I.i.7 (194,4) [_Custalorum_] This it, I suppose, intended for a
corruption of _Custos Rotulorum_. The mistake was hardly designed by
the author, who, though he gives Shallow folly enough, makes him
rather pedantic than illiterate. If we read:
Shal. _Ay, cousin Slender, and_ Custos Rotulorum.
It follows naturally:
Slen. _Ay, and_ Ratalorum _too_.
I.i.22 (194,5) [The luce is the fresh fish; the salt fish is an old
coat] I see no consequence in this answer. Perhaps we may read,
_the salt fish is_ not _an old coat_. That is, the _fresh fish_ is the
coat of an ancient family, and the _salt fish_ is the coat of a
merchant grown rich by trading over the sea.
I.i.115 (198,1) [and broke open my lodge] This probably alludes to
some real incident, at that time well known.
I.i.121 (198,2) ['Twere better for you, if 'twere not known in council;
you'll be laugh'd at] The old copies read, '_Twere better for
you, if 'twere known in council_. Perhaps it is an abrupt speech,
and must be read thus: '_Twere better for you--if 'twere known in
council, you'll be laugh'd at. 'Twere better for you_, is, I believe,
a menace.(1773)
I.i.127 (199,3) [coney-catching rascals] A _coney-catcher_ was, in
the time of Elizabeth, a common name for a cheat or sharper.
Green, one of the first among us who made a trade of writing
pamphlets, published _A Detection of the Frauds and Tricks of
Coney-catchers and Couzeners_.
I.i.159 (200,6) [Edward shovel-boards] By this term, I believe, are
meant brass castors, such as are shoveled on a board, with king
Edward's face stamped upon them.
I.i.166 (201,8) [Word of denial in thy Labra's here] I suppose it
should rather be read,
_Word of denial in_ my _Labra's_ hear;
that is, _hear_ the word of denial in my _lips. Thou ly'st_.
I.i.170 (201,9) [_marry trap_] When a man was caught in his own
stratagem, I suppose the exclamation of insult was _marry, trap_!
I.i.184 (202,3) [and so conclusions pass'd the careires] I believe
this strange word is nothing but the French _cariere_; and the
expression means, that _the common bounds of good behaviour were
overpassed_.
I.i.211 (203,4) [upon Allhallowmas last, a fortnight afore Michaelmas?]
[Theobald suspected that Shakespeare had written "Martlemas."]
This correction, thus seriously and wisely enforced, is
received by Sir Tho. Hammer; but probably Shakespeare intended a
blunder.
I.iii.56 (210,7) [The anchor is deep: will that humour pass?] I see
not what relation _the anchor_ has to _translation_. Perhaps we may
read, _the_ author _is deep_; or perhaps the line is out of its place,
and should be inserted lower after Falstaff has said,
Sail like my pinnace to those golden shores.
It may be observed, that in the tracts of that time _anchor_ and
_author_ could hardly be distinguished. (see 1765, II,464,7)
I.iii.110 (213,6) [I will possess him with yellowness] _Yellowness_ is
jealousy. (1773)
I.iii.III (213,7) [for the revolt of mine is dangerous] I suppose we
may read, _the revolt_ of men. Sir T. Hammer reads, _this_ revolt of
_mine_. Either may serve, for of the present text I can find no
meaning.
I.iv.9 (213,8) [at the latter end of a sea-coal fire] That is, when
my master is in bed.
II.i.5 (219,1) [though love use reason for his precisian, he admits
him not for his counsellor] Of this word I do not see any meaning
that is very apposite to the present intention. Perhaps Falstaff
said, _Though love use reason as his_ physician, _he admits him not
for his counsellor_. This will be plain sense. Ask not the _reason_
of my love; the business of _reason_ is not to assist love, but
to _cure_ it. There may however be this meaning in the present
reading. _Though love_, when he would submit to regulation, may
_use reason as his precisian_, or director in nice cases, yet when
he is only eager to attain his end, he takes not reason for _his
counsellor_. (1773)
II.i.27 (220,2) [I was then frugal of my mirth] By breaking this
speech into exclamations, the text may stand; but I once thought
it must be read, If _I was_ not _then frugal of my mirth_.
