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diff --git a/5333-h/5333-h.htm b/5333-h/5333-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..85d09a2 --- /dev/null +++ b/5333-h/5333-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11297 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Every Man in his Humor, by Ben Jonson + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Every Man In His Humor, by Ben Jonson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Every Man In His Humor + (The Anglicized Edition) + +Author: Ben Jonson + +Release Date: March 28, 2009 [EBook #5333] +Last Updated: January 9, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EVERY MAN IN HIS HUMOR *** + + + + +Produced by Amy E Zelmer, Sue Asscher, Robert Prince, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + EVERY MAN IN HIS HUMOR + </h1> + <h3> + (The Anglicized Edition) + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Ben Jonson + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <p> + <a href="#link2H_INTR"> INTRODUCTION </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0002"> <b>EVERY MAN IN HIS HUMOUR</b> </a><br /> + </p> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> ACT I </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> ACT II </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> ACT III </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> ACT IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> ACT V </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <a href="#link2H_GLOS"> GLOSSARY </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_INTR" id="link2H_INTR"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + INTRODUCTION + </h2> + <p> + THE greatest of English dramatists except Shakespeare, the first literary + dictator and poet-laureate, a writer of verse, prose, satire, and + criticism who most potently of all the men of his time affected the + subsequent course of English letters: such was Ben Jonson, and as such his + strong personality assumes an interest to us almost unparalleled, at least + in his age. + </p> + <p> + Ben Jonson came of the stock that was centuries after to give to the world + Thomas Carlyle; for Jonson's grandfather was of Annandale, over the + Solway, whence he migrated to England. Jonson's father lost his estate + under Queen Mary, "having been cast into prison and forfeited." He entered + the church, but died a month before his illustrious son was born, leaving + his widow and child in poverty. Jonson's birthplace was Westminster, and + the time of his birth early in 1573. He was thus nearly ten years + Shakespeare's junior, and less well off, if a trifle better born. But + Jonson did not profit even by this slight advantage. His mother married + beneath her, a wright or bricklayer, and Jonson was for a time apprenticed + to the trade. As a youth he attracted the attention of the famous + antiquary, William Camden, then usher at Westminster School, and there the + poet laid the solid foundations of his classical learning. Jonson always + held Camden in veneration, acknowledging that to him he owed, + </p> + <p> + "All that I am in arts, all that I know:" + </p> + <p> + and dedicating his first dramatic success, "Every Man in His Humour," to + him. It is doubtful whether Jonson ever went to either university, though + Fuller says that he was "statutably admitted into St. John's College, + Cambridge." He tells us that he took no degree, but was later "Master of + Arts in both the universities, by their favour, not his study." When a + mere youth Jonson enlisted as a soldier trailing his pike in Flanders in + the protracted wars of William the Silent against the Spanish. Jonson was + a large and raw-boned lad; he became by his own account in time + exceedingly bulky. In chat with his friend William Drummond of + Hawthornden, Jonson told how "in his service in the Low Countries he had, + in the face of both the camps, killed an enemy, and taken 'opima spolia' + from him;" and how "since his coming to England, being appealed to the + fields, he had killed his adversary which had hurt him in the arm and + whose sword was ten inches longer than his." Jonson's reach may have made + up for the lack of his sword; certainly his prowess lost nothing in the + telling. Obviously Jonson was brave, combative, and not averse to talking + of himself and his doings. + </p> + <p> + In 1592, Jonson returned from abroad penniless. Soon after he married, + almost as early and quite as imprudently as Shakespeare. He told Drummond + curtly that "his wife was a shrew, yet honest"; for some years he lived + apart from her in the household of Lord Albany. Yet two touching epitaphs + among Jonson's 'Epigrams', "On my first daughter," and "On my first son," + attest the warmth of the poet's family affections. The daughter died in + infancy, the son of the plague; another son grew up to manhood little + credit to his father whom he survived. We know nothing beyond this of + Jonson's domestic life. + </p> + <p> + How soon Jonson drifted into what we now call grandly "the theatrical + profession" we do not know. In 1593 Marlowe made his tragic exit from + life, and Greene, Shakespeare's other rival on the popular stage, had + preceded Marlowe in an equally miserable death the year before. + Shakespeare already had the running to himself. Jonson appears first in + the employment of Philip Henslowe, the exploiter of several troupes of + players, manager, and father-in-law of the famous actor, Edward Alleyn. + From entries in 'Henslowe's Diary', a species of theatrical account book + which has been handed down to us, we know that Jonson was connected with + the Admiral's men; for he borrowed 4 pounds of Henslowe, July 28, 1597, + paying back 3s. 9d. on the same day on account of his "share" (in what is + not altogether clear); while later, on December 3, of the same year, + Henslowe advanced 20s. to him "upon a book which he showed the plot unto + the company which he promised to deliver unto the company at Christmas + next." In the next August Jonson was in collaboration with Chettle and + Porter in a play called "Hot Anger Soon Cold." All this points to an + association with Henslowe of some duration, as no mere tyro would be thus + paid in advance upon mere promise. From allusions in Dekker's play, + "Satiromastix," it appears that Jonson, like Shakespeare, began life as an + actor, and that he "ambled in a leather pitch by a play-wagon" taking at + one time the part of Hieronimo in Kyd's famous play, "The Spanish + Tragedy." By the beginning of 1598, Jonson, though still in needy + circumstances, had begun to receive recognition. Francis Meres—well + known for his "Comparative Discourse of our English Poets with the Greek, + Latin, and Italian Poets," printed in 1598, and for his mention therein of + a dozen plays of Shakespeare by title—accords to Ben Jonson a place + as one of "our best in tragedy," a matter of some surprise, as no known + tragedy of Jonson from so early a date has come down to us. That Jonson + was at work on tragedy, however, is proved by the entries in Henslowe of + at least three tragedies, now lost, in which he had a hand. These are + "Page of Plymouth," "King Robert II. of Scotland," and "Richard + Crookback." But all of these came later, on his return to Henslowe, and + range from August 1599 to June 1602. + </p> + <p> + Returning to the autumn of 1598, an event now happened to sever for a time + Jonson's relations with Henslowe. In a letter to Alleyn, dated September + 26 of that year, Henslowe writes: "I have lost one of my company that + hurteth me greatly; that is Gabriel [Spencer], for he is slain in Hogsden + fields by the hands of Benjamin Jonson, bricklayer." The last word is + perhaps Henslowe's thrust at Jonson in his displeasure rather than a + designation of his actual continuance at his trade up to this time. It is + fair to Jonson to remark however, that his adversary appears to have been + a notorious fire-eater who had shortly before killed one Feeke in a + similar squabble. Duelling was a frequent occurrence of the time among + gentlemen and the nobility; it was an imprudent breach of the peace on the + part of a player. This duel is the one which Jonson described years after + to Drummond, and for it Jonson was duly arraigned at Old Bailey, tried, + and convicted. He was sent to prison and such goods and chattels as he had + "were forfeited." It is a thought to give one pause that, but for the + ancient law permitting convicted felons to plead, as it was called, the + benefit of clergy, Jonson might have been hanged for this deed. The + circumstance that the poet could read and write saved him; and he received + only a brand of the letter "T," for Tyburn, on his left thumb. While in + jail Jonson became a Roman Catholic; but he returned to the faith of the + Church of England a dozen years later. + </p> + <p> + On his release, in disgrace with Henslowe and his former associates, + Jonson offered his services as a playwright to Henslowe's rivals, the Lord + Chamberlain's company, in which Shakespeare was a prominent shareholder. A + tradition of long standing, though not susceptible of proof in a court of + law, narrates that Jonson had submitted the manuscript of "Every Man in + His Humour" to the Chamberlain's men and had received from the company a + refusal; that Shakespeare called him back, read the play himself, and at + once accepted it. Whether this story is true or not, certain it is that + "Every Man in His Humour" was accepted by Shakespeare's company and acted + for the first time in 1598, with Shakespeare taking a part. The evidence + of this is contained in the list of actors prefixed to the comedy in the + folio of Jonson's works, 1616. But it is a mistake to infer, because + Shakespeare's name stands first in the list of actors and the elder + Kno'well first in the 'dramatis personae', that Shakespeare took that + particular part. The order of a list of Elizabethan players was generally + that of their importance or priority as shareholders in the company and + seldom if ever corresponded to the list of characters. + </p> + <p> + "Every Man in His Humour" was an immediate success, and with it Jonson's + reputation as one of the leading dramatists of his time was established + once and for all. This could have been by no means Jonson's earliest + comedy, and we have just learned that he was already reputed one of "our + best in tragedy." Indeed, one of Jonson's extant comedies, "The Case is + Altered," but one never claimed by him or published as his, must certainly + have preceded "Every Man in His Humour" on the stage. The former play may + be described as a comedy modelled on the Latin plays of Plautus. (It + combines, in fact, situations derived from the "Captivi" and the + "Aulularia" of that dramatist). But the pretty story of the beggar-maiden, + Rachel, and her suitors, Jonson found, not among the classics, but in the + ideals of romantic love which Shakespeare had already popularised on the + stage. Jonson never again produced so fresh and lovable a feminine + personage as Rachel, although in other respects "The Case is Altered" is + not a conspicuous play, and, save for the satirising of Antony Munday in + the person of Antonio Balladino and Gabriel Harvey as well, is perhaps the + least characteristic of the comedies of Jonson. + </p> + <p> + "Every Man in His Humour," probably first acted late in the summer of 1598 + and at the Curtain, is commonly regarded as an epoch-making play; and this + view is not unjustified. As to plot, it tells little more than how an + intercepted letter enabled a father to follow his supposedly studious son + to London, and there observe his life with the gallants of the time. The + real quality of this comedy is in its personages and in the theory upon + which they are conceived. Ben Jonson had theories about poetry and the + drama, and he was neither chary in talking of them nor in experimenting + with them in his plays. This makes Jonson, like Dryden in his time, and + Wordsworth much later, an author to reckon with; particularly when we + remember that many of Jonson's notions came for a time definitely to + prevail and to modify the whole trend of English poetry. First of all + Jonson was a classicist, that is, he believed in restraint and precedent + in art in opposition to the prevalent ungoverned and irresponsible + Renaissance spirit. Jonson believed that there was a professional way of + doing things which might be reached by a study of the best examples, and + he found these examples for the most part among the ancients. To confine + our attention to the drama, Jonson objected to the amateurishness and + haphazard nature of many contemporary plays, and set himself to do + something different; and the first and most striking thing that he evolved + was his conception and practice of the comedy of humours. + </p> + <p> + As Jonson has been much misrepresented in this matter, let us quote his + own words as to "humour." A humour, according to Jonson, was a bias of + disposition, a warp, so to speak, in character by which + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Some one peculiar quality + Doth so possess a man, that it doth draw + All his affects, his spirits, and his powers, + In their confluctions, all to run one way." +</pre> + <p> + But continuing, Jonson is careful to add: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "But that a rook by wearing a pied feather, + The cable hat-band, or the three-piled ruff, + A yard of shoe-tie, or the Switzers knot + On his French garters, should affect a humour! + O, it is more than most ridiculous." +</pre> + <p> + Jonson's comedy of humours, in a word, conceived of stage personages on + the basis of a ruling trait or passion (a notable simplification of actual + life be it observed in passing); and, placing these typified traits in + juxtaposition in their conflict and contrast, struck the spark of comedy. + Downright, as his name indicates, is "a plain squire"; Bobadill's humour + is that of the braggart who is incidentally, and with delightfully comic + effect, a coward; Brainworm's humour is the finding out of things to the + end of fooling everybody: of course he is fooled in the end himself. But + it was not Jonson's theories alone that made the success of "Every Man in + His Humour." The play is admirably written and each character is vividly + conceived, and with a firm touch based on observation of the men of the + London of the day. Jonson was neither in this, his first great comedy (nor + in any other play that he wrote), a supine classicist, urging that English + drama return to a slavish adherence to classical conditions. He says as to + the laws of the old comedy (meaning by "laws," such matters as the unities + of time and place and the use of chorus): "I see not then, but we should + enjoy the same licence, or free power to illustrate and heighten our + invention as they [the ancients] did; and not be tied to those strict and + regular forms which the niceness of a few, who are nothing but form, would + thrust upon us." "Every Man in His Humour" is written in prose, a novel + practice which Jonson had of his predecessor in comedy, John Lyly. Even + the word "humour" seems to have been employed in the Jonsonian sense by + Chapman before Jonson's use of it. Indeed, the comedy of humours itself is + only a heightened variety of the comedy of manners which represents life, + viewed at a satirical angle, and is the oldest and most persistent species + of comedy in the language. None the less, Jonson's comedy merited its + immediate success and marked out a definite course in which comedy long + continued to run. To mention only Shakespeare's Falstaff and his rout, + Bardolph, Pistol, Dame Quickly, and the rest, whether in "Henry IV." or in + "The Merry Wives of Windsor," all are conceived in the spirit of humours. + So are the captains, Welsh, Scotch, and Irish of "Henry V.," and Malvolio + especially later; though Shakespeare never employed the method of humours + for an important personage. It was not Jonson's fault that many of his + successors did precisely the thing that he had reprobated, that is, + degrade the humour: into an oddity of speech, an eccentricity of manner, + of dress, or cut of beard. There was an anonymous play called "Every Woman + in Her Humour." Chapman wrote "A Humourous Day's Mirth," Day, "Humour Out + of Breath," Fletcher later, "The Humourous Lieutenant," and Jonson, + besides "Every Man Out of His Humour," returned to the title in closing + the cycle of his comedies in "The Magnetic Lady or Humours Reconciled." + </p> + <p> + With the performance of "Every Man Out of His Humour" in 1599, by + Shakespeare's company once more at the Globe, we turn a new page in + Jonson's career. Despite his many real virtues, if there is one feature + more than any other that distinguishes Jonson, it is his arrogance; and to + this may be added his self-righteousness, especially under criticism or + satire. "Every Man Out of His Humour" is the first of three "comical + satires" which Jonson contributed to what Dekker called the 'poetomachia' + or war of the theatres as recent critics have named it. This play as a + fabric of plot is a very slight affair; but as a satirical picture of the + manners of the time, proceeding by means of vivid caricature, couched in + witty and brilliant dialogue and sustained by that righteous indignation + which must lie at the heart of all true satire—as a realisation, in + short, of the classical ideal of comedy—there had been nothing like + Jonson's comedy since the days of Aristophanes. "Every Man in His Humour," + like the two plays that follow it, contains two kinds of attack, the + critical or generally satiric, levelled at abuses and corruptions in the + abstract; and the personal, in which specific application is made of all + this in the lampooning of poets and others, Jonson's contemporaries. The + method of personal attack by actual caricature of a person on the stage is + almost as old as the drama. Aristophanes so lampooned Euripides in "The + Acharnians" and Socrates in "The Clouds," to mention no other examples; + and in English drama this kind of thing is alluded to again and again. + What Jonson really did, was to raise the dramatic lampoon to an art, and + make out of a casual burlesque and bit of mimicry a dramatic satire of + literary pretensions and permanency. With the arrogant attitude mentioned + above and his uncommon eloquence in scorn, vituperation, and invective, it + is no wonder that Jonson soon involved himself in literary and even + personal quarrels with his fellow-authors. The circumstances of the origin + of this 'poetomachia' are far from clear, and those who have written on + the topic, except of late, have not helped to make them clearer. The + origin of the "war" has been referred to satirical references, apparently + to Jonson, contained in "The Scourge of Villainy," a satire in regular + form after the manner of the ancients by John Marston, a fellow + playwright, subsequent friend and collaborator of Jonson's. On the other + hand, epigrams of Jonson have been discovered (49, 68, and 100) variously + charging "playwright" (reasonably identified with Marston) with + scurrility, cowardice, and plagiarism; though the dates of the epigrams + cannot be ascertained with certainty. Jonson's own statement of the matter + to Drummond runs: "He had many quarrels with Marston, beat him, and took + his pistol from him, wrote his 'Poetaster' on him; the beginning[s] of + them were that Marston represented him on the stage."* + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *The best account of this whole subject is to be + found in the edition of 'Poetaster' and 'Satiromastrix' by + J. H. Penniman in 'Belles Lettres Series' shortly to appear. + See also his earlier work, 'The War of the Theatres', 1892, + and the excellent contributions to the subject by H. C. Hart + in 'Notes and Queries', and in his edition of Jonson, 1906. +</pre> + <p> + Here at least we are on certain ground; and the principals of the quarrel + are known. "Histriomastix," a play revised by Marston in 1598, has been + regarded as the one in which Jonson was thus "represented on the stage"; + although the personage in question, Chrisogonus, a poet, satirist, and + translator, poor but proud, and contemptuous of the common herd, seems + rather a complimentary portrait of Jonson than a caricature. As to the + personages actually ridiculed in "Every Man Out of His Humour," Carlo + Buffone was formerly thought certainly to be Marston, as he was described + as "a public scurrilous, and profane jester," and elsewhere as "the grand + scourge or second untruss [that is, satirist], of the time" (Joseph Hall + being by his own boast the first, and Marston's work being entitled "The + Scourge of Villainy"). Apparently we must now prefer for Carlo a notorious + character named Charles Chester, of whom gossipy and inaccurate Aubrey + relates that he was "a bold impertinent fellow...a perpetual talker and + made a noise like a drum in a room. So one time at a tavern Sir Walter + Raleigh beats him and seals up his mouth (that is his upper and nether + beard) with hard wax. From him Ben Jonson takes his Carlo Buffone ['i.e.', + jester] in 'Every Man in His Humour' ['sic']." Is it conceivable that + after all Jonson was ridiculing Marston, and that the point of the satire + consisted in an intentional confusion of "the grand scourge or second + untruss" with "the scurrilous and profane" Chester? + </p> + <p> + We have digressed into detail in this particular case to exemplify the + difficulties of criticism in its attempts to identify the allusions in + these forgotten quarrels. We are on sounder ground of fact in recording + other manifestations of Jonson's enmity. In "The Case is Altered" there is + clear ridicule in the character Antonio Balladino of Anthony Munday, + pageant-poet of the city, translator of romances and playwright as well. + In "Every Man in His Humour" there is certainly a caricature of Samuel + Daniel, accepted poet of the court, sonneteer, and companion of men of + fashion. These men held recognised positions to which Jonson felt his + talents better entitled him; they were hence to him his natural enemies. + It seems almost certain that he pursued both in the personages of his + satire through "Every Man Out of His Humour," and "Cynthia's Revels," + Daniel under the characters Fastidious Brisk and Hedon, Munday as + Puntarvolo and Amorphus; but in these last we venture on quagmire once + more. Jonson's literary rivalry of Daniel is traceable again and again, in + the entertainments that welcomed King James on his way to London, in the + masques at court, and in the pastoral drama. As to Jonson's personal + ambitions with respect to these two men, it is notable that he became, not + pageant-poet, but chronologer to the City of London; and that, on the + accession of the new king, he came soon to triumph over Daniel as the + accepted entertainer of royalty. + </p> + <p> + "Cynthia's Revels," the second "comical satire," was acted in 1600, and, + as a play, is even more lengthy, elaborate, and impossible than "Every Man + Out of His Humour." Here personal satire seems to have absorbed + everything, and while much of the caricature is admirable, especially in + the detail of witty and trenchantly satirical dialogue, the central idea + of a fountain of self-love is not very well carried out, and the persons + revert at times to abstractions, the action to allegory. It adds to our + wonder that this difficult drama should have been acted by the Children of + Queen Elizabeth's Chapel, among them Nathaniel Field with whom Jonson read + Horace and Martial, and whom he taught later how to make plays. Another of + these precocious little actors was Salathiel Pavy, who died before he was + thirteen, already famed for taking the parts of old men. Him Jonson + immortalised in one of the sweetest of his epitaphs. An interesting + sidelight is this on the character of this redoubtable and rugged + satirist, that he should thus have befriended and tenderly remembered + these little theatrical waifs, some of whom (as we know) had been + literally kidnapped to be pressed into the service of the theatre and + whipped to the conning of their difficult parts. To the caricature of + Daniel and Munday in "Cynthia's Revels" must be added Anaides (impudence), + here assuredly Marston, and Asotus (the prodigal), interpreted as Lodge + or, more perilously, Raleigh. Crites, like Asper-Macilente in "Every Man + Out of His Humour," is Jonson's self-complaisant portrait of himself, the + just, wholly admirable, and judicious scholar, holding his head high above + the pack of the yelping curs of envy and detraction, but careless of their + puny attacks on his perfections with only too mindful a neglect. + </p> + <p> + The third and last of the "comical satires" is "Poetaster," acted, once + more, by the Children of the Chapel in 1601, and Jonson's only avowed + contribution to the fray. According to the author's own account, this play + was written in fifteen weeks on a report that his enemies had entrusted to + Dekker the preparation of "Satiromastix, the Untrussing of the Humorous + Poet," a dramatic attack upon himself. In this attempt to forestall his + enemies Jonson succeeded, and "Poetaster" was an immediate and deserved + success. While hardly more closely knit in structure than its earlier + companion pieces, "Poetaster" is planned to lead up to the ludicrous final + scene in which, after a device borrowed from the "Lexiphanes" of Lucian, + the offending poetaster, Marston-Crispinus, is made to throw up the + difficult words with which he had overburdened his stomach as well as + overlarded his vocabulary. In the end Crispinus with his fellow, + Dekker-Demetrius, is bound over to keep the peace and never thenceforward + "malign, traduce, or detract the person or writings of Quintus Horatius + Flaccus [Jonson] or any other eminent man transcending you in merit." One + of the most diverting personages in Jonson's comedy is Captain Tucca. "His + peculiarity" has been well described by Ward as "a buoyant blackguardism + which recovers itself instantaneously from the most complete exposure, and + a picturesqueness of speech like that of a walking dictionary of slang." + </p> + <p> + It was this character, Captain Tucca, that Dekker hit upon in his reply, + "Satiromastix," and he amplified him, turning his abusive vocabulary back + upon Jonson and adding "An immodesty to his dialogue that did not enter + into Jonson's conception." It has been held, altogether plausibly, that + when Dekker was engaged professionally, so to speak, to write a dramatic + reply to Jonson, he was at work on a species of chronicle history, dealing + with the story of Walter Terill in the reign of William Rufus. This he + hurriedly adapted to include the satirical characters suggested by + "Poetaster," and fashioned to convey the satire of his reply. The + absurdity of placing Horace in the court of a Norman king is the result. + But Dekker's play is not without its palpable hits at the arrogance, the + literary pride, and self-righteousness of Jonson-Horace, whose "ningle" or + pal, the absurd Asinius Bubo, has recently been shown to figure forth, in + all likelihood, Jonson's friend, the poet Drayton. Slight and hastily + adapted as is "Satiromastix," especially in a comparison with the better + wrought and more significant satire of "Poetaster," the town awarded the + palm to Dekker, not to Jonson; and Jonson gave over in consequence his + practice of "comical satire." Though Jonson was cited to appear before the + Lord Chief Justice to answer certain charges to the effect that he had + attacked lawyers and soldiers in "Poetaster," nothing came of this + complaint. It may be suspected that much of this furious clatter and + give-and-take was pure playing to the gallery. The town was agog with the + strife, and on no less an authority than Shakespeare ("Hamlet," ii. 2), we + learn that the children's company (acting the plays of Jonson) did "so + berattle the common stages...that many, wearing rapiers, are afraid of + goose-quills, and dare scarce come thither." + </p> + <p> + Several other plays have been thought to bear a greater or less part in + the war of the theatres. Among them the most important is a college play, + entitled "The Return from Parnassus," dating 1601-02. In it a much-quoted + passage makes Burbage, as a character, declare: "Why here's our fellow + Shakespeare puts them all down; aye and Ben Jonson, too. O that Ben Jonson + is a pestilent fellow; he brought up Horace, giving the poets a pill, but + our fellow Shakespeare hath given him a purge that made him bewray his + credit." Was Shakespeare then concerned in this war of the stages? And + what could have been the nature of this "purge"? Among several + suggestions, "Troilus and Cressida" has been thought by some to be the + play in which Shakespeare thus "put down" his friend, Jonson. A wiser + interpretation finds the "purge" in "Satiromastix," which, though not + written by Shakespeare, was staged by his company, and therefore with his + approval and under his direction as one of the leaders of that company. + </p> + <p> + The last years of the reign of Elizabeth thus saw Jonson recognised as a + dramatist second only to Shakespeare, and not second even to him as a + dramatic satirist. But Jonson now turned his talents to new fields. Plays + on subjects derived from classical story and myth had held the stage from + the beginning of the drama, so that Shakespeare was making no new + departure when he wrote his "Julius Caesar" about 1600. Therefore when + Jonson staged "Sejanus," three years later and with Shakespeare'scompany + once more, he was only following in the elder dramatist's footsteps. But + Jonson's idea of a play on classical history, on the one hand, and + Shakespeare's and the elder popular dramatists, on the other, were very + different. Heywood some years before had put five straggling plays on the + stage in quick succession, all derived from stories in Ovid and dramatised + with little taste or discrimination. Shakespeare had a finer conception of + form, but even he was contented to take all his ancient history from + North's translation of Plutarch and dramatise his subject without further + inquiry. Jonson was a scholar and a classical antiquarian. He reprobated + this slipshod amateurishness, and wrote his "Sejanus" like a scholar, + reading Tacitus, Suetonius, and other authorities, to be certain of his + facts, his setting, and his atmosphere, and somewhat pedantically noting + his authorities in the margin when he came to print. "Sejanus" is a + tragedy of genuine dramatic power in which is told with discriminating + taste the story of the haughty favourite of Tiberius with his tragical + overthrow. Our drama presents no truer nor more painstaking representation + of ancient Roman life than may be found in Jonson's "Sejanus" and + "Catiline his Conspiracy," which followed in 1611. A passage in the + address of the former play to the reader, in which Jonson refers to a + collaboration in an earlier version, has led to the surmise that + Shakespeare may have been that "worthier pen." There is no evidence to + determine the matter. + </p> + <p> + In 1605, we find Jonson in active collaboration with Chapman and Marston + in the admirable comedy of London life entitled "Eastward Hoe." In the + previous year, Marston had dedicated his "Malcontent," in terms of fervid + admiration, to Jonson; so that the wounds of the war of the theatres must + have been long since healed. Between Jonson and Chapman there was the + kinship of similar scholarly ideals. The two continued friends throughout + life. "Eastward Hoe" achieved the extraordinary popularity represented in + a demand for three issues in one year. But this was not due entirely to + the merits of the play. In its earliest version a passage which an + irritable courtier conceived to be derogatory to his nation, the Scots, + sent both Chapman and Jonson to jail; but the matter was soon patched up, + for by this time Jonson had influence at court. + </p> + <p> + With the accession of King James, Jonson began his long and successful + career as a writer of masques. He wrote more masques than all his + competitors together, and they are of an extraordinary variety and poetic + excellence. Jonson did not invent the masque; for such premeditated + devices to set and frame, so to speak, a court ball had been known and + practised in varying degrees of elaboration long before his time. But + Jonson gave dramatic value to the masque, especially in his invention of + the antimasque, a comedy or farcical element of relief, entrusted to + professional players or dancers. He enhanced, as well, the beauty and + dignity of those portions of the masque in which noble lords and ladies + took their parts to create, by their gorgeous costumes and artistic + grouping and evolutions, a sumptuous show. On the mechanical and scenic + side Jonson had an inventive and ingenious partner in Inigo Jones, the + royal architect, who more than any one man raised the standard of stage + representation in the England of his day. Jonson continued active in the + service of the court in the writing of masques and other entertainments + far into the reign of King Charles; but, towards the end, a quarrel with + Jones embittered his life, and the two testy old men appear to have become + not only a constant irritation to each other, but intolerable bores at + court. In "Hymenaei," "The Masque of Queens," "Love Freed from Ignorance," + "Lovers made Men," "Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue," and many more will be + found Jonson's aptitude, his taste, his poetry and inventiveness in these + by-forms of the drama; while in "The Masque of Christmas," and "The + Gipsies Metamorphosed" especially, is discoverable that power of broad + comedy which, at court as well as in the city, was not the least element + of Jonson's contemporary popularity. + </p> + <p> + But Jonson had by no means given up the popular stage when he turned to + the amusement of King James. In 1605 "Volpone" was produced, "The Silent + Woman" in 1609, "The Alchemist" in the following year. These comedies, + with "Bartholomew Fair," 1614, represent Jonson at his height, and for + constructive cleverness, character successfully conceived in the manner of + caricature, wit and brilliancy of dialogue, they stand alone in English + drama. "Volpone, or the Fox," is, in a sense, a transition play from the + dramatic satires of the war of the theatres to the purer comedy + represented in the plays named above. Its subject is a struggle of wit + applied to chicanery; for among its 'dramatis personae', from the + villainous Fox himself, his rascally servant Mosca, Voltore (the vulture), + Corbaccio and Corvino (the big and the little raven), to Sir Politic + Would-be and the rest, there is scarcely a virtuous character in the play. + Question has been raised as to whether a story so forbidding can be + considered a comedy, for, although the plot ends in the discomfiture and + imprisonment of the most vicious, it involves no moral catastrophe. But + Jonson was on sound historical ground, for "Volpone" is conceived far more + logically on the lines of the ancients' theory of comedy than was ever the + romantic drama of Shakespeare, however repulsive we may find a philosophy + of life that facilely divides the world into the rogues and their dupes, + and, identifying brains with roguery and innocence with folly, admires the + former while inconsistently punishing them. + </p> + <p> + "The Silent Woman" is a gigantic farce of the most ingenious construction. + The whole comedy hinges on a huge joke, played by a heartless nephew on + his misanthropic uncle, who is induced to take to himself a wife, young, + fair, and warranted silent, but who, in the end, turns out neither silent + nor a woman at all. In "The Alchemist," again, we have the utmost + cleverness in construction, the whole fabric building climax on climax, + witty, ingenious, and so plausibly presented that we forget its departures + from the possibilities of life. In "The Alchemist" Jonson represented, + none the less to the life, certain sharpers of the metropolis, revelling + in their shrewdness and rascality and in the variety of the stupidity and + wickedness of their victims. We may object to the fact that the only + person in the play possessed of a scruple of honesty is discomfited, and + that the greatest scoundrel of all is approved in the end and rewarded. + The comedy is so admirably written and contrived, the personages stand out + with such lifelike distinctness in their several kinds, and the whole is + animated with such verve and resourcefulness that "The Alchemist" is a new + marvel every time it is read. Lastly of this group comes the tremendous + comedy, "Bartholomew Fair," less clear cut, less definite, and less + structurally worthy of praise than its three predecessors, but full of the + keenest and cleverest of satire and inventive to a degree beyond any + English comedy save some other of Jonson's own. It is in "Bartholomew + Fair" that we are presented to the immortal caricature of the Puritan, + Zeal-in-the-Land Busy, and the Littlewits that group about him, and it is + in this extraordinary comedy that the humour of Jonson, always open to + this danger, loosens into the Rabelaisian mode that so delighted King + James in "The Gipsies Metamorphosed." Another comedy of less merit is "The + Devil is an Ass," acted in 1616. It was the failure of this play that + caused Jonson to give over writing for the public stage for a period of + nearly ten years. + </p> + <p> + "Volpone" was laid as to scene in Venice. Whether because of the success + of "Eastward Hoe" or for other reasons, the other three comedies declare + in the words of the prologue to "The Alchemist": + </p> + <p> + "Our scene is London, 'cause we would make known No country's mirth is + better than our own." + </p> + <p> + Indeed Jonson went further when he came to revise his plays for collected + publication in his folio of 1616, he transferred the scene of "Every Man + in His Humou r" from Florence to London also, converting Signior Lorenzo + di Pazzi to Old Kno'well, Prospero to Master Welborn, and Hesperida to + Dame Kitely "dwelling i' the Old Jewry." + </p> + <p> + In his comedies of London life, despite his trend towards caricature, + Jonson has shown himself a genuine realist, drawing from the life about + him with an experience and insight rare in