SC. 2. "Never mind

Was to be so unwise, to be so kind."

Here 'to be' is being. See Introd. p. 70.

* * * * *

"What shall be done? He will not hear till _he_ feel."

* * * * *

"He humbly prays your speedy payment _of_."

* * * * *

"With clamorous demands of [debt] broken bonds."

I think 'debt' was introduced from the next line. Malone reads

'_date_-broken.'

* * * * *

"Look you, here comes my master's page."

For 'master's,' both here, and in the following speech, Malone very

properly read '_mistress'_.' See on Tam. of Shr. i. 2.

* * * * *

"I have retired me to a wasteful cock."

By 'cock' here can only be meant a cockloft, and perhaps, as it is at

the end of the line, _loft_ may have been effaced. See Introd. p. 58.

* * * * *

"This night englutted! Who is not _Lord_ Timon's?"

* * * * *

"Canst thou the conscience lack

To think I shall lack friends?"

As to lack conscience is to be unconscionable, and would sound here

rather ironically, I think 'lack' has been suggested by the following

line for _have_, or some other word.

* * * * *

"Men and men's fortunes could I _as_ frankly use."

* * * * *

"And in some sort these wants of mine are crown'd."

Here also 'crown'd' seems to occupy the place of some other word.

* * * * *

"_I_ pr'ythee, man, look cheerly; these old fellows."

* * * * *

"I would I could not [think it]. That thought is bounty's foe."

Several of the editors concur in this proper omission.

ACT III.

SC. 1. "This slave

Unto his honour has my lord's meat in him."

As this is not sense it requires emendation, and the simplest, I think,

is _dishonour_ for 'his honour.' I had also conjectured _this hour_, in

which I had been anticipated. Collier's folio reads _humour_. Mr. Dyce

thinks the error is in 'slave,' for which he reads _scandal_, quoting

"This _scandal_ of his blood" (R. II. i. 1). "Thou _slander_ of thy

heavy mother's womb" (R. III. i. 3). It must be observed that neither

_slave_ nor _scandal_ is followed by _unto_ elsewhere in Shakespeare.

* * * * *

"_In him_ when he is turned to poison? Oh, may."

* * * * *

SC. 2. "Yet had he mistook him and sent to me."

I do not see the meaning of 'mistook' here, and I have no probable

emendation to offer. For 'so many talents' here and elsewhere in this

scene some read '_fifty_ talents.'

* * * * *

"The more beast _I_, I say."

* * * * *

"And just of the same piece

Is every flatterer's sport."

Theobald's reading, _spirit_ for 'sport,' should be received.

* * * * *

"And kept his credit, with his purse, _upright_."

* * * * *

"He does deny him, in respect of his _want_."

It is quite plain that this or some such word was effaced.

* * * * *

SC. 3. "Has Lucullus and Ventidius denied him?

And does he send to me? Three ... humph! It shows

But little love or judgement in him. Must I

Be his last refuge? His friends, like physicians,

Thrice give him over."

For 'Thrice,' the correction of Johnson, the folio reads _Thrive_,

which Steevens and Malone retain. It also reads 'Ventidius and

Lucullus.'

* * * * *

"I _may_ be thought a fool."

The 2nd folio added _I_; the _may_ seems also necessary.

* * * * *

"Save the gods only. Now his friends are dead."

So also Hanmer; the folio has 'only the gods.'

* * * * *

SC. 4. "We cannot take this for _an_ answer, sir."

* * * * *

"Lucius, Lucullus, and Sempronius, Ullorxa, all."

The barbarous term 'Ullorxa' is, I suspect, a mere corruption of _all

on 'em_. How it _has_ perplexed the critics!

* * * * *

SC. 5. "He did behave his anger, ere 'twas spent."

'Behave' is Warburton's reading for 'behove' of the folio. It is

generally followed, but I am dubious of it. Jackson and Singer have

proposed _behood_.

* * * * *

"And not endure all threats? sleep upon't."

With Hanmer, I read threat_nings_, for the sake of the metre.

* * * * *

"Without repugnancy? if there be _then_."

Hanmer read '_But_ if.'

* * * * *

"The fellow

Loaden with irons wiser than the judge."

For 'fellow' Johnson read _felon_, which I adopt.

* * * * *

"Why, _I_ say, my lords, he has done fair service."

This is the reading of the 2nd folio.

* * * * *

"He has made too much plenty with him_self_."

* * * * *

"If there were no _other_ foes, this were enough."

* * * * *

"Only in bone, that none may look _up_on you."

For 'in bone,' which is not very clear, Mr. Staunton would read _at

home_.

* * * * *

"Pours into captain's wounds?--_Ha!_ banishment!"

* * * * *

SC. 6. "The swallow follows not summer more willing_ly_."

* * * * *

"Who stuck and spangled _by_ you with flatteries."

Hanmer reads 'with you_r_ flatteries.'

ACT IV.

SC. 1. "Thy mistress is o' the brothel."

I read without hesitation '_at_ the brothel.' The _t_ in _at_ was not

sounded. See Introd. p. 52.

* * * * *

"Pluck the lin'd crutch from thy old limping sire."

In its ordinary sense, and I know no other, 'lined' cannot be applied

to a crutch. I therefore read _lean'd_, with an ellipsis, in the usual

manner, of _on_, which would give a tolerable sense. See Tr. and Cr. v.

3.

"Rise mov'd, and _gravely leaning on one crutch_,

Lift the other like a sceptre."

Fletch. Beggar's Bush, ii. 1.

* * * * *

"And yet confusion live!"

I prefer _let_; Hanmer did the same.

* * * * *

SC. 2. "As we do turn our backs

From our companion thrown into his grave,

So his familiars to his buried fortunes ...

Slink all away, leave their false vows with him," etc.

If we read _Upon_ or _On_ for 'From,' and point as I have done, all

seems simple enough. M. Mason ingeniously transposed 'From' and 'to.'

After all, however, 'From' may have been the poet's word.

* * * * *

"And we, poor mates, stand on the dying deck."

A 'dying deck' is an odd expression; _sinking_ would apparently make

better sense. Yet _dying bed_, i.e. death-bed, may still be heard.

* * * * *

"Who would be so mock'd with glory? or to live

But in a dream of friendship, _and survive_

To have his pomp and all what state comprehends

But only painted, like his varnish'd friends?"

I have ventured on these corrections, as this part of the speech is in

rime. The folio reads 'com_pounds_.' Collier's folio and Sidney Walker

also propose _comprehends_. For 'or to live' we might read 'or _would_

live.' See Temp. iii. 1.

* * * * *

"I'll follow and enquire him out, _and then_."

* * * * *

SC. 3. "The greater scorns the lesser; not _even that_ nature,

To which all sores lay siege, can bear great fortune

But by contempt of nature. Raise me this beggar,

And deny't that lord, the senator shall bear

Contempt hereditary, the beggar native honour.

It is the pasture lards the rother's sides,

The want that makes him lean."

The excellent correction of 'rother' for _brother_ of the folio is

due to Mr. Singer, and to Collier's folio. _Rother_-(_hryther_ A.S.)

_beast_ is _juvencus_; there was a _rother_-market in Stratford.

"A thousand herds of _rother_-beasts he in his field did keep."

Golding, Ovid. p. 52.

For 'lean' the folio has _leave_, an evident misprint. With respect to

the addition to the first line, it is demanded by the metre, and the

meaning is that even a diseased beggar, a Lazarus as it were, would

have to change his nature to be able to bear prosperity with equanimity.

* * * * *

"Black, white; foul, fair; wrong, right; * * *"

Perhaps the lost words may have been _guilt, innocence_, or _guilty,

innocent_.

* * * * *

"Pluck stout men's pillows from below their heads."

Hanmer read '_sick_ men's,' alluding to a practice of hired nurses.

* * * * *

"This, _this_, it is

That makes the wappen'd widow wed again."

For 'wappen'd' Singer read _wapper'd_, worn out, debilitated, of the

use of which word he gives examples.

* * * * *

"With man's blood paint the ground gules, gules; _for if_."

A foot has certainly been lost. Sense seems to require this addition.

* * * * *

"_For_ that by killing

Of villains thou wast born to conquer my country."

* * * * *

"For those milk-paps

That through the window barne bore at men's eyes,

Are not within the leaf of pity writ,

But set 'em down horrible traitors. Spare not the babe."

This is a difficult passage. 'Milk-paps' seems to mean tender young

maidens, and editors are probably right in reading _bars_ for 'barne.'

The 'bars,' as Mr. Staunton observes, seem to mean the cross-lacing

on the bosom, still to be seen in Switzerland. We should perhaps omit

''em,' not 'But,' as the editors do, in the last line.

* * * * *

"And be no turn-coats. Yet may your pains six months _thence_."

* * * * *

"Nor sound his quillets shrilly; hoar the flamen."

Singer adopts Upton's reading of _hoarse_ for 'hoar'; but though it

would agree with what follows, I know of no such verb. We might read

'_make_ hoar,' or '_make_ hoar_se_.'

* * * * *

"Derive some pain from you. Plague all _of them_."

* * * * *

"Men daily find it _so_. Get thee away."

* * * * *

"Teems and feeds all; whose self-same _forming_ metal."

* * * * *

"Yield him who all the human sons doth hate."

Here again, as so often, we have 'the' for _thy_.

* * * * *

"Dry up thy marrows, vines, and plough-torn leas."

For 'marrows' Mr. Dyce reads 'marrow_y_,' Collier's folio _meadows_. I

read _married_ sc. to the elms, etc. The marriage of the elm and the

vine is noticed in Com. of Errors, ii. 2, Cymb. i. 7.

* * * * *

"Whereof ungrateful man, with liquorish draughts,

And morsels unctuous, greases his pure mind."

As 'pure' is rather an odd expression in the mouth of Timon, we should

perhaps read '_im_pure.' The negative is often thus omitted. See on

Com. of Err. ii. 2.

* * * * *

"From change of fortune. Why this spade? this place?"

The folio has 'change of future'; the correction was made independently

by Southern and Rowe.

* * * * *

"Will these moist trees

That have outliv'd the eagle."

Hanmer's emendation of _moss'd_ for 'moist' has been generally and

justly received.

* * * * *

"Willing misery

Outlives incertain pomp, is crown'd before _it_."

* * * * *

"At duty, more than I could frame employment;"

There is evidently a line lost here.

* * * * *

"If thou wilt curse thy father, that poor rag."

For 'rag' Johnson read _rogue_, which is also in Singer's folio, and is

probably right, as he afterwards terms him "poor rogue hereditary."

* * * * *

"First mend my company. Take thyself away."

The folio reads _thy_ for 'my.'

* * * * *

"'Twixt natural son and sire."

The folio reads _sun and fire_.

* * * * *

"Do villainy, do, since you profess to do it."

The reading of the folio is 'protest,' and also 'villain.'

* * * * *

"Break open shops; _for_ nothing can you steal

But thieves do lose it. Steal _not the_ less for this."

Rowe also added _not_, which was indispensable.

* * * * *

"It almost turns my dangerous nature wild."

The context plainly shows that for 'wild' we should, with Warburton,

read _mild_.

* * * * *

"No more I pray _you_--and, he is a steward."

* * * * *

"If not a usuring kindness, and, as rich men deal gifts."

It was the opinion of the sagacious Tyrwhitt that 'If not' is a mere

insertion of the printer's, suggested by 'Is not' in the preceding

line. I have, however, little doubt but it should be, as I have printed

it, "_Is it_ not a usuring kindness?"

* * * * *

"Exchange _it_ for this one wish, that you had power."

ACT V.

SC. 1. "To load our purposes, with what they travel for."

Collier's folio reads _purses_. In that case 'they' should be _we_.

* * * * *

"When the day serves, before black-corner'd night."

For 'corner'd' some read _coned_, _crowned_, _cover'd_. Singer and Dyce

_curtain'd_. I have given _cover'd_.

* * * * *

"Know his gross patchery, love him, feed him, _and_."

* * * * *

"You have worke_d_ for me, there is payment. Hence!"

Malone, who is usually followed, reads '_done_ work.'

* * * * *

SC. 2. "To stop affliction let him take his haste."

Perhaps 'take' should be _make_.

* * * * *

SC. 5. "On those that are revenges; crimes like lands

Are not inherited."

* * * * *

"But shall be remedied to your public laws."

For 'remedied' Singer read _remitted_. I adopt _render'd_, the reading

of M. Mason.

CORIOLANUS.

ACT I.

SC. 1. _2 Cit._ "Our business is not unknown to the Senate."

So it stands in the folio here and in the subsequent speeches; but as

Malone rightly saw, it should be _1 Cit._

* * * * *

"But, since it serves my purpose, I will venture To scale it a

little more."

All attempts to make sense of 'scale' having been most complete

failures, it only remains to read, with Theobald, _stale_.

"I'll not _stale_ the jest

By my relation."

Massinger, Unnat. Comb. iv. 2.

* * * * *

"Our disgrace with a tale. But an't please you deliver _it_."

* * * * *

"Even to the court _of_ the heart, to the seat of the brain."

So perhaps it were better to read.

* * * * *

"With every minutes you do change a mind."

The _your_, for 'a,' of Collier's folio seems preferable.

* * * * *

"Of their own choice. One's Junius Brutus, _another_."

* * * * *

"The present wars devour him! He is grown

Too proud to be so valiant."

Such also is the punctuation of Warburton. 'To be' to be _in being_.

See Introd. p. 70.

* * * * *

SC. 2. "What ever have been thought on in this state."

We should either read _hath_ for 'have,' or _we_ for 'been.'

* * * * *

SC. 3. "At Grecian sword contenning ..."

So the folio reads; an evident misprint for _contemning_. The

aposiopesis removes all need of alteration. The usual reading is

_contending_, that of 2nd folio.

* * * * *

"Catched it again; or whether his fall enraged him."

The usual substitution of _or_ for _and_.

* * * * *

SC. 4. "No, nor a man that fears you less than he,

That's lesser than a little."

I read, with Johnson, _but_ for 'nor.'

* * * * *

"Fool-hardiness! not I.--Nor I.--_Nor I._"

* * * * *

"And, when it bows, stands up. Thou art left, Marcius ...

A carbuncle entire, as big as thou art,

Were not so rich a jewel."

A line at least has, I think, been left out after the first; or there

may be an aposiopesis.

* * * * *

SC. 6. "The Roman gods

Lead their successes," etc.

It is evident from the context that the poet wrote _Ye_, not 'The,' as

in Ant. and Cleop. v. 2. They were written alike.

* * * * *

"The mouse ne'er shunn'd the cat as they did budge

From rascals worse than they."

'Budge' in its present sense seems to be a very feeble term; but in

Cole's Dictionary we have "To budge, _pedem referre_;" and in 3 Hen.

VI. i. 4,

"With that we charg'd again; but out, alas!

We _bodg'd_ again."

There seems to be an allusion to deer in 'rascals.' We had the same

allusion above in

"Thou rascal, that art worst in blood to run,

Leadest first to win some vantage."

* * * * *

"And four shall quickly draw out my command

Which men are best inclined."

I read _forth_ for 'four'; 'command' is the nom. to 'draw.'

* * * * *

SC. 7. "Hence, _then_, and shut your gates upon us."

* * * * *

SC. 8. "That was the whip of your bragg'd progeny."

Here 'bragg'd' is, bragged of, that you brag of; 'progeny' progenitors,

and 'whip' the implement with which they scourged their foes. Chaucer

(Tr. and Cr. ii.) terms Hector the "Grekis _yerd_."

* * * * *

SC. 9. "When steel grows

Smooth as the parasite's silk, let him be made

An overture for the wars."

By 'him' in the second line can only be meant the parasite, and what is

the meaning of his being an 'overture for the wars'? I feel convinced

that it is a printer's error for a noun; and I read _pipes_, which

might be thus mistaken. The meaning then would be, when things are so,

let pipes and tabors, not trumpets and drums, be used in our armies,

grown thus effeminate.

"My throat of war be turn'd,

Which quired with my drum, into a pipe

Small as a eunuch's," etc.--iii. 2.

* * * * *

"At a poor man's house; he used me _very_ kindly."

* * * * *

SC. 10. "Where I find him, were it

At home, upon my brother's guard, even there,

Against the hospitable canon, would I

Wash my fierce hand in his heart."

With the fullest conviction I read for 'brother's guard' _household

hearth_; for that was the very place where he _did_ find him. "He got

him up straight to the _chimney hearth_, and sate him down" (North's

Plutarch, p. 232). Besides, we never hear that Aufidius had a brother;

and it should be _under_, not _upon_, the guard; a man is, or stands,

on his own not on another's guard. In Rich. II. iv. 1 we have "under

his _household roof_;" and _household hearth_ occurs in Campbell's

Gertrude of Wyoming, iii. 17.

ACT II.

SC. 1. "What harm can your beesome conspectuities glean out of this

character?"

Regarding 'beesome' as a corruption, the editors have all adopted

Theobald's reading, _bisson_, which occurs in Hamlet (ii. 2) in the

sense of blinding. Mr. Singer, however, quotes from Huloet's Dictionary

"Blynde or _Beasom_borne, cæcigenus," which proves the text to be right.

* * * * *

"_For_ these in honour follows Coriolanus."

* * * * *

"I have lived

To see inherited my very wishes,

And the buildings of my fancy * * *"

We might supply _turn'd to sense_.

* * * * *

"Whiles she chats _of_ him. The kitchen malkin pins."

* * * * *

"At some time when his soaring influence

Shall teach the people."

There is perhaps an aposiopesis here; otherwise I should incline to

read _touch_, as Mr. Knight and Collier's folio also read.

* * * * *

"The blind to hear him speak. Matrons flung _their_ gloves."

* * * * *

SC. 2. "We met here, both to thank and to remember."

Editors in general read _meet_. I read 'We _are_ met.'

* * * * *

"We shall be blest to do, if he remember."

Collier's folio read _prest_, i.e. ready; but no change is needed. "And

then _we shall be bless'd_ To do your pleasure" (King John iii. 1). It

is the same as _happy_ of the present day.

* * * * *

"Alone he entered

The mortal gate of the city, which he painted

With shunless destiny."

I do not see the meaning of 'painted' here. Perhaps the right word is

_parted_, i.e. burst open, as it had been closed on him, i. 5. In Rom.

and Jul. ii. 5 we have the same change of _ar_ to _ain_.

* * * * *

SC. 3. "Some brown, some black, some auburn."

For 'auburn' the folio has _abraham_.

* * * * *

"The price _of it_ is to ask it kindly.--Kindly?"

* * * * *

"Why in this woolvish tongue should I stand here."

As, in Othello (i. 1), the folio reads "_tongued_ consuls" for "_toged_

consuls" of the 4to, editors here properly read _toge_ for 'tongue';

the 2nd folio has _gown_. As 'woolvish' offers very little sense, we

should, with Collier's folio, read _woolless_; for it has been already

(ii. 1) termed "the _napless_ vesture of humility."

* * * * *

"I have seen and heard of; for your voices _I_

Have done many things, some less, some more. Your voices."

* * * * *

"That our best water brought by conduits hither,

And nobly nam'd so, twïce being Censor."

That a line has been lost here is beyond doubt. Pope, who is generally

followed, added, "And Censorinus, darling of the people." But as the

words in North's Plutarch are "so surnamed because the people had

chosen him censor twice," it might be better to read "_And Censorinus,

he that was so nam'd_."

ACT III.

SC. 1. _Com._ "You are like to do such business."

With Malone I read _Cor._, to whom it is better suited. The names are

often given wrong in this play.

* * * * *

"Which we disdain'_d_ should tetter us."

