Enter the LORD CHIEF JUSTICE and his men. Ch. Just. What is the matter? keep the peace here, ho! stand to me. Ch. Just. How now, Sir John! what are you brawling here? Doth this become your place, your time and business? Stand from him, fellow: wherefore hang'st upon him? 65 Ch. Just. For what sum? Host. It is more than for some, my lord; it is for all, all 70 I have. He hath eaten me out of house and home; he hath put all my substance into that fat belly of 59. Enter. .] Enter Lord Chief iustice and his men Q; Enter Ch. Iustice. Ff. 59. Ch. Just.] Lord Q (passim). 59. What is] What's Ff. 64. been] bin Q. 65. hang'st] hang'st thou Q. 66. an 't] Pope; and 't Q, Ff. 70, 71. for all, all I have.] for all: all I haue, Ff; for al I haue, Q. home;] home, Q; home? Ff 2-4. = out, and call her old rusty, dusty, musty, fusty, crusty firebrand"; Middleton, Father Hubburds Tales (Bullen, viii. 105): "his rammish blood and his fusty flesh "; and The Return from Parnassus (Haz. Dods., ix. 215). Onions doubtfully explains" fustilarian "as a "comic formation on the word "fustilugs fat frowzy woman." For other examples of words humorously formed on the same model as "fustilarian," see The Merry Devil of Edmonton (Haz. Dods., x. 212): "a Tartarian," a cant name for a thief, and ib. p. 227: "Hungarian." 58. tickle catastrophe] This humorous sally is found twice in The Merry Devil of Edmonton, once in the sense (Haz. Dods., x. 259), and once in a sense that differs from that, of the text (ib. x. 225). Variations upon it Occur frequently; cf. Beaumont and Fletcher, Bonduca, IV. ii: "I'll tickle your young tail else"; J. Cooke, Greene's Tu Quoque (Haz. Dods., xi. 270): "to tickle thy Tu Quoque"; Middleton, Anything for a Quiet Life, III. ii: "let me alone to tickle his diaphragma"; and No-body and Some 71. body (Simpson, School of Shakspere, i. 291), where Clowne says "they gave me . . . as much lawe as their armes were able to lay on; they tickled my Collifodium." 60. be good to me] befriend me; an expression used in appealing for protection or favour to persons in authority. So in Nice Wanton (Haz. Dods., ii. 176), where Baily entreats the Judge to show clemency towards an offender: "I beseech your lordship be good to him," and again: "If your lordship would be so good to me, As for my sake to set him free." Cf. also Munday, Drayton, Hathway and Wilson, Sir John Oldcastle, 1. iii. 61. stand to] stand by, support, as in Coriolanus, v. iii. 199, and Field, A Woman is a Weathercock, III. ii: "Lady Ninny. . . . stand to me, knight, I say." 62. what] why? as in 1. ii. 112 ante. 71. eaten... home] A familiar saying. Cf. Dekker, The Wonder of a Kingdome, IV. i: "in one weeke he eate My wife vp, and three children, this Christian Jew did." his: but I will have some of it out again, or I will Fal. I think I am as like to ride the mare, if I have any 75 vantage of ground to get up. Ch. Just. How comes this, Sir John? Fie! what man of 77. what] what a Ff. 80 showing, with illustrative anecdotes, that it is "a naturall disease." Scot suggests practical remedies against the mare (e.g. to lie on one side), but quotes also magical cures for it. 76. vantage of ground] advantage of position, higher ground, a metaphor from fencing. Cf. The Return from Parnassus, I. ii: "thou canst not be successful in the fray, considering thy enemies have the advantage of the ground." Also Coriolanus, III. i. 242. For the jest cf. Middleton, Blurt, Master-Constable, II. i. The "mare is said to have been a jocose term for the gallows. 78. temper] constitution of mind. 78. endure] endure to listen to. ous. 80. rough a course] harsh or violent means. Wilkins, Miseries of Enforced Marriage, 111: "Fair words may sooner draw our own Than rougher course." 