previous entry.
DIVUM, "_Divum este justlum weste_" (R232,_c_), Prof. Brandl
suggests _Divites estis justi fuistis_.
DO, see Way.
DOGS, "hungry _dogs_ will slab up sluttish puddings" (R221,_a_),
see Heywood, _Works_ (E.E.D.S.), II. 14_a_; 357,_d_(_n_).
DORT, "a shrewd crank _dort_" (N83,_d_), fit of sulks, a pet,
sullen humour.
DOUBLER, "both dish and _doubler_" (M29,_a_), a large dish,
plate, or bowl. "A dysche other a _dobler_ that dryghtyn onez
serued."--_Early Eng. Allit. Poems_; Cleanness, 1145.
DRAFF, "driff, _draff_, mish, mash" (M5,_b_), rubbish, refuse,
dregs: see other volumes of this series. _Mish, mash_ = mess.
DRAWK, "_drawk_ and ... _darnel_" (M24,_a_), a weed very similar to
darnel--_Bromus secalinus_; _darnel_ is _Lolium perenne_.
DRIFF, see Draff.
DRIFFE, "hence I will you _driffe_" (M17,_d_), drive.
DRIVEL, "live thus like a _drivel_" (N61,_b_), a generic reproach;
drudge, servant, idiot, dotard, fool; see other volumes of this
series.
DROUSE, "a hounded _drouse_" (WH288,_d_), in view of the wretched
printing of this play it serves little useful purpose to suggest
a correct reading; the most probable would seem to be _hounded_
= hundred and _drouse_ = douse; _i.e._ a god give him a hundred
duckings.
DUTCH JARGON, see Wealth and Health.
EACHWHERE, "_eachwhere_ sore hated" (R197,_a_), everywhere.
EDWARDS, "angelots and _Edwards_" (R216,_d_), see Angelots. I am
further inclined to doubt whether the pieces referred to were
of current or recent striking. It is true Edward VI. reformed
the coinage, but as the angelots (at least) are specifically
referred to as "old," and as the angelot is probably that of
1420, the _Edward_ is also likely to be the angel of Edward IV.
introduced in 1465, which bears an effigy of that king. The
angel of Edward VI., of the third coinage of the reign, _does
not bear an effigy of Edward VI._ It may not be out of place to
detail the various issues, though this cannot, of course, settle
the point as to what coin was meant by the _Edward_. Kenyon,
on "The Gold Coins of England," says there were four distinct
series of _gold_ coins issued during the reign of Edward VI.
_First Coinage_ (_January 1546-47_):--HALF-SOVEREIGNS (value
10s.). _Obverse_--king in robes and crowned, enthroned, the
figure of an angel on each arm of the throne; _reverse_--shield
bearing arms of France and England quarterly, supported by
lion and dragon. CROWN (value 5s.). _Obverse_--rose, crowned;
_reverse_--shield with arms, crowned. HALF-CROWNS (value 2s.
6d.). Type like the crowns. _Second Coinage_ (1548):--TREBLE
SOVEREIGN (value £3). Type like last half-sovereign, except
that king has no robes, and holds a sword instead of a sceptre.
SOVEREIGN (value £1). Same as £3, only with different mint-mark.
HALF-SOVEREIGN (value 10s.). _Obverse_--bust in profile to
right; _reverse_--oval shield, crowned, and garnished. CROWNS
(value 5s.). Same as half-sovereign of this coinage. HALF-CROWNS
(value 2s. 6d.). Same as half-sovereign of this coinage. _Third
Coinage_ (1550):--DOUBLE SOVEREIGN (value 48s). _Obverse_--king
seated, holding sceptre and orb; _reserve_--shield with arms,
upon a large double rose. SOVEREIGN (value 24s.). Same as double
sovereign. ANGEL (value 8s.). Type similar to angels of Henry
VIII. The type seems to have been fixed in Henry VI.'s reign.
The Archangel Michael was on the _obverse_, trampling with his
left foot upon the dragon, and piercing him through the mouth
with a spear. _Reverse_ has shield bearing arms of England and
France upon a ship. [_No effigy of Edward VI._] ANGELET (value
4s.). Same as angel. _Fourth_ _Coinage_ (1552):--SOVEREIGN
(value 20s.). _Obverse_.--three-quarter length of king in
profile; _reverse_--same as sovereign of second coinage.
