxford editor, not knowing the meaning of wholesome, has altered it to, In site as wholsom, and so has made the wish a most absurd one. For the site or situation must needs be what it is, till the general destruction. But wholsom here signifies integer. He wishes the castle may stand in its present state of perfection, which the following words plainly shew: &lblank; as in state 'tis fit. Warburton.

Note return to page 907 4Worthy the owner, and the owner it.] And cannot be the true reading. The context will not allow it; and his court to queen Elizabeth directs us to another: &lblank; as the owner it. For, sure he had more address than to content himself with wishing a thing to be, which his complaisance must suppose actually was, namely, the worth of the owner. Warburton. Surely this change is unnecessary. The fairy wishes that the castle and its owner, till the day of doom, may be worthy of each other. Queen Elizabeth's worth was not devolvable, as we have seen by the conduct of her foolish successor. The prayer of the fairy is therefore sufficiently reasonable and intelligible, without alteration. Steevens.

Note return to page 908 5The several chairs of order, look you scour With juice of balm, &c.] It was an article of our ancient luxury, to rub tables, &c. with aromatic herbs. Pliny informs us, that the Romans did the same, to drive away evil spirits. Steevens.

Note return to page 909 6In emerald-tufts, flowers purple, blue, and white; Like saphire, pearl, and rich embroidery,] These lines are most miserably corrupted. In the words—Flowers purple, blue, and white—the purple is left uncompared. To remedy this, the editors, who seem to have been sensible of the imperfection of the comparison, read, and rich embroidery; that is, according to them, as the blue and white flowers are compared to saphire and pearl, the purple is compared to rich embroidery. Thus, instead of mending one false step, they have made two, by bringing saphire, pearl, and rich embroidery under one predicament. The lines were wrote thus by the poet: In emerald-tufts, flowers purpled, blue, and white; Like saphire, pearl, in rich embroidery. i. e. let there be blue and white flowers worked on the greensward, like saphire and pearl in rich embroidery. To purfle, is to over-lay with tinsel, gold thread, &c. so our ancestors called a certain lace of this kind of work a pursting-lace. 'Tis from the French pourfiler. So Spenser: “&lblank; she was yclad, “All in a silken camus, lilly white, “Purfled upon, with many a folded plight.” The change of and into in, in the second verse, is necessary. For flowers worked, or purfled in the grass, were not like saphire and pearl simply, but saphire and pearl in embroidery. How the corrupt reading and was introduced into the text, we have shewn above. Warburton. Whoever is convinced by Dr. Warburton's note, will shew he has very little studied the manner of his author, whose splendid incorrectness in this instance, as in many others, is surely preferable to the insipid regularity proposed in its room. Steevens.

Note return to page 910 7&lblank; charactery.] For the matter with which they make letters. Johnson. So, in another of our author's plays: “All the charactery of my sad brows.” i. e. all that seems to be written on them. Steevens.

Note return to page 911 8&lblank; of middle earth.] Spirits are supposed to inhabit the ethereal regions, and fairies to dwell under ground, men therefore are in a middle station. Johnson. So, in the ancient metrical romance of Syr Guy of Warwick, bl. l, no date: “Thou mayst them flea with dint of swearde, “And win the fayrest mayde of middle erde.” Again: “&lblank; the best knight “That ever was in middle earde.” Again, in Gower, De Confessione Amantis, fol. 26: “Adam, for pride lost his price “In myddell erth.” Again, in an ancient alliterative ode, quoted by Mr. Warton, in his History of English Poetry: “Middel-erd for mon was made.” Steevens.

Note return to page 912 9Vile worm, thou wast o'er-look'd even in thy birth.] The old copy reads—vild. That vild, which so often occurs in these plays, was not an error of the press, but the pronunciation of the time, appears from these lines of Heywood, in his Pleasant Dialogues and Dramas, 1637: “Earth. What goddess, or how styl'd? “Age. Age, am I call'd. “Earth. Hence false virago vild.” Malone.

Note return to page 913 1With trial-fire, &c.] So Beaumont and Fletcher, in The Faithful Shepherdess: “In this flame his finger thrust, “Which will burn him if he lust; “But if not, away will turn, “As loth unspotted flesh to burn.” Steevens.