75. the mare] the night-mare. Hollyband has: "the disease called the Mare, whereby one thinketh he hath a great weight upon him stopping his breath." See also A. Borde, Introduction of Knowledge (E.E.T.S. ed. p. 78). Mrs. 78, 79. exclamation] clamour, outcry. Quickly, however, alludes to the super- So "exclaim," to make an outcry, as stitious conception of "the mare as in Brome, A Mad Couple Well Match'd, an incubus, a night-walking spirit that II. i: "if shee should exclaime, and lies upon and oppresses sleeping persons. bring on her Cozen. . . to bee clamorSee Dekker, Match Me in London, 11: "The Night-mare rides her," and Robin Good-fellow his mad prankes and merry jests (1628), when Robin says: "many times I get on men and women, and so lie on their stomachs, that I cause them great pain, for which they call me by the name of Hag, or nightmare." See also Middleton, The Witch, 1. ii; and Cartwright, The Ordinary, III. i, where we find a metrical charm against the night-mare. The mare belonged to the same category of spirits as the Man-i'-th' oak, the Puckle, the Fire-drake, the Hellwain. See R. Scot, The discouerie of Witchcraft, vii. 15, and iv. 9, 10; in iv. 10 Scot confutes the popular belief in the Incubus, 81. gross] whole, as in Love's Labour's Lost, 1. ii. 50. 83, 84. swear goblet) So in Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour, v. iv: "By this cup, which is silver." The oath upon a silver cup or goblet arose, no doubt, from an association of thought with the cross on silver coins. Parcel-gilt, partly gilt, gilt in parts; cf. Jonson, The Alchemist, III. ii: "On changing His parcel gilt to massy gold," and Laneham's Letter (ed. 1784, p. 31): "the Bride-cup... all seemly gilt goblet, sitting in my Dolphin-chamber, at the round table, by a sea-coal fire, upon Wednesday in 85 Wheeson week, when the prince broke thy head for liking his father to a singing-man of Windsor, thou didst swear to me then, as I was washing thy wound, to marry me and make me my lady thy wife, Canst 86. Wheeson] Whitson Ff. 87. liking his father] 85. upon] on Ff. lik'ning him Ff. be sylverd and parcell gilt." The embossed portions of a cup were often gilded. An entry in Henslowe's Diary (ed. Collier, p. 2) runs: "Bowght j beacker of persell gyllte, wainge viij oz j qr at vis 8d-some is } Lvjs vjd." 84. Dolphin-chamber] The diningchambers in inns and taverns were distinguished by fanciful names, such as the "Dolphin" (as in Wilkins, Miseries of Enforced Marriage, III. i), the "Pomegranate" (Middleton, A Trick to Catch the Old One, 111. iii), the "Woodcock" (Webster and Rowley, A Cure for a Cuckold, Iv. i), the "Lion " and the "Bul's head" (Nabbes, The Bride, 11. i). See l Henry IV. II. iv. 38. 85. sea-coal] mineral coal, as opposed to charcoal, or "coal"; sea-coal was sea-borne to London, generally from Newcastle. See Dekker, If this be not a good Play, etc. (Pearson, iii. 357): "thy Sea-coale-pits here. Is not this Newcastle?" and Chapman, Jonson and Marston, Eastward Hoe, 1. i: carry me out of the scent of Newcastle Coal, and the hearing of Bow-bell." We hear of "Scotch coal" in Mayne, The City Match (1639), III. iii. Fynes Moryson (Itinerary, 1617) seems to make a distinction between " sea-coals " and "pit-coals":"England abounds with sea-coals upon the sea coast, and with pit coals within land." Moryson remarks that the quantity of wood and charcoal for fire was in his day "much diminished, in respect of the old abundance." References to sea-coal fires are usually appreciative. Cf. Glapthorne, Wit in a Constable, v, and The Lady Mother, 1. ii, where Crackby, anathematizing the country, exclaims: "Would I were in my native Citty ayre agen, within the wholesome smell of seacole"; J. Cooke, How a Man may Choose, etc., 1. ii; The Merry Wives, 1. iv. 9, 10. That the love of a fire was a feminine characteristic would