Chapter XXIX: Act V: Scene I (3)

_most thundering_, &c.] This repetition is perhaps an
error of the old ed.

# 751:

_Don Diego_] Old ed. here and in the next speech,
“_Don_ Dego.”

# 752:

_adelantado_] See note, p. 241.

# 753:

_Don Diego that was smelt out in Paul’s_] So in
Heywood’s _Fair Maid of the West_, 1631:

——“now you _Don Diegoes_,
_You that made Paules to stinke_.”—Part I. p. 51.

And in Dekker and Webster’s _Sir Thomas Wyatt_, 1607:
“There came but one _Dondego_ into England, and _he
made all Paul’s stink again_.” Vol. ii. p. 298 of
Webster’s _Works_,—where (vol. iv. p. 293.) I have
given an explanation of these passages, which I am
unwilling to repeat here.

# 754:

_bill-men_] See note, p. 237.

# 755:

_bewrays_] i. e. betrays, discovers.—Lazarillo
immediately plays on the word,—_beray_, to foul.

# 756:

_sheaths_] Qy. “sheathed.”

# 757:

_Via_] See note, p. 245.

# 758:

_Catso_] Old ed. “At so.” This word, of obscene
meaning, is borrowed from the Italian. So in _The
Malcontent_:

“_Pietro._ Vengeance and torture!
_Mal._ _Catso!_
_Pietro._ O revenge!”
See my ed. of Webster’s _Works_, vol. iv. p.
28.

# 759:

_Mapew_] Qy. the beginning of some French song—_Mais
peu_?

# 760:

_She_] Qy. “Yea?”

# 761:

_rushes_] See note, p. 234.

# 762:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 763:

_pickst_] Qy. “prickst?”

# 764:

_owe_] i. e. own.

# 765:

_Did Phœbe here_, &c.] Old ed.

“_Phœbe here one night did lie._”

# 766:

_I’m_] Old ed. “I am.”

# 767:

_put up_] i. e. sheathe your sword.

# 768:

_rushes_] See note, p. 234.

# 769:

_what motion’s this_] See note, p. 229.

# 770:

_ventoy_] i. e. fan.

# 771:

_yellow_] i. e. jealous.

# 772:

_Much husbands here!_] See note, p. 257. So
Shakespeare:

“Is it not past two o’clock? and here _much_ Orlando!”
_As you like it_, act iv. sc.
3.

# 773:

_gilds_] Old ed. “glides.”

# 774:

_if my man_, &c.] A metaphor drawn from the game of
_tables_.

# 775:

_ingle_] i. e. male favourite.

# 776:

_Omnes_] The speeches which in the present scene have
this prefix may be assigned to whatever individuals of
Camillo’s party the reader pleases to select.

# 777:

_bills_] See note, p. 237.

# 778:

_o’er_] Old ed. “over.”

# 779:

_appose_] i. e. oppose.

# 780:

_brown bill_] See note, p. 237.

# 781:

_I’m_] Old ed. “I am.”

# 782:

_I’m sure you’re lord of this misrule_] Old ed. “I am
_sure_ you are _lord of_ all _this misrule_.” In great
houses the master of the Christmas sports was called
_the Lord of Misrule_.

# 783:

_our_] Old ed. “your.”

# 784:

_her_] i. e. Imperia’s.

# 785:

_Violet_] Old ed. “Violetta.”

# 786:

_lie_] i. e. lay—for the sake of the rhyme.

# 787:

_daw_] i. e. simpleton.

# 788:

_I’m_] Old ed. “I am.”

# 789:

_perilous_] See note, p. 283.

# 790:

_a fume_] i. e. in smoking tobacco.

# 791:

_knight of the post_] i. e. cheat, sharper.—This cant
term means, properly, a hireling evidence; or a person
hired to give false bail in case of arrest.

# 239.10:
--------------

_Note omitted at p. 239, l. 10._

_a precept_ i. e. a justice’s or magistrate’s warrant.

# 792:

On the death of Falso’s brother, Furtivo passes into
his service.

# 793:

_begun_] Qy. “began” for the rhyme.

# 794:

_Who_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “Who’s.”

# 795:

_owe_] i. e. own.

# 796:

_prevent_] i. e. anticipate.