Note return to page 914 2Eva. It is right, indeed, &lblank;] This short speech, which is very much in character for sir Hugh, I have inserted from the old quarto, 1619. Theobald.

Note return to page 915 3&lblank; and luxury!] Luxury is here used for incontinence. So, in King Lear: “To't luxury, pell-mell, for I lack soldiers.” Steevens.

Note return to page 916 4Lust is but a bloody fire,] So the old copies. I once thought it should be read: Lust is but a cloudy fire, but sir T. Hanmer reads with less violence: Lust is but i' the blood a fire. Johnson. Either emendation is unnecessary. A bloody fire, means a fire in the blood. In The Second Part of Hen. IV. act iv. the same expression occurs: “Led on by bloody youth,” &c. i. e. sanguine youth. Steevens.

Note return to page 917 5During this song, &lblank;] This direction I thought proper to insert from the old quartos. Theobald.

Note return to page 918 6&lblank; they pinch him.] So, in Lylly's Endymion, 1591: “The fairies dance, and, with a song pinch him.” And, in his Maid's Metamorphosis, 1600, they threaten the same punishment. Steevens.

Note return to page 919 7See you these, husband? do not these fair oaks Become the forest better than the town?] What oaks, in the name of nonsense, do our sagacious editors make Mrs. Page talk of? The oaks in the park? But there was no intention of transplanting them into the town.—Talis irscitiæ me quidem pudet, pigetque. The first folio reads, as the poet intended, yoaks: and Mrs. Page's meaning is this. She speaks to her own, and Mrs. Ford's husband, and asks them, if they see the horns in Falstaff's hand; and then, alluding to them as the types of cuckoldom, puts the question, whether those yoaks are not more proper in the forest than in the town, i. e. than in their families, as a reproach to them? Theobald. Shakespeare may use oaks for branches. Branching is an epithet as commonly bestowed on horns as on trees. Steevens.

Note return to page 920 8&lblank; how wit may be made a Jack-a-lent, &lblank;] A Jack o' Lent appears to have been some puppet which was thrown at in Lent, like Shrove-tide cocks. So, in the old comedy of Lady Alimony, 1659: “&lblank; throwing cudgels “At Jack-a-lents, or Shrove-cocks.” Again, in The Wild Goose Chace of Beaumont and Fletcher: “I would be married sooner to a monkey, “Or to a Jack of Straw.” Again, in B. and Fletcher's Tamer Tamed: “&lblank; if I forfeit, “Make me a Jack o' Lent, and break my shins “For untagg'd points, and counters.” &lblank; Again, in Ben Jonson's Tale of a Tub: “&lblank; on an Ash-wednesday, “Where thou didst stand six weeks the Jack o' Lent, “For boys to hurl three throws a penny at thee.” Steev.

Note return to page 921 9&lblank; a coxcomb of frize? &lblank;] i. e. a fool's cap made out of Welch materials. Wales was famous for this cloth. So, in K. Edward I. 1599: “Enter Lluellin, alias prince of Wales, &c. with swords and bucklers, and frieze jerkins.” Again: “Enter Sussex, &c. with a mantle of frieze.” “—my boy shall weare a mantle of this country's weaving, to keep him warm.” Steevens.

Note return to page 922 1&lblank; the Welch flannel; &lblank;] The very word is derived from a Welch one, so that it is almost unnecessary to add that flannel was originally the manufacture of Wales. In the old play of King Edward I. 1599: “Enter Hugh ap David, Guenthian his wench in flannel, and Jacke his novice.” Again: “Here's a wholesome Welch wench, “Lapt in her flannel, as warm as wool.” Steevens.