* * * * *

"O good, but most unwise Patricians!"

The folio reads 'O God!' the judicious alteration is Theobald's, as

usual. See on Ham. ii. 2.

* * * * *

"They know the corn

Was not our recompense, resting well assured

They ne'er did service for 't."

For 'our' Southern read _their_, which seems to have been the poet's

word.

* * * * *

"Could never be the native

Of our so frank donation."

As I have never met with 'native' in the sense of origin, source, I

think, and so did Mason, that the right word is _motive_.

* * * * *

"How shall this bosom multiplied digest

The senate's courtesy."

I do not think that the text is, in any place in these plays, more

certainly correct than it is here; yet some late editors adopt without

hesitation _bisson multitude_, the reading of Collier's folio. By

'bosom multiplied' the poet means the union or complex of the bosoms,

_i.e._ hearts, affections, of the people. In his next speech Cor.

uses in a similar manner "multitudinous tongue;" and in ii. 2 we meet

"multiplying spawn." In Lear (v. 3) we have "the _common bosom_;" and

in our poet's Lover's Complaint "That he did in the _general bosom_

reign."

* * * * *

"To jump a body with a dangerous physic."

For 'Jump' Pope read _vamp_, Singer _imp_. 'Jump' is risk, hazard, and

the verb seems, like so many others, to be here causative.

* * * * *

"Go call the people; in whose name _I_ myself."

* * * * *

_2. Sen._ "Weapons, weapons," etc.

So the speech is given in the folio. In the Globe Shakespeare it is

given _Senators, etc._, and what follows as the discordant cries of the

various parties, which certainly seems to be more effective.

* * * * *

"Come, try upon yourselves what you have seen me _do_."

* * * * *

"Lay hands upon him.--Help Marcius, help, _help_!"

* * * * *

_Com._ "Stand fast

We have as many friends as enemies."

I think this should be _Cor._, and I have so given it.

* * * * *

_Cor._ "Come, sir, along with us."

This speech evidently belongs to _Com._

* * * * *

"Leave us to cure this cause.--For 'tis a sore upon us,

You cannot tent yourself."

I think we should either omit 'upon us,' or for 'us' read _you_.

* * * * *

_Cor._ "I would they were barbarians, as they are,

Though in Rome litter'd, not Romans, as they are not,

Though calv'd in the porch o' the Capitol!...

_Men._ Begone,

Put not your worthy rage into your tongue."

So, I think judiciously, Tyrwhitt arranges, and he has been generally

and properly followed. The folio gives the whole to Menenius, to whom

it is not at all suited.

* * * * *

"Or Jove for 's power to thunder. His heart 's his mouth."

I would read '_in_ his mouth.' "My voice is in my sword" (Macb. v. 7).

"He wears his tongue in his arms" (Tr. and Cress. iii. 3).

* * * * *

"To eject him hence

Were but one danger, and to keep him here

Our certain death."

I read _our_ for 'one,' as Theobald also proposed. In Ant. and Cleop.

(i. 4) we have "_One_ great competitor," where the sense demands _our_;

and in Son. xcix. "_Our_ blushing shame," where editors read, as sense

requires, _One_.

* * * * *

"Form [in peace] to his utmost peril."

I omit 'in peace,' as it had just occurred, is needless, and disturbs

the metre.

* * * * *

SC. 2. "I talk of you."

Here Collier's folio places the entrance of Volumnia, and I think

rightly.

* * * * *

"O sir, sir, sir!"

The _son, son, son!_ of Collier's folio is much better. She never

elsewhere says _Sir_ to him. See on Meas. for Meas. iii. 1.

* * * * *

"The thwartings of your dispositions."

'Thwartings' is the emendation of Theobald for _things_ of the folio.

* * * * *

"I have a heart as little apt as yours,

But yet a brain," etc.

There is, I think, either an aposiopesis at the end of the first line;

or a line is lost, as Volumnia is speaking quite calmly; or, _to

stoop_, _to yield_, or something of that sort is omitted.

* * * * *

"Before he should thus stoop to the heart."

Here again Theobald emended, _herd_ for 'heart.'

* * * * *

"You are too absolute;

Though therein you can never be too noble.

But when extremities speak ... I have heard you say."

So I think we should point to make sense.

* * * * *

"Nor by the matter which your heart prompts you _with_."

The metre requires a syllable; the 2nd folio reads _to_.

* * * * *

"But with such words that are but roated in."

'Roated' is probably _roted_; but no such verb occurs elsewhere as

_rote_. Boswell proposed _rooted_.

* * * * *

"Not _only_ what is dangerous present but

The loss of what is past."

There can be little doubt that _only_ was the word omitted.

* * * * *

"Often thus; which correcting thy stout heart,

Now humble as the ripest mulberry,

That will not hold the handling, [or] say to them."

By these slight corrections this place gains sense--a thing it never

had before. All through the speech, it may be observed, Volumnia acts

the part she would have her son perform. The transposition he had made

in the first line--where the folio has 'Which often thus'--having

perplexed the printer, he took 'humble' for a verb, and so introduced

'or' to try to make sense. (Introd. p. 67.) Mr. Dyce says "the passage

now stands as Shakespeare wrote it." Why, then, has he not given us the

sense of it?

* * * * *

"Even as she speaks, why _all_ their hearts were yours."

* * * * *

"Must I with my base tongue give to my noble heart."

It might be better to omit the first 'my' and 'to.'

* * * * *

"Well, mildly be it then; mildly _be it then_."

For an exactly similar effacement at the end of a scene see on Temp.

iii. 1.

* * * * *

SC. 3. "He has been used

Ever to conquer and to have his worth

Of contradiction."

I do not well understand 'worth' here. Rowe read _word_; but I cannot

approve of it; _wreak_ would seem better. We have "a heart of wreak"

(iv. 5); also Tit. And. iv. 3, 4. See on M. for M. ii. 1.

* * * * *

"Rather than envy _to_ you.--Well, well, no more."

* * * * *

"Given hostile strokes, and that not _only_ in the present."

* * * * *

"I have been consul, and can show from Rome

Her enemies' marks upon me."

The preposition should be _'fore_, _for_, or _to_.

* * * * *

"That won you without blows! Despising for you

The City, thus I turn my back _upon it_.

There is a world elsewhere."

ACT IV.

SC. 1. "You were used

To say extremities was the trier of spirits."

The 2nd folio reads 'extremity,' and it is usually followed, and is

perhaps right; yet the text is not wrong. See Introd. p. 72.

* * * * *

"_That_ Fortune's blows,

When most struck home, being gentle wounded, craves

A noble cunning."

Though this may seem devoid of sense, it is, I think, what the poet

wrote. If so, we must take 'wounded' actively, like "Under my burden

_groan'd_" (Temp. i. 2). "It is twice _blessed_" (M. of Ven. v. 1)

etc.; and then 'gentle' will denote that the blows were open and

honourable ones. (See the parallel passage in Tr. and Cress, i. 3.) If

this should not satisfy, we might perhaps read _in the gentle-minded_.

Pope read 'gentle-_warded_.' 'Cunning' here is skill taken in a good

sense, as in "May my right-hand forget her _cunning_" (Ps. cxxxvii).

* * * * *

"Like to a lonely dragon that his fen

Makes feared."

Perhaps the right reading would be _den_.

* * * * *

"Will or _not_ exceed the common, or be caught."

The negative seems required to make sense.

* * * * *

"My first son,

Whither wilt thou go?"

She had, according to herself, no other son (see i. 3); and again she

says of herself (v. 3), "While she, poor hen, fond of no second brood."

I have never met with 'first' in the sense of noblest, that given it

here by the critics. I would therefore read _fairest_. In Tr. and Cr.

we have "_fair_ Lord Æneas"(i. 3); "_fair_ Prince" (iii. 1, v. 1);

"_fair_ Diomed" (iv. 1); _fair_ beholders (Prol.).

* * * * *

"More than a wild exposture to each chance."

Southern read _exposure_, which probably the poet wrote.

* * * * *

_Cor._ "Oh, the gods!"

I give this speech to _Vir._, to whom it is better suited. Her only

other speech in this scene is "O Heavens! O Heavens!"

* * * * *

SC. 3. "But your favour is well appeared by your tongue."

Steevens read _approved_, Singer _appayed_. The poet probably wrote

_has_, pronounced _as_, of which the printer made 'is.'

* * * * *

SC. 4. "My birth-place have I, and my love's upon."

With Steevens, I read _hate_ for 'have.' This change of adjacent

letters is a common error with printers.

* * * * *

SC. 5. "All-noble Marcius. Let me _en_twine

Mine arms about that body."

* * * * *

"Unbuckling helms, fisting each other's throat,

And waked half-dead with nothing."

A line is apparently lost here; or there is an aposiopesis.

* * * * *

"Like a bold flood o'erbear _her_. O! come, go in."

* * * * *

"To fright 'em ere destroy _'em_. But come in."

* * * * *

"This peace is _good for_ nothing but to rust iron."

Steevens, without being aware of the metric requirement, made the same

addition.

* * * * *

"than War's a destroyer of men.--'Tis so, and as

War[s] in some sort may be said to be a ravisher," etc.

* * * * *

SC. 6. "If he had gone forth Consul, _have_ found it so."

* * * * *

"And who resist

Are mocked for _their_ valiant ignorance."

* * * * *

SC. 7. "Which he was lord of; or whether nature _in him_."

* * * * *

"And Power, unto itself most commendable,

Hath not a tomb so evident as a chair

To extol what it hath done."

I agree with Steevens in regarding this passage and the comments on

it as being equally unintelligible. The meaning seems to be one which

Shakespeare frequently expresses (see Tr. and Cr. i. 3, ii. 3, iii.

3)--self-praise is no praise. 'Unto itself commendable' is, then,

standing high in the possessor's estimation. The sense yielded by

'tomb' and 'chair' is most trivial, and I would therefore venture to

propose

"Hath not a tongue so evident as a charmer's."

Charms and spells, we know, were murmured or muttered in a low tone

("wizards that peep and that mutter" Is. viii. 19); and if the final

letters of _charmer's_ had been effaced--like _in him_ a few lines

higher--and only _char_ left, the printer might easily have taken it

for 'chair,' and so have made 'tomb' to correspond. For 'chair' Singer

reads _hair_; Collier's folio _cheer_. _Charmer_ occurs in Oth. iii. 4,

and the poet had met with it in his Bible. I have introduced it again

in Ant. and Cl. iv. 8.

* * * * *

"One fire drives out one fire; one nail one nail;

Rights by rights fouler, strengths by strengths do fail."

For 'fouler' Dyce reads _faulter_, Singer _foil'd are_. We might also

conjecture _fall, and_; the final _d_ in this last not being sounded.

_Fall_ and _fail_ come thus together in "Fall Greeks, fail fame;

honour or go or stay" (Tr. and Cr. v. 1). It seems, however, safest to

read, with Malone, as I have done, _founder_. We have "All his tricks

_founder_" (H. VIII. iii. 2). What is said of fire in the first line is

a favourite idea with our poet. We have it again in Two Gent. ii. 4, K.

John, iii. 1. It is an allusion to the homoeopathic mode of curing a

burn by holding it to the fire. By the fires, etc., he means Coriolanus

and himself.

ACT V.

SC. 1. "It was a bare petition of a State

To one whom they had punish'd."

I do not well understand 'bare' here. Mason read _base_, which is not

quite satisfactory.

* * * * *

"Pray you, go to him.--What should I do _there_?"

* * * * *

"Unheard, what then? * * *

But as a discontented friend, grief-shot."

I would supply _How, then, should I return?_

* * * * *

"Good faith, I'll prove him.

Speed how it will, I shall ere long have knowledge

Of my success."

This is also the punctuation of Delius.

* * * * *

"I tell you he does sit in gold."

For 'in gold' we might read _a god_: "He sits 'mongst men, like a

descended god" (Cymb. i. 7). But it may be his chair of state that is

meant.

* * * * *

"What he would do

He sent in writing after me; what he would not

* * * *

Bound with an oath to yield to his conditions."

A line is lost between the two last lines.

* * * * *

SC. 2. "For I have ever verified my friends--

Of whom he's chief--with all the size that verity

Would without lapsing suffer."

As 'verified' would seem to have been suggested by the following

'verity,' we might read, with Hanmer, _magnified_, or perhaps repeat

'amplified.'

* * * * *

"Out of your gates with sighs."

As 'your' seems utterly unsuitable here, we might read _our_ or _yon_.

* * * * *

SC. 3. "That, if you fail in our request, the blame

May hang upon your hardness."

Pope also saw that 'you' should be _we_.

* * * * *

SC. 4. "_For_ the plebeians have got your fellow-tribune."

* * * * *

SC. 5. "Holp to reap the fame

Which he did end all his."

For 'end' Rowe read _make_; Collier's folio _ear_; Singer, after a

writer in Notes and Queries, reads _ear_ for 'reap,' and _reap_ for

'end.' I would read _inn_ for 'end.' "Give me leave to _inn_ the crop"

(All's Well, i. 3). "All was _inned_ at last into the King's barn"

(Bacon).

* * * * *

"Flutter'd your Volscians in Corioli."

I think Malone was right in reading _Volsces_, and I have followed him.

Volscians is rarely a subst. in this play.

CYMBELINE.

ACT I.

SC. 1. "Our bloods

No more obey the heavens than our courtiers

Still seem as doth the king's."

Tyrwhitt read 'king'; Coleridge _countenances_ for 'courtiers.' It is

better to suppose a word effaced at the end of the second line; so I

add _faces_. A few lines lower they are said to 'wear their faces to

the bent of the kings looks.'

"Mais ceux qui de la cour ont un plus long usage,

Sur les yeux de César composent leur visage."

Racine, Britan. v. 5.

* * * * *

"To his mistress,

For whom he now is banish'd ... her own price."

* * * * *

SC. 2. "My residence at Rome'_s_ at one Philario's."

* * * * *

"And sear up my embracements from a next

With bonds of death."

I approve of Singer's _seal_; there is no agreement between 'sear,'

_i.e._ burn, and 'bonds.'

* * * * *

"Remain thou there

While sense can keep it on."

I cannot avoid agreeing with those who read _thee_ for 'it.'

* * * * *

"That should'st repair my youth, thou heapest

A year's age on me."

Metre requires a foot in the first line. Capell added _instead_. I

prefer _many_, which gives sense to 'A year's age.'

* * * * *

"_I_ pray you speak with me. You shall at least."

* * * * *

SC. 3. "It went out o' the backside _o'_ the town."

* * * * *

SC. 4. "'Twere a paper lost,

As offer'd mercy is.... What was the last

That he spake to thee?"

It is only thus that I can give sense to the second line.

* * * * *

"_O_ senseless linen, happier therein than I!"

* * * * *

"As he could make me with his eye or ear

Distinguish him from others."

I read _the_, which is so often confounded with 'his.' Warburton, who

is generally followed, read _this_.

* * * * *

SC. 5. "A beggar without less quality."

Rowe read _more_, which alone gives sense.

* * * * *

"Have confounded one the other or have fallen both."

We should apparently read here _and_ for 'or.'

* * * * *

"If I offend _not_ to say it is mended."

All agree in adding _not_, which is not in the folio.

* * * * *

"I could but believe she excelled many."

The folio has _not_ for 'but'; the correction is Heath's.

* * * * *

"Or if there were wealth enough for the purchase, or merit."

I think the editors right in omitting the first 'or.'

* * * * *

SC. 6. "But though slow, deadly.--I wonder, doctor, _that_."

* * * * *

"Think on my words.--And _so_ shall do."

* * * * *

SC. 7. "As my two brothers, happy!" etc.

Mr. Staunton arranges this passage thus, which is most certainly an

improvement (See on Tr. and Cr. iii. 3):--

"As my two brothers, happy! Blessed be those,

How mean soever, that have their honest wills,

Which seasons comfort; but most miserable

Is the desire that's glorious," etc.

I regret that I did not recollect this correction when printing my

Edition, as I should probably have adopted it.

* * * * *

"Change you, madam;

The worthy Leonatus is in safety."

This is the punctuation of the folio, which I have retained, with

(;) for (:); the usual punctuation is (?) Imogen is agitated at the

announcement, and to reassure her, Iachimo says--subjoining the

reason--'Change you,' like _look you_, _hark you_, _soft you_. The

interrogation, however, may be right.

* * * * *

"According as you value your trust Leonatus."

Hanmer read _truest_. We might also read _trusty_.

* * * * *

"Which can distinguish

The fiery orbs above and the twinn'd stones

Upon the number'd beach."

Theobald, I think, was right in reading '_un_number'd.'

"The murmuring surge

That on the _un_numbered idle pebbles chafes."

Lear, iv. 6.

The joining it with 'beach' seems an instance of the figure called

Hypallage. The stones are called 'twinn'd' from their resemblance to

each other.

* * * * *

"Beseech you, sir, desire my man's abode

Where I did leave him. He is strange and peevish."

I think 'desire' should be _enquire_.

* * * * *

"Join gripes with hands

Made hard with hourly falsehood--_with_ falsehood as

With labour--then by peeping in an eye

Base and illustrious," etc.

Some critics read 'by-peeping'; but then a verb is wanting. We might

for 'by' read _be_, or, with Johnson, _lie_; but I rather suspect the

poet's word was _bide_; for 'bide peeping' would be pronounced 'bi

peeping,' and the printer went by his ear (see Introd. p. 52). A most

unhappy conjecture, though adopted and greatly admired by Mr. Collier,

is that of his folio '_bo_-peeping'; for there is no such verb.

'_Illustrous_' may be the right word, but Rowe's '_un_lustrous' has

been generally adopted.

* * * * *

"With diseased ventures

That play with all infirmities for gold

Which rottenness can lend nature."

This supposes the diseases to be not in them, but in those who come

to them, which seems contrary to the course of Iachimo's reasoning.

Perhaps we should read _pay_ for 'play.'

"In this sty, where since I came,

Diseases have been sold, dearer than physic."

Per. iv. 6.

We might perhaps also make a transposition in the second line, and read

"That play for gold," etc., _i.e._ stake their diseases against gold.

* * * * *

"Of rich and exquisite form. Their values great."

I should prefer to read 'value's.'

ACT II.

SC. 1. "And leave eighteen. Alas, poor princess! _Alas!_"

* * * * *

SC. 2. "Swift, swift, you dragons of the night, that dawning

May bear the raven's eye."

This is the reading of the folio; but Theobald read _bare_, and he is

generally followed. Collier's folio has _blear_ which I have adopted;

for nothing was more common than an omission, by the printer, of a

letter or even a syllable in a word. By 'raven,' the poet probably

meant the _night_-raven, of which he had already spoken in Much Ado,

ii. 3, and for his knowledge of which he was probably indebted to

Spenser, in "Here no _night-ravens_ lodge, more black than pitch"

(Shep. Cal. June, _v._ 23).

"The ill-fac'd owl, death's dreadful messenger,

The hoarse _night-raven_, trump of doleful drear."

F. Q. ii. 12. 36.

* * * * *

SC. 3. "With everything that pretty is."

As the riming line ends in 'begin,' and as 'every' is very generally

plural in our poet, and he uses obsolete terms at the end, though not

in the body, of lines for rime-sake, it is the merest printer-worship

to reject _bin_ for 'is,' the correction of Hanmer.

* * * * *

"It is a vice in her ear, which horse-hairs and calves-guts, nor

the voice," etc.

The folio for 'vice' has _voice_. 'Calves-guts' should be '_cats_-guts.'

* * * * *

"Last night 'twas on my arm; _for_ I kiss'd it."

* * * * *

SC. 4. "In these fear'd hopes

I barely gratify your love."

