Chapter XXX: Introduction: Footnotes

[i.01] “So compared by the Fathers,” Heywood explains in the margin.

[i.02] Prefixed to his _Apology for Actors_ (1612).

[i.03] Until recently, Heywood’s plays were only accessible piecemeal and in parts. Dodsley’s collection contained two; Dilke’s contained three, and Baldwyn’s two. Between 1842 and 1851, the Old Shakespeare Society produced altogether twelve; while Mr. Halliwell in 1853 printed the _Lancashire Witches_ separately. At last, in 1874 Mr. John Pearson issued a complete edition in six volumes. Since that date another play in MS. by Heywood, _The Captives_, was discovered and printed by Mr. A. H. Bullen in the last volume of his _Old Plays_ (1885).

[i.04] With this main-plot Heywood has interwoven a subordinate and independent story. To dwell upon this under-plot would be superfluous. Yet I may point out that it is borrowed from an Italian Novella by Illicini, the incidents of which Heywood carefully transferred to English scenes. In like manner _The Captive_, consists of a main-plot borrowed from the _Mostellaria_ of Plautus and an under-plot adapted from a novella of the Neapolitan, _Masuccio_. See my _Shakspere’s Predecessors_ (p. 462), and a letter written by me to the _Academy_ (Dec. 12, 1885).

A WOMAN KILLED WITH KINDNESS FOOTNOTES.

[1.01] #“The Shaking of the Sheets”# a popular tune to which many ballads ware set. Here a _double entente_ is intended.

[1.02] #“In a good time that man both wins and woos, That takes his wife down in her wedding shoes.”# a proverbial saying.

[1.03] #frets# the points at which a string is to be stopped in a lute or guitar.--_Halliwell_.

[1.04] #hoigh# out of all bounds.

[1.05] #angels# gold coins.

[1.06] #be stirring early with the lark to-morrow# did Heywood remember Shakespeare’s “Stir with the lark to-morrow, gentle Norfolk”?

[1.07] #crash# a merry bout.

[1.08] #“Rogero”, “The Beginning of the World”, “John come kiss me now.”...# the tunes here mentioned are all more or less familiar from other passages in the old dramatists.

[1.09] #sowse# we have here a number of not very intelligible terms borrowed from falconry. “At the sowse” was said of a bird when the hawk swooped straight down upon it.

[1.10] #gets# booty.

[1.11] #jesses# the short leather straps round the hawk’s legs.

[1.12] #querre# perhaps from the German _quer_=oblique.

[1.13] #merlin# a small species of hawk.

[1.14] #attach# arrest.

[1.15] #seen# versed.

[1.16] #censured on# to censure, in legal language, means to pass judgment on.

[1.17] #enter over the stage# they evidently pass through the gallery above and leave the stage to Wendoll.

[1.18] #to bring him on his way# _i.e._ to accompany him.

[1.19] #beholding# beholden.

[1.20] #miching# sneaking or stealing into.

[1.21] #bed-roll# _i.e._ bead roll.

[1.22] #from the grate# alluding obviously to the debtors’ prisons; the lines remind us at once of _Pickwick_.

[1.23] #wooden knife# with which the scraps were swept into the voider or basket.

[1.24] #carpet# _i.e._ table-cover.

[1.25] #play the good husband# _i.e._ be frugal.

[1.26] #before your beard# _i.e._ before you had a beard.

[1.27] #make-bate# promoter of quarrels.

[1.28] #a pair of cards# _i.e._ pack of cards.

[1.29] #well said# _i.e._ well done.

[1.30] #noddy# said to have been something like cribbage; of the other games mentioned accounts are easily accessible, while it would be superfluous to comment on the various quibbles.

[1.31] #quean# in the now obsolete sense of a whore.

[1.32] #cross# piece of money.

[1.33] #remember# _i.e._ remind.

[1.34] #leese# or lese, _i.e._ lose.

[1.35] #expectation# “execution” in the early eds.

[1.36] #disease# inconvenience.

[1.37] #two flight-shot# _i.e._ two bow-shots.

[1.38] #cast beyond the moon# a proverbial expression for anything extravagant or out of reach.

[1.39] #patience perforce# “patience perforce,” a phrase when some evil must be endured.--_Halliwell_.