# 797:

_a little too wise_, &c.] So Shakespeare:

“So wise so young, they say, do ne’er live long.”
_Richard III._, act iii. sc. 1.

# 798:

_sad_] i. e. serious, grave.

# 799:

_a safer stern_] i. e. (I suppose) a safer course to
steer. _Stern_ is used by our early writers in the
sense of steerage, helm.

# 800:

_curious_] i. e. scrupulous.

# 801:

_Niece_] i. e. the _niece_ of Justice Falso. Her name
is not given in any part of the play.

# 802:

_purchase_] i. e. booty. It was, properly, a cant term
among thieves for stolen goods.

# 803:

_queasy_] i. e. squeamish.

# 804:

_earing_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “earning.”

# 805:

_Castiza_] Old eds. “_his Lady_.” We learn her name
from several subsequent parts of the play.

# 806:

_alas_] Old eds. “’lasse.”

# 807:

_do it_] Old eds. “doo’t.”

# 808:

_Servant_] Old eds. “Seruus.”

# 809:

_It is_] Old eds. “’Tis.”

# 810:

_Take’t of my truth_, &c.] The metre seems to have
suffered by corruption of the text.

# 811:

_singly_] Ed. 1630, “simplie.”

# 812:

_an inseparable knave_] i. e., I presume, one whose
knavery cannot be separated from himself.

# 813:

_vild_] See note, p. 94.

# 814:

_the forefinger_] i. e. the forefinger pointed at him.

# 815:

_honourably welcome_] What she has just said explains
the meaning of these words.

# 816:

_guess_] A familiar corruption of _guests_, which
Middleton uses elsewhere. See also Webster’s _Cure for
a Cuckold_, and my note there, _Works_, vol. iii. p.
357.

# 817:

_towed_] Old eds. “toward.”

# 818:

_a_] So ed. of 1630.—Not in 1st ed.

# 819:

_I wus_] A vulgar form of _I wis_ (which is the
reading of ed. 1630), I think, or rather _i-wis_,
certainly, truly.

# 820:

_proper_] i. e. handsome.

# 821:

_sursurrara_] or _sasarara_—a corruption of
_certiorari_.

# 822:

_term-trotter_] i. e. a resorter to the capital during
term-time.

# 823:

_again_] i. e. against.

# 824:

_wittol_] i. e. tame cuckold.

# 825:

_sacred, pure_] In Campbell’s _Spec. of British
Poets_, vol. iii. p. 134, where this passage is
quoted, the reading is “wholly _pure_”—an alteration
by the editor.

# 826:

_rarely_] i. e. finely, nobly.

# 827:

_gentlemen_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “gentleman.”

# 828:

_I’m_] Old eds. “I am.”

# 829:

_steaks_] Old eds. “steakes.” Some sort of dress
ornamented with guards or facings, is meant, I
suppose—if the reading be right.

# 830:

_I see not a cross yet_] i. e. I see no money yet:
_vide_ note, p. 246.

# 831:

_angels_] See note, p. 250.

# 833:

_have_] Old eds. “has.”

# 834:

_Welcome_, &c.] One of those snatches of blank verse
(and printed as such in the old eds.) which sometimes
occur in the midst of prose speeches.

# 835:

_Knight_] Old eds. “_Fal._”

# 836:

_a noble touch_] So Shakespeare:

“Come, my sweet wife, my dearest mother, and
My friends of _noble touch_:”
_Coriol._ act iv. sc. 1.

which Warburton rightly explains,—of true metal
unallayed: a metaphor from trying gold on the
touchstone.

# 837:

_royals_] Gold pieces current for 15_s._ in
Middleton’s time.

# 838:

_It has_] Old eds. “T’as.”

# 839:

_jets_] i. e. struts.

# 840:

_so strangely_] i. e. so coyly—with such an appearance
of coldness. In Johnson’s _Dict._ (even in Todd’s
ed.), the lines from Shakespeare’s _Two Gent. of
Verona_, act i. sc. 2.

“She makes it _strange_; but she would be best pleas’d
To be so anger’d with another letter,”—

are absurdly cited for an example of the word
_strange_ in the sense of _remote_.

# 841:

_angels_] See note, p. 250.

# 842:

_toward_] i. e. in a state of preparation, at hand.

