Chapter M: Baily, Chat, D. Rat, Gammer, Hodge, Diccon

_Baily._ Dame Chat, Master Doctor upon you here complained
That you and your maids should him much misorder,
And taketh many an oath, that no word be feigned,
Laying to your charge, how you thought him to murder;
And on his part again, that same man saith furder,
He never offended you in word nor intent.
To hear you answer hereto, we have now for you sent.

_Chat._ That I would have murdered him? fie on him, wretch!
And evil mought he the for it, our Lord I beseech.
I will swear on all the books that opens and shuts,
He feigneth this tale out of his own guts;
For this seven weeks with me, I am sure, he sat not down.
[_To Rat._] Nay, ye have other minions, in the other end of the town,
Where ye were liker to catch such a blow,
Than anywhere else, as far as I know!

_Baily._ Belike, then Master Doctor, yon stripe there ye got not!

_Doctor Rat._ Think you I am so mad that where I was bet I wot not?
Will ye believe this quean, before she hath tried it?
It is not the first deed she hath done, and afterward denied it.

_Chat._ What, man, will you say I broke your head?

_Doctor Rat._ How canst thou prove the contrary?

_Chat._ Nay, how provest thou that I did the deed?

_Doctor Rat._ Too plainly, by St Mary,
This proof, I trow, may serve, though I no word spoke!
[_Showing his broken head._

_Chat._ Because thy head is broken, was it I that it broke?
I saw thee, Rat, I tell thee, not once within this fortnight.

_Doctor Rat._ No, marry, thou sawest me not; for why thou hadst no
light;
But I felt thee for all the dark, beshrew thy smooth cheeks!
And thou groped me, this will declare any day this six weeks.
[_Showing his head._

_Baily._ Answer me to this, Mast Rat: when caught you this harm of
yours?

_Doctor Rat._ A while ago, sir, God he knoweth, within less than
these two hours.

_Baily._ Dame Chat, was there none with you (confess, i' faith)
about that season?
What, woman? let it be what it will, 'tis neither felony nor treason.

_Chat._ Yes, by my faith, Master Baily, there was a knave not far
Who caught one good filip on the brow with a door-bar,
And well was he worthy, as it seemed to me;
But what is that to this man, since this was not he?

_Baily._ Who was it then? let's hear!

_Doctor Rat._ Alas, sir, ask you that?
Is it not made plain enough by the own mouth of dame Chat?
The time agreeth, my head is broken, her tongue cannot lie,
Only upon a bare nay she saith it was not I.

_Chat._ No, marry, was it not indeed! ye shall hear by this one thing:
This afternoon a friend of mine for good-will gave me warning,
And bad me well look to my roost, and all my capons' pens,
For if I took not better heed, a knave would have my hens.
Then I, to save my goods, took so much pains as him to watch;
And as good fortune served me, it was my chance him for to catch.
What strokes he bare away, or other what was his gains,
I wot not, but sure I am he had something for his pains!

_Baily._ Yet tell'st thou not who it was.

_Chat._ Who it was? A false thief,
That came like a false fox, my pullen to kill and mischief!

_Baily._ But knowest thou not his name?

_Chat._ I know it, but what than?
It was that crafty cullion Hodge, my Gammer Gurton's man.

_Baily._ Call me the knave hither, he shall sure kiss the stocks.
I shall teach him a lesson for filching hens or cocks!

_Doctor Rat._ I marvel, Master Baily, so bleared be your eyes;
An egg is not so full of meat, as she is full of lies:
When she hath played this prank, to excuse all this gear,
She layeth the fault in such a one as I know was not there.

_Chat._ Was he not there? look on his pate, that shall be his witness!

_Doctor Rat._ I would my head were half so whole; I would seek no
redress!

_Baily._ God bless you, Gammer Gurton!

_Gammer._ God 'eild ye, master mine!

_Baily._ Thou hast a knave within thy house--Hodge, a servant of thine;
They tell me that busy knave is such a filching one,
That hen, pig, goose or capon, thy neighbour can have none.

_Gammer._ By God, cham much a-meved to hear any such report!
Hodge was not wont, ich trow, to have him in that sort.

_Chat._ A thievisher knave is not on-live, more filching, nor more
false;
Many a truer man than he has hanged up by the halse;
And thou, his dame--of all his theft thou art the sole receiver;
For Hodge to catch, and thou to keep, I never knew none better!

_Gammer._ Sir reverence of your masterdom, and you were out a-door,
Chould be so bold, for all her brags, to call her arrant whore;
And ich knew Hodge as bad as t'ou, ich wish me endless sorrow
And chould not take the pains to hang him up before to-morrow!

_Chat._ What have I stolen from thee or thine, thou ill-favor'd old
trot?

_Gammer._ A great deal more, by God's blest, than chever by thee got!
That thou knowest well, I need not say it.

_Baily._ Stop there, I say,
And tell me here, I pray you, this matter by the way,
How chance Hodge is not here? him would I fain have had.