HALF-SOVEREIGN (value 10s.). _Obverse_--same as sovereign;
_reverse_--square shield crowned between E.R. CROWN (value 5s.).
Same as half-sovereign. HALF-CROWN (value 2s. 6d.). Same as
crown. Hawkins, on "The Silver Coins of England," says of Edward
VI. SILVER _coinage_, there were GROATS, HALF-GROATS, PENNIES,
HALF-PENNIES. _Note_--All silver. SHILLINGS--_Obverse_--king's
bust in profile, crowned; _reverse_--arms upon an oval
shield. CROWNS--_Obverse_--the king mounted on a horse;
_reverse_--arms, and cross fleuree. HALF-CROWNS. Same as
crowns. SHILLINGS--_Obverse_--the king on horsebark, galloping;
_reverse_--a square-topped shield, crowned. SIXPENCE. Exactly the
same as the shilling. THREEPENCE. Same as shilling. PENCE of
this coinage (1552) occur both of fine and base metal. The _fine_
penny has (on the _obverse_) the king seated, with arms and cross
on the _reverse_. The _base_ penny has a full-blown rose, instead
of the enthroned king. HALF-PENCE are nearly the same as pence.
EMPERY, "in this _empery_" (N56,_d_), empire, dominion; also
more loosely, region. "Ruling in large and ample _empery_ o'er
France."--Shakespeare, _Henry V._ (1599), i. 2. "A lady So
fair, and fastened to an _empery_, Would make the great'st king
double."--Shakespeare, _Cymbeline_ (1605), i. 7.
EMPRISE, "th' _emprise_ of all this world" (N46,_a_), generally
an undertaking more or less onerous or risky. Here--the
responsibility of subduing and righteously governing the material
creation. "Then shal rejoysen of a grete _empryse_ Acheved
wel."--Chaucer, _Troilus and Cressida_ (1369), ii. 1391.
EMPROWED, "bought ... and _emprowed_" (R219,_a_), improved: with an
eye to a higher rent.
ENCHESON, "for th' _encheson_" (N43,_c_), reason, cause, occasion.
"Certes, said he, well mote I shame to tell The fond _encheason_
that me hither led."--Spenser, _Fairy Queen_ (1590), II. i. 30.
ENCROACHING OF LANDS, see Respublica.
ENDRAIT, "live after that _endrait_" (N59,_d_), quality.
ENFORMED, see Respublica.
ENGLAND, see Courtesy.
ENQUEST, see Inquest.
ENTRIKED, "I am wondrously _entriked_" (N55,_c_; 59_c_), deceived,
entangled, tricked, hindered. "That mirrour hath me now
_entriked_."--_Romaunt of the Rose_, 1642.
ENTUNES, "_entunes_ in silence of the night" (N45,_a_),
songs, tunes, chants, melodies. "So mery a soune, so swete
_entewnes_."--Chaucer, _Boke of the Duchesse_ (1371), 307.
ENURE, "myself to _enure_" (N48,_b_), use, make a habit of,
accustom. "He gan that Ladie strongly to appele Of many haynous
crymes by her _enured_."--Spenser, _Fairy Queen_ (1596), v. ix.
39.
ENVIES, "to see ... _envies_ take in a trap" (R257,_b_), enemies.
EQUITY, see Mankind, _Amended Readings_.
ERCH (_passim_), ere I--er' 'ch--ere ich.