any generation. A happy + comparison has been suggested between Ben Jonson and Charles Dickens. Both + were men of the people, lowly born and hardly bred. Each knew the London + of his time as few men knew it; and each represented it intimately and in + elaborate detail. Both men were at heart moralists, seeking the truth by + the exaggerated methods of humour and caricature; perverse, even + wrong-headed at times, but possessed of a true pathos and largeness of + heart, and when all has been said—though the Elizabethan ran to + satire, the Victorian to sentimentality—leaving the world better for + the art that they practised in it. + </p> + <p> + In 1616, the year of the death of Shakespeare, Jonson collected his plays, + his poetry, and his masques for publication in a collective edition. This + was an unusual thing at the time and had been attempted by no dramatist + before Jonson. This volume published, in a carefully revised text, all the + plays thus far mentioned, excepting "The Case is Altered," which Jonson + did not acknowledge, "Bartholomew Fair," and "The Devil is an Ass," which + was written too late. It included likewise a book of some hundred and + thirty odd 'Epigrams', in which form of brief and pungent writing Jonson + was an acknowledged master; "The Forest," a smaller collection of lyric + and occasional verse and some ten 'Masques' and 'Entertainments'. In this + same year Jonson was made poet laureate with a pension of one hundred + marks a year. This, with his fees and returns from several noblemen, and + the small earnings of his plays must have formed the bulk of his income. + The poet appears to have done certain literary hack-work for others, as, + for example, parts of the Punic Wars contributed to Raleigh's 'History of + the World'. We know from a story, little to the credit of either, that + Jonson accompanied Raleigh's son abroad in the capacity of a tutor. In + 1618 Jonson was granted the reversion of the office of Master of the + Revels, a post for which he was peculiarly fitted; but he did not live to + enjoy its perquisites. Jonson was honoured with degrees by both + universities, though when and under what circumstances is not known. It + has been said that he narrowly escaped the honour of knighthood, which the + satirists of the day averred King James was wont to lavish with an + indiscriminate hand. Worse men were made knights in his day than worthy + Ben Jonson. + </p> + <p> + From 1616 to the close of the reign of King James, Jonson produced nothing + for the stage. But he "prosecuted" what he calls "his wonted studies" with + such assiduity that he became in reality, as by report, one of the most + learned men of his time. Jonson's theory of authorship involved a wide + acquaintance with books and "an ability," as he put it, "to convert the + substance or riches of another poet to his own use." Accordingly Jonson + read not only the Greek and Latin classics down to the lesser writers, but + he acquainted himself especially with the Latin writings of his learned + contemporaries, their prose as well as their poetry, their antiquities and + curious lore as well as their more solid learning. Though a poor man, + Jonson was an indefatigable collector of books. He told Drummond that "the + Earl of Pembroke sent him 20 pounds every first day of the new year to buy + new books." Unhappily, in 1623, his library was destroyed by fire, an + accident serio-comically described in his witty poem, "An Execration upon + Vulcan." Yet even now a book turns up from time to time in which is + inscribed, in fair large Italian lettering, the name, Ben Jonson. With + respect to Jonson's use of his material, Dryden said memorably of him: + "[He] was not only a professed imitator of Horace, but a learned plagiary + of all the others; you track him everywhere in their snow. ... But he has + done his robberies so openly that one sees he fears not to be taxed by any + law. He invades authors like a monarch, and what would be theft in other + poets is only victory in him." And yet it is but fair to say that Jonson + prided himself, and justly, on his originality. In "Catiline," he not only + uses Sallust's account of the conspiracy, but he models some of the + speeches of Cicero on the Roman orator's actual words. In "Poetaster," he + lifts a whole satire out of Horace and dramatises it effectively for his + purposes. The sophist Libanius suggests the situation of "The Silent + Woman"; a Latin comedy of Giordano Bruno, "Il Candelaio," the relation of + the dupes and the sharpers in "The Alchemist," the "Mostellaria" of + Plautus, its admirable opening scene. But Jonson commonly bettered his + sources, and putting the stamp of his sovereignty on whatever bullion he + borrowed made it thenceforward to all time current and his own. + </p> + <p> + The lyric and especially the occasional poetry of Jonson has a peculiar + merit. His theory demanded design and the perfection of literary finish. + He was furthest from the rhapsodist and the careless singer of an idle + day; and he believed that Apollo could only be worthily served in singing + robes and laurel crowned. And yet many of Jonson's lyrics will live as + long as the language. Who does not know "Queen and huntress, chaste and + fair." "Drink to me only with thine eyes," or "Still to be neat, still to + be dressed"? Beautiful in form, deft and graceful in expression, with not + a word too much or one that bears not its part in the total effect, there + is yet about the lyrics of Jonson a certain stiffness and formality, a + suspicion that they were not quite spontaneous and unbidden, but that they + were carved, so to speak, with disproportionate labour by a potent man of + letters whose habitual thought is on greater things. It is for these + reasons that Jonson is even better in the epigram and in occasional verse + where rhetorical finish and pointed wit less interfere with the + spontaneity and emotion which we usually associate with lyrical poetry. + There are no such epitaphs as Ben Jonson's, witness the charming ones on + his own children, on Salathiel Pavy, the child-actor, and many more; and + this even though the rigid law of mine and thine must now restore to + William Browne of Tavistock the famous lines beginning: "Underneath this + sable hearse." Jonson is unsurpassed, too, in the difficult poetry of + compliment, seldom falling into fulsome praise and disproportionate + similtude, yet showing again and again a generous appreciation of worth in + others, a discriminating taste and a generous personal regard. There was + no man in England of his rank so well known and universally beloved as Ben + Jonson. The list of his friends, of those to whom he had written verses, + and those who had written verses to him, includes the name of every man of + prominence in the England of King James. And the tone of many of these + productions discloses an affectionate familiarity that speaks for the + amiable personality and sound worth of the laureate. In 1619, growing + unwieldy through inactivity, Jonson hit upon the heroic remedy of a + journey afoot to Scotland. On his way thither and back he was hospitably + received at the houses of many friends and by those to whom his friends + had recommended him. When he arrived in Edinburgh, the burgesses met to + grant him the freedom of the city, and Drummond, foremost of Scottish + poets, was proud to entertain him for weeks as his guest at Hawthornden. + Some of the noblest of Jonson's poems were inspired by friendship. Such is + the fine "Ode to the memory of Sir Lucius Cary and Sir Henry Moryson," and + that admirable piece of critical insight and filial affection, prefixed to + the first Shakespeare folio, "To the memory of my beloved master, William + Shakespeare, and what he hath left us." to mention only these. Nor can the + earlier "Epode," beginning "Not to know vice at all," be matchedin stately + gravity and gnomic wisdom in its own wise and stately age. + </p> + <p> + But if Jonson had deserted the stage after the publication of his folio + and up to the end of the reign of King James, he was far from inactive; + for year after year his inexhaustible inventiveness continued to + contribute to the masquing and entertainment at court. In "The Golden Age + Restored," Pallas turns from the Iron Age with its attendant evils into + statues which sink out of sight; in "Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue," Atlas + figures represented as an old man, his shoulders covered with snow, and + Comus, "the god of cheer or the belly," is one of the characters, a + circumstance which an imaginative boy of ten, named John Milton, was not + to forget. "Pan's Anniversary," late in the reign of James, proclaimed + that Jonson had not yet forgotten how to write exquisite lyrics, and "The + Gipsies Metamorphosed" displayed the old drollery and broad humorous + stroke still unimpaired and unmatchable. These, too, and the earlier years + of Charles were the days of the Apollo Room of the Devil Tavern where + Jonson presided, the absolute monarch of English literary Bohemia. We hear + of a room blazoned about with Jonson's own judicious 'Leges Convivales' in + letters of gold, of a company made up of the choicest spirits of the time, + devotedly attached to their veteran dictator, his reminiscences, opinions, + affections, and enmities. And we hear, too, of valorous potations; but in + the words of Herrick addressed to his master, Jonson, at the Devil Tavern, + as at the Dog, the Triple Tun, and at the Mermaid, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "We such clusters had + As made us nobly wild, not mad, + And yet each verse of thine + Outdid the meat, outdid the frolic wine." +</pre> + <p> + But the patronage of the court failed in the days of King Charles, though + Jonson was not without royal favours; and the old poet returned to the + stage, producing, between 1625 and 1633, "The Staple of News," "The New + Inn," "The Magnetic Lady," and "The Tale of a Tub," the last doubtless + revised from a much earlier comedy. None of these plays met with any + marked success, although the scathing generalisation of Dryden that + designated them "Jonson's dotages" is unfair to their genuine merits. Thus + the idea of an office for the gathering, proper dressing, and promulgation + of news (wild flight of the fancy in its time) was an excellent subject + for satire on the existing absurdities among the newsmongers; although as + much can hardly be said for "The Magnetic Lady," who, in her bounty, draws + to her personages of differing humours to reconcile them in the end + according to the alternative title, or "Humours Reconciled." These last + plays of the old dramatist revert to caricature and the hard lines of + allegory; the moralist is more than ever present, the satire degenerates + into personal lampoon, especially of his sometime friend, Inigo Jones, who + appears unworthily to have used his influence at court against the + broken-down old poet. And now disease claimed Jonson, and he was bedridden + for months. He had succeeded Middleton in 1628 as Chronologer to the City + of London, but lost the post for not fulfilling its duties. King Charles + befriended him, and even commissioned him to write still for the + entertainment of the court; and he was not without the sustaining hand of + noble patrons and devoted friends among the younger poets who were proud + to be "sealed of the tribe of Ben." + </p> + <p> + Jonson died, August 6, 1637, and a second folio of his works, which he had + been some time gathering, was printed in 1640, bearing in its various + parts dates ranging from 1630 to 1642. It included all the plays mentioned + in the foregoing paragraphs, excepting "The Case is Altered;" the masques, + some fifteen, that date between 1617 and 1630; another collection of + lyrics and occasional poetry called "Underwoods, including some further + entertainments"; a translation of "Horace's Art of Poetry" (also published + in a vicesimo quarto in 1640), and certain fragments and ingatherings + which the poet would hardly have included himself. These last comprise the + fragment (less than seventy lines) of a tragedy called "Mortimer his + Fall," and three acts of a pastoral drama of much beauty and poetic + spirit, "The Sad Shepherd." There is also the exceedingly interesting + 'English Grammar' "made by Ben Jonson for the benefit of all strangers out + of his observation of the English language now spoken and in use," in + Latin and English; and 'Timber, or discoveries' "made upon men and matter + as they have flowed out of his daily reading, or had their reflux to his + peculiar notion of the times." The 'Discoveries', as it is usually called, + is a commonplace book such as many literary men have kept, in which their + reading was chronicled, passages that took their fancy translated or + transcribed, and their passing opinions noted. Many passage of Jonson's + 'Discoveries' are literal translations from the authors he chanced to be + reading, with the reference, noted or not, as the accident of the moment + prescribed. At times he follows the line of Macchiavelli's argument as to + the nature and conduct of princes; at others he clarifies his own + conception of poetry and poets by recourse to Aristotle. He finds a choice + paragraph on eloquence in Seneca the elder and applies it to his own + recollection of Bacon's power as an orator; and another on facile and + ready genius, and translates it, adapting it to his recollection of his + fellow-playwright, Shakespeare. To call such passages—which Jonson + never intended for publication—plagiarism, is to obscure the + significance of words. To disparage his memory by citing them is a + preposterous use of scholarship. Jonson's prose, both in his dramas, in + the descriptive comments of his masques, and in the 'Discoveries', is + characterised by clarity and vigorous directness, nor is it wanting in a + fine sense of form or in the subtler graces of diction. + </p> + <p> + When Jonson died there was a project for a handsome monument to his + memory. But the Civil War was at hand, and the project failed. A memorial, + not insufficient, was carved on the stone covering his grave in one of the + aisles of Westminster Abbey: + </p> + <p> + "O rare Ben Jonson." + </p> + <p> + FELIX E. SCHELLING. THE COLLEGE, PHILADELPHIA, U.S.A. <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + The following is a complete list of his published works:— + </h3> + <p> + DRAMAS. — + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Every Man in his Humour, 4to, 1601; + The Case is Altered, 4to, 1609; + Every Man out of his Humour, 4to, 1600; + Cynthia's Revels, 4to, 1601; + Poetaster, 4to, 1602; + Sejanus, 4to, 1605; + Eastward Ho (with Chapman and Marston), 4to, 1605; + Volpone, 4to, 1607; + Epicoene, or the Silent Woman, 4to, 1609 (?), fol., 1616; + The Alchemist, 4to, 1612; + Catiline, his Conspiracy, 4to, 1611; + Bartholomew Fayre, 4to, 1614 (?), fol., 1631; + The Divell is an Asse, fol., 1631; + The Staple of Newes, fol., 1631; + The New Sun, 8vo, 1631, fol., 1692; + The Magnetic Lady, or Humours Reconcild, fol., 1640; + A Tale of a Tub, fol., 1640; + The Sad Shepherd, or a Tale of Robin Hood, fol., 1641; + Mortimer his Fall (fragment), fol., 1640. +</pre> + <p> + To Jonson have also been attributed additions to Kyd's Jeronymo, and + collaboration in The Widow with Fletcher and Middleton, and in the Bloody + Brother with Fletcher. + </p> + <p> + POEMS. — + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Epigrams, The Forrest, Underwoods, published in fols., 1616, + 1640; + Selections: Execration against Vulcan, and Epigrams, 1640; + G. Hor. Flaccus his art of Poetry, Englished by Ben Jonson, + 1640; + Leges Convivialis, fol., 1692. + Other minor poems first appeared in Gifford's edition of Works. +</pre> + <p> + PROSE. — + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Timber, or Discoveries made upon Men and Matter, fol., 1641; + The English Grammar, made by Ben Jonson for the benefit of + Strangers, fol., 1640. +</pre> + <p> + Masques and Entertainments were published in the early folios. + </p> + <p> + WORKS. — + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Fol., 1616, vol. 2, 1640 (1631-41); + fol., 1692, 1716-19, 1729; + edited by P. Whalley, 7 vols., 1756; + by Gifford (with Memoir), 9 vols., 1816, 1846; + re-edited by F. Cunningham, 3 vols., 1871; + in 9 vols., 1875; + by Barry Cornwall (with Memoir), 1838; + by B. Nicholson (Mermaid Series), + with Introduction by C. H. Herford, 1893, etc.; + Nine Plays, 1904; ed. H. C. Hart (Standard Library), 1906, etc; + Plays and Poems, with Introduction by H. Morley (Universal + Library), 1885; + Plays (7) and Poems (Newnes), 1905; + Poems, with Memoir by H. Bennett (Carlton Classics), 1907; + Masques and Entertainments, ed. by H. Morley, 1890. +</pre> + <p> + SELECTIONS. — + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + J. A. Symonds, with Biographical and Critical Essay, + (Canterbury Poets), 1886; + Grosart, Brave Translunary Things, 1895; + Arber, Jonson Anthology, 1901; + Underwoods, Cambridge University Press, 1905; + Lyrics (Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher), the Chap Books, + No. 4, 1906; + Songs (from Plays, Masques, etc.), with earliest known setting, + Eragny Press, 1906. +</pre> + <p> + LIFE. — + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + See Memoirs affixed to Works; + J. A. Symonds (English Worthies), 1886; + Notes of Ben Jonson Conversations with Drummond of Hawthornden; + Shakespeare Society, 1842; + ed. with Introduction and Notes by P. Sidney, 1906; + Swinburne, A Study of Ben Jonson, 1889. +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + EVERY MAN IN HIS HUMOUR + </h1> + <p> + <br /><br /> TO THE MOST LEARNED, AND MY HONOURED FRIEND MASTER CAMDEN + CLARENCIEUX + </p> + <p> + SIR,—There are, no doubt, a supercilious race in the world, who will + esteem all office, done you in this kind, an injury; so solemn a vice it + is with them to use the authority of their ignorance, to the crying down + of Poetry, or the professors: but my gratitude must not leave to correct + their error; since I am none of those that can suffer the benefits + conferred upon my youth to perish with my age. It is a frail memory that + remember s but present things: and, had the favour of the times so + conspired with my disposition, as it could have brought forth other, or + better, you had had the same proportion, and number of the fruits, the + first. Now I pray you to accept this; such wherein neither the confession + of my manners shall make you blush; nor of my studies, repent you to have + been the instructor: and for the profession of my thankfulness, I am sure + it will, with good men, find either praise or excuse. Your true lover, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + BEN JONSON. +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + DRAMATIS PERSONAE + KNOWELL, an old Gentleman: OLIVER COB, a Water-bearer. + EDWARD KNOWELL, his Son. JUSTICE CLEMENT, an old merry + BRAINWORM, the Father's Man Magistrate. + GEORGE DOWNRIGHT, a plain Squire. ROGER FORMAL, his Clerk. + WELLBRED, his Half-Brother. Wellbred's Servant + KITELY, a merchant. DAME KITELY, KITELY'S Wife. + CAPTAIN BOBADILL, a Paul's Man. MRS. BRIDGET his Sister. + MASTER STEPHEN, a Country Gull. TIB Cob's Wife + MASTER MATHEW, the Town Gull. + THOMAS CASH, KITELY'S Cashier. Servants, etc. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE,—-LONDON + PROLOGUE. + + Though need make many poets, and some such + As art and nature have not better'd much; + Yet ours for want hath not so loved the stage, + As he dare serve the ill customs of the age, + Or purchase your delight at such a rate, + As, for it, he himself must justly hate: + To make a child now swaddled, to proceed + Man, and then shoot up, in one beard and weed, + Past threescore years; or, with three rusty swords, + And help of some few foot and half-foot words, + Fight over York and Lancaster's king jars, + And in the tyring-house bring wounds to scars. + He rather prays you will be pleas'd to see + One such to-day, as other plays should be; + Where neither chorus wafts you o'er the seas, + Nor creaking throne comes down the boys to please; + Nor nimble squib is seen to make afeard + The gentlewomen; nor roll'd bullet heard + To say, it thunders; nor tempestuous drum + Rumbles, to tell you when the storm doth come; + But deeds, and language, such as men do use, + And persons, such as comedy would choose, + When she would shew an image of the times, + And sport with human follies, not with crimes. + Except we make them such, by loving still + Our popular errors, when we know they're ill. + I mean such errors as you'll all confess, + By laughing at them, they deserve no less: + Which when you heartily do, there's hope left then, + You, that have so grac'd monsters, may like men. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ACT I + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE I.—-A Street. + + Enter KNOWELL, at the door of his house. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Know. + A goodly day toward, and a fresh morning.—Brainworm! + Enter Brainworm. + Call up your young master: bid him rise, sir. + Tell him, I have some business to employ him. + + Brai. I will, sir, presently. + + Know. + But hear you, sirrah, + If he be at his book, disturb him not. + + Brai. Very good, sir. + + Know. + How happy yet should I esteem myself, + Could I, by any practice, wean the boy + From one vain course of study he affects. + He is a scholar, if a man may trust + The liberal voice of fame in her report, + Of good account in both our Universities, + Either of which hath favoured him with graces: + But their indulgence must not spring in me + A fond opinion that he cannot err. + Myself was once a student, and indeed, + Fed with the self-same humour he is now, + Dreaming on nought but idle poetry, + That fruitless and unprofitable art, + Good unto none, but least to the professors; + Which then I thought the mistress of all knowledge: + But since, time and the truth have waked my judgment. + And reason taught me better to distinguish T + he vain from the useful learnings. + Enter Master STEPHEN. + Cousin Stephen, What news with you, that you are here so early? + + Step. Nothing, but e'en come to see how you do, unclo. + + Know. That's kindly done; you are welcome, coz. + + Step. + Ay, I know that, sir; I would not have come else. + How does my cousin Edward, uncle? + + Know. + O, well, coz; go in and see; I doubt he be scarce stirring yet. + + Step. Uncle, afore I go in, can you tell me, an he have e'er a book + of the science of hawking and hunting; I would fain borrow it. + + Know. Why, I hope you will not a hawking now, will you? + + Step. No, wusse; but I'll practise against next year, uncle. I have + bought me a hawk, and a hood, and bells and all; I lack nothing + but a book to keep it by. + + Know. Oh, most ridiculous! + + Step. Nay, look you now, you are angry, uncle:—Why, you know an a + man have not skill in the hawking and hunting languages now-a-days, + I'll not give a rush for him: they are more studied than the Greek, + or the Latin. He is for no gallant's company without them; and by + gadslid I scorn it, I, so I do, to be a consort for every humdrum: + hang them, scroyles! there's nothing in them i' the world. What do + you talk on it? Because I dwell at Hogsden, I shall keep company + with none but the archers of Finsbury, or the citizens that come a + ducking to Islington ponds! A fine jest, i' faith! 'Slid, a + gentleman mun shew himself like a gentleman. Uncle, I pray you be + not angry; I know what I have to do, I trow. I am no novice. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Know. + You are a prodigal, absurd coxcomb, go to! + Nay, never look at me, 'tis I that speak; + Take't as you will, sir, I'll not flatter you. + Have you not yet found means enow to waste + That which your friends have left you, but you must + Go cast away your money on a buzzard, + And know not how to keep it, when you have done? + O, it is comely! this will make you a gentleman! + Well, cousin, well, I see you are e'en past hope + Of all reclaim:—-ay, so; now you are told on't, + You look another way. + + Step. What would you ha' me do? + + Know. + What would I have you do? I'll tell you, kinsman; + Learn to be wise, and practise how to thrive; + That would I have you do: and not to spend + Your coin on every bauble that you fancy, + Or every foolish brain that humours you. + I would not have you to invade each place, + Nor thrust yourself on all societies, + Till men's affections, or your own desert, + Should worthily invite you to your rank. + He that is so respectless in his courses, + Oft sells his reputation at cheap market. + Nor would I, you should melt away yourself + In flashing bravery, lest, while you affect + To make a blaze of gentry to the world, + A little puff of scorn extinguish it; + And you be left like an unsavoury snuff, + Whose property is only to offend. + I'd have you sober, and contain yourself, + Not that your sail be bigger than your boat; + But moderate your expenses now, at first, + As you may keep the same proportion still: + Nor stand so much on your gentility, + Which is an airy and mere borrow'd thing, + From dead men's dust and bones; and none of yours, + Except you make, or hold it. + Enter a Servant. + Who comes here? + + Serv. Save you, gentlemen! + + Step. Nay, we do not stand much on our gentility, friend; yet you + are welcome: and I assure you mine uncle here is a man of a + thousand a year, Middlesex land. He has but one son in all the + world, I am his next heir, at the common law, master Stephen, as + simple as I stand here, if my cousin die, as there's hope he will: + I have a pretty living O' mine own too, beside, hard by here. + + Serv. In good time, sir. + + Step. In good time, sir! why, and in very good time, sir! You do + not flout, friend, do you? + + Servo Not I, sir. + + Step. Not you, sir! you were best not, sir; an you should; here be + them can perceive it, and that quickly too; go to: and they can + give it again soundly too, an need be. + + Servo Why, sir, let this satisfy you; good faith, I had no such + intent. + + Step. Sir, an I thought you had, I would talk with you, and that + presently. + + Serv. Good master Stephen, so you may, sir, at your pleasure. + + Step. And so I would, sir, good my saucy companion! an you were out + O' mine uncle's ground, I can tell you; though I do not stand upon + my gentility neither, in't. + + Know. Cousin, cousin, will this ne'er be left? + + Step. Whoreson, basefellow! a mechanical serving-man! By this + cudgel, an 'twere not for shame, I would— + + Know. + What would you do, you peremptory gull? + If you cannot be quiet, get you hence. + You see the honest man demeans himself + Modestly tow'rds you, giving no reply + To your unseason'd, quarrelling, rude fashion; + And still you huff it, with a kind of carriage + As void of wit, as of humanity. + Go, get you in; 'fore heaven, I am ashamed + Thou hast a kinsman's interest in me. [Exit Master Stephen. + + Serv. I pray, sir, is this master Knowell's house? + + Know. Yes, marry is it, sir. + + Serv. I should inquire for a gentleman here, one master Edward + Knowell; do you know any such, sir, I pray you? + + Know. I should forget myself else, sir. + + Serv. Are you the gentleman? cry you mercy, sir: I was required by + a gentleman in the city, as I rode out at this end O' the town, to + deliver you this letter, sir. + + Know. To me, sir! What do you mean? pray you remember your + court'sy. [Reads.] To his most selected friend, master Edward + Knowell. What might the gentleman's name be, sir, that sent it? + Nay, pray you be covered. + + Serv. One master Wellbred, sir. + + Know. Master Wellbred! a young gentleman, is he not? + + Serv. The same, sir; master Kitely married his sister; the rich + merchant in the Old Jewry. + + Know. You say very true.—-Brainworm! [Enter Brainworm. + + Brai. Sir. + + Know. Make this honest friend drink here: pray you, go in. + [Exeunt Brainworm and Servant. + This letter is directed to my son; + Yet I am Edward Knowell too, and may, + With the safe conscience of good manners, use + The fellow's error to my satisfaction. + Well, I will break it ope (old men are curious), + Be it but for the style's sake and the phrase; + To see if both do answer my son's praises, + Who is almost grown the idolater + Of this young Wellbred. What have we here? + What's this? [Reads] + + Why, Ned, I beseech thee, hast thou forsworn all thy friends in the + Old Jewry? or dost thou think us all Jews that inhabit there? yet, + if thou dost, come over, and but see our frippery; change an old + shirt for a whole smock with us: do not conceive that antipathy + between us and Hogsden, as was between Jews and hogs-flesh. Leave + thy vigilant father alone, to number over his green apricots, + evening and morning, on the north-west wall: an I had been his son, + I had saved him the labour long since, if taking in all the young + wenches that pass by at the back-door, and codling every kernel of + the fruit for them, would have served, But, pr'ythee, come over to + me quickly this morning; I have such a present for thee!—our + Turkey company never sent the like to the Grand Signior. + One is a rhymer, sir, of your own batch, your own leaven; + but doth think himself poet-major of the town, willing to be shewn, + and worthy to be seen. The other—I will not venture his + description with you, till you come, because I would have you make + hither with an appetite. If the worst of 'em be not worth your + journey draw your bill of charges, as unconscionable as any + Guildhall verdict will give it you, and you shall be allowed your + viaticum. From the Windmill. + + From the Bordello it might come as well, + The Spittle, or Pict-hatch. Is this the man + My son hath sung so, for the happiest wit, + The choicest brain, the times have sent us forth! + I know not what he may be in the arts, + Nor what in schools; but, surely, for his manners, + I judge him a profane and dissolute wretch; + Worse by possession of such great good gifts, + Being the master of so loose a spirit. + Why, what unhallowed ruffian would have writ + In such a scurrilous manner to a friend! + Why should he think I tell my apricots, + Or play the Hesperian dragon with my fruit, + To watch it? Well, my son, I had thought you + Had had more judgment to have made election + Of your companions, than t' have ta'en on trust + Such petulant, jeering gamesters, that can spare + No argument or subject from their jest. + But I perceive affection makes a fool + Of any man too much the father.—-Brainworm! + Enter BRAINWORM. + Brai. Sir. + + Know. Is the fellow gone that brought this letter? + + Brai. Yea, sir, a pretty while since. + + Know. And where is your young master? + + Brai. In his chamber, sir. + + Know. He spake not with the fellow, did he? + + Brai. No, sir, he saw him not. + + Know. Take you this letter, and deliver it my son; + but with no notice that I have opened it, on your life. + + Brai. O Lord, sir! that were a jest indeed. [Exit. + + Know. + I am resolved I will not stop his journey, + Nor practise any violent means to stay + The unbridled course of youth in him; for that + Restrain'd, grows more impatient; and in kind + Like to the eager, but the generous greyhound, + Who ne'er so little from his game withheld, + Turns head, and leaps up at his holder's throat. + There is a way of winning more by love, + And urging of tho modesty, than fear: + Force works on servile natures, not the free. + He that's compell'd to goodness may be good, + But 'tis but for that fit; where others, drawn + By softness and example, get a habit. + Then, if they stray, but warn them, and the same + They should for virtue have done, they'll do for shame. [Exit. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE II.-A Room in KNOWELL.'S House. + Enter E. KNOWELL, with a letter in his hand, followed by + BRAINWORM. + + E. Know. Did he open it, say'st thou? + + Brai. Yes, O' my word, sir, and read the contents. + + E. Know. That scarce contents me. What countenance, prithee, made + he in the reading of it? was he angry, or pleased? + + Brai. Nay, sir, I saw him not read it, nor open it, I assure your + worship. + + E. Know. No! how know'st thou then that he did either? + + Brai. Marry, sir, because he charged me, on my life, to tell nobody + that he open'd it; which, unless he had done, he would never fear + to have it revealed. + + E. Know. That's true: well, I thank thee, Brainworm. + Enter STEPHEN. + + Step. O, Brainworm, didst thou not see a fellow here in + what-sha-call-him doublet? he brought mine uncle a letter e'en now. + + Brai. Yes, master Stephen; what of him? + + Step. O, I have such a mind to beat him—where is he, canst thou + tell? + + Brai. Faith, he is not of that mind: he is gone, master Stephen. + + Step. Gone! which way? when went he? how long since? + + Brai. He is rid hence; he took horse at the street-door. + + Step. And I staid in the fields! Whoreson scanderbag rogue! O that + I had but a horse to fetch him back again! + + Brai. Why, you may have my master's gelding, to save your longing, + sir. + + Step. But I have no boots, that's the spite on't. + + Brai. Why, a fine wisp of hay, roll'd hard, master Stephen. + + Step. No, faith, it's no boot to follow him now: let him e'en go + and hang. Prithee, help to truss me a little: he does so vex me— + + Brai. You'll be worse vexed when you are trussed, master Stephen. + Best keep unbraced, and walk yourself till you be cold; your choler + may founder you else. + + Step. By my faith, and so I will, now thou tell'st me on't: how + dost thou like my leg, Brainworm? + + Brai. A very good leg, master Stephen; but the woollen stocking + does not commend it so well. + + Step. Foh! the stockings be good enough, now summer is coming on, + for the dust: I'll have a pair of silk against winter, that I go to + dwell in the town. I think my leg would shew in a silk hose— + + Brai. Believe me, master Stephen, rarely well. + + Step. In sadness, I think it would: I have a reasonable good leg. + + Brai. You have an excellent good leg, master Stephen; but I can not + stay to praise it longer now, and I am very sorry for it. + [Exit. + Step. Another time will serve, Brainworm. Gramercy for this. + + E. Know. Ha, ha, ha. + + Step. 'Slid, I hope he laughs not at me; an he do— + + E. Know. Here was a letter indeed, to be intercepted by a man's + father, and do him good with him! He cannot but think most + virtuously, both of me, and the sender, sure, that make the careful + costermonger of him in our familiar epistles. Well, if he read this + with patience I'll be gelt, and troll ballads for master John + Trundle yonder, the rest of my mortality. It is true, and likely, + my father may have as much patience as another man, for he takes + much physic; and oft taking physic makes a man very patient. But + would your packet, master Wellbred, had arrived at him in such a + minute of his patience! then we had known the end of it, which now + is doubtful, and threatens—[Sees Master Stephen.] What, my wise + cousin! nay, then I'll furnish our feast with one gull more toward + the mess. He writes to me of a brace, and here's one, that's three: + oh, for a fourth, Fortune, if ever thou' It use thine eyes, I + entreat thee— + + Step. Oh, now I see who he laughed at: he laughed at somebody in + that letter. By this good light, an he had laughed at me— + + E. Know. How now, cousin Stephen, melancholy? + + Step. Yes, a little: I thought you had laughed at me, cousin. + + E. Know. Why, what an I had, coz? what would you have done? + + Step. By this light, I would have told mine uncle. + + E. Know. Nay, if you would have told your uncle, I did laugh at + you, coz. + + Step. Did you, indeed? + + E. Know. Yes, indeed. + + Step. Why then + + E. Know. What then? + + Step. I am satisfied; it is sufficient. + + E. Know. Why, be so, gentle coz: and, I pray you, let me entreat a + courtesy of you. I am sent for this morning by a friend in the Old + Jewry, to come to him; it is but crossing over the fields to + Moorgate: Will you bear me company? I protest it is not to draw you + into bond or any plot against the state, coz. + + Step. Sir, that's all one an it were; you shall command me twice so + far as Moorgate, to do you good in such a matter. Do you think I + would leave you? I protest— + + E. Know. No, no, you shall not protest, coz. + + Step. By my fackings, but I will, by your leave:—I'll protest more + to my friend, than I'll speak of at this time. + + E. Know. You speak very well, coz. + + Step. Nay, not so neither, you shall pardon me: but I speak to + serve my turn. + + E. Know. Your turn, coz! do you know what you say? A gentleman + of your sorts, parts, carriage, and estimation, to talk of your + turn in this company, and to me alone, like a tankard-bearer + at a conduit! fie! A wight that, hitherto, his every step + hath left the stamp of a great foot behind him, as every word + the savour of a strong spirit, and he! this man! so graced, gilded, + or, to use a more fit metaphor, so tenfold by nature, as not ten + housewives' pewter, again a good time, shews more bright to the + world than he! and he! (as I said last, so I say again, and still + shall say it) this man! to conceal such real ornaments as these, + and shadow their glory, as a milliner's wife does her wrought + stomacher, with a smoaky lawn, or a black cyprus! O, coz! it cannot + be answered; go not about it: Drake's old ship at Deptford may + sooner circle the world again. Come, wrong not the quality of your + desert, with looking downward, coz; but hold up your head, so: and + let the idea of what you are be portrayed in your face, that men + may read in your physnomy, here within this place is to be seen the + true, rare, and accomplished monster, or miracle of nature, which + is all one. What think you of this, coz? + + Step. Why, I do think of it: and I will be more proud, and + melancholy, and gentlemanlike, than I have been, I'll insure you. + + E. Know. Why, that's resolute, master Stephen!—Now, if I can but + hold him up to his height, as it is happily begun, it will do well + for a suburb humour: we may hap have a match with the city, and + play him for forty pound.—Come, coz. + + Step. I'll follow you. + + E. Know. Follow me! you must go before. + + Step. Nay, an I must, I will. Pray you shew me, good cousin. + [Exeunt. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE III.