_Gammer._ Alas, sir, he'll be here anon; a' be handled too bad.

_Chat._ Master Baily, sir, ye be not such a fool, well I know.
But ye perceive by this lingering there is a pad in the straw.

[_Thinking that Hodge his head was broke,_ _and that Gammer
would not let him come before them._

_Gammer._ Chill show you his face, ich warrant thee; lo, now where
he is!

_Baily._ Come on, fellow, it is told me thou art a shrew, i-wis:
Thy neighbour's hens thou takest, and plays the two-legged fox;
Their chickens and their capons too, and now and then their cocks.

_Hodge._ Ich defy them all that dare it say, cham as true as the best!

_Baily._ Wert not thou take within this hour in dame Chat's hens'-nest?

_Hodge._ Take there? no, master; chould not do't for a house full of
gold!

_Chat._ Thou, or the devil in thy coat--swear this I dare be bold.

_Doctor Rat._ Swear me no swearing, quean, the devil he give thee
sorrow!
All is not worth a gnat, thou canst swear till to-morrow!
Where is the harm he hath? show it, by God's bread!
Ye beat him with a witness, but the stripes light on my head!

_Hodge._ Beat me! Gog's blessed body, chould first, ich trow, have
burst thee!
Ich think, and chad my hands loose, callet, chould have crust thee!

_Chat._ Thou shitten knave, I trow thou knowest the full weight of
my fist;
I am foully deceived unless thy head and my door-bar kissed.

_Hodge._ Hold thy chat, whore; thou criest so loud, can no man else
be heard?

_Chat._ Well, knave, and I had thee alone, I would surely rap thy
costard!

_Baily._ Sir, answer me to this: Is thy head whole or broken?

_Hodge._ Yea, Master Baily, blest be every good token,
Is my head whole! Ich warrant you, 'tis neither scurvy nor scald!
What, you foul beast, does think 'tis either pild or bald?
Nay, ich thank God, chill not for all that thou may'st spend
That chad one scab on my narse as broad as thy finger's end.

_Baily._ Come nearer here!

_Hodge._ Yes, that ich dare.

_Baily._ By our Lady, here is no harm,
Hodge's head is whole enough, for all dame Chat's charm.

_Chat._ By Gog's blest, however the thing he cloaks or smolders,
I know the blows he bare away, either with head or shoulders.
Camest thou not, knave, within this hour, creeping into my pens,
And there was caught within my house, groping among my hens?

_Hodge._ A plague both on the hens and thee! a cart, whore, a cart!
Chould I were hanged as high as a tree, and chwere as false as thou
art!
Give my gammer again her washical thou stole away in thy lap!

_Gammer._ Yea, Master Baily, there is a thing you know not on, mayhap;
This drab she keeps away my good, the devil he might her snare.
Ich pray you that ich might have a right action on her [fare].

_Chat._ Have I thy good, old filth, or any such old sow's?
I am as true, I would thou knew, as skin between thy brows.

_Gammer._ Many a truer hath been hanged, though you escape the danger!

_Chat._ Thou shalt answer, by God's pity, for this thy foul slander!

_Baily._ Why, what can you charge her withal? to say so ye do not well.

_Gammer._ Marry, a vengeance to her heart! the whore has stol'n my
nee'le!

_Chat._ Thy needle, old witch! how so? it were alms thy soul to knock!
So didst thou say the other day, that I had stol'n thy cock.
And roasted him to my breakfast, which shall not be forgotten,
The devil pull out thy lying tongue and teeth that be so rotten!

_Gammer._ Give me my nee'le! as for my cock, chould be very loth
That chould here tell he should hang on thy false faith and troth.

_Baily._ Your talk is such, I can scarce learn who should be most in
fault.

_Gammer._ Yet shall ye find no other wight, save she, by bread and
salt!

_Baily._ Keep ye content a while, see that your tongues ye hold.
Methinks you should remember this is no place to scold.
How knowest thou, Gammer Gurton, dame Chat thy needle had?

_Gammer._ To name you, sir, the party, chould not be very glad.

_Baily._ Yea, but we must needs hear it, and therefore say it boldly.

_Gammer._ Such one as told the tale full soberly and coldly,
Even he that looked on--will swear on a book--
What time this drunken gossip my fair long nee'le up took,
Diccon, Master, the Bedlam, cham very sure ye know him.

_Baily._ A false knave, by God's pity! ye were but a fool to trow him.
I durst aventure well the price of my best cap,
That when the end is known, all will turn to a jape,
Told he not you that besides she stole your cock that tide?

_Gammer._ No, master, no indeed; for then he should have lied.
My cock is, I thank Christ, safe and well a-fine.

_Chat._ Yea, but that rugged colt, that whore, that Tib of thine,
Said plainly thy cock was stol'n, and in my house was eaten.
That lying cut is lost that she is not swinged and beaten,
And yet for all my good name it were a small amends!
I pick not this gear, hear'st thou, out of my fingers' ends;
But he that heard it told me, who thou of late didst name,
Diccon, whom all men knows, it was the very same.