[1.40] #like the angel’s hand, Hast stayed me from a bloody sacrifice# alluding to Gen. xxii. 10, 11.

[1.41] #uncivil kern# “kern” signified in general any uncivilised person: used especially of the Irish.

[1.42] #one denier# a penny.

[1.43] #resolve# satisfy.

[1.44] #rebato# a species of ruff for the neck: the wire would be used to stiffen it.

[1.45] #manors# a quibble on “manners” and “manors.”

[1.46] During this and some following speeches Wendoll evidently remains unseen.

[1.47] #kept this coil# _i.e._ made this trouble.

[1.48] #gotten those perfect tongues# _i.e._ acquired those tongues perfectly (French, German and Italian).

[1.49] #atoned# reconciled.

[1.50] #once more# meaning probably ‘Kiss me once more.’

[1.51] #filled# ‘filled’ is equivalent perhaps to ‘filled in,’ _i.e._ on the tomb.

THE FAIR MAID OF THE WEST FOOTNOTES.

[2.01] _Elizabethan Literature_, p. 284.

[2.02] #(Prologue)# Only spoken at court-performances of the play.

[2.03] #Roughman# “Ruffman” in the old edition, in which, also, “Fawcett” is spelled “Forset.”

[2.04] #mutes personated# _i.e. mutæ personæ_.

[2.05] #my lord# the Earl of Essex.

[2.06] #the fleet’s bound for the Islands# the so-called “Island Voyage” (1597) was against the Azores and Spanish East and West Indies.

[2.07] #Cales# Cadiz.

[2.08] #carracks# large vessels: the word is of Spanish etymology.

[2.09] #bush# _i.e._ the ivy-bush, hung up outside taverns.

[2.10] #adamant# magnet.

[2.11] #Graves wine# _i.e._ from the Graves district of Gascony, so called from the pebbly character of the soil, and to-day celebrated for its red, but more especially for its white wines.

[2.12] #snick-up# a term of contempt, as much as to say, “Go and be hanged.”

[2.13] #roaring# blustering.

[2.14] #Bettrice# the name, perhaps, of some ballad heroine.

[2.15] #dumb show# “intended to denote the departure of the General (the Earl of Essex) and his followers.”--_Collier_.

[2.16] #your years# _i.e._ term of apprenticeship.

[2.17] #corn grew to be at a high rate# we learn from Stow that in 1596 wheat was six, seven, and eight shillings per bushel; the dearth continued and increased in 1597.--_Collier_.

[2.18] #the Mermaid# a room in the tavern.

[2.19] #ruddocks# gold coins.

[2.20] #be-tall# a quibble on the German _bezahlen_, to pay.

[2.21] #Fayal# in the Azores.

[2.22] #atone# reconcile.

[2.23] #Mary Ambree# a famous English heroine, with whom Long Meg is sometimes associated.

[2.24] #untruss that point# untie that lace.

[2.25] #Little Davy, Cutting Dick# contemporary bravos of note.

[2.26] #prick-song# music noted down.

[2.27] #capricious# witty.

[2.28] #jowl of ling# the fish so-called, which had been served to the guests in the Portcullis.

[2.29] #skillets# small metal pots.

[2.30] #sod# boiled.

[2.31] #pitch# height: properly a hawking term.

[2.32] #motion# propose.

[2.33] #king’s lieutenant# more properly, queen’s lieutenant.

[2.34] #dissolutely# he means “resolutely.” Slender makes the same blunder (_Mer. Wives_, i., 1).

[2.35] #craze# burst.

[2.36] #brave# fine.

[2.37] #Aragoosa# query “Saragossa,” which produces a large quantity of common wine.

[2.38] #peter-see-me# a sweet Spanish wine from the Pedro Ximenes grape.

[2.39] #charnico# a sweet wine grown in the neighbourhood of Lisbon.

[2.40] #bastard# bastard was the name of a sweet Mediterranean wine: a time-honoured joke.

[2.41] #punks# prostitutes.

[2.42] #table# picture.

[2.43] #ging# the old form of “gang.”

[124.2] #I sound it not# _i.e._, I cannot fathom your meaning.

[2.45] #engines# all instruments of torture.

[2.46] #bragging Thrasos# _i.e._ boasters, Thraso being a braggart in one of Terence’s plays.