II.i.29 (220,3) [Why, I'll exhibit a bill in the parliament for the
putting down of men] [T: of fat men] [W: of mum] I do not see that
any alteration is necessary; if it were, either of the foregoing
conjectures might serve the turn. But surely Mrs. Ford may
naturally enough, in the first heat of her anger, rail at the
sex for the fault of one.
II.i.52 (222,4) [These knights will hack, and so thou shouldst not
alter the article of thy gentry] [W: lack] Upon this passage the
learned editor has tried his strength, in my opinion, with more
spirit than success.
I read thus--_These knights_ we'll _hack, and so thou shouldest
not alter the article of thy gentry_. The punishment of a recreant
or undeserving knight, was to _hack_ off his spurs: the meaning
therefore is; it is not worth the while of a gentlewoman to
be made a knight, for we'll degrade all these knights in a little
time, by the usual form of _hacking_ off their spurs, and thou, if
thou art knighted, shalt be hacked with the rest.
II.i.79 (223,5) [for he cares not what he puts into the press]
Press is used ambiguously, for a _press_ to print, and a _press_ to
squeeze.
II.i.114 (224,7) [curtail-dog] That is, a dog that misses hie game.
The tail is counted necessary to the agility of a greyhound; and
one method of disqualifying a dog, according to the forest laws,
is to cut his tail, or make him a _curtail_. (see 1765, II,477,+)
II.i.128 (225,9) [Away, Sir corporal Nym.--Believe it, Page, he speaks
sense] Nym, I believe, is out of place, and we should read thus:
_Away, Sir corporal._
Nym. _Believe it. Page, he speaks sense._
II.i.135 (225,1) [I have a sword, and it shall bite upon my necessity.--He
loves your wife] [V: bite--upon my necessity, he] I do
not see the difficulty of this passage: no phrase is more common
than--_you may_, upon a need, _thus_. Nym, to gain credit, says,
that he is above the mean office of carrying love-letters; he
has nobler means of living; _he has a sword, and upon his necessity_,
that is, _when his need drives him to unlawful expedients_,
his sword _shall bite_.
II.i.148 (226,3) [I will not believe such a Cataian] [Theobald and
Warburton had both explained "Cataian" as a liar.] Mr. Theobald
and Dr. Warburton have both told their stories with confidence,
I am afraid, very disproportionate to any evidence that can be
produced. That _Cataian_ was a word of hatred or contempt is
plain, but that it signified a _boaster_ or a _liar_ has not been
proved. Sir Toby, in _Twelfth Night_, says of the Lady Olivia to
her maid, "thy Lady's a _Cataian_;" but there is no reason to
think he means to call her _liar_. Besides, Page intends to give
Ford a reason why Pistol should not be credited. He therefore
does not say, _I would not believe such a_ liar: for that he is a
liar is yet to be made probable: but he says, _I would not believe
such a Cataian on any testimony of his veracity_. That is, "This
fellow has such an odd appearance; is so unlike a man civilized,
and taught the duties of life, that I cannot credit him." To be
a foreigner was always in England, and I suppose everywhere else,
a reason of dislike. So Pistol calls Slender in the first act,
a _mountain foreigner_; that is, a fellow uneducated, and of gross
behaviour; and again in his anger calls Bardolph, _Hungarian wight_.
II.i.182 (228,4) [very rogues] A _rogue_ is a _wanderer_ or _vagabond_,
and, in its consequential signification, _a cheat_.
II.i.236 (230,7) [my long sword] Not long before the introduction
of rapiers, the swords in use were of an enormous length, and
sometimes raised with both hands. Shallow, with an old man's
vanity, censures the innovation by which lighter weapons were
introduced, tells what he could once have done with his _long
sword_, and ridicules the terms and rules of the rapier.