_Baily._ This is the case: you lost your nee'le about the doors,
And she answers again, she hase no cock of yours;
Thus in your talk and action, from that you do intend,
She is whole five mile wide, from that she doth defend.
Will you say she hath your cock?

_Gammer._ No, marry, sir, that chill not.

_Baily._ Will you confess her nee'le?

_Chat._ Will I? no, sir, will I not.

_Baily._ Then there lieth all the matter.

_Gammer._ Soft, master, by the way!
Ye know she could do little, and she could not say nay.

_Baily._ Yea, but he that made one lie about your cock-stealing,
Will not stick to make another, what time lies be in dealing.
I ween the end will prove this brawl did first arise
Upon no other ground but only Diccon's lies.

_Chat._ Though some be lies, as you belike have espied them,
Yet other some be true, by proof I have well tried them.

_Baily._ What other thing beside this, dame Chat?

_Chat._ Marry, sir, even this.
The tale I told before, the self-same tale it was his;
He gave me, like a friend, warning against my loss,
Else had my hens be stol'n each one, by God's cross!
He told me Hodge would come, and in he came indeed,
But as the matter chanced, with greater haste than speed.
This truth was said, and true was found, as truly I report.

_Baily._ If Doctor Rat be not deceived, it was of another sort.

_Doctor Rat._ By God's mother, thou and he be a couple of subtle foxes!
Between you and Hodge I bear away the boxes.
Did not Diccon appoint the place, where thou should'st stand to meet
him?

_Chat._ Yes, by the mass, and if he came, bad me not stick to spit him.

_Doctor Rat._ God's sacrament! the villain knave hath dress'd us round
about!
He is the cause of all this brawl, that dirty shitten lout!
When Gammer Gurton here complained, and made a rueful moan,
I heard him swear that you had gotten her needle that was gone;
And this to try, he further said, he was full loth; howbeit
He was content with small ado to bring me where to see it.
And where ye sat, he said full certain, if I would follow his reed,
Into your house a privy way he would me guide and lead,
And where ye had it in your hands, sewing about a clout,
And set me in the back-hole, thereby to find you out:
And whiles I sought a quietness, creeping upon my knees,
I found the weight of your door-bar for my reward and fees.
Such is the luck that some men gets, while they begin to mell.
In setting at one such as were out, minding to make all well.

_Hodge._ Was not well blest, gammer, to 'scape that stour? And chad
been there,
Then chad been dress'd, belike, as ill, by the mass, as Gaffer Vicar.

_Baily._ Marry, sir, here is a sport alone; I looked for such an end.
If Diccon had not play'd the knave, this had been soon amend.
My gammer here he made a fool, and dress'd her as she was;
And goodwife Chat he set to scold, till both parts cried, alas!
And Doctor Rat was not behind, whiles Chat his crown did pare.
I would the knave had been stark blind, if Hodge had not his share.

_Hodge._ Cham meetly well-sped already among's, cham dress'd like a
colt!
And chad not had the better wit, chad been made a dolt.

_Baily._ Sir knave, make haste Diccon were here; fetch him, wherever
he be!

_Chat._ Fie on the villain, fie, fie! that makes us thus agree!

_Gammer._ Fie on him, knave, with all my heart! now fie, and fie again!

_Doctor Rat._ Now "fie on him!" may I best say, whom he hath almost
slain.

_Baily._ Lo, where he cometh at hand, belike he was not far!
Diccon, here be two or three thy company cannot spare.

_Diccon._ God bless you, and you may be bless'd, so many all at once!

_Chat._ Come, knave, it were a good deed to geld thee, by Cock's bones!
Seest not thy handiwork? Sir Rat, can ye forbear him?

_Diccon._ A vengeance on those hands light, for my hands came not
near him.
The whoreson priest hath lift the pot in some of these alewives'
chairs,
That his head would not serve him, belike, to come down the stairs.

_Baily._ Nay, soft! thou may'st not play the knave, and have this
language too!
If thou thy tongue bridle a while, the better may'st thou do.
Confess the truth, as I shall ask, and cease a while to fable;
And for thy fault I promise thee thy handling shall be reasonable.
Hast thou not made a lie or two, to set these two by the ears?

_Diccon._ What if I have? five hundred such have I seen within these
seven years:
I am sorry for nothing else but that I see not the sport
Which was between them when they met, as they themselves report.

_Baily._ The greatest thing--Master Rat, ye see how he is dress'd!

_Diccon._ What devil need he be groping so deep, in goodwife Chat's
hens' nest?

_Baily._ Yea, but it was thy drift to bring him into the briars.

_Diccon._ God's bread! hath not such an old fool wit to save his ears?
He showeth himself herein, ye see, so very a cox,
The cat was not so madly allured by the fox
To run into the snares was set for him, doubtless;
For he leapt in for mice, and this Sir John for madness.