[2.47] #censures# sentences.

[2.48] #taste# test.

[2.49] #changed my copy# made a complete change.

[2.50] #ging# gang.

[2.51] #conceit# idea.

[2.52] #poor-john# salt-fish.

[2.53] #Hautboys long# _i.e._ they are to play for some time so as to admit of fresh stage arrangements for the coming scenes.

[2.54] #carvel# or caravel, a small light ship.

[2.55] #vail# lower.

[2.56] #ought# owned.

[2.57] #fights# defences placed round a vessel to protect the combatants.

[2.58] #You that made Paul’s to stink# an allusion to the unsavoury exploit of a Spaniard, often referred to at this period.

[2.59] #peruse# examine.

[2.60] #habited# dressed.

[2.61] #commerce# intercourse.

[2.62] From Kyd’s oft-referred-to _Spanish Tragedy_.

[2.63] #angels# _i.e._ coins.

[2.64] #cunning quiddit# subtle point.

[2.65] #generosity# _i.e._ people well-born.

[2.66] #moorian# negro: perhaps a play on the word “murrain” is intended.

THE ENGLISH TRAVELLER FOOTNOTES.

[3.01] #_Histrio-Mastix_# by William Prynne: published in 1633. The full title of this bitter Puritan treatise was _Histrio-Mastix, the Player’s Scourge, or Actor’s Tragædie_.

[3.02] #censure# judge.

[3.03] #censure# judgment.

[3.04] #where# _i.e._ whereas.

[3.05] #jack# which made the spit turn; it had been recently introduced.

[3.06] #buttery hatch# a term still used in the Universities.

[3.07] #speck ... whig# a species of inferior drink, made from whey, and drunk by the lower classes in place of small beer. The exact nature of “speck” is unknown.

[3.08] #indenture# bond.

[3.09] #burnt wine# burnt wine, it will be remembered, was much affected by Pepys.

[3.10] #consort# _i.e._, concert.

[3.11] #reaks# pranks.

[3.12] #lanching# _i.e._, lancing.

[3.13] #soul# the dark spongy substance inside a fowl’s back.--_Halliwell_.

[3.14] #shrewd# sharp or bitter.

[3.15] #alfarez# ensigns (Spanish).

[3.16] #rebellings# _i.e._ ravelins (Sp. _rebellin_).

[3.17] #possess# inform.

[3.18] #novel# _i.e._ novelty.

[3.19] “This piece of pleasant exaggeration gave rise to the title of Cowley’s Latin play, _Naufragium Joculare_, and furnished the idea of the best scene in it.”--_Charles Lamb_.

[3.20] #atone# make up, appease.

[3.21] #bill# a kind of halbert, carried by the watchmen of the period.

[3.22] #Bermoothes# “Bermoothes” is the usual form of “Bermudas” in the old dramatists.

[3.23] #durance# confinement.

[3.24] #prodigious# _i.e._ portentous.

[3.25] #countervail# counterbalance.

[3.26] #break their day# fail to pay at the appointed time.

[3.27] #use# interest.

[3.28] #grange# the word seems to have implied “loneliness.”

[3.29] #happiness# good fortune.

[3.30] #motion# proposal.

[3.31] #singularity# singleness.

[3.32] #mechal# adulterous.

[3.33] #private me no privates# like Shakespeare’s “but me no buts.”

[3.34] #attach# charge with.

[3.35] #bottle# bundle; Cotgrave has: “_boteler_, to botle or bundle up, to make into botles or bundles.”

[3.36] #Privy# _i.e._ Privy Council.

[3.37] #disable# disparage.

[3.38] #picked# pitched.

[3.39] #mainprize# a technical term: a writ of mainprize was sent to the sheriff, directing him to take sureties for a prisoner.

[3.40] #shrievalty# it was customary for the sheriff to have posts in front of his house, to which notices were affixed.

[3.41] #Chavelah?# the clown’s form of the French phrase _qui va là?_

[3.42] #banquet# _i.e._ a dessert.

[3.43] #whilst I find something to say to this# he refers to the bottle.

[3.44] #orators# this must be taken as a verb.

[3.45] #no quarrels to unkindness# no quarrels are so bitter as those caused by unkindness.