-The Lane before Cob's House. + Enter Master MATHEW: +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Mat. I think this be the house: what ho! + Enter COB. + Cob. Who's there? O, master Mathew! give your worship good morrow. + + Mat. What, Cob! how dost thou, good Cob? dost thou inhabit here, + Cob? + + Cob. Ay, sir, I and my lineage have kept a poor house here, in Our + days. + + Mat. Thy lineage, monsieur Cob! what lineage, what lineage? + + Cob. Why, sir, an ancient lineage, and a princely. Mine ance'try + came from a king's belly, no worse man; and yet no man either, by + your worship's leave, I did lie in that, but herring, the king of + fish (from his belly I proceed), one of the monarchs of the world, + I assure you. The first red herring that was broiled in Adam and + Eve's kitchen, do I fetch my pedigree from, by the harrot's book. + His cob was my great, great, mighty great grandfather. + + Mat. Why mighty, why mighty, I pray thee? + + Cob. O, it was a mighty while ago, sir, and a mighty great cob. + + Mat. How know'st thou that? + + Cob. How know I! why, I smell his ghost ever and anon. + + Mat. Smell a ghost! O unsavoury jest! and the ghost of a herring + cob? + + Cob. Ay, sir: With favour of your worship's nose, master Mathew, + why not the ghost of a herring cob, as well as the ghost of Rasher + Bacon? + + Mat. Roger Bacon, thou would'st say. + + Cob. I say Rasher Bacon. They were both broiled on the coals; and a + man may smell broiled meat, I hope! you are a scholar, upsolve me + that now. + + Mat. O raw ignorance!—Cob, canst thou shew me of a gentleman, one + captain Bobadill, where his lodging is? + + Cob. O, my guest, sir, you mean. + + Mat. Thy guest! alas, ha, ha, ha! + + Cob. Why do you laugh, sir? do you not mean captain Bobadill? + + Mat. Cob, pray thee advise thyself well; do not wrong the + gentleman, and thyself too. I dare be sworn, he scorns thy house; + he! he lodge in such a base obscure place as thy house! Tut, I know + his disposition so well, he would not lie in thy bed if thou'dst + give it him. + + Cob. I will not give it him though, sir. Mass, I thought somewhat + was in it, we could not get him to bed all night: Well, sir, though + he lie not on my bed, he lies on my bench: an't please you to go + up, sir, you shall find him with two cushions under his head, and + his cloak wrapped about him, as though he had neither won nor lost, + and yet, I warrant, he ne'er cast better in his life, than he has + done to-night. + + Mat. Why, was he drunk? + + Cob. Drunk, sir! you hear not me say so: perhaps he swallowed a + tavern-token, or some such device, sir, I have nothing to do + withal. I deal with water and not with wine—Give me my tankard + there, ho!—God be wi' you, sir. It's six o'clock: I should have + carried two turns by this. What ho! my stopple! come. + Enter Tib with a water-tankard. + Mat. Lie in a water-bearer's house! a gentleman of his havings! + Well, I'll tell him my mind. + + Cob. What, Tib; shew this gentleman up to the captain.[Exit Tib + with Master Mathew.] Oh, an my house were the Brazen-head now! + faith it would e'en speak Moe fools yet. You should have some now + would take this master Mathew to be a gentleman, at the least. His + father's an honest man, a worshipful fishmonger, and so forth; and + now does he creep and wriggle into acquaintance with all the brave + gallants about the town, such as my guest is (O, my guest is a fine + man!), and they flout him invincibly. He useth every day to a + merchant's house where I serve water, one master Kitely's, in the + Old Jewry; and here's the jest, he is in love with + my master's sister, Mrs. Bridget, and calls her mistress; and there + he will sit you a whole afternoon sometimes, reading of these same + abominable, vile (a pox on 'em! I cannot abide them), rascally + verses, poetrie, poetrie, and speaking of interludes; 'twill make a + man burst to hear him. And the wenches, they do so jeer, and ti-he + at him—Well, should they do so much to me, I'd forswear them all, + by the foot of Pharaoh! There's an oath! How many water-bearers + shall you hear swear such an oath? O, I have a guest—he teaches + me-he does swear the legiblest of any man christened: By St. + George! the foot of Pharaoh! the body of me! as I am a gentleman + and a soldier! such dainty oaths! and withal he does take this same + filthy roguish tobacco, the finest and cleanliest! it would do a + man good to see the fumes come forth at's tonnels.—Well, he owes + me forty shillings, my wife lent him out of her purse, by sixpence + at a time, besides his lodging: I would I had it! I shall have it, + he says, the next action. Helterskelter, hang sorrow, care'll kill + a cat, up-tails all, and a louse for the hangman. + [Exit. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE IV.-A Room in COB'S House. + BOBADILL discoved lying on a bench. + + Bob. Hostess, hostess! + Enter TIB. + Tib. What say you, sir? + + Bob. A cup of thy small beer, sweet hostess. + + Tib. Sir, there's a gentleman below would speak with you. + + Bob. A gentleman! 'odso, I am not within. + + Tib. My husband told him you were, sir. + + Bob. What a plague-what meant he? + + Mat. [below.] Captain Bobadill! + + Bob. Who's there!-Take away the bason, good hostess;—Come up, sir. + + Tib. He would desire you to come up, cleanly house, here! + Enter MATHEW. + Mat. Save you, sir; save you, captain! + + Bob. Gentle master Mathew! Is it you, sir? down. + + Mat. Thank you, good captain; you may see I am somewhat audacious. + + Bob. Not so, sir. I was requested to supper last night by a sort of + gallants, where you were wished for, and drunk to, I assure you. + + Mat. Vouchsafe me, by whom, good captain? + + Bob. Marry, by young Wellbred, and others.—Why, hostess, stool + here for this gentleman. + + Mat. No haste, sir, 'tis very well. + + Bob. Body O' me! it was so late ere we parted last night, I can + scarce open my eyes yet; I was but new risen, as you came; how + passes the day abroad, sir? you can tell. + + Mat. Faith, some half hour to seven; Now, trust me, you have an + exceeding fine lodging here, very neat, and private. + + Bob. Ay, sir: sit down, I pray you. Master Mathew, in any case + possess no gentlemen of our acquaintance with notice of my lodging. + + Mat. Who? I, sir; no. + + Bob. Not that I need to care who know it, for the cabin is + convenient; but in regard I would not be too popular, and generally + visited, as some are. + + Mat. True, captain, I conceive you. + + Bob. For, do you see, sir, by the heart of valour in me, except it + be to some peculiar and choice spirits, to whom I am + extraordinarily engaged, as yourself, or so, I could not extend + thus far. + + Mat. O Lord, sir! I resolve so. + + Bob. I confess I love a cleanly and quiet privacy, above all the + tumult and roar of fortune. What new book have you there? What! Go + by, Hieronymo? + + Mat. Ay: did you ever see it acted? Is't not well penned? + [While Master Mathew reads, Bobadill makes himself ready. + + Bob. Well penned! I would fain see all the poets of these times pen + such another play as that was: they'll prate and swagger, and keep + a stir of art and devices, when, as I am a gentleman, read 'em, + they are the most shallow, pitiful, barren fellows, that live upon + the: face of the earth again. + + Mat. Indeed here are a number of fine speeches in this book. O + eyes, no eyes, but fountains fraught with tears! there's a conceit! + fountains fraught with tears! O life, no life, but lively form of + death! another. O world, no world, but mass of public wrongs! a + third. Confused and fill'd with murder and misdeeds! a fourth. O, + the muses! Is't not excellent? Is't not simply the best that ever + you heard, captain? Ha! how do you like it? + + Bob. 'Tis good. + + Mat. + To thee, the purest object to my sense, + The most refined essence heaven covers, + Send I these lines, wherein I do commence + The happy state of turtle-billing lovers. + If they prove rough, unpolish'd, harsh, and rude, + Haste made the waste: thus mildly I conclude. + + Bob. Nay, proceed, proceed. Where's this? + + Mat. This, sir! a toy of mine own, in my non-age; the infancy of my + muses. But when will you come and see my study? good faith, I can + shew you some very good things I have done of late.—That boot + becomes your leg passing well, captain, methinks. + + Bob. So, so; it's the fashion gentlemen now use. + + Mat. Troth, captain, and now you speak of the fashion, master + Wellbred's elder brother and I are fallen out exceedingly: This + other day, I happened to enter into some discourse of a hanger, + which, I assure you, both for fashion and workmanship, was most + peremptory beautiful and gentlemanlike: yet he condemned, and cried + it down for the most pied and ridiculous that ever he saw. + + Bob. Squire Downright, the half brother, was't not? + + Mat. Ay, sir, he. + + Bob. Hang him, rook! he! why he-has no more judgment than a malt + horse: By St. George, I wonder you'd lose a thought upon such an + animal; the most peremptory absurd clown of Christendom, this day, + he is holden. I protest to you, as I am a gentleman and a soldier, + I ne'er changed with his like. By his discourse, he should eat + nothing but hay; he was born for the manger, pannier, or + pack-saddle. He has not so much as a good phrase in his belly, but + all old iron and rusty proverbs: a good commodity for some smith to + make hob-nails of. + + Mat. Ay, and he thinks to carry it away with his manhood still, + where he comes: he brags he will give me the bastinado, as I hear. + + Bob. How! he the bastinado! how came he by that word, trow? + + Mat. Nay, indeed, he said cudgel me; I termed it so, for my more + grace. + + Bob. That may be: for I was sure it was none of his word; but when, + when said he so? + + Mat. Faith, yesterday, they say; a young gallant, a friend of mine, + told me so. + + Bob. By the foot of Pharaoh, an 'twere my case now, I should send + him a chartel presently. The bastinado! a most proper and + sufficient dependence, warranted by the great Caranza. Come hither, + you shall chartel him; I'll shew you a trick or two you shall kill + him with at pleasure; the first stoccata, if you will, by this air. + + Mat. Indeed, you have absolute knowledge in the mystery, I have + heard, sir. + + Bob. Of whom, of whom, have you heard it, I beseech you? + + Mat. Troth, I have heard it spoken of divers, that you have very + rare, and un-in-one-breath-utterable skill, sir. + + Bob. By heaven, no, not I; no skill in the earth; some small + rudiments in the science, as to know my time, distance, or so. I + have professed it more for noblemen and gentlemen's use, than mine + own practice, I assure you.—Hostess, accommodate us with another + bed-staff here quickly. Lend us another bed-staff—the woman does + not understand the words of action.—Look you, sir: exalt not your + point above this state, at any hand, and let your poniard maintain + your defence, thus:—give it the gentleman, and leave us. [Exit Tib.] + So, sir. Come on: O, twine your body more about, that you may + fall to a more sweet, comely, gentlemanlike guard; so! indifferent: + hollow your body more, sir, thus: now, stand fast O' your left leg, + note your distance, keep your due proportion of time—oh, you + disorder your point most i rregularly. + + Mat. How is the bearing of it now, sir? + + Bob. O, out of measure ill: a well-experienced hand would pass upon + you at pleasure. + + Mat. How mean you, sir, pass upon me? + + Bob. Why, thus, sir,—make a thrust at me—[Master Mathew pushes at + Bobadill] come in upon the answer, control your point, and make a + full career at the body: The best-practised gallants of the time + name it the passado; a most desperate thrust, believe it. + + Mat. Well, come, sir. + + Bob. Why, you do not manage your weapon with any facility or grace + to invite me. I have no spirit to play with you; your dearth of + judgment renders you tedious. + + Mat. But one venue, sir. + + Bob. Venue! fie; the most gross denomination as ever I heard: O, + the stoccata, while you live, sir; note that.—Come, put on your + cloke, and we'll go to some private place where you are acquainted; + some tavern, or so—and have a bit. I'll send for one of these + fencers, and he shall breathe you, by my direction; and then I will + teach you your trick: you shall kill him with it at the first, if + you please. Why, I will learn you, by the true judgment of the eye, + hand, and foot, to control any enemy's point in the world. Should + your adversary confront you with a pistol, 'twere nothing, by this + hand! you should, by the same rule, control his bullet, in a line, + except it were hail shot, and spread. What money have you about + you, master Mathew? + + Mat. Faith, I have not past a two shilling or so. + + Bob. 'Tis somewhat with the least; but come; we will have a bunch + of radish and salt to taste our wine, and a pipe of tobacco to + close the orifice of the stomach: and then we'll call upon young + Wellbred: perhaps we shall meet the Corydon his brother there, and + put him to the question. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ACT II + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE I.-The Old Jewry. A Hall in KITELY'S House. + Enter KITELY, CASH, and DOWNRIGHT. + + Kit. + Thomas, come hither. + There lies a note within upon my desk; + Here take my key: it is no matter neither.—- + Where is the boy? + + Cash. Within, sir, in the warehouse. + + Kit. + Let him tell over straight that Spanish gold, + And weigh it, with the pieces of eight. Do you + See the delivery of those silver stuffs + To Master Lucar: tell him, if he will, + He shall have the grograns, at the rate I told him, + And I. will meet him on the Exchange anon. + + Cash. Good, sir. [Exit. + + Kit. Do you see that fellow, brother Downright? + + Dow. Ay, what of him? + + Kit. He is a jewel, brother. + I took him of a child up at my door, + And christen'd him, gave him mine own name, Thomas: + Since bred him at the Hospital; where proving + A toward imp, I call'd him home, and taught him + So much, as I have made him my cashier, + And giv'n him, who had none, a surname, Cash: + And find him in his place so full of faith, + That I durst trust my life into his hands. + + Dow. + So would not I in any bastard's, brother, + As it is like he is, although I knew + Myself his father. But you said you had somewhat + To tell me, gentle brother: what is't, what is't? + + Kit. + Faith, I am very loath to utter it, + As fearing it may hurt your patience: + But that I know your judgment is of strength, + Against the nearness of affection—- + + Dow. + What need this circumstance? pray you, be direct. + + Kit. + I will not say how much I do ascribe + Unto your friendship, nor in what regard + I hold your love; but let my past behaviour, + And usage of your sister, [both] confirm + How well I have been affected to your—- + + Dow. + You are too tedious; come to the matter, the matter. + + Kit. + Then, without further ceremony, thus. + My brother Wellbred, sir, I know not how, + Of late is much declined in what he was, + And greatly alter'd in his disposition. + When he came first to lodge here in my house, + Ne'er trust me if I were not proud of him: + Methought he bare himself in such a fashion, + So full of man, and sweetness in his carriage, + And what was chief, it shew'd not borrow'd in him, + But all he did became him as his own, + And seem'd as perfect, proper, and possest, + As breath with life, or colour with the blood. + But now, his course is so irregular, + So loose, affected, and deprived of grace, + And he himself withal so far fallen off + From that first place, as scarce no note remains, + To tell men's judgments where he lately stood. + He's grown a stranger to all due respect, + Forgetful of his friends; and not content + To stale himself in all societies, + He makes my house here common as a mart, + A theatre, a public receptacle + For giddy humour, and deceased riot; + And here, as in a tavern or a stews, + He and his wild associates spend their hours, + In repetition of lascivious jests, + Swear, leap, drink, dance, and revel night by night, + Control my servants; and, indeed, what not? + + Dow. 'Sdeins, I know not what I should say to him, in the whole + world! He values me at a crack'd three-farthings, for aught I see. + It will never out of the flesh that's bred in the bone. I have + told him enough, one would think, if that would serve; but counsel + to him is as good as a shoulder of mutton to a sick horse. Well! + he knows what to trust to, for George: let him spend, and spend, + and domineer, till his heart ake; an he think to be relieved by + me, when he is got into one O' your city pounds, the counters, he + has the wrong sow by the ear, i'faith; and claps his dish at the + wrong man's door: I'll lay my hand on my halfpenny, ere I part + with it to fetch him out, I'll assure him.' + + Kit. Nay, good brother, let it not trouble you thus. + + Dow. 'Sdeath! he mads me; I could eat my very spur leathers for + anger! But, why are you so tame? why do you not speak to him, and + tell him how he disquiets your house? + + Kit. + O, there are divers reasons to dissuade me. + But, would yourself vouchsafe to travail in it + (Though but with plain and easy circumstance), + It would both come much better to his sense, + And savour less of stomach, or of passion. + You are his elder brother, and that title + Both gives and warrants your authority, + Which, by your presence seconded, must breed + A kind of duty in him, and regard: + Whereas, if I should intimate the least, + It would but add contempt to his neglect, + Heap worse on ill, make up a pile of hatred, + That in the rearing would come tottering down, + And in the ruin bury all our love. + Nay, more than this, brother; if I should speak, + He would be ready, from his heat of humour, + And overflowing of the vapour in him, + To blow the ears of his familiars + With the false breath of telling what disgraces, + And low disparagement's, I had put upon him. + Whilst they, sir, to relieve him in the fable, + Make their loose comments upon every word, + Gesture, or look, I use; mock me all over, + From my flat cap unto my shining shoes; + And, out of their impetuous rioting phant'sies, + Beget some slander that shall dwell with me. + And what would that be, think you? marry, this: + They would give out, because my wife is fair, + Myself but lately married; and my sister '. + Here sojourning a virgin in my house, + That I were jealous I—-nay, as sure as death, + That they would say: and, how that I had quarrell'd, + My brother purposely, thereby to find + An apt pretext to banish them my house. + + Dow. Mass, perhaps so; they're like enough to do it. + + Kit. + Brother, they would, believe it; so should I, + Like one of these penurious quack-salvers, + But set the bills up to mine own disgrace, + And try experiments upon myself; + Lend scorn and envy opportunity + To stab my reputation and good name— + Enter Master MATHEW struggling with BOBADILL. + + Mat. I will speak to him. + + Bob. Speak to him! away! By the foot of Pharaoh, you shall not! you + shall not do him that grace.—The time of day to you, gentleman O' + the house. Is master Wellbred stirring? + + Dow. How then? what should he do? + + Bob. Gentleman of the house, it is to you: is he within, sir? + + Kit. He came not to his lodging to-night, sir, I assure you. + + Dow. Why, do you hear? you! + + Bob. + The gentleman citizen hath satisfied me; + I'll talk to no scavenger. [Exeunt Bob. and Mat. + + Dow. How! scavenger! stay, sir, stay! + + Kit. Nay, brother Downright. + + Dow. 'Heart! stand you away, an you love me. + + Kit. You shall not follow him now, I pray you, brother, good faith + you shall not; I will overrule you. + + Dow. Ha! scavenger! well, go to, I say little: but, by this good + day (God forgive me I should swear), if I put it up so, say I am + the rankest cow that ever pist. 'Sdeins, an I swallow this, I'll + ne'er draw my sword in the sight of Fleet-street again while I + live; I'll sit in a barn with madge-howlet, and catch mice first. + Scavenger! heart!—and I'll go near to fill that huge tumbrel-slop + of yours with somewhat, an I have good luck: your Garagantua breech + cannot carry it away so. + + Kit. Oh, do not fret yourself thus: never think on't. + + Dow. These are my brother's consorts, these! these are his + camerades, his walking mates! he's a gallant, cavaliero too, + right hangman cut! Let me not live, an I could not find in my heart + to swinge the whole gang of 'em, one after another, and begin with + him first. I am grieved it should be said he is my brother, and + take these courses: Well, as he brews, so shall he drink, for + George, again. Yet he shall hear on't, and that tightly too, an I + live, i'faith. + + Kit. + But, brother, let your reprehension, then, + Run in an easy current, not o'er high + Carried with rashness, or devouring choler; + But rather use the soft persuading way, + Whose powers will work more gently, and compose + The imperfect thoughts you labour to reclaim; + More winning, than enforcing the consent. + + Dow. Ay, ay, let me alone for that, I warrant you. + + Kit. + How now! [Bell rings.] Oh, the bell rings to breakfast. + Brother, I pray you go in, and bear my wife company till I come; + I'll but give order for some despatch of business to my servants. + [Exit Downright. Enter COB, with his tankard. + + Kit. + What, Cob! our maids will have you by the back, i'faith, for + coming so late this morning. + + Cob. + Perhaps so, sir; take heed somebody have not them by the belly, + for walking so late in the evening. [Exit. + + Kit. + Well; yet my troubled spirit's somewhat eased, + Though not reposed in that security + As I could wish: but I must be content, + Howe'er I set a face on't to the world. + Would I had lost this finger at a venture, + So Wellbred had ne'er lodged within my house. + Why't cannot be, where there is such resort + Of wanton gallants, and young revellers, + That any woman should be honest long. + Is't like, that factious beauty will preserve + The public weal of chastity unshaken, + When such strong motives muster, and make head + Against her single peace? No, no: beware. + When mutual appetite doth meet to treat, + And spirits of one kind and quality + Come once to parley in the pride of blood, + It is no slow conspiracy that follows. + Well, to be plain, if I but thought the time + Had answer'd their affections, all the world + Should not persuade me but I were a cuckold. + Marry, I hope they have not got that start; + For opportunity hath balk'd them yet, + And shall do still, while I have eyes and ears + To attend the impositions of my heart. + My presence shall be as an iron bar, + 'Twixt the conspiring motions of desire: + Yea, every look or glance mine eye ejects + Shall check occasion, as one doth his slave, + When he forgets the limits of prescription. + Enter Dame KITELY and BRIDGET. + + Dame K. Sister Bridget, pray you fetch down the rose-water, + above in the closet.—- + [Exit Bridget. + Sweet-heart, will you come in to breakfast? + + Kit. An she have overheard me now!—- + + Dame K. I pray thee, good muss, we stay for you. + + Kit. By heaven, I would not for a thousand angels. + + Dame K. What ail you, sweet-heart? are you not well? speak, good + muss. + + Kit. Troth my head akes extremely on a sudden. + + Dame K. [putting her hand to his forehead.] O, the Lord! + + Kit. How now! What? + + Dame K. Alas, how it burns! Muss, keep you warm; good truth it is + this new disease. There's a number are troubled withal. For love's + sake, sweetheart, come in, out of the air. + + Kit. + How simple, and how subtle are her answers! + A new disease, and many troubled with it? + Why true; she heard me, all the world to nothing. + + Dame K. I pray thee, good sweet-heart, come in; the air will do you + harm, in troth. + + Kit. The air! she has me in the wind.—Sweet-heart, I'll come to + you presently; 'twill away, I hope. + + Dame K. Pray Heaven it do. [Exit. + + Kit. + A new disease! I. know not, new or old, + But it may well be call'd poor mortals' plague; + For, like a pestilence, it doth infect + The houses of the brain. First it begins + Solely to work upon the phantasy, + Filling her seat with such pestiferous air, + As soon corrupts the judgment; and from thence, + Sends like contagion to the memory: + Still each to other giving the infection. + Which as a subtle vapour spreads itself + Confusedly through every sensive part, + Till not a thought or motion in the mind + Be free from the black poison of suspect. + Ah! but what misery is it to know this? + Or, knowing it, to want the mind's erection + In such extremes? Well, I will once more strive, + In spite of this black cloud, myself to be, + And shake the fever off that thus shakes me. [Exit. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE II.—-Moorfields. + Enter BRAINWORM disguised like a maimed Soldier. + + Brai. 'Slid, I cannot choose but laugh to see myself translated + thus, from a poor creature to a creator; for now must I create an + intolerable sort of lies, or my present profession loses the grace: + and yet the lie, to a man of my coat, is as ominous a fruit as the + fico. O, sir, it holds for good polity ever, to have that outwardly + in vilest estimation, that inwardly is most dear to us: so much for + my borrowed shape. Well, the troth is, my old master intends to + follow my young master, dry-foot, over Moorfields to London, this + morning; now, I knowing of this hunting-match, or rather conspiracy, + and to insinuate with my young master (for so must we that are blue + waiters, and men of hope and service do, or perhaps we may wear + motley at the year's end, and who wears motley, you know), have got + me afore in this disguise, determining here to lie in ambuscado, + and intercept him in the mid-way. If I can but get his cloke, his + purse, and his hat, nay, any thing to cut him off, that is, to stay + his journey, Veni, vidi, vici, I may say with captain Caesar, I am + made for ever, i'faith. Well, now I must practise to get the true + garb of one of these lance-knights, my arm here, and my—Odso! my + young master, and his cousin, master Stephen, as I am true + counterfeit man of war, and no soldier! + + Enter E. KNOWELL and STEPHEN. + + E. Know. So, sir! and how then, coz? + + Step. 'Sfoot! I have lost my purse, I think. + + E. Know. How! lost your purse? where? when had you it? + + Step. I cannot tell; stay. + + Brai. 'Slid, I am afraid they will know me: would I could get by + them! + + E. Know. What, have you it? + + Step. No; I think I was bewitched, I— [Cries. + + E. Know. Nay, do not weep the loss: hang it, let it go. + + Step. Oh, it's here: No, an it had been lost, I had not cared, but + for a jet ring mistress Mary sent me. + + E. Know. A jet ring! O the poesie, the poesie? + + Step. Fine, i'faith. + + Though Fancy sleep, + My love is deep. + + Meaning, that though I did not fancy her, yet she loved me dearly. + + E. Know. Most excellent! + + Step. And then I sent her another, and my poesie was, + + The deeper the sweeter, + I'll be judg'd by St. Peter. + + E. Know. How, by St. Peter? I do not conceive that. + + Step. Marry, St. Peter, to make up the metre. + + E. Know. Well, there the saint was your good patron, he help'd you + at your need; thank him, thank him. + + Brai. I cannot take leave on 'em so; I will venture, come what + will. [Comes forward.] Gentlemen, please you change a few crowns + for a very excellent blade here? I am a poor gentleman, a soldier, + one that, in the better state of my fortunes, scorned so mean a + refuge; but now it is the humour of necessity to have it so. You + seem to be gentlemen well affected to martial men, else I should + rather die with silence, than live with shame: however, vouchsafe + to remember it is my want speaks, not myself; this condition agrees + not with my spirit— + + E. Know. Where hast thou served? + + Brai. May it please you, sir, in all the late wars of Bohemia, + Hungary, Dalmatia, Poland, where not, sir? I have been a poor + servitor by sea and land any time this fourteen years, and followed + the fortunes of the best commanders in Christendom. I was twice, + shot at the taking of Aleppo, once at the relief of Vienna; I have + been at Marseilles, Naples, and the Adriatic gulf, a + gentleman-slave in the gallies, thrice; where I was most + dangerously shot in the head, through both the thighs; and yet, + being thus maimed, I am void of maintenance, nothing left me but my + scars, the noted marks of my resolution. + + Step. How will you sell this rapier, friend? + + Brai. Generous sir, I refer it to your own judgment; you are a + gentleman, give me what you please. + + Step. True, I am a gentleman, I know that, friend; but what though! + I pray you say, what would you ask? + + Brai. I assure you, the blade may become the side or thigh of the + best prince in Europe. + + E. Know. Ay, with a velvet scabbard, I think. + + Step. Nay, an't be mine, it shall have a velvet scapbard, coz, + that's flat; I'd not wear it, as it is, an you would give me an + angel, + + Brai. At your worship's pleasure, sir; nay, 'tis a most pure + Toledo. + + Step. I had rather it were a Spaniard. But tell me, what shall I + give you for it? An it had a silver hilt + + E. Know. Come, come, you shall not buy it: hold, there's a + shilling, fellow; take thy rapier. + + Step. Why, but I will buy it now, because you say so; and there's + another shilling, fellow; I scorn to be out-bidden. What, shall I + walk with a cudgel, like Higginbottom, and may have a rapier for + money. + + E. Know. You may buy one in the city. + + Step. Tut! I'll buy this i' the field, so I will: I have a mind + to't, because 'tis a field rapier. Tell me your lowest price. + + E. Know. You shall not buy it, I. say. + + Step. By this money, but I will, though I give more than 'tis + worth. + + E. Know. Come away, you are a fool. + + Step. Friend, I am a fool, that's granted; but I'll have it, for + that word's sake. Follow me for your money. + + Brai. At your service, sir. + [Exeunt. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE III.—-Another Part of Moorfields. + Enter KNOWELL. + + Know. + I cannot lose the thought yet of this letter, + Sent to my son; nor leave t' admire the change + Of manners, and the breeding of our youth + Within the kingdom, since myself was one—- + When I was young, he lived not in the stews + Durst have conceived a scorn, and utter'd it, + On a gray head; age was authority + Against a buffoon, and a man had then + A certain reverence paid unto his years, + That had none due unto his life: so much + The sanctity of some prevail'd for others. + But now we all are fallen; youth, from their fear, + And age, from that which bred it, good example. + Nay, would ourselves were not the first, even parents, + That did destroy the hopes in our own children; + Or they not learn'd our vices in their cradles, + And suck'd in our ill customs with their milk; + Ere all their teeth be born, or they can speak, + We make their palates cunning; the first words + We form their tongues with, are licentious jests: + Can it call whore? cry bastard? O, then, kiss it! + A witty child! can't swear? the father's darling! + Give it two plums. Nay, rather than't shall learn + No bawdy song, the mother herself will teach it!—- + But this is in the infancy, the days + Of the long coat; when it puts on the breeches, + It will put off all this: Ay, it is like, + When it is gone into the bone already! + No, no; this dye goes deeper than the coat, + Or shirt, or skin; it stains into the liver, + And heart, in some; and, rather than it should not, + Note what we fathers do! look how we live! + What mistresses we keep! at what expense, + In our sons' eyes! where they may handle our gifts, + Hear our lascivious courtships, see our dalliance, + Taste of the same provoking meats with us, + To ruin of our states! Nay, when our own + Portion is fled, to prey on the remainder, + We call them into fellowship of vice; + Bait 'em with the young chamber-maid, to seal, + And teach 'em all bad ways to buy affliction. + This is one path: but there are millions more, + In which we spoil our own, with leading them. + Well, I thank heaven, I never yet was he + That travell'd with my son, before sixteen, + To shew him the Venetian courtezans; + Nor read the grammar of cheating I had made, + To my sharp boy, at twelve; repeating still + The rule, Get money; still, get money, boy; + No matter by what means; money will do + More, boy, than my lord's letter. Neither have I + Drest snails or mushrooms curiously before him, + Perfumed my sauces, and taught him how to make them; + Preceding still, with my gray gluttony, + At all the ord'naries, and only fear'd + His palate should degenerate, not his manners. + These are the trade of fathers now; however, + My son, I hope, hath met within my threshold + None of these household precedents, which are strong, + And swift, to rape youth to their precipice. + But let the house at home be ne'er so clean + Swept, or kept sweet from filth, nay dust and cobwebs, + If he will live abroad with his companions, + In dung and leystals, it is worth a fear; + Nor is the danger of conversing less + Than all that I have mention'd of example. + Enter BRAIN WORM, disguised as before. + + Brai. My master! nay, faith, have at you; I am flesh'd now, I have + sped so well. [Aside.] Worshipful sir, I beseech you, respect the + estate of a poor soldier; lam ashamed of this base course of + life,—God's my comfort—but extremity provokes me to't: what + remedy? + + Know. I have not for you, now. + + Brai. By the faith I bear unto truth, gentleman, it is no ordinary + custom in me, but only to preserve manhood. I protest to you, a man + I have been: a man I may be, by your sweet bounty. + + Know. Pray thee, good friend, be satisfied. + + Brai. Good sir, by that hand, you may do the part of a kind + gentleman, in lending a poor soldier the price of two cans of beer, + a matter of small value: the king of heaven shall pay you, and I + shall rest thankful: Sweet worship— + + Know. Nay, an you be so importunate + + Brai. Oh, tender sir! need will have its course: I was not made to + this vile use. Well, the edge of the enemy could not have abated me + so much: it's hard when a man hath served in his prince's cause, + and be thus. [Weeps.] Honourable worship, let me derive a small + piece of silver from you, it shall not be given in the course of + time. By this good ground, I was fain to pawn my rapier last night + for a poor supper; I had suck'd the hilts long before, am a pagan + else: Sweet honour— + + Know. + Believe me, I am taken with some wonder, + To think a fellow of thy outward presence, + Should, in the frame and fashion of his mind, + Be so degenerate, and sordid-base. + Art thou a man? and sham'st thou not to beg, + To practise such a servile kind of life? + Why, were thy education ne'er so mean, + Having thy limbs, a thousand fairer courses + Offer themselves to thy election. + Either the wars might still supply thy wants, + Or service of some virtuous gentleman, + Or honest labour; nay, what can I name, + But would become thee better than to beg: + But men of thy condition feed on sloth, + As cloth the beetle on the dung she breeds in; + Nor caring how the metal of your minds + Is eaten with the rust of idleness. + Now, afore me, whate'er he be, that should + Relieve a person of thy quality, + While thou insist'st in this loose desperate course, + I would esteem the sin not thine, but his. + + Brai. Faith, sir, I would gladly find some other course, if so—- + + Know. + Ay, + You'd gladly find it, but you will not seek it. + + Brai. Alas, sir, where should a man seek? in the wars; there's no + ascent by desert in these days; but—and for service, would it + were as soon purchased, as wished for! the air's my comfort.—- + [Sighs.]—-l know what I would say. + + Know. What's thy name? + + Brai. Please you, Fitz-Sword, sir. + + Know. Fitz-Sword! + Say that a man should entertain thee now, + Wouldst thou be honest, humble, just, and true? + + Brai. Sir, by the place and honour of a soldier—- + + Know. Nay, nay, I like not these affected oaths; speak plainly, + man, what think'st thou of my words? + + Brai. Nothing, sir, but wish my fortunes were as happy as my + service should be honest. + + Know. + Well, follow me; I'll prove thee, if thy deeds + Will carry a proportion to thy words. [Exit. + + Brai. Yes, sir, straight; I'll but garter my hose. Oh that my belly + were hoop'd now, for I am ready to burst with laughing! never was + bottle or bagpipe fuller. 'Slid, was there ever seen a fox in years + to betray himself thus! now shall I be possest of all his counsels; + and, by that conduit, my young master. Well, he is resolved to + prove my honesty; faith, and I'm resolved to prove his patience: + Oh, I shall abuse him intolerably. This small piece of service will + bring him clean out of love with the soldier for ever. He will + never come within the sign of it, the sight of a cassock, or a + musket-rest again. He will hate the musters at Mile-end for it, to + his dying day. It's no matter, let the world think me a bad + counterfeit, if I cannot give him the slip at an instant: why, this + is better than to have staid his journey: well, I'll follow him. + Oh, how I long to be employed! + [Exit. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ACT III + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE I.-The Old Jewry. A Room in the Windmill Tavern. + Enter Master MATHEW, WELLBRED, and BOBADILL. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Mat. Yes, faith, sir, we were at your lodging to seek you too. + + Wel; Oh, I came not there to-night. + + Bob. Your brother delivered us as much. + + Wel. Who, my brother Downright? + + Bob. He. Mr. Wellbred, I know not in what kind you hold me; but let + me say to you this: as sure as honour, I esteem it So much out of + the sunshine of reputation, to throw the least beam of regard upon + such a— + + Wel. Sir, I must hear no ill words of my brother. + + Bob. I protest to you, as I have a thing to be saved about me, I + never saw any gentlemanlike part— + + Wel. Good captain, faces about to some other discourse. + + Bob. With your leave, sir, an there were no more men living upon + th' face of the earth, I should not fancy him, by St. George! + + Mat. Troth, nor I; he is of a rustical cut, I know not how: he doth + not carry himself like a gentleman of fashion. + + Wel. Oh, master Mathew, that's a grace peculiar but to a few, quos + aequus amavit Jupiter. + + Mat. I understand you, sir. + + Wel. No question, you do,—or do you not, sir. + Enter E. KNOWELL and Master STEPHEN. + Ned Knowell! by my soul, welcome: how dost thou, sweet spirit, my + genius? 