_Doctor Rat._ Well, and ye shift no better, ye losel, lither, and lazy,
I will go near for this to make ye leap at a daisy.
In the king's name, Master Baily, I charge you set him fast.

_Diccon._ What! fast at cards or fast on sleep? it is the thing I did
last.

_Doctor Rat._ Nay, fast in fetters, false varlet, according to thy
deeds.

_Baily._ Master Doctor, there is no remedy,
I must entreat you needs Some other kind of punishment.

_Doctor Rat._ Nay, by All-Hallows!
His punishment, if I may judge, shall be nought else but the gallows.

_Baily._ That were too sore; a spiritual man to be so extreme!

_Doctor Rat._ Is he worthy any better, sir? how do you judge and deem?

_Baily._ I grant him worthy punishment, but in no wise so great.

_Gammer._ It is a shame, ich tell you plain, for such false knaves
entreat.
He has almost undone us all--that is as true as steel--
And yet for all this great ado cham never the near my nee'le!

_Baily._ Canst thou not say anything to that, Diccon, with least or
most?

_Diccon._ Yea, marry, sir, thus much I can say well, the nee'le is
lost.

_Baily._ Nay, canst not thou tell which way that needle may be found?

_Diccon._ No, by my fay, sir, though I might have an hundred pound.

_Hodge._ Thou liar, lickdish, didst not say the nee'le would be gitten?

_Diccon._ No, Hodge; by the same token you were that time beshitten
For fear of hobgoblin--you wot well what I mean;
As long as it is since, I fear me yet ye be scarce clean.

_Baily._ Well, Master Rat, you must both learn and teach us to
forgive.
Since Diccon hath confession made, and is so clean shreve,
If ye to me consent, to amend this heavy chance,
I will enjoin him here some open kind of penance,
Of this condition--where ye know my fee is twenty pence:
For the bloodshed, I am agreed with you here to dispense;
Ye shall go quit, so that ye grant the matter now to run
To end with mirth among us all, even as it was begun.

_Chat._ Say yea, Master Vicar, and he shall sure confess to be your
debtor,
And all we that be here present will love you much the better.

_Doctor Rat._ My part is the worst; but since you all hereon agree,
Go even to, Master Baily! let it be so for me!

_Baily._ How say'st thou, Diccon? art content this shall on me depend?

_Diccon._ Go to, Mast Baily, say on your mind, I know ye are my friend.

_Baily._ Then mark ye well: To recompense this thy former action--
Because thou hast offended all, to make them satisfaction--
Before their faces here kneel down, and as I shall thee teach--
For thou shalt take an oath of Hodge's leather breech:
First, for Master Doctor, upon pain of his curse,
Where he will pay for all, thou never draw thy purse;
And when ye meet at one pot he shall have the first pull,
And thou shalt never offer him the cup but it be full.
To goodwife that thou shalt be sworn, even on the same wise,
If she refuse thy money once, never to offer it twice.
Thou shalt be bound by the same, here as thou dost take it,
When thou may'st drink of free cost, thou never forsake it.
For Gammer Gurton's sake, again sworn shalt thou be,
To help her to her needle again if it do lie in thee;
And likewise be bound, by the virtue of that,
To be of good a-bearing to Gib her great cat.
Last of all, for Hodge the oath to scan,
Thou shalt never take him for fine gentleman.

_Hodge._ Come on, fellow Diccon, chall be even with thee now!

_Baily._ Thou wilt not stick to do this, Diccon, I trow?

_Diccon._ No, by my father's skin, my hand down I lay it!
Look, as I have promised, I will not denay it.
But, Hodge, take good heed now, thou do not beshit me!

[_And give him a good blow on the buttock._

_Hodge._ Gog's heart! thou false villain, dost thou bite me?

_Baily._ What, Hodge, doth he hurt thee ere ever he begin?

_Hodge._ He thrust me into the buttock with a bodkin or a pin.
[_He discovers the needle._
I say, gammer! gammer!

_Gammer._ How now, Hodge, how now?

_Hodge._ God's malt, gammer Gurton!

_Gammer._ Thou art mad, ich trow!

_Hodge._ Will you see the devil, gammer?

_Gammer._ The devil, son! God bless us!

_Hodge._ Chould, [if] ich were hanged, gammer--

_Gammer._ Marry, see, ye might dress us--

_Hodge._ Chave it, by the mass, gammer!

_Gammer._ What, not my nee'le, Hodge?

_Hodge._ Your nee'le, gammer! your nee'le!

_Gammer._ No, fie, dost but dodge!

_Hodge._ Ch' a found your nee'le, gammer, here in my hand be it!

_Gammer._ For all the loves on earth, Hodge, let me see it!

_Hodge._ Soft, gammer!

_Gammer._ Good Hodge!

_Hodge._ Soft, ich say; tarry a while!

_Gammer._ Nay, sweet Hodge, say truth, and not me beguile!

_Hodge._ Cham sure on it, ich warrant you; it goes no more astray.

_Gammer._ Hodge, when I speak so fair, wilt still say me nay?