appear from G. Wither's I Loved a Lass: "I still did scorn to stint her From sugar, sack or fire." For a reference to a "coal," or charcoal fire, see Middleton, The Blacke Booke (Bullen, viii. 17, 18); an allusion is made to "Beechen coales" in Lyly, Gallathea, II. iii. 86. Wheeson] "W(h)issun," according to Onions, is a north-country and midland form. Cf. Mrs. Quickly's pronunciation of "Pistol" as" Peesel," in II. iv. 158 post. 87. singing-man] chorister, perhaps of St. George's Chapel, Windsor. The nature of the supposed resemblance between the King and the singing-man is not revealed, but it may be observed that singing-men frequently served as a mark for ridicule or a source of quaint similitudes. Cf., e.g. Nashe, The Unfortunate Traveller (Gosse, p. 84): "nodded with his nose, like an olde singing man, teaching a young querister to keepe time." Allusions to singingmen are usually uncomplimentary. See Earle, Micro-cosmographie (1628), 32: "The common singing-men Cathedrall Churches are a bad society, and yet a Company of good Fellowes, that roare deep in the Quire, deeper in the Tauerne ; and Nashe, The Unfortunate Traveller (Gosse, p. 198): 64 in coapes and costly vestments to decke the hoarsest and beggarliest singing man," an image, by the way, that may well have occurred to Falstaff. It has been suggested that the similitude which gave offence to the Prince depended upon the circumstance that singing-men were sometimes eunuchs; cf. Jonson, The Fox, III. iv, and Fletcher, Two Noble Kinsmen, Iv. i. 89. my lady] The weakness of citizens' widows for the title "lady" is satirized by Dekker, in The Whore of thou deny it? Did not goodwife Keech, the butcher's 90 95. thou not] not thou Ff. shillings] 30.s Ff 1, 2. Babylon (Pearson, ii. 242): "within halfe a yeare after they be widdowes, knights vndo them: they 'le giue a 100. pound to be dubd ladies." See also Beaumont and Fletcher, The Scornful Lady, II. iii:" 'tis this, sir,-no knight, no widow. If you make me anything, it must be a lady." Cf. Barry, RamAlley, Iv. i, and Jonson, The Alchemist, IV. i. 90. goodwife] A title prefixed to the names of married women, and corresponding in degree to "goodman" (see note to v. iii. 188 post). Cf. "Goody' and Sc. "gudewife." 90. Keech] The name of the butcher's wife signified" the fat of a slaughtered ox rolled into a lump." The word is applied to Wolsey, the butcher's son, in Henry VIII. 1. i. 55. 91. gossip] Used as a familiar prefix to a woman's surname by intimate female friends, as in Merry Wives, iv. ii. 9: "gossip Ford!" where the speaker is Mrs. Page. The word gossip was applied to a woman's women friends, as in Mayne, The City Match, III. ii: "Mrs. Seathrift. . . . I and Mistress Holland here, my gossip"; and to neighbours, men as well as women, as in Beaumont and Fletcher, Cupid's Revenge, IV. 1. 92. mess] small quantity or portion of liquid, etc. 93. whereby] Used inaccurately for "whereupon.' For the colloquial use of "whereby," cf. Middleton, Father Hubburds Tales (Bullen, viii): "she quoited a single half-penny; whereby I knew her... to be . . Charity." 95. green] fresh, raw, as in Greene, 99. thirty Alphonsus, King of Arragon, 111. ii: "Wounds must be cured when they be fresh and greene,' "and Munday and Chettle, Death of Robert Earl of Huntingdon, 1. iii. Tobacco is recommended for a green wound in Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, III. ii, and an onion in Webster and Rowley, A Cure for a Cuckold, IV. i. Cf. also Dekker, The Wonder of a Kingdome, 1. i: ""Tis a greene wound... Tent it ... and keepe it from ranckling." 