Evangelist_) the entrances and exits, and the connection between
different parts of this play of _John the Evangelist_, are by no
means obvious. At 356,_b_, Eugenio, referring to Irisdision, says
he may well be called "witless Sir Will"; and when Eugenio speaks
of the coming of Sir William of Trentham (357,_a_), in comes John
the Evangelist. The most feasible explanation is that the part of
John the Evangelist was played by a parish priest whose name was
Sir William of Trentham. The clerical use of _Sir_ = _dominus_
is common, but the only reference I can find to Trentham (near
Stoke-on-Trent) is in the 5th volume of "_Magna Britannia_," pp.
92 and 154. In both places there is mention of a monastery of
"Canons Regular of St. Augustine," built in the reign of William
Rufus. According to Dugdale and Speed it was valued, at the time
of the dissolution, at £106, 3s. 10d. per annum. As the rule
of the Augustines enjoins poverty, chastity, and humility, my
suggestion receives confirmation of a sort at 359,_b_ and _c_,
where "wilful poverty" is enjoined. As regards Irisdision, who
is obviously the same as John the Evangelist and Sir William of
Trentham, this is a puzzle. Eugenio is Greek, but an attempt
at making Greek of Irisdision is not quite satisfactory, and
may seem somewhat far-fetched. _Iris_ in Greek mythology was a
messenger of the gods, who are sometimes noted collectively by
_Dis_--is Irisdision intended to mean "a divine messenger"?
TREPITT, "take you here a _trepitt_" (M7,_d_), blow.
TRISE, "_trise_ him out at your gates" (M21,_d_), haul, pull.
TRUST, (_a_) "_in trust is treason_" (M33,_b_), in Heywood
(_Works_, E.E.D.S., II., 67,_c_).
(_b_) "best be _trust_" (R196,_a_), _i.e._ Avarice has called his
minions back to coach them, and bids them be ready (_to truss_
= to tuck up the gown and generally to prepare oneself). On the
other hand, Mr. Magnus (E.E.T.S.) says, "Mr. Daniel has explained
this phrase as a nickname for a dishonest fellow, with a by-play
on _trussed_ (_i.e._ hanged)."
UNCURTESS, "so _uncurtess/_, so inconsiderate" (M33,_b_; 34,_a_),
unthoughtful, careless, uncivil.
UNDERFONG, "war or battle to _underfong_" (N90,_a_), undertake,
manage, wage.
UNRIGHTFUL, "In _unrightful_ to say pride of him than" (JE366,_c_),
the passage is obscure or corrupt; _unrightful_ occurs in Bale
(_Works_, E.E.D.S.), 59,_c_--"justices _unrightful_."
UNTHRIFTS RENT (JE364,_c_)--"let us go to _Unthrift's_ a while"
(JE361,_c_), a _rent_ = tenements or houses let out to others;
often named after the proprietor: Fulwood's _Rents_, Holborn, is
(1907) a case in point.
UNTIL (_passim_), to, unto.
VALESLIE, "you liest _valeslie_" (R210,_c_), valorously.
VOWELS: "worship of the five vowels" (M22,_c_), the passage as it
stands is obscure. Furnivall and Pollard read _v. vowellys_,
Manly, _v voli ellys_ and Brandl, _volvellys_. I have perforce
followed the first-named as the most likely to be according to
the original, but in view of the uncertainty as to the accuracy
of either transcript, little can be said (see _Mankind_). Manly
(whom the E.E. Text editors follow) suggests _vij_ (_or xx_)
_devellys_; Brandl _dewellys_? The phrasing is suggestive,
"worship" (cf. "worship of the new year": see _New Year_), and
"v vowels," which of course is distinctive, but I am quite at a
loss to suggest an explanation. If the allusion is to gaming,
_vowels_ may be a miscript for _volvelles_, quite a different
word. Whitney says of it--"A small and generally circular movable
plate affixed to an engraving containing a dial or lottery, and
made to carry the index hand or pointer." There is a paragraph
in _Notes and Queries_ (Sixth Series, vol. xi. p. 217) referring
to "volvelles," and it seems pretty evident from this that they
were well known as instruments of chance; there is an allusion
in Withers' _Emblems_, where he makes use of the "Index" or
"volvelle" in a moral sense. One could understand the "worship
of _volvelles_," if this were a gambling game, as one can
understand the "worship of dice."
WALSINGHAM WHISTLE (M20,_c_), probably an allusion to the "Wishing
Wells" at Walsingham (Norfolk). Persons drinking of them were
said to obtain the fulfilment of any wish made while drinking.