[3.46] #goes in at one door, and comes out at another# the old stage was wanting in moveable scenery. The audience had to suppose that when Young Geraldine re-entered, he was outside Mistress Wincott’s chamber.

[3.47] #tester# a sixpence.

[3.48] #rot-gut# cheap ale.

[3.49] #fox you all# make you all drunk.

[3.50] #like brave Orlando# alluding to “Orlando Furioso.”

[3.51] #gullery# trickery.

[3.52] #withdraw# the old edition adds “behind the arras.”

[3.53] #windings and indents# schemes, shifts.

[3.54] #piece# gun.

[3.55] #Fortune play-house# the first theatre of this name, built by Henslowe and Alleyn, was burnt down in 1621: another theatre was erected on the site in 1622, and in old views of the latter a rudely carved figure, presumably of Fortune, is noticeable on the front of the house.--(See frontispiece to Dekker’s Plays in this series.)

[3.56] #voted# _i.e._ chosen.

[3.57] #green rushes# with which floors were usually covered by way of carpet.

[3.58] #fear# ? sin.

[3.59] #presently# immediately.

THE WISE-WOMAN OF HOGSDON FOOTNOTES.

[4.01] #bale# pair.

[4.02] #twenty marks# a mark was worth 13_s_. 4_d_.

[4.03] #cross# coins bearing a cross on the reverse, hence various quibbles.

[4.04] #Gracious Street# _i.e._ Gracechurch Street.

[4.05] “&c.,” here and elsewhere, means that the actor may add more to the same effect, if he please.

[4.06] #to intend# _i.e._ attend to.

[4.07] #fancy# love.

[4.08] #say nay, and take them# “maids say nay, and take it,” was a proverbial saying.

[4.09] #conceit# idea.

[4.10] #I’ll be with thee to bring...# in this phrase--of which Dyce says that no satisfactory explanation has been given--“to bring,” has apparently the force of “wholly” or “thoroughly.”

[4.11] #little whiting-mop# young whiting.

[4.12] #a Sir John# a priest.

[4.13] #queasy# squeamish.

[4.14] #fore-speaking# bewitching; or, possibly, prophesying.--_Halliwell_.

[4.15] #’recting a figure# the practice of astrology.

[4.16] #Erra Pater# usually the name of a certain mythical astrologer of the “Wandering Jew” type; sometimes, however, as here, applied to an almanac.

[4.17] #Statute of Winchester# the celebrated Statute passed in 1285: to what clause in the Statute reference is made is not clear.

[4.18] #cutting Dick# a bully of the time: “cutting” often has the sense of “swaggering.”

[4.19] #sad# serious.

[4.20] #be with you# _i.e._ God be with you.

[4.21] #the Counter# there were two prisons of this name, one in Wood Street, the other in the Poultry.

[274.1] #tasted her# tested her disposition.

[4.23] #Jack Drum’s entertainment# “Tom or John Drum’s Entertainment, a phrase signifying ill-treatment, or turning an unwelcome guest out of doors.”--_Halliwell_.

[4.24] #Sir Boniface# “sir” was applied to all University men who had taken their B.A. degree.

[4.25] #nidgets# idiots.

[4.26] #no bones# _i.e._ no difficulties.

[4.27] #ready with a wet finger# _i.e._ with as much ease as any light substance is caught up by moistening one’s finger.

[4.28] #catched a clap# met with a mischance.

[4.29] #common gossips# sponsors.

[4.30] #tell# count over.

[4.31] #pocas palabras# “few words.”

[4.32] #murrey# a dark red colour.--_Halliwell_.

[4.33] #play at hoodman-blind# blind man’s buff.

[4.34] #in a woe# sorrowful.

[4.35] #bobbed# tricked.

[4.36] #fitters# pieces.

[4.37] #a toy# whim.

[4.38] #choke-pear ... popering# a pear brought from Poperingues in Flanders; the choke-pear was a coarse variety.

[4.39] #cope# chop or exchange.

[290.1] #the woman killed with kindness# an obvious allusion to Heywood’s own masterpiece.

[4.41] #Bristowe stone# more usually called a “Bristol diamond.”

[4.42] #branched# figured.

[4.43] #limit# _i.e._ appoint.

[4.44] #I was, sir, of Peterhouse# there is a tradition that Heywood himself was a Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge.