_Hodge._ Go near the light, gammer, this--well, in faith, good luck!--
Ch'was almost undone, 'twas so far in my buttock!

_Gammer._ 'Tis mine own dear nee'le, Hodge, sikerly I wot!

_Hodge._ Cham I not a good son, gammer, cham I not?

_Gammer._ Christ's blessing light on thee, hast made me for ever!

_Hodge._ Ich knew that ich must find it, else chould a' had it never!

_Chat._ By my troth, gossip Gurton, I am even as glad
As though I mine own self as good a turn had!

_Baily._ And I, by my conscience, to see it so come forth,
Rejoice so much at it, as three needles be worth.

_Doctor Rat._ I am no whit sorry to see you so rejoice.

_Diccon._ Nor I much the gladder for all this noise;
Yet say, "Gramercy, Diccon!" for springing of the game.

_Gammer._ Gramercy, Diccon, twenty times! O, how glad cham!
If that chould do so much, your masterdom to come hither,
Master Rat, Goodwife Chat, and Diccon together,
Cha but one halfpenny, as far as ich know it,
And chill not rest this night, till ich bestow it.
If ever ye love me, let us go in and drink.

_Baily._ I am content, if the rest think as I think.
Master Rat, it shall be best for you if we so do,
Then shall you warm you and dress yourself too.

_Diccon._ Soft, sirs, take us with you, the company shall be the more!
As proud comes behind, they say, as any goes before!
But now, my good masters, since we must be gone,
And leave you behind us here all alone;
Since at our last ending thus merry we be,
For Gammer Gurton's needle sake, let us have a plaudite.

FINIS.

Gurton. Perused and Allowed, &c. Imprinted at London, in Fleetstreate, beneath the Conduite, at the signe of S. John Euangelist, by Thomas Colwell, 1575.

]

A NOTE-BOOK AND WORD-LIST

INCLUDING

CONTEMPORARY REFERENCES, NOTES, &C., TOGETHER WITH A GLOSSARY OF WORDS AND PHRASES NOW ARCHAIC OR OBSOLETE; THE WHOLE ARRANGED IN ONE ALPHABET IN DICTIONARY FORM.

A FORE-WORD TO NOTE-BOOK AND WORD-LIST

_Reference from text to Note-Book is copious, and as complete as may be. The following pages may, with almost absolute certainty, be consulted on any point that may occur in the course of reading._

NOTE-BOOK AND WORD-LIST TO GAMMER GURTON'S NEEDLE

'A, the infinitive _have_.

A-FINE, now, at the moment: _i.e._ at the finish.

ALEWIVES, women keeping ale-houses.

ALL-HALLOWS, the old name for All Saints' Day (1st Nov.):
formerly ushered in by the ceremonies and merrymakings of
All-Hallowe'en.

ALMS, ALMS-DEED, charity, godsend.

A-MEVED, moved, disturbed.

AND, if.

APERN, apron: the usual early form of the word.

ARRAYED, (_a_) disconcerted, afflicted, put out. (_b_)
bespattered.

AVENTURE, venture, risk, wager.

A-WREAK, avenge.

BACK SIDE, at the back of the house, backyard.

BALD, short for bald-head, bald-pate: a generic term of abuse.

BALKS, beams, rafters, an overhead rack used for storing bacon.

BEDLAM, a crazy beggar, real or assumed: properly a
convalescent from Bethlehem Hospital, an asylum for lunatics
since 1547. Many of these unfortunates, being either unable or
unwilling to work, adopted vagrancy as a profession, the Simon
Pures being avouched by an official arm-badge. These were
considerably augmented by the often deserving (but more
frequently spurious) poor who had, until the dissolution of the
monasteries, been the special care of the religious.

BET, the old past tense of _beat_: still dialectical.

BLEST, bliss.

BODY-LOUSE, proud, conceited, fine. Later we get _"brisk as a
body-louse"_ (Ray).

BONABLE, abominable.

BOOTS, avails, profits, is of advantage, matters.

BORROW, pledge, security.

BOULOGNE, _Our dear Lady of Boulogne,_ the image of the Virgin
Mary at Boulogne, formerly in so much reverence that
pilgrimages were made to it.

BRAWL, brat, offspring.

BREAD AND SALT, a common sixteenth-century oath, probably as
symbolising the necessaries of life.

BURSTING, breaking.

BY AND BY, immediately.

CALLET, a lewd woman, drab, scold.

CANDLE, "a _candle_ shall they have a piece." In all cases of
distress it was usual with Roman Catholics to promise their
tutelary saints to light up candles at their altars.

CHAD, see Cham.

CHAM, I am. The rustic dialect in the piece is conventional,
but its general peculiarities are those of the south-western
counties: _iche_ = I, reduced to _ch_ in _cham_, _chould_, or
_chwold_ (I would), _chwere_, &c. The south-western _v_ for _f_
is not generally used, but occurs in _vylthy_, _vast_, and in
_vathers_; _glaye_ (p. 5) for clay is probably not genuine
dialect.