_Nought_, appealed to, said he could "pipe on a Walsingham
whistle," _i.e._ wish for what he wanted, and perhaps get it.
Apparently he does, for he wished for the entry of _Titivullus_,
who appears.
WALTER, "I love ill to _walter_" (JE364,_a_), tumble, roll about.
"To turne or _walter_ in mire" (Baret, 1580).
WART, "che _wa'r't_, a false harlot you art" (R210,_c_), war[ran]t.
WAT, "some great _wat_" (N69,_b_)--"Brother _wat_" (WH297,_a_), a
wight, a man.
WAY, "_do way, do way_" (M6,_c_), away, away!
WEALTH AND HEALTH is one of the recently recovered "lost" plays
(see Preface), and is of unknown authorship. The text is given
on pp. 273-309, from a photograph copy of the original now in
the British Museum, together with a reduced facsimile of the
title-page. The B.M. entry is--
WEALTH. An enterlude of Welth and Helth, very mery and full of
pastyme, newly att his [_i.e._ _att this_] tyme imprinted. B.
L. [London, 1565?] 4^o. [C.34,i.25.
The collation is sixteen leaves, Ai (title with back blank) to
Div. in 4s. The play is wretchedly printed on very thin paper,
and simply bristles with printer's errors. I have taken no heed
of most of these in the present text which I have collated
twice with the old copy. I think I have succeeded in producing
a substantially correct version of the original, any specially
doubtful point being noted _infra_. This, however, must be taken
with one reservation--so far as the state of the typography
would allow I have given the Dutch and Spanish jargon exactly
as it appears in the old text. It was simply impossible to
make sense out of it. Many of the words have no resemblance
to anything in Dutch. It was submitted to Dutch and German
scholars to no effect. The sense occasionally can be gleaned--for
example, that Hance was a drunken Hollander who wanted to get an
engagement as gunner by the English. But the whole is evidently
a caricature of Dutch, with which the author obviously had no
acquaintance beyond a few scattered words, and the "patter" was
put in simply to tickle the ears of the groundlings. As regards
date, the British Museum Catalogue suggests "? 1565" for this
recovered copy; but Hazlitt states that the play was licensed
in 1557-8, and printed by John Waley in 1558. There is little
internal evidence to help to a decision. Hance (300,_c_) says
he has been in England "this darteen (thirteen) year," and if
we deduct this from 1557-8 we get 1544-5, which is close enough
to the times of Anne of Cleves (1540), the "Flander's mare" of
Henry VIII., to suggest that the play may have been written
and played a year or two earlier than the date of its entry at
Stationers' Hall. There are two references to the Sovereign
(301,_b_ and 308,_d_), Queen Elizabeth, who succeeded 17th Nov.
1558, but these allusions do not, of course, reveal anything.
_Corrigenda, Amended Readings, etc._: Title-page (274), a
reduced facsimile being given (273), direct comparison may be
made: though very indistinct, there are traces of the lines of
a written inscription on the lower half of the page--_Names
of Players_ (275 _et seq._), these are given in margin; in
places dropped a little out of line, but nowhere so that the
commencement of the speech is not easily identified--"praise
yourself _too_ much ye may" (276,_a_), original _so_--"_Yet_ no
displeasure" (276,_b_), original _Yeth_--"to you no _dispraise_"
(276,_b_), in original _dyspayre_--"am I a _tagetive_" (277,_c_),
original _tagetyve_, but the first "_stamp_" may be anything: see
_Tagetive_--"I, Wealth, _have_ all treasure" (278,_a_), original
_hatg_: the close alphabetical juxtaposition of _v_ and _t_ on
the one hand and _e_ and _g_ of the misprint (for so I take
it) is curious: see _supra_--"_their_ pain is such" (280,_c_),
original _there_--"_Ill-W._ Why, I came," etc. (284,_a_),
throughout the original Ill-Will, who is given his full name
in the stage direction marking his entrance, is "tagged" in
the margin _Will_--"_H_[_eal_]_th._ Whose," etc. (284,_a_),
the letters in square brackets are rubbed away, but the speech
seems to be to Health rather than Wealth. See Health's speech,
283,_b_.--"and _kindred_ too" (284,_d_), original _kinred_--"lest
that I _mar_" (285,_d_), so I think in original: the letters
are blurred, but the portions visible indicate the rubbed-out
strokes: if so, note the three rhymes, _were_, _near_, _mar_:
Dr. Murray gives _mer_(_e_) as a form current from the 13th
to the 16th centuries--"I _came_ my way" (286,_c_), original
_can_--"_Ill-W._ I would come in" (286,_c_), in original this
speech is given to Wit, but clearly that is a mistake--"_Hance_
Beerpot, a scon router" (287,_a_), so in original, which there
seemed no need to modernise to Hans: see _ante_--"his name is
War" (287,_c_), in view of recent discussion in _N. and Q._ note
the rhyme with _mar_--"with your _gound? stand near_" (287,_c_),
this may possibly read "with your gound-stand near?"--"I am very
glad" (289,_d_), the next line is very indistinct, and even the
paper at this place is opaquer than elsewhere, so debarring
restoration in that wise: it _looks_ like "Some crafty wile for
him [I would] ye had," but _I would_ is very doubtful, unless we
reckon on a glaring misprint--"they shall not _flit_" (290,_c_),
original _flye_--"[_Health_]. Sirs! now go your way" (291,_c_),
the name is not in original, but the lines are apparently as now
attributed--"_w'out_ blane" (294,_b_), _wout_ in original--"If
a man be never so...." (295,_a_), the line appears to have got
loose, and in printing this has caused extra blurring: _so_ may
not be correct; what follows looks like "so ... good and b ...