'Slid, I shall love Apollo and the mad Thespian girls the + better, while I live, for this, my dear Fury; now, I see there's + some love in thee. Sirrah, these be the two I writ to thee of: nay, + what a drowsy humour is this now! why dost thou not speak? + + E. Know. Oh, you are a fine gallant; you sent me a rare letter. + + Wel. Why, was't not rare? + + E. Know. Yes, I'll be sworn, I was ne'er guilty of reading the + like; match it in all Pliny, or Symmachus's epistles, and I'll have + my judgment burn'd in the ear for a rogue: make much of thy vein, + for it is inimitable. But I marle what camel it was, that had the + carriage of it; for, doubtless, he was no ordinary beast that + brought it. + + Wel. Why? + + E. Know. Why, say'st thou! why, dost thou think that any reasonable + creature, especially in the morning, the sober time of the day too, + could have mistaken my father for me? + + Wel. 'Slid, you jest, I hope. + + E. Know. Indeed, the best use we can turn it to, is to make a jest + on't; now: but I'll assure you, my father had the full view of your + flourishing style some hour before I saw it. + + Wel. What a dull slave was this! but, sirrah, what said he to it, + i'faith? + + E. Know. Nay, I know not what he said; but I have a shrewd guess + what he thought. + + Wel. What, what? + + E. Know. Marry, that thou art some strange, dissolute young fellow, + and I—a grain or two better, for keeping thee company. + + Wel. Tut! that thought is like the moon in her last quarter, 'twill + change shortly: but, sirrah, I pray thee be acquainted with my two + hang-by's here; thou wilt take exceeding pleasure in them if thou + hear'st 'em once go; my wind-instruments; I'll wind them up—But + what strange piece of silence is this, the sign of the Dumb Man? + + E. Know. Oh, sir, a kinsman of mine, one that may make your music + the fuller, an he please; he has his humour, sir. + + Wel. Oh, what is't, what is't? + + E. Know. Nay, I'll neither do your judgment nor his folly that + wrong, as to prepare your apprehension: I'll leave him to the mercy + of your search; if you can take him, so! + + Wel. Well, captain Bobadill, master Mathew, pray you know this + gentleman here; he is a friend of mine, and one that will deserve + your affection. I know not your name, sir, [to Stephen.] but I + shall be glad of any occasion to render me more familiar to you. + + Step. My name is master Stephen, sir; I am this gentleman's own + cousin, sir; his father is mine uncle, sir: I am somewhat + melancholy, but you shall command me, sir, in whatsoever is + incident to a gentleman. + + Bob. Sir, I must tell you this, I am no general man; but for master + Wellbred's sake, (you may embrace it at what height of favour you + please,) I do communicate with you, and conceive you to be a + gentleman of some parts; I love few words. + + E. Know. And I fewer, sir; I have scarce enough to thank you. + + Mat. But are you, indeed, sir, so given to it? + + Step. Ay, truly, sir, I am mightily given to melancholy. + + Mat. Oh, it's your only fine humour, sir: your true melancholy + breeds your perfect fine wit, sir. I am melancholy myself, diver + times, sir, and then do I no more but take pen and paper, + presently, and overflow you half a score, or a dozen of sonnets at + a sitting. + + E. Know. Sure he utters them then by the gross. [Aside. + + Step. Truly, sir, and I love such things out of measure. + + E. Know. I'faith, better than in measure, I'll undertake. + + Mat. Why, I pray you, sir, make use of my study, it's at your + service. + + Step. I thank you, sir, I shall be bold I warrant you; have you a + stool there to be melancholy upon? + + Mat. That I have, sir, and some papers there of mine own doing, at + idle hours, that you'll say there's some sparks of wit in 'em, when + you see them, + + Wel. Would the sparks would kindle once, and become a fire amongst + them! I might see self-love burnt for her heresy. [Aside. + + Step. Cousin, is it well? am I melancholy enough? + + E. Know, Oh ay, excellent. + + Wel. Captain Bobadill, why muse you so? + + E. Know. He is melancholy too. + + Bob. Faith, sir, I was thinking of a most honourable piece of + service, was performed to-morrow, being St. Mark's day, shall be + some ten years now. + + E. Know. In what place, captain? + + Bob. Why, at the beleaguering of Strigonium, where, in less than + two hours, seven hundred resolute gentlemen, as any were in Europe, + lost their lives upon the breach. I'll tell you, gentlemen, it was + the first, but the best leaguer that ever I beheld with these eyes, + except the taking in of—what do you call it?—last year, by the + Genoways; but that, of all other, was the most fatal and dangerous + exploit that ever I was ranged in, since I first bore arms before + the face of the enemy, as I am a gentleman and a soldier! + + Step. So! I had as lief as an angel I could swear as well as that + gentleman. + + E. Know. Then, you were a servitor at both, it seems; at + Strigonium, and what do you call't? + + Bob. O lord, sir! By St. George, I was the first man that entered + the breach; and had I not effected it with resolution, I had been + slain if I had had a million of lives. + + E. Know. 'Twas pity you had not ten; a cat's and your own, i'faith. + But, was it possible? + + Mat. Pray you mark this discourse, sir. + + Step. So I do. + + Bob. I assure' you, upon my reputation, 'tis true, and you shall + confess. + + E. Know. You must bring me to the rack, first. [Aside. + + Bob. Observe me judicially, sweet sir; they had planted me three + demi-culverins just in the mouth of the breach; now, sir, as we + were to give on, their master-gunner (a man of no mean skill and + mark, you must think,) confronts me with his linstock, ready to + give fire; I, spying his intendment, discharged my petronel in his + bosom, and with these single arms, my poor rapier, ran violently + upon the Moors that guarded the ordnance, and put them pell-mell, + to the sword. + + Wel. To the sword! To the rapier, captain. + + E. Know. Oh, it was a good figure observed, sir: but did you all + this, captain, without hurting your blade? + + Bob. Without any impeach O' the earth: you shall perceive, sir. + [Shews his rapier.] It is the most fortunate weapon that ever rid + on poor gentleman's thigh. Shall I tell you, sir? You talk of + Morglay, Excalibur, Durindana, or so; tut! I lend no credit to that + is fabled of 'em: I know the virtue of mine own, and therefore I + dare the boldlier maintain it. + + Step. I marle whether it be a Toledo or no. + + Bob. A most perfect Toledo, I assure you, sir. Step. I have a + countryman of his here. + + Mat. Pray you, let's see, sir; yes, faith, it is. + + Bob. This a Toledo! Pish! + + Step. Why do you pish, captain? + + Bob. A Fleming, by heaven! I'll buy them for a guilder a-piece. An + I would have a thousand of them. + + E. Know. How say you, cousin? I told you thus much. + + Wel. Where bought you it, master Stephen? + + Step. Of a scurvy rogue soldier: a hundred of lice go with him! He + swore it was a Toledo. + + Bob. A poor provant rapier, no better. + + Mat. Mass, I think it be indeed, now I look on't better. + + E. Know. Nay, the longer you look on't, the worse. Put it up, put + it up. + + Step. Well, I will put it up; but by—I have forgot the captain's + oath, I thought to have sword! by it,—an e'er I meet him— + + Wel. O, it is past help now, sir; you must have patience. + + Step. Whoreson, coney-hatching rascal! I could eat the very hilts + for anger. + + E. Know. A sign of good digestion; you have an ostrich stomach, + Cousin. + + Step. A stomach! would I had him here, you should see an I had a + stomach. + + Wel. It's better as it is.—Come, gentlemen, shall we go? + Enter BRAINWORM, disguised as before. + E. Know. A miracle, cousin; look here, look here! + + Step. Oh—'Od's lid. By your leave, do you know me, sir? + + Brai. Ay, sir, I know you by sight. + + Step. You sold me a rapier, did you not? + + Brai. Yes, marry did I, sir. + + Step. You said it was a Toledo, ha? + + Brai. True, I did so. + + Step. But it is none. + + Brai. No, sir, I confess it; it is none. + + Step. Do you confess it? Gentlemen, bear witness, he has confest + it:—'Od's will, an you had not confest it.=== + + E. Know. Oh, cousin, forbear, forbear! Step. Nay, I have done, + cousin. + + Wel. Why, you have done like a gentleman; he has confest it, what + would you more? + + Step. Yet, by his leave, he is a rascal, under his favour, do you + see. + + E. Know. Ay, by his leave, he is, and under favour: a pretty piece + of civility! Sirrah, how dost thou like him? + + Wel. Oh, it's a most precious fool, make much on him: I can compare + him to nothing more happily than a drum; for every one may play + upon him. + + E. Know. No, no, a child's whistle were far the fitter. + + Brai. Shall I intreat a word with you? + + E. Know. With me, sir? you have not another Toledo to sell, have + you? + + Brai. You are conceited, sir: Your name is Master Knowell, as I + take it? + + E. Know. You are in the right; you mean not to proceed in the + catechism, do you? + + Brai. No, sir; I am none of that coat. + + E. Know. Of as bare a coat, though: well, say, sir. + + Brai. [taking E. Know. aside.] Faith, sir, I am but servant to the + drum extraordinary, and indeed, this smoky varnish being washed + off, and three or four patches removed, I appear your worship's in + reversion, after the decease of your good father, Brainworm. + + E. Know. Brainworm'! 'Slight, what breath of a conjurer hath blown + thee hither in this shape? + + Brai. The breath of your letter, sir, this morning; the same that + blew you to the Windmill, and your father after you. + + E. Know. My father! + + Brai. Nay, never start, 'tis true; he has followed you over the + fields by the foot, as you would do a hare in the snow. + + E. Know. Sirrah Wellbred, what shall we do, sirrah? my father is + come over after me. + + Wel. Thy father! Where is he? + + Brai. At justice Clement's house, in Coleman-street, where he but + stays my return; and then— + + Wel. Who's this? Brainworm! + + Brai. The same, sir. + + Wel. Why how, in the name of wit, com'st thou transmuted thus? + + Brai. Faith, a device, a device; nay, for the love of reason, + gentlemen, and avoiding the danger, stand not here; withdraw, and + I'll tell you all. + + Wel. But art thou sure he will stay thy return? + + Brai. Do I live, sir? what a question is that! + + Wel. We'll prorogue his expectation, then, a little: Brainworm, + thou shalt go with us.—Come on, gentlemen.==-Nay, I pray thee, + sweet Ned, droop not; 'heart, an our wits be so wretchedly dull, + that one old plodding brain can outstrip us all, would we were e'en + prest to make porters of, and serve out the remnant of our days in + Thames-street, or at Custom-house key, in a civil war against the + carmen! + + Brai. Amen, amen, amen, say I. [Exeunt. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE II—-The Old Jewry. KITELY'S Warehouse. + Enter KITELY and CASH. + + Kit. What says he, Thomas? did you speak with him? + + Cash. He will expect you, sir, within this half hour. + + Kit. Has he the money ready, can you tell? + + Cash. Yes, sir, the money was brought in last night. + + Kit. + O, that is well; fetch me my cloak, my cloak!—- [Exit Cash. + Stay, let me see, an hour to go and come; + Ay, that will be the least; and then 'twill be + An hour before I can dispatch with him, + Or very near; well, I will say two hours. + Two hours! ha! things never dreamt of yet, + May be contrived, ay, and effected too, + In two hours' absence; well, I will not go. + Two hours! No, fleering Opportunity, + I will not give your subtilty that scope. + Who will not judge him worthy to be robb'd, + That sets his doors wide open to a thief, + And shews the felon where his treasure lies? + Again, what earthly spirit but will attempt + To taste the fruit of beauty's golden tree, + When leaden sleep seals up the dragon's eyes? + I will not go. Business, go by for once. + No, beauty, no; you are of too good caract, + To be left so, without a guard, or open, + Your lustre, too, 'll inflame at any distance, + Draw courtship to you, as a jet doth straws; + Put motion in a stone, strike fire from ice, + Nay, make a porter leap you with his burden. + You must be then kept up, close, and well watch'd, + For, give you opportunity, no quick-sand + Devours or swallows swifter! He that lends + His wife, if she be fair, or time or place, + Compels her to be false. I will not go! + The dangers are too many;—-and then the dressing + Is a most main attractive! Our great heads + Within this city never were in safety + Since our wives wore these little caps: I'll change 'em; + I'll change 'em straight in mine: mine shall no more + Wear three-piled acorns, to make my horns ake. + Nor will I go; I am resolved for that. + Re-enter CASH with a cloak. + Carry in my cloak again. Yet stay. Yet do, too: + I will defer going, on all occasions. + + Cash. + Sir, Snare, your scrivener, will be there with the bonds. + + Kit. + That's true: fool on me! I had clean forgot it; + I must go. What's a clock? + + Cash. Exchange-time, sir. + + Kit. + 'Heart, then will Wellbred presently be here too, + With one or other of his loose consorts. + I am a knave, if I know what to say, + What course to take, or which way to resolve. + My brain, methinks, is like an hour-glass, + Wherein my imaginations run like sands, + Filling up time; but then are turn'd and turn'd: + So that I know not what to stay upon, + And less, to put in act.—-It shall be so. + Nay, I dare build upon his secrecy, + He knows not to deceive me.—-Thomas! + + Cash. Sir. + + Kit. + Yet now I have bethought me too, I will not.—- + Thomas, is Cob within? + + Cash. I think he be, sir. + + Kit. + But he'll prate too, there is no speech of him. + No, there were no man on the earth to Thomas, + If I durst trust him; there is all the doubt. + But should he have a clink in him, I were gone. + Lost in my fame for ever, talk for th' Exchange! + The manner he hath stood with, till this present, + Doth promise no such change: what should I fear then? + Well, come what will, I'll tempt my fortune once. + Thomas—-you may deceive me, but, I hope—- + Your love to me is more—- + + Cash. Sir, if a servant's + Duty, with faith, may be call'd love, you are + More than in hope, you are possess'd of it. + + Kit. + I thank you heartily, Thomas: give me your hand: + With all my heart, good Thomas. I have, Thomas, + A secret to impart unto you—-but, + When once you have it, I must seal your lips up; + So far I tell you, Thomas. + + Cash. Sir, for that—- + + Kit. + Nay, hear me out. Think I esteem you, Thomas, + When I will let you in thus to my private. + It is a thing sits nearer to my crest, + Than thou art 'ware of, Thomas; if thou should'st + Reveal it, but—- + + Cash. How, I reveal it? + + Kit. Nay, + I do not think thou would'st; but if thou should'st, + 'Twere a great weakness. + + Cash. A great treachery: + Give it no other name. + + Kit. Thou wilt not do't, then? + + Cash. + Sir, if I do, mankind disclaim me ever! + + Kit. + He will not swear, he has some reservation, + Some conceal'd purpose, and close meaning sure; + Else, being urg'd so much, how should he choose + But lend an oath to all this protestation? + He's no precisian, that I'm certain of, + Nor rigid Roman Catholic: he'll play + At fayles, and tick-tack; I have heard him swear. + What should I think of it? urge him again, + And by some other way! I will do so. + Well, Thomas, thou hast sworn not to disclose:—- + Yes, you did swear? + + Cash. + Not yet, sir, but I will, + Please you—- + + Kit. + No, Thomas, I dare take thy word, + But, if thou wilt swear, do as thou think'st; good; + I am resolv'd without It; at thy pleasure. + + Cash. + By my soul's safety then, sir, I protest, + My tongue shall ne'er take knowledge of a word + Deliver'd me in nature of your trust. + + Kit. + It is too much; these ceremonies need not: + I know thy faith to be as firm as rock. + Thomas, come hither, near; we cannot be + Too private in this business. So it is,—- + Now he has sworn, I dare the safelier venture. [Aside. + I have of late, by divers observations—- + But whether his oath can bind him, yea, or no, + Being not taken lawfully? ha! say you? + I will ask council ere I do proceed:—— [Aside. + Thomas, it will be now too long to stay, + I'll spy some fitter time soon, or to-morrow. + + Cash. Sir, at your pleasure. + + Kit. I will think:-and, Thomas, + I pray you search the books 'gainst my return, + For the receipts 'twixt me and Traps. + + Cash. I will, sir. + + Kit. + And hear you, if your mistress's brother, Wellbred, + Chance to bring hither any gentleman, + Ere I come back, let one straight bring me word. + + Cash. Very well, sir. + + Kit. + To the Exchange, do you hear? + Or here in Coleman-street, to justice Clement's. + Forget it not, nor be not out of the way. + + Cash. I will not, sir. + + Kit. I pray you have a care on't. + Or, whether he come or no, if any other, + Stranger, or else; fail not to send me word. + + Cash. I shall not, sir. + + Kit. Be it your special business + Now to remember it. + + Cash. Sir, I warrant you. + + Kit. + But, Thomas, this is not the secret, Thomas, + I told you of. + + Cash. No, sir; I do suppose it. + + Kit. Believe me, it is not. + + Cash. Sir, I do believe you. + + Kit. + By heaven it is not, that's enough: but, Thomas, + I would not you should utter it, do you see, + To any creature living; yet I care not. + Well, I must hence. Thomas, conceive thus much; + It was a trial of you, when I meant + So deep a secret to you, I mean not this, + But that I have to tell you; this is nothing, this. + But, Thomas, keep this from my wife, I charge you, + Lock'd up in silence, midnight, buried here.—- + No greater hell than to be slave to fear. [Exit. + + Cash. + Lock'd up in silence, midnight, buried here! + Whence should this flood of passion, trow, take head? ha! + Best dream no longer of this running humour, + For fear I sink; the violence of the stream + Already hath transported me so far, + That I can feel no ground at all: but soft—- + Oh, 'tis our water-bearer: somewhat has crost him now. + Enter COB, hastily. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Cob. Fasting-days! what tell you me of fasting days? 'Slid, would + they were all on a light fire for me! they say the whole world + shall be consumed with fire one day, but would I had these + Ember-weeks and villanous Fridays burnt in the mean time, and + then— + + Cash. Why, how now, Cob? what moves thee to this choler, ha? + + Cob. Collar, master Thomas! I scorn your collar, I, sir; I am none + O' your cart-horse, though I carry and draw water. An you offer to + ride me with your collar or halter either, I may hap shew you a + jade's trick, sir. + + Cash. O, you'll slip your head out of the collar? why, goodman Cob, + you mistake me. + + Cob. Nay, I have my rheum, and I can be angry as well as another, + sir. + + Cash. Thy rheum, Cob! thy humour, thy humour—thou misstak'st. + + Cob. Humour! mack, I think it be so indeed; what is that humour? + some rare thing, I warrant. + + Cash. Marry I'll tell thee, Cob: it is a gentlemanlike monster, + bred in the special gallantry of our time, by affectation; and fed + by folly. + + Cob. How! must it be fed? + + Cash. Oh ay, humour is nothing if it be not fed: didst thou never + hear that? it's a common phrase, feed my humour. + + Cob. I'll none on it: humour, avaunt! I know you not, be gone! let + who will make hungry meals for your monstership, it shall not be I. + Feed you, quoth he! 'slid, I have much ado to feed myself; + especially on these lean rascally days too; an't had been any other + day but a fasting-day—a plague on them all for me! By this light, + one might have done the commonwealth good service, and have drown'd + them all in the flood, two or three hundred thousand years ago. O, + I do stomach them hugely. I have a maw now, and 'twere for sir + Bevis his horse, against them. + + Cash. I pray thee, good Cob, what makes thee so out of love with + fasting days? + + Cob. Marry, that which will make any man out of love with 'em, I + think; their bad conditions, an you will needs know. First they are + of a Flemish breed, I am sure on't, for they raven up more butter + than all the days of the week beside; next, they stink of fish and + leek-porridge miserably; thirdly, they'll keep a man devoutly + hungry all day, and at night send him supperless to bed. + + Cash. Indeed, these are faults, Cob. + + Cob. Nay, an this were all, 'twere something; but they are the only + known enemies to my generation. A fasting-day no sooner comes, but + my lineage goes to wrack; poor cobs! they smoak for it, they are + made martyrs O' the gridiron, they melt in passion: and your maids + to know this, and yet would have me turn Hannibal, and eat my own + flesh and blood. My princely coz, [pulls out a red herring] fear + nothing; I have not the heart to devour you, an I might be made as + rich as king Cophetua. O that I had room for my tears, I could weep + salt-water enough now to preserve the lives of ten thousand + thousand of my kin! But I may curse none but these filthy + almanacks; for an't were not for them, these days of persecution + would never be known. I'll be hang'd an some fish-monger's son do + not make of 'em, and puts in more fasting-days than he should do, + because he would utter his father's dried stock—fish and stinking + conger. + + Cash. 'Slight peace! thou'lt be beaten like a stock-fish else: + here's master Mathew. + Enter WELLIBRED, E. KNOWELL, BRAINWORM, + MATHEW, BOBADILL, and STEPHEN. + Now must I look out for a messenger to my master. + [Exit with Cob. + Wel, Beshrew me, but it was an absolute good jest, and exceedingly + well carried! + + E. Know. Ay, and our ignorance maintain'd it as well, did it not? + + Wel. Yes, faith; but was it possible thou shouldst not know him? I + forgive master Stephen, for he is stupidity itself. + + E. Know. 'Fore God, not I, an I might have been join'd patten with + one of the seven wise masters for knowing him. He had so writhen + himself into the habit of one of your poor infantry, your decayed; + ruinous, worm-eaten gentlemen of the round; such as have vowed to + sit on the skirts of the city, let your provost and his half-dozen + of halberdiers do what they can; and have translated begging out of + the old hackney-pace to a fine easy amble, and made it run as + smooth off the tongue as a shove-groat shilling. Into the likeness + of one of these reformados had he moulded himself so perfectly, + observing every trick of their action, as, varying the accent, + swearing with an emphasis, indeed, all with so special and + exquisite a grace, that, hadst thou seen him, thou wouldst have + sworn he might have been sergeant-major, if not lieutenant-colonel + to the regiment. + + Wel. Why, Brainworm, who would have thought thou hadst been such an + artificer? + + E. Know. An artificer! an architect. Except a man had studied + begging all his life time, and been a weaver of language from his + infancy for the cloathing of it, I never saw his rival. + + Wel. Where got'st thou this coat, I marle? + + Brai. Of a Hounsditch man, sir, one of the devil's near kinsmen, a + broker. + + Wel. That cannot be, if the proverb hold; for 'A crafty knave needs + no broker.' + + Brai. True, sir; but I did need a broker, ergo— + + Wel. Well put off:—no crafty knave, you'll say. + + E. Know. Tut, he has more of these shifts. + + Brai. And yet, where I have one the broker has ten, sir. + Reenter CASH + Cash. Francis! Martin! ne'er a one to be found now? what a spite's + this! + + Wel. How now, Thomas? Is my brother Kitely within? + + Cash. No, sir, my master went forth e'en now; but master Downright + is within.—Cob! what, Cob! Is he gone too? + + Wel. Whither went your master, Thomas, canst thou tell? + + Cash. I know not: to justice Clement's, I think, sir—Cob! + [Exit + E. Know. Justice Clement! what's he? Wel. + + Why, dost thou not know him? He is a city-magistrate, a justice + here, an excellent good lawyer, and a great scholar; but the only + mad, merry old fellow in Europe. I shewed him you the other day. + + E. Know. Oh, is that he? I remember him now. Good faith, and he is + a very strange presence methinks; it shews as if he stood out of + the rank from other men: I have heard many of his jests in the + University. They say he will commit a man for taking the wall of + his horse. + + Wel. Ay, or wearing his cloak on one shoulder, or serving of God; + any thing, indeed, if it come in the way of his humour. + + Re-enter CASH. + + Cash. Gasper! Martin! Cob! 'Heart, where should they be trow? + + Bob. Master Kitely's man, pray thee vouchsafe us the lighting of + this match. + [Exit. + Cash. Fire on your match! no time but now to vouchsafe?—Francis! + Cob! + + Bob. Body O' me! here's the remainder of seven pound since + yesterday was seven-night. 'Tis your right Trinidado: did you never + take any master Stephen? + + Step. No, truly, sir; but I'll learn to take it now, since you + commend it so. + + Bob. Sir, believe me, upon my relation for what I tell you, the + world shall not reprove. I have been in the Indies, where this herb + grows, where neither myself, nor a dozen gentlemen more of my + knowledge, have received the taste of any other nutriment in the + world, for the space of one and twenty weeks, but the fume of this + simple only: therefore, it cannot be, but 'tis most divine. + Further, take it in the nature, in the true kind; so, it makes an + antidote, that, had you taken the most deadly poisonous plant in + all Italy, it should expel it, and clarify you, with as much ease + as I speak. And for your green wound,—your Balsamum and your St. + John's wort, are all mere gulleries and trash to it, especially + your Trinidado: your Nicotian is good too. I could say what I know + of the virtue of it, for the expulsion of rheums, raw humours, + crudities, obstructions, with a thousand of this kind; but I + profess myself no quack-salver. Only thus much; by Hercules, I do + hold it, and will affirm it before any prince in Europe, to be the + most sovereign and precious weed that ever the earth tendered to + the use of man. + + E. Know. This speech would have done decently in a tobacco-trader's + mouth. + + Re-enter CASH with COB. + + Cash. At justice Clement's he is, in the middle of Coleman-street. + + Cob. Oh, oh! + + Bob. Where's the match I gave thee, master Kitely's man? + + Cash. Would his match and he, and pipe and all, were at Sancto + Domingo! I had forgot it. + [Exit. + Cob. 'Od's me, I marle what pleasure or felicity they have in + taking this roguish tobacco. It's good for nothing but to choke a + man, and fill him full of smoke and embers: there were four died + out of one house last week with taking of it, and two more the bell + went for yesternight; one of them, they say, will never scape it; + he voided a bushel of soot yesterday, upward and downward. By the + stocks, an there were no wiser men than I, I'd have it present + whipping, man or woman, that should but deal with a tobacco pipe: + why, it will stifle them all in the end, as many as use it; it's + little better than ratsbane or rosaker. + [Bobadill beats him. + All. Oh, good captain, hold, hold! + + Bob. You base cullion, you! + + Re-enter CASH. + + Cash. Sir, here's your match. Come, thou must needs be talking too, + thou'rt well enough served. + + Cob. Nay, he will not meddle with his match, I warrant you: well, + it shall be a dear beating, an I live. + + Bob. Do you prate, do you murmur? + + E. Know. Nay, good captain, will you regard the humour of a fool? + Away, knave. + + Wel. Thomas, get him away. [Exit Cash with Cob. + + Bob. A whoreson filthy slave, a dung-worm, an excrement! Body O' + Caesar, but that I scorn to let forth so mean a spirit, I'd have + stabb'd him to the earth. + + Wel. Marry, the law forbid, sir! + + Bob. By Pharaoh's foot, I would have done it. + + Step. Oh, he swears most admirably! By Pharaoh's foot! Body O' + Caesar!—I shall never do it, sure. Upon mine honour, and by St. + George!—No, I have not the right grace. + + Mat. Master Stephen, will you any? By this air, the most divine + tobacco that ever I drunk. + [Practises at the post. + As I am a gentleman! By— [Exeunt Bob. and Mat. + + Step. None, I thank you, sir. O, this gentleman does it rarely, + too: but nothing like the other. By this air! + + Brai. [pointing to Master Stephen.] Master, glance, glance! master + Wellbred! + + Step. As I have somewhat to be saved, I protest— + + Wel. You are a fool; it needs no affidavit. + + E. Know. Cousin, will you any tobacco? + + Step. I, sir! Upon my reputation— + + E. Know. How now, cousin! + + Step. I protest, as I am a gentleman, but no soldier, indeed— + + Wel. No, master Stephen! As I remember, your name is entered in the + artillery-garden. + + Step. Ay, sir, that's true. Cousin, may I swear, as I am a soldier, + by that? + + E. Know. O yes, that you may; it is all you have for your money. + + Step. Then, as I am a gentleman, and a soldier, it is "divine + tobacco!" + + Wel. But soft, where's master Mathew! Gone? + + Brai. No, sir; they went in here. + + Wel. O let's follow them: master Mathew is gone to salute his + mistress in verse; we shall have the happiness to hear some of his + poetry now; he never comes unfinished.—Brainworm! + + Step. Brainworm! Where? Is this Brainworm? + + E. Know. Ay, cousin; no words of it, upon your gentility. + + Step. Not I, body of me! By this air! St. George! and the foot of + Pharaoh! + + Wel. Rare! Your cousin's discourse is simply drawn out with oaths. + + E. Know. 'Tis larded with them; a kind of French dressing, if you + love it. + [Exeunt. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE III-Coleman-Street. A Room in Justice CLEMENT'S House. + Enter KITELY and COB. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Kit. Ha! how many are there, say'st thou? + + Cob. Marry, sir, your brother, master Wellbred— + + Kit. Tut, beside him: what strangers are there, man? + + Cob. Strangers? let me see, one, two; mass; I know not well,— + there are so many. + + Kit. How! so many? + + Cob. Ay, there's some five or six of them at the most. + + Kit. + A swarm, a swarm! + Spite of the devil...how they sting my head + With forked stings, thus wide and large! + But, Cob, How long hast thou been coming hither, Cob? + + Cob. A little while, sir. + + Kit. Didst thou come running? + + Cob. No, sir. + + Kit. + Nay, then I am familiar with thy haste. + Bane to my fortunes! what meant I to marry? + I, that before was rank'd in such content, + My mind at rest too, in so soft a peace, + Being free master of mine own free thoughts, + And now become a slave? What! never sigh; + Be of good cheer, man; for thou art a cuckold: + 'Tis done, 'tis done! Nay, when such flowing-store, + Plenty itself, falls into my wife's lap, + The cornucopiae will be mine, I know.—But, Cob, + What entertainment had they? I am sure + My sister and my wife would bid them welcome: ha? + + Cob. Like enough, sir; yet I heard not a word of it. + + Kit. + No; + Their lips were seal'd with kisses, and the voice, + Drown'd in a flood of joy at their arrival, + Had lost her motion, state and faculty.— + Cob, + Which of them was it that first kiss'd my wife, + My sister, I should say?—My wife, alas! + I fear not her: ha! who was it say'st thou? + + Cob. By my troth, sir, will you have the truth of it? + + Kit. Oh, ay, good Cob, I pray thee heartily. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Cob. Then I am a vagabond, and fitter for Bridewell than your + worship's company, if I saw any body to be kiss'd, unless they + would have kiss'd the post in the middle of the warehouse; for + there I left them all at their tobacco, with a pox! + + Kit. How! were they not gone in then ere thou cam'st? + + Cob. O no, sir. + + Kit. Spite of the devil! what do I stay here then? Cob, follow me. + [Exit. + Cob. Nay, soft and fair; I have eggs on the spit; I cannot go yet, + sir. Now am I, for some five and fifty reasons, hammering, + hammering revenge: oh for three or four gallons of vinegar, to + sharpen my wits! Revenge, vinegar revenge, vinegar and mustard + revenge! Nay, an he had not lien in my house, 'twould never have + grieved me; but being my guest, one that, I'll be sworn, my wife + has lent him her smock off her back, while his own shirt has been + at washing; pawned her neck-kerchers for clean bands for him; sold + almost all my platters, to buy him tobacco; and he to turn monster + of ingratitude, and strike his lawful host! Well, I hope to raise + up an host of fury for't: here comes justice Clement. + + Enter Justice CLEMENT, KNOWELL, and FORMAL. + + Clem. What's master Kitely gone, Roger? + + Form. Ay, sir. + + Clem. 'Heart O' me! what made him leave us so abruptly?—How now, + sirrah! what make you here? what would you have, ha? + + Cob. An't please your worship, I am a poor neighbour of your + worship's— + + Clem. A poor neighbour of mine! Why, speak, poor neighbour. + + Cob. I dwell, sir, at the sign of the Water-tankard, hard by the + Green Lattice: I have paid scot and lot there any time this + eighteen years. + + Clem. To the Green Lattice? + + Cob. No, sir, to the parish: Marry, I have seldom scaped scot-free + at the Lattice. + + Clem. O, well; what business has my poor neighbour with me? + + Cob. An't like your worship, I am come to crave the peace of your + worship. + + Clem. Of me, knave! Peace of me, knave! Did I ever hurt thee, or + threaten thee, or wrong thee, ha? + + Cob. No, sir; but your worship's warrant for one that has wrong'd + me, sir: his arms are at too much liberty, I would fain have them + bound to a treaty of peace, an my credit could compass it with your + worship. + + Clem. Thou goest far enough about for't, I am sure. + + Kno. Why, dost thou go in danger of thy life for him, friend? + + Cob. No, sir; but I go in danger of my death every hour, by his + means; an I die within a twelve-month and a day, I may swear by the + law of the land that he killed me. + + Clem. How, how, knave, swear he killed thee, and by the law? What + pretence, what colour hast thou for that? + + Cob. Marry, an't please your worship, both black and blue; colour + enough, I warrant you. I have it here to shew your worship. + + Clem. What is he that gave you this, sirrah? + + Cob. A gentleman and a soldier, he says, he is, of the city here. + + Clem. A soldier of the city! What call you him? + + Cob. Captain Bobadill. + + Clem. Bobadill! and why did he bob and beat you, sirrah? How began + the quarrel betwixt you, ha? speak truly, knave, I advise you. + + Cob. Marry, indeed, an't please your worship, only because I spake + against their vagrant tobacco, as I came by them when they were + taking on't; for nothing else. + + Clem. Ha! you speak against tobacco? Formal, his name. + + Form. What's your name, sirrah? + + Cob. Oliver, sir, Oliver Cob, sir. + + Clem. Tell Oliver Cob he shall go to the jail, Formal. + + Form. Oliver Cob, my master, justice Clement, says you shall go to + the jail. + + Cob. O, I beseech your worship, for God's sake, dear master + justice! + + Clem. 'Sprecious! an such drunkards and tankards as you are, come + to dispute of tobacco once, I have done: away with him! + + Cob, O, good master justice! Sweet old gentleman! [To Knowell. + + Know. "Sweet Oliver," would I could do thee any good!—justice + Clement, let me intreat you, sir. + + Clem. What! a thread-bare rascal, a beggar, a slave that never + drunk out of better than piss-pot metal in his life! and he to + deprave and abuse the virtue of an herb so generally received in + the courts of princes, the chambers of nobles, the bowers of sweet + ladies, the cabins of soldiers!—Roger, away with him! 'Od's + precious—I say, go to. + + Cob. Dear master justice, let me be beaten again, I have deserved + it: but not the prison, I beseech you. + + Know. Alas, poor Oliver! + + Clem. Roger, make him a warrant:—he shall not go, but I fear the + knave. + + Form. Do not stink, sweet Oliver, you shall not go; my master will + give you a warrant. + + Cob. O, the Lord maintain his worship, his worthy worship! + + Clem. Away, dispatch him. [Exeunt Formal and Cob;] How now, master + Knowell, in dumps, in dumps! Come, this becomes not. + + Know. Sir, would I could not feel my cares. + + Clem. Your cares are nothing: they are like my cap, soon put on, + and as soon put off. What! your son is old enough to govern + himself: let him run his course, it's the only way to make him a + staid man. If he were an unthrift, a ruffian, a drunkard, or a + licentious liver, then you had reason; you had reason to take care: + but, being none of these, mirth's my witness, an I had twice so + many cares as you have, I'd drown them all in a cup of sack. Come, + come, let's try it: I muse your parcel of a soldier returns not all + this while. + [Exeunt. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ACT IV + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE I—-A Room in KITELY'S House. + Enter DOWNRIGTIT and Dame KITELY. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Dow. Well, sister, I tell you true; and you'll find it so in the + end. + + Dame K. Alas, brother, what would you have me to do? I cannot help + it; you see my brother brings them in here; they are his friends. + + Dow. His friends! his fiends. 'Slud! they do nothing but haunt him + up and down like a sort of unlucky spirits, and tempt him to all + manner of villainy that can be thought of. Well, by this light, a + little thing would make me play the devil with some of them: an + 'twere not more for your husband's sake than anything else, I'd + make the house too hot for the best on 'em; they should say, and + swear, hell were broken loose, ere they went hence. But, by God's + will, 'tis nobody's fault but yours; for an you had done as you + might have done, they should have been parboiled, and baked too, + every mother's son, ere they should have come in, e'er a one of + them. + + Dame K. God's my life! did you ever hear the like? what a strange + man is this! Could I keep out all them, think you? I should put + myself against half a dozen men, should I? Good faith, you'd mad + the patien'st body in the world; to hear you talk so, without any + sense or reason. + + Enter Mistress BRIDGET, Master MATHEW, and BOBADILL; + followed, at a distance, by WELLBRED, E. KNOWELL, + STEPHEN, and BRAINWORM. + + Brid. + Servant, in troth you are too prodigal + Of your wit's treasure, thus fu pour it forth + Upon so mean a subject as my worth. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Mat. You say well, mistress, and I mean as well. + + Dow. Hoy-day, here is stuff! + + Wel. O, now stand close; pray Heaven, she can get him to read! he + should do it of his own natural impudency. + + Brid. Servant, what is this same, I pray you? + + Mat. Marry, an elegy, an elegy, an odd toy— + + Dow. To mock an ape withal! O, I could sew up his mouth, now. + + Dame K. Sister, I pray you let's hear it. + + Dow. Are you rhyme-given too? + + Mat. Mistress, I'll read it if you please. + + Brid. Pray you do, servant. + + Dow. O, here's no foppery! Death! I can endure the stocks better. + [Exit. + + E. Know. What ails thy brother? can he not hold his water at + reading of a ballad? + + Wel. O, no; a rhyme fu him is worse than cheese, or a bag-pipe; but + mark; you lose the protestation. + + Mat. Faith, I did it in a humour; I know not how it is; but please + you come near, sir. This gentleman has judgment, he knows how to + censure of a—pray you, sir, you can judge? + + Step. Not I, sir; upon my reputation, and by the foot of Pharaoh! + + Wel. O, chide your cousin for swearing. + + E. Know. Not I, so long as he does not forswear himself. + + Bob. Master Mathew, you abuse the expectation of your dear + mistress, and her fair sister: fie! while you live avoid this + prolixity. + + Mat. I shall, sir, well; incipere dulce. + + E. Know. How, insipere duke! a sweet thing to be a fool, indeed! + + Wel. What, do you take incipere in: that sense? + + E. Know. You do not, you! This was your villainy, to gull him with + a motte. + + Wel. O, the benchers' phrase: pauca verba, pauca verba! + + Mat. + Rare creature, let me speak without offence, + Would God my rude words had the influence + To rule thy thoughts, as thy fair looks do mine, + Then shouldst thou be his prisoner, who is thine. + + E. Know. This is Hero and Leander. + + Wel. O, ay: peace, we shall have more of this. + + Mat. + Be not unkind and fair: misshapen stuff + Is of behaviour boisterous and rough. + + Wel. How like you that, sir? [Master Stephen shakes his head. + + E. Know. 'Slight, he shakes his head like a bottle, to feel an there + be any brain in it. + + Mat. But observe the catastrophe, now: + And I in duty will exceed all other, + As you in beauty do excel Love's mother. + + E. Know. Well, I'll have him free of the wit-brokers, for he + utters nothing but stolen remnants. + + Wel. O, forgive it him. + + E. Know. A filching rogue, hang him!—-and from the dead! it's + worse than sacrilege. + WELLBRED, E. KNOWELL, and Master STEPHEN, come forward. + + Wel. Sister, what have you here, verses? pray you let's see: who + made these verses? they are excellent good. + + Mat. O, Master Wellbred, 'tis your disposition to say so, sir. They + were good in the morning: I made them ex tempore this morning. + + Wel. How! ex tempore? + + Mat. Ay, would I might be hanged else; ask Captain Bobadill: he saw + me write them, at the—pox on it!—the Star, yonder. + + Brai. Can he find in his heart to curse the stars so? + + E. Know. Faith, his are even with him; they have curst him enough + already. + + Step. Cousin, how do you like this gentleman's verses? + + E. Know. O, admirable! the best that ever I heard, coz. + + Step. Body O' Caesar, they are admirable! the best that I ever + heard, as I am a soldier! + + Re-enter DOWNRIGHT. + + Dow. I am vext, I can hold ne'er a bone of me still: 'Heart, I + think they mean to build and breed here. + + Wet. Sister, you have a simple servant here, that crowns your + beauty with such encomiums and devices; you may see what it is to + be the mistress of a wit, that can make your perfections so + transparent, that every blear eye may look through them, and see + him drowned over head and ears in the deep well of desire: Sister + Kitely. I marvel you get you not a servant that can rhyme, and do + tricks too. + + Dow. O monster! impudence itself! tricks! + + Dame K. Tricks, brother! what tricks? + + Brid. Nay, speak, I pray you what tricks? + + Dame K. Ay, never spare any body here; but say, what tricks. + + Brid. Passion of my heart, do tricks! + + Wel. 'Slight, here's a trick vied and revied! Why, you monkeys, + you, what a cater-wauling do you keep! has he not given you rhymes + and verses and tricks? + + Dow. O, the fiend! + + Wel. Nay, you lamp of virginity, that take it in snuff so, come, + and cherish this tame poetical fury in your servant; you'll be + begg'd else shortly for a concealment: go to, reward his muse. You + cannot give him less than a shilling in conscience, for the book he + had it out of cost him a teston at least. How now, gallants! Master + Mathew! Captain! what, all sons of silence, no spirit? + + Dow. Come, you might practise your ruffian tricks somewhere else, + and not here, I wuss; this is no tavern or drinking-school, to vent + your exploits in. + + Wel. How now; whose cow has calved? + + Dow. Marry, that has mine, sir. + + Nay, boy, never look askance at me for the matter; I'll tell you of + it, I, sir; you and your companions mend yourselves when I have + done. + + Wel. My companions! + + Dow. Yes, sir, your companions, so I say; I am not afraid of you, + nor them neither; your hang-byes here. You must have your poets and + your potlings, your soldados and foolados to follow you up and down + the city; and here they must come to domineer and swagger. Sirrah, + you ballad-singer, and slops your fellow there, get you out, get + you home; or by this steel, I'll cut off your ears, and that + presently. + + Wel. 'Slight, stay, let's see what he dare do; cut off his ears! + cut a whetstone. You are an ass, do you see; touch any man here, + and by this hand I'll run my rapier to the hilts in you. + + Dow. Yea, that would I fain see, boy. + [They all draw. + Dame K. O Jesu! murder! Thomas! Gasper! + + Brid. Help, help! Thomas! + + Enter CASH and some of the house to part them. + + E. Know. Gentlemen, forbear, I pray' you. + + Bob. Well, sirrah, you Holofernes; by my hand, I will pink your + flesh full of holes with my rapier for this; I will, by this good + heaven! nay, let him come, let him come, gentlemen; by the body of + St. George, I'll not kill him. + [Offer to fight again, and are parted. + Gash. Hold, hold, good gentlemen. Dow. You whoreson, bragging + coystril! + + Enter KITELY. + + Kit. + Why, how now! what's the matter, what's the stir here? + Whence springs the quarrel? Thomas! where is he? + Put up your weapons, and put off this rage: + My wife and sister, they are the cause of this. + What, Thomas! where is the knave? +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Gash. Here, sir. + + Wel. Come, let's go: this is one of my brother's ancient humours, + this. + + Step. I am glad nobody was hurt by his ancient humour. + + [Exeunt Wellbred, Stephen, E. Knowell, Bobadill, and Brainworm. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Kit. Why, how now, brother, who enforced this brawl? + + Dow. A sort of lewd rake-hells, that care neither for God nor the + devil And they must come here to read ballads, and roguery, and + trash! I'll mar the knot of 'em ere I sleep, perhaps; especially + Bob there, he that's all manner of shapes: and songs and sonnets, + his fellow. + + Brid. + Brother, indeed you are too violent, + Too sudden in your humour: and you know + My brother Wellbred's temper will not bear + Any reproof, chiefly in such a presence, + Where every slight disgrace he should receive + Might wound him in opinion and respect. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Dow. Respect! what talk you of respect among such, as have no spark + of manhood, nor good manners? 'Sdeins, I am ashamed to hear you'! + respect! + [Exit. + Brid. + Yes, there was one a civil gentleman, + And very worthily demeaned himself. + + Kit. O, that was some love of yours, sister. + + Brid. + A love of mine! I would it were no worse, brother; + You'd pay my portion sooner than you think for. + + Dame K. Indeed he seem'd to be a gentleman of a very exceeding + fair disposition, and of excellent good parts. + [Exeunt Dame Kitely and Bridget. + + Kit. + Her love, by heaven! my wife's minion. + Fair disposition! excellent good parts! + Death! these phrases are intolerable. + Good parts! how should she know his parts? + His parts! Well, well, well, well, well, well; + It is too plain, too clear: Thomas, come hither. + What, are they gone? + + Cash. Ay, sir, they went in. + + My mistress and your sister— + + Kit. Are any of the gallants within? + + Cash. No, sir, they are all gone. + + Kit. Art thou sure of it—-? + + Cash. I can assure you, sir. + + Kit. What gentleman was that they praised so, Thomas? + + Cash. One, they call him Master Knowell, a handsome young + gentleman, sir. + + Kit. + Ay, I thought so; my mind gave me as much: + I'll die, but they have hid him in the house, + Somewhere, I'll go and search; go with me, Thomas: + Be true to me, and thou shalt find me a master. + [Exeunt. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE II.—-The Lane before COB'S House. + Enter COB + + Cob. [knocks at the door.] What, Tib! Tib, I say! + + Tib. [within.] How now, what cuckold is that knocks so hard? + + Enter Tib. + + O, husband! is it you? What's the news? + + Cob. Nay, you have stunn'd me, i'faith; you have, given me a + knock O' the forehead will stick by me. Cuckold! 'Slid, cuckold! + + Tib. Away, you fool! did I know it was you that knocked? + Come, come, you may call me as bad when you list. + + Cob. May I? Tib, you are a whore. + + Tib. You lie in your throat, husband. + + Cob. How, the lie! and in my throat tool do you long to be + stabb'd, ha? + + Tib. Why, you are no soldier, I hope. + + Cob. O, must you be stabbed by a soldier? Mass, that's true! when + was Bobadill here, your captain? that rogue, that foist, that + fencing Burgullion? I'll tickle him, i'faith. + + Tib. Why, what's the matter, trow? + + Cob. O, he has basted me rarely, sumptuously! but I have it here in + black and white, [pulls out the warrant.] for his black and blue + shall pay him. O, the justice, the honestest old brave Trojan in + London; I do honour the very flea of his dog. A plague on him, + though, he put me once in a villanous filthy fear; marry, it + vanished away like the smoke of tobacco; but I was smoked soundly + first. I thank the devil, and his good angel, my guest. Well, wife, + or Tib, which you will, get you in, and lock the door; I charge you + let nobody in to you, wife; nobody in to you; those are my words: + not Captain Bob himself, nor the fiend in his likeness. You are a + woman, you have flesh and blood enough in you to be tempted; + therefore keep the door shut upon all comers. + + Tib. I warrant you, there shall nobody enter here without my + consent. + + Cob. Nor with your consent, sweet Tib; and so I leave you. + + Tib. It's more than you know, whether you leave me so. + + Cob. How? + + Tib. Why, sweet. + + Cob. + Tut, sweet or sour, thou art a flower. + Keep close thy door, I ask no more. + [Exeunt. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE III.-A Room in the Windmill Tavern. + Enter E. KNOWELL, WELLBRED, STEPHEN, and BRAINWORM, + disguised as before. + + E. Know. Well, Brainworm, perform this business happily, and thou + makest a purchase of my love for ever. + + Wel. I'faith, now let thy spirits use their best faculties: but, at + any hand, remember the message to my brother; for there's no other + means to start him. + + Brai. I warrant you, sir; fear nothing; I have a nimble soul has + waked all forces of my phant'sie by this time, and put them in true + motion. What you have possest me withal, I'll discharge it amply, + sir; make it no question. + [Exit. + Wel. Forth, and prosper, Brainworm. Faith, Ned, how dost thou + approve of my abilities in this device? + + E. Know. Troth, well, howsoever; but it will come excellent if it + take. + + Wel. Take, man! why it cannot choose but take, if the circumstances + miscarry not: but, tell me ingenuously, dost thou affect my sister + Bridget as thou pretend'st? + + E. Know. Friend, am I worth belief? + + Wel. Come, do not protest. In faith, she is a maid of good + ornament, and much modesty; and, except I conceived very worthily + of her, thou should'st not have her. + + E. Know. Nay, that I am afraid, will be a question yet, whether I + shall have her, or no. + + Wel. 'Slid, thou shalt have her; by this light thou shalt. + + E. Know. Nay, do not swear. + + Wel. By this hand thou shalt have her; I'll go fetch her presently. + 'Point but where to meet, and as I am an honest man I'll bring her. + + E. Know. Hold, hold, be temperate. + + Wel. Why, by—what shall I swear by? thou shalt have her, as I am— + + E. Know. Praythee, be at peace, I am satisfied; and do believe thou + wilt omit no offered occasion to make my desires complete. + + Wel. Thou shalt see, and know, I will not. + [Exeunt. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE IV.-The Old Jewry. + Enter FORMAL and KNOWELL. + + Form. Was your man a soldier, sir? + + Know. Ay, a knave + I took him begging O' the way, this morning, + As I came over Moorfields. + Enter BRAINWORM. disguised as before. + O, here he is!—-you've made fair speed, believe me, + Where, in the name of sloth, could you be thus? + + Brai. Marry, peace be my comfort, where I thought I should have + had little comfort of your worship's service. + + Know. How so? + + Brai. O, sir, your coming to the city, your entertainment of me, + and your sending me to watch—-indeed all the circumstances either + of your charge, or my employment, are as open to your son, as to + yourself. + + Know. + How should that be, unless that villain, Brainworm, + Have told him of the letter, and discover'd + All that I strictly charg'd him to conceal? + 'Tis so. + + Brai. I am partly O' the faith, 'tis so, indeed. + + Know. But, how should he know thee to be my man? + + Brai. Nay, sir, I cannot tell; unless it be by the black art. Is + not your son a scholar, sir? + + Know. + Yes, but I hope his soul is not allied + Unto such hellish practice: if it were, + I had just cause to weep my part in him, + And curse the time of his creation. + But, where didst thou find them, Fitz-Sword? + + Brai. You should rather ask where they found me, sir; for I'll + be sworn, I was going along in the street, thinking nothing, when, + of a sudden, a voice calls, Mr. Knowell's man! another cries, + Soldier! and thus half a dozen of them, till they had call'd me + within a house, where I no sooner came, but they seem'd men, and + out flew all their rapiers at my bosom, with some three or four + score oaths to accompany them; and all to tell me, I was but a + dead man, if I did not confess where you were, and how I was + employed, and about what; which when they could not get out of + me, (as, I protest, they must have dissected, and made an anatomy + of me first, and so I told them,) they lock'd me up into a room + in the top of a high house, whence by great miracle (having a + light heart) I slid down by a bottom of packthread into the + street, and so 'scaped. But, sir, thus much I can assure you, + for I heard it while I was lock'd up, there were a great many + rich merchants and brave citizens' wives with them at a feast; + and your son, master Edward, withdrew with one of them, and has + 'pointed to meet her anon at one Cob's house a water-bearer + that dwells by the Wall. Now, there your worship shall be sure + to take him, for there he preys, and fail he will not. + + Know. + Nor will I fail to break his match, I doubt not. + Go thoualong with justice Clement's man, + And stay there for me. At one Cob's house, say'st thou? +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Brai. Ay, sir, there you shall have him. [Exit Knowell.] Yes— + invisible! Much wench, or much son! 'Slight, when he has staid + there three or four hours, travailing with the expectation of + wonders, and at length be deliver'd of air! O the sport that I + should then take to look on him, if I durst! But now, I mean to + appear no more afore him in this shape: I have another trick to act + yet. O that I were so happy as to light on a nupson now of this + justice's novice!—Sir, I make you stay somewhat long. + + Form. Not a whit, sir. Pray you what do you mean, sir? + + Brai. I was putting up some papers. + + Form. You have been lately in the wars, sir, it seems. + + Brai. Marry have I, sir, to my loss, and expense of all, almost. + + Form. Troth, sir, I would be glad to bestow a bottle of wine on + you, if it please you to accept it— + + Brai, O, sir + + Form. But to hear the manner of your services, and your devices in + the wars; they say they be very strange, and not like those a man + reads in the Roman histories, or sees at Mile-end. + + Brai. No, I assure you, sir; why at any time when it please you, I + shall be ready to discourse to you all I know;—and more too + somewhat. [Aside. + + Form. No better time than now, sir; we'll go to the Windmill: there + we shall have a cup of neat grist, we call it. I pray you, sir, let + me request you to the Windmill. + + Brai. I'll follow you, sir;—and make grist of you, if I have good + luck. [Aside.] + [Exeunt. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE V.-Moorfields. + Enter MATHEW, E. KNOWELL, BOBADILL, and STEPHEN. + + Mat. Sir, did your eyes ever taste the like clown of him where we + were to-day, Mr. Wellbred's half-brother? I think the whole earth + cannot shew his parallel, by this daylight. + + E. Know. We were now speaking of him: captain Bobadill tells me he + is fallen foul of you too. + + Mat. O, ay, sir, he threatened me with the bastinado. + + Bob. Ay, but I think, I taught you prevention this morning, for + that: You shall kill him beyond question; if you be so generously + minded. + + Mat. Indeed, it is a most excellent trick. + [Fences. + Bob: O, you do not give spirit enough to your motion, you are too + tardy, too heavy! O, it must be done like lightning, hay! + [Practises at a post with his cudgel. + Mat. Rare, captain! + + Bob. Tut! 'tis nothing, an't be not done in a—punto. E. Know. + Captain, did you ever prove yourself upon any of our masters of + defence here? + + Mat. O good sir! yes, I hope he has. + + Bob. I will tell you, sir. Upon my first coming to the city, after + my long travel for knowledge, in that mystery only, there came + three or four of them to me, at a gentleman's house, where it was + my chance to be resident at that time, to intreat my presence at + their schools: and withal so much importuned me, that I protest to + you, as I am a gentleman, I was ashamed of their rude demeanour out + of all measure: Well, I told them that to come to a public school, + they should pardon me, it was opposite, in diameter, to my humour; + but if so be they would give their attendance at my lodging, I + protested to do them what right or favour I could, as I was a + gentleman, and so forth. + + E. Know. So, sir! then you tried their skill? + + Bob. Alas, soon tried: you shall hear, sir. Within two or three + days after, they came; and, by honesty, fair sir, believe me, I + graced them exceedingly, shewed them some two or three tricks of + prevention have purchased them since a credit to admiration: they + cannot deny this; and yet now they hate me, and why? because I am + excellent; and for no other vile reason on the earth. + + E. Know. This is strange and barbarous, as ever I heard. + + Bob. Nay, for a more instance of their preposterous natures; but + note; sir. They have assaulted me some three, four, five, six of + them together, as I have walked alone in divers skirts it'll town, + as Turnbull, Whitechapel, Shoreditch, which were then my quarters; + and since, upon the Exchange, at my lodging, and at my ordinary: + where I have driven them afore me the whole length of a street, in + the open view of all our gallants, pitying to hurt them, believe + me. Yet all this lenity will not overcome their spleen; they will + be doing with the pismire, raising a hill a man may spurn abroad + with his foot at pleasure. By myself, I could have slain them all, + but I delight not in murder. I am loth to bear any other than this + bastinado for them: yet I hold it good polity not to go disarmed, + for though I be skilful, I may be oppressed with multitudes. + + E. Know. Ay, believe me, may you, sir: and in my conceit, our whole + nation should sustain the loss by it, if it were so. + + Bob. Alas, no? what's a peculiar man to a nation? not seen. + + E. Know. O, but your skill, sir. + + Bob. Indeed, that might be some loss; but who respects it? I will + tell you, sir, by the way of private, and under seal; I am a + gentleman, and live here obscure, and to myself; but were I known + to her majesty and the lords,—observe me,—I would undertake, upon + this poor head and life, for the public benefit of the state, not + only to spare the entire lives of her subjects in general; but to + save the one half, nay, three parts of her yearly charge in holding + war, and against what enemy soever. And how would I do it, think + you? + + E. Know. Nay, I know not, nor can I conceive. + + Bob. Why thus, sir. I would select nineteen more, to myself. + throughout the land; gentlemen they should be of good spirit, + strong and able constitution; I would choose them by an instinct, a + character that I have: and I would teach these nineteen the special + rules, as your punto, your reverso, your stoccata, your imbroccato, + your passada, your montanto; till they could all play very near, or + altogether as well as myself. This done, say the enemy were forty + thousand strong, we twenty would come into the field the tenth of + March, or thereabouts; and we would challenge twenty of the enemy; + they could not in their honour refuse us: Well, we would kill them; + challenge twenty more, kill them; twenty more, kill them; twenty + more, kill them too; and thus would we kill every man his twenty a + day, that's twenty score; twenty score that's two hundred; two + hundred a day, five days a thousand: forty thousand; forty times + five, five times forty, two hundred days kills them all up by + computation. And this will I venture my poor gentlemanlike carcase + to perform, provided there be no treason practised upon us, by fair + and discreet manhood; that is, civilly by the sword. + + E. Know. Why, are you so sure of your hand, captain, at all times? + + Bob. Tut! never miss thrust, upon my reputation with you. + + E. Know. I would not stand in Downright's state then, an you meet + him, for the wealth of anyone street in London. + + Bob. Why, sir, you mistake me: if he were here now, by this welkin, + I would not draw my weapon on him. Let this gentleman do his mind: + but I will bastinado him, by the bright sun, wherever I meet him. + + Mat. Faith, and I'll have a fling at him, at my distance. + + E. Know. 'Od's, so, look where he is! yonder he goes. + [Downright crosses the stage. + Dow. What peevish luck have I, I cannot meet with these bragging + rascals? + + Bob. It is not he, is it? + + E. Know. Yes, faith, it is he. + + Mat. I'll be hang'd then if that were he. + + E. Know. Sir, keep your hanging good for some greater matter, for I + assure you that were he. + + Step. Upon my reputation, it was he. + + Bob. Had I thought it had been he, he must not have gone so: but I + can hardly be induced to believe it was he yet. + + E. Know. That I think, sir. + Re-enter DOWNRIGHT. + But see, he is come again. + + Dow. O, Pharaoh's foot, have I found you? Come, draw to your tools; + draw, gipsy, or I'll thrash you. + + Bob. Gentleman of valour, I do believe in thee; hear me— + + Dow. Draw your weapon then. + + Bob. Tall man, I never thought on it till now—Body of me, I had + a warrant of the peace served on me, even now as I came along, by + a water-bearer; this gentleman saw it, Master Mathew. + + Dow. 'Sdeath! you will not draw then? + [Disarms and beats him. Mathew runs away. + Bob. Hold, hold! under thy favour forbear! + + Dow. Prate again, as you like this, you whoreson foist you! You'll + control the point, you! Your consort is gone; had he staid he had + shared with you, sir. + [Exit. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Bob. Well, gentlemen, bear witness, I was bound to the peace, by + this good day. + + E. Know. No, faith, it's an ill day, captain, never reckon it + other: but, say you were bound to the peace, the law allows you to + defend yourself: that will prove but a poor excuse. + + Bob. I cannot tell, sir; I desire good construction in fair sort. I + never sustain'd the like disgrace, by heaven! sure I was struck + with a planet thence, for I had no power to touch my weapon. + + E. Know. Ay, like enough; I have heard of many that have been + beaten under a planet: go, get you to a surgeon. 'Slid! an these be + your tricks, your passadoes, and your montantos, I'll none of them. + [Exit Bobadill.] O, manners! that this age should bring forth such + creatures! that nature should be at leisure to make them! Come, + coz. + + Step. Mass, I'll have this cloak. + + E. Know. 'Od's will, 'tis Downright's. + + Step. Nay, it's mine now, another might have ta'en it up as well: + I'll wear it, so I will. + + E. Know. How an he see it? he'll challenge it, assure yourself. + + Step. Ay, but he shall not have it: I'll say I bought it. + + E. Know. Take heed you buy it not too dear, coz. + [Exeunt. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE IV.-A Room in KITELY'S House. + Enter KITELY, WELLBRED, Dame KITELY, and BRIDGET, + + Kit. + Now, trust me, brother, you were much to blame, + T' incense his anger, and disturb the peace + Of my poor house, where there are sentinels + That every minute watch to give alarms + Of civil war, without adjection + Of your assistance or occasion. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Wel. No harm done, brother, I warrant you: since there is no harm + done, anger costs a man nothing; and a tall man is never his own + man till he be angry. To keep his valour in obscurity, is to keep + himself as it were in a cloak bag. What's a musician, unless he + play? What's a tall man unless he fight? For, indeed, all this my + wise brother stands upon absolutely; and that made me fall in with + him so resolutely. + + Dame K. Ay, but what harm might have come of it, brother? + + Wel. Might, sister? so might the good warm clothes your husband + wears be poisoned, for any thing he knows: or the wholesome wine he + drank, even now at the table. + + Kit. + Now, God forbid! O me! now I remember + My wife drank to me last, and changed the cup, + And bade me wear this cursed suit to-day. + See, if Heaven suffer murder undiscover'd! + I feel me ill; give me some mithridate, + Some mithridate and oil, good sister, fetch me: + O, I am Sick at heart, I burn. I burn. + If you will save my life, go fetch it me. + + Wel. O strange humour! my very breath has poison'd him. + + Brid. + Good brother be content, what do you mean? + The strength of these extreme conceits will kill you. + + Dame K. + Beshrew your heart, blood, brother Wellbred, now, + For putting such a toy into his head! +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Wel. Is a fit simile a toy? will he be poison'd with a simile? + Brother Kitely, what a strange and idle imagination is this! For + shame, be wiser. O' my soul there's no such matter. + + Kit. Am I not sick? how am I then not poison'd? Am I not poison'd? + how am I then so sick? + + Dame K. If you be sick, your own thoughts make you sick. + + Wel. His jealousy is the poison he has taken. + Enter BRAINWORM, disguised in FORMAL'S clothes. + + Brai. Master Kitely, my master, justice Clement salutes you; and + desires to speak with you with all possible speed. + + Kit. No time but now, when I think I am sick, very sick! well, I + will wait upon his worship. Thomas! Cob! I must seek them out, and + set them sentinels till I return. Thomas! Cob! Thomas! + [Exit. Wel. + This is perfectly rare, Brainworm; [takes him aside.] but how + got'st thou this apparel of the justice's man? + + Brai. Marry, sir, my proper fine pen-man would needs bestow the + grist on me, at the Windmill, to hear some martial discourse; where + I so marshall'd him, that I made him drunk with admiration; and, + because too much heat was the cause of his distemper, I stript him + stark naked as he lay along asleep, and borrowed his suit to + deliver this counterfeit message in, leaving a rusty armour, and an + old brown bill to watch him till my return; which shall be, when I + have pawn'd his apparel, and spent the better part O' the money, + perhaps. + + Wel. Well, thou art a successful merry knave, Brainworm: his + absence will be a good subject for more mirth. I pray thee return + to thy young master, and will him to meet me and my sister Bridget + at the Tower instantly; for here, tell him the house is so stored + with jealousy, there is no room for love to stand up'right in. We + must get our fortunes committed to some larger prison, say; and + than the Tower, I know no better air, nor where the liberty of the + house may do us more present service. Away. + Exit Brai. + + Re-enter KITELY, talking aside to CASH. + Kit. + Come hither, Thomas. Now my secret's ripe, + And thou shalt have it: lay to both thine ears. + Hark what I say to thee. I must go forth, Thomas; + Be careful of thy promise, keep good watch, + Note every gallant, and observe him well, + That enters in my absence to thy mistress: + If she would shew him rooms, the jest is stale, + Follow them, Thomas, or else hang on him, + And let him not go after; mark their looks; + Note if she offer but to see his band, + Or any other amorous toy about him; + But praise his leg, or foot: or if she say + The day is hot, and bid him feel her hand, + How hot it is; O, that's a monstrous thing! + Note me all this, good Thomas, mark their sighs, + And if they do but whisper, break 'em off: + I'll bear thee out in it. Wilt thou do this? + Wilt thou be true, my Thomas? + + Cash. As truth's self, sir. + + Kit. Why, I believe thee: Where is Cob, now? Cob! + [Exit. + Dame K. He's ever calling for Cob: I wonder how he employs Cob so. + + Wel. Indeed, sister, to ask how he employs Cob, is a necessary + question for you that are his wife, and a thing not very easy for + you to be satisfied in; but this I'll assure you, Cob's wife is an + excellent bawd, sister, and oftentimes your husband haunts her + house; marry, to what end? I cannot altogether accuse him; imagine + you what you think convenient: but I have known fair hides have + foul hearts ere now, sister. + + Dame K. Never said you truer than that, brother, so much I can tell + you for your learning. Thomas, fetch your cloak and go with me. + [Exit Gash.] I'll after him presently: I would to fortune I could + take him there, i'faith, I'd return him his own, I warrant him! + [Exit. + Wel. So, let 'em go; this may make sport anon. Now, my fair + sister-in-law, that you knew but how happy a thing it were to be + fair and beautiful. + + Brid. That touches not me, brother. + + Wel. That's true; that's even the fault of it; for indeed, beauty + stands a woman in no stead, unless it procure her touching.—But, + sister, whether it touch you or no. It touches your beauties; and I + am sure they will abide the touch; an they do not, a plague of all + ceruse, say I! and it touches me too in part, though not in + the—Well, there's a dear and respected friend of mine, sister, + stands very strongly and worthily affected toward you, and hath + vowed to inflame whole bonfires of zeal at his heart, in honour of + your perfections. I have already engaged my promise to bring you + where you shall hear him confirm much more. Ned Knowell is the man, + sister: there's no exception against the party. You are ripe for a + husband; and a minute's loss to such all occasion, is a great + trespass in a wise beauty. What say you, sister? On 'my soul he + loves you; will you give him the meeting? + + Brid. Faith, I had very little confidence in mine own constancy, + brother, if I durst not meet a man; but this motion of yours + savours of an old knight adventurer's servant a little too much, + methinks. + + Wel. What' s that, sister? + + Brid. Marry, of the squire. + + Wel. No matter if it did, I would be such an one for my friend. But + see, who is return'd to hinder us! + + Reenter KITELY. + + Kit. + What villainy is this? call'd out on a false message! + This was some plot; I was not sent for.—-Bridget, + Where is your sister? + + Brid. I think she be gone forth, sir. + + Kit. How! is my wife gone forth? whither, for God's sake? + + Brid. She's gone abroad with Thomas. + + Kit. + Abroad with Thomas! Oh, that villain dors me: + Beast that I was, to trust him! whither, I pray you, + Went she? + + Brid. I know not, sir. + + Wel. I'll tell you, brother, Whither I suspect she's gone; + + Kit. Whither, good brother? + + Wel. To Cob's house, I believe: but, keep my counsel. + + Kit. + I will, I will: to Cob's house! doth she haunt Cob's? + She's gone a purpose now to cuckold me, + With that lewd rascal, who, to win her favour, + Hath told her all. + [Exit. + Wel. Come, he is once more gone, + Sister, let's lose no time; the affair is worth it. [Exeunt. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE VII.—-A Street. + Enter MATHEW and BOBADILL. + + Mat. I wonder, captain, what they will say of my going away, ha? + + Bob. Why, what should they say; but as of a discreet gentleman; + quick, wary, respectful of nature's fair lineaments? and that's + all. + + Mat. Why so! but what can they say of your beating? + + Bob. A rude part, a touch with soft wood, a kind of gross battery + used, laid on strongly, borne most patiently; and that's all. + + Mat. Ay, but would any man have offered it in Venice, as you say? + Bob. Tut! I assure you, no: you shall have there your nobilis, your + gentilezza, come in bravely upon your reverse, stand you close, + stand you firm, stand you fair, save your retricato with his left + leg, come to the assalto with the right, thrust with brave steel, + defy your base wood! But wherefore do I awake this remembrance? I + was fascinated, by Jupiter; fascinated, but I will be unwitch'd + and revenged by law. + + Mat. Do you hear? is it not best to get a warrant, and have him + arrested and brought before justice Clement? + + Bob. It were not amiss; would we had it! + Enter BRAINWORM disguised as FORMAL. + + Mat. Why, here comes his man; let's speak to him. + + Bob. Agreed, do you speak, + + Mat. Save you, sir. + + Brai. With all my heart, sir. + + Mat. Sir, there is one Downright hath abused this gentleman and + myself, and we determine to make our amends by law: now, if you + would do us the favour to procure a warrant to bring him afore your + master, you shall be well considered, I assure you, sir. + + Brai. Sir, you know my service is my living; such favours as these + gotten of my master is his only preferment, and therefore you must + consider me as I may make benefit of my place. + + Mat. How is that, Sir? + + Brai. Faith, sir, the thing is extraordinary, and the gentleman may + be of great account; yet, be he what he will, if you will lay me + down a brace of angels in my hand you shall have it, otherwise not. + + Mat. How shall we do, captain? he asks a brace of angels, you have + no money? + + Bob. Not a cross, by fortune. + + Mat. Nor I, as I am a gentleman, but twopence left of my two + shillings in the morning for wine and radish: let's find him some + pawn. + + Bob. Pawn! we have none to the value of his demand. + + Mat. O, yes; I'll pawn this jewel in my ear, and you may pawn your + silk stockings, and pull up your boots, they will ne'er be mist: it + must be done now. + + Bob. Well, an there be no remedy, I'll step aside and pull them + off. + [Withdraws. + Mat. Do you hear, sir? we have no store of money at this time, but + you shall have good pawns; look you, sir, this jewel, and that + gentleman's silk stockings; because we would have it dispatch'd ere + we went to our chambers. + + Brai. I am content, sir; I will get you the What's his name, say + you? Downright? + + Mat. Ay, ay, George Downright. + + Brai. What manner of man is he? + + Mat. A tall big man, sir; he goes in a cloak most commonly of + silk-russet, laid about with russet lace. + + Brai. 'Tis very good, sir. + + Mat. Here, Sir, here's my jewel. + + Bob. [returning.] And here are my stockings. + + Brai. Well, gentlemen, I'll procure you this warrant presently; but + who will you have to serve it? + + Mat. That's true, captain: that must be considered. + + Bob. Body O' me, I know not; 'tis service of danger. + + Brai. Why, you were best get one O' the varlets of the city, a + serjeant: I'll appoint you one, if you please. + + Mat. Will you, sir? why, we can wish no better. + + Bob. We'll leave it to you, sir. + [Exeunt Bob. and Mat. + Brai. This is rare! Now will I go and pawn this cloak of the + justice's man's at the broker's, for a varlet's suit, and be the + varlet myself; and get either more pawns, or more money of + Downright, for the arrest. + [Exit. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE VIII.-The Lane before COB'S House. + Enter KNOWELL. + + Know. + Oh, here it is; I am glad I have found it now; + Ho! who is within here? + + Tib. [within.] I am within, sir; what's your pleasure? + + Know. To know who is within beside yourself. + + Tib. Why, sir, you are no constable, I hope? + + Know. + O, fear you the constable? then I doubt not, + You have some guests within deserve that fear; + I'll fetch him straight. + + Enter TIB. + + Tib. O' God's name, sir! + + Know. Go to: come tell me, is not young Knowell here? + + Tib. Young Knowell! I know none such, sir, o' mine honesty. + + Know. + Your honesty, dame! it flies too lightly from you. + There is no way but fetch the constable. + + Tib. The constable! the man is mad, I think. + [Exit, and claps to the door. + + Enter Dame KITELY and CASH. + + Cash. Ho! who keeps house here? + + Know. + O, this is the female copesmate of my son: + Now shall I meet him straight. + + Dame K. Knock, Thomas, hard. + + Cash. Ho, goodwife! + Re-enter TIB. + Tib. Why, what's the matter with you? + + Dame K. + Why, woman, grieves it you to ope your door? + Belike you get something to keep it shut. + + Tib. What mean these questions, pray ye? + + Dame K. So strange you make it! is not my husband here? + + Know. Her husband! + + Dame K. My tried husband, master Kitely? + + Tib. I hope he needs not to be tried here. + + Dame K. No, dame, he does it not for need, but pleasure. + + Tib. Neither for need nor pleasure is he here. + + Know. This is but a device to balk me withal: + Enter KITELY, muffled in his cloak. + Soft, who is this? 