ESCHEATS, "the blind _escheats_" (R183,_d_), lands or tenements
which fell to the crown or lord of the fee through failure of
heirs or corruption of blood: the latter kind was abolished by
the Felony Act, 33 & 34 Vict., ch. xxiii. "The last consequence
of tenure in chivalry was _escheat_; which took place if the
tenant died without heirs of his blood, or if his blood was
corrupted by commission of treason or felony. In such cases the
land escheated or fell back to the lord--that is, the tenure was
determined by breach of the original condition of the feudal
donation. In the one case there were no heirs of the blood of
the first feudatory, to which heirs alone the grant of the feud
extended; in the other the tenant, by perpetrating an atrocious
crime, forfeited his feud, which he held under the implied
condition that he should not be a traitor or felon."--Blackstone,
_Commentaries_, bk. ii., ch. 3.
EXALTATIONS, "follow their good _exaltations_" (R234,_d_),
exhortations.
EXTENT, "at the highest _extent_," etc. (R219,_a_), sale under
compulsory powers (M).
EXTREATS, "the scape of extreats" (R183,_d_), _i.e._ estreats,
enforced by trick. At law an estreat is an official copy of
the specification of fines or penalties (such as a forfeited
recognisance for use of the bailiff or sheriff's officer in
levying). "A forfeited recognisance," if taken by a justice
of the peace, "is certified to the next sessions; and if the
condition be broken by any breach of the peace in the one case,
or any misbehaviour in the other, the recognisance becomes
forfeited or absolute; and being _estreated_ or extracted, taken
out from among the other records, and sent up to the Exchequer;
the party and his sureties, having now become absolute debtors
of the Crown, are sued for the several sums in which they are
respectively bound."--Blackstone, _Comment._, bk. iv., ch. 18.
See Respublica for authorities dealing with the systems of
extortion referred to in these lines.
FAITOUR, "ye are no _faitour_" (M12,_c_), deceiver, imposter: a
generic reproach. "There be many of you _faitours_."--Gower,
_Confessio Amantis_ (1393), i. 47.
FALL, "_fall_ back, _fall_ edge" (R250,_b_), _i.e._ whichever way
it turns out I am prepared (edge = aside or sideways).
FARTHING, "I may not change a man a _farthing_" (M18,_b_), in
the least or smallest degree. A farthing, the fourth part of a
penny, and the smallest copper coin current in Great Britain, is
mentioned as far back as Robert of Gloucester. It seems to have
become a simile of small value or amount in most early writers.
"In hire suppe was no _ferthing_ sene Of grese, whan she dronken
hadde hire drauht."--Chaucer, _Cant. Tales_ (1383), Prologue, 134.
FASHION, see I-fashion.
FEATHER, "_feather_ my nest" (R183,_b_); this proverbial saying
does not occur in Heywood.
FELL, "the world, the flesh, and the _fell_" (M39,_c_), the devil
(Furnivall & Pollard).
FELLOWSHIP, "flee that _fellowship_" (M32,_b_), company, body
of associates, confederacy, joint interest. "Parry felle in
_felaschepe_ with Willyum Hasard at Querles."--_Paston Letters_,
i. 83. "Antenor fleenge with his _felowschippe_."--_Trevisa_, i.
273.
FEOFFED, "_feoffed_ thee with all" (N46,_a_), endowed. "May God
forbid to _feffe_ you so with grace."--Chaucer, _Court of Love_.
FERE, "create to be his _fere_" (N49,_b_), companion,
partner, fellow. "He wod into the water, his _feren_ him
bysyde."--_Political Songs_, p. 217.
FESTINATION, "with all _festination_" (R204,_c_), speed, hurry,
expedition. "Sweet Frank, when shall my father Security present
me?" "With all _festination_."--Jonson and Chapman, _Eastward
Hoe_ (1605), ii. 1.
FETCHES, "beware the _fetches_ of Tediousness" (WS143,_a_),
stratagems, tricks, contrivances, artifices: the word does not
always carry a bad or unworthy meaning.