Tyrwhitt, whom some late critics follow, proposed _sear'd_ for

'fear'd.' The text is, in my opinion, right, 'fear'd' being one of the

numerous instances of the past part. for the present; 'fear'd hopes'

are hopes that are mingled with fear. See on As You Like it, v. 4.

* * * * *

"Now mingled with their courage[s], will make known."

The 1st folio has '_w_ingled'; the correction was made in the 2nd.

* * * * *

"If I had lost it."

The folio has _have_; but the correction is certain.

* * * * *

"Who knows if one _of_ her women, being corrupted."

The correction was made in the 2nd folio.

* * * * *

SC. 5. "Must be half-workers? We are all _of us_ bastards."

* * * * *

"All faults that _men do_ name; nay, that hell knows."

* * * * *

"For even to vice." * * *

We might add _to which they are so prone_.

ACT III.

SC. 2. "How! of adultery? wherefore write you not

What monsters her accuse? Leonatus!"

The metre would require '_O_ Leonatus!' but as "What false Italian"

follows, it might be better to read 'monster's her accuse_r_,' the _r_

having been lost as in Macb. ii. 1. See on Ant. and Cleop. iv. 10.

* * * * *

"Could not be so cruel to me as you, O the dearest of creatures,

would even renew me with your eyes."

Of this, as far as I can perceive, no sense has been or ever can be

made. We should therefore read, with Pope, _but_ for 'as,' which may

have been suggested by the preceding 'so'; or 'would _not_ even,' with

Malone.

* * * * *

"I see before me, man; nor here, nor here,

Nor what ensues; but have a fog in them."

I think we should read _there_ for the second 'here,' and perhaps

_they_ for 'but,' or '_they_ have.'

* * * * *

SC. 3. "Richer than doing nothing for a baub_le_."

The folio has _babe_, which Rowe judiciously corrected as it is here

given. In the MS. 'bauble' was probably spelt _bable_ or, it may

be, _babel_; and the latter part may have been effaced. Hanmer read

_bribe_; Johnson and Singer _brabe_.

* * * * *

"Such gain the cap of him that makes 'em fine."

For ''em' the folio has _him_. If we retain the reading of the folio,

we must read 'gains.' 'Cap' is salutation.

* * * * *

"They took thee for their mother

And every day do honour to her grave."

For 'her' we should read of course _thy_.

* * * * *

SC. 4. "Ne'er long'd my mother so

To see me first, as I have now ... Pisanio!"

* * * * *

"And thou _too_, Posthumus, that didst set up."

Posthumus is _always_ to be accented on the first syllable. It is usual

to read '_thou_ that'; but my reading I think more natural.

* * * * *

"I'll wake mine eye-balls first.--Whërefore then?"

Hanmer read '_blind_ first'; I prefer _make_, with a (...); Collier's

folio has _crack_.

* * * * *

"Though peril to my modesty, not death on't

I would adventure."

We should perhaps, with Johnson, read _Through_.

* * * * *

"There's more to be consider'd, but we'll even

All that good time will give us."

A verb seems lost at the end of the first line. Its place may have been

taken by 'even,' or we might simply add _do_.

* * * * *

SC. 5. "Madam, all joy befall your grace and you."

I think Capell and Steevens were right in reading 'and you_rs_.' The

two last letters had probably been effaced.

* * * * *

"She looks us like

A thing more made of malice than of duty."

I think we should insert _on_, _at_, or _to_ after 'look.' The 2nd

folio read '_as_ like.'

* * * * *

"That will be given to the loud_est_ of noise we make."

So I read, with preceding editors.

* * * * *

"I have not seen these two days.--Go, look after _him_."

* * * * *

"The low Posthumus, _she_ slanders so her judgement."

* * * * *

SC. 6. "When resty Sloth

Finds the down-pillow hard."

Singer quotes Bullokar's Expositor to show that 'resty' is idle, inert.

Steevens proposed _restive_.

* * * * *

"Since Leonatus' false."

That is 'Since Leonatus is,' to avoid cacophony.

ACT IV.

SC. 2. "Grow, Patience!

And let the stinking elder, Grief, untwine

His perishing root with the increasing vine!"

The folio reads _patient_. I incline to read '_from_ with,' and _thy_

for 'the' in the last line.

* * * * *

"For defect of judgement

Is oft the cause of fear."

For 'defect' Theobald read _th' effect_, while Hanmer read _cure_ for

'cause.' I see no great need of change.

* * * * *

"Thou Divine nature how thyself thou blasonest."

'How' is Capell's correction for _thou_ of the folio.

* * * * *

"What does he mean? Since _the_ death of my dearest mother."

* * * * *

"To have turn'd my leaping-time into a crutch."

I feel almost inclined to read 'leaping-_pole_,' which was of course in

use then as now, as it was known to the ancients.

* * * * *

"With female fairies will his tomb be haunted

And worms will not come to thee."

I agree with Steevens in reading _him_ for 'thee.'

* * * * *

"Yea and furr'd moss besides, when flowers are none,

To winter-ground thy corse."

"To winter-ground a plant," says Steevens, "is to protect it from the

inclemency of the winter-season by straw, dung, etc., laid over it."

This seems decisive; otherwise the mention of '_furr'd_ moss' would

lead me to read, with Warburton, 'winter-_gown_.'

* * * * *

"Come on, away; apart upon our knees."

A line riming with this is evidently lost.

* * * * *

"Pisanio might have kill'd thee at the heart

And left this head on."

For 'this' we should probably read _thy_ or _the_.

* * * * *

"I fast and pray'd for their intelligence."

I think we should read 'fast_ed_.'

* * * * *

"Try many, all good, serve truly, _and yet_ never

Find such another master."

Some read '_and_ all good'; others 'serve _them_.'

* * * * *

SC. 3. "And _he_ will, no doubt, be found."

* * * * *

"I heard no letter from my master since."

Hanmer properly read _have had_ for 'heard.'

ACT V.

SC. 1. "Yea, bloody cloth, I'll keep thee; for I am wish'd

Thou shouldest be coloured thus."

Pope omitted 'am,' and so his successors; but it must have been a

mistake for _'ve_; unless there be an error in 'wish'd.'

* * * * *

"Gods, if you

Should have ta'en vengeance on my faults, I never."

Possibly the poet wrote more correctly _Had taken_.

* * * * *

"You some permit

To second ills with ills, each elder worse;

And make them dread it, to the doer's thrift."

A line must have been lost between the two last. 'Elder' is later.

* * * * *

SC. 3. "Sweet words; or hath more ministers than we

That draw his knives in the war."

This would seem an instance of the usual change of _or_ for _and_.

* * * * *

SC. 4. "Thy crystal window ope; [look], look out."

* * * * *

"Be not, as is our fangled world, a garment."

As 'fangled' never occurs without _new_, it is but reasonable to

suppose it was omitted here; and 'is,' which is not wanted, was

probably inserted for metre's sake.

* * * * *

"No more tavern-bills, which are _as_ often the sadness."

* * * * *

SC. 5. "O'ercome you with her show, and in _due_ time."

The 2nd folio has '_yes_, and in time.'

* * * * *

"Mine own.--I know not why, _nor_ whërefore."

_Nor_ is the necessary addition of Rowe.

* * * * *

"One sand

Another not more resembles ... That sweet rosy lad."

This punctuation, I think, removes all difficulty. In the perturbation

of astonishment he stops short, and then tells whom he meant.

* * * * *

"This man is better than the man he slew."

For the first 'man' we had better read _youth_.

* * * * *

"Your pleasure was my meer offence."

So Tyrwhitt; the folio reads _neere_.

* * * * *

"Beaten for loyalty

Excited me to treason."

It would seem that _beating_ would be the proper word.

* * * * *

"Rejoiced _at_ deliverance more. Blest may you be."

For 'may' the folio reads _pray_.

* * * * *

"This fierce abridgement

Hath to it circumstantial branches."

For 'fierce,' which yields no good sense, I read _first_. 'Abridgement'

is summary: "This brief abridgement of my will I make" (Lucrece).

* * * * *

"Is this most constant wife [TO POST.] who even now."

For 'this' we might read _thy_, or, as I have done, 'this _thy_.'

Without the stage-direction the place has no sense.

* * * * *

"My peace we will begin."

For 'My' Capell read _By_; others _This_.

* * * * *

"Have laid most heavy hand _on_."

ADDITIONAL NOTES.

THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.

ACT iv. 4. "And at that time I made her weep a good."

In English we have _good_ and _the good_ as nouns, but never _a good_.

A monosyllabic noun may, then, have been lost, and the poet may have

written 'a good _flood_,' as she "wept bitterly," and we have "_flood_

of tears" (Com. of Err. iii. 2); or 'a good _store_' as we have

"Sham'd their aspects with _store_ of childish drops" (Rich. III. i.

2). Finally, it may have been 'a _flood_,' and the _fl_ having been

effaced, the word was supposed to have been 'good.'

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL.

ACT v. 3. "Admiringly, my liege." etc.

The folio punctuates "Admiringly my liege, at first I stuck my choice

upon her." The usual reading is "Admiringly, my liege, at first" etc. I

would afterwards read

"_But_ ere my heart

Durst make a too bold herald of my tongue."

We should thus, I think, increase the effect of Bertram's regretful

speech.

KING HENRY IV.--PART I.

ACT v. 3. "I will assay thee, and _so_ defend thyself."

There was no need of correction here; the folio has not 'and,' and

reads 'so defend thyself.' The following has been omitted:--

ACT v. 5. "Had been alive this hoür, _Worcester_."

EXPLANATORY INDEX OF ALLUSIONS, USAGES, WORDS, AND PHRASES.

_A_ (printed 'a or a') is used instead of _'e_ for _he_ when _h_ is

suppressed. Introd. p. 53.

_Able_ (Lear, iv. 6), enable, back, maintain, support. "Admitted! aye

into her heart. I'll _able_ 'em" (Chapman, Widow's Tears, ii); "You

might sit and sigh first till your heart-strings broke. I'll _able_ it"

(ib. iv.).

_Absey_ (K. John i. 1), the _a b c_ or alphabet. The _a_ was perhaps

pronounced as in continental languages.

_Accommodate_ (2 H. IV. iii. 2), to be provided, to be off, like

_accommoder_, Fr. "J'ai découvert qu'elles ne sont pas _fort

accommodées_" (_i.e._ not in very good circumstances) (Molière, Avare,

i. 2).

_Affection_ (Mer. of Ven. iv. 1, v. 1, W. Tale, i. 2), conceit,

imagination. "Lo, which a great thing is affectioun! A man may dye for

ymaginacioun" (Chauc. Miller's Tale).

_Aiery_, or _eiry_, the nest of a bird of prey; and hence (Rich. III.

i. 3), the contents of the nest, the young birds. It is the French

_aire_, which has the same signification, and which, being flat and

unformed, comes from _area_. See Notes and Queries, 3rd S. vi. 43.

_Aim_, in archery. There was a distinction between 'Cry aim' and 'Give

aim.' The former was merely to call on the archer to shoot; the latter

to tell him how his arrow had gone with respect to the aim or mark.

_Amaimon and Barbason_ (M. W. ii. 2, 1 II. IV. ii. 4, II. V. ii. 1),

names of fiends of which little is known. The dominion of the former

was said to be on the north part of the infernal gulf.

_Ancient_, ensign, ensign-bearer. It is the French _enseigne_ with the

usual paragogic _t_.

_And if_, _an if_, _an_. These are all used for _if_. The first is the

original form, framed perhaps after _etsi_.

_Anon._ Probably a corruption of _in one_, sc. minute.

_Aroint._ This unusual word is generally regarded as an interjection

equivalent to _avaunt!_ but it may be an indicative, with an ellipsis

of _I_, and so be a corruption of _averrunco_.

_Arras_ (so called from the town of that name), tapestry for covering

the walls of rooms. It was fixed on wooden frames a little distance

from the wall; hence people could go behind it. (Much Ado, i. 3, M.

Wives, iii. 3, 1 H. IV. ii. 4, _et alib._)

_Arthur's Show_ (2 H. IV. iii. 2), an exhibition of archery by a

toxophile society, whose members, fifty-eight in number, appeared in

the characters of the Knights of the Round Table. In it Sir Dagonet was

the King's Fool.

_Away_ i.e. _on way_. "She never could away with me" (2 Hen. IV. iii.

2) is, she could not go on the way (_i.e._ agree) with me.

_Backarè_ (Tam. of Shr. ii. 1). The phrase to which it seems to belong

is "Backarè, quoth Mortimer to his sow."

"Ah, sir! _Backarè!_ quod Mortimer to his sowe."

Ralph Roist. Doist, i. 2.

"Shall I consume myself, to restore him now?

Nay, _Backaré!_ quoth Mortimer to his sow."

Heywood, Epig.

"_Backaré!_ quoth Mortimer to his sow;

Went that sow back at his bidding, trow you?"

Id. ib.

"The masculine gender is more worthy than the feminine; therefore,

Licio, _backarè_." (Lyly, Mydas, i. 2).

In all these places it is evidently assumed that the derivation is from

_back_; but it may be that _Bigarrée_, Brindle, was the name Mortimer

had given his sow.

_Baffle_ (_baffoler_, _bafouer_, Fr.), a part of the ceremony of

degrading a knight. It is described by Spenser, F. Q. vi. 7.27.

_Banquet_ or _Banket_. This in general answered to the present

_dessert_, and it was usually served in another room, or in an arbour

(2 H. IV. v. 3). It consisted of fruits, sweetmeats, etc. It also

answered to our supper after a ball (H. VIII. i. 4, R. and J. i. 5),

and was used sometimes for a feast in general. By a "running banquet"

(H. VIII. i. 4, v. 3) seems to have been meant a hasty meal, a snatch,

as it were, of food.

_Basilisco_ (K. John, i. 1), a character in the old play of Soliman and

Persida.

_Baked meat_ (Rom. and Jul. iv. 4), meat-pie. In Webster's White Devil

we have

"You speak as if a man

Should know what fowl is coffin'd in a _bak'd meat_

Afore it is cut up."

In Cotgrave's Dict. it is rendered by _pâtisserie_, Fr.

_Bate_ (T. Sh. iv. 1, R. and J. iii. 2), in falconry, flapping the

wings, apparently from _battre_, Fr. It is not easy to see the

difference between it and _beat_, with which it is joined in the first

of these passages. _Beat_, however, may be only a misprint for _bate_

repeated.

_Bat-fowling_ (Temp. ii. 1), taking birds by night with a light and a

net. It is fully described in Joseph Andrews, ii. 10.

_Bear in hand_, amuse with false hopes, and so keep in one's power. The

phrase seems taken from the _manége_.

_Benedicite_, the first word of the Canticle called The Song of the

Three Children, in the Liturgy. It was generally used merely as an

interjection.

_Bias_, a weight inserted in one side of a bowl, which of course would

sway it on one side, and prevent its going straight to the _mistress_,

or jack, at bowls.

_Bill on neck_ (As Y. L. i. 2), "With his sword by his side, a forest

_bill on his neck_, and a chopping-knife under his girdle" (Arcadia,

i.).

_Bird-bolt_ (M. Ado, i. 1), a short thick arrow with an obtuse head

used for shooting at birds.

_Bite the thumb_ (Rom. and Jul. i. 1) seems to have been making the

_figo_ or fig, by putting the thumb between the first and second

fingers, and then biting it. It was an expression of contempt or

defiance.

_Black Monday_ (M. of Ven. ii. 5), said to be Easter Monday, from the

severity of that day, April 4, 1360, by which Edw. III. lost numbers of

his men in France.

_Block_, the mould on which the crown of a hat was formed, hence the

hat itself (Lear, iv. 6, M. Ado, i. 1).

_Bob_, a sudden tap on the face; hence a stroke of satire (As. Y. L.

ii. 7). As a verb, to cheat, do out of (Othel. v. 1).

_Bolting-hutch_ (in a mill), the machine by which the flour is bolted

or separated from the bran.

_Bombast_, wadding, padding, from _bombax_ cotton, the usual material.

_Books._ To be in one's books (M. Ado, i. 1), to be in favour with. It

seems to be taken from the giving credit of tradesmen.

_Boots._ Give the boots (Two Gent. i. 1) seems to be equivalent to the

present _give the sack_, _i.e._ turn away.

_Brach._ "A mannerly name for all hound-bitches" (Gentleman's

Recreation, p. 27). "A _brache_ or _biche_, canicula, petite chienne,"

Baret, Dict. This seems to be its meaning everywhere in Shakespeare,

except perhaps Lear, iii. 6, and everywhere else that it occurs.

Jonson and Massinger use it, as _bitch_ is still used by the vulgar,

of a low common woman. Its substitution for that term may have been

caused by the similarity of sound. _Braque_, Fr. (_bracco_ It.), is

a setting-dog; and in the work just quoted we are told the Scotch

called a dog that ran by scent _rache_, "the female thereof in England

is called a _brache_." The Icelandic name of this dog at the present

day is _rakkr_. "Here is a leysche of _ratches_ for to run a hare"

(Skelton, Interl. of Mag.). Golding (Ov. Met. p. 33) uses _brach_ and

_bitch_ as synonymous and of hounds. A _lady-brach_ (Lear, i. 4, 1 Hen.

IV. iii. 1?) seems to have been what we now call a parlour-dog; females

being preferred, probably on account of their greater gentleness. The

above derivation of _brach_ is, however, not quite satisfactory.

_Break across_ (As Y. L. iii. 4), used of a spear, in tilting, when in

the charge its handle was broken by the awkwardness of the tilter. The

mode of doing it, however, is not easy to conceive. Perhaps _break_ was

not used in its usual sense.

_Break up_, carve. It is used (L. L. L. iv. 1) of a love-letter, called

in French _poulet_.

_Breast_ (Tw. N. ii. 3), voice--containing for contained.

_Bribed buck_ (M. W. v. 5), "a buck _cut up_ to be given away in

portions. In O. Fr. _bribes_ were portions of meat which were given

away." So Singer explains it; but I rather suspect it may be a _stolen_

buck. See Richardson, _v._ Bribe.

_Breathe in watering_ (1 H. IV. ii. 4), to take breath while drinking.

It seems to be taken from horses.

"We also do enact

That all hold up their hands, and laugh aloud,

Drink much at one draught, _breathe not in their drink_."

Old Play of Timon, ii. 5.

_Brief_, letter, short writing of any kind, even a verbal promise,

contract, or agreement (All's Well, ii. 3). It may be an adj., with an

ellipsis of the subst.

_Brown paper_ (M. for M. iv. 3). This was one of the useless

commodities which usurers compelled unlucky borrowers to take in lieu

of ready money. Rosini, in his Monaca di Monza, notices it in Italy in

the 16th century; Molière, in L'Avare, in France; and it has continued

in England down to present times.

_Bucklers._ "Give the bucklers" (M. Ado, v. 2) seems to be a term taken

from prize-fighting, signifying to yield, give up. It is supposed that

the bucklers were the prize; but that is not likely. There may be a

use of the plur. for the sing., and the phrase may merely mean lay the

buckler down or aside in token of defeat.

_Budge_ (_bouger_, Fr). In Cor. i. 6 and elsewhere it means to give

back, retire.

_Bulk_, breast, chest, not body, as is usually given. In Spanish

_bulto_, a kindred term, is used in the same sense.

_But_ (A.S. _buton_, i.e. _be out_), without, unless, save, except.

It also (it is not easy to say how) took the place of A.S. _ac_, yet,

however; and it became a mere inceptive particle like _now_ and _why_.