[4.45] #I proceeded in Oxford# _i.e._ to his degree, his college, as he tells us, being Brazenose.

[4.46] #Genes# Genoese.

[4.47] #Lusty Juventus# there is an old interlude entitled _Lusty Juventus_, printed about the year 1560.

[4.48] #St. George’s Fields ... Tuttle, Finsbury# he mentions three well-known duelling resorts.

[4.49] #Stafford law# “he has had a trial in Stafford Court” was a way of saying “he has been beaten or ill-treated,” _Cotgrave_. Florio uses the expression “Stafford-law”=_braccesca licenza_.

[4.50] #apply thou# defend yourself.

[4.51] _i.e._ much good may it do you!

[4.52] #beso las manus# kiss the hands.

[4.53] #Sir Pandarus# Pandarus was the prince of go-betweens; hence the word “pander.”

[4.54] #colour# excuse.

[4.55] #brock# a term of contempt; a brock is a badger.

[4.56] #Cheap Cross# at Cheapside, with a statue of the Virgin on it. It was removed in 1643, by Puritan influence, on account of the reverence which it received from Catholics.

[4.57] #take me with you# _i.e._ let me understand.

[4.58] #jack# crafty fellow.

[4.59] It is to be understood that the occupants of the various inner rooms see and hear all that transpires between Young Chartley and Luce without being themselves seen or heard.

[4.60] Is not a speech lost here?

[4.61] _i.e._ on pain of losing his blessing.

THE RAPE OF LUCRECE FOOTNOTES.

[5.01] #makes legs# bows.

[5.02] #balm# the consecrated oil used at coronations. Shakespeare has the expression: “’Tis not the balm, the sceptre and the ball.”

[5.03] #be countant# _i.e._ held accountant.

[5.04] #estates# nobles.

[5.05] #humorously# oddly.

[5.06] #mome# blockhead.

[5.07] #laugh, Democritus# the laughing philosopher of Abdera:

Perpetuo risu pulmonem agitare solebat
Democritus.--_Juvenal_, x., 33-4.

[5.08] #curst# shrewish.

[5.09] “Rome” was pronounced like “room.”

[5.10] #generously# of such noble blood.

[5.11] #he was: by power divine# the old editions miss the point by reading “he was by power divine.”

[5.12] #coach-naves# wheels, properly part of the axle.

[5.13] #timeless# untimely. This passage is corrupt.

[5.14] #sparkled# scattered.

[5.15] #trifurk# three-forked.

[5.16] #rubs# obstacles: originally a term used at the game of bowls.

[5.17] #ballater# maker of ballads

[5.18] #sansing bell# _i.e._ sanctus bell.

[5.19] #moe# more; _i.e._ others.

[5.20] #lose# waste.

[5.21] #the water that God Mercury makes# _i.e._ a cosmetic lotion containing mercury.

[5.22] #being taken with the manner# caught in the act. Cowel says, “manner or mainour denotes the thing that a thief taketh or stealeth.”

[5.23] #doom# decree.

[5.24] #prevent# forestall.

[5.25] #buckle# contend.

[5.26] #traversed# thoroughly examined.

[5.27] #attaint# accusation.

[5.28] #topping# lopping off.

[5.29] #where# _i.e._ whereas.

[5.30] #suburbians# the suburbs of London were formerly the chief resort of loose women.

[5.31] #holly# holy.

[5.32] #hatchel# heckle or dress.

[5.33] #with Duke Humphrey dine# _i.e._ not dine at all. “This phrase is said to have arisen from part of the public walks in Old St. Paul’s called Duke Humphrey’s walk, where those who were without the means of defraying their expenses at a tavern were accustomed to walk in hope of procuring an invitation.”--_Halliwell_.

[5.34] #hey ho# a favourite ballad-burden.

[5.35] #cocket# pert.

[5.36] #Attalia# Heywood was probably thinking of Horace’s _Attalicæ condiciones_.

[5.37] #pounded# _i.e._ penned up.

[5.38] #upse freeze# strong beer, imported from Friesland: hence to drink _upse freeze_ was to drink hard.

[5.39] #tassaker# from _tasse_? Hence a cup or goblet.

[5.40] #manage# management.