FICHANT, "Ise cannot be _fichant_ enough" (R267,_c_), sufficient;
_i.e._ better received and esteemed. Mr. Magnus suggests _Je m'en
fiche_, as origin.
FIDE, W[illiam] (M22,_d_), so given in the E.E.T.S. text, _Fide_
being _Fyde_.
FIERCE, "a likely man and a _fierce_" (M27,_d_)--"how valiant ...
and _fierce_" (WH293,_d_), strong, full of fire and ardour.
"Yet have I _fierce_ affections."--Shakespeare, _Antony and
Cleopatra_ (1608), i. 5. "The ships, though so great, are driven
of _fierce_ winds; yet are they turned about with a very small
helm."--_Bible_, Auth. Vers. (1611), _James_ iii. 4.
FIRIBUSQUE, see Breadibus.
FIST, "a good running _fist_" (M30,_b_), writing: an early example
of a common present-day colloquialism.
FLATERABUNDUS, "ye _flaterabundus_ you" (R188,_a_), see Clawback.
FLEAR, FLEARING, FLEERETH (_passim_), mock, gibe, leer, smirk; and
as _verb_ = to grin contemptuously or scornfully, sneer, smirk.
FLEXIBLE, "Mankind is so _flexible_" (M33,_a_), pliant, easily
influenced, wavering in disposition.
FLITCHED, "hath _flitched_ the bishopricks" (R218,_b_), so in
orignal, but? _filched_. Mr. Magnus says, "Cut up into strips."
FLITTANCE (R183,_d_), "a ghost word for fleetings, _i.e._
skimmings" (Mr. Magnus quoting Prof. Skeat).
FLIX, "die of the _flix_" (R271,_c_), flux, dysentery. Mr. Magnus
glosses this "flyxe [_flixe_ in E.E.T.S. text], flick, thief,
62, 1908." The mistake in giving the text spelling in glossary
leads one to suspect that all the rest, save the page and line
reference, is wrong also. At all events, how could Avarice "die
of the thief"? Perhaps, however, the E.E.T.S. editor meant the
Great Thief of Thieves--Old Age!! "Diseased with the bluddy
_flixe_."--Udal, _Matt._ ix.
FLORENT, "so _florent_ estate" (R200,_d_), flourishing, prosperous.
"Sinopa was a _florent_ citee."--Udal, _Apoph. of Erasmus_
(1543), p. 77.
FLOUTHY, "full of _flouthy_ bushes" (JE355,_b_)? _slouthy_ as in my
text and in original: if _flouthy_ from flout = mock, jeer, treat
with contempt: cf. lecherous thorns, backbiting briars, elders of
envy, and other kindred similes in the same passage.
FOND, "each _fond_ opinion" (N58,_a_; _et passim_), foolish, silly,
unwise.
FONE, "God shield you from your _fone_" (M14,_d_; _et passim_),
foes: an old plural.
FOOT, "I hope to have his _foot met_" (M23,_d_), _i.e._ caught by
the foot, tripped.
FOOTBALL, "lend us a _football_" (M32,_c_). Dr. Brandl says this is
the earliest mention of the game.
FORBORNE, "it may no longer be _forborne_" (N51,_d_), endured. "I
may not certes, though I shulde die, _Forbere_ to ben out of your
compagnie."--Chaucer, _Cant. Tales_ (1383), 10,056.
FORCE, FORCETH (_passim_), as _sub._ = matter, consequence,
importance, ground for care or anxiety; as _verb_ = to care,
regard, value, to be of importance or signify. "What _fors_ were
it though al the town bihelde?"--Chaucer, _Troilus and Cressida_
(1369), ii. 373. "It little _forceth_ how long a man liue, but
how wel and vertuously."--Udal, _Mark_ v. "I _force_ not argument
a straw."--Shakespeare, _Rape of_ _Lucrece_ (1594), 1021.