CHANNOT, see Cham.

CHAVE, see Cham.

CHILL, see Cham.

CHOLD, I hold. _To hold a noble_ = to wager or bet.

CHOPE, see Cham.

CHWOLD, see Cham.

CLOTH, "painted on a _cloth_," the cloth hangings of taverns on
which were depicted such popular themes as the Nine Worthies,
the Prodigal Son, and, as in this case, Friar Rush (_q.v._).

COAT, see Walk.

COCK'S BODY, COCK'S PASSION, COCK'S PRECIOUS, &c., a corruption
of God: euphemistic.

COCK'S MOTHER (p. 44), see previous entry: the reader must not
fall into the error of thinking that Gammer Gurton is here
meant.

COLOGNE, "the three kings of _Cologne_." These are supposed to
have been the wise men who travelled to Bethlehem by the
direction of the star. To these kings have been given the names
of Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar.

COMMODITY, a word which formerly had plenty to do: anything
that afforded advantage, interest, or convenience was
_commodity_--profit, interest, accommodation, opportunity,
wares, goods, movables, and even harlots.

COSTARD, (_a_) the head, pate.

(_b_) a large kind of apple.

COUNSEL, in secrecy, confidence.

COX, a coxcomb, fool: jesters formerly wore a cap surmounted by
a comb or crest resembling that of a cock: cf. cokes = fool.

CRAB, _i.e._ a roasted crabapple put in a bowl of ale: it
served a double purpose, to flavour and also to "chill" the
beverage.

CRUST, crushed.

CULLION, poltroon, base contemptible fellow: a generic term of
abuse.

CURTAL, a short-tailed horse, one docked in the tail.

CUT, a gelding: hence of both sexes, but specifically of women.

DAINTRELS, dainties, delicacies, luxuries.

DAISY, "leap at a _daisy_," be hanged. The allusion is to a
story of a man who, when the noose was adjusted round his neck,
leapt off with the words, "Have at yon daisy that grows
yonder."

DEFY, refuse, deny, renounce.

DICCON, a nickname for Richard: see Bedlam.

DISEASE, anxiety, trouble: originally general in meaning =
absence of ease.

DOAT, rave, act the fool.

DOCK, tail, backside: _i.e._ get his backside kicked.

DODGE, "ga' me the _dodge_," _i.e._ cheated, tricked me.

DRAB, a generic reproach--strumpet, slattern, slut.

DRESS'D, served out, done for.

EVERYCHONE, everyone.

DUMP, ill of ease, melancholy: now obsolete in the singular.

EKE, also, besides, likewise, moreover: still occasional in
poetry.

FELLOW, (_a_) "originally a courteous mode of addressing a
servant, like the French _mon ami_: here _fellow_ = comrade"
(Bradley).

(_b_) "Not thy _fellow_, but thy dame," _i.e._ not thy equal,
but thy mistress.

FILTH, vile person: a strong reproach.

FLYING FIEND, the devil.

FORTY, generic for an indefinite number: forty pence (or ten
groats) = the sum commonly offered for a small wager. Several
law fees were fixed at that sum, viz., 3s. 4d.; and when money
was reckoned by pounds, marks, and nobles, forty pence was just
the half-noble, or the sixth of a pound.

FOX, "allured by the _fox_," see _History of Reynard the Fox_
(1701), vii. (Steevens).

FRIAR RUSH, the principal character in a popular folk-lore
story translated from the German. The devil, in friar's garb,
seeking to corrupt a convent of monks by delicious fare,
assumes human shape, knocks at the door, and is admitted as
cook's boy. A favourable opportunity enabling him to dispose of
his chief in a boiling cauldron, he is appointed to his place.
The virtue of the convent is now at his mercy: the monks forget
prayer and fasting over Ruus' exquisite cookery. Strife and
wantonness creep in, and the monks are all but lost, when a
peasant who has involuntarily overheard a conclave of devils
discussing Ruus, discloses his true nature. The abbot,
summoning all the monks into the church, seizes Ruus,
transforms him into a red horse, and commits him to the power
of hell (Herford). There are several versions, the earliest
known English one bearing date 1620, but the Stationers'
Company registers show it as entered in 1568-9. That the story
was extremely popular is obvious from numerous contemporary
allusions.

GAFFER, formerly a respectful address, but now in contempt: a
corruption of _granfer_, itself a corruption of _grandfather_.
The co-relative is _gammer_ (_q.v._).

GAMMER, an old wife, old lady: formerly, like _gaffer_ (which
see), a respectful address. _Gammer_ = grammer = grandmother.

GEAR, a word, if not of-all-work, with plenty to do--goods,
property in general, outfit, tools, necessaries, materials,
stuffs, matters, business, affairs, manners, habits, customs,
rubbish, trash--all are included: sometimes = affair,
contention.

GIB, (_a_) a generic name for male cats: hence a common
reproach.

(_b_) "To set the gib forward" = to expedite matters:
proverbial.