'tis not my son disguised? + + Dame K. [spies her husband, and runs to him.] + O, sir, have I fore-stall'd your honest market, + Found your close walks? You stand amazed now, do you? + I'faith, I am glad I have smok'd you yet at last. + What is your jewel, trow? In, come, let's see her; + Fetch forth your housewife, dame; if she be fairer, + In any honest judgment, than myself, + I'll be content with it: but she is change, + She feeds you fat, she soothes your appetite, + And you are well! Your wife, an honest woman, + Is meat twice sod to you, sir! O, you treachour! + + Know. She cannot counterfeit thus palpably. + + Kit. + Out on thy more than strumpet impudence! + Steal'st thou thus to thy haunts? and have I taken + Thy bawd and thee, and thy companion, + This hoary-headed letcher, this old goat, + Close at your villainy, and would'st thou 'scuse it + With this stale harlot's jest, accusing me? + O, old incontinent, [to Knowell.] dost thou not shame, + When all thy powers in chastity are spent, + To have a mind so hot? and to entice, + And feed the enticements of a lustful woman? + + Dame K. Out, I defy thee, I, dissembling wretch! + + Kit. + Defy me, strumpet! Ask thy pander here, + Can he deny it; or that wicked elder? + + Know. Why, hear you, sir. + + Kit. + Tut, tut, tut; never speak: + Thy guilty conscience will discover thee. + + Know. What lunacy is this, that haunts this man? + Kit. + Well, good wife bawd, Cob's wife, and you, + That make your husband such a hoddy-doddy; + And you, young apple-squire, and old cuckold-maker; + I'll have you every one before a justice: + Nay, you shall answer it, I charge you go. + + Know. + Marry, with all my heart, sir, I go willingly; + Though I do taste this as a trick put on me, + To punish my impertinent search, and justly, + And half forgive my son for the device. + + Kit. Come, will you go? + + Dame K. Go! to thy shame believe it. + + Enter Cob. + + Cob. Why, what's the matter here, 'what's here to do? + + Kit. + O; Cob, art thou come? I have been abused, + And in thy house; was never man so wrong'd! + + Cob. 'Slid, in my house, my master Kitely! who wrongs you in + my house? ' + + Kit. + Marry, young lust in old, and old in young here: + Thy wife's their bawd, here have I taken them. + + Cob. How, bawd! is my house come to that? Am I preferr'd thither? + Did I not charge you to keep your doors shut, Isbel? and—-you + let them lie open for all comers! [Beats his wife. + + Know. Friend, know some cause, before thou beat'st thy wife. + This is madness in thee. + + Cob. Why, is there no cause? + + Kit. + Yes, I'll shew cause before the justice, Cob: + Come, let her go with me. + + Cob. Nay, she shall go. + + Tib. Nay, I will go. I'll see an you may be allowed to make a + bundle of hemp of your right and lawful wife thus, at every + cuckoldy knave's pleasure. Why do you not go? + + Kit. A bitter quean! Come, we will have you tamed. + [Exeunt. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE IX.—-A Street. + Enter BRAINWORM, disguised as a City Serjeant. + + Brai. Well, of all my disguises yet, now am I most like myself, + being in this serjeant's gown. A man of my present profession never + counterfeits, till he lays hold upon a debtor, and says, he rests + him; for then he brings him to all manner of unrest. A kind of + little kings we are, bearing the diminutive of a mace, made like a + young artichoke, that always carries pepper and salt in itself. + Well, I know not what danger I undergo by this exploit; pray Heaven + I come well off! + Enter MATHEW and BOBADILL. + + Mat. See, I think, yonder is the varlet, by his gown. + + Bob. Let's go in quest of him. + + Mat. 'Save you, friend! 'are not you here by appointment of justice + Clement's man? + + Brai. Yes, an't please you, sir; he told me, two gentlemen had + will'd him to procure a warrant from his master, which I have about + me, to be served on one Downright. + + Mat. It is honestly done of you both; and see where the party comes + you must arrest; serve it upon him quickly afore he be aware. + + Bob. Bear back, master Mathew. + + Enter STEPHEN in DOWNRIGHT'S cloak. + + Brai. Master Downright, I arrest you in the queen's name, and must + carry you afore a justice by virtue of this warrant: + + Step. Me, friend! I am no Downright, I; I am master Stephen; You do + not well to arrest me, I tell you, truly; I am in nobody's bonds + nor books, I would you should know it. A plague on you heartily, + for making me thus afraid afore my time! + + Brai. Why, now you are deceived, gentlemen. + + Bob. He wears such a cloak, and that deceived us: but see, here a' + comes indeed; this is he; officer. + + Enter DOWNRIGHT. + + Dow. Why how now, signior gull! are you turn'd filcher of late! + Come, deliver my cloak. + + Step. Your cloak, sir! I bought it even now, in open market. + + Brai. Master Downright, I have a warrant I must serve upon you, + procured by these two gentlemen. + + Dow. These gentlemen! these rascals! + [Offers to beat them. + Brai. Keep the peace, I charge you in her majesty's name. + + Dow. I obey thee. What must I do, officer? + + Brai. Go before master justice Clement; to answer that they can + object against you, sir: I will use you kindly, sir. + + Mat. Come, let's before, and make the justice, captain. + + Bob. The varlet's a tall man, afore heaven! + [Exeunt Bob. and Mat. + + Dow. Gull, you'll give me my cloak. + + Step. Sir, I bought it, and I'll keep it. + + Dow. You will? + + Step. Ay, that I will. + + Dow. Officer, there's thy fee, arrest him. + + Brai. Master Stephen I must arrest you. + + Step. Arrest me! I scorn it. There, take your cloak, I'll none + on't. + + Dow. Nay, that shall not serve your turn now, sir. Officer, I'll go + with thee to the justice's; bring him along. + + Step. Why, is not here your cloak? what would you have? + + Dow. I'll have you answer it, sir. + + Brai. Sir, I'll take your word, and this gentleman's too, for his + appearance. + + Dow. I'll have no words taken: bring him along. + + Brai. Sir, I may choose to do that, I may take bail. + + Dow. 'Tis true, you may take bail, and choose at another time: but + you shall not now, varlet: bring him along, or I'll swinge you. + + Brai. Sir, I pity the gentleman's case: here's your money again. + + Dow. 'Sdeins, tell not me of my money; bring him away, I say. + + Brai. I warrant you he will go with you of himself, sir. + + Dow. Yet more ado? + + Brai. I have made a fair mash on't; + Aside. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Step. Must I go? + + Brai. I know no remedy, master Stephen. + + Dow. Come along afore me here; I do not love your hanging look + behind. + + Step. Why, sir, I hope you cannot hang me for it: can he, fellow? + + Brai. I think not, sir; it is but a whipping matter, sure. + [Exeunt. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ACT V + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + SCENE I.-Coleman Street. + A Hall in Justice CLEMENT'S House. + + Enter CLEMENT, KNOWELL, KITELY, Dame K., TIB., CASH, + COB, and Servants. + + Step. Why then let him do his worst, I am resolute. + + Clem. Nay, but stay, stay, give me leave: my chair, sirrah. You, + master Knowell, say you went thither to meet your son? + + Know. Ay, sir. + + Clem. But who directed you thither? Know. That did mine own man, + sir. + + Clem. Where is he? + + Know. Nay, I know not now; I left him with your clerk, and + appointed him to stay here for me. + + Clem. My clerk! about what time was this? + + Know. Marry, between one and two, as I take it. + + Clem. And what time came my man with the false message to you, + master Kitely? + + Kit. After two, sir. + + Clem. Very good: but, mistress Kitely, how chance that you were at + Cob's, ha? + + Dame K. An't please you, sir, I'll tell you: my brother Wellbred + told me, that Cob's house was a suspected place— + + Clem. So it appears, methinks: but on. + + Dame K. And that my husband used thither daily. + + Clem. No matter, so he used himself well, mistress. + + Dame K. True, sir: but you know what grows by such haunts + oftentimes. + + Clem. I see rank fruits of a jealous brain, mistress Kitely: but + did you find your husband there, in that case as you suspected? + + Kit. I found her there, sir. + + Clem. Did you, so! that alters the case. Who gave you knowledge of + your wife's being there? + + Kit. Marry, that did my brother Wellbred. + + Clem. How, Wellbred first tell her; then tell you after! Where is + Wellbred? + + Kit. Gone with my sister, sir, I know not whither. + + Clem. Why this is a mere trick, a device; you are gull'd in this + most grossly all. Alas, poor wench! wert thou beaten for this? + + Tib. Yell, most pitifully, an't please you. + + Cob. And worthily, I hope, if it shall prove so. + + Clem. Ay, that's like, and a piece of a sentence.— + Enter a Servant. + + How now, sir! what's the matter? + + Serv. Sir, there's a gentleman in the court without, desires to + speak with your worship. + + Clem. A gentleman! what is he? + + Serv. A soldier, sir, he says. + + Clem. A soldier! take down my armour, my sword quickly. A soldier + speak with me! Why, when, knaves? Come on, come on; [arms himself] + hold my cap there, so; give me my gorget, my sword: stand by, I + will end your matters anon.—Let the soldier enter. + [Exit Servant. + Enter BOBADILL, followed by MATHEW. + + Now, sir, what have you to say to me? Bob. By your worship's + favour— + + Clem. Nay, keep out, sir; I know not your pretence. You send me + word, sir, you are a soldier: why, sir, you shall be answer'd here: + here be them that have been amongst soldiers. Sir, your pleasure. + + Bob. Faith, sir, so it is, this gentleman and myself have been most + uncivilly wrong'd and beaten by one Downright, a coarse fellow, + about the town here; and for mine own part, I protest, being a man + in no sort given to this filthy humour of quarrelling, he hath + assaulted me in the way of my peace, despoiled me of mine honour, + disarmed me of my weapons, and rudely laid me along in the open + streets, when I not so much as once offered to resist him. + + Clem. O, God's precious! is this the soldier? Here, take my armour + off quickly, 'twill make him swoon, I fear; he is not fit to look + on't, that will put up a blow. + + Mat. An't please your worship, he was bound to the peace. + + Clem. Why, an he were, sir, his hands were not bound, were they? + Re-enter Servant. + + Serv. There's one of the varlets of the city, sir, has brought two + gentlemen here; one, upon your worship's warrant. + + Clem. My warrant! + + Serv. Yes, sir; the officer says, procured by these two. + + Clem. Bid him come in. [Exit Servant.] Set by this picture. + Enter DOWNRIGHT, STEPHEN, and BRAINWORM, disguised as before. + + What, Master Downright! are you brought in at Mr. Freshwater's suit + here? + + Dow. I'faith, sir, and here's another brought at my suit. + + Clem. What are you, sir? + + Step. A gentleman, sir. O, uncle! + + Clem. Uncle! who, Master Knowell? + + Know. Ay, sir; this is a wise kinsman of mine. + + Step. God's my witness, uncle, I am wrong'd here monstrously, he + charges me with stealing of his cloak, and would I might never + stir, if I did not find it in the street by chance. + + Dow. O, did you find it now? You said you bought it erestwhile. + + Step. And you said, I stole it: nay, now my uncle is here, I'll do + well enough with you. + + Clem. Well, let this breathe awhile. You that have cause to + complain there, stand forth: Had you my warrant for this + gentleman's apprehension? + + Bob. Ay, an't please your worship. + + Clem. Nay, do not speak in passion so: where had you it? + + Bob. Of your clerk, sir. + + Clem. That's well! an my clerk can make warrants, and my hand not + at them! Where is the warrant-officer, have you it? + + Brai. No, sir; your worship's man, Master Formal, bid me do it for + these gentlemen, and he would be my discharge. + + Clem. Why, Master Downright, are you such a novice, to be ser'ved + and never see the warrant? + + Dow. Sir, he did not serve it on me. + + Clem. No! how then? + + Dow. Marry, sir, he came to me, and said he must serve it, and he + would use me kindly, and so— + + Clem. O, God's pity, was it so, sir? He must serve it! Give me my + long sword there, and help me off. So, come on, sir varlet, I must + cut off your legs, sirrah; [Brainworm kneels.] nay, stand up, I'll + use you kindly, I must cut off your legs, I say. + [Flourishes over him with his long sword. + + Brai. O, good sir, I beseech you; nay, good master justice! + + Clem. I must do it, there is no remedy; I must cut off your legs, + sirrrah, I must cut off your ears, you rascal, I must do it: I must + cut off your nose, I must cut off your head. + + Brai. O, good your worship! + + Clem. Well, rise; how dost thou do now? dost thou feel thyself + well? hast thou no harm? + + Brai. No, I thank your good worship, sir. + + Clem. Why so! I said I must cut off thy legs, and I must cut off + thy arms, and I must cut off thy head; but I did not do it: so you + said you must serve this gentleman with my warrant, but you did not + serve him. You knave, you slave, you rogue, do you say you must, + sirrah! away with him to the jail; I'll teach you a trick for your + must, sir. + + Brai. Good sir, I beseech you, be good to me. + + Clem. Tell him he shall to the jail; away with him, I say. + + Brai. Nay, sir, if you will commit me, it shall be for committing + more than this: I will not lose by my travail any grain of my fame, + certain. + [Throws off his serjeant's gown. + + Clem. How is this? + + Know. My man Brainworm! + + Step. O, yes, uncle; Brainworm has been with my cousin Edward and I + all this day. + + Clem. I told you all there was some device. + + Brai. Nay, excellent justice, since I have laid myself thus open to + you, now stand strong for me; both with your sword and your + balance. + + Clem. Body O' me, a merry knave! give me a bowl of sack: if he + belong to you, Master Knowell, I bespeak your patience. + + Brai. That is it I have most need of; Sir, if you'll pardon me, + only, I'll glory in all the rest of my exploits. + + Know. Sir, you know I love not to have my favours come hard from + me. You have your pardon, though I suspect you shrewdly for being + of counsel with my son against me. + + Brai. Yes, faith, I have, sir, though you retain'd me doubly this + morning for yourself: first as Brainworm; after, as Fitz-Sword. I + was your reform'd soldier, sir. 'Twas I sent you to Cob's upon the + errand without end. + + Know. Is it possible? or that thou should'st disguise thy language + so as I should not know thee? + + Brai. O, sir, this has been the day of my metamorphosis. It is not + that shape alone that I have run through to-day. I brought this + gentleman, master Kitely, a message too, in the form of master + Justice's man here, to draw him out O' the way, as well as your + worship, while master Wellbred might make a conveyance of mistress + Bridget to my young master. + + Kit. How! My sister stolen away? Know. My son is not married, I + hope. + + Brai. Faith, Sir, they are both as sure as love, a priest, and + three thousand pound, which is her portion, can make them; and by + this time are ready to bespeak their wedding-supper at the + Windmill, except some friend here prevent them, and invite them + home. + + Clem. Marry, that will I; I thank thee for putting me in mind on't. + Sirrah, go you and fetch them hither upon my warrant. [Exit + Servant.] Neither's friends have cause to be sorry, if I know the + young couple aright. Here, I drink to thee for thy good news. But I + pray thee, what hast thou done with my man, Formal? + + Brai. Faith, sir, after some ceremony past, as making him drunk, + first with story, and then with wine, (but all in kindness,) and + stripping him to his shirt, I left him in that cool vein; departed, + sold your worship's warrant to these two, pawn'd his livery for + that varlet's gown, to serve it in; and thus have brought myself by + my activity to your worship's consideration. + + Clem. And I will consider thee in another cup of sack. Here's to + thee, which having drunk off this my sentence: Pledge me. Thou hast + done, or assisted to nothing, in my judgment, but deserves to be + pardon'd for the wit of the offence. If thy master, or any man + here, be angry with thee, I shall suspect his ingine, while I know + him, for't. How now, what noise is that? + + Enter Servant. + + Serv. Sir, it is Roger is come home. + + Clem. Bring him in, bring him in. + Enter FORMAL in a suit of armour. + + What! drunk? in arms against me? your reason, your reason for this? + + Form. I beseech your worship to pardon me; I happened into ill + company by chance, that cast me into a sleep, and stript me of all + my clothes. + + Clem. Well, tell him I am Justice Clement, and do pardon him: but + what is this to your armour? what may that signify? + + Form. An't please you, sir, it hung up in the room where I was + stript; and I borrow'd it of one of the drawers to come home in, + because I was loth to do penance through the street in my shirt. + + Clem. Well, stand by a while. + Enter E. KNOWELL, WELLBRED, and BRIDGET. + + Who be these? O, the young company; welcome, welcome! Give you joy. + Nay, mistress Bridget, blush not; you are not so fresh a bride, but + the news of it is come hither afore you. Master bridegroom, I have + made your peace, give me your hand: so will I for all the rest ere + you forsake my roof. + + E. Know. We are the more bound to your humanity, sir. + + Clem. Only these two have so little of man in them, they are no + part of my care. + + Wel. Yes, sir, let me pray you for this gentleman, he belongs to my + sister the bride. + + Clem. In what place, sir? + + Wel. Of her delight, sir, below the stairs, and in public: her + poet, sir. + + Clem. A poet! I will challenge him myself presently at extempore. + + Mount up thy Phlegon, Muse, and testify, + How Saturn, sitting in an ebon cloud, + Disrobed his podex, white as ivory, + And through the welkin thunder'd all aloud. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Wel. He is not for extempore, sir: he is all for the pocket muse; + please you command a sight of it. + + Clem. Yes, yes, search him for a taste of his vein. [They search + Mathew's pockets. + + Wel. You must not deny the queen's justice, sir, under a writ of + rebellion. + + Clem. What! all this verse? body O' me, he carries a whole realm, a + commonwealth of paper in his hose: let us see some of his subjects. + + [Reads. + Unto the boundless ocean of thy face, + Runs this poor river, charg'd with streams of eyes. + + How! this is stolen. + + E. Know. A parody! a parody! with a kind of miraculous gift, to + make it absurder than it was. + + Clem. Is all the rest of this batch? bring me a torch; lay it + together, and give fire. Cleanse the air. [Sets the papers on + fire.] Here was enough to have infected the whole city, if it had + not been taken in time. See, see, how our poet's glory shines! + brighter and brighter! still it increases! O, now it is at the + highest; and now it declines as fast. You may see, sic transit + gloria mundi! + + Know. There's an emblem for you, son, and your studies. + + Clem. Nay, no speech or act of mine be drawn against such as + profess it worthily. They are not born every year, as an alderman. + There goes more to the making of a good poet, than a sheriff. + Master Kitely, you look upon me!—though I live in the city here, + amongst you, I will do more reverence to him, when I meet him, than + I will to the mayor out of his year. But these paper-pedlars! these + ink-dabblers! they cannot expect reprehension or reproach; they + have it with the fact, + + E. Know. Sir, you have saved me the labour of a defence. + + Clem. It shall be discourse for supper between your father and me, + if he dare undertake me. But to dispatch away these, you sign O' + the soldier, and picture of the poet, (but both so false, I will + not have you hanged out at my door till midnight,) while we are at + supper, you two shall penitently fast it out in my court without; + and, if you will, you may pray there that we may be so merry within + as to forgive or forget you when we come out. Here's a third, + because we tender your safety, shall watch you, he is provided for + the purpose. Look to your charge, sir. + + Step. And what shall I do? + + Clem. O! I had lost a sheep an he had not bleated: why, sir, you + shall give master Downright his cloak; and I will intreat him to + take it. A trencher and a napkin you shall have in the buttery, and + keep Cob and his wife company here; whom I will intreat first to be + reconciled; and you to endeavour with your wit to keep them so. + + Step. I'll do my best. + + Cob. Why, now I see thou art honest, Tib, I receive thee as my dear + and mortal wife again. + + Tib. And I you, as my loving and obedient husband. + + Clem. Good compliment! It will be their bridal night too. They are + married anew. Come, I conjure the rest to put off all discontent. + You, master Downright, your anger; you, master Knowell, your cares; + Master Kitely and his wife, their jealousy. + + For, I must tell you both, while that is fed, + Horns in the mind are worse than on the head. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Kit. Sir, thus they go from me; kiss me, sweetheart. + + See what a drove of horns fly in the air, + Wing'd with my cleansed and my credulous breath! + Watch' em suspicious eyes, watch where they fall. + See, see! on heads that think they have none at all! + O, what a plenteous world of this will come! + When air rains horns, all may be sure of some! + + I have learn'd so much verse out of a jealous man's part in a play. + + Clem. 'Tis well, 'tis well! This night we'll dedicate to + friendship, love, and laughter. Master bridegroom, take your bride + and lead; every one a fellow. Here is my mistress, Brainworm! to + whom all my addresses of courtship shall have their reference: + whose adventures this day, when our grandchildren shall hear to be + made a fable, I doubt not but it shall find both spectators and + applause. + [Exeunt. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_GLOS" id="link2H_GLOS"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + GLOSSARY + </h2> + <p> + ABATE, cast down, subdue. + </p> + <p> + ABHORRING, repugnant (to), at variance. + </p> + <p> + ABJECT, base, degraded thing, outcast. + </p> + <p> + ABRASE, smooth, blank. + </p> + <p> + ABSOLUTE(LY), faultless(ly). + </p> + <p> + ABSTRACTED, abstract, abstruse. + </p> + <p> + ABUSE, deceive, insult, dishonour, make ill use of. + </p> + <p> + ACATER, caterer. + </p> + <p> + ACATES, cates. + </p> + <p> + ACCEPTIVE, willing, ready to accept, receive. + </p> + <p> + ACCOMMODATE, fit, befitting. (The word was a fashionable one and used on + all occasions. See "Henry IV.," pt. 2, iii. 4). + </p> + <p> + ACCOST, draw near, approach. + </p> + <p> + ACKNOWN, confessedly acquainted with. + </p> + <p> + ACME, full maturity. + </p> + <p> + ADALANTADO, lord deputy or governor of a Spanish province. + </p> + <p> + ADJECTION, addition. + </p> + <p> + ADMIRATION, astonishment. + </p> + <p> + ADMIRE, wonder, wonder at. + </p> + <p> + ADROP, philosopher's stone, or substance from which obtained. + </p> + <p> + ADSCRIVE, subscribe. + </p> + <p> + ADULTERATE, spurious, counterfeit. + </p> + <p> + ADVANCE, lift. + </p> + <p> + ADVERTISE, inform, give intelligence. + </p> + <p> + ADVERTISED, "be—," be it known to you. + </p> + <p> + ADVERTISEMENT, intelligence. + </p> + <p> + ADVISE, consider, bethink oneself, deliberate. + </p> + <p> + ADVISED, informed, aware; "are you—?" have you found that out? + </p> + <p> + AFFECT, love, like; aim at; move. + </p> + <p> + AFFECTED, disposed; beloved. + </p> + <p> + AFFECTIONATE, obstinate; prejudiced. + </p> + <p> + AFFECTS, affections. + </p> + <p> + AFFRONT, "give the—," face. + </p> + <p> + AFFY, have confidence in; betroth. + </p> + <p> + AFTER, after the manner of. + </p> + <p> + AGAIN, AGAINST, in anticipation of. + </p> + <p> + AGGRAVATE, increase, magnify, enlarge upon. + </p> + <p> + AGNOMINATION. See Paranomasie. + </p> + <p> + AIERY, nest, brood. + </p> + <p> + AIM, guess. + </p> + <p> + ALL HID, children's cry at hide-and-seek. + </p> + <p> + ALL-TO, completely, entirely ("all-to-be-laden"). + </p> + <p> + ALLOWANCE, approbation, recognition. + </p> + <p> + ALMA-CANTARAS (astronomy), parallels of altitude. + </p> + <p> + ALMAIN, name of a dance. + </p> + <p> + ALMUTEN, planet of chief influence in the horoscope. + </p> + <p> + ALONE, unequalled, without peer. + </p> + <p> + ALUDELS, subliming pots. + </p> + <p> + AMAZED, confused, perplexed. + </p> + <p> + AMBER, AMBRE, ambergris. + </p> + <p> + AMBREE, MARY, a woman noted for her valour at the siege of Ghent, 1458. + </p> + <p> + AMES-ACE, lowest throw at dice. + </p> + <p> + AMPHIBOLIES, ambiguities. + </p> + <p> + AMUSED, bewildered, amazed. + </p> + <p> + AN, if. + </p> + <p> + ANATOMY, skeleton, or dissected body. + </p> + <p> + ANDIRONS, fire-dogs. + </p> + <p> + ANGEL, gold coin worth 10 shillings, stamped with the figure of the + archangel Michael. + </p> + <p> + ANNESH CLEARE, spring known as Agnes le Clare. + </p> + <p> + ANSWER, return hit in fencing. + </p> + <p> + ANTIC, ANTIQUE, clown, buffoon. + </p> + <p> + ANTIC, like a buffoon. + </p> + <p> + ANTIPERISTASIS, an opposition which enhances the quality it opposes. + </p> + <p> + APOZEM, decoction. + </p> + <p> + APPERIL, peril. + </p> + <p> + APPLE-JOHN, APPLE-SQUIRE, pimp, pander. + </p> + <p> + APPLY, attach. + </p> + <p> + APPREHEND, take into custody. + </p> + <p> + APPREHENSIVE, quick of perception; able to perceive and appreciate. + </p> + <p> + APPROVE, prove, confirm. + </p> + <p> + APT, suit, adapt; train, prepare; dispose, incline. + </p> + <p> + APT(LY), suitable(y), opportune(ly). + </p> + <p> + APTITUDE, suitableness. + </p> + <p> + ARBOR, "make the—," cut up the game (Gifford). + </p> + <p> + ARCHES, Court of Arches. + </p> + <p> + ARCHIE, Archibald Armstrong, jester to James I. and Charles I. + </p> + <p> + ARGAILE, argol, crust or sediment in wine casks. + </p> + <p> + ARGENT-VIVE, quicksilver. + </p> + <p> + ARGUMENT, plot of a drama; theme, subject; matter in question; token, + proof. + </p> + <p> + ARRIDE, please. + </p> + <p> + ARSEDINE, mixture of copper and zinc, used as an imitation of gold-leaf. + </p> + <p> + ARTHUR, PRINCE, reference to an archery show by a society who assumed + arms, etc., of Arthur's knights. + </p> + <p> + ARTICLE, item. + </p> + <p> + ARTIFICIALLY, artfully. + </p> + <p> + ASCENSION, evaporation, distillation. + </p> + <p> + ASPIRE, try to reach, obtain, long for. + </p> + <p> + ASSALTO (Italian), assault. + </p> + <p> + ASSAY, draw a knife along the belly of the deer, a ceremony of the + hunting-field. + </p> + <p> + ASSOIL, solve. + </p> + <p> + ASSURE, secure possession or reversion of. + </p> + <p> + ATHANOR, a digesting furnace, calculated to keep up a constant heat. + </p> + <p> + ATONE, reconcile. + </p> + <p> + ATTACH, attack, seize. + </p> + <p> + AUDACIOUS, having spirit and confidence. + </p> + <p> + AUTHENTIC(AL), of authority, authorised, trustworthy, genuine. + </p> + <p> + AVISEMENT, reflection, consideration. + </p> + <p> + AVOID, begone! get rid of. + </p> + <p> + AWAY WITH, endure. + </p> + <p> + AZOCH, Mercurius Philosophorum. + </p> + <p> + BABION, baboon. + </p> + <p> + BABY, doll. + </p> + <p> + BACK-SIDE, back premises. + </p> + <p> + BAFFLE, treat with contempt. + </p> + <p> + BAGATINE, Italian coin, worth about the third of a farthing. + </p> + <p> + BAIARD, horse of magic powers known to old romance. + </p> + <p> + BALDRICK, belt worn across the breast to support bugle, etc. + </p> + <p> + BALE (of dice), pair. + </p> + <p> + BALK, overlook, pass by, avoid. + </p> + <p> + BALLACE, ballast. + </p> + <p> + BALLOO, game at ball. + </p> + <p> + BALNEUM (BAIN MARIE), a vessel for holding hot water in which other + vessels are stood for heating. + </p> + <p> + BANBURY, "brother of—," Puritan. + </p> + <p> + BANDOG, dog tied or chained up. + </p> + <p> + BANE, woe, ruin. + </p> + <p> + BANQUET, a light repast; dessert. + </p> + <p> + BARB, to clip gold. + </p> + <p> + BARBEL, fresh-water fish. + </p> + <p> + BARE, meer; bareheaded; it was "a particular mark of state and grandeur + for the coachman to be uncovered" (Gifford). + </p> + <p> + BARLEY-BREAK, game somewhat similar to base. + </p> + <p> + BASE, game of prisoner's base. + </p> + <p> + BASES, richly embroidered skirt reaching to the knees, or lower. + </p> + <p> + BASILISK, fabulous reptile, believed to slay with its eye. + </p> + <p> + BASKET, used for the broken provision collected for prisoners. + </p> + <p> + BASON, basons, etc., were beaten by the attendant mob when bad characters + were "carted." + </p> + <p> + BATE, be reduced; abate, reduce. + </p> + <p> + BATOON, baton, stick. + </p> + <p> + BATTEN, feed, grow fat. + </p> + <p> + BAWSON, badger. + </p> + <p> + BEADSMAN, prayer-man, one engaged to pray for another. + </p> + <p> + BEAGLE, small hound; fig. spy. + </p> + <p> + BEAR IN HAND, keep in suspense, deceive with false hopes. + </p> + <p> + BEARWARD, bear leader. + </p> + <p> + BEDPHERE. See Phere. + </p> + <p> + BEDSTAFF, (?) wooden pin in the side of the bedstead for supporting the + bedclothes (Johnson); one of the sticks or "laths"; a stick used in making + a bed. + </p> + <p> + BEETLE, heavy mallet. + </p> + <p> + BEG, "I'd—him," the custody of minors and idiots was begged for; + likewise property fallen forfeit to the Crown ("your house had been + begged"). + </p> + <p> + BELL-MAN, night watchman. + </p> + <p> + BENJAMIN, an aromatic gum. + </p> + <p> + BERLINA, pillory. + </p> + <p> + BESCUMBER, defile. + </p> + <p> + BESLAVE, beslabber. + </p> + <p> + BESOGNO, beggar. + </p> + <p> + BESPAWLE, bespatter. + </p> + <p> + BETHLEHEM GABOR, Transylvanian hero, proclaimed King of Hungary. + </p> + <p> + BEVER, drinking. + </p> + <p> + BEVIS, SIR, knight of romance whose horse was equally celebrated. + </p> + <p> + BEWRAY, reveal, make known. + </p> + <p> + BEZANT, heraldic term: small gold circle. + </p> + <p> + BEZOAR'S STONE, a remedy known by this name was a supposed antidote to + poison. + </p> + <p> + BID-STAND, highwayman. + </p> + <p> + BIGGIN, cap, similar to that worn by the Beguines; nightcap. + </p> + <p> + BILIVE (belive), with haste. + </p> + <p> + BILK, nothing, empty talk. + </p> + <p> + BILL, kind of pike. + </p> + <p> + BILLET, wood cut for fuel, stick. + </p> + <p> + BIRDING, thieving. + </p> + <p> + BLACK SANCTUS, burlesque hymn, any unholy riot. + </p> + <p> + BLANK, originally a small French coin. + </p> + <p> + BLANK, white. + </p> + <p> + BLANKET, toss in a blanket. + </p> + <p> + BLAZE, outburst of violence. + </p> + <p> + BLAZE, (her.) blazon; publish abroad. + </p> + <p> + BLAZON, armorial bearings; fig. all that pertains to good birth and + breeding. + </p> + <p> + BLIN, "withouten—," without ceasing. + </p> + <p> + BLOW, puff up. + </p> + <p> + BLUE, colour of servants' livery, hence "—order," "—waiters." + </p> + <p> + BLUSHET, blushing one. + </p> + <p> + BOB, jest, taunt. + </p> + <p> + BOB, beat, thump. + </p> + <p> + BODGE, measure. + </p> + <p> + BODKIN, dagger, or other short, pointed weapon; long pin with which the + women fastened up their hair. + </p> + <p> + BOLT, roll (of material). + </p> + <p> + BOLT, dislodge, rout out; sift (boulting-tub). + </p> + <p> + BOLT'S-HEAD, long, straight-necked vessel for distillation. + </p> + <p> + BOMBARD SLOPS, padded, puffed-out breeches. + </p> + <p> + BONA ROBA, "good, wholesome, plum-cheeked wench" (Johnson) —not + always used in compliment. + </p> + <p> + BONNY-CLABBER, sour butter-milk. + </p> + <p> + BOOKHOLDER, prompter. + </p> + <p> + BOOT, "to—," into the bargain; "no—," of no avail. + </p> + <p> + BORACHIO, bottle made of skin. + </p> + <p> + BORDELLO, brothel. + </p> + <p> + BORNE IT, conducted, carried it through. + </p> + <p> + BOTTLE (of hay), bundle, truss. + </p> + <p> + BOTTOM, skein or ball of thread; vessel. + </p> + <p> + BOURD, jest. + </p> + <p> + BOVOLI, snails or cockles dressed in the Italian manner (Gifford). + </p> + <p> + BOW-POT, flower vase or pot. + </p> + <p> + BOYS, "terrible—," "angry—," roystering young bucks. (See + Nares). + </p> + <p> + BRABBLES (BRABBLESH), brawls. + </p> + <p> + BRACH, bitch. + </p> + <p> + BRADAMANTE, a heroine in "Orlando Furioso." + </p> + <p> + BRADLEY, ARTHUR OF, a lively character commemorated in ballads. + </p> + <p> + BRAKE, frame for confining a horse's feet while being shod, or strong curb + or bridle; trap. + </p> + <p> + BRANCHED, with "detached sleeve ornaments, projecting from the shoulders + of the gown" (Gifford). + </p> + <p> + BRANDISH, flourish of weapon. + </p> + <p> + BRASH, brace. + </p> + <p> + BRAVE, bravado, braggart speech. + </p> + <p> + BRAVE (adv.), gaily, finely (apparelled). + </p> + <p> + BRAVERIES, gallants. + </p> + <p> + BRAVERY, extravagant gaiety of apparel. + </p> + <p> + BRAVO, bravado, swaggerer. + </p> + <p> + BRAZEN-HEAD, speaking head made by Roger Bacon. + </p> + <p> + BREATHE, pause for relaxation; exercise. + </p> + <p> + BREATH UPON, speak dispraisingly of. + </p> + <p> + BREND, burn. + </p> + <p> + BRIDE-ALE, wedding feast. + </p> + <p> + BRIEF, abstract; (mus.) breve. + </p> + <p> + BRISK, smartly dressed. + </p> + <p> + BRIZE, breese, gadfly. + </p> + <p> + BROAD-SEAL, state seal. + </p> + <p> + BROCK, badger (term of contempt). + </p> + <p> + BROKE, transact business as a broker. + </p> + <p> + BROOK, endure, put up with. + </p> + <p> + BROUGHTON, HUGH, an English divine and Hebrew scholar. + </p> + <p> + BRUIT, rumour. + </p> + <p> + BUCK, wash. + </p> + <p> + BUCKLE, bend. + </p> + <p> + BUFF, leather made of buffalo skin, used for military and serjeants' + coats, etc. + </p> + <p> + BUFO, black tincture. + </p> + <p> + BUGLE, long-shaped bead. + </p> + <p> + BULLED, (?) bolled, swelled. + </p> + <p> + BULLIONS, trunk hose. + </p> + <p> + BULLY, term of familiar endearment. + </p> + <p> + BUNGY, Friar Bungay, who had a familiar in the shape of a dog. + </p> + <p> + BURDEN, refrain, chorus. + </p> + <p> + BURGONET, closely-fitting helmet with visor. + </p> + <p> + BURGULLION, braggadocio. + </p> + <p> + BURN, mark wooden measures ("—ing of cans"). + </p> + <p> + BURROUGH, pledge, security. + </p> + <p> + BUSKIN, half-boot, foot gear reaching high up the leg. + </p> + <p> + BUTT-SHAFT, barbless arrow for shooting at butts. + </p> + <p> + BUTTER, NATHANIEL ("Staple of News"), a compiler of general news. (See + Cunningham). + </p> + <p> + BUTTERY-HATCH, half-door shutting off the buttery, where provisions and + liquors were stored. + </p> + <p> + BUY, "he bought me," formerly the guardianship of wards could be bought. + </p> + <p> + BUZ, exclamation to enjoin silence. + </p> + <p> + BUZZARD, simpleton. + </p> + <p> + BY AND BY, at once. + </p> + <p> + BY(E), "on the __," incidentally, as of minor or secondary importance; at + the side. + </p> + <p> + BY-CHOP, by-blow, bastard. + </p> + <p> + CADUCEUS, Mercury's wand. + </p> + <p> + CALIVER, light kind of musket. + </p> + <p> + CALLET, woman of ill repute. + </p> + <p> + CALLOT, coif worn on the wigs of our judges or serjeants-at-law (Gifford). + </p> + <p> + CALVERED, crimped, or sliced and pickled. (See Nares). + </p> + <p> + CAMOUCCIO, wretch, knave. + </p> + <p> + CAMUSED, flat. + </p> + <p> + CAN, knows. + </p> + <p> + CANDLE-RENT, rent from house property. + </p> + <p> + CANDLE-WASTER, one who studies late. + </p> + <p> + CANTER, sturdy beggar. + </p> + <p> + CAP OF MAINTENCE, an insignia of dignity, a cap of state borne before + kings at their coronation; also an heraldic term. + </p> + <p> + CAPABLE, able to comprehend, fit to receive instruction, impression. + </p> + <p> + CAPANEUS, one of the "Seven against Thebes." + </p> + <p> + CARACT, carat, unit of weight for precious stones, etc.; value, worth. + </p> + <p> + CARANZA, Spanish author of a book on duelling. + </p> + <p> + CARCANET, jewelled ornament for the neck. + </p> + <p> + CARE, take care; object. + </p> + <p> + CAROSH, coach, carriage. + </p> + <p> + CARPET, table-cover. + </p> + <p> + CARRIAGE, bearing, behaviour. + </p> + <p> + CARWHITCHET, quip, pun. + </p> + <p> + CASAMATE, casemate, fortress. + </p> + <p> + CASE, a pair. + </p> + <p> + CASE, "in—," in condition. + </p> + <p> + CASSOCK, soldier's loose overcoat. + </p> + <p> + CAST, flight of hawks, couple. + </p> + <p> + CAST, throw dice; vomit; forecast, calculate. + </p> + <p> + CAST, cashiered. + </p> + <p> + CASTING-GLASS, bottle for sprinkling perfume. + </p> + <p> + CASTRIL, kestrel, falcon. + </p> + <p> + CAT, structure used in sieges. + </p> + <p> + CATAMITE, old form of "ganymede." + </p> + <p> + CATASTROPHE, conclusion. + </p> + <p> + CATCHPOLE, sheriff's officer. + </p> + <p> + CATES, dainties, provisions. + </p> + <p> + CATSO, rogue, cheat. + </p> + <p> + CAUTELOUS, crafty, artful. + </p> + <p> + CENSURE, criticism; sentence. + </p> + <p> + CENSURE, criticise; pass sentence, doom. + </p> + <p> + CERUSE, cosmetic containing white lead. + </p> + <p> + CESS, assess. + </p> + <p> + CHANGE, "hunt—," follow a fresh scent. + </p> + <p> + CHAPMAN, retail dealer. + </p> + <p> + CHARACTER, handwriting. + </p> + <p> + CHARGE, expense. + </p> + <p> + CHARM, subdue with magic, lay a spell on, silence. + </p> + <p> + CHARMING, exercising magic power. + </p> + <p> + CHARTEL, challenge. + </p> + <p> + CHEAP, bargain, market. + </p> + <p> + CHEAR, CHEER, comfort, encouragement; food, entertainment. + </p> + <p> + CHECK AT, aim reproof at. + </p> + <p> + CHEQUIN, gold Italian coin. + </p> + <p> + CHEVRIL, from kidskin, which is elastic and pliable. + </p> + <p> + CHIAUS, Turkish envoy; used for a cheat, swindler. + </p> + <p> + CHILDERMASS DAY, Innocents' Day. + </p> + <p> + CHOKE-BAIL, action which does not allow of bail. + </p> + <p> + CHRYSOPOEIA, alchemy. + </p> + <p> + CHRYSOSPERM, ways of producing gold. + </p> + <p> + CIBATION, adding fresh substances to supply the waste of evaporation. + </p> + <p> + CIMICI, bugs. + </p> + <p> + CINOPER, cinnabar. + </p> + <p> + CIOPPINI, chopine, lady's high shoe. + </p> + <p> + CIRCLING BOY, "a species of roarer; one who in some way drew a man into a + snare, to cheat or rob him" (Nares). + </p> + <p> + CIRCUMSTANCE, circumlocution, beating about the bush; ceremony, everything + pertaining to a certain condition; detail, particular. + </p> + <p> + CITRONISE, turn citron colour. + </p> + <p> + CITTERN, kind of guitar. + </p> + <p> + CITY-WIRES, woman of fashion, who made use of wires for hair and dress. + </p> + <p> + CIVIL, legal. + </p> + <p> + CLAP, clack, chatter. + </p> + <p> + CLAPPER-DUDGEON, downright beggar. + </p> + <p> + CLAPS HIS DISH, a clap, or clack, dish (dish with a movable lid) was + carried by beggars and lepers to show that the vessel was empty, and to + give sound of their approach. + </p> + <p> + CLARIDIANA, heroine of an old romance. + </p> + <p> + CLARISSIMO, Venetian noble. + </p> + <p> + CLEM, starve. + </p> + <p> + CLICKET, latch. + </p> + <p> + CLIM