be but thrifty": but it is uncertain to a degree--"Speak! be not
_afraid_" (295,_d_), in original _afryde_--"What _sayest_ thou
in his face" (296,_a_), obviously misprinted in the original:
the word meant may be _seest_--"for _these_ years twenty"
(296,_b_), _this_ in original--"as good _know_" (296,_d_), in
original _no_--"And _your subtilty known_" (297,_a_), in original
_Aud our_ _subtillitte knowen_--"_Ill-W._ Peace! no mo words"
(297,_b_), in original this is given to _Wit_--"with kindness my
_heart_ do kill" (299,_b_), _herye_ in original--"magt _not_ do
thereto" (300,_a_), _aot_ in original--"I understand thee well"
(300,_d_), _Ic_ in original: the author has forgotten himself in
this instance--"_Wit._ _I will go to fetch them_" (304,_d_), in
original _I Iyf go to fetch tham_--"should _lean_ to man's life"
(305,_a_), in original _leaue_--
WHERE, "_where_ he go" (JE354,_d_), whether.
WHISTER, "_whister_ him in the ear" (N77,_d_), whisper.
WHITE WINE (JE361,_a_), an allusion, I suppose, to the rotten eggs
shied at a victim in the pillory.
WIDGE, "chad a _widge_" (R229,_a_), horse. In a recent number
of _Notes and Queries_ appeared the following, which seems
worth quoting, as exemplifying the survival in Tudor-English
dialect of an A.S. word that itself had only a limited vogue.
"In South-Western dialect, _widge_, a horse (mare) ... from
M.E. _wig_, A.S. _wicg_. The ... word is only found in poetry,
and with moderate frequency; while in other Teutonic languages
_wigg_, horse, occurs solely, to my knowledge, in O. Sax.,
_The Heliand_, and there but once. Stratmann's _Mid. Eng._
_Dictionary_ (ed. H. Bradley) gives a solitary example of _wig_,
horse, in _Early English Homilies_ (ed. R. Morris), rendering the
more notable its survival to the above date. The word is not in
Halliwell's _Dictionary_." (H. P. L.)
WIT AND SCIENCE, BY JOHN REDFORD. The text, collated anew in proof
with the original manuscript in the British Museum (Add. MSS.
15,233), will be found on pages 135-175, together with a reduced
facsimile of the penultimate page of the manuscript (p. 136),
and the concluding lines of the same with Redford's signature
(p. 175). This last facsimile has been included because nowhere
in the Museum Catalogue does Redford's name occur; the play
has never been catalogued as his though his name appears both
in the MS. and in the Shak. Soc. reprint (Ac. 9485.33). A good
deal of confusion and uncertainty has existed concerning the
identity of this and two other Wit plays, a question which I
discuss in _Anon. Plays_ (E.E.D.S.), _Series IV._, now in the
press. I refer the reader to this volume, which will reach
subscribers in due course. Besides the Shakespeare Society's
reprint, Prof. Manly has included _Wit and Science_ in his
_Specimens of the_ _Pre-Shakespearean Drama_. The MS. is in the
shape of a memorandum book, the lines running across the short
width of the page. There has been no cutting of the margins. It
was purchased at the sale of the Bright MSS. in 1844, and the
binding is without doubt contemporary with the MS., though it
has apparently been patched here and there. _Corrigenda, Amended
Readings, etc._: "The better hold out _he_ may" (138,_b_),
_ye_ in manuscript, which Halliwell follows: Prof. Manly has
_he_--"_Study._ Yea, hold your peace ... that way" (139,_c_),
Halliwell in his reprint (1848) reads thus:--
Yea, hold your peace, best! we here now stay,
For, Instruction, I like not that way.