FOR-COLD, "pottage shall be for-_cold_" (M13,_b_)--"when a man is
_for-cold_" (M5,_c_), very cold: as a prefix _for-_ has (1) an
intensive force; (2) a negative or privative force; and (3) a
deteriorative force. Typical examples of each class are----(1)
forlorn = utterly lonely; for-drunken = beastly drunk; (2)
forbid, forfend; (3) forshapen = badly formed, etc.
FORMA, see In.
FORTY PENCE, see Jack Noble.
FOUNDER, "our _founder_ and chief--_founder_ me no foundering"
(R186,_b_; 187_c_; 189_a_), patron, benefactor: see other volumes
of this series.
FOUR EARS, see Horse.
FRAGILITY? "of your nature and of your _fragility_" (M14,_a_),
frailty, weakness, proneness to fall. "Earnestly beseeching the
dictatour to forgive this humane _fragilitie_ and youthful folly
of Qu. Fabius."--P. Holland, _Livius_, p. 307.
FRAY, "how I _fray_" (R202,_c_), fear. "The troubled ghost
of my father Anchises So oft in sleepe doth _fray_ me, and
aduise."--Surrey, _Virgil_, _Æneis_, iv.
FRAYRY, "the demonical _frayry_" (M8,_d_), friary, conventicle.
FUSION, "God send it His _fusion_" (M15,_d_),? _foison_, _fusoan_,
_fusin_ = plenty, abundance: in original, _fusyon_.
GAN, "how God ... _gan_ devise" (N46,_a_), began: auxiliary with
force of _did_. "Not with less dread the loud Ethereal trumpet
from on high _gan_ blow."--Milton, _Paradise Lost_ (1667), vi. 60.
GARD, "freshly _gard_" (N77,_c_), trimmed, edged. "Those of the
forewarde vnder the Duke of Norffolke, were apparelled in blue
coats _garded_ with redde."--Stow, _Henry VIII._ (1544).
GAUDIES, "no more _gaudies_ or japes" (R264,_b_), trick, jest.
"Thynke wel that it is no _gaude_."--Chaucer, _Troilus_ (1369),
ii. 351.
GEAR (_passim_), formerly a word-of-all-work = outfit, ornament,
dress, accoutrements, arms, harness, tackle, goods, property,
tools, implements, material, stuff, matter, business, affair,
manners, habits, customs, rubbish, trash--and what not? See other
volumes of this series.
GENERALIS, see Curia.
GENTLE-MEAT, "_Gentle meat_ for a hawk" (J.E. 363,_c_), the pun is
double-barrelled: _gentle_ also = a trained hawk.
GENTMAN (R231,_b_), gentleman: cf. jentman.
GEOFFREY, "farewell, gentle _Geoffrey_" (M9,_a_), apparently a
common tag or catch-phrase, or from some song of the period.
Heywood (_Works_, E.E.D.S., II. 36_b_) quotes almost the
identical words of _Mankind_: "Now, here is the door, and there
is the way; And so, (quoth he), farewell, gentle _Geoffrey_!"
GERE, read Gear.
GESUMME, "a good horse should be _gesumme_" (M12,_d_). Dr. Bradley
(quoted by E.E.T.S. editors) suggests _geason_ (A.S. _goesne_
= empty, scarce). The whole passage from the beginning of the
speech is obscure and apparently corrupt: at all events, it
hardly "reads" as it is. The following suggestion is made with a
view to eliciting a re-examination. The original is (E.E.T.S.)--
"Ande my wyf wer_e_ yow_u_r hors, sche wolde yow att
to-sa_m_ne
[Gh]e fede yow_u_r hors in mesur_e_; ze ar_e_ a wyse man.
I trow, & [Gh]e wer_e_ þe kyng_is_ palfrey-ma_n_,
A goode horse xulde be gesum_m_e."
Now, take as miswritten the words _yow_ and _to-samne_ in the
first line, and substitute respectively _be_ and _to-famen_, and
sense is obtained. New Guise has overheard Mercy saying that
too much corn for a horse makes it unruly and unmanageable.