II.ii.28 (234,6) [red lattice phrases] Your ale-house conversation.
II.ii.28 (234,7) [your bold-beating oaths] [W: bold-bearing] A
_beating oath_ is, I think, right; so we now say, in low language, a
_thwacking_ or _swinging_ thing.
II.ii.61 (235,8) [canaries] This is the name of a brisk light
dance, and is therefore properly enough used in low language
for any hurry or perturbation.
II.ii.94 (236,1) [frampold] This word I have never seen elsewhere,
except in Dr. Hacket's _Life of Archbishop Williams_, where a
_frampul_ man signifies a peevish troublesome fellow.
II.ii.142 (238,3) [Clap on more sails; pursue; up with your fights]
[Warburton had quoted a passage from Dryden'a _Amboyna_ for "fights,"
explaining them as "small arms."] The quotation from Dryden might at
least have raised a suspicion that _fights_ were neither _small_ arms,
nor cannon. _Fights_ and _nettings_ are properly joined. _Fights_, I
find, are _cloaths_ hung round the ship to conceal the men from the
enemy, and _close-fights_ are _bulkheads_, or any other shelter that the
fabrick of a ship affords.
II.ii.170 (240,5) [not to charge you] That is, not with a purpose
of putting you to expence, or _being burthensome_.
II.ii.256 (242,6) [instance and argument] _Instance_ is _example_.
II.ii.324 (244,8) [Eleven o'clock] Ford should rather have said _ten
o'clock_: the time was between ten and eleven; and his impatient
suspicion was not likely to stay beyond the time.
II.iii.60 (246,2) [mock-water] The host means, I believe, to reflect
on the inspection of urine, which made a considerable part of
practical physick in that time; yet I do not well see the meaning
of _mock-water_.
III.i.17 (249,5) [By shallow rivers, to whose falls] [Warburton had
introduced _The Passionate Shepherd to his Love_ and _The Nymph's
_Reply_ at this point in his text, attributing both to Shakespeare.]
These two poems, which Dr. Warburton gives to Shakespeare, are, by
writers nearer that time, disposed of, one to Marlow, the other to
Raleigh. These poems are read in different copies with great
variations.
III.i.123 (253,6) [scald, scurvy] _Scall_ was an old word of reproach,
as _scab_ was afterwards.
Chaucer imprecates on his _scrivener_;
"Under thy longe lockes mayest thou have the _scalle_."
III.ii.58 (255,7) [We have linger'd about a match between Anne Page
and my cousin Slender, and this day we shall have our answer]
They have not linger'd very long. The match was proposed by Sir
Hugh but the day before.
III.ii.73 (256,1) [The gentleman is of no having] _Having_ is the same as
_estate_ or _fortune_.
III.ii.90 (257,2) [I think, I shall drink in pipe-wine first with
him] [Tyrwhitt: horn-pipe wine] _Pipe_ is known to be a vessel of
wine, now containing two hogsheads. _Pipe_ wine is therefore wine, not
from the _bottle_, but the _pipe_; and the text consists in the ambiguity
of the word, which signifies both a cask of wine, and a musical instrument.
_Horn-pipe wine_ has no meaning. (1773)
III.iii.60 (260,4) [that becomes the ship-tire, the tire-valiant,
or any tire of Venetian admittance] [Warburton had explained the
two tents as head-dresses, and "of Venetian admittance" as "which
will admit to be adorned."] This note is plausible, except in
the explanation of _Venetian admittance_: but I am afraid this
whole system of dress is unsupported by evidence.
III.iv.13 (267,7) [father's wealth] Some light may be given to those
who shall endear one to calculate the increase of English wealth,
by observing, that Latymer, in the time of Edward VI. mentions
it as proof of his father's prosperity, _That though but a yeoman.
he gave his daughters five pounds each for her portion_. At the
latter end of Elizabeth, seven hundred pounds were such a temptation
to courtship, as made all other motives suspected. Congreve
makes twelve thousand pounds more than a counterbalance to the
affectation of Belinda. Ho poet would now fly his favourite
character at less than fifty thousand.