When, as it often does, it signifies _that ... not_, as in "Not a man

_but_ was slain," there seems to be merely an ellipsis of the personal

pronoun. So when it signifies _only_ there is an ellipsis of the

negative; for "We have _but_ five loaves" (Matt. xiv. 17) is in A.S.

"We _n_abbð her _buton_ fif hlafas;" and at the present day a peasant

would say "We have_n't but_ five loaves." I therefore, in 1 H. IV. v.

3, read in my Edition for "There is not" "There is not _but_." To my

great surprise I have not been able to meet an exact parallel in any

play or other work. We say "There is _not_ a man _but_ one," etc., and

"I can_not but_ say," etc.; but these are not precisely parallel.

_Buttons._ "It is in his buttons" (M. W. ii. 2), seems to mean it is in

his doublet which is buttoned on him; _i.e._ it is in him, he is able

to accomplish it.

_By._ This prep. sometimes occurs (like _bei_, Germ.) in the sense

of beside, near, in contact with, a sense it still retains, chiefly

in poetry. But by the position given it in our poet it often causes

ambiguity. See Two Gent. ii. 4, As Y. L. iii. 5, and

"If thou be found _by_ me thou art but dead."

2 H. VI. iii. 2.

"To die _by_ thee were but to die in jest."

Ib.

_Cade of herrings_ (2 H. VI. iv. 3), a barrel of _red_ herrings

containing 600, _i.e._ five hundreds of six score to the hundred. See

Notes and Queries, 3 S. ix. 324.

_Calipolis_ (2 Hen. IV. ii. 4), one of the characters in Peele's Battle

of Alcazar.

_Callat_, a term of reproach for a woman. Perhaps it is merely a

corruption of the Irish _cailleach_, old woman, learned from the Irish

costermongers in London.

_Callinó castorè me_ (Hen. V. iv. 4) misprinted _calmie custore me_;

but restored by Boswell from the Handful of Pleasant Delights, 1584,

where it forms the burden of a song beginning with

"When as I view your comely grace,

A callinò castoré me,

Eva, eva, ee, loo, loo, loo, loo, loo, lee,"

of which the last line seems to be unmeaning, and the second to be the

Irish _A colleen óg, astore mo chree_ (A ca{i}lín ó{z} an{st}ó{r} mo

c{r}oiðe) 'Young girl, the treasure of my heart.' The last two words,

it will be seen, are conjectural; and were it good Irish we might read,

An mín 'the gentle one.'

_Camelot_ (Lear, ii. 2), a town in Somerset, where King Arthur was said

to have kept his court. Its site was on a hill, near South Cadbury.

_Candles' ends_, _buts_ of candles. It was rather a disgusting feat

of gallants to swallow them for flap-dragons in honour of their

mistresses. 2 Hen. IV. ii. 4.

_Canvas_ (2 H. IV. ii. 4, 1 H. VI. i. 3), to shake and toss in a sieve,

of which the bottom was then as now made of canvas. The use of it in

those places is figurative.

_Card_ (1 H. IV. iii. 2), to debase by mixture, as when fine and coarse

wool were _carded_ together, and so mingled in the cloth thence woven.

"You _card_ your beer--if you see your guests begin to get drunk--half

small, half strong," etc. (Green's Quip, etc.).

_Card of ten_, the ten of the suits in a pack of cards. To "face with

a card of ten" (T. Sh. ii. 1) seems to mean simply to turn up, play, a

ten, the highest except the coat-cards and aces.

_Careires._ "Pass the careires" (M. W. i. 1), a term of the _manége_,

signifying to go at full speed.

_Carouse_, a drinking-bout, a large draught. It is usually derived

from Germ. _gar aus_, 'all out,' which seems to be confirmed by "boire

_caraus_ et _alluz_" (Rabelais, iii. Prol.). In German _Rausch_ is

intoxication; and this _may_ be the origin of _carouse_.

_Carpet-knight_ (Tw. N. iii. 4), civilian knight, as opposed to the

military knight; so named probably from the _carpet_ which covered the

table--not the floor--in the room in which the ceremony of conferring

knighthood took place.

_Carraways_ (2 Hen. IV. v. 3) in the form of comfits, with apples, were

used at the dessert.

_Carry coals_, a term of reproach, because fetching charcoal, firewood,

etc., was the office of the lowest servants in a household.

_Carve._ This verb, beside its ordinary sense, seems to have that of

talking agreeably, jesting, etc. (L. L. L. v. 2, Mer. W. i. 3). In

Herbert's Prophecy of Cadwallader, 1604, we have

"There might you Caius Marius _carving_ find,

And martial Sylla courting Venus kind."

It may be only a form of the old _carpe_:--

"In fellowship well could she laugh and _carpe_."

Cant. Tales, Prol.

"So gone they forth _carpende_ fast

On this and that."

Gower, Conf. Am. vii.

It is of constant occurrence in Piers Ploughman.

_Castle_ (Tr. and Cr. v. 2), a kind of strong helmet, "and break the

strongest _castle_ that thou hast upon thy head" (Hist. of Prince

Arthur, ch. clviii.).

_Cataian_ (M. W. ii. 1), a Chinese. It seems, however, to be used here

without any particular meaning.

_Ceremony._ Besides its ordinary sense of state, pomp, parade, this

word is used for a sacred pledge (Mer. of Ven. v. 1), ornament of state

(Jul. Cæs. i. 1), prodigy (ib. ii. 2).

_Chamber_ (2 H. IV. ii. 4), a kind of cannon. It was properly a small

mortar, hence its name; for it stood almost erect.

_Charact_ (M. for M. v. 1), an abbreviation of _character_. We meet it

in Piers Ploughman, _v. 7600 et alibi_.

_Chase._ See _Tennis_.

_Cherry-pit_ (Tw. N. iii. 4), a game played by children. It consisted

in throwing cherry-stones into a small hole.

_Christendom_ (K. John, iv. 1), baptism, (All's Well, i. 1) name given

in baptism. It answers to _halidom_, and to the Spanish _santiguada_.

_Christom-child_ (H. V. ii. 3). The proper word is _chrisom_; for it

was, says Blount, "the white cloth which is set by the minister of

baptism upon the head of a child newly anointed with _chrism_ after his

baptism." When the use of the chrism was abolished, it came to signify

"the white cloth put about or upon a child newly christened, wherewith

the women used to shroud the child if dying within the month," and such

was called a _chrisom-child_.

_Cinque pace._ See _Galliard_.

_Circumvention_ (Cor. i. 2). The only meaning this word can have in

this place is, apparently, secret information obtained by stratagem,

the enemy being, as it were, circumvented. A curious instance of the

liberties the poet took with language!

_Cling_ (Macb. v. 5), from _clingan_ A.S., to shrink, pine, wither. "Or

_clyngest_ for-drye" (Vis. of P. P. 9011). In this place of Macbeth it

is used in a causative sense, as in "_Clings_ not his guts with niggish

fare, to heap his chest withal" (Surrey, Eccles. ch. v.).

_Clock._ "A German clock" (L. L. L. iv. 1). Clocks, it appears, were

then, as now, imported from Germany, and were of a very inferior order.

_Cloud in his face_ (Ant. and Cl. iii. 2). This, we are told, was said

of a horse when he had a dark spot between his eyes.

_Clown._ This term for a licensed jester, and as such nearly synonymous

with _Fool_, is peculiar to Shakespeare. The Fool in Lear hardly

differs from the Clowns of the other plays. It probably comes from

_colonus_.

_Clubs_ (H. VIII. v. 3, As Y. L. v. 2), the cry to the London

apprentices to come forth with the clubs or bludgeons which they always

kept by them to keep, or as often to break the peace.

_Coast_ (H. VIII. iii. 2), to proceed cautiously, keeping, as it

were, along the shore, a figure taken from navigation. The Italian

_piaggiare_ is used in the same manner. So _hedge_ in this same passage

is figurative--keeping, as it were, inside of the hedge.

_Cock-a-hoop._ "You will set cock-a-hoop!" (R. and J. i. 5). By this

some understand taking the cock out of the barrel, and letting the

liquor run to waste. Nares quotes

"The cock on hoop is set

Hoping to drink their lordships out of debt."

But perhaps the original expression may have been _Cock on heap_, i.e.

on his dunghill, boastful and triumphant.

_Cock-shut_ (R. III. v. 3), a large net stretched across a glade in a

wood, in order to catch woodcocks when flying in the twilight, thence

called "cock-shut time."

_Codpiece_, a cod (_i.e._ pouch or pocket) set in the front of the

hose. It seems to have answered to the present breeches-pockets.

_Colours._ "Fear no colours" (Tw. N. i. 5) would seem to have been a

military expression, denoting no fear of any banners, _i.e._ troops or

enemies.

_Concolinel_ (L. L. L. iii. 1), the commencement of a song, usually

supposed to be Italian. But there is nothing like it in that language.

It was mooted in Notes and Queries if it were not rather Irish, like so

many other airs at that time; and among the conjectures given, the best

was by "Eirionnach" that it may have been _Can colleen yal_ (Cán cailín

[z]eal). 'Sing, fair girl.' But no such song is known.

_Condition_ (Tim. i. 1), art, profession, as in French.

_Control_ (Temp. i. 2), confute, bring to order.

"Stephano, is all this true that thou hast told me?--

Sir, for lies hitherto you never _controll'd_ me."

Dam. and Pith.

"A trespass that my father made in peace

Is now _controll'd_ by fortune of the war."

Span. Tragedy.

As a subst. determination, decision.

_Cony-catch_, one of the terms for cheating or taking in. It was

evidently derived from the practice of catching rabbits by setting nets

before their holes, into which they were driven by ferrets.

_Cooling-card_ (1 H. VI. v. 4), a card so high as to cool the courage

of the opponent.

"My lord, lay down a _cooling-card_; this game is gone too far."

True Trag. of Rich. III. 1594.

_Copetain_, T. of Sh. v. 1 (from _cop_, i.e. top), high-crowned,

coned, or sugar-loaf. It seems to be a corruption of _coppletankt_,

_coppintank_, or _coptankt_, all signifying the same--"Galerus

acuminatus," Junius: "Upon their heads they wore felt hats

_copple-tanked_, a quarter of an ell high or more" (Comines, by Danet).

_Cophetua_ (L. L. L. iv. 1, 2 Hen. IV. v. 3), the name of an African

King, in the ballad, who married a beggar-girl.

_Coranto_ (H. V. iii. 5), a lively, gliding kind of dance, in which the

dancer had, as Davies says, "with best order all order to shun," and

"wantonly range everywhere."

_Corporal of his field_ (L. L. L. iv. 1). Singer remarks, from Lord

Strafford's Letters (ii. 199), that this was a kind of aide-de-camp

employed "in taking and carrying to and fro the directions of the

general or other higher officers of the field." The ordinary corporal

was, as now, the lowest officer. See Nares, _v._ Gentlemen of the Round.

_Cotsall_ (M. W. i. 1), Cotswold-downs in Gloucestershire, where there

used to be various sports at Whitsuntide. They were instituted by Mr.

Robert Dover, an attorney in the reign of James I., and continued till

after the Revolution. "The sports were football, skittles, quoits,

shovel-board, cudgel, and single-stick; bull-baiting, cock-fighting,

bowling, wrestling, leaping, dancing, pitching the bar, horse-racing,

ringing of bells, jumping in sacks," etc. See Notes and Queries, 3 S.

ix. 80, 100, 353.

_Counter_ (C. of Err. iv. 2). Hounds were said to run counter

(_contra_) when they ran back, instead of forward, on the scent.

_Counterfeit_, likeness, portrait; also same as _slip_, false coin: R.

and J. ii. 4, Tr. and Cr. ii. 3.

_Court-cupboard_ (R. and J. i. 5), a moveable state cupboard, on the

receding shelves of which the family-plate was arranged and displayed

on festive occasions, as on our side-boards.

_Court-holy-water_ (Lear, iii. 2), _eau bénite de la cour_, flattery,

or rather words without deeds, as plentiful and as lavishly used in

courts as holy water in churches.

_Cousin._ This word was used, in its primitive sense of

_consanguineus_, of any one that was akin.

_Creep._ Creeping to the Cross was an act of devotion in Popish times.

It is alluded to in Tr. and Cr. iii. 3.

_Cross-row_ (R. III. i. 1), _i.e._ Christ-cross-row, the alphabet,

because the sign of the Cross was placed at the head of it.

_Cuckoo-bud_ (L. L. L. v. 2), probably the cowslip, which Singer tells

us, from Lyte's Herbal (1578), was called in French _coquu primevère,

brayes de coquu, and Herbe à coquu_.

_Cue._ "Q., a note of entrance for actors; because it is the first

letter of _quando_, when, showing when to enter and speak" (Buller, the

English Grammar, 1634). This, however, seems a very forced and pedantic

derivation, and the ordinary one, from _queue_, Fr., seems preferable.

Florio, however, says, "a prompter, one who keeps the books for the

players and teacheth them, or scholars their _kue_."

_Cupid's flower_ (M. N. D. iv. 1). See _Love in Idleness_.

_Curate_ (_curé_, Fr.), the incumbent of a parish; not what is now so

termed.

_Curiosity_ (Lear, i. 2), scrupulousness, affected delicacy, or

niceness. _Curious_ (T. of Sh. iv. 4) has the same sense.

_Curst_ (T. of Sh. i. 1), shrewish, snappish, ill-tempered. It is

usually supposed to be _cursed_; and it may be so, taking this part

actively. But I rather think it is a metathesis of _cross_ with a

paragogic _t_, or of _crossed_.

_Curtal-axe_ (As Y. L. i. 3), a corruption of _cutlass_ (_coutelas_

Fr., _coltellaccio_ It.), a short strong sword: "His _curtlax_ by his

thigh, short, hooked, fine" (Fairf. G. of B. ix. 82), whence it might

be inferred that it was curved.

_Cut._ "Draw cuts" (Com. of Err. v. 1), to draw lots of paper or straws

cut in different lengths. He who drew the longest was the winner.

_Cut bowstrings_ (M. N. D. i. 2). When a match was made to shoot at

butts, each said that if he did not _hold_ his promise they might _cut

his bowstring_ and exclude him from their society.

_Damn._ This word had not its present restricted sense; like _damno_,

it meant simply to condemn, or even merely disapprove of. So _damned_

and _damnable_ often signified merely reprehensible.

_Dancing-horse_ (L. L. L. i. 2), a celebrated horse belonging to one

Bankes, who had taught him to dance, to count, and perform various

other feats. He travelled over the Continent exhibiting him; and it is

said, but probably with little truth, that both master and horse were

burnt at Rome for witchcraft.

_Dare_ (H. VIII. iii. 2) had the sense of terrify--whence derived it is

hard to say--when used of taking larks in a net, by means of a hawk, or

mirrors on a piece of scarlet cloth.

_Day-bed_ (Tw. N. ii. 5, R. III. iii. 7), a couch or sofa; for it was

not confined to bed-chambers.

_Day-woman_ (L. L. L. i. 2) is generally said to be a dairy-maid; for

a _day-house_, in the old dictionaries, is where cheeses are made.

As, however, _day-woman_ occurs only in this place, and _day's-man_

has quite a different sense, it may be only a printer's error for

'dai_ry_-woman.'

_Defy_ (K. John, iii. 4, 1 H. IV. i. 3), renounce, reject, cast off--as

_défier_, Fr., is distrust, put no trust in.

_Devil rides on a fiddle-stick_ (1 H. IV. ii. 4), a proverbial

expression denoting something strange, unexpected. Its origin is not

known.

_Dian's-bud_ (M. N. D. iii. 1), the flower of the Agnus castus. "The

virtue of this herb is that it will keep man and woman _chaste_" (Maur,

by Lynacre).

_Diffused_ (M. W. iv. 4), obscure, strange, as it were _confused_

and jumbled. "Speak Welsh to him. I doubt not but thy speech will be

more _diffuse_ to him than his French shall be to thee" (Cav. Life of

Wolsey).

_Dole_, share, part (_Theil_, Germ). "Happy man be his dole" (W. T. i.

2, 1 H. IV. ii. 2) is, Be it his part to be called Happy man.

_Dough._ "My cake is dough" (T. Sh. v. 1) means things are not going

well with me. It is a figure taken from bread baked on a girdle, still

in use in America.

_Drum._ "John Drum's Entertainment" (All's Well, v. 1). There was a

dramatic piece so named (1601), in which Jack Drum, a servant, was

continually foiled in his intrigues.

_Ducdamè_ (As Y. L. ii. 6) would appear to be meant for Italian (_duc

da me_, 'bring to me?').

_Dudgeon_ (Macb. ii. 1), the handle of a dagger, properly a handle made

of the wood of the box-root, of which this is the name, as given by Bp.

Wilkins, Gerard, and others.

_Dun._ "To draw Dun out of the mire" (R. and J. i. 4). Gifford, who

says he had often played at this game, thus describes it:--"A log

of wood is brought into the midst of the room; this is _Dun_ (the

cart-horse), and a cry is raised that he is stuck in the mire. Two of

the company advance, either with or without ropes, to draw him out.

After repeated efforts they find themselves unable to do it, and call

for more assistance. The game continues till all the company take part

in it, when _Dun_ is extricated of course; and the merriment arises

from the awkward and affected efforts of the rustics to lift the

log, and sundry arch contrivances to let the ends of it fall on one

another's toes."

_Dun's the mouse_ (R. and J. i. 4), an apparent allusion to the colour

of the mouse, which, however, is not dun. The phrase was probably made

for the sake of a play on _done_. It is similar to "The cat is gray"

(Lear, iii. 6).

_Durance._ "Robe of durance" (1 H. IV. i. 2). "The jerkin-man is come,

but your _robe of durance_ is yet not finished" (Letter of Thomas

Winter, of the Gunpowder Plot, in Notes and Queries, 3 S. i. 342).

"Let me live, but I will give thee a good _suit of durance_" (Westward

Ho!). "I refuse to wear _buff_ for the lasting, and shall be content to

apparel my brain in _durance_" (Cornwalleys, Essays). It thus appears

that _durance_ was a strong kind of cloth.

_Each._ "At each" (Lear, iv. 6), _i.e._ the end of one being joined to

that of the other. The text seems to be right.

_Eggs for money_ (W. T. i. 2) seems to mean cheating, bullying, giving

little or no value for money.

_Element_, _par excellence_ the air, as that by which we breathe and

exist (Tw. N. i. 1, J. C. i. 3, Temp. v. _ad fin._). It was believed

that man was composed of the four elements (Tw. N. ii. 3, Ant. and Cl.

v. 2).

_'Em._ This is not _them_ by aphæresis; it is the old _hem_ of Chaucer,

etc. In Marston's plays it is printed _'hem_.

_End._ This word was used in a variety of ways in conjunction with

others. Thus we have "there an end" (Two Gent. ii. 1, T. Sh. v. 2);

"still an end" (ib. iv. 4); "for an end," in fine (Cor. ii. 1); also

"word and end" (Chauc. Monk's Tale, Tr. and Cr. iii.); "tale and end"

(Gower, C. Am. v). "Most an end," perpetually (Mass. Very Woman, iii.

1), used also by Milton, and even by Warburton. See Gifford on Mass,

_ut sup._ In most of these cases _an_ is _and_.

_Enew_ (M. for M. iii. 1). "How presently upon the landing of the fowl

she [the falcon] came down like a stone and _enew'd_ it, and suddenly

got up again, and suddenly upon a second landing came down again, and,

missing of it in the downcome, recovered it beyond expectation, to the

admiration of the beholder, at a long flight" (Nash, Quaternio, etc.,

1633). _Enew_ is therefore to teaze, worry, terrify, and probably comes

from _ennuyer_, Fr.