"Good!" says New Guise, "you are no liar, for I fed my wife so
well that she has given me a clouting--here is the plaster!...
If my wife were your horse she would be altogether famished. I
trow if ye were the King's palfrey-man a good horse would go
empty or be scarce (King's horses, for parade purposes requiring
plenty of the best fodder). The misscripts are not unlikely ones,
and--well, 'tis but a suggestion." "Steuen wille vs traueile and
_famen_ vs to dede."--_Robert_ _de Brunne_, p. 122.
GHOST, GHOSTLY (_passim_), soul, breath, spirit, will; spiritual,
not carnal or secular, religious: Ger., _geistlich_. As, his
holy _ghost_ (of the will of a man), ghostly purpose, _ghostly_
enemy, _ghostly_ solace _ghostly_ comfort, _ghostly, ghostly_ to
our purpose, father _ghostly, ghostly_ reason.
GINNETH, "when she _ginneth_ wane" (N44,_a_), beginneth. "This
lessoun thus I _ginne_."--_William of_ _Palerne_, 1929. "Into hyr
bedde the boy _gan_ crepe."--_Octovian_, 176.
GINST, "_ginst_ to err" (N52,_b_), see previous entry.
GIS, "by Gis" (_passim_), Jesus: also Jis and Gisse.
GIVE, "_give_ the rope just to thy neck" (M35,_d_), put, adjust.
GODAMIGHTIES (R225,_a_), a term applied to any person or thing
greatly idolised: also and mostly, now-a-days, in sarcasm, _e.g._
a little God-almighty (of a conceited prig), etc. Avarice is
speaking of his money bags.
GODIGOD (R182,_c_), "God give you good [day]," a gloss of Prof.
Brandl's. Also (R258,_c_), _Godigod eve_ and _Godigod speed_.
GOD'S GOOD, "a hat of _God's good_" (R229,_b_), yeast; _sallet_ =
helmet (see E.E.D.S., _Anon. Plays_, 1 Ser. 274_a_). People means
that instead of being well enough off to get a helmet to serve
the king, he is fain to be content with a yeast tub; probably it
was meant also as a bit of "business" for the groundlings' sake.
GOSS, "by _Goss_" (R194,_c_), God.
GOVERNANCE, "this is his _governance_" (M26,_d_), behaviour,
manners, conduct, mode of life. "Now schalle I telle you the
_governance_ of the court of the grete Cham."--_Maundeville_, p.
232.
GOVERNY, "the whole rule and _governy_" (N60,_c_), control,
management, guidance.
GRASS, "while the _grass_ shall grow the horse shall sterve"
(R233,_d_), see Heywood (E.E.D.S., _Works_, II., 378), _s.v._
Grass.
GREEN CHEESE, "Ye can see no _green cheese_ but your teeth will
water" (R216,_c_), cream cheese, the material of which "the moon
is made": see Heywood, _Works_ (E.E.D.S.), II., 97_c_.
GREEN FRIARS (N92,_d_), no such order is known either to the
highest living English authority on monastic orders, or to Helyot
or Dugdale; _The Catholic Dictionary_ likewise makes no reference
to Green Friars. And, in truth, having regard to the context,
it seems tolerably certain that Medwall (a priest himself) was
merely satirizing known abuses, with an eye perhaps on "Friar
Tuck" and "Lincoln green": the "hedge-marriages" alluded to later
(93,_c_) would also support this interpretation.
GROGE, GROGED (N75,_d_), grudge, grudged: as _subs_ = discontent,
ill-will, anger, unwillingness to benefit; as _verb_ = grieve,
repine, murmur, raise objection, feel ill-will. "Perish they That
_grudge_ one thought against your Majesty."--Shakespeare, _1
Henry VI._ iii. (1592), iii. 1.
GROMWELL-SEED (R183,_b_), properly grey millet; here a slang term
for money: see other volumes of this series.
GROSSERY, "such other _grossery_" (R263,_d_), _i.e._ grossness,
enormities, obscurity, with an eye on "grocery" (fr. O.F.