III.iv.100 (270,1) [will you cast away your child on a fool and a
physician?] I should read _fool_ or a _physician_, meaning Slender and
Caius.
III.v.113 (274,4) [bilbo] A _bilbo_ is a Spanish blade, of which the
excellence is flexibleness and elasticity.
III.v.117 (274,5) [kidney] _Kidney_ in this phrase now signifies _kind_ or
_qualities_, but Falstaff means a man whose _kidnies_ are as _fat_ as mine.
III.v.155 (275,6) [I'll be horn-mad] There is no image which our
author appears so fond of, as that of cuckold's horns. Scarcely
a light character is introduced that does not endearor to produce
merriment by some allusion to horned husbands. As he wrote
his plays for the stage rather than the press, he perhaps reviewed
them seldom, and did not observe this repetition, or
finding the jest, however, frequent, still successful, did not
think correction necessary.
IV.i (276,7) [_Page's house_. _Enter Mrs. Page. Mrs. Quickly, and William_]
This is a very trifling scene, of no use to the plot, and I should think
of no great delight to the audience; but Shakespeare best knew what would
please.
IV.ii.22 (879,8) [he so takes on] _To take on_, which is now used for
_to, grieve_, seems to be used by our author for _to, rage_. Perhaps it was
applied to any passion.
IV.ii.26 (279,9) [buffets himself on the forehead, crying, _peer-
out, peer-out_!] That is, appear horns. Shakespeare is at his
old lunes. (see 1765, II, 526,+)
IV.ii.161 (283,1) [this wrongs you] This is below your character,
unworthy of your understanding, injurious to your honour. So
in _The Taming of the Shrew_, Bianca, being ill treated by her
rugged sister, says:
"You _wrong_ me much, indeed you _wrong_ yourself."
IV.ii.195 (284,2) [ronyon!] _Ronyon_, applied to a woman, means, as far as
can be traced, much the same with _scall_ or _scab_ spoken of a man.
IV.ii.204 (284,3) [I spy a great peard under his muffler] As the
second stratagem, by which Falstaff escapes, is much the grosser
of the two, I wish it had been practiced first. It is very unlikely that
Ford, baring been so deceived before, and knowing that he had been
deceived, would suffer him to escape in so slight a disguise.
IV.ii.208 (284,4) [cry out upon no trail] The expression is taken from
the hunters. _Trail_ is the scent left by the passage of the game. _To
cry out_, is to _open_ or _bark_.
IV.iii.13 (285,5) [they must come off] _To come off_, signifies in our
author, sometimes _to be uttered with spirit and volubility_. In this
place it seems to mean what is in our time expressed by _to come down_,
to pay liberally and readily. These accidental and colloquial senses are
the disgrace of language, and the plague of commentators.
IV.iv.32 (287,7) [And there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle]
To _take_, in Shakespeare, signifies to seize or strike with a
disease, to blast. So in _Hamlet_;
"No planet _takes_."
So in _Lear_;
"-----Strike her young bones,
"Ye taking airs, with lameness." (rev. 1778,I,341,4)
IV.v.7 (290,3) [standing-bed, and truckle-bed] The usual furniture of
chambers in that time was a standing-bed, under which was a _trochle,
truckle_, or _running_ bed. In the standing-bed lay the master, and in
the truckle-bed the servant. So in Hall's _Account of a Servile Tutor_:
"He lieth in the _truckle-bed_.
"While his young master lieth o'er his head."
IV.v.21 (291,4) [Bohemian-Tartar] The French call a _Bohemian_ what we
call a _Gypsey_; but I believe the Host means nothing more than, by a wild
appellation, to insinuate that Simple makes a strange appearance.
IV. v. 29 (291, 5) [mussel-shell] He calls poor Simple mussel-shell,
because he stands with his mouth open.