"_Good, sir_" (141,_b_), original _God, sir_--"_Striketh him_"
(144,_d_), this stage direction, which is not in manuscript,
should, of course, have been put within brackets--"Give ear
to _that_ we sing and say" (145,_c_), so in MS.; _what_ in
transcript of song in Shakespeare Soc. Papers, II. 78: it may
also be noted that in the same transcript the commencement of
the fifth stanza inserts _an_ not in the MS. which reads "After
eye given"--"_Here cometh in_ HONEST RECREATION," etc. (145,_a_
to 146,_b_), this stage direction in MS. is continuous, and the
song is given at the end of the play. I have inserted it here
as more convenient--"while we _him_ bear" (146,_b_), _here_
in MS., which is followed by Halliwell; I have accepted Prof.
Manly's amendment--"_Rea._ I wot well that" (146,_d_), in MS.
these words are followed in the same line by the first five words
of the next line, "The more to blame ye"; the scribe finding
out his mistake crossed them through, and then re-wrote them in
the next line as in text--"_Here_ COMFORT, QUICKNESS, STRENGTH
_go out_" (147,_a_), in the margin, very small, between the
speakers' names as if by an afterthought, is written, "Al go out
save Honest"--"Sure call a blow or twain" (162,_d_), Halliwell
says "the scribe here began to write the preceding speech of
Science but erased it." Reference to the manuscript shows that
the previous line originally ran, "By the mass, _madam, ye can no
good_," and that the words in italics were then crossed through
and the line re-written as in the present text. The next line,
commencing "And thou shalt sure," etc., has apparently been
written in after the mistake was discovered; it occurs at the
end of a page. At the top of the next page of the MS. the word
"Art" is written, and then crossed through, as if the writer had
begun to write the lines ascribed to Science (162,_d_) commencing
"Art a-swearing, too?"--"Welcome, mine own" (171,_c_), in the MS.
this song appears in another part of the book quite distinct from
the play, but as it is obviously intended to be sung here it is
restored to its place. Therefore the stage directions _supra_ and
_infra_ (171,_c_, 172,_d_) are continuous in the MS.--"life's end
[end] it" (174,_d_), in the MS. the line reads with _life's end
end it_, but the second _end_ is crossed through, erroneously it
would seem.
WOLPIT, OUR LADY OF (IP315,_d_). _Woolpit_ is about eight miles
east of Bury-St.-Edmunds. Taylor in his _Index Monasticus_ (p.
117) includes it in a list of shrines, images, etc., in Suffolk
to which pilgrimages were made. The manor was given to the monks
of Bury-St.-Edmunds prior to the Conquest. They were possessed of
it in the time of Edward I., and probably continued in possession
till the dissolution of the monasteries.
WONNING (JE363,_d_), dwelling.
WORNE, "the wild worm is come into his head" (N98,_d_); cf. "maggot
in brain."
WOTE, "half a _wote_" (N67,_c_), _i.e._ "half I wot."
WRIT OF PRIVILEGE (IP316,_d_), a writ to deliver a privileged
person from custody when arrested in a civil suit.
YEAR-DAY, "my father's _year-day_" (M32,_b_), either birthday or
the anniversary of death.
ZEE, see A ZEE.
ZEMBITY (R230,_a_), semblity; Magnus suggests "dissemble."
ZORYLESS (R212,_d_), sorryless (for sorriness).
* * * * *
Manufactured in the United States of America
Transcriber's Notes:
Simple spelling, grammar, and typographical errors were corrected.
Punctuation normalized.
Anachronistic and non-standard spellings retained as printed.
Prefixing right aligned stage directions with a left bracket was
most common usage in original. Added left bracket where one was
missing. Removed right bracket from a few right aligned stage
directions due to uncommon usage in original.
Italics markup is enclosed in _underscores_.
Bold markup is enclosed in ~tildes~.
Fancy or unusual font markup is enclosed in #number signs#.
Superscripts are indicated with a single caret (^) followed by
the superscripted text.
The yogh character is indicated by [gh].
The Maltese cross character is indicated by [+].