Note return to page 923 2&lblank; ignorance itself is a plummet o'er me: &lblank;] Though this be perhaps not unintelligible, yet it is an odd way of confessing his dejection. I should wish to read: &lblank; ignorance itself has a plume o' me: That is, I am so depressed, that ignorance itself plucks me, and decks itself with the spoils of my weakness. Of the present reading, which is probably right, the meaning may be, I am so enfeebled, that ignorance itself weighs me down and oppresses me. Johnson. “Ignorance itself, says Falstaff, is a plummet o'er me.” If any alteration be necessary, I think, “Ignorance itself is a planet o'er me,” would have a chance to be right. Thus Bobadil excuses his cowardice: “Sure I was struck with a planet, for I had no power to touch my weapon.” Farmer. Dr. Farmer might have supported his conjecture by a passage in K. Henry VI. where queen Margaret says, that Suffolk's face: “&lblank; rul'd like a wandring planet over me.” Steevens. Perhpas Falstaff's meaning may be this: “Ignorance itself is a plummet o'er me: i. e. above me;” ignorance itself is not so low as I am, by the length of a plummet-line. Tyrwhitt.

Note return to page 924 3Mrs. Ford. Nay, husband, &lblank;] This and the following little speech I have inserted from the old quartos. The retrenchment, I presume, was by the players. Sir John Falstaff is sufficiently punished, in being disappointed and exposed. The expectation of his being prosecuted for the twenty pounds, gives the conclusion too tragical a turn. Besides, it is poetical justice that Ford should sustain this loss, as a fine for his unreasonable jealousy. Theob.

Note return to page 925 4&lblank; laugh at my wife, &lblank;] The two plots are excellently connected, and the transition very artfully made in this speech. Johnson.

Note return to page 926 5&lblank; marry boys?] This and the next speech are likewise restorations from the old quarto. Steevens.

Note return to page 927 6Page. Well, what remedy? &lblank;] In the first sketch of this play, which, as Mr. Pope observes, is much inferior to the latter performance, the only sentiment of which I regret the omission, occurs at this critical time. When Fenton brings in his wife, there is this dialogue. Mrs. Ford. Come, mistress Page, I must be bold with you, 'Tis pity to part love that is so true. Mrs. Page. [Aside] Although that I have miss'd in my intent, Yet I am glad my husband's match is cross'd. &lblank; Here Fenton, take her. &lblank; Eva. Come, master Page, you must needs agree. Ford. I' faith, sir, come, you see your wife is pleas'd. Page. I cannot tell, and yet my heart is eas'd; And yet it doth me good the doctor miss'd. Come hither, Fenton, and come hither, daughter.

Note return to page 928 Of this play there is a tradition preserved by Mr. Rowe, that it was written at the command of queen Elizabeth, who was so delighted with the character of Falstaff, that she wished it to be diffused through more plays; but suspecting that it might pall by continued uniformity, directed the poet to diversify his manner, by shewing him in love. No task is harder than that of writing to the ideas of another. Shakespeare knew what the queen, if the story be true, seems not to have known, that by any real passion of tenderness, the selfish craft, the careless jollity, and the lazy luxury of Falstaff must have suffered so much abatement, that little of his former cast would have remained. Falstaff could not love, but by ceasing to be Falstaff. He could only counterfeit love, and his professions could be prompted, not by the hope of pleasure, but of money. Thus the poet approached as near as he could to the work enjoined him; yet having perhaps in the former plays completed his own idea, seems not to have been able to give Falstaff all his former power of entertainment. This comedy is remarkable for the variety and number of the personages, who exhibit more characters appropriated and discriminated, than perhaps can be found in any other play. Whether Shakespeare was the first that produced upon the English stage the effect of language distorted and depraved by provincial or foreign pronunciation, I cannot certainly decide* [Subnote: *In the Three Ladies of London, 1584, is the character of an Italian merchant, very strongly marked by foreign pronunciation. Dr. Dodypoll, in the comedy which bears his name, is, like Caius, a French physician. This piece appeared at least a year before the Merry Wives of Windsor. The hero of it speaks such another jargon as the antagonist of Sir Hugh, and like him is cheated of his mistress. In several other pieces, more ancient than the earliest of Shakespeare's, provincial characters are introduced. Steevens.]. This mode of forming ridiculous characters can confer praise only on him, who originally discovered it, for it requires not much of either wit or judgment: its success must be derived almost wholly from the player, but its power in a skilful mouth, even he that despises it, is unable to resist. The conduct of this drama is deficient; the action begins and ends often before the conclusion, and the different parts might change places without inconvenience; but its general power, that power by which all works of genius shall finally be tried, is such, that perhaps it never yet had reader or spectator, who did not think it too soon at an end. Johnson.

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