O' THE CLOUGHS, etc., wordy heroes of romance. + </p> + <p> + CLIMATE, country. + </p> + <p> + CLOSE, secret, private; secretive. + </p> + <p> + CLOSENESS, secrecy. + </p> + <p> + CLOTH, arras, hangings. + </p> + <p> + CLOUT, mark shot at, bull's eye. + </p> + <p> + CLOWN, countryman, clodhopper. + </p> + <p> + COACH-LEAVES, folding blinds. + </p> + <p> + COALS, "bear no—," submit to no affront. + </p> + <p> + COAT-ARMOUR, coat of arms. + </p> + <p> + COAT-CARD, court-card. + </p> + <p> + COB-HERRING, HERRING-COB, a young herring. + </p> + <p> + COB-SWAN, male swan. + </p> + <p> + COCK-A-HOOP, denoting unstinted jollity; thought to be derived from + turning on the tap that all might drink to the full of the flowing liquor. + </p> + <p> + COCKATRICE, reptile supposed to be produced from a cock's egg and to kill + by its eye—used as a term of reproach for a woman. + </p> + <p> + COCK-BRAINED, giddy, wild. + </p> + <p> + COCKER, pamper. + </p> + <p> + COCKSCOMB, fool's cap. + </p> + <p> + COCKSTONE, stone said to be found in a cock's gizzard, and to possess + particular virtues. + </p> + <p> + CODLING, softening by boiling. + </p> + <p> + COFFIN, raised crust of a pie. + </p> + <p> + COG, cheat, wheedle. + </p> + <p> + COIL, turmoil, confusion, ado. + </p> + <p> + COKELY, master of a puppet-show (Whalley). + </p> + <p> + COKES, fool, gull. + </p> + <p> + COLD-CONCEITED, having cold opinion of, coldly affected towards. + </p> + <p> + COLE-HARBOUR, a retreat for people of all sorts. + </p> + <p> + COLLECTION, composure; deduction. + </p> + <p> + COLLOP, small slice, piece of flesh. + </p> + <p> + COLLY, blacken. + </p> + <p> + COLOUR, pretext. + </p> + <p> + COLOURS, "fear no—," no enemy (quibble). + </p> + <p> + COLSTAFF, cowlstaff, pole for carrying a cowl=tub. + </p> + <p> + COME ABOUT, charge, turn round. + </p> + <p> + COMFORTABLE BREAD, spiced gingerbread. + </p> + <p> + COMING, forward, ready to respond, complaisant. + </p> + <p> + COMMENT, commentary; "sometime it is taken for a lie or fayned tale" + (Bullokar, 1616). + </p> + <p> + COMMODITY, "current for—," allusion to practice of money-lenders, + who forced the borrower to take part of the loan in the shape of worthless + goods on which the latter had to make money if he could. + </p> + <p> + COMMUNICATE, share. + </p> + <p> + COMPASS, "in—," within the range, sphere. + </p> + <p> + COMPLEMENT, completion, completement; anything required for the perfecting + or carrying out of a person or affair; accomplishment. + </p> + <p> + COMPLEXION, natural disposition, constitution. + </p> + <p> + COMPLIMENT, See Complement. + </p> + <p> + COMPLIMENTARIES, masters of accomplishments. + </p> + <p> + COMPOSITION, constitution; agreement, contract. + </p> + <p> + COMPOSURE, composition. + </p> + <p> + COMPTER, COUNTER, debtors' prison. + </p> + <p> + CONCEALMENT, a certain amount of church property had been retained at the + dissolution of the monasteries; Elizabeth sent commissioners to search it + out, and the courtiers begged for it. + </p> + <p> + CONCEIT, idea, fancy, witty invention, conception, opinion. + </p> + <p> + CONCEIT, apprehend. + </p> + <p> + CONCEITED, fancifully, ingeniously devised or conceived; possessed of + intelligence, witty, ingenious (hence well conceited, etc.); disposed to + joke; of opinion, possessed of an idea. + </p> + <p> + CONCEIVE, understand. + </p> + <p> + CONCENT, harmony, agreement. + </p> + <p> + CONCLUDE, infer, prove. + </p> + <p> + CONCOCT, assimilate, digest. + </p> + <p> + CONDEN'T, probably conducted. + </p> + <p> + CONDUCT, escort, conductor. + </p> + <p> + CONEY-CATCH, cheat. + </p> + <p> + CONFECT, sweetmeat. + </p> + <p> + CONFER, compare. + </p> + <p> + CONGIES, bows. + </p> + <p> + CONNIVE, give a look, wink, of secret intelligence. + </p> + <p> + CONSORT, company, concert. + </p> + <p> + CONSTANCY, fidelity, ardour, persistence. + </p> + <p> + CONSTANT, confirmed, persistent, faithful. + </p> + <p> + CONSTANTLY, firmly, persistently. + </p> + <p> + CONTEND, strive. + </p> + <p> + CONTINENT, holding together. + </p> + <p> + CONTROL (the point), bear or beat down. + </p> + <p> + CONVENT, assembly, meeting. + </p> + <p> + CONVERT, turn (oneself). + </p> + <p> + CONVEY, transmit from one to another. + </p> + <p> + CONVINCE, evince, prove; overcome, overpower; convict. + </p> + <p> + COP, head, top; tuft on head of birds; "a cop" may have reference to one + or other meaning; Gifford and others interpret as "conical, terminating in + a point." + </p> + <p> + COPE-MAN, chapman. + </p> + <p> + COPESMATE, companion. + </p> + <p> + COPY (Lat. copia), abundance, copiousness. + </p> + <p> + CORN ("powder—"), grain. + </p> + <p> + COROLLARY, finishing part or touch. + </p> + <p> + CORSIVE, corrosive. + </p> + <p> + CORTINE, curtain, (arch.) wall between two towers, etc. + </p> + <p> + CORYAT, famous for his travels, published as "Coryat's Crudities." + </p> + <p> + COSSET, pet lamb, pet. + </p> + <p> + COSTARD, head. + </p> + <p> + COSTARD-MONGER, apple-seller, coster-monger. + </p> + <p> + COSTS, ribs. + </p> + <p> + COTE, hut. + </p> + <p> + COTHURNAL, from "cothurnus," a particular boot worn by actors in Greek + tragedy. + </p> + <p> + COTQUEAN, hussy. + </p> + <p> + COUNSEL, secret. + </p> + <p> + COUNTENANCE, means necessary for support; credit, standing. + </p> + <p> + COUNTER. See Compter. + </p> + <p> + COUNTER, pieces of metal or ivory for calculating at play. + </p> + <p> + COUNTER, "hunt—," follow scent in reverse direction. + </p> + <p> + COUNTERFEIT, false coin. + </p> + <p> + COUNTERPANE, one part or counterpart of a deed or indenture. + </p> + <p> + COUNTERPOINT, opposite, contrary point. + </p> + <p> + COURT-DISH, a kind of drinking-cup (Halliwell); N.E.D. quotes from Bp. + Goodman's "Court of James I.": "The king...caused his carver to cut him + out a court-dish, that is, something of every dish, which he sent him as + part of his reversion," but this does not sound like short allowance or + small receptacle. + </p> + <p> + COURT-DOR, fool. + </p> + <p> + COURTEAU, curtal, small horse with docked tail. + </p> + <p> + COURTSHIP, courtliness. + </p> + <p> + COVETISE, avarice. + </p> + <p> + COWSHARD, cow dung. + </p> + <p> + COXCOMB, fool's cap, fool. + </p> + <p> + COY, shrink; disdain. + </p> + <p> + COYSTREL, low varlet. + </p> + <p> + COZEN, cheat. + </p> + <p> + CRACK, lively young rogue, wag. + </p> + <p> + CRACK, crack up, boast; come to grief. + </p> + <p> + CRAMBE, game of crambo, in which the players find rhymes for a given word. + </p> + <p> + CRANCH, craunch. + </p> + <p> + CRANION, spider-like; also fairy appellation for a fly (Gifford, who + refers to lines in Drayton's "Nimphidia"). + </p> + <p> + CRIMP, game at cards. + </p> + <p> + CRINCLE, draw back, turn aside. + </p> + <p> + CRISPED, with curled or waved hair. + </p> + <p> + CROP, gather, reap. + </p> + <p> + CROPSHIRE, a kind of herring. (See N.E.D.) + </p> + <p> + CROSS, any piece of money, many coins being stamped with a cross. + </p> + <p> + CROSS AND PILE, heads and tails. + </p> + <p> + CROSSLET, crucible. + </p> + <p> + CROWD, fiddle. + </p> + <p> + CRUDITIES, undigested matter. + </p> + <p> + CRUMP, curl up. + </p> + <p> + CRUSADO, Portuguese gold coin, marked with a cross. + </p> + <p> + CRY ("he that cried Italian"), "speak in a musical cadence," intone, or + declaim (?); cry up. + </p> + <p> + CUCKING-STOOL, used for the ducking of scolds, etc. + </p> + <p> + CUCURBITE, a gourd-shaped vessel used for distillation. + </p> + <p> + CUERPO, "in—," in undress. + </p> + <p> + CULLICE, broth. + </p> + <p> + CULLION, base fellow, coward. + </p> + <p> + CULLISEN, badge worn on their arm by servants. + </p> + <p> + CULVERIN, kind of cannon. + </p> + <p> + CUNNING, skill. + </p> + <p> + CUNNING, skilful. + </p> + <p> + CUNNING-MAN, fortune-teller. + </p> + <p> + CURE, care for. + </p> + <p> + CURIOUS(LY), scrupulous, particular; elaborate, elegant(ly), dainty(ly) + (hence "in curious"). + </p> + <p> + CURST, shrewish, mischievous. + </p> + <p> + CURTAL, dog with docked tail, of inferior sort. + </p> + <p> + CUSTARD, "quaking—," "—politic," reference to a large custard + which formed part of a city feast and afforded huge entertainment, for the + fool jumped into it, and other like tricks were played. (See "All's Well, + etc." ii. 5, 40.) + </p> + <p> + CUTWORK, embroidery, open-work. + </p> + <p> + CYPRES (CYPRUS) (quibble), cypress (or cyprus) being a transparent + material, and when black used for mourning. + </p> + <p> + DAGGER ("—frumety"), name of tavern. + </p> + <p> + DARGISON, apparently some person known in ballad or tale. + </p> + <p> + DAUPHIN MY BOY, refrain of old comic song. + </p> + <p> + DAW, daunt. + </p> + <p> + DEAD LIFT, desperate emergency. + </p> + <p> + DEAR, applied to that which in any way touches us nearly. + </p> + <p> + DECLINE, turn off from; turn away, aside. + </p> + <p> + DEFALK, deduct, abate. + </p> + <p> + DEFEND, forbid. + </p> + <p> + DEGENEROUS, degenerate. + </p> + <p> + DEGREES, steps. + </p> + <p> + DELATE, accuse. + </p> + <p> + DEMI-CULVERIN, cannon carrying a ball of about ten pounds. + </p> + <p> + DENIER, the smallest possible coin, being the twelfth part of a sou. + </p> + <p> + DEPART, part with. + </p> + <p> + DEPENDANCE, ground of quarrel in duello language. + </p> + <p> + DESERT, reward. + </p> + <p> + DESIGNMENT, design. + </p> + <p> + DESPERATE, rash, reckless. + </p> + <p> + DETECT, allow to be detected, betray, inform against. + </p> + <p> + DETERMINE, terminate. + </p> + <p> + DETRACT, draw back, refuse. + </p> + <p> + DEVICE, masque, show; a thing moved by wires, etc., puppet. + </p> + <p> + DEVISE, exact in every particular. + </p> + <p> + DEVISED, invented. + </p> + <p> + DIAPASM, powdered aromatic herbs, made into balls of perfumed paste. (See + Pomander.) + </p> + <p> + DIBBLE, (?) moustache (N.E.D.); (?) dagger (Cunningham). + </p> + <p> + DIFFUSED, disordered, scattered, irregular. + </p> + <p> + DIGHT, dressed. + </p> + <p> + DILDO, refrain of popular songs; vague term of low meaning. + </p> + <p> + DIMBLE, dingle, ravine. + </p> + <p> + DIMENSUM, stated allowance. + </p> + <p> + DISBASE, debase. + </p> + <p> + DISCERN, distinguish, show a difference between. + </p> + <p> + DISCHARGE, settle for. + </p> + <p> + DISCIPLINE, reformation; ecclesiastical system. + </p> + <p> + DISCLAIM, renounce all part in. + </p> + <p> + DISCOURSE, process of reasoning, reasoning faculty. + </p> + <p> + DISCOURTSHIP, discourtesy. + </p> + <p> + DISCOVER, betray, reveal; display. + </p> + <p> + DISFAVOUR, disfigure. + </p> + <p> + DISPARAGEMENT, legal term applied to the unfitness in any way of a + marriage arranged for in the case of wards. + </p> + <p> + DISPENSE WITH, grant dispensation for. + </p> + <p> + DISPLAY, extend. + </p> + <p> + DIS'PLE, discipline, teach by the whip. + </p> + <p> + DISPOSED, inclined to merriment. + </p> + <p> + DISPOSURE, disposal. + </p> + <p> + DISPRISE, depreciate. + </p> + <p> + DISPUNCT, not punctilious. + </p> + <p> + DISQUISITION, search. + </p> + <p> + DISSOLVED, enervated by grief. + </p> + <p> + DISTANCE, (?) proper measure. + </p> + <p> + DISTASTE, offence, cause of offence. + </p> + <p> + DISTASTE, render distasteful. + </p> + <p> + DISTEMPERED, upset, out of humour. + </p> + <p> + DIVISION (mus.), variation, modulation. + </p> + <p> + DOG-BOLT, term of contempt. + </p> + <p> + DOLE, given in dole, charity. + </p> + <p> + DOLE OF FACES, distribution of grimaces. + </p> + <p> + DOOM, verdict, sentence. + </p> + <p> + DOP, dip, low bow. + </p> + <p> + DOR, beetle, buzzing insect, drone, idler. + </p> + <p> + DOR, (?) buzz; "give the—," make a fool of. + </p> + <p> + DOSSER, pannier, basket. + </p> + <p> + DOTES, endowments, qualities. + </p> + <p> + DOTTEREL, plover; gull, fool. + </p> + <p> + DOUBLE, behave deceitfully. + </p> + <p> + DOXY, wench, mistress. + </p> + <p> + DRACHM, Greek silver coin. + </p> + <p> + DRESS, groom, curry. + </p> + <p> + DRESSING, coiffure. + </p> + <p> + DRIFT, intention. + </p> + <p> + DRYFOOT, track by mere scent of foot. + </p> + <p> + DUCKING, punishment for minor offences. + </p> + <p> + DUILL, grieve. + </p> + <p> + DUMPS, melancholy, originally a mournful melody. + </p> + <p> + DURINDANA, Orlando's sword. + </p> + <p> + DWINDLE, shrink away, be overawed. + </p> + <p> + EAN, yean, bring forth young. + </p> + <p> + EASINESS, readiness. + </p> + <p> + EBOLITION, ebullition. + </p> + <p> + EDGE, sword. + </p> + <p> + EECH, eke. + </p> + <p> + EGREGIOUS, eminently excellent. + </p> + <p> + EKE, also, moreover. + </p> + <p> + E-LA, highest note in the scale. + </p> + <p> + EGGS ON THE SPIT, important business on hand. + </p> + <p> + ELF-LOCK, tangled hair, supposed to be the work of elves. + </p> + <p> + EMMET, ant. + </p> + <p> + ENGAGE, involve. + </p> + <p> + ENGHLE. See Ingle. + </p> + <p> + ENGHLE, cajole; fondle. + </p> + <p> + ENGIN(E), device, contrivance; agent; ingenuity, wit. + </p> + <p> + ENGINER, engineer, deviser, plotter. + </p> + <p> + ENGINOUS, crafty, full of devices; witty, ingenious. + </p> + <p> + ENGROSS, monopolise. + </p> + <p> + ENS, an existing thing, a substance. + </p> + <p> + ENSIGNS, tokens, wounds. + </p> + <p> + ENSURE, assure. + </p> + <p> + ENTERTAIN, take into service. + </p> + <p> + ENTREAT, plead. + </p> + <p> + ENTREATY, entertainment. + </p> + <p> + ENTRY, place where a deer has lately passed. + </p> + <p> + ENVOY, denouement, conclusion. + </p> + <p> + ENVY, spite, calumny, dislike, odium. + </p> + <p> + EPHEMERIDES, calendars. + </p> + <p> + EQUAL, just, impartial. + </p> + <p> + ERECTION, elevation in esteem. + </p> + <p> + ERINGO, candied root of the sea-holly, formerly used as a sweetmeat and + aphrodisiac. + </p> + <p> + ERRANT, arrant. + </p> + <p> + ESSENTIATE, become assimilated. + </p> + <p> + ESTIMATION, esteem. + </p> + <p> + ESTRICH, ostrich. + </p> + <p> + ETHNIC, heathen. + </p> + <p> + EURIPUS, flux and reflux. + </p> + <p> + EVEN, just equable. + </p> + <p> + EVENT, fate, issue. + </p> + <p> + EVENT(ED), issue(d). + </p> + <p> + EVERT, overturn. + </p> + <p> + EXACUATE, sharpen. + </p> + <p> + EXAMPLESS, without example or parallel. + </p> + <p> + EXCALIBUR, King Arthur's sword. + </p> + <p> + EXEMPLIFY, make an example of. + </p> + <p> + EXEMPT, separate, exclude. + </p> + <p> + EXEQUIES, obsequies. + </p> + <p> + EXHALE, drag out. + </p> + <p> + EXHIBITION, allowance for keep, pocket-money. + </p> + <p> + EXORBITANT, exceeding limits of propriety or law, inordinate. + </p> + <p> + EXORNATION, ornament. + </p> + <p> + EXPECT, wait. + </p> + <p> + EXPIATE, terminate. + </p> + <p> + EXPLICATE, explain, unfold. + </p> + <p> + EXTEMPORAL, extempore, unpremeditated. + </p> + <p> + EXTRACTION, essence. + </p> + <p> + EXTRAORDINARY, employed for a special or temporary purpose. + </p> + <p> + EXTRUDE, expel. + </p> + <p> + EYE, "in—," in view. + </p> + <p> + EYEBRIGHT, (?) a malt liquor in which the herb of this name was infused, + or a person who sold the same (Gifford). + </p> + <p> + EYE-TINGE, least shade or gleam. + </p> + <p> + FACE, appearance. + </p> + <p> + FACES ABOUT, military word of command. + </p> + <p> + FACINOROUS, extremely wicked. + </p> + <p> + FACKINGS, faith. + </p> + <p> + FACT, deed, act, crime. + </p> + <p> + FACTIOUS, seditious, belonging to a party, given to party feeling. + </p> + <p> + FAECES, dregs. + </p> + <p> + FAGIOLI, French beans. + </p> + <p> + FAIN, forced, necessitated. + </p> + <p> + FAITHFUL, believing. + </p> + <p> + FALL, ruff or band turned back on the shoulders; or, veil. + </p> + <p> + FALSIFY, feign (fencing term). + </p> + <p> + FAME, report. + </p> + <p> + FAMILIAR, attendant spirit. + </p> + <p> + FANTASTICAL, capricious, whimsical. + </p> + <p> + FARCE, stuff. + </p> + <p> + FAR-FET. See Fet. + </p> + <p> + FARTHINGAL, hooped petticoat. + </p> + <p> + FAUCET, tapster. + </p> + <p> + FAULT, lack; loss, break in line of scent; "for—," in default of. + </p> + <p> + FAUTOR, partisan. + </p> + <p> + FAYLES, old table game similar to backgammon. + </p> + <p> + FEAR(ED), affright(ed). + </p> + <p> + FEAT, activity, operation; deed, action. + </p> + <p> + FEAT, elegant, trim. + </p> + <p> + FEE, "in—" by feudal obligation. + </p> + <p> + FEIZE, beat, belabour. + </p> + <p> + FELLOW, term of contempt. + </p> + <p> + FENNEL, emblem of flattery. + </p> + <p> + FERE, companion, fellow. + </p> + <p> + FERN-SEED, supposed to have power of rendering invisible. + </p> + <p> + FET, fetched. + </p> + <p> + FETCH, trick. + </p> + <p> + FEUTERER (Fr. vautrier), dog-keeper. + </p> + <p> + FEWMETS, dung. + </p> + <p> + FICO, fig. + </p> + <p> + FIGGUM, (?) jugglery. + </p> + <p> + FIGMENT, fiction, invention. + </p> + <p> + FIRK, frisk, move suddenly, or in jerks; "—up," stir up, rouse; + "firks mad," suddenly behaves like a madman. + </p> + <p> + FIT, pay one out, punish. + </p> + <p> + FITNESS, readiness. + </p> + <p> + FITTON (FITTEN), lie, invention. + </p> + <p> + FIVE-AND-FIFTY, "highest number to stand on at primero" (Gifford). + </p> + <p> + FLAG, to fly low and waveringly. + </p> + <p> + FLAGON CHAIN, for hanging a smelling-bottle (Fr. flacon) round the neck + (?). (See N.E.D.). + </p> + <p> + FLAP-DRAGON, game similar to snap-dragon. + </p> + <p> + FLASKET, some kind of basket. + </p> + <p> + FLAW, sudden gust or squall of wind. + </p> + <p> + FLAWN, custard. + </p> + <p> + FLEA, catch fleas. + </p> + <p> + FLEER, sneer, laugh derisively. + </p> + <p> + FLESH, feed a hawk or dog with flesh to incite it to the chase; initiate + in blood-shed; satiate. + </p> + <p> + FLICKER-MOUSE, bat. + </p> + <p> + FLIGHT, light arrow. + </p> + <p> + FLITTER-MOUSE, bat. + </p> + <p> + FLOUT, mock, speak and act contemptuously. + </p> + <p> + FLOWERS, pulverised substance. + </p> + <p> + FLY, familiar spirit. + </p> + <p> + FOIL, weapon used in fencing; that which sets anything off to advantage. + </p> + <p> + FOIST, cut-purse, sharper. + </p> + <p> + FOND(LY), foolish(ly). + </p> + <p> + FOOT-CLOTH, housings of ornamental cloth which hung down on either side a + horse to the ground. + </p> + <p> + FOOTING, foothold; footstep; dancing. + </p> + <p> + FOPPERY, foolery. + </p> + <p> + FOR, "—failing," for fear of failing. + </p> + <p> + FORBEAR, bear with; abstain from. + </p> + <p> + FORCE, "hunt at—," run the game down with dogs. + </p> + <p> + FOREHEAD, modesty; face, assurance, effrontery. + </p> + <p> + FORESLOW, delay. + </p> + <p> + FORESPEAK, bewitch; foretell. + </p> + <p> + FORETOP, front lock of hair which fashion required to be worn upright. + </p> + <p> + FORGED, fabricated. + </p> + <p> + FORM, state formally. + </p> + <p> + FORMAL, shapely; normal; conventional. + </p> + <p> + FORTHCOMING, produced when required. + </p> + <p> + FOUNDER, disable with over-riding. + </p> + <p> + FOURM, form, lair. + </p> + <p> + FOX, sword. + </p> + <p> + FRAIL, rush basket in which figs or raisins were packed. + </p> + <p> + FRAMPULL, peevish, sour-tempered. + </p> + <p> + FRAPLER, blusterer, wrangler. + </p> + <p> + FRAYING, "a stag is said to fray his head when he rubs it against a tree + to...cause the outward coat of the new horns to fall off" (Gifford). + </p> + <p> + FREIGHT (of the gazetti), burden (of the newspapers). + </p> + <p> + FREQUENT, full. + </p> + <p> + FRICACE, rubbing. + </p> + <p> + FRICATRICE, woman of low character. + </p> + <p> + FRIPPERY, old clothes shop. + </p> + <p> + FROCK, smock-frock. + </p> + <p> + FROLICS, (?) humorous verses circulated at a feast (N.E.D.); couplets + wrapped round sweetmeats (Cunningham). + </p> + <p> + FRONTLESS, shameless. + </p> + <p> + FROTED, rubbed. + </p> + <p> + FRUMETY, hulled wheat boiled in milk and spiced. + </p> + <p> + FRUMP, flout, sneer. + </p> + <p> + FUCUS, dye. + </p> + <p> + FUGEAND, (?) figent: fidgety, restless (N.E.D.). + </p> + <p> + FULLAM, false dice. + </p> + <p> + FULMART, polecat. + </p> + <p> + FULSOME, foul, offensive. + </p> + <p> + FURIBUND, raging, furious. + </p> + <p> + GALLEY-FOIST, city-barge, used on Lord Mayor's Day, when he was sworn into + his office at Westminster (Whalley). + </p> + <p> + GALLIARD, lively dance in triple time. + </p> + <p> + GAPE, be eager after. + </p> + <p> + GARAGANTUA, Rabelais' giant. + </p> + <p> + GARB, sheaf (Fr. gerbe); manner, fashion, behaviour. + </p> + <p> + GARD, guard, trimming, gold or silver lace, or other ornament. + </p> + <p> + GARDED, faced or trimmed. + </p> + <p> + GARNISH, fee. + </p> + <p> + GAVEL-KIND, name of a land-tenure existing chiefly in Kent; from 16th + century often used to denote custom of dividing a deceased man's property + equally among his sons (N.E.D.). + </p> + <p> + GAZETTE, small Venetian coin worth about three-farthings. + </p> + <p> + GEANCE, jaunt, errand. + </p> + <p> + GEAR (GEER), stuff, matter, affair. + </p> + <p> + GELID, frozen. + </p> + <p> + GEMONIES, steps from which the bodies of criminals were thrown into the + river. + </p> + <p> + GENERAL, free, affable. + </p> + <p> + GENIUS, attendant spirit. + </p> + <p> + GENTRY, gentlemen; manners characteristic of gentry, good breeding. + </p> + <p> + GIB-CAT, tom-cat. + </p> + <p> + GIGANTOMACHIZE, start a giants' war. + </p> + <p> + GIGLOT, wanton. + </p> + <p> + GIMBLET, gimlet. + </p> + <p> + GING, gang. + </p> + <p> + GLASS ("taking in of shadows, etc."), crystal or beryl. + </p> + <p> + GLEEK, card game played by three; party of three, trio; side glance. + </p> + <p> + GLICK (GLEEK), jest, gibe. + </p> + <p> + GLIDDER, glaze. + </p> + <p> + GLORIOUSLY, of vain glory. + </p> + <p> + GODWIT, bird of the snipe family. + </p> + <p> + GOLD-END-MAN, a buyer of broken gold and silver. + </p> + <p> + GOLL, hand. + </p> + <p> + GONFALIONIER, standard-bearer, chief magistrate, etc. + </p> + <p> + GOOD, sound in credit. + </p> + <p> + GOOD-YEAR, good luck. + </p> + <p> + GOOSE-TURD, colour of. (See Turd). + </p> + <p> + GORCROW, carrion crow. + </p> + <p> + GORGET, neck armour. + </p> + <p> + GOSSIP, godfather. + </p> + <p> + GOWKED, from "gowk," to stand staring and gaping like a fool. + </p> + <p> + GRANNAM, grandam. + </p> + <p> + GRASS, (?) grease, fat. + </p> + <p> + GRATEFUL, agreeable, welcome. + </p> + <p> + GRATIFY, give thanks to. + </p> + <p> + GRATITUDE, gratuity. + </p> + <p> + GRATULATE, welcome, congratulate. + </p> + <p> + GRAVITY, dignity. + </p> + <p> + GRAY, badger. + </p> + <p> + GRICE, cub. + </p> + <p> + GRIEF, grievance. + </p> + <p> + GRIPE, vulture, griffin. + </p> + <p> + GRIPE'S EGG, vessel in shape of. + </p> + <p> + GROAT, fourpence. + </p> + <p> + GROGRAN, coarse stuff made of silk and mohair, or of coarse silk. + </p> + <p> + GROOM-PORTER, officer in the royal household. + </p> + <p> + GROPE, handle, probe. + </p> + <p> + GROUND, pit (hence "grounded judgments"). + </p> + <p> + GUARD, caution, heed. + </p> + <p> + GUARDANT, heraldic term: turning the head only. + </p> + <p> + GUILDER, Dutch coin worth about 4d. + </p> + <p> + GULES, gullet, throat; heraldic term for red. + </p> + <p> + GULL, simpleton, dupe. + </p> + <p> + GUST, taste. + </p> + <p> + HAB NAB, by, on, chance. + </p> + <p> + HABERGEON, coat of mail. + </p> + <p> + HAGGARD, wild female hawk; hence coy, wild. + </p> + <p> + HALBERD, combination of lance and battle-axe. + </p> + <p> + HALL, "a—!" a cry to clear the room for the dancers. + </p> + <p> + HANDSEL, first money taken. + </p> + <p> + HANGER, loop or strap on a sword-belt from which the sword was suspended. + </p> + <p> + HAP, fortune, luck. + </p> + <p> + HAPPILY, haply. + </p> + <p> + HAPPINESS, appropriateness, fitness. + </p> + <p> + HAPPY, rich. + </p> + <p> + HARBOUR, track, trace (an animal) to its shelter. + </p> + <p> + HARD-FAVOURED, harsh-featured. + </p> + <p> + HARPOCRATES, Horus the child, son of Osiris, figured with a finger + pointing to his mouth, indicative of silence. + </p> + <p> + HARRINGTON, a patent was granted to Lord H. for the coinage of tokens + (q.v.). + </p> + <p> + HARROT, herald. + </p> + <p> + HARRY NICHOLAS, founder of a community called the "Family of Love." + </p> + <p> + HAY, net for catching rabbits, etc. + </p> + <p> + HAY! (Ital. hai!), you have it (a fencing term). + </p> + <p> + HAY IN HIS HORN, ill-tempered person. + </p> + <p> + HAZARD, game at dice; that which is staked. + </p> + <p> + HEAD, "first—," young deer with antlers first sprouting; fig. a + newly-ennobled man. + </p> + <p> + HEADBOROUGH, constable. + </p> + <p> + HEARKEN AFTER, inquire; "hearken out," find, search out. + </p> + <p> + HEARTEN, encourage. + </p> + <p> + HEAVEN AND HELL ("Alchemist"), names of taverns. + </p> + <p> + HECTIC, fever. + </p> + <p> + HEDGE IN, include. + </p> + <p> + HELM, upper part of a retort. + </p> + <p> + HER'NSEW, hernshaw, heron. + </p> + <p> + HIERONIMO (JERONIMO), hero of Kyd's "Spanish Tragedy." + </p> + <p> + HOBBY, nag. + </p> + <p> + HOBBY-HORSE, imitation horse of some light material, fastened round the + waist of the morrice-dancer, who imitated the movements of a skittish + horse. + </p> + <p> + HODDY-DODDY, fool. + </p> + <p> + HOIDEN, hoyden, formerly applied to both sexes (ancient term for leveret? + Gifford). + </p> + <p> + HOLLAND, name of two famous chemists. + </p> + <p> + HONE AND HONERO, wailing expressions of lament or discontent. + </p> + <p> + HOOD-WINK'D, blindfolded. + </p> + <p> + HORARY, hourly. + </p> + <p> + HORN-MAD, stark mad (quibble). + </p> + <p> + HORN-THUMB, cut-purses were in the habit of wearing a horn shield on the + thumb. + </p> + <p> + HORSE-BREAD-EATING, horses were often fed on coarse bread. + </p> + <p> + HORSE-COURSER, horse-dealer. + </p> + <p> + HOSPITAL, Christ's Hospital. + </p> + <p> + HOWLEGLAS, Eulenspiegel, the hero of a popular German tale which relates + his buffooneries and knavish tricks. + </p> + <p> + HUFF, hectoring, arrogance. + </p> + <p> + HUFF IT, swagger. + </p> + <p> + HUISHER (Fr. huissier), usher. + </p> + <p> + HUM, beer and spirits mixed together. + </p> + <p> + HUMANITIAN, humanist, scholar. + </p> + <p> + HUMOROUS, capricious, moody, out of humour; moist. + </p> + <p> + HUMOUR, a word used in and out of season in the time of Shakespeare and + Ben Jonson, and ridiculed by both. + </p> + <p> + HUMOURS, manners. + </p> + <p> + HUMPHREY, DUKE, those who were dinnerless spent the dinner-hour in a part + of St. Paul's where stood a monument said to be that of the duke's; hence + "dine with Duke Humphrey," to go hungry. + </p> + <p> + HURTLESS, harmless. + </p> + <p> + IDLE, useless, unprofitable. + </p> + <p> + ILL-AFFECTED, ill-disposed. + </p> + <p> + ILL-HABITED, unhealthy. + </p> + <p> + ILLUSTRATE, illuminate. + </p> + <p> + IMBIBITION, saturation, steeping. + </p> + <p> + IMBROCATA, fencing term: a thrust in tierce. + </p> + <p> + IMPAIR, impairment. + </p> + <p> + IMPART, give money. + </p> + <p> + IMPARTER, any one ready to be cheated and to part with his money. + </p> + <p> + IMPEACH, damage. + </p> + <p> + IMPERTINENCIES, irrelevancies. + </p> + <p> + IMPERTINENT(LY), irrelevant(ly), without reason or purpose. + </p> + <p> + IMPOSITION, duty imposed by. + </p> + <p> + IMPOTENTLY, beyond power of control. + </p> + <p> + IMPRESS, money in advance. + </p> + <p> + IMPULSION, incitement. + </p> + <p> + IN AND IN, a game played by two or three persons with four dice. + </p> + <p> + INCENSE, incite, stir up. + </p> + <p> + INCERATION, act of covering with wax; or reducing a substance to softness + of wax. + </p> + <p> + INCH, "to their—es," according to their stature, capabilities. + </p> + <p> + INCH-PIN, sweet-bread. + </p> + <p> + INCONVENIENCE, inconsistency, absurdity. + </p> + <p> + INCONY, delicate, rare (used as a term of affection). + </p> + <p> + INCUBEE, incubus. + </p> + <p> + INCUBUS, evil spirit that oppresses us in sleep, nightmare. + </p> + <p> + INCURIOUS, unfastidious, uncritical. + </p> + <p> + INDENT, enter into engagement. + </p> + <p> + INDIFFERENT, tolerable, passable. + </p> + <p> + INDIGESTED, shapeless, chaotic. + </p> + <p> + INDUCE, introduce. + </p> + <p> + INDUE, supply. + </p> + <p> + INEXORABLE, relentless. + </p> + <p> + INFANTED, born, produced. + </p> + <p> + INFLAME, augment charge. + </p> + <p> + INGENIOUS, used indiscriminantly for ingenuous; intelligent, talented. + </p> + <p> + INGENUITY, ingenuousness. + </p> + <p> + INGENUOUS, generous. + </p> + <p> + INGINE. See Engin. + </p> + <p> + INGINER, engineer. (See Enginer). + </p> + <p> + INGLE, OR ENGHLE, bosom friend, intimate, minion. + </p> + <p> + INHABITABLE, uninhabitable. + </p> + <p> + INJURY, insult, affront. + </p> + <p> + IN-MATE, resident, indwelling. + </p> + <p> + INNATE, natural. + </p> + <p> + INNOCENT, simpleton. + </p> + <p> + INQUEST, jury, or other official body of inquiry. + </p> + <p> + INQUISITION, inquiry. + </p> + <p> + INSTANT, immediate. + </p> + <p> + INSTRUMENT, legal document. + </p> + <p> + INSURE, assure. + </p> + <p> + INTEGRATE, complete, perfect. + </p> + <p> + INTELLIGENCE, secret information, news. + </p> + <p> + INTEND, note carefully, attend, give ear to, be occupied with. + </p> + <p> + INTENDMENT, intention. + </p> + <p> + INTENT, intention, wish. + </p> + <p> + INTENTION, concentration of attention or gaze. + </p> + <p> + INTENTIVE, attentive. + </p> + <p> + INTERESSED, implicated. + </p> + <p> + INTRUDE, bring in forcibly or without leave. + </p> + <p> + INVINCIBLY, invisibly. + </p> + <p> + INWARD, intimate. + </p> + <p> + IRPE (uncertain), "a fantastic grimace, or contortion of the body: + (Gifford)." + </p> + <p> + JACK, Jack o' the clock, automaton figure that strikes the hour; + Jack-a-lent, puppet thrown at in Lent. + </p> + <p> + JACK, key of a virginal. + </p> + <p> + JACOB'S STAFF, an instrument for taking altitudes and distances. + </p> + <p> + JADE, befool. + </p> + <p> + JEALOUSY, JEALOUS, suspicion, suspicious. + </p> + <p> + JERKING, lashing. + </p> + <p> + JEW'S TRUMP, Jew's harp. + </p> + <p> + JIG, merry ballad or tune; a fanciful dialogue or light comic act + introduced at the end or during an interlude of a play. + </p> + <p> + JOINED (JOINT)-STOOL, folding stool. + </p> + <p> + JOLL, jowl. + </p> + <p> + JOLTHEAD, blockhead. + </p> + <p> + JUMP, agree, tally. + </p> + <p> + JUST YEAR, no one was capable of the consulship until he was forty-three. + </p> + <p> + KELL, cocoon. + </p> + <p> + KELLY, an alchemist. + </p> + <p> + KEMB, comb. + </p> + <p> + KEMIA, vessel for distillation. + </p> + <p> + KIBE, chap, sore. + </p> + <p> + KILDERKIN, small barrel. + </p> + <p> + KILL, kiln. + </p> + <p> + KIND, nature; species; "do one's—," act according to one's nature. + </p> + <p> + KIRTLE, woman's gown of jacket and petticoat. + </p> + <p> + KISS OR DRINK AFORE ME, "this is a familiar expression, employed when what + the speaker is just about to say is anticipated by another" (Gifford). + </p> + <p> + KIT, fiddle. + </p> + <p> + KNACK, snap, click. + </p> + <p> + KNIPPER-DOLING, a well-known Anabaptist. + </p> + <p> + KNITTING CUP, marriage cup. + </p> + <p> + KNOCKING, striking, weighty. + </p> + <p> + KNOT, company, band; a sandpiper or robin snipe (Tringa canutus); + flower-bed laid out in fanciful design. + </p> + <p> + KURSINED, KYRSIN, christened. + </p> + <p> + LABOURED, wrought with labour and care. + </p> + <p> + LADE, load(ed). + </p> + <p> + LADING, load. + </p> + <p> + LAID, plotted. + </p> + <p> + LANCE-KNIGHT (Lanzknecht), a German mercenary foot-soldier. + </p> + <p> + LAP, fold. + </p> + <p> + LAR, household god. + </p> + <p> + LARD, garnish. + </p> + <p> + LARGE, abundant. + </p> + <p> + LARUM, alarum, call to arms. + </p> + <p> + LATTICE, tavern windows were furnished with lattices of various colours. + </p> + <p> + LAUNDER, to wash gold in aqua regia, so as imperceptibly to extract some + of it. + </p> + <p> + LAVE, ladle, bale. + </p> + <p> + LAW, "give—," give a start (term of chase). + </p> + <p> + LAXATIVE, loose. + </p> + <p> + LAY ABOARD, run alongside generally with intent to board. + </p> + <p> + LEAGUER, siege, or camp of besieging army. + </p> + <p> + LEASING, lying. + </p> + <p> + LEAVE, leave off, desist. + </p> + <p> + LEER, leering or "empty, hence, perhaps, leer horse, a horse without a + rider; leer is an adjective meaning uncontrolled, hence 'leer drunkards'" + (Halliwell); according to Nares, a leer (empty) horse meant also a led + horse; leeward, left. + </p> + <p> + LEESE, lose. + </p> + <p> + LEGS, "make—," do obeisance. + </p> + <p> + LEIGER, resident representative. + </p> + <p> + LEIGERITY, legerdemain. + </p> + <p> + LEMMA, subject proposed, or title of the epigram. + </p> + <p> + LENTER, slower. + </p> + <p> + LET, hinder. + </p> + <p> + LET, hindrance. + </p> + <p> + LEVEL COIL, a rough game...in which one hunted another from his seat. + Hence used for any noisy riot (Halliwell). + </p> + <p> + LEWD, ignorant. + </p> + <p> + LEYSTALLS, receptacles of filth. + </p> + <p> + LIBERAL, ample. + </p> + <p> + LIEGER, ledger, register. + </p> + <p> + LIFT(ING), steal(ing); theft. + </p> + <p> + LIGHT, alight. + </p> + <p> + LIGHTLY, commonly, usually, often. + </p> + <p> + LIKE, please. + </p> + <p> + LIKELY, agreeable, pleasing. + </p> + <p> + LIME-HOUND, leash-, blood-hound. + </p> + <p> + LIMMER, vile, worthless. + </p> + <p> + LIN, leave off. + </p> + <p> + Line, "by—," by rule. + </p> + <p> + LINSTOCK, staff to stick in the ground, with forked head to hold a lighted + match for firing cannon. + </p> + <p> + LIQUID, clear. + </p> + <p> + LIST, listen, hark; like, please. + </p> + <p> + LIVERY, legal term, delivery of the possession, etc. + </p> + <p> + LOGGET, small log, stick. + </p> + <p> + LOOSE, solution; upshot, issue; release of an arrow. + </p> + <p> + LOSE, give over, desist from; waste. + </p> + <p> + LOUTING, bowing, cringing. + </p> + <p> + LUCULENT, bright of beauty. + </p> + <p> + LUDGATHIANS, dealers on Ludgate Hill. + </p> + <p> + LURCH, rob, cheat. + </p> + <p> + LUTE, to close a vessel with some kind of cement. + </p> + <p> + MACK, unmeaning expletive. + </p> + <p> + MADGE-HOWLET or OWL, barn-owl. + </p> + <p> + MAIM, hurt, injury. + </p> + <p> + MAIN, chief concern (used as a quibble on heraldic term for "hand"). + </p> + <p> + MAINPRISE, becoming surety for a prisoner so as to procure his release. + </p> + <p> + MAINTENANCE, giving aid, or abetting. + </p> + <p> + MAKE, mate. + </p> + <p> + MAKE, MADE, acquaint with business, prepare(d), instruct(ed). + </p> + <p> + MALLANDERS, disease of horses. + </p> + <p> + MALT HORSE, dray horse. + </p> + <p> + MAMMET, puppet. + </p> + <p> + MAMMOTHREPT, spoiled child. + </p> + <p> + MANAGE, control (term used for breaking-in horses); handling, + administration. + </p> + <p> + MANGO, slave-dealer. + </p> + <p> + MANGONISE, polish up for sale. + </p> + <p> + MANIPLES, bundles, handfuls. + </p> + <p> + MANKIND, masculine, like a virago. + </p> + <p> + MANKIND, humanity. + </p> + <p> + MAPLE FACE, spotted face (N.E.D.). + </p> + <p> + MARCHPANE, a confection of almonds, sugar, etc. + </p> + <p> + MARK, "fly to the—," "generally said of a goshawk when, having 'put + in' a covey of partridges, she takes stand, marking the spot where they + disappeared from view until the falconer arrives to put them out to her" + (Harting, Bibl. Accip. Gloss. 