# 843:

_passion_] i. e. in a sorrowful tone, with emotion.

# 844:

_Reverend and honourable Matrimony_, &c.] In a note on
the Aldine edition of Milton, I have pointed out the
resemblance between the present passage and that in
_Par. Lost_, b. iv. 750;

“Hail, wedded love, mysterious law,” &c.:

and I take this opportunity of observing, that some
lines in a play by a dramatist contemporary with
Middleton seem to have been in Milton’s memory when he
described the fall of Vulcan;

“How high I tumbled, who can gesse aright,
_Falling a summers day from morne to night_.”
HEYWOOD’s _Brazen Age_, 1613, sig. I.

“_from morn
To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,
A summer’s day_; and with the setting sun,” &c.
_Par. Lost_, b. i. 742.

Homer has merely;

πᾶν δ’ ἦμαρ φερόμην, ἅμα δ’ ἠελίῳ καταδύντι, κ. τ. λ.
_Il._ I. 592.

# 845:

_Without thee_] The earlier part of this line seems to
have dropt out.

# 846:

_That wedlock’s_, &c.] This line is imperfect; and
after the next line, something is lost.

# 847:

_a’m_] i. e. _them_: a’ is often used for _he_ in our
early dramas.

# 848:

_clip_] i. e. embrace.

# 849:

_Indeed all_, &c.] Probably in this and the next
speech of Fidelio, the metre is lost by the corruption
of the text.

# 850:

_Discover quickly_] He means—let us discover ourselves
quickly.

# 851:

_know_] Old eds. “knowes.”

# 852:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 853:

_I’m_] Old eds. “I am.”

# 854:

_vildly_] i. e. vilely: see note, p. 94.

# 855:

_contain_] i. e. restrain.

# 856:

_who_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “whome.”

# 857:

_ha’_] Old eds. “a _ha_.”

# 858:

_You have_] Old eds. “Y’aue.”

# 859:

_apparance_] i. e. appearance.

# 860:

_Suitor_] This word I have substituted for the
“_Whin._” of the 1st ed. and the “_Whi._” of the
second.—Perhaps Tangle ought not to enter till Falso
says, “What, old signior,” &c.

# 861:

_good_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “gour.”

# 862:

_When_] So ed. 1630. First ed. has “Wheu:” but _when_,
as an expression of impatience, occurs often in our
early dramatists:

“_When_, Lucius, _when_? Awake, I say: what, Lucius!
_Enter_ LUCIUS.
LUC. Call’d you, my lord?”
SHAKESPEARE’s _Jul. Cæsar_, act ii. sc. 1.
See also p. 289 and note.

# 863:

_prevent_] i. e. anticipate.

# 864:

_sidemen_] Or _sidesmen_—i. e. assistants to the
churchwarden.

# 865:

_scandala magnatum_] This form seems to have been
common; so Taylor, the water-poet;

“From _scandala magnatum_ I am cleare.”
_Farewell to the Tower-bottles_, p. 126—_Workes_, ed.
1630.

See also _The Sculler_, p. 29, _ibid._

# 866:

_a writ of execution, Rapier and Dagger_] These words
are given to Falso in the old eds.—Ed. 1630 makes sad
work in the distribution of the speeches here.

# 867:

_Reinish_] a wretched pun—_Rhenish_.

# 868:

_Non vacat_, &c.] Ovid. _Trist._ ii. 216.

# 869:

_Byrlady_] a corruption of _By our Lady_.

# 870:

_Tan._] So ed. 1630. First ed. “_Fals._”

# 871:

_sursurraras_] See note, p. 330.

# 872:

_Longswords_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “Longsword.”

# 873:

_by th’_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “_by th’_ the.”

# 874:

_he_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “heele.”

# 875:

_Exeunt_] After this word in the old eds. is the
following direction, intended for the benefit of the
performers, not of the reader: “_Toward the close of
the musick_ [played between the acts] _the Justices
three men prepare for a robberie_.”

# 876:

_truss me_] To _truss_ means to tie the points or
tagged laces by which the hose or breeches was
attached to the doublet.

# 877:

_to_] So ed. 1630. Not in First ed.

# 878:

_venery_] i. e. hunting.

# 879:

_Latronello_] Old eds. “_Latronello_, and Fuca.”