_grossier_, one who sells by the gross, or wholesale).
GRUTCH (_passim_), grudge: see Groge.
GUBBINGS, "the _gubbings_ of booties and preys" (R183,_d_),
properly the parings of haberdine, but also generic for fragments
of any kind.
GUISE, "good new _guise_ ... vicious _guise_," etc. (_passim_),
generic for fashion, style, manner, mien, conduct.
'GYPTIAN, "the _'Gyptian_ thraldom" (R237,_c_), Egyptian.
HA (_passim_), have.
HAD, see Wist.
HAFTER, "ye are but an _hafter_" (WS141,_c_), wrangler, caviller:
also a generic reproach; here specifically a falterer, laggard.
"Of ale he doth so stinke, That whether he go before, or behynde,
Ye shall hym smell without the winde. For when he goeth to it,
he is no _hafter_."--_Doctour Double Ale_, 216 (_c._ 1547).
HAIK, HAKE (R191,_b_ and _c_; R219,_c_), "an exclamation, generally
a signal of defiance" (Halliwell): cf. "hack" ("hawk") = to clear
the throat.
HAIR, see Hood.
HALE, "What doth he after him _hale_" (R215,_d_), haul.
HALED, see States.
HALFPENNY, "your minds were all on your _halfpenny_" (R196,_d_),
_i.e._ with an eye to the main chance, generally attentive,
cautious, or prudent. The proverb is in Heywood (_Works_,
E.E.D.S., II. 14,_c_; 174,_b_). "_Ri._: Dromio, looke heere, now
is my hand on my _halfepeny_. _Half._: Thou liest, thou hast not
a farthing to lay thy hands on."--Lyly, _Mother_ _Bombie_ (1594),
ii. 1. "But the blinde [deafe] man, having his hand on another
_halfe-penny_, said, What is that you say, sir? Hath the clocke
strucken?"--_Notes_ _on Du Bartas_, _To the Reader_, 2nd page.
HALSED, "his fair wife _halsed_ in a corner" (M28,_d_), embraced
(_hals_ = neck): the special use of the word is singularly
appropriate, as Mischief had just escaped the halsman (=
executioner or jailer) himself.
HANCE BEERPOT (W.H.), _i.e._ Hans, but there was no object in
carrying the modernisation of the orthography so far as to alter
the original Hance: see Wealth and Health.
HAND, "I bless you with my _left hand_" (M23,_c_), _i.e._ curse:
cf. "over the left" = altogether wrong, or the reverse of what is
said. Such "left-handed" colloquialisms are by no means rare to
express insincerity, ill-omen, underhandness, or inferiority. The
earliest quotation in the _O.E.D._, _s.v._ Left, is 1705, so this
example carries its use back upwards of 200 years.
HANDS, see Aloft.
HANGMAN, see Calais.
HANSTON, see Respublica.
HARDELY (_passim_), steadily, boldly, certainly.
HARE, "this same way goeth the _hare_" (R212,_b_), _i.e._ that's
the gist, trend, secret, why and wherefore of the matter: in
Heywood.
HASSARD, "fet not _hassard_ nor rioter" (IP,320,_c_); so in
original. It may be a contraction of _hasarder_ = gamester, or
a misprint for _haskard_ = a rough, blustering fellow (Dekker);
probably, however, the former fits the context best.
HASSE, "a fair manor _hasse_" (JE354,_a_), so in original; and but
for the rhyme-word _bash_ being spelt _basshe_ one might suspect
a misprint, especially as Dr. Murray records no such form as
_hasse_ for _house_, nor anything like it. The meaning, however,
is clear enough.
HAT (_passim_), have it--ha[ve i]t.
HAUT, HAUTY, "his _haut_ courage" (N60,_d_),--"Wealth is _hauty_"
(WH276,_d_), high, lofty, proud. Also see N53,_c_, where _haut_
is misprinted _hawt_.