_Entrance._ In 1 H. IV. i. 1, this word is most abusively employed for

_mouth_. A most remarkable instance of the liberties the poet took with

the Queen's English.

_Ephesian_ (M. W. iv. 5, 2 H. IV. ii. 2) apparently means jovial

companion, toper; but why, it is hard to say.

_Extent_ (As Y. L. iii. 1) "An _extent_ or _extendi facias_ is so

called because the sheriff is to cause the land, etc., to be appraised

to their full _extended_ value before he delivers them to the

plaintiff" (Blackstone).

_Eye_ (Temp. ii. 1), what we now call a shade of colour. "Red with an

_eye_ of blue makes a purple" (Boyle). As it elsewhere (R. and J. v. 1)

signifies glance, look, that may be a general sense of it.

_Fading_ (W. T. iv. 3), the name of an Irish dance, perhaps the _Rinka

fadha_ ({r}in{z}ce {f}aða), long dance. It was also used as the burden

of a song.

_Fan_ (M. W. ii. 2, R. and J. ii. 4). The fan of those times was

quite different from the present one. It was composed of feathers set

in a round handle of ivory, and even of silver or gold, so as to be

sometimes of the value of £40.

_Fancy_, love, as being frequently the creation of imagination. The

term _fancy-man_ seems to be a relic of this sense. It was also (2 H.

IV. iii. 2) the name of an air or tune, as Such a one's Fancy, _i.e._

favourite.

_Fashions_ (T. Sh. iii. 2), from _farcins_, Fr., the farcy in horses.

_Fast and loose_ (Ant. and Cl. iv. 11. L. L. L. iii. 1, K. John, iii.

1), the trick still played at fairs, and called _Prick in the garter,

the belt, the loop_. It was well known to the ancients, by whom it was

named [himanteligmos], under which name it is accurately described by

Julius Pollux (ix. 7); and that it was known in the Middle Ages is

proved by this line in the Roman de la Rose--which, by the way, none

of the critics have understood--"C'est li gieu de _boute-en-corroie_,"

6882.

_Feature_, form, person, make, _faiture_, O. Fr. It was very rarely, if

at all, restricted to the countenance as now, or used in the plural. In

As Y. L. iii. 3 there is perhaps a printer's error.

_Fern-seed_ (1 H. IV. ii. 1). As the seed of the fern is nearly

invisible, it was believed to render so those who carried it. As Brown

(Brit. Past. ii. 2) terms it _one-night-seeding_, it would appear that

there was a mystery and a difficulty about obtaining it.

_Fig_ (2 H. IV. v. 3, H. V. iii. 6). It was a mode of insulting to put

the thumb between two of the fingers, and hold it out to a person. It

was chiefly practised in Spain and Italy.

_Fights_ (M. W. ii. 2), "the waist-cloths which hang round about the

ship to hinder men from being seen in fight" (Phillips, World of Words).

_First._ "Two of the first, like coats in heraldry" (M. N. D. iii. 2).

The shield was divided in nine different forms; of which the _first_

was an equal division from top to bottom, as when the arms of a man and

his wife were united. In this case there was only one crest, that of

the husband.

_First-born of Egypt_ (As Y. L. ii. 5). This is supposed to mean

high-born persons. But as it only occurs in this place, it may be

nothing more than a humorous expression without any definite meaning.

_Fives_ (T. Sh. iii. 2), _avives_ Fr., the strangles in horses; "an

inflammation of the kernels, between the chap and the neck of the

horse" (Markham, Way to get W. i. 39).

_Flap-dragon_ (L. L. L. v. 1), "a small combustible body set on fire,

and put afloat in a glass of liquor" (Nares). "Raisins in hot brandy

were the commonest flap-dragons" (Id.). As raisins are not combustible,

I rather think it was the liquor that was set on fire, and the feat was

getting the flap-dragon out of the flame that enveloped it.

_Flaw_ (2 H. IV. iv. 4, 2 H. VI. iii. 1), a sudden blast of wind.

Warburton, who appears to be right, says it was the idea of some

philosophers that it was vapour condensed by the cold of night, which,

being liberated by the heat of the sun in the morning, caused the

_flaw_ or sudden burst of wind.

_Flibbertigibbet_ (Lear, iii. 4). This, and all the succeeding names of

fiends in this play, was taken by the poet from Harsnet's Declaration,

etc., 1603.

_Flights_ (M. Ado, i. 1), long light-feathered arrows for shooting at a

mark.

_Flirt-gill_ (R. and J. ii. 4), also _gill-flirt_. It is a compound of

Gillian, a very common woman's name at the time, and _flirt_, which was

perhaps a corruption of _fleer it_ or _fleer at_.

_Florentius_ (T. Sh. i. 2), the hero of a tale in Gower's Confessio

Amantis, similar to The Wife of Bath's Tale in Chaucer.

_Fool's Paradise_ (R. and J. ii. 4), a state of deceptive happiness.

The exact origin of the phrase is not known.

_Foot-cloth_ (2 H. VI. iv. 7), a cloth or housing covering a

saddle-horse, and reaching nearly to the ground at each side. Its

object was to protect the feet and legs from dirt and mire.

_For_ (Oth. i. 3, Cymb. iv. 2), with an ellipsis of _that_, because. It

was also used with an ellipsis of _fear of_.

_Forfeits in a barber's shop_ (M. for M. ii. 2). As barbers' shops were

places of common resort, to keep order in them rules were made and hung

up declaring the forfeit or penalty for each transgression, which,

however, could only be enforced by public opinion.

_Formal_ (C. of Err. v. 1, Tw. N. ii. 5, R. III. iii. 1), in form,

regular, ordinary, (T. of Sh. iv. 2, A. Y. L. ii. 7) precise.

_Fox_ (H. V. iv. 4), a name for a sword; possibly so called from the

maker's name, like Andrew Ferrara.

_French crown_ (M. for M. i. 2), the crown of a Frenchman's head; a

French coin; a bald head caused by the French disease. Hence, as in

this place, it is frequently played on.

_Galliard_ (Tw. N. i. 3, H. V. i. 2), a lively springing kind of dance.

Davies styles it "swift and wandering," with "passages uncertain to and

fro," and "with lofty turns and caprioles in the air." As it had "five

paces," it is said to have been the same with the Cinque Pace; but that

hardly accords with the mentions we have of the latter, also corruptly

called Sink apace (M. Ado, ii. 1, Tw. N. i. 3).

_Gallimaufry_ (W. T. iv. 3, M. W. ii. 1), _galimafrée_, Fr., a kind

of hash or ragout. In these places it is used abusively as applied to

persons, meaning mixture or jumble. Its origin is not known.

_Gallowglas._ See _Kerne_.

_Gaskins_ (Tw. N. i. 5), same as _gallygaskins_, loose breeches or

trousers. The derivation is uncertain.

_Generous_ (M. for M. iv. 6, Oth. iii. 3), noble-minded, _generosus_.

_Gentle_, noble, of good birth (_gentilis_); thence, brave, gallant,

worthy; and finally, courteous, kind, mild, sweet-tempered,--such

qualities being most usually found among the well-born. This last

sense is the least usual in the dramatists.

_Gentry_ (Ham. ii. 2), courtesy, good manners.

_Gig_ (L. L. L. iv. 3), a whipping-top.

_Giglot_ (M. for M. v. 1, 1 H. VI. v. 1, Cymb. iii. 1), a female

wanton. It is perhaps connected with _giggle_.

_Gillian_, the English form of Juliana, a name so common in former

times that _Jack and Jill_ was a usual phrase to denote two persons of

the opposite sexes. St. Juliana was a Florentine, who was not canonized

till 1729, so that the name could hardly have come from her. In Ireland

Julia (in Irish Sheelah--_Sila_) is a common name among the peasantry.

There was a Saint Julia, virgin martyr, who was put to death in the

fifth century.

_Gillyvor_ (W. T. iv. 3), of which _gillyflower_ is a corruption, is

the flower named _caryophyllum_, whence is formed the French _giroflée_.

_Gongorian_ (M. W. i. 3), supposed to be a corruption of _Hungarian_;

but that is uncertain.

_Good-night_ (2 H. IV. iii. 2), like _Fancy_, a kind of song or ballad.

Thus there was Johnny Armstrong's Good Night.

_Good year_ (Much Ado, i. 3, 2 H. IV. ii. 4), a more delicate form of

_gougère_, the French disease.

_Gourd and fullam_ (M. W. i. 3), names of uncertain origin for false

dice; called in the same place _high and low_, sc. men. They were of

course hollowed and leaded internally so as to turn up the numbers

required.

_Greek._ "Merry Greek" (Tr. and Cr. i. 2, iv. 4). In the Latin

Classics the Greeks were always represented as lively and cheerful

(see _Merry_), as compared with the more sombre Romans; and hence the

phrase "Merry as a Greek" may have come into use in England. Still the

original may have been "as merry as a grig," the grig or young eel

being so lively and vivacious.

_Green-sleeves_ (M. W. ii. 1, v. 5), a celebrated air. The song of

"Since laws were made for every degree" in the Beggar's Opera is to

this air.

_Groundling_ (Ham. iii. 2), one who stood on the ground in the pit of

the theatre, where there were no seats, and the price of admittance was

only a penny.

_Guard_ (M. Ado, iii. 4, L. L. L. iv. 3), an edging or binding on

clothes, so named, probably, as securing them from tearing. It then

came to signify any trimming etc. on dress.

_Guinever_ (L. L. L. iv. 1), the queen of King Arthur in the romances.

_Gull_ (1 H. IV. v. 1, Tim. ii. 1), an unfledged bird; still used of

goslings. It then came to signify a dupe, one imposed on (Tw. N. iii.

2, v. 1), also a trick, imposition (M. Ado, ii. 3).

_Gumm'd velvet_ (1 H. IV. ii. 2), velvet stiffened with gum, whence it

was apt to _fret_ or fray.

_Halcyon_ (Lear, ii. 2). "A little bird, called the king's-fisher,

being hanged up in the air by the neck, his neb or bill will be always

direct or straight against the wind."--_Book of Notable Things._

_Half-face_ (K. John, i. 1, 2 H. iv. iii. 1), in profile, as showing

but half the face.

_Halidom_ (Two Gent. iv. 2), and corruptly _holy dame_ (H. VIII. v. 1,

R. and J. i. 3), same as _christendom_, christening, consecrating by

the rite of baptism.

_Hall._ "A hall, a hall!" (R. and J. i. 5), a cry to clear the room,

and make a space for the dancers. _Ring_ is still used in a somewhat

similar sense.

_Hangers_ (Ham. v. 2), the short straps by which a sword was hung from

the belt.

_Hatch_ (Tr. and Cr. i. 3), adorn, ornament. It is properly to engrave

or work with lines--_hacher_, Fr.

_Have_, take. This sense is frequent in the Pilgrim's Progress, and we

still speak of _having_ a person before a magistrate. The expressions

_have at you_ and _have with you_ are elliptical; and _have_ is there,

I take me.

_Hazard._ See _Tennis_.

_Head_ (1 H. IV. iv. 3, v. 1, 2 H. IV. i. 3, ii. 2), army, forces. "To

make head," to raise an army.

_Hell_ (C. of Er. iv. 2), the worst part of a prison. Marot has a poem

on a prison, called _L'enfer_.

_Hermit._ In "We rest your hermits" (Macb. i. 6) the proper word would

be _beadsmen_; but as the speaker is a woman, the poet ventured to use

'hermit' in a sense it never has had before or since. See _Entrance_.

_Hide fox, and all after_ (Ham. iv. 2, M. Ado, ii. 3), a play of

children. It was probably what is now called Hide-and-Seek.

_Hip._ "Have on the hip" (M. of V. i. 3, Oth. ii. 1) seems to be taken

from wrestling, and to signify getting the opponent across one's hip,

and thus being able to give him a severe fall.

"_To get_ the Pagan _on the hip_;

And having caught him right, he doth him lift

By nimble slight, and in such wise doth trip

That down he threw him."

Harr. Or. Fur. xlvi. 117.

_Hiren._ "Have we not Hiren here?" (2 H. IV. ii. 4). It is a corruption

of the Greek proper name of Irene, made by Peele in his play of The

Turkish Mahomet and the fair Greek Hiren.

_Hob._ This, like _Bob_, _Dob_, was merely a short form of Robert. It

and _Dob_ are still preserved in proper names, as in Hobbs, _Hobson_.

Hob-goblin answers to the German _Knecht-Ruprecht_.

_Hob-nob_ (Tw. N. iii. 4), is _hab-nab_, i.e. 'have or no have,' hit or

miss.

_Hobby-horse_ (L. L. L. iii. 1, Ham. iii. 2). This was an essential

character in the morris-dance. It was the figure of a horse fastened

round the waist of a man, whose legs were concealed by the horse's

long footcloth, outside of which hung a pair of artificial legs and

thighs. The man, of course, gave motion to the horse, prancing about,

neighing, etc. It may still be seen at the booths in fairs and at minor

theatres. The Puritans were bitter enemies to the Hobby-horse, which

was therefore frequently left out, whence the cry of

"For oh! for oh! the Hobby-horse is forgot."

_Hoodman-blind_ (Ham. iii. 4). The game now called Blindman's-buff.

_Holla_ (As Y. L. iii. 2). See _Soft_.

_Hope._ This word is frequently used in the sense of mere expectation

of either good or evil, a sense it still retains in America. The

corresponding verbs in Greek, Latin, and some modern languages have the

same sense.

_Hot-house_ (M. for M. ii. 1), a bagnio, so named from the hot baths

which it contained.

_Humour._ This word, signifying moisture (_humor_), came by the

physiology of the time to mean character, idiosyncrasy. See Jonson's

Every Man out of his Humour, The Stage. In the character of Nym,

Shakespeare shows us how it was abused. It frequently occurs in the

sense of state of mind, inclination, but never in its present sense; we

still say _good_ and _ill humour_. The adj. _humorous_ occurs once (R.

and J. ii. 1) in the primitive sense moist; but its usual meaning is,

capricious. See _Wit_.

_Humour of Forty Fancies_ (T. of Sh. iii. 2), supposed to be a

collection of poems or tales. There is no copy of it remaining.

'_Hundred Merry Tales_' (M. Ado, ii. 1), name of a common jest-book at

that time.

_Hunts-up_ (R. and J. iii. 5), the name of an air used to rouse up

sportsmen in the morning. It began with "The hunt is up, the hunt is

up." Puttenham says it was composed by one Gray in the time of Henry

VIII., with whom it was a favourite.

_Hurricano_ (Lear, iii. 2, Tr. and Cr. v. 2), what is now called a

water-spout.

_I._ So they wrote what we now write _Aye_. As it was the same as the

first personal pronoun, there was often a play on it, as in Two Gent.

i. 1, R. and J. iii. 2.

_Iceland-dog_ (H. V. ii. 1), a shaggy kind of dog imported from

Iceland, a great favourite in England at that time.

_Idle_ (M. for M. iii. 2, Oth. i. 3), empty, void, of no force, _idel_,

A.S., _eitel_, Germ.: "And the earth was _idel_ and void" (Wicklif).

_Imp_, graft, hence child, young devil, by ellipsis of the devil. As a

verb it was a term of falconry, meaning to splice a broken feather of

the wing (R. II. ii. 1), which was effected by running a needle up the

broken feather, the other end of which was run up the feather that was

to be added.

_Incense_, properly Insense (M. Ado, v. 1, R. III. iii. 2, H. VIII. v.

1), inform, put sense, as it were, into.

_Incony_ (L. L. L. iii. 1, iv. 1). This is usually understood to mean

fine, delicate, pretty; but the following passage of the old play The

Shoemaker's Holiday gives the true sense and origin of it: "There they

shall be knit, like a pair of stockings, in matrimony; there they'll

be _in conie_." _Cony_, like _lamb_, _mouse_, etc., was in fact one of

the endearing terms then in use between married couples; so that _to

be in cony_ was to be in a state of matrimonial endearment. Thence _in

cony_ or _incony_ gradually came into use as an adj. of endearment in

general--just as _in life_ became _alive_ and _live_ (as an adjective).

_Index_ (R. III. ii. 2, Tr. and Cr. i. 3), what we now call the table

of contents in a book. It also (R. III. iv. 4, Ham. iii. 4, Oth. ii.

1) seems to mean the dumb show before the acts of a play.

_Inherit_ (Two Gent. iii. 2, R. II. i. 1), possess, cause to possess.

_Iniquity_ (R. II. iii. 1, 1 H. IV. ii. 4), a name of the Vice, or

buffoon, of the old moralities. He had asses' ears, a long coat, and

a dagger of lath, with which, leaping on the Devil's back, he used to

belabour him; but he was always carried off by him in the end.

_Inkle_ (L. L. L. iii. 1, W. T. iv. 3), a kind of tape. It came perhaps

by aphæresis from A.S. _rápincle_, cord.

_Instance_ (R. III. iii. 2, Ham. iii. 2), motive, cause, (Tr. and Cr.

v. 2) proof.

_Intrenchant_ (Macb. v. 7) seems to mean which cannot be cut so as to

remain divided. It is only found in this place.

_Jack._ From the universality of this familiar form of _John_, it

became the usual appellation of servants and others of the lower

orders, something like the _Jacques_ of the French. _Jack_ and _Jill_

(L. L. L. v. 2, M. N. D. iii. 2, T. Sh. iv. 1), therefore, represented

the two sexes in humble life.

_Jack-a-Lent_ (M. W. iii. 3, v. 5), a stuffed figure set up to be

thrown at in Lent, as cocks were on Shrove Tuesday.

_Jack-o'-the-clock_ (R. II. v. 5, R. III. iv. 2), figures of men that

used to strike the hours on clocks.

_Jade_ (possibly akin to Germ. _Gaul_), a name for a horse, indicating

sometimes a vicious ("_Jade_, a naughty horse," Baret), sometimes

a contemptible one, at other times expressing pity. It sometimes,

however, was equivalent to horse, steed, as in

"When Hyperion's son

Shall couch in west his foam-bedabbled _jades_."

Fuimus Troes.

_Jesses_ (Oth. iii. 3), short straps of leather or silk fastened to the

legs of a hawk, with rings on them, through which passed a leash or

strap, which the falconer twisted round his hand. When the hawk was let

go, the leash was drawn out of the rings.

_Jewel._ "Wear this _jewel_ for me; 'tis my picture" (Tw. N. iii. 4).

We may hence see that jewel was any ornament in gold, enamel, etc.

_Jig_ (Ham. ii. 2), a lively poem or ballad, as well as a dance, its

only meaning at present.

_John-a'-dreams_ (Ham. ii. 2). This means evidently a stupid dreamy

person; but the origin of the phrase is unknown.

_Judas' hair_ (As Y. L. iii. 4). It was the popular belief that Judas

Iscariot's hair was red. It owed its origin probably to the dislike of

red hair, which still prevails.

_Kam_ (Cor. iii. 1), crooked, awry. This is one of the very few English

words borrowed from the Welsh or Irish language.

_Keech_ (1 H. IV. ii. 4, 2 H. IV. ii. 1, H. VIII. i. 1), the inside fat

of an ox rolled up in a lump.

_Keel the pot_ (L. L. L. v. 2), cool the pot, probably by adding cold

water to keep it from boiling over.

_Keep_ (M. for M. iii. 1, 1 H. IV. i. 3), dwell, reside. Hence the

provincial and American _keeping_-(_i.e._ sitting-) _room_.