66 97. familiarity] A blunder for "familiar," i.e. intimate, friendly; or "of familiarity," as in Lyly, Euphues and his England (ed. Arber, 273): my parents being of great familiaritie with the Gentlemen." For "familiar," cf. Beaumont and Fletcher, The Scornful Lady, v. iii : "Come, prethee, be familiar, knight." A parallel to the construction used by Mrs. Quickly may be cited from Jonson, The Case is Altered, Iv. iii: "if thou wilt. speak for me . . . I will not be ingratitude." 98. madam] A knight's lady was addressed as "madam." See Chapman, Jonson and Marston, Eastward Hoe, 1. i: "my wife's dilling, whom she longs to call Madam," i.e. as the wife of Sir Petronel Flash. 99. fetch thee... shillings] Hostesses not only allowed gentlemen to go upon the score for their lodging and diet, but they appear to have been generous in lending them money also. 66 Squires, gentlemen and knights," says Mrs. Mulligrub in Marston, The Dutch Courtezan, III. iii: "diet at my table, and I do lend some of them money; and full many fine men go I put thee now to thy book-oath: deny it, if thou 100 canst. Fal. My lord, this is a poor mad soul; and she says up and down the town that her eldest son is like you: she hath been in good case, and the truth is, poverty hath distracted her. But for these foolish officers, I 105 beseech you I may have redress against them. Ch. Just. Sir John, Sir John, I am well acquainted with your manner of wrenching the true cause the false way. It is not a confident brow, nor the throng of words that come with such more than impudent 110 sauciness from you, can thrust me from a level consideration you have, as it appears to me, practised upon the easy-yielding spirit of this woman, and made her serve your uses both in purse and in person. Host. Yea, in truth, my lord. Ch. Just. Pray thee, peace. Pay her the debt you owe 115 102. mad] made Q. 107. Ch. Just.] Lo. Q woman, JQ; I know you ha' practis'd ... ・・・ woman. Ff. 115. Yea, in truth] Yes in troth Ff. 116. Pray thee] Prethee Ff. 117. done] done with Q. upon my score . . . and I trust them." Hostesses unhappily had sometimes to sue their patrons in order to recover their money. "I owe money to seuerall Hostisses," confesses George Pye-boord, in The Puritan, I. iv, "and you know such Iills will quickly be vpon a mans lack." In The Puritan, III. iii, a hostess enters an action against Pye-boord. "His Hostesse where he lies," says Puttock, the serjeant, "will trust him (Pye-boord) no longer she has feed me to arest him." 100. book-oath] an oath sworn upon a bible or prayer-book, as in Gammer Gurton's Needle, IV. ii: "ich durst take a book-oath." Cf. Jack Juggler (Haz. Dods., ii. 127): "I woll swear on a book." The oath was taken with the right hand laid upon the book, and at the conclusion of the oath it was usual to kiss the book. See 1 Henry IV. II. iv. 50. 104. in good case] in good circumstances. Cf. Jonson, The Case is Altered, v. ii: "you see in what case he is; he is not in adversity, his purse is full of money," and Brome, A Mad Couple Well Match'd, 1. i: "shee 's in worse case than your selfe; your Cloaths are good enough," where, however, there is a quibble on case," clothes. 104, 105. poverty... her] Suggested, perhaps, by a passage in Lodge and Greene, A Looking Glasse, etc., III. ii, where, Samia having appealed to King Rasni for justice against her son Radagon, the latter impudently exclaims: "Dread Monarch, this is but a lunacie, Which griefe and want hath brought the woman to. [To Samia] What, doth this passion hold you euerie Moone?" 108. true cause] truth of the matter. 109. brow] aspect, appearance, as in 1 Henry IV. IV. iii. 83. III. level] "equipoised, steady (Schmidt, and New Eng. Dict.); cf. Twelfth Night, II. iv. 31: "So sways she level in her husband's heart." 114. uses] needs, as in Timon of Athens, II. i. 20. 114. in purse and in person] So in London Prodigal, 11. i: "Fat, fair, and lovely, both in purse and person." 117. unpay] undo, with a play on "pay" in the preceding line. |