In Shakspeare's _Twelfth Night_, a passage occurs upon which some
observations may be bestowed in the way of illustration, because, as it
is usually printed, no signification seems attributed to it, whereas in
reality it is a scrap of satire very appropriate to the character in
whose mouth it is placed. In Act II. Sc. 2., the clown, entering to the
two drunken knights, Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Ague-cheek,
exclaims,--
"How now, my hearts? Did you never see the picture
of we three?"
Of the innumerable editions of Shakspeare, I have examined only twelve,
my own and my neighbours', all which, without exception, present the
last two words of the quotation as above, without the slightest
difference from the remainder of the sentence; and, when annotations are
given, without any explanatory remark save in three instances, which
will hereafter be noticed. From this circumstance and this coincidence
it may be inferred, that the editors generally did not imagine the words
in question to contain any special meaning, but possibly understood them
as merely an illiterate blunder for "_us_ three." Any such idea,
however, would be a misapprehension. For although the clown is
introduced as an allowed fool, and so entitled, it is evident he was
designed to represent a person not totally devoid of at least some
smattering of learning, as well as to be, what one of his brethren is
styled, "a shrewd knave;" as such, being manifestly quite capable of
duly appreciating his two knightly patrons. Which knowledge on the part
of the clown increases the probability that such an "all licensed"
personage should, under the disguise of a jest, insinuate the contempt
he really felt, and which the others so richly deserve; for this, it
will speedily appear, is the sense now contended for of the passage
above cited. Secondly, if the words are to stand as already read, "Did
you never see the picture of we three?" intimating no allusion to any
idea, hinted at but not expressed, they are simply an inquiry respecting
a painting of the knights and the clown, to the existence of which there
is not another reference throughout the entire play, neither does the
story require or suggest that the notion of any such painting should
ever have entered the author's mind.
In Theobald's _Shakspeare_, the sentence we are considering is
unnoticed, but, as previously stated, that is not the case in three of
the twelve editions consulted. In one, a single volume with glossary,
&c., by Nicholas Rowe, to the words "we three," a foot note is appended,
supplying, as the conclusion of the phrase, "loggerheads be." The same
note is similarly given in another copy in nine volumes. The third
instance is an edition in two volumes, with explanatory notes at the
end, among which we find this respecting _Twelfth Night_:--"_Did you
never see the picture of we three?_ an allusion to an old print
frequently pasted on alehouse walls, representing _two_, but under which
the spectator reads, _We three are asses_;" the name of Malone being
added as the authority for this interpretation.[1] Without denying that
Malone may have possessed sufficient grounds for his statement, it may
be permitted to deliver an opinion, and to subjoin the following remarks
as a reason for thinking that Rowe's explanation is the better of the
two.
In the town of Tonbridge in Kent, south of the bridge over the Medway,
on the western side of the street, stands (or did recently) a
public-house, the sign of which I have long believed to illustrate the
passage before us. When first I observed the sign, from forty-five to
fifty years ago, and for long afterwards, one side, if not both,
presented _two_ grotesque heads, the painting being not modern, so far
as my (rather vivid) recollection serves, with the legend "We _three_
Loggerheads be." The sign having been renovated, the old painting is
obliterated: but whatever may have replaced it, _the old name_, the
Loggerheads, most probably is still used; and inasmuch as the aspect of
the house was venerable when I first remember it, we may, without a
violent stretch of imagination, carry back the use of the
above-described conceit of the three loggerheads, as an alehouse sign,
at least a considerable portion of the period intervening between our
time and that of Shakspeare. Whether more examples, besides that at
Tonbridge, of this sign may still exist, is unknown, but I do not
recollect seeing a second in any part of the kingdom. Possibly others
might be discovered, though they cannot be common; and perhaps the
suggestion will be admitted, that the above-mentioned little
public-house is not altogether unworthy of consideration, as assisting,
in however slight a degree, in illustrating the language of our great
national dramatist.