_Kerne_ (R. II. ii. 1, 2 H. VI. iii. 1, Macb. i. 2), sometimes joined

with _Gallowglas_--the former denoting the light-, the latter the

heavy-armed soldier of the native Irish. Barnabie Riche terms the

kernes "the very dross and scum of the country, a generation of

villains not worthy to live." "The _Gallowglas_," says Stanyhurst,

"useth a kind of pollax for his weapon. These men are grim of

countenance, tall of stature, big of limb, lusty of body, and strongly

timbered. The _kerne_ is an ordinary foot-soldier, using for weapon

his sword and target, and sometimes his piece, being commonly good

marksmen."

_Kiln-hole_ (M. W. iv. 2, W. T. iv. 4). This is apparently the lower

part of the malt-kiln, where the fire was. It would seem from these

places that it was usual in those times to have private malt-kilns.

_Knave_, boy, lad, fellow, _cnâfa_ A.S., _Knabe_ Germ.

_Knife_ (2 H. IV. ii. 4, R. and J. iii. 1, Macb. i. 5). It appears

to have been the custom in those times for women to carry a

straight-handled knife in a sheath at their girdle, like a dagger. As

we meet the term _wedding-knives_, it would seem to have formed part of

the bridal array.

_Knot_, body, gang, party; a wavy bed in a garden.

_Lantern_ (R. and J. v. 3), a louvre, or turret full of windows for

admitting or transmitting light.

_Lavolta_ (H. V. iii. 5, Tr. and Cr. iv. 4), a quick bounding dance for

two persons. It would seem not to have been unlike the waltz of the

present day.

_Leave_ (Two Gent. iv. 3, M. of Ven. v. 1), to part with, give away.

_Leg._ "Make a leg" (R. II. iii. 3, T. Sh. iv. 1), to make a bow or

obeisance--from putting forward one leg and withdrawing the other.

_Leiger_ (M. for M. iii. 1, Cymb. i. 6), a resident ambassador,

apparently from _liggan_, _ligg_, to lie, _i.e._ reside.

_Leisure._ Shakespeare, and apparently he alone, uses this word (R.

III. v. 2) for brief time, and also (R. II. i. 1) for occupation,

engagement.

_L'envoy_ (L. L. L. iii. 1), lines terminating a French ballad and

conveying the moral, or an address to the person for whom the poem was

intended.

_Lightning before death_ (R. and J. v. 3), the temporary reviving of

the mental powers sometimes seen in sick persons a little before death.

It may be so named from an analogy with lightning; but it more probably

means relieving, easing.

_Light-o'-love_ (Two Gent. i. 2, M. Ado, iv. 3), the name of an old

tune for dancing; no words to it are known.

_Line._ "Under the line" (Temp. iv. 1), _i.e._ at stake, a phrase of

the tennis-court: "Let us keep the laws of the court--that is, stake

money under the line (_sotto la corda_). Is it not so?--Yea, sir, you

hit it right" (Florio, Second Fruits, ch. ii). Elsewhere in this play

(iv. 1) _line_ is lime- or linden-tree.

_Line of life_ (M. of V. ii. 2)--in fortune-telling, one of the lines

of the hand.

_Lipsbury pinfold_ (Lear ii. 2). Pinfold is a pound for cattle; but

no place of the name of Lipsbury is known. As Nares observes, this is

probably a coined name, like _Lob's pound_.

_Lock_ (M. Ado, iii. 3, v. 1), _i.e._ love-lock, a lock of hair plaited

and tied with ribbon, hanging on the left side down to the shoulder,

or even lower. It was greatly the fashion among the men of the poet's

time, and much later. Prynne wrote furiously against it.

_Loggat_ (Ham. v. 1), a small log of wood. Steevens, of his own

knowledge, describes the game of _loggats_ as played at sheep-shearing

feasts. A stake was stuck in the ground, at which they threw loggats,

and he that threw nearest to it was the winner; the prize was a black

fleece. This he gave to the farmer's maid to make her a petticoat, on

the condition of her kneeling down on it to be kissed by the company.

_Lord._ "Good lord" (All's Well, ii. 3; "dear lady," Temp. i. 2) is

patron or protector of any one.

_Lord have mercy upon us!_ (L. L. L. v. 2), the inscription put on

houses where the plague was, to warn people against entering them.

_Lord's sake._ "For the Lord's sake!" (M. for M. iv. 3). This was the

word of prisoners for debt from the prison window, calling on the

passers-by to give them some relief.

_Lose_ (H. V. iv. 1), waste, employ without gaining by it. So also

_loss_ (M. for M. ii. 4) is mere employment, or occupation--waste, as

it were.

_Lots to blanks_ (Cor. v. 2). Here _lot_ is used in the sense of prize

in a lottery.

_Love in Idleness_ (M. N. D. ii. 1), the pansy, _Viola tricolor_.

_Lover._ This word was sometimes used where we should now say friend,

as in Jul. Cæs. ii. 3, iii. 2, v. 1, Cor. v. 2.

_Luxury_ (Ham. i. 5, Lear, iv. 6, Tr. and Cr. v. 2), lechery, lewdness,

fornication, the _luxuria_ of the schoolmen, _lussuria_ It.

_Magnifico_ (M. of V. iii. 2, Oth. i. 2), a title given to the nobles

of Venice.

_Magot-pie_ (Macb. iii. 4), magpie. It is the French _Margot-pie_, just

like our Madge-howlet, Jack-daw, Tom-tit, etc.

_Mall._ By "Mistress Mall" (Tw. N. i. 3) is probably meant merely a

lady, without any particular allusion.

_Man_ (T. Sh. iv. 1)--in falconry, tame a haggard or wild hawk, by

making her submissive to the _man_ or keeper.

_Mammet_ (1 H. IV. ii. 3, R. and J. iii. 5), doll, puppet. It is

probably the same as _maumet_, idol, image (from _Mahomet_?).

_Mandragora_ (Oth. iii. 3, A. and C. i. v), the mandrake, a strong

narcotic or soporific.

_Mandrake_ (R and J. iv. 3, 2 H. IV. i. 2, iii. 2, 2 H. VI. iii. 2).

From its root being forked, and bearing some resemblance to the legs

and thighs of a man, some superstition was attached to it, such as its

groaning when pulled out of the ground, and causing madness or death to

the person who pulled it.

_Mankind_ (W. T. ii. 3, Cor. iv. 2), masculine (of a woman).

_Manner._ "Taken with the manner" (L. L. L. i. 1, 1 H. IV. ii. 4),

to be caught in the fact, with the stolen goods upon him. It was a

law-phrase, the proper term being _mainour_, from _manier_, Fr.,

derived from _main_.

_Manningtree-ox_ (1 H. IV. ii. 4). This town in Essex used to hold

fairs, by the tenure of exhibiting stage-plays; and there were great

festivities there at Whitsun-ales and other festal times, at which

probably--for we have no account of it--oxen used to be roasted whole,

etc.

_Mantuan_ (L. L. L. iv. 2), a Carmelite friar of the 15th century, who

wrote several works, among which were Latin Eclogues, in imitation of

those of Virgil. This last was a school-book in our poet's time; and

the words quoted are the beginning of the first Eclogue.

_Marchpane_ (R. and J. i. v), a confection of almonds, sugar, and flour

pounded, blended, and baked, so as to form a kind of biscuit. The name

occurs in most European languages, but its origin is uncertain.

_Mare._ "Riding the wild mare" (2 H. IV. ii. 4) is playing at the game

of see-saw or weighdy-buckety--_bascule_, Fr.

_Marian._ "Maid Marian" (1 H. IV. iii. 3) was in the ballads the bride

of Robin Hood. She was a character in the morris-dances, and was

frequently represented by a man, but more usually by a woman of ill

life.

_Martlemas_, i.e. _Martinmas_ (2 H. IV. ii. 2), Nov. 11, St. Martin's

day, the beginning of winter, the decline of the year.

_Maze._ "The quaint mazes in the wanton green" (M. N. D. ii. 2) may

perhaps have been merely the fairy rings; but there was in many places

what was called a Maze or Troy town, or Walls of Troy, in which young

people used to run for amusement. "They are generally," says Stukely,

"upon open green places by the sides of roads or rivers, upon meadows

or the like, near a town." For descriptions of them see Notes and

Queries, 3 S. x. 283, 398.

_Meacock_ (T. Sh. ii. 1), a tame, dastardly person. Its most probable

derivation is _meekock_, perhaps its original form (_-ock_ being a

diminutive, as in _hillock_, _bullock_, etc.).

_Measure_ (L. L. L. v. 2, As Y. L. v. 4), a stately, slow dance, like

the minuet of the last century.

_Meazle_ (Cor. iii. 2), leper (_mesel_, _meseau_ Old Fr.; from

_misellus_?).

_Medicine_ (All's Well, ii. 1, W. T. iv. 3), physician (probably

_médecin_, Fr.).

_Mephistophilus_ (M. W. i. 1), the well-known spirit or familiar in the

story of Dr. Faustus. In Marlowe's play on the subject he was probably

represented as very slender in person.

_Merchant_ (R. and J. ii. 4) was used as we now use _chap_ (_i.e._

chapman), in _my chap_, a _saucy chap_, etc.

_Merry_, cheerful, pleasant; the adj. of _mirth_. Hence _merry_ (_i.e._

pleasant) England.

"That made hem in a cite for to tarie,

That stood ful _mery_ upon a haven side."

Chauc. Tale of Nonnes Prest.

"I wol you telle a _mery_ tale in prose"

(Id. Prol. Person's Tale),

where the "mery tale" is a sermon.

_Mess_ (L. L. L. iv. 3, 3 H. VI. i. 4), a set of four persons at a

meal, the party being arranged in fours. It is probably the Spanish

_mesa_, table.

_Milliner_ (1 H. IV. i. 3), a man who carried on the business now

appropriated to women; probably from _Milan_.

_Mobled_ (Ham. ii. 2), having the face covered. "The moon doth _mobble_

up herself" (Shirley, Gent. of Venice). Its derivation is uncertain;

but it may be connected with _muffle_.

_Mock-water_ (M. W. ii. 3) may allude to the usage of judging of

diseases by the urine; but it is uncertain.

_Modern_ (As Y. L. ii. 7, iv. 1, All's Well, v. 3, Macb. iv. 3),

common, trivial, such as we may meet with every day. _Modern_ comes

from _hodiernus_.

_Monarcho_ (L. L. L. iv. 1). "Monarcho the Italian" (Nash, Have with

You, etc.). "Monarcho that lived about court" (Meres, Pal. Tamia).

_Month's mind_ (Two Gent. i. 2). This was originally a service in the

church for the soul of a person deceased, performed a month after his

death, in mind, _i.e._ remembrance, of him. After the Reformation, when

such a usage ceased, the phrase still remained; and as _mind_ signified

inclination as well as memorial, it came to signify a great longing

which had, as it were, lasted a month. This seems to be the simple

explication.

_Mops and mowes_ (Temp. iii. 3, Cymb. i. 7), ridiculous distortions of

the face and body. _Mop_ may be only a corruption of _mock_, and _mow_

of _mouth_--we still say _make mouths_--or the French _moue_, which has

the same sense.

_Moral_ (T. Sh. iv. 4, M. Ado, iii. 4), meaning, as in the _moral_ of a

fable. In Tr. and Cr. iv. 4, it seems to be the same as _motto_.

_Morris_ (A. Well, ii. 2), _i.e._ morris-dance, as it were Moorish

dance, an amusement on May-day, which was long kept up, but confined to

the chimney-sweeps, in London. Its chief characters were Maid Marion,

Friar Tuck, the Clown, the Hobby-horse, etc.

_Mort of the deer_ (W. T. i. 2), notes blown on the horn on the death

of the deer.

_Motion_ (Two Gent. ii. 1, W. T. iv. 2), puppet, puppet-show, as being

_moved_ and put in action by strings.

_Motley_ (As Y. L. ii. 7), the dress of Fools, as formed of divers

colours.

_Mousehunt_ (R. and J. iv. 4), a name of the stoat; but here it seems

to be used ambiguously as a hunter of mice, _i.e._ women, for whom

_mouse_ was a term of endearment.

_Murdering-piece_ (Ham. iv. 5), a piece of ordnance placed in

loop-holes of a castle or fortress, or the port-holes of a ship's

forecastle, from which was discharged case-shot filled with bullets,

nails, pieces of iron, etc. _Meurtrière_ (Fr.) is, loop-hole.

_Mutton_ (Two Gent. i. 1, M. for M. iii. 2). The single term, and that

of _laced mutton_, mean a woman--in the opinion of critics in general,

a woman of bad life; and Cole in his Dict. has "_Laced mutton_,

scortum." Yet this may be questioned. In Molière's G. Dandin (iii. 14),

the maid says to her mistress, of whose virtue she is the maintainer,

_pauvre mouton!_ so that both in French and English _mutton_, i.e.

sheep, ewe, may have been, like _lamb_, a term of endearment. "There's

another goodly _mutton_ going" (Green's Tu Quoque), of a modest woman.

"A fine _lac'd mutton_

Or two; and either has her frisking husband,

That reads her the Corranto every week."

Jonson, Mask of Nep. Triumph.

Here, we have no reason to suppose that they were women of bad

character. So also in Two Gent. it is of a lady of unblemished fame

that _lac'd mutton_ is used. Speed calls himself "a lost mutton," and

her "a lac'd mutton," where, by the way, we must pronounce "lac'd"

_last_, or we miss the humour. It may be observed, as Nares and others

have not seen it, that the allusion in _laced_ is to the lacing of the

dress in front. Hence the frequent cry, _Cut my lace!_

_Nettle of India_ (Tw. N. ii. 5), a zoophyte, it is said, called

_Urtica marina_, abounding in the Indian seas. "The flower of India,

pleasant to be seen, but whoso smelleth to it, feeleth present smart"

(Green, Card of Fancie), whence Shakespeare probably took it, would

rather seem to indicate a plant.

_Nice_ (T. Sh. iii. 1, R. and J. v. 2), silly, trifling, from _niais_,

Fr.

_Nicholas_ (Two Gent. iii. 1, 1 H. IV. ii. 1). This Saint appears

to have had a double office,--the one as the patron of schools and

learning, as he was celebrated for his piety and love of learning from

his infancy; the other, we know not how, as the patron of thieves and

highwaymen, who were called _St. Nicholas' clerks_.

_Night-gown._ This was the name of the night-dress of both women and

men (Macb. ii. 2, Ham. iii. 4). It is still used, at least in the

country, for night-dress. The night-gown was only used by persons of

some rank and consideration; people in general went to bed naked,

_buffing the blanket_, as it was termed in Ireland. It may be here

observed that _gown_ was, like _gonna_, It., whence it is derived, used

very extensively at that time. So we have _sea-gown_ (Ham. v. 1), for a

sailor's outer coat, a pilot-coat, as we should now say.

_Nine men's morris_ (M. N. D. ii. 1). "In that part of Warwickshire

where Shakespeare was educated, and the neighbouring parts of

Northamptonshire, the shepherds and other boys dig up the turf with

their knives to represent a sort of imperfect chess-board. It consists

of a square, sometimes only a foot in diameter, sometimes three or four

yards. Within this is another square, every side of which is parallel

to the external square; and these squares are joined by lines drawn

from each corner of both squares, and the middle of each line. One

party, or player, has wooden pegs, the other stones, which they move

in such a manner as to take up each other's _men_, as they are called;

and the area of the inner square is called _the pound_, in which the

men taken up are impounded. These figures are by the country-people

called _Nine Men's Morris_ or _Merrils_, and are so called because each

party has _nine_ men." (James, in Var. Shakespeare.) This, it must be

confessed, is not very intelligible, and it is rather remarkable that

Nares takes no notice of it. On the contrary, he says that Nine Men's

Morris is "evidently only another name" for Nine-holes. In this he

must be wrong, as the word _Morris_ shows; but Shakespeare may have

confounded the two, and have meant Nine-holes, as would seem to be

indicated by "filled up with mud."

_Nobody_ (Temp. iii. 2). "The picture of Nobody was a common sign.

There is also a woodcut prefixed to an old play of Nobody and Somebody,

which represents him" (Singer).

_Noddy_ (Two Gent. i. 1), a fool, or rather perhaps a nobody.

"Thersites, the glorious _noddy_" (Puttenham).

"Ere you came here poor I was somebody,

The king delighted in me; now I am a _noddy_."

Dam. and Pith.

It may be connected with _noodle_. It was also a game at cards,

something like cribbage, in which the knave was called _knave-noddy_,

to which last, it may be, Speed alludes.

_Nonce_ (1 H. IV. i. 2), or Nones, is simply _ones_, _once_, with the

paragogic _n_, and signifying that one time.

_Novum_ (L. L. L. v. 2), a game at dice, at which the full number of

players would seem to have been five. As the principal throws were nine

and five, it was named _Novemquinque_.

_Nuncle_, i.e. _uncle_ with the paragogic _n_, of which there were so

many instances. In Lear, it is the term used by the Fool to the King;

and in Fletcher's Pilgrim (iv. 1), Alinda uses it, when assuming the

character of a fool; but this may have been a mere imitation of the

Fool in Lear. _Uncle_ and _Aunt_ (M. N. D. ii. 1, W. T. iv. 2) may have

been originally only names for elderly persons: the former at least is

still used in this manner in Cornwall; and the American custom of so

styling elderly negroes of both sexes may be a remnant of it.

_Nut-hook_ (M. W. i. 1, 2 H. IV. v. 4), a hook for pulling down the

branches of nuts. It was, as in these places, used figuratively of a

bailiff.

_Nutmeg._ "A gilt nutmeg" (L. L. L. v. 2), was a common gift at

Christmas and other festivals.

_Object._ This word was used, of both persons and things, in the same

manner as we now use _subject_. Of persons we still employ it with

the ellipsis of _of pity_, as it seems to be used in Tim. iv. 3;

but Shakespeare uses it also with that of _of love_. (Two Gent. ii.

4, Cymb. i. 7.) The French also used it in this sense (see Molière

_passim_).

_One._ As this appears to be pronounced _on_ (Two Gent, ii. 1), it is

assumed that such was its sound, but it was in fact pronounced as at

present; for in the Contention, etc., the original of 2 H. VI., we

have "all's _wonne_ (one) to me." In Chaucer's time it was sounded like

_own_, for he always writes it _oon_, and it retains this sound in

_alone_, _atone_, _only_.

_Or ere._ This should be _or e'er_; for _or_ is ere, before, and we

have the full phrase _or ever_ in the Bible (Dan. vi. 24, Ps. lviii. 8)

and elsewhere.

_Osprey_ (Cor. iv. 7). This bird of prey was supposed to exercise a

kind of fascination over the fish which it captured.

_Out of God's blessing into the warm sun_ (Lear, ii. 2)--a proverb

signifying from good to bad, the origin of which has not yet been shown.

_Overscutched huswives_ (2 H. IV. iii. 2) seems to mean the harlots who

had been well whipped in the house of correction. _Scutch_ (same as

_scotch_), to beat, to scourge, is still used of flax, and in Ireland

of a mode of beating out wheat; _huswife_ or housewife, signified

_hussy_, a corruption of it.

_Owch_ (2 H. IV. ii. 4). This word, whose origin is extremely obscure,

seems to signify ornament, jewel, etc.

_Owl._ "The owl was a baker's daughter" (Ham. iv. 5). Douce says this

is a common tradition in Gloucestershire. "Our Saviour went into a

baker's shop, where they were baking, and asked for some bread to eat.

The mistress of the shop immediately put a piece of dough in the oven

to bake for him; but was reprimanded by her daughter, who, insisting

that the piece of dough was too large, reduced it to a very small size.