226). + </p> + <p> + MARLE, marvel. + </p> + <p> + MARROW-BONE MAN, one often on his knees for prayer. + </p> + <p> + MARRY! exclamation derived from the Virgin's name. + </p> + <p> + MARRY GIP, "probably originated from By Mary Gipcy" = St. Mary of Egypt, + (N.E.D.). + </p> + <p> + MARTAGAN, Turk's cap lily. + </p> + <p> + MARYHINCHCO, stringhalt. + </p> + <p> + MASORETH, Masora, correct form of the scriptural text according to Hebrew + tradition. + </p> + <p> + MASS, abb. for master. + </p> + <p> + MAUND, beg. + </p> + <p> + MAUTHER, girl, maid. + </p> + <p> + MEAN, moderation. + </p> + <p> + MEASURE, dance, more especially a stately one. + </p> + <p> + MEAT, "carry—in one's mouth," be a source of money or entertainment. + </p> + <p> + MEATH, metheglin. + </p> + <p> + MECHANICAL, belonging to mechanics, mean, vulgar. + </p> + <p> + MEDITERRANEO, middle aisle of St. Paul's, a general resort for business + and amusement. + </p> + <p> + MEET WITH, even with. + </p> + <p> + MELICOTTON, a late kind of peach. + </p> + <p> + MENSTRUE, solvent. + </p> + <p> + MERCAT, market. + </p> + <p> + MERD, excrement. + </p> + <p> + MERE, undiluted; absolute, unmitigated. + </p> + <p> + MESS, party of four. + </p> + <p> + METHEGLIN, fermented liquor, of which one ingredient was honey. + </p> + <p> + METOPOSCOPY, study of physiognomy. + </p> + <p> + MIDDLING GOSSIP, go-between. + </p> + <p> + MIGNIARD, dainty, delicate. + </p> + <p> + MILE-END, training-ground of the city. + </p> + <p> + MINE-MEN, sappers. + </p> + <p> + MINION, form of cannon. + </p> + <p> + MINSITIVE, (?) mincing, affected (N.E.D.). + </p> + <p> + MISCELLANY MADAM, "a female trader in miscellaneous articles; a dealer in + trinkets or ornaments of various kinds, such as kept shops in the New + Exchange" (Nares). + </p> + <p> + MISCELLINE, mixed grain; medley. + </p> + <p> + MISCONCEIT, misconception. + </p> + <p> + MISPRISE, MISPRISION, mistake, misunderstanding. + </p> + <p> + MISTAKE AWAY, carry away as if by mistake. + </p> + <p> + MITHRIDATE, an antidote against poison. + </p> + <p> + MOCCINIGO, small Venetian coin, worth about ninepence. + </p> + <p> + MODERN, in the mode; ordinary, commonplace. + </p> + <p> + MOMENT, force or influence of value. + </p> + <p> + MONTANTO, upward stroke. + </p> + <p> + MONTH'S MIND, violent desire. + </p> + <p> + MOORISH, like a moor or waste. + </p> + <p> + MORGLAY, sword of Bevis of Southampton. + </p> + <p> + MORRICE-DANCE, dance on May Day, etc., in which certain personages were + represented. + </p> + <p> + MORTALITY, death. + </p> + <p> + MORT-MAL, old sore, gangrene. + </p> + <p> + MOSCADINO, confection flavoured with musk. + </p> + <p> + MOTHER, Hysterica passio. + </p> + <p> + MOTION, proposal, request; puppet, puppet-show; "one of the small figures + on the face of a large clock which was moved by the vibration of the + pendulum" (Whalley). + </p> + <p> + MOTION, suggest, propose. + </p> + <p> + MOTLEY, parti-coloured dress of a fool; hence used to signify pertaining + to, or like, a fool. + </p> + <p> + MOTTE, motto. + </p> + <p> + MOURNIVAL, set of four aces or court cards in a hand; a quartette. + </p> + <p> + MOW, setord hay or sheaves of grain. + </p> + <p> + MUCH! expressive of irony and incredulity. + </p> + <p> + MUCKINDER, handkerchief. + </p> + <p> + MULE, "born to ride on—," judges or serjeants-at-law formerly rode + on mules when going in state to Westminster (Whally). + </p> + <p> + MULLETS, small pincers. + </p> + <p> + MUM-CHANCE, game of chance, played in silence. + </p> + <p> + MUN, must. + </p> + <p> + MUREY, dark crimson red. + </p> + <p> + MUSCOVY-GLASS, mica. + </p> + <p> + MUSE, wonder. + </p> + <p> + MUSICAL, in harmony. + </p> + <p> + MUSS, mouse; scramble. + </p> + <p> + MYROBOLANE, foreign conserve, "a dried plum, brought from the Indies." + </p> + <p> + MYSTERY, art, trade, profession. + </p> + <p> + NAIL, "to the—" (ad unguem), to perfection, to the very utmost. + </p> + <p> + NATIVE, natural. + </p> + <p> + NEAT, cattle. + </p> + <p> + NEAT, smartly apparelled; unmixed; dainty. + </p> + <p> + NEATLY, neatly finished. + </p> + <p> + NEATNESS, elegance. + </p> + <p> + NEIS, nose, scent. + </p> + <p> + NEUF (NEAF, NEIF), fist. + </p> + <p> + NEUFT, newt. + </p> + <p> + NIAISE, foolish, inexperienced person. + </p> + <p> + NICE, fastidious, trivial, finical, scrupulous. + </p> + <p> + NICENESS, fastidiousness. + </p> + <p> + NICK, exact amount; right moment; "set in the—," meaning uncertain. + </p> + <p> + NICE, suit, fit; hit, seize the right moment, etc., exactly hit on, hit + off. + </p> + <p> + NOBLE, gold coin worth 6s. 8d. + </p> + <p> + NOCENT, harmful. + </p> + <p> + NIL, not will. + </p> + <p> + NOISE, company of musicians. + </p> + <p> + NOMENTACK, an Indian chief from Virginia. + </p> + <p> + NONES, nonce. + </p> + <p> + NOTABLE, egregious. + </p> + <p> + NOTE, sign, token. + </p> + <p> + NOUGHT, "be—," go to the devil, be hanged, etc. + </p> + <p> + NOWT-HEAD, blockhead. + </p> + <p> + NUMBER, rhythm. + </p> + <p> + NUPSON, oaf, simpleton. + </p> + <p> + OADE, woad. + </p> + <p> + OBARNI, preparation of mead. + </p> + <p> + OBJECT, oppose; expose; interpose. + </p> + <p> + OBLATRANT, barking, railing. + </p> + <p> + OBNOXIOUS, liable, exposed; offensive. + </p> + <p> + OBSERVANCE, homage, devoted service. + </p> + <p> + OBSERVANT, attentive, obsequious. + </p> + <p> + OBSERVE, show deference, respect. + </p> + <p> + OBSERVER, one who shows deference, or waits upon another. + </p> + <p> + OBSTANCY, legal phrase, "juridical opposition." + </p> + <p> + OBSTREPEROUS, clamorous, vociferous. + </p> + <p> + OBSTUPEFACT, stupefied. + </p> + <p> + ODLING, (?) "must have some relation to tricking and cheating" (Nares). + </p> + <p> + OMINOUS, deadly, fatal. + </p> + <p> + ONCE, at once; for good and all; used also for additional emphasis. + </p> + <p> + ONLY, pre-eminent, special. + </p> + <p> + OPEN, make public; expound. + </p> + <p> + OPPILATION, obstruction. + </p> + <p> + OPPONE, oppose. + </p> + <p> + OPPOSITE, antagonist. + </p> + <p> + OPPRESS, suppress. + </p> + <p> + ORIGINOUS, native. + </p> + <p> + ORT, remnant, scrap. + </p> + <p> + OUT, "to be—," to have forgotten one's part; not at one with each + other. + </p> + <p> + OUTCRY, sale by auction. + </p> + <p> + OUTRECUIDANCE, arrogance, presumption. + </p> + <p> + OUTSPEAK, speak more than. + </p> + <p> + OVERPARTED, given too difficult a part to play. + </p> + <p> + OWLSPIEGEL. See Howleglass. + </p> + <p> + OYEZ! (O YES!), hear ye! call of the public crier when about to make a + proclamation. + </p> + <p> + PACKING PENNY, "give a—," dismiss, send packing. + </p> + <p> + PAD, highway. + </p> + <p> + PAD-HORSE, road-horse. + </p> + <p> + PAINED (PANED) SLOPS, full breeches made of strips of different colour and + material. + </p> + <p> + PAINFUL, diligent, painstaking. + </p> + <p> + PAINT, blush. + </p> + <p> + PALINODE, ode of recantation. + </p> + <p> + PALL, weaken, dim, make stale. + </p> + <p> + PALM, triumph. + </p> + <p> + PAN, skirt of dress or coat. + </p> + <p> + PANNEL, pad, or rough kind of saddle. + </p> + <p> + PANNIER-ALLY, inhabited by tripe-sellers. + </p> + <p> + PANNIER-MAN, hawker; a man employed about the inns of court to bring in + provisions, set the table, etc. + </p> + <p> + PANTOFLE, indoor shoe, slipper. + </p> + <p> + PARAMENTOS, fine trappings. + </p> + <p> + PARANOMASIE, a play upon words. + </p> + <p> + PARANTORY, (?) peremptory. + </p> + <p> + PARCEL, particle, fragment (used contemptuously); article. + </p> + <p> + PARCEL, part, partly. + </p> + <p> + PARCEL-POET, poetaster. + </p> + <p> + PARERGA, subordinate matters. + </p> + <p> + PARGET, to paint or plaster the face. + </p> + <p> + PARLE, parley. + </p> + <p> + PARLOUS, clever, shrewd. + </p> + <p> + PART, apportion. + </p> + <p> + PARTAKE, participate in. + </p> + <p> + PARTED, endowed, talented. + </p> + <p> + PARTICULAR, individual person. + </p> + <p> + PARTIZAN, kind of halberd. + </p> + <p> + PARTRICH, partridge. + </p> + <p> + PARTS, qualities, endowments. + </p> + <p> + PASH, dash, smash. + </p> + <p> + PASS, care, trouble oneself. + </p> + <p> + PASSADO, fencing term: a thrust. + </p> + <p> + PASSAGE, game at dice. + </p> + <p> + PASSINGLY, exceedingly. + </p> + <p> + PASSION, effect caused by external agency. + </p> + <p> + PASSION, "in—," in so melancholy a tone, so pathetically. + </p> + <p> + PATOUN, (?) Fr. Paton, pellet of dough; perhaps the "moulding of the + tobacco...for the pipe" (Gifford); (?) variant of Petun, South American + name of tobacco. + </p> + <p> + PATRICO, the recorder, priest, orator of strolling beggars or gipsies. + </p> + <p> + PATTEN, shoe with wooden sole; "go—," keep step with, accompany. + </p> + <p> + PAUCA VERBA, few words. + </p> + <p> + PAVIN, a stately dance. + </p> + <p> + PEACE, "with my master's—," by leave, favour. + </p> + <p> + PECULIAR, individual, single. + </p> + <p> + PEDANT, teacher of the languages. + </p> + <p> + PEEL, baker's shovel. + </p> + <p> + PEEP, speak in a small or shrill voice. + </p> + <p> + PEEVISH(LY), foolish(ly), capricious(ly); childish(ly). + </p> + <p> + PELICAN, a retort fitted with tube or tubes, for continuous distillation. + </p> + <p> + PENCIL, small tuft of hair. + </p> + <p> + PERDUE, soldier accustomed to hazardous service. + </p> + <p> + PEREMPTORY, resolute, bold; imperious; thorough, utter, absolute(ly). + </p> + <p> + PERIMETER, circumference of a figure. + </p> + <p> + PERIOD, limit, end. + </p> + <p> + PERK, perk up. + </p> + <p> + PERPETUANA, "this seems to be that glossy kind of stuff now called + everlasting, and anciently worn by serjeants and other city officers" + (Gifford). + </p> + <p> + PERSPECTIVE, a view, scene or scenery; an optical device which gave a + distortion to the picture unless seen from a particular point; a relief, + modelled to produce an optical illusion. + </p> + <p> + PERSPICIL, optic glass. + </p> + <p> + PERSTRINGE, criticise, censure. + </p> + <p> + PERSUADE, inculcate, commend. + </p> + <p> + PERSWAY, mitigate. + </p> + <p> + PERTINACY, pertinacity. + </p> + <p> + PESTLING, pounding, pulverising, like a pestle. + </p> + <p> + PETASUS, broad-brimmed hat or winged cap worn by Mercury. + </p> + <p> + PETITIONARY, supplicatory. + </p> + <p> + PETRONEL, a kind of carbine or light gun carried by horsemen. + </p> + <p> + PETULANT, pert, insolent. + </p> + <p> + PHERE. See Fere. + </p> + <p> + PHLEGMA, watery distilled liquor (old chem. "water"). + </p> + <p> + PHRENETIC, madman. + </p> + <p> + PICARDIL, stiff upright collar fastened on to the coat (Whalley). + </p> + <p> + PICT-HATCH, disreputable quarter of London. + </p> + <p> + PIECE, person, used for woman or girl; a gold coin worth in Jonson's time + 20s. or 22s. + </p> + <p> + PIECES OF EIGHT, Spanish coin: piastre equal to eight reals. + </p> + <p> + PIED, variegated. + </p> + <p> + PIE-POUDRES (Fr. pied-poudreux, dusty-foot), court held at fairs to + administer justice to itinerant vendors and buyers. + </p> + <p> + PILCHER, term of contempt; one who wore a buff or leather jerkin, as did + the serjeants of the counter; a pilferer. + </p> + <p> + PILED, pilled, peeled, bald. + </p> + <p> + PILL'D, polled, fleeced. + </p> + <p> + PIMLICO, "sometimes spoken of as a person—perhaps master of a house + famous for a particular ale" (Gifford). + </p> + <p> + PINE, afflict, distress. + </p> + <p> + PINK, stab with a weapon; pierce or cut in scallops for ornament. + </p> + <p> + PINNACE, a go-between in infamous sense. + </p> + <p> + PISMIRE, ant. + </p> + <p> + PISTOLET, gold coin, worth about 6s. + </p> + <p> + PITCH, height of a bird of prey's flight. + </p> + <p> + PLAGUE, punishment, torment. + </p> + <p> + PLAIN, lament. + </p> + <p> + PLAIN SONG, simple melody. + </p> + <p> + PLAISE, plaice. + </p> + <p> + PLANET, "struck with a—," planets were supposed to have powers of + blasting or exercising secret influences. + </p> + <p> + PLAUSIBLE, pleasing. + </p> + <p> + PLAUSIBLY, approvingly. + </p> + <p> + PLOT, plan. + </p> + <p> + PLY, apply oneself to. + </p> + <p> + POESIE, posy, motto inside a ring. + </p> + <p> + POINT IN HIS DEVICE, exact in every particular. + </p> + <p> + POINTS, tagged laces or cords for fastening the breeches to the doublet. + </p> + <p> + POINT-TRUSSER, one who trussed (tied) his master's points (q.v.). + </p> + <p> + POISE, weigh, balance. + </p> + <p> + POKING-STICK, stick used for setting the plaits of ruffs. + </p> + <p> + POLITIC, politician. + </p> + <p> + POLITIC, judicious, prudent, political. + </p> + <p> + POLITICIAN, plotter, intriguer. + </p> + <p> + POLL, strip, plunder, gain by extortion. + </p> + <p> + POMANDER, ball of perfume, worn or hung about the person to prevent + infection, or for foppery. + </p> + <p> + POMMADO, vaulting on a horse without the aid of stirrups. + </p> + <p> + PONTIC, sour. + </p> + <p> + POPULAR, vulgar, of the populace. + </p> + <p> + POPULOUS, numerous. + </p> + <p> + PORT, gate; print of a deer's foot. + </p> + <p> + PORT, transport. + </p> + <p> + PORTAGUE, Portuguese gold coin, worth over 3 or 4 pounds. + </p> + <p> + PORTCULLIS, "—of coin," some old coins have a portcullis stamped on + their reverse (Whalley). + </p> + <p> + PORTENT, marvel, prodigy; sinister omen. + </p> + <p> + PORTENTOUS, prophesying evil, threatening. + </p> + <p> + PORTER, references appear "to allude to Parsons, the king's porter, who + was...near seven feet high" (Whalley). + </p> + <p> + POSSESS, inform, acquaint. + </p> + <p> + POST AND PAIR, a game at cards. + </p> + <p> + POSY, motto. (See Poesie). + </p> + <p> + POTCH, poach. + </p> + <p> + POULT-FOOT, club-foot. + </p> + <p> + POUNCE, claw, talon. + </p> + <p> + PRACTICE, intrigue, concerted plot. + </p> + <p> + PRACTISE, plot, conspire. + </p> + <p> + PRAGMATIC, an expert, agent. + </p> + <p> + PRAGMATIC, officious, conceited, meddling. + </p> + <p> + PRECEDENT, record of proceedings. + </p> + <p> + PRECEPT, warrant, summons. + </p> + <p> + PRECISIAN(ISM), Puritan(ism), preciseness. + </p> + <p> + PREFER, recommend. + </p> + <p> + PRESENCE, presence chamber. + </p> + <p> + PRESENT(LY), immediate(ly), without delay; at the present time; actually. + </p> + <p> + PRESS, force into service. + </p> + <p> + PREST, ready. + </p> + <p> + PRETEND, assert, allege. + </p> + <p> + PREVENT, anticipate. + </p> + <p> + PRICE, worth, excellence. + </p> + <p> + PRICK, point, dot used in the writing of Hebrew and other languages. + </p> + <p> + PRICK, prick out, mark off, select; trace, track; "—away," make off + with speed. + </p> + <p> + PRIMERO, game of cards. + </p> + <p> + PRINCOX, pert boy. + </p> + <p> + PRINT, "in—," to the letter, exactly. + </p> + <p> + PRISTINATE, former. + </p> + <p> + PRIVATE, private interests. + </p> + <p> + PRIVATE, privy, intimate. + </p> + <p> + PROCLIVE, prone to. + </p> + <p> + PRODIGIOUS, monstrous, unnatural. + </p> + <p> + PRODIGY, monster. + </p> + <p> + PRODUCED, prolonged. + </p> + <p> + PROFESS, pretend. + </p> + <p> + PROJECTION, the throwing of the "powder of projection" into the crucible + to turn the melted metal into gold or silver. + </p> + <p> + PROLATE, pronounce drawlingly. + </p> + <p> + PROPER, of good appearance, handsome; own, particular. + </p> + <p> + PROPERTIES, stage necessaries. + </p> + <p> + PROPERTY, duty; tool. + </p> + <p> + PRORUMPED, burst out. + </p> + <p> + PROTEST, vow, proclaim (an affected word of that time); formally declare + non-payment, etc., of bill of exchange; fig. failure of personal credit, + etc. + </p> + <p> + PROVANT, soldier's allowance—hence, of common make. + </p> + <p> + PROVIDE, foresee. + </p> + <p> + PROVIDENCE, foresight, prudence. + </p> + <p> + PUBLICATION, making a thing public of common property (N.E.D.). + </p> + <p> + PUCKFIST, puff-ball; insipid, insignificant, boasting fellow. + </p> + <p> + PUFF-WING, shoulder puff. + </p> + <p> + PUISNE, judge of inferior rank, a junior. + </p> + <p> + PULCHRITUDE, beauty. + </p> + <p> + PUMP, shoe. + </p> + <p> + PUNGENT, piercing. + </p> + <p> + PUNTO, point, hit. + </p> + <p> + PURCEPT, precept, warrant. + </p> + <p> + PURE, fine, capital, excellent. + </p> + <p> + PURELY, perfectly, utterly. + </p> + <p> + PURL, pleat or fold of a ruff. + </p> + <p> + PURSE-NET, net of which the mouth is drawn together with a string. + </p> + <p> + PURSUIVANT, state messenger who summoned the persecuted seminaries; + warrant officer. + </p> + <p> + PURSY, PURSINESS, shortwinded(ness). + </p> + <p> + PUT, make a push, exert yourself (N.E.D.). + </p> + <p> + PUT OFF, excuse, shift. + </p> + <p> + PUT ON, incite, encourage; proceed with, take in hand, try. + </p> + <p> + QUACKSALVER, quack. + </p> + <p> + QUAINT, elegant, elaborated, ingenious, clever. + </p> + <p> + QUAR, quarry. + </p> + <p> + QUARRIED, seized, or fed upon, as prey. + </p> + <p> + QUEAN, hussy, jade. + </p> + <p> + QUEASY, hazardous, delicate. + </p> + <p> + QUELL, kill, destroy. + </p> + <p> + QUEST, request; inquiry. + </p> + <p> + QUESTION, decision by force of arms. + </p> + <p> + QUESTMAN, one appointed to make official inquiry. + </p> + <p> + QUIB, QUIBLIN, quibble, quip. + </p> + <p> + QUICK, the living. + </p> + <p> + QUIDDIT, quiddity, legal subtlety. + </p> + <p> + QUIRK, clever turn or trick. + </p> + <p> + QUIT, requite, repay; acquit, absolve; rid; forsake, leave. + </p> + <p> + QUITTER-BONE, disease of horses. + </p> + <p> + QUODLING, codling. + </p> + <p> + QUOIT, throw like a quoit, chuck. + </p> + <p> + QUOTE, take note, observe, write down. + </p> + <p> + RACK, neck of mutton or pork (Halliwell). + </p> + <p> + RAKE UP, cover over. + </p> + <p> + RAMP, rear, as a lion, etc. + </p> + <p> + RAPT, carry away. + </p> + <p> + RAPT, enraptured. + </p> + <p> + RASCAL, young or inferior deer. + </p> + <p> + RASH, strike with a glancing oblique blow, as a boar with its tusk. + </p> + <p> + RATSEY, GOMALIEL, a famous highwayman. + </p> + <p> + RAVEN, devour. + </p> + <p> + REACH, understand. + </p> + <p> + REAL, regal. + </p> + <p> + REBATU, ruff, turned-down collar. + </p> + <p> + RECTOR, RECTRESS, director, governor. + </p> + <p> + REDARGUE, confute. + </p> + <p> + REDUCE, bring back. + </p> + <p> + REED, rede, counsel, advice. + </p> + <p> + REEL, run riot. + </p> + <p> + REFEL, refute. + </p> + <p> + REFORMADOES, disgraced or disbanded soldiers. + </p> + <p> + REGIMENT, government. + </p> + <p> + REGRESSION, return. + </p> + <p> + REGULAR ("Tale of a Tub"), regular noun (quibble) (N.E.D.). + </p> + <p> + RELIGION, "make—of," make a point of, scruple of. + </p> + <p> + RELISH, savour. + </p> + <p> + REMNANT, scrap of quotation. + </p> + <p> + REMORA, species of fish. + </p> + <p> + RENDER, depict, exhibit, show. + </p> + <p> + REPAIR, reinstate. + </p> + <p> + REPETITION, recital, narration. + </p> + <p> + REREMOUSE, bat. + </p> + <p> + RESIANT, resident. + </p> + <p> + RESIDENCE, sediment. + </p> + <p> + RESOLUTION, judgment, decision. + </p> + <p> + RESOLVE, inform; assure; prepare, make up one's mind; dissolve; come to a + decision, be convinced; relax, set at ease. + </p> + <p> + RESPECTIVE, worthy of respect; regardful, discriminative. + </p> + <p> + RESPECTIVELY, with reverence. + </p> + <p> + RESPECTLESS, regardless. + </p> + <p> + RESPIRE, exhale; inhale. + </p> + <p> + RESPONSIBLE, correspondent. + </p> + <p> + REST, musket-rest. + </p> + <p> + REST, "set up one's—," venture one's all, one's last stake (from + game of primero). + </p> + <p> + REST, arrest. + </p> + <p> + RESTIVE, RESTY, dull, inactive. + </p> + <p> + RETCHLESS(NESS), reckless(ness). + </p> + <p> + RETIRE, cause to retire. + </p> + <p> + RETRICATO, fencing term. + </p> + <p> + RETRIEVE, rediscovery of game once sprung. + </p> + <p> + RETURNS, ventures sent abroad, for the safe return of which so much money + is received. + </p> + <p> + REVERBERATE, dissolve or blend by reflected heat. + </p> + <p> + REVERSE, REVERSO, back-handed thrust, etc., in fencing. + </p> + <p> + REVISE, reconsider a sentence. + </p> + <p> + RHEUM, spleen, caprice. + </p> + <p> + RIBIBE, abusive term for an old woman. + </p> + <p> + RID, destroy, do away with. + </p> + <p> + RIFLING, raffling, dicing. + </p> + <p> + RING, "cracked within the—," coins so cracked were unfit for + currency. + </p> + <p> + RISSE, risen, rose. + </p> + <p> + RIVELLED, wrinkled. + </p> + <p> + ROARER, swaggerer. + </p> + <p> + ROCHET, fish of the gurnet kind. + </p> + <p> + ROCK, distaff. + </p> + <p> + RODOMONTADO, braggadocio. + </p> + <p> + ROGUE, vagrant, vagabond. + </p> + <p> + RONDEL, "a round mark in the score of a public-house" (Nares); roundel. + </p> + <p> + ROOK, sharper; fool, dupe. + </p> + <p> + ROSAKER, similar to ratsbane. + </p> + <p> + ROSA-SOLIS, a spiced spirituous liquor. + </p> + <p> + ROSES, rosettes. + </p> + <p> + ROUND, "gentlemen of the—," officers of inferior rank. + </p> + <p> + ROUND TRUNKS, trunk hose, short loose breeches reaching almost or quite to + the knees. + </p> + <p> + ROUSE, carouse, bumper. + </p> + <p> + ROVER, arrow used for shooting at a random mark at uncertain distance. + </p> + <p> + ROWLY-POWLY, roly-poly. + </p> + <p> + RUDE, RUDENESS, unpolished, rough(ness), coarse(ness). + </p> + <p> + RUFFLE, flaunt, swagger. + </p> + <p> + RUG, coarse frieze. + </p> + <p> + RUG-GOWNS, gown made of rug. + </p> + <p> + RUSH, reference to rushes with which the floors were then strewn. + </p> + <p> + RUSHER, one who strewed the floor with rushes. + </p> + <p> + RUSSET, homespun cloth of neutral or reddish-brown colour. + </p> + <p> + SACK, loose, flowing gown. + </p> + <p> + SADLY, seriously, with gravity. + </p> + <p> + SAD(NESS), sober, serious(ness). + </p> + <p> + SAFFI, bailiffs. + </p> + <p> + ST. THOMAS A WATERINGS, place in Surrey where criminals were executed. + </p> + <p> + SAKER, small piece of ordnance. + </p> + <p> + SALT, leap. + </p> + <p> + SALT, lascivious. + </p> + <p> + SAMPSUCHINE, sweet marjoram. + </p> + <p> + SARABAND, a slow dance. + </p> + <p> + SATURNALS, began December 17. + </p> + <p> + SAUCINESS, presumption, insolence. + </p> + <p> + SAUCY, bold, impudent, wanton. + </p> + <p> + SAUNA (Lat.), a gesture of contempt. + </p> + <p> + SAVOUR, perceive; gratify, please; to partake of the nature. + </p> + <p> + SAY, sample. + </p> + <p> + SAY, assay, try. + </p> + <p> + SCALD, word of contempt, implying dirt and disease. + </p> + <p> + SCALLION, shalot, small onion. + </p> + <p> + SCANDERBAG, "name which the Turks (in allusion to Alexander the Great) + gave to the brave Castriot, chief of Albania, with whom they had continual + wars. His romantic life had just been translated" (Gifford). + </p> + <p> + SCAPE, escape. + </p> + <p> + SCARAB, beetle. + </p> + <p> + SCARTOCCIO, fold of paper, cover, cartouch, cartridge. + </p> + <p> + SCONCE, head. + </p> + <p> + SCOPE, aim. + </p> + <p> + SCOT AND LOT, tax, contribution (formerly a parish assessment). + </p> + <p> + SCOTOMY, dizziness in the head. + </p> + <p> + SCOUR, purge. + </p> + <p> + SCOURSE, deal, swap. + </p> + <p> + SCRATCHES, disease of horses. + </p> + <p> + SCROYLE, mean, rascally fellow. + </p> + <p> + SCRUPLE, doubt. + </p> + <p> + SEAL, put hand to the giving up of property or rights. + </p> + <p> + SEALED, stamped as genuine. + </p> + <p> + SEAM-RENT, ragged. + </p> + <p> + SEAMING LACES, insertion or edging. + </p> + <p> + SEAR UP, close by searing, burning. + </p> + <p> + SEARCED, sifted. + </p> + <p> + SECRETARY, able to keep a secret. + </p> + <p> + SECULAR, worldly, ordinary, commonplace. + </p> + <p> + SECURE, confident. + </p> + <p> + SEELIE, happy, blest. + </p> + <p> + SEISIN, legal term: possession. + </p> + <p> + SELLARY, lewd person. + </p> + <p> + SEMBLABLY, similarly. + </p> + <p> + SEMINARY, a Romish priest educated in a foreign seminary. + </p> + <p> + SENSELESS, insensible, without sense or feeling. + </p> + <p> + SENSIBLY, perceptibly. + </p> + <p> + SENSIVE, sensitive. + </p> + <p> + SENSUAL, pertaining to the physical or material. + </p> + <p> + SERENE, harmful dew of evening. + </p> + <p> + SERICON, red tincture. + </p> + <p> + SERVANT, lover. + </p> + <p> + SERVICES, doughty deeds of arms. + </p> + <p> + SESTERCE, Roman copper coin. + </p> + <p> + SET, stake, wager. + </p> + <p> + SET UP, drill. + </p> + <p> + SETS, deep plaits of the ruff. + </p> + <p> + SEWER, officer who served up the feast, and brought water for the hands of + the guests. + </p> + <p> + SHAPE, a suit by way of disguise. + </p> + <p> + SHIFT, fraud, dodge. + </p> + <p> + SHIFTER, cheat. + </p> + <p> + SHITTLE, shuttle; "shittle-cock," shuttlecock. + </p> + <p> + SHOT, tavern reckoning. + </p> + <p> + SHOT-CLOG, one only tolerated because he paid the shot (reckoning) for the + rest. + </p> + <p> + SHOT-FREE, scot-free, not having to pay. + </p> + <p> + SHOVE-GROAT, low kind of gambling amusement, perhaps somewhat of the + nature of pitch and toss. + </p> + <p> + SHOT-SHARKS, drawers. + </p> + <p> + SHREWD, mischievous, malicious, curst. + </p> + <p> + SHREWDLY, keenly, in a high degree. + </p> + <p> + SHRIVE, sheriff; posts were set up before his door for proclamations, or + to indicate his residence. + </p> + <p> + SHROVING, Shrovetide, season of merriment. + </p> + <p> + SIGILLA, seal, mark. + </p> + <p> + SILENCED BRETHERN, MINISTERS, those of the Church or Nonconformists who + had been silenced, deprived, etc. + </p> + <p> + SILLY, simple, harmless. + </p> + <p> + SIMPLE, silly, witless; plain, true. + </p> + <p> + SIMPLES, herbs. + </p> + <p> + SINGLE, term of chase, signifying when the hunted stag is separated from + the herd, or forced to break covert. + </p> + <p> + SINGLE, weak, silly. + </p> + <p> + SINGLE-MONEY, small change. + </p> + <p> + SINGULAR, unique, supreme. + </p> + <p> + SI-QUIS, bill, advertisement. + </p> + <p> + SKELDRING, getting money under false pretences; swindling. + </p> + <p> + SKILL, "it—s not," matters not. + </p> + <p> + SKINK(ER), pour, draw(er), tapster. + </p> + <p> + SKIRT, tail. + </p> + <p> + SLEEK, smooth. + </p> + <p> + SLICE, fire shovel or pan (dial.). + </p> + <p> + SLICK, sleek, smooth. + </p> + <p> + 'SLID, 'SLIGHT, 'SPRECIOUS, irreverent oaths. + </p> + <p> + SLIGHT, sleight, cunning, cleverness; trick. + </p> + <p> + SLIP, counterfeit coin, bastard. + </p> + <p> + SLIPPERY, polished and shining. + </p> + <p> + SLOPS, large loose breeches. + </p> + <p> + SLOT, print of a stag's foot. + </p> + <p> + SLUR, put a slur on; cheat (by sliding a die in some way). + </p> + <p> + SMELT, gull, simpleton. + </p> + <p> + SNORLE, "perhaps snarl, as Puppy is addressed" (Cunningham). + </p> + <p> + SNOTTERIE, filth. + </p> + <p> + SNUFF, anger, resentment; "take in—," take offence at. + </p> + <p> + SNUFFERS, small open silver dishes for holding snuff, or receptacle for + placing snuffers in (Halliwell). + </p> + <p> + SOCK, shoe worn by comic actors. + </p> + <p> + SOD, seethe. + </p> + <p> + SOGGY, soaked, sodden. + </p> + <p> + SOIL, "take—," said of a hunted stag when he takes to the water for + safety. + </p> + <p> + SOL, sou. + </p> + <p> + SOLDADOES, soldiers. + </p> + <p> + SOLICIT, rouse, excite to action. + </p> + <p> + SOOTH, flattery, cajolery. + </p> + <p> + SOOTHE, flatter, humour. + </p> + <p> + SOPHISTICATE, adulterate. + </p> + <p> + SORT, company, party; rank, degree. + </p> + <p> + SORT, suit, fit; select. + </p> + <p> + SOUSE, ear. + </p> + <p> + SOUSED ("Devil is an Ass"), fol. read "sou't," which Dyce interprets as "a + variety of the spelling of "shu'd": to "shu" is to scare a bird away." + (See his "Webster," page 350). + </p> + <p> + SOWTER, cobbler. + </p> + <p> + SPAGYRICA, chemistry according to the teachings of Paracelsus. + </p> + <p> + SPAR, bar. + </p> + <p> + SPEAK, make known, proclaim. + </p> + <p> + SPECULATION, power of sight. + </p> + <p> + SPED, to have fared well, prospered. + </p> + <p> + SPEECE, species. + </p> + <p> + SPIGHT, anger, rancour. + </p> + <p> + SPINNER, spider. + </p> + <p> + SPINSTRY, lewd person. + </p> + <p> + SPITTLE, hospital, lazar-house. + </p> + <p> + SPLEEN, considered the seat of the emotions. + </p> + <p> + SPLEEN, caprice, humour, mood. + </p> + <p> + SPRUNT, spruce. + </p> + <p> + SPURGE, foam. + </p> + <p> + SPUR-RYAL, gold coin worth 15s. + </p> + <p> + SQUIRE, square, measure; "by the—," exactly. + </p> + <p> + STAGGERING, wavering, hesitating. + </p> + <p> + STAIN, disparagement, disgrace. + </p> + <p> + STALE, decoy, or cover, stalking-horse. + </p> + <p> + STALE, make cheap, common. + </p> + <p> + STALK, approach stealthily or under cover. + </p> + <p> + STALL, forestall. + </p> + <p> + STANDARD, suit. + </p> + <p> + STAPLE, market, emporium. + </p> + <p> + STARK, downright. + </p> + <p> + STARTING-HOLES, loopholes of escape. + </p> + <p> + STATE, dignity; canopied chair of state; estate. + </p> + <p> + STATUMINATE, support vines by poles or stakes; used by Pliny (Gifford). + </p> + <p> + STAY, gag. + </p> + <p> + STAY, await; detain. + </p> + <p> + STICKLER, second or umpire. + </p> + <p> + STIGMATISE, mark, brand. + </p> + <p> + STILL, continual(ly), constant(ly). + </p> + <p> + STINKARD, stinking fellow. + </p> + <p> + STINT, stop. + </p> + <p> + STIPTIC, astringent. + </p> + <p> + STOCCATA, thrust in fencing. + </p> + <p> + STOCK-FISH, salted and dried fish. + </p> + <p> + STOMACH, pride, valour. + </p> + <p> + STOMACH, resent. + </p> + <p> + STOOP, swoop down as a hawk. + </p> + <p> + STOP, fill, stuff. + </p> + <p> + STOPPLE, stopper. + </p> + <p> + STOTE, stoat, weasel. + </p> + <p> + STOUP, stoop, swoop=bow. + </p> + <p> + STRAIGHT, straightway. + </p> + <p> + STRAMAZOUN (Ital. stramazzone), a down blow, as opposed to the thrust. + </p> + <p> + STRANGE, like a stranger, unfamiliar. + </p> + <p> + STRANGENESS, distance of behaviour. + </p> + <p> + STREIGHTS, OR BERMUDAS, labyrinth of alleys and courts in the Strand. + </p> + <p> + STRIGONIUM, Grau in Hungary, taken from the Turks in 1597. + </p> + <p> + STRIKE, balance (accounts). + </p> + <p> + STRINGHALT, disease of horses. + </p> + <p> + STROKER, smoother, flatterer. + </p> + <p> + STROOK, p.p. of "strike." + </p> + <p> + STRUMMEL-PATCHED, strummel is glossed in dialect dicts. as "a long, loose + and dishevelled head of hair." + </p> + <p> + STUDIES, studious efforts. + </p> + <p> + STYLE, title; pointed instrument used for writing on wax tablets. + </p> + <p> + SUBTLE, fine, delicate, thin; smooth, soft. + </p> + <p> + SUBTLETY (SUBTILITY), subtle device. + </p> + <p> + SUBURB, connected with loose living. + </p> + <p> + SUCCUBAE, demons in form of women. + </p> + <p> + SUCK, extract money from. + </p> + <p> + SUFFERANCE, suffering. + </p> + <p> + SUMMED, term of falconry: with full-grown plumage. + </p> + <p> + SUPER-NEGULUM, topers turned the cup bottom up when it was empty. + </p> + <p> + SUPERSTITIOUS, over-scrupulous. + </p> + <p> + SUPPLE, to make pliant. + </p> + <p> + SURBATE, make sore with walking. + </p> + <p> + SURCEASE, cease. + </p> + <p> + SUR-REVERENCE, save your reverence. + </p> + <p> + SURVISE, peruse. + </p> + <p> + SUSCITABILITY, excitability. + </p> + <p> + SUSPECT, suspicion. + </p> + <p> + SUSPEND, suspect. + </p> + <p> + SUSPENDED, held over for the present. + </p> + <p> + SUTLER, victualler. + </p> + <p> + SWAD, clown, boor. + </p> + <p> + SWATH BANDS, swaddling clothes. + </p> + <p> + SWINGE, beat. + </p> + <p> + TABERD, emblazoned mantle or tunic worn by knights and heralds. + </p> + <p> + TABLE(S), "pair of—," tablets, note-book. + </p> + <p> + TABOR, small drum. + </p> + <p> + TABRET, tabor. + </p> + <p> + TAFFETA, silk; "tuft-taffeta," a more costly silken fabric. + </p> + <p> + TAINT, "—a staff," break a lance at tilting in an unscientific or + dishonourable manner. + </p> + <p> + TAKE IN, capture, subdue. + </p> + <p> + TAKE ME WITH YOU, let me understand you. + </p> + <p> + TAKE UP, obtain on credit, borrow. + </p> + <p> + TALENT, sum or weight of Greek currency. + </p> + <p> + TALL, stout, brave. + </p> + <p> + TANKARD-BEARERS, men employed to fetch water from the conduits. + </p> + <p> + TARLETON, celebrated comedian and jester. + </p> + <p> + TARTAROUS, like a Tartar. + </p> + <p> + TAVERN-TOKEN, "to swallow a—," get drunk. + </p> + <p> + TELL, count. + </p> + <p> + TELL-TROTH, truth-teller. + </p> + <p> + TEMPER, modify, soften. + </p> + <p> + TENDER, show regard, care for, cherish; manifest. + </p> + <p> + TENT, "take—," take heed. + </p> + <p> + TERSE, swept and polished. + </p> + <p> + TERTIA, "that portion of an army levied out of one particular district or + division of a country" (Gifford). + </p> + <p> + TESTON, tester, coin worth 6d. + </p> + <p> + THIRDBOROUGH, constable. + </p> + <p> + THREAD, quality. + </p> + <p> + THREAVES, droves. + </p> + <p> + THREE-FARTHINGS, piece of silver current under Elizabeth. + </p> + <p> + THREE-PILED, of finest quality, exaggerated. + </p> + <p> + THRIFTILY, carefully. + </p> + <p> + THRUMS, ends of the weaver's warp; coarse yarn made from. + </p> + <p> + THUMB-RING, familiar spirits were supposed capable of being carried about + in various ornaments or parts of dress. + </p> + <p> + TIBICINE, player on the tibia, or pipe. + </p> + <p> + TICK-TACK, game similar to backgammon. + </p> + <p> + TIGHTLY, promptly. + </p> + <p> + TIM, (?) expressive of a climax of nonentity. + </p> + <p> + TIMELESS, untimely, unseasonable. + </p> + <p> + TINCTURE, an essential or spiritual principle supposed by alchemists to be + transfusible into material things; an imparted characteristic or tendency. + </p> + <p> + TINK, tinkle. + </p> + <p> + TIPPET, "turn—," change behaviour or way of life. + </p> + <p> + TIPSTAFF, staff tipped with metal. + </p> + <p> + TIRE, head-dress. + </p> + <p> + TIRE, feed ravenously, like a bird of prey. + </p> + <p> + TITILLATION, that which tickles the senses, as a perfume. + </p> + <p> + TOD, fox. + </p> + <p> + TOILED, worn out, harassed. + </p> + <p> + TOKEN, piece of base metal used in place of very small coin, when this was + scarce. + </p> + <p> + TONNELS, nostrils. + </p> + <p> + TOP, "parish—," large top kept in villages for amusement and + exercise in frosty weather when people were out of work. + </p> + <p> + TOTER, tooter, player on a wind instrument. + </p> + <p> + TOUSE, pull, rend. + </p> + <p> + TOWARD, docile, apt; on the way to; as regards; present, at hand. + </p> + <p> + TOY, whim; trick; term of contempt. + </p> + <p> + TRACT, attraction. + </p> + <p> + TRAIN, allure, entice. + </p> + <p> + TRANSITORY, transmittable. + </p> + <p> + TRANSLATE, transform. + </p> + <p> + TRAY-TRIP, game at dice (success depended on throwing a three) (Nares). + </p> + <p> + TREACHOUR (TRECHER), traitor. + </p> + <p> + TREEN, wooden. + </p> + <p> + TRENCHER, serving-man who carved or served food. + </p> + <p> + TRENDLE-TAIL, trundle-tail, curly-tailed. + </p> + <p> + TRICK (TRICKING), term of heraldry: to draw outline of coat of arms, etc., + without blazoning. + </p> + <p> + TRIG, a spruce, dandified man. + </p> + <p> + TRILL, trickle. + </p> + <p> + TRILLIBUB, tripe, any worthless, trifling thing. + </p> + <p> + TRIPOLY, "come from—," able to perform feats of agility, a "jest + nominal," depending on the first part of the word (Gifford). + </p> + <p> + TRITE, worn, shabby. + </p> + <p> + TRIVIA, three-faced goddess (Hecate). + </p> + <p> + TROJAN, familiar term for an equal or inferior; thief. + </p> + <p> + TROLL, sing loudly. + </p> + <p> + TROMP, trump, deceive. + </p> + <p> + TROPE, figure of speech. + </p> + <p> + TROW, think, believe, wonder. + </p> + <p> + TROWLE, troll. + </p> + <p> + TROWSES, breeches, drawers. + </p> + <p> + TRUCHMAN, interpreter. + </p> + <p> + TRUNDLE, JOHN, well-known printer. + </p> + <p> + TRUNDLE, roll, go rolling along. + </p> + <p> + TRUNDLING CHEATS, term among gipsies and beggars for carts or coaches + (Gifford). + </p> + <p> + TRUNK, speaking-tube. + </p> + <p> + TRUSS, tie the tagged laces that fastened the breeches to the doublet. + </p> + <p> + TUBICINE, trumpeter. + </p> + <p> + TUCKET (Ital. toccato), introductory flourish on the trumpet. + </p> + <p> + TUITION, guardianship. + </p> + <p> + TUMBLER, a particular kind of dog so called from the mode of his hunting. + </p> + <p> + TUMBREL-SLOP, loose, baggy breeches. + </p> + <p> + TURD, excrement. + </p> + <p> + TUSK, gnash the teeth (Century Dict.). + </p> + <p> + TWIRE, peep, twinkle. + </p> + <p> + TWOPENNY ROOM, gallery. + </p> + <p> + TYRING-HOUSE, attiring-room. + </p> + <p> + ULENSPIEGEL. See Howleglass. + </p> + <p> + UMBRATILE, like or pertaining to a shadow. + </p> + <p> + UMBRE, brown dye. + </p> + <p> + UNBATED, unabated. + </p> + <p> + UNBORED, (?) excessively bored. + </p> + <p> + UNCARNATE, not fleshly, or of flesh. + </p> + <p> + UNCOUTH, strange, unusual. + </p> + <p> + UNDERTAKER, "one who undertook by his influence in the House of Commons to + carry things agreeably to his Majesty's wishes" (Whalley); one who becomes + surety for. + </p> + <p> + UNEQUAL, unjust. + </p> + <p> + UNEXCEPTED, no objection taken at. + </p> + <p> + UNFEARED, unaffrighted. + </p> + <p> + UNHAPPILY, unfortunately. + </p> + <p> + UNICORN'S HORN, supposed antidote to poison. + </p> + <p> + UNKIND(LY), unnatural(ly). + </p> + <p> + UNMANNED, untamed (term in falconry). + </p> + <p> + UNQUIT, undischarged. + </p> + <p> + UNREADY, undressed. + </p> + <p> + UNRUDE, rude to an extreme. + </p> + <p> + UNSEASONED, unseasonable, unripe. + </p> + <p> + UNSEELED, a hawk's eyes were "seeled" by sewing the eyelids together with + fine thread. + </p> + <p> + UNTIMELY, unseasonably. + </p> + <p> + UNVALUABLE, invaluable. + </p> + <p> + UPBRAID, make a matter of reproach. + </p> + <p> + UPSEE, heavy kind of Dutch beer (Halliwell); "—Dutch," in the Dutch + fashion. + </p> + <p> + UPTAILS ALL, refrain of a popular song. + </p> + <p> + URGE, allege as accomplice, instigator. + </p> + <p> + URSHIN, URCHIN, hedgehog. + </p> + <p> + USE, interest on money; part of sermon dealing with the practical + application of doctrine. + </p> + <p> + USE, be in the habit of, accustomed to; put out to interest. + </p> + <p> + USQUEBAUGH, whisky. + </p> + <p> + USURE, usury. + </p> + <p> + UTTER, put in circulation, make to pass current; put forth for sale. + </p> + <p> + VAIL, bow, do homage. + </p> + <p> + VAILS, tips, gratuities. + </p> + <p> + VALL. See Vail. + </p> + <p> + VALLIES (Fr. valise), portmanteau, bag. + </p> + <p> + VAPOUR(S) (n. and v.), used affectedly, like "humour," in many senses, + often very vaguely and freely ridiculed by Jonson; humour, disposition, + whims, brag(ging), hector(ing), etc. + </p> + <p> + VARLET, bailiff, or serjeant-at-mace. + </p> + <p> + VAUT, vault. + </p> + <p> + VEER (naut.), pay out. + </p> + <p> + VEGETAL, vegetable; person full of life and vigour. + </p> + <p> + VELLUTE, velvet. + </p> + <p> + VELVET CUSTARD. Cf. "Taming of the Shrew," iv. 3, 82, "custard coffin," + coffin being the raised crust over a pie. + </p> + <p> + VENT, vend, sell; give outlet to; scent, snuff up. + </p> + <p> + VENUE, bout (fencing term). + </p> + <p> + VERDUGO (Span.), hangman, executioner. + </p> + <p> + VERGE, "in the—," within a certain distance of the court. + </p> + <p> + VEX, agitate, torment. + </p> + <p> + VICE, the buffoon of old moralities; some kind of machinery for moving a + puppet (Gifford). + </p> + <p> + VIE AND REVIE, to hazard a certain sum, and to cover it with a larger one. + </p> + <p> + VINCENT AGAINST YORK, two heralds-at-arms. + </p> + <p> + VINDICATE, avenge. + </p> + <p> + VIRGE, wand, rod. + </p> + <p> + VIRGINAL, old form of piano. + </p> + <p> + VIRTUE, valour. + </p> + <p> + VIVELY, in lifelike manner, livelily. + </p> + <p> + VIZARD, mask. + </p> + <p> + VOGUE, rumour, gossip. + </p> + <p> + VOICE, vote. + </p> + <p> + VOID, leave, quit. + </p> + <p> + VOLARY, cage, aviary. + </p> + <p> + VOLLEY, "at—," "o' the volee," at random (from a term of tennis). + </p> + <p> + VORLOFFE, furlough. + </p> + <p> + WADLOE, keeper of the Devil Tavern, where Jonson and his friends met in + the 'Apollo' room (Whalley). + </p> + <p> + WAIGHTS, waits, night musicians, "band of musical watchmen" (Webster), or + old form of "hautboys." + </p> + <p> + WANNION, "vengeance," "plague" (Nares). + </p> + <p> + WARD, a famous pirate. + </p> + <p> + WARD, guard in fencing. + </p> + <p> + WATCHET, pale, sky blue. + </p> + <p> + WEAL, welfare. + </p> + <p> + WEED, garment. + </p> + <p> + WEFT, waif. + </p> + <p> + WEIGHTS, "to the gold—," to every minute particular. + </p> + <p> + WELKIN, sky. + </p> + <p> + WELL-SPOKEN, of fair speech. + </p> + <p> + WELL-TORNED, turned and polished, as on a wheel. + </p> + <p> + WELT, hem, border of fur. + </p> + <p> + WHER, whether. + </p> + <p> + WHETSTONE, GEORGE, an author who lived 1544(?) to 1587(?). + </p> + <p> + WHIFF, a smoke, or drink; "taking the—," inhaling the tobacco smoke + or some such accomplishment. + </p> + <p> + WHIGH-HIES, neighings, whinnyings. + </p> + <p> + WHIMSY, whim, "humour." + </p> + <p> + WHINILING, (?) whining, weakly. + </p> + <p> + WHIT, (?) a mere jot. + </p> + <p> + WHITEMEAT, food made of milk or eggs. + </p> + <p> + WICKED, bad, clumsy. + </p> + <p> + WICKER, pliant, agile. + </p> + <p> + WILDING, esp. fruit of wild apple or crab tree (Webster). + </p> + <p> + WINE, "I have the—for you," Prov.: I have the perquisites (of the + office) which you are to share (Cunningham). + </p> + <p> + WINNY, "same as old word "wonne," to stay, etc." (Whalley). + </p> + <p> + WISE-WOMAN, fortune-teller. + </p> + <p> + WISH, recommend. + </p> + <p> + WISS (WUSSE), "I—," certainly, of a truth. + </p> + <p> + WITHOUT, beyond. + </p> + <p> + WITTY, cunning, ingenious, clever. + </p> + <p> + WOOD, collection, lot. + </p> + <p> + WOODCOCK, term of contempt. + </p> + <p> + WOOLSACK ("—pies"), name of tavern. + </p> + <p> + WORT, unfermented beer. + </p> + <p> + WOUNDY, great, extreme. + </p> + <p> + WREAK, revenge. + </p> + <p> + WROUGHT, wrought upon. + </p> + <p> + WUSSE, interjection. (See Wiss). + </p> + <p> + YEANLING, lamb, kid. + </p> + <p> + ZANY, an inferior clown, who attended upon the chief fool and mimicked his + tricks. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Every Man In His Humor, by Ben Jonson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EVERY MAN IN HIS HUMOR *** + +***** This file should be named 5333-h.htm or 5333-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/3/5333/ + +Produced by Amy E Zelmer, Sue Asscher, Robert Prince, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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