GIS, GYS, JIS, &c., Jesus: supposed by some to be a corruption
of the letters I.H.S. anciently set on altars, covers of books,
&c., to denote the name of Jesus: rather, however, from the
name itself.

GITTEN, got.

GLAY, see Cham.

GLOOMING, sulking: cf. "glum."

GOD, "God 'ield you" (p. 143a), _i.e._ God yield you = God
reward you: the compositor has duplicated the _d_ of _God_ in
the next word: cf. _Good den_, _God deven_ = good e'en.

GOG'S (_passim_), God's. Thus, Gog's blest, Gog's bones, Gog's
bread, Gog's cross, Gog's malison, Gog's sacrament, Gog's
sides, Gog's soul, Gog's wounds.

GOOD, property.

GOSSIP, a sponsor in baptism: hence an intimate acquaintance,
neighbour.

GRAMMERCY, an exclamation of surprise and thanks: Fr. _grand
merci_.

HALSE, neck, throat.

HAVE, behave.

HODDEPEAK, fool, cuckold.

HOLD, wager, bet.

HONESTY, the honest sort of people.

HOOD, "I can drink With him that wears a _hood_," _i.e._ a
friar; an allusion to their notoriously drunken habits.

INOWE, enough.

I-WIS, I-WYS, certainly, indeed, truly.

JAKES, privy, cesspool: Gammer racks her vocabulary for terms
of reproach.

JAPE, jest, joke.

JET, JETTETH, in modern phrase to put on "side" (in word or
act), brag, strut, vaunt, swagger: also in a weaker sense = to
go.

KIND, nature.

LEAD, copper.

LESE, lose.

LET, hindrance, hinder: archaic except in the phrase "without
let or hindrance."

LEVE, dear, beloved: _i.e. lief_.

LICKDISH, parasite.

LITHER, sluggish, spiritless, or as Hazlitt says "wicked," but
the true reading is an open question.

LONGS, is appropriate to, fitting for, beseeming.

LOOSE-BREECH, a slovenly lout.

LOSE (p. 27), read _lese_ for the rhyme.

LOSEL, a generic reproach--profligate, rake, scoundrel; and (in
weakened form) ne'er-do-well, good-for-nothing.

MALT-WORM, tippler, toper.

MAS, a vulgar or jocular shortening of _master_, usually
followed by a proper name or official title: also Mast.

MASTERDOM, mastership.

MELL, meddle, fight, interfere.

MEVE, move.

MINDS, intends, purposes.

MINIONS, wantons, strumpets: also in a weaker sense, favourite,
darling.

MO, more.

MOILING, ado, toiling.

MOT, may.

NARSE, one of many instances in which _n_ is found prefixed to
a word properly commencing with a vowel: cf. _newt_,
_nickname_, _nuncle_; also the converse flexion omitting _n_,
_adder_, _apron_, _umpire_, _orange_, for _nadder_, _napron_,
_numpire_, _norange_.

NAWL, awl: see previous entry.

NE, nor.

NEAR, nearer.

NICELY, carefully, quietly, gently.

NOBLE, coin value 6s. 8d.: see Chold and Hold.

NOTHER, neither, nor.

ON-LIVE, alive, of which on-live is an earlier form.

OR, ere.

OUGHT, owed.

PAD, see Straw.

PALTER, to speak indistinctly, mumble.

PARTS, parties.

PARTY, person: once literary but now vulgar.

PATCH, (_a_) fool, buffoon, jester: the nickname of Cardinal
Wolsey's domestic fool, whose real name was Sexton. Murray
suggests the influence of It. _pazzo_ (= fool), combined with
the motley wear of professional buffoons.

(_b_), beat, drub, "dust."

PATINS, "it went on _patins_" (p. 27), _i.e._ a great clatter
was made: often used figuratively of the tongue.

PERFIT, perfect.

PES, hassock: an East Anglian word.

PIGSNIE, an endearment.

PILD, stripped, shorn: whether by shaving or disease.

PILL, plunder, strip.

PIN, latch, bolt.

PISSING WHILE, a short time.

PLANCH, to plank on: _i.e._ to plaster by patching all round.

POUPED, deceived.

PRANCOME, anything odd or strange, a trick, device.

PUDDINGS, entrails, guts.

PULLEN, poultry.

QUEAN, a wanton.

RAKES (p. 32), a term of abuse: not found elsewhere, and
seemingly chosen because of the jingle: cf. the whole passage.
Possibly an abbreviated form of Rakehell or Rakeshame.

RAMP, wanton, strumpet.

RAVE, talk wildly, without thought.

RECEIVER (p. 51), "perhaps we should read _recetter_ for the
sake of the rhyme" (Bradley).

RECHLESS, "swear to Diccon, _rechless_" (p. 19), reckless:
_i.e._ without reservation, not minding the sense of the
humorous oath which the Baily administers. Another example of
similar fooling is the Highgate oath which travellers toward
London were required to take at a certain tavern at
Highgate--that they would not prefer small beer before strong,
unless indeed they liked the small better; never to kiss the
maid if they could kiss the mistress, unless the maid was
prettier; and other statements of a similar kind.