The dough, however, immediately began to swell, and presently became of

a most enormous size; whereupon the baker's daughter cried out, _Heugh,

heugh, heugh!_ which owl-like noise probably induced our Saviour to

transform her into that bird for her wickedness."

_Painted cloth_ (As Y. L. iii. 2), _i.e._ cloth or canvas painted in

oil, used like tapestry for hanging the walls of sitting-rooms and

bed-chambers. It was both cheaper and more lasting than tapestry, and,

like it, had stories and mottoes on it.

_Palabras_ (M. Ado, iii. 4) and _Paucas [pocas] palabras_ (T. Sh. Ind.)

Sp., words, few words.

_Parish top_ (Tw. N. i. 3). It was the custom to keep a large

whipping-top in each parish in the country parts for the peasantry to

use in frosty weather to keep them warm with exercise.

_Partlet_ (W. T. ii. 3, 1 H. IV. iii. 3), the name of the hen in

Chaucer's Tale of the Nonnes Prest--used in these places of a woman

who, like her, gave advice, etc., to her husband.

_Passy-measure_ (Tw. N. v. 1), the Italian _passo mezzo_. It was a slow

grave dance, correlative to the Galliard, but with only half the number

of steps. It may have been the same as the Pavin (from _pavo_?), which

is joined with it.

_Patch_ (C. of Err. iii. 1, M. of V. iii. 5, Macb. v. 3), fool. "Patch

was the name of a Fool kept by Cardinal Wolsey, and who deservedly had

the honour of transmitting his appellation to a very numerous body of

descendants, he being, as Wilson observes in his Art of Rhetorique,

1553, 'a notable fool in his time'" (Gifford on Mass. New Way, etc.

iii. 2). He may, however, have been so named from his dress.

_Path_ (J. C. ii. 1), to pace, walk, go along.

"_Pathing_ young Henry's unadvised ways."

Drayton, Duke Humphrey's Epistle.

"Where from the neighbouring hills her passage Wey doth _path_."

Id. Polyolb. ii.

_Pax_ (H. V. iii. 6), a piece of wood or metal, with the picture of

Christ upon it, which was given to the people to kiss at the end of

divine service.

_Pensioners_ (M. W. ii. 2, M. N. D. ii. 1). The band of Gentlemen

Pensioners was instituted by Queen Elizabeth. It was composed of tall

handsome young men, of rank and fortune, who were splendidly attired.

_Pict-hatch_ (M. W. ii. 2) is said to have been a noted tavern or

brothel in Turnbull-street, Clerkenwell. The picked hatch or half-door

with spikes (whence the name) was a common defence of brothels.

_Piece_, one, individual. It was, and is, used in English, French,

and other languages, both of persons and things. So we say a piece of

cannon, a fowling-piece, pieces of money, so much a-piece, _i.e._ to

each, etc. A remarkable instance of this use of _piece_ occurs in the

Roman de la Rose (ver. 16099), where it denotes the individuals of the

various species formed by Nature.

"Voyez la bonne _pièce_ avec ses révérences!"

Corneille, Le Menteur, v. 5.

The critics are quite wrong in saying that when used of a woman it

denoted bad character; for it was merely with an ellipsis of _of

womankind_. Peele says of Helen before her elopement,

"Here, gentle shepherd, here's for thee _a piece_,

The fairest face, the flower of gallant Greece."

Arraign. of Paris, ii. 2.

"In hope to win that gallant flower of Greece,

Fair Helena, that brave and peerless _piece_."

War of Troy.

We also have,

"I had a wife, a passing princely _piece_" (Mirr. of Mag.);

"Well, she was a delicate _piece_" (Hon. Whore),

of a princess;

"All princely graces

That mould up such a piece as this is" (H. VIII. v. 5),

of Elizabeth, whom Wilson (Life of James I. p. 1) terms "a glorious

and most happy _piece_ of sovereignty." We also meet with "_piece_ of

virtue" (Temp. i. 2, Ant. and Cleop. iii. 2), "_piece_ of beauty, of

enchantment" (W. T. iv. 3). It was also used of men:

"Of base and earthly _pieces_, like thyself" (Albumazar, iv. 7),

to a man;

"You're both the loveliest _pieces_" (Fletch. Love's Pilg. i. 1),

to men.

_Pin_ (L. L. L. iv. 1)--in archery, the black peg with which the

_clout_ or _white_ was fastened in the middle of the butt.

_Placket_ (L. L. L. iii. 1, W. T. iv. 3). "_Torace_, the breast or bulk

of a man; also the middle space between the neck and the thighs; also

a _placket_, a stomacher" (Florio). This puts the meaning of this word

beyond dispute. In Winter's Tale it signifies the part covered by it.

_Point-device_ (L. L. L. v. 1, As Y. L. iii. 2), precise, exact in

dress and manners. It is said to be the French _point dévisé_; but

there is no such phrase in French. It may be _point de vice_.

_Pomander_ (W. T. iv. 3), probably, as Minshew says, from _pomme

ambre_. It was a ball, etc., often of silver, perforated, and

containing perfumes; so that it would seem to answer to the present

smelling-bottle. Perhaps it was the same as the pouncet-box (1 H. IV.

i. 3).

_Poor-John_ (R. and J. i. 1), dried hake, a coarse kind of food.

_Porpentine_, a corruption of _porcupine_. Always the form used by

Shakespeare; so Portingale for Portugal.

_Potatoes_ (M. W. v. 5). It is curious that this tuber, which had been

lately brought to England, should have been regarded, as it was, as an

incentive to venery.

_Pox_, i.e. pocks, were properly the pits or holes _poched_ or sunk in

the face by the disease now called the _small-pox_, then simply the

_pox_. Hence there was no indelicacy in its use by a lady (L. L. L. v.

2).

_Pride of place_ (Macb. ii. 4) seems to mean the greatest height to

which a falcon flew, previous to making the stoop. _Place_ seems

equivalent to _pitch_.

_Princock_, _princox_ (R. and J. i. 5), a pert forward youth. Perhaps

_prince-cock_, little prince; _cock_ is a diminutive.

_Priscian_, a celebrated Latin grammarian. Blundering in grammar was

termed breaking his head, hence "a little scratched" (L. L. L. v. 1).

_Prone_ (Cymb. v. 4), prompt, ready, unembarrassed.

"With bombard and basilisk, with men prone and vigorous."

Holme, Fall of Rebellion, 1537.

"To delude your subtle father.--I am _prone_ to it."

Mass. New Way, iii. 2.

In M. for M. i. 3, _prone_ is, perhaps, prepossessing, that makes one

_prone_ or inclined to.

_Pun_ (Tr. and Cr. ii. 1), to pound, crush. It is the A.S. _punian_,

and has been changed to _pound_, just as _hoise_ has become _hoist_.

_Puppet._ "The puppets dallying" (Ham. iii. 2) seems to mean the

apparent motion of the babies in the eyes, _i.e._ the reflections of

objects on the outer part of the pupil.

_Putter-out_ (Temp. iii. 3), one who, on going on his travels, placed

in the hands of some one a sum of money, on condition of receiving

three, four, five, etc. times that sum in case of his safe return. It

was a very common practice in those days.

_Quail_ (Tr. and Cr. v. 1) is used figuratively of a loose amorous

woman, the quail being regarded as an amorous bird. _Bevy_ was used

alike of quails and of women.

_Quality_, profession, occupation (Ham. ii. 2), chiefly the dramatic;

the persons of it (Temp. i. 2).

_Quarry_ (_curée_, Fr., _curata_, It. See Bocc. Thes. vii. 76, Orl.

Inn. ii. 10, 60), properly the entrails of the game, the part given to

the hounds; a heap or pile of slaughtered game (Ham. v. 2, Macb. iv. 3,

Cor. i. 1). It was also used of the game itself even while afoot.

_Quern_ (M. N. D. ii. 1), a hand-mill; but in this place Shakespeare

evidently uses it for _churn_.

_Quiddit and quillet_ (Ham. v. 1). The first of this is a corruption

of the scholastic _quidditas_, and denotes a subtle distinction; the

second is the same as _quibble_, whence _quip_, and is a corruption of

_quidlibet_.

_Quietus_ (Ham. iii. 1), "a word used by the Clerk of the Pipe and

Auditors of the Exchequer, in their acquittances or discharges given to

accountants, usually concluding with _abinde recessit quietus_; which

is called _Quietus est_" (Reed, note in Dodsley's Old Plays).

_Quinapalus_ (Tw. N. i. 5). This and Pigrogromitus, etc., afterwards

(ii. 2) used by the Clown, are probably mere words invented by the

poet, like the foreign language in All's Well.

_Quintaine_ (As Y. L. i. 2). The quintaine here alluded to seems to be

the simpler one in use in the poet's time. It was formed by a cross

bar turning with a pivot on a pole, at one end of which was a figure,

at which the player was to run with his lance, and at the other a

sand-bag, which would give him a hard blow, if he struck so as not to

be out of the way when it came round by the revolution of the bar. A

quintaine is still to be seen at Offham Green, in Kent.

_Rabato_ (M. Ado, iii. 4), a kind of ruff or collar, _rabat_, Fr. from

_rabattre_, to throw back. It is said to have been originally merely

the collar of the shirt turned back, as was the case with boys' shirts

some years ago.

_Rascal_ (As Y. L. iii. 3, 1 H. VI. iv. 2) "is properly the hunter's

term given to young deer, lean and out of season" (Puttenham). This is

the sense in which this word is usually understood; but on the other

hand we have, in the Return from Parnassus, 1666, "I caused the keeper

to sever the _rascal-deer_ from the _bucks of the first head_. Now,

sir, a buck is in the first year a _fawn_; the second year a _pricket_;

the third year a _sorrel_; the fourth year a _soare_; the fifth a _buck

of the first head_; the sixth year a _complete buck_."

"A new park is a-making there, to sever

Cuckolds of antler from the rascals."

Jonson, Staple of News, iii. 2.

It would therefore appear that the _rascal_ was simply the deer that

had not yet reached his fifth year, and perhaps the word was _raw_

(immature) _skull_. It was used metaphorically in our poet's time as

now. Fletcher uses it more than once of a woman.

_Ready._ This word frequently signifies dressed, and _unready_

undressed.

"Bid my wife make her _ready_ handsomely,

And put on her best apron."

Queen of Corinth, ii. 4.

"'Tis late; good aunt, to bed: I am e'en unready."

Island-Princess, iii. 3.

In 1 H. VI. ii. 1 we have, "half ready and half unready," _i.e._ drest

and undrest; and in Macb. ii. 3, "manly _readiness_" for men's clothes.

To _ready_ the hair is still used in some places for combing and

arranging it.

_Recheat_ (M. Ado, i. 1), notes played on the horn to call off the dogs.

_Regiment_ (Ant. and Cleop. iii. 6), government, rule; (R. III. v. 3)

body of troops, separate command.

_Region_ (R. and J. ii. 2, Ham. ii. 2), the air. The space between the

lunar sphere and the earth was divided into the region of air and the

region of fire; the air was the region _par excellence_, as nearest to

the earth. See _Element_.

_Rest._ The phrase "set up rest" (All's Well, ii. 1, M. of V. ii. 2,

W. T. iv. 3, R. and J. iv. 5) in these plays is figurative, derived

from gaming, chiefly at the game of cards called Primero. As this game

came from Spain it brought, like Ombre, its terms with it, and _rest_

was the Spanish _resto_, which meant not, as is usually supposed, the

stake, but the bet or wager, which appears to have been made by the

players only. "What shall we play for?--One shilling _stake_ and three

_rest_" (Florio, Second Fruits). The Spanish phrase for laying a wager,

or making a bet at play, was _echar el resto_, put or throw down the

sum betted; and this became in English _set up the rest_. The reason

perhaps was because this phrase was already in use in a military sense,

as the matchlock guns, on account of their weight and the mode of

firing them, required a rest or support. The phrase was also used (R.

and J. v. 3, Lear, i. 1) for making one's abode.

_Restie_ (Cymb. iii. 6), "dull, heavy, idle, inert" (Bullokar).

_Revels_ (H. VIII. i. 4) seems in this place to be what was called

mixed dancing, in which both sexes partook. "Here they take forth the

ladies and the _revels_ begin" (Jonson, Masque of Lethe). Its general

signification, however, was sports and amusement of any kind. It comes

from _réveiller_, Fr.

_Riming rats to death_ (As Y. L. iii. 2). There is abundant evidence

of the belief that in Ireland rats could be killed by metrical charms.

This notion would seem to have been common to the whole Celtic race;

for M. Villemarqué (Barzaz Breiz, i. 1xx.) says that when some bad

verses were made relating to the cholera in Bretagne, an old peasant

observed "au fond, peu importe; l'essentiel était que le choléra fût

_chansonné_. Il l'est; la chanson fera fuir la peste."

_Roast._ "Rule the roast" (2 H. VI. i. 1) was probably used originally

of cocks, the proper term being _roost_, as it perhaps was here, where

it is printed _rost_. It would thus be similar to Cock of the Walk.

_Rosemary_ (W. T. iv. 3, Ham. iv. 5). This plant, for some unknown

reason, was held to be a symbol of remembrance, and was used at

weddings and funerals.

_Rouse_ (Ham. i. 4). See _Carouse_.

_Rue_ (W. T. iv. 3, R. II. iii. 4, Ham. iv. 5) was called _herb of

grace_, probably from its resemblance to _rue_, pity.

_Sack_ (2 H. IV. 1, _et alib._). There can be no doubt that this

celebrated wine was nothing else but what is now called _sherry_,

_sherris-sack_, as Falstaff terms it. _Sack_ is _seco_, Sp., as it was

a _dry_ wine; sherry is from the town of Xeres, the guttural _x_ being

as usual pronounced _sh_. See Naress' long article _Sack_.

_Sackerson_ (M. W. i. 1), a celebrated bear at Paris-garden, named, as

was the custom, after the bear-ward.

_Safe_ (Temp. iii. 1, M. for M. i. 1, K. John, iv. 2, Macb. i. 4),

secure, from which there is no danger, that may be relied on.

_Sanctify_ (Cor. iv. 6), to bless, make the sign of the cross.

_Seel_ (Oth. i. 3, Macb. iii. 1), to close the eye-lids of a hawk by

passing a fine thread through them, with a view to making it tame.

_Sennet_, _sinnet_, _cynet_, _signate_, a set of notes on the trumpet

or clarion, usually employed to denote the approach of a person of

rank. It is perhaps only a corruption of _sonata_, It.

_Servant._ In the gallantry of those days _servant_, as the correlative

of _mistress_, denoted the lover. It came from the French _serviteur_,

which occurs in this sense continually in the Nouvelles of the Queen of

Navarre. In Italian 'cavalier servente' is hardly yet out of use.

_Setabos_ (Temp. i. 2). "The giants [Patagonians], when they found

themselves fettered, roared like bulls, and cried upon their great

devil, Setabos, to help them" (Eden, Hist. of Travel, 1577).

_Shard_ (Ham. v. i), a piece of broken pot, tile, etc. This word has

also two other senses--namely, a piece of cow-dung, and a scale, the

latter only in these lines of Gower:

"He mighte noughte that serpent dere;

He was so _scherded_ all aboute."

Conf. Am. v.

"She sigh her thought a dragon tho',

Whose _sherdes_ shinen as the sonne."

Ib. vi.

And it is a question in which of these senses Shakespeare understood

_shard_ (Ant. and Cleop. iii. 2, Macb. iii. 2, Cymb. iii. 3) when

speaking of the beetle. In the first "they were his _shards_ and he

their beetle," the cow-dung, though the beetle's natal place, could

hardly be meant, as he had then to do with only one shard; while

supposing the wing-cases to be meant, the sense is plain: in the

second "the _shard-borne beetle_" is ambiguous; for _born_ and _borne_

were the same word: in the third, "the _sharded_ beetle" can only

mean properly the beetle that has shards, and it is opposed to "the

full-wing'd eagle." The fact, then, seems to be that the poet took this

word from Gower, and applied it to the wing-cases of the beetle, which

he supposed to be the wings, a piece of ignorance in zoology not to be

wondered at in one who asserted (M. of Ven. v. 1) that the nightingale

does not sing by day.

_Sheriff's post_ (Tw. N. i. 5). It was the custom to have painted posts

at the doors of city magistrates, on which proclamations, etc. were put

up.

_Shove-groat_, a kind of game. "It requires," says Strutt, "a

parallelogram to be made with chalk, or by lines cut upon the middle of

a table, about 12 or 14 inches in breadth, and 3 or 4 feet in length;

which is divided latitudinally into nine equal partitions, in every one

of which is placed a figure in regular succession from one to nine.

Each of the players provides himself with a smooth halfpenny [formerly

a groat or shilling] which he places upon the edge of the table, and

striking it with the palm of his hand drives it towards the marks; and

according to the value of the figure affixed to the partition wherein

the halfpenny rests his game is reckoned; which generally is stated at

thirty-one, and must be made precisely. If it be exceeded, the player

goes again for nine, which must also be brought exactly, or the turn

is forfeited; and if the halfpenny rests upon any of the marks that

separate the partitions, or overpasses the external bounderies, the go

is void."

_Shrew._ This well-known word is used of men also in Chaucer,

signifying, a bad, a wicked person: in its later restriction to women

it is nearly synonymous with _scold_. It would seem to come from some

lost Anglo-Saxon verb--of which we have a trace in _beshrew_--akin to

the German _schreien_, to cry out, scream. _Shrewd_, now used only in

the sense of mental acuteness, signified (H. VIII. v. 2) ill, malicious.

_Side._ "Carry out a side" (Lear, v. 1), means win a game at cards, as

"pull down a side" was to lose it. It would seem that these phrases

were only used of games where there were partners. _Sides_ is still

used of athletic games where there are two parties.

_Sink-apace._ See _Galliard_.

_Skains-mate_ (R. and J. ii. 4). Perhaps the best interpretation of

this unusual term is common woman, whore, who, like Doll Tearsheet (2

H. IV. ii. 4), usually carried a knife. _Skain_ is the Irish _sgian_,

knife.

_Sleave, and sleave-silk_ (Macb. ii. 2, Tr. and Cr. v. 1), the soft

floss silk before it is twisted.

_Sleeve-hand_ (W. T. iv. 3), cuff or wristband. In the same place

_square_ is the part covering the bosom:

"Her curious _square_, emboss'd with swelling gold,

Between her breasts the cruel weapon rives."

Fairf. G. of Bul. xii. 64.

_Slip._ See _Counterfeit_.

_Soft, soft you._ These expressions, which so frequently occur, are

verbs; _soft_ coming from _soften_, as _haste_ from _hasten_. The

meaning is relax, stop, hold back. It may be here observed that the

hunting-term _soho_ is a combination of _soft_ and _hold_, both

apocopated, meaning hold back, do not start the hare; and that

_tallyho_ is _tarry, hold_, let the fox get off, give him law. In like

manner _holla_ was a term used to a horse (Ven. and Adon., St. 48, As

You Like it, iii. 2), to make him stop, stand quiet, and formed from

_hold_ and, perhaps, _hard_.

_Span-counter_ (2 H. VI. iv. 3), a game played by boys with counters

or pieces of money; but it is not well known in what manner. The

span or distance between the thumb and the little finger when the

hand is on the stretch, had of course something to do with it, as in

_Three-hole-span_, a game at marbles.

_Speak_ (K. John, ii. 1, J. C. iv. 3, Cor. v. 3). Editors do not seem

to have observed that in these and other places _speak_ is synonymous

with _say_.

_Split._ "Make all split" (M. N. D. i. 2), was a common phrase,

denoting violence of action; but the allusion is not exactly known. We

say "split the sides" with laughter.