[5.41] #lavoltoes# a dance in the course of which the woman, after being turned round several times, sprang up as high as she could with her partner’s assistance.

[5.42] #wheel# _i.e._ a spinning-wheel.

[5.43] #rebatoes# _i.e._ turn your ruffs into loose collars.

[5.44] #frontlets# forehead-bands.

[5.45] #rails# short mantles.

[5.46] #billements# head and neck ornaments.

[5.47] #bongraces# shades to preserve the complexion.

[5.48] There is no dash in the original; the singer evidently substituted the refrain for the omitted word.

[5.49] This song also occurs in Heywood’s _Challenge for Beauty_.

[5.50] #cony-wool# rabbit skin.

[5.51] #shag# rough hair.

[5.52] #monmouth# a kind of flat cap.

[5.53] #chapine# chapines were shoes with very high soles, worn by ladies to make them look tall.

[5.54] #humorous# damp.

[5.55] #stars# _i.e._ candles.

[5.56] #tread not too hard for disturbing# _i.e._ lest you should disturb.

[5.57] #staves-acre# a kind of larkspur used to kill lice.

[5.58] #opinion# reputation.

[5.59] #defend# forbid.

[5.60] #uncrazed# unbroken.

[5.61] #mechal# adulterous.

[5.62] #stare# starling.

[5.63] This catch, which jokes in such a ribald fashion over Tarquin’s crime, furnishes a pointed example of the way in which the dramatists of the period pandered to the tastes of the less refined among their audiences.

[5.64] #to my death to fall# to let fall, as often to be found in Shakespeare.

[5.65] #infinite# _i.e._ infinite numbers.

[5.66] #buckler# defend.

[5.67] #battle# battalion.

[5.68] #tire# tear, like a beast or bird of prey.

[5.69] #bulk# body.

[5.70] #constant# resolute.

[5.71] #snaky# “snake” was often used as a term of contempt.

[5.72] #single monomachy# “single monomachy” is rather an absurd pleonasm.

[5.73] #garboils# tumults.

[5.74] #with one scorns# _i.e._ that scorns.

[5.75] #rock-sampier# samphire.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES.

The six volume _Dramatic Works of Thomas Heywood_, published by J. Pearson in 1874, was consulted for many of the corrections listed below.

# is used in the text-only edition of this ebook to indicate bolded text.

Alterations to the text:

Omit drop caps and other decorations.

Speaker names: expand, make uniform, and place on line separate from dialogue.

Minor formatting changes to some stage directions.

Relabel footnote markers, collect footnotes at the end of the text, and add an entry to the TOC.

Add The Red Bull Theatre to TOC.

[Introduction]

Change (Such words as “_trifulk_,” ... “_tenébrous_,”) to _trifurk_ and _tenebrous_, respectfully.

[A Woman Killed with Kindness]

(a2s1) “and therefore grateful. _Pr’ythee_, Nan,” to _Prythee_.

(a2s3) “_Whay_ say’st thou, metal?” to _What_.

(a3s2) “_T’was_ but a thankless office” to _’Twas_.

(a4s3) “As you love, me sir,” relocate first comma after _me_.

(a4s3) “Come, Nan, I _pr’ythee_ let us sup within.” to _prythee_.

[The Fair Maid of the West]

(a1s3) “Enter Spencer, Captain _Goolack_” to _Goodlack_.

(a5s1) “I will have no _commèrce_ with Mullisheg,” to _commerce_.

[The English Traveller]

(a2s1) “_W ee ntreat_ you,” to _We entreat_.

(a2s2) “Why _dos’t_ not thou fly too?” to _dost_.

(a3s1) “And is my present joy, if their _aspéct_” to _aspect_.

(a4s3) “On two unmatched for sordid _villany_” to _villainy_.

[The Wise Woman of Hogsdon]

(a3s1) “make short work, and _h’ath_ dispatched by this” to _hath_.

(a4s2) “Well, I hear thee,” change second comma to a period.

[The Rape of Lucrece]

(a3s1) “The host is now/Upon their march....” change the speaker from Lucretius to Tarquin. (Lucretius never entered this scene).

(a3s5) “Terry, derry, &c.” (3rd to last line in song) delete the first comma.

(a5s1) “and guerdon base _trangression_.” to _transgression_.

[End of Text]