REED, (_a_) rood.

(=b=) counsel, advice.

RIG, strumpet.

RIGHT SIDE, "thou rose not on thy _right side_" (p. 17), _i.e._
"you did not commence the day well," "you are not lucky."

ROMTH, room, space.

ROTTEN, rat.

RUSH, see Friar Rush.

ST. CHARITY, a known saint among Roman Catholics.

ST. DOMINIC, the founder of the order of Dominicans or Black
Friars: the order was approved by Pope Innocent III. in 1215,
and was established in London, building the Convent of the
Blackfriars in 1276: the name is perpetuated in the bridge.

SCABB'D HORSE, sorry "screw" of a horse: _scabb'd_ and _scald_
(q.v.) are synonymous, and both are used in contempt.

SCALD, scabby, mean, sorry: hence _scald squire_ = a term of
contempt; _scald_ (or _skald_), subs. = a mean wretch.

SEVEN, proverbial, according to the context, for an indefinite
length of time.

SHAVE, extort, strip, cheat.

SHOEING-HORN, a pretext, an incitement.

SHREVE, shrive, confess, absolve: _shreve_ by poetic licence.

SHREW, (_a_) curse, call over the coals.

(_b_) the word was formerly applied in contempt to both sexes.

SHRIVE, confess: see Shreve.

SIKERLY, securely, certainly.

SIR JOHN, a priest.

SIR REVERENCE, an apology on mentioning anything for which an
excuse was thought necessary. Lat. _salva reverentia_, whence
sa' reverence, sur-reverence, and sir-reverence.

SITH, SITHENS, since, because.

SLIP, neglect.

SMELL, detect, understand, "twig."

SMOLDERS, smothers.

SORT, company, assembly.

SOSSING, dashing, sousing.

SPURRIER, harness-maker.

SQUIRT, diarrhoea, squitters.

STEWED WHORE, a foundered jade of the stews.

STICK, be scrupulous, hesitate.

STOUND, trouble, disaster, blow: also interval, time, station,
place--hence, generally, circumstances, exigence, situation.

STOUR, uproar, tumult.

STRAW, "a pad in the _straw_," toad: _i.e._ something lurking
or hidden.

SWINK, labour, drudgery.

SWYTH, with vigour and speed, promptly, quickly.

TAR-LEATHER, a term of abuse.

THE, "so mote I _the_," so may I thrive.

THROAT-BOLE, gullet, windpipe.

TOSSING, first-rate, sharp.

T'OU, thou.

TOWN, "the ground attached to the house: cf. Scots _toun_"
(Bradley).

TOYS, generic for trifles, persons, and things of little
importance, tricks, fancies, &c.

TROT, old woman; usually in contempt, and = drab, slut,
strumpet.

TROWL, "_trowl_ to me the bowl" (p. 15), a common phrase in
drinking for passing the vessel about.

TRUMP, the card game of triumph.

TWENTY DEVIL WAY, a favourite malediction: _i.e._ in the name
of twenty devils.

TWO-LEGGED FOX, a thief, _two-legged cat_ is a colloquialism
which is still of service in everyday speech as a retort to
blame put on a cat for stealing--"a _two-legged cat_, then!"

WASHICAL, _i.e._ What shall I call [it]; in modern guise,
Whatch-em-may-call-it, &c.

WEET, learn, know.

WESE, we shall.

WHEWLING, crying, blubbering, fretful.

WIDE, wide of the mark: cf. modern slang usage = well-informed,
clever, &c.

WOLL, will.

YEDE, went.

R. CLAY AND SONS, LTD., BREAD ST. HILL, E.C., AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.

The Museum Dramatists

REPRINTS OF NOTABLE PLAYS

_Each Volume complete in itself, with Introduction, Glossary, and Facsimile Title-pages_

Price per Vol., boards, =1/6= net; cloth, =2/-= net

The Initial Volumes are:--

1. Gammer Gurton's Needle.

2. Heywood's (J.) Four P.P. and The Pardoner and the Frere.

3. Every Man.

4. Tom Tiler and his Wife.

_These will be followed by others selected from the following_:--

Calisto and Melibaea

Jack Juggler

John John the Husband, Tib his Wife, and Sir John the Priest

Grim the Collier of Croydon

The Puritan, or the Widow of Watling Street
(Pseudo-Shakespearian)

Fair Em (Pseudo-Shakespearian)

Hickscorner

Thersites

Patient Grissel

The Three Ladies of London

The Three Lords and Three Ladies of London

The Two Angry Women of Abingdon

A Knack to Know a Knave

Warning to Fair Women

Dr. Dodypoll

The Miseries of Enforced Marriage

The Nice Wanton

The Play of Love

Wine, Beer, and Ale

&c., &c., &c.

End of Project Gutenberg's Gammer Gurton's Needle, by Mr. S. Mr. of Art

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