_Spoons_ (H. VIII. v. 3). It was the custom for the sponsors at a

christening to make a present of spoons, named Apostle-spoons, because

the handle was terminated with the figure of one of the Apostles. The

spoons were usually of silver. The wealthy gave the entire dozen,

others according to their means.

_Spy of the time_ (Macb. iii. 2). This most unusual phrase occurs only

in this place. The meaning of _spy_ in it must be, exact information.

It is very remarkable that Ariosto uses _spia_ in exactly the same

sense:--

"Non ha avuto Agramante ancora _spia_,

Ch' Astolfo mandi una armata si grossa."

Or. Fur. xxxix. 79.

See also vii. 34, viii. 68, ix. 14, xxxvii. 90, I Suppositi, v. 6.

Could Shakespeare have read Ariosto in Italian? _Spy_ does not occur

in Harrington's translation; but Gascoigne renders _ebbero spia_ in I

Suppositi by _had espial_. In Gower (Conf. Am. v.) we have

"My sone be thou ware with all

To seche suche micheries,

But if thou have the better _aspies_

In aunter."

_Stalking-horse_ (As Y. L. v. 4), either a real horse trained for the

purpose, or the imitation of one carried by the sportsman by means of

which his was enabled to get within shooting-distance of wild fowl.

_Statute_ (sc. staple, merchant) Ham. v. 1, a legal mode of securing

a debt on the debtor's land. _Recognizance_ in the same place is

an acknowledgment by the debtor for the same purpose; _fines_ and

_recoveries_ were legal modes of cutting off an entail; _double

voucher_ was connected with a recovery, two persons being required to

_vouch_ for the tenant's title.

_Stell_ (Lear, iii. 7). It is very doubtful in what sense this verb

is used here. It is usually supposed to be the same as _stellar_; but

there is no instance of its use in that sense, while in Lucrece, st.

207, and in Son. xxiv. we have it in the sense of _place_, of which

(except these passages of our poet) only the following instance has

been given, and that of the subst., not the verb. "The said _stell_ of

Plessis," Danet, Comines. _Stelle_ and _stel_ are the German and Dutch,

_stead_ the English, for place.

_Sticking-place_ (Macb. i. 7). The best explanation of this seems to be

that which supposes it to be the point to which the strings of musical

instruments are screwed up in tuning.

_Stickler_ (Tr. and Cr. v. 9), one whose office it was, at single

combats or trials of skill, to stand by and see fair play, and to end

the matter when he deemed it right to do so. He bore a _stick_, whence

the name. Like some other words it has somewhat changed its meaning,

for it now means one who _contends_ for something.

_Stint_ (R. and J. i. 3, Tr. and Cr. iv. 5, Tim. v. 5), cease, stop,

put an end to. "_Stint_ thy babbling tongue" (Jonson, Cynth. Rev.

i. 1). "_Stint_ thy idle chat" (Marston, What You Will). "_Lacrimas

supprimere_, to _stint_ weeping" (Baret, Alvearie).

_Strachy._ "The Lady of the Strachy" (Tw. N. ii. 5). What the allusion

is here, and the meaning of _Strachy_ are alike unknown. Payne Knight

conjectured that this word may be a corruption of _Stratico_, the title

of the Governor of Messina; but this is very dubious.

_Stuck_ (Tw. N. iii. 5, Ham. iv. 7), seems to be a corruption of

_stocco_, It., a rapier.

_Sword._ Swearing by the sword (W. T. ii. 3, Ham. i. 5), was in effect

swearing by the Cross, as the hilt and blade were separated by a cross

bar of metal.

_Take_ (M. W. iv. 4, Ham. i. 1, Lear, ii. 4), to strike, blast, infect.

Here it is used in a causative sense, with an ellipsis of the object,

as disease, etc.--_Take in_ (Ant. and Cl. i. 1, iii. 7, Cymb. iv. 2) is

the same as the simple _take_. It is a mere translation of the Dutch

_ennemen_, learned in the wars of the Low Countries.--_Take with_ (1 H.

IV. ii. 4, R. and J. iii. 5), cause to understand, keep, as it were, in

the same pace with.--_Take up_ (All's Well, ii. 3, 2 H. IV. i. 2), sc.

money or things on credit.

_Tawdry_ (W. T. iv. 3), a corruption of Saint Audrey (_i.e._ Ethelred),

the _t_ being, as was so frequently the case, transferred to the

following word. A fair was held, chiefly at Ely, on St. Audrey's day

(Oct. 17), at which toys, etc., were sold, among these a kind of silken

necklaces, much worn by the country-maidens. We should perhaps say

simply, lace; for Spenser has

"And gird your _waist_

For more fineness, with a _tawdry-lace_."

Shep. Cal. iv. 135.

_Tawny._ This is simply tanned, _i.e._ of a brown colour like that

of tanned leather. Hence in 1 H. VI., the Bishop's men are in "tawny

coats," _i.e._ coats of some variety of brown colour.

_Tear a cat_ (M. N. D. i. 2), an expression of ranting violence of

which the origin is merely conjectural.

_Tennis._ The figurative expressions in these plays derived from

this game are:--_Bandy_ (R. and J. ii. 5, Lear, i. 4 _et alibi_), to

strike and drive the ball with the racket. _Hazard_ (H. V. i. 2) is,

says Steevens, "a place in the tennis-court into which the ball was

sometimes struck." _Chace_ (_ib._) is, says Douce, "that _spot_ where a

ball falls, beyond which the adversary must strike the ball to gain a

point or _chace_. At long tennis it is the spot where the ball leaves

off rolling." Steevens quotes from Sidney's Arcadia, book iii. "Then

Fortune--as if she had made chaces enow on the one side of that bloody

tennis-court--went on to the other side of the line." Surely, according

to this, with which Shakespeare agrees, a chace was not a _spot_. The

_line_, it may be observed, ran along the court at right angles to the

wall against which they played.

_Tercel_ (Tr. and Cr. iii. 2), and _tassel-gentle_ (R. and J. ii. 2),

the male of the goss-hawk, _tiercelet_, Fr., so called, it is said,

from being a _third_ less than the female, or, some say, as being one

of three in a falcon's nest, the other two being always females. The

epithet _gentle_ denoted its docility.

_Termagant_ (Ham. iii. 2), an imaginary being, in the old mysteries and

moralities, usually associated with Mahound, _i.e._ Mahomet, and of a

furious violent character. The word still remains, but in a somewhat

different sense. It comes, it is said, from _Trivagante_, It., used

in the same manner. May not the remote origin be _Ter_-(i.e. _Tris_-)

_megistos_?

_Thewes_ (2 H. IV. iii. 4, Ham. i. 3, J. C. i. 3). In these places

Shakespeare uses this term in a corporeal sense of the sinews and

muscles, and he may have been the first who did so. It properly denotes

the qualities of the mind, from _theaw_, A.S., and is akin to _Tugend_

Germ.

_Thread and thrum_ (M. N. D. v. i). The _thread_ is the warp in a web;

the _thrum_, the tufts formed by the ends of the thread beyond the web.

The two taken together therefore form the whole.

_Three-farthings_ (K. John, i. 1), pieces of silver coin of that value;

of course extremely thin and liable to crack.

_Three-man song_ (W. T. iv. 3), a song for three voices. By way of a

joke derived from this we have "_three-man beetle_" (1 H. IV. i. 2).

_Three-pile_ (M. for M. IV. 3, W. T. iv. 2, L. L. L. v. 2), the finest

kind of velvet. The name alludes to something in its construction. From

_pilum_? _Terciopelo_ is the Spanish for velvet.

_Tick-tack_ (M. for M. i. 3), same as tric-trac, a game similar to

draughts. "This is the plain game of tick-tack, which is so called from

_touch and take_; for if you touch a man you must play him, though to

your loss" (Comp. Gamester, p. 113).

_Tide._ "A parted just at turning of the tide" (H. V. ii. 3). Here the

critics tell us of a superstition connecting death with the tide of the

sea. But as it is added "between twelve and one," I think we may take

_tide_ in its original sense of, time.

_Tire_, in falconry (from _tirer_, Fr.). The hawk or any other bird

of prey, was said to _tire_ on its food when it dragged or tore it to

pieces. Shakespeare uses the word metaphorically (Tim. iii. 6, Cymb.

iii. 4).

_To._ Like _zu_, G., _te_, D., this particle occurs continually in

Shakespeare in the sense of _at_. "_To_ Milan let me hear from you by

letters" (Two Gent. i. 1) is an instance generally not understood by

the editors. See above, p. 343. It is also used with an ellipsis of

_compared_ in Two Gent. ii. 4, Ham. iii. 1, and elsewhere.

_Toad_ (As Y. L. ii. 1). It was a notion in those times that the poor

innocent toad had in the interior of his head a stone endued with

great virtues, named _borax_ or _stelon_. See Fenton, Secret Wonders

of Nature, 1569, and other authors. Perhaps the notion originated in

the great brilliancy of the toad's eye, which may have been termed 'a

jewel.'

"If I but once lay hands upon the slave,

That thus hath robb'd me of my dearest jewel (his eye)."

Lingua, v. 6.

_Tokens_ (L. L. L. v. 2, Ant. and Cl. iii. 8), the spots on the body

denoting the plague. The house in which there was one or more persons

who had them was shut up, and _Lord have mercy upon us!_ put over the

door.

_Too._ This word occurs in the sense of _trop_, Fr., _i.e._

excessively, in Com. of Err. i. 2, L. L. L. ii. 1, Temp. ii. 2, and

other places. For the difference of _trop_ and _too_, _assez_ and

_enough_, see what I have written in Notes and Queries, 3 Ser. x. 430.

_Tray-trip_ (Tw. N. ii. 5), the name of some game, probably played with

dice; but of which we have no description.

_Tribulacion._ "The Tribulacion of Tower-hill or the Limbs of

Limehouse" (H. VIII. v. 3) are supposed to have been the names of two

Puritan congregations.

_Triple_ (All's Well, ii. 1, Ant. and Cl. i. 1), third, one of three, a

sense only to be found in Shakespeare.

_Troll-my-Dames_ (W. T. iv. 2), a corruption of the French

_Trou-madame_, a game also called _Pigeon-holes_, our present bagatelle.

_Trossers_ (H. V. iii. 7), the tight, close-fitting pantaloons worn by

the native Irish. Hence _trowsers_.

_Truckle-bed_ (M. W. iv. 5, R. and J. ii. 1), a bed on castors

(_trochlea_) for the use of the servant, who lay in the same room

with the master or mistress. During the day it was run under the

state-bed, and at night was drawn out at the foot. It was also called

_trundle-bed_.

_Truepenny_ (Ham. i. 5). Mr. Collier says he was informed that in

the mining-districts of the Midland counties this term signifies a

particular indication on the soil of the direction in which ore is to

be found.

_Try with main-course_ (Temp. i. 1). "To hale the tack aboord, the

sheat close aft, the boling set up, and the helm tied close aboord"

(Smith, Sea Grammar, 1627).

_Tub_ (M. for M. iii. 2, H. V. ii. 1, Tim. iv. 3). It was one of the

modes of curing the venereal disease to put the patient in a heated

tub, where he was sweated, being at the same time fed on mutton roasted

dry, etc.

_Tucket_ (H. V. iv. 2), the Italian _toccata_, a blast of the trumpet

for a charge or advance.

_Turk Gregory_ (1 H. IV. v. 3). In this are united two objects of the

utmost horror and fear, the Grand Turk and the famous Pope Gregory

VII., as depicted by Foxe in his Book of Martyrs.

_Turnbull-street_ (2 H. IV. iii. 2), a street in Clerkenwell, now

restored to its original name of _Turnmill-street_. It was the resort

of bullies, whores, _et id genus omne_.

_Two and thirty a pip out_ (T. of Sh. i. 2), _i. e_. thirty-one; the

allusion being, it is said, to a game of cards called _Bone-ace_ or

_Thirty-one_. A _pip_ is one of the spots on the cards.

_Utis_ (2 H. IV. ii. 4), or _Utas_, the eighth day after a festival, or

Saint's-day: from _huit_, Fr. As it was a holiday, it came to signify

sport, festivity, amusement in general.

_Veal._ "_Veal_, quoth the Dutchman" (L. L. L. v. 2). In Dutch _Veel_

is much, many, often. Here it seems to answer to _Much_!

_Veney_, _venew_ (M. W. i. 1, L. L. L. v. 1), an assault in

fencing--from _venue_, Fr., a coming-on. It was the Italian _stoccata_.

_Vice_ (Tw. N. iv. 2), same as _Iniquity_, which see.

_Vie_ (T. Sh. ii. 1, Ant. and Cl. v. 2), to bet, lay. The noun is the

French _envi_, the Spanish _envite_.

_Virginal_ (W. T. i. 2). The virginal was the first form of the

pianoforte. It was rectangular, differing in this from the spinnet,

the harpsichord, and grand piano. Nares, who had seen the instrument,

describes it exactly. It was sometimes called a _pair of virginals_, as

an organ was a _pair of organs_, in allusion probably to the set (pair)

of keys.

_Wanton_ (from _wendan_, A.S., turn, change?) seems to have originally

signified yielding, changeable. We have "the wanton green" (M. N. D.

ii. 2), "the wanton rushes" (1 H. IV. iii. 1).

_Water-work_ (2 H. IV. ii. 1) seems to mean work done on cloth in

water-colours, or distemper.

_Weaver_ (Tw. N. ii. 3, 1 H. IV. ii. 4). Weavers, from the sedentary

nature of their work, seem to have been much addicted to singing,

especially psalms. By the _three souls_ in the first of these passages

is meant the _vegetative, sensitive_, and _reasonable_ souls, which

were held to compose _the soul_.

_Weyard._ This is the way in which Shakespeare spells in Macbeth the

word which in G. Douglas and Holinshed is spelt _weird_.

_Wheel_ (Ham. iv. 5), the burthen in a ballad, a translation of _rota_,

probably on account of its coming round and round.

_Whiffler_ (H. V. v. Chor.), a fifer, who went first in a procession.

It then came to be used of any one who went before to clear the way.

_While, whiles, whilst._ The first of these words is a noun, signifying

time; the second is the adverbial genitive of it, and the third this

last with a paragogic _t_. _While_ is used adverbially, like _whiles_,

with an ellipsis of _in the_. It also occurs, as in the following

passages, with an ellipsis of _to the_, _till the_. "The Romans had a

law that every man should use shooting in peace-time, _while_ he was

forty year old" (Ascham, Toxoph. p. 16). "When the conjured spirit

appears, which will not be _while_ after many circumstances," etc. (K.

James, Demonol.).

"I may be convey'd into your chamber. I'll lie

Under your bed _while_ midnight."

B. and F. Wit at sev. Weap. ii. 2.

"Cleanthus, if you want money to-morrow, use me,

I'll trust you _while_ your father's dead."

Mass. Old. Law, i. 1.

"Blessings may be repeated _while_ they cloy."

Waller, Ans. to Suckling.

In Lincolnshire _while_ is used at the present day for _until_. This is

evidently the sense in which _whiles_ is used in Twelfth Night, iv. 3;

for Macb. iii. 1 see the note.

_Whistling._ In falconry the whistle was, for the bird, the sign of

starting and of returning. The term of the former was _whistle off_

(Oth. iii. 3) against the wind after game, _down_ the wind if cast off

as worthless and untameable. "I have been worth the whistle" (Lear, iv.

2) seems to refer to the whistle of recall. "As a long-winged hawk,

when he is first _whistled off_ the fist, mounts aloft, and for his

pleasure fetcheth many a circuit in the air, still soaring higher and

higher, till he come to his full _pitch_; and in the end, when the game

is sprung, comes down amain, and stoops upon the sudden" (Burt. Anat.

of Mel. ii. 1-3).

_Who_ (M. of Ven. ii. 7, _et alibi_). This pronoun was often used, as

here, of things. Hence we still use the gen. _whose_.

_Wild-goose chase_ (R. and J. ii, 4) was something like our

steeple-chase. There were only two riders; and when one got the lead,

the other was obliged to follow wheresoever he went.

_Winchester goose_ (1 H. VI. i. 3, Tr. and Cr. v. 11). This is said to

be a swelling caused by a disease got in the stews. The latter passage,

however, might intimate that it was a denizen of them. The origin

of the phrase is supposed to be the circumstance of the stews being

chiefly on the Bankside, which was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop

of Winchester; the proximity of the river may have caused the use of

the term _goose_.

_Wish_ (M. Ado, iii. 1, M. for M. iv. 3, Ant. and Cl. i. 3), advise,

recommend; (T. of Sh. i. 1) to introduce.

_Wit._ This word was the same as _esprit_, Fr., and meant mental power,

talent. Thus we have _wit and humour_ still in use, but with changed

signification; for it meant talent and character (individuality), as

we have "wit and judgment" (Oth. iv. 2); or perhaps there may be an

ellipsis of _good_ with _humour_. The "five wits" (Tw. N. iv. 2) are

said to be the five mental powers, "common wit [sense], imagination,

fantasy, estimation [judgment], and memory" (Hawes, Bell. Pucel. ch.

xxiv. _ap._ Malone). They were probably originally the five senses; but

Shakespeare (Son. cxli.) clearly distinguishes them.

_With_ (T. Sh. iv. 2, Ant. and Cl. v. 2, _et alibi_), by, a sense it

still bears, but not as in these places.

_World._ "Go to the world" (All's Well, i. 3), "be a woman of the

world" (As Y. L. v. 3), be married, have, as it were, a place in the

world.

_Worm_ (Ant. and Cl. v. 2, _et alibi_), snake, serpent, _wyrm_, A.S.

Among Shakespeare's other errors in natural history seems to be that of

his supposing (M. N. D. iii. 2, R. II. iii. 2) the adder to sting with

its tongue. See, however, Ham. iii. 4, 3 H. VI. i. 4. Webster actually

says,

"Repentance then will follow, like the sting

Plac'd in the adder's tail."

Vitt. Coromb. ii.

J. Bunyan says of himself that having seized an adder, and "stunned her

with a stick, he forced open her mouth, and plucked out her _sting_

with his fingers," meaning probably her fangs.

_Yaughan_ (Ham. v. 1). This might be taken for a corruption of Vaughan;

but it is the Danish and German _Johan_ (_Y_ for _J_), John. Jonson has

(Ev. Man out, etc. v. 4) "a few, one _Yohan_." Shakespeare got Johan

along with the other Danish names--Guildenstern, Rosencrantz, Osric.

THE END.

Printed by TAYLOR and FRANCIS, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street.

* * * * * *

Transcriber's note:

The author's corrections on page viii have been applied on the text.

Variable spelling and hyphenation have been retained.

Minor punctuation inconsistencies have been silently corrected.

Corrections.

The first line indicates the original, the second the correction.

p. 27:

It was therefore written between 1697 and that date;

It was therefore written between 1597 and that date;

p. 63:

The right word, it is quite plain, is _c p_.

The right word, it is quite plain, is _cup_.

p. 395:

the incumbent of a parish; not what i now so termed.

the incumbent of a parish; not what is now so termed.

p. 186:

it it might be better to read so here also

it might be better to read so here also

p. 421:

a piece of ignorance in zoology not be wondered at

a piece of ignorance in zoology not to be wondered at

Errata.

The first line indicates the original, the second how it should read.

p. 71:

In the Anglo-Saxon the verbs made their plural in _th_, not in _n_,

In the Anglo-Saxon the verbs made their plural in _th_, not in _s_,

p. 178:

It might appear better to read _would_; but all is right.

It might appear better to read _would_; but will is right.