# 880:

_under covert barn_] i. e. when he may rob under
protection. _Barn_ is a familiar corruption of
_baron_. A wife is said in law to be _under covert
baron_, as sheltered by marriage under her husband.

# 881:

_slinking_] Ed. 1630, “stinking.”

# 882:

_northern dozens_] In _The Rates of the Custome
House_, &c. 1582, among the cloths enumerated we find

“Kerseyes of all sorts
_Northen dosens_
Bridge Waters” &c. &c.
Sig. G. 2.

Strutt cites the following act: “Every _Northern
cloth_ shall be seven quarters of a yard in width,
from twenty-three to twenty-five yards in length, and
weigh sixty-six pounds each piece; the half piece of
each cloth, called _dozens_, shall run from twelve to
thirteen yards in length, the breadth being the same,
and shall weigh thirty-six pounds.”—_Dress and
Habits_, &c. vol. ii. p. 197.

# 883:

_gear_] i. e. matter.

# 884:

_true men_] See note, p. 158.

# 885:

_Was it your loss_, &c.] Old eds.

“O me, I’m dearly sorry for your chance, was it your
loss?”

which destroys the metre.

# 886:

_lord_] Ed. 1630, “lady.”

# 887:

_angels_] See note, p. 250.

# 888:

_cast_] i. e. vomit.

# 889:

_Exeunt_] I found it impossible to preserve an
equality in the length of the acts in this drama. The
stage-direction in the old copies (see p. 367, note),
shews plainly that a new act commences with the
entrance of “_Falso untrussed_;” and it was necessary
to close that act with the present scene, where the
Jeweller’s Wife, parting from her paramour at night,
desires him to come to her “to-morrow” about the same
hour. The morning of that “to-morrow” has arrived,
when Phœnix and Proditor enter in the next scene;
during which, as the reader will observe, time is
supposed to pass away with astonishing rapidity.

# 890:

_Phoenix_] How happens Proditor to address the
pretended assassin by his real name, not only here but
also at the commencement of act v., where the word,
forming part of a line, cannot be thrown out as a
printer’s interpolation?

“PROD. Now, _Phœnix_.
PHŒ. Now, my lord.
PROD. Let princely blood
Nourish our hopes,” &c.

That Proditor knew the prince by the name of Phœnix
appears from act i. sc. 2, where he says,

“Not many months _Phœnix_ shall keep his life.”

Perhaps Middleton committed this oversight in the
haste of composition.

# 891:

_toy_] i. e. whim, fancy, conceit.

# 892:

_most_] Old eds. “more.”

# 893:

_wittol_] See note, p. 331.

# 894:

_horse and foot_] So in _The Famous Historye of Thomas
Stukeley_, 1605: “Shee’s mine _horse and foote_.”—Sig.
B. 2.

# 895:

_again_] i. e. against.

# 896:

_sursurraras_] See note, p. 330.

# 897:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 898:

_do_] Old eds. “do’s.”

# 899:

_Thou that hast found such sweet pleasure_, &c.] See
p. 330.]

# 900:

_hurt_] Old eds. “heart.”

# 901:

_’Tis coming_, &c.] A speech which seems to have been
originally all verse.

# 902:

_carpet_] i. e. table-cover.—Gifford (Ben Jonson’s
_Works_, vol. v. p. 182) explains it “embroidered
rug:” but why “_rug_?” the finest Turkey carpets were
formerly used for covering tables, as many old
pictures testify.—That _carpet_ also meant sometimes a
bed-cover appears from the following passage of
Brathwaite:

“Downe goes the silken _carpet_ all the while,
Showing those sheets,” &c.
_Strappado for the Diuell_, 1615, p. 43.

# 903:

_marmoset_] i. e. little monkey.

# 904:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 905:

_Metreza_] See note, vol. iii. p. 628.

# 906:

_sixpenny ordinary_] There were ordinaries of all
prices. Our author notices, in _Father Hubburd’s
Tales_, a three-half-penny ordinary; in _No Wit, no
Help like a Woman’s_, a twelvepenny ordinary, act ii.
sc. 3; in _The Black Book_, an eighteenpenny ordinary;
in _A Trick to catch the Old One_, a two-shilling
ordinary, act i. sc. 1; Fletcher, in _The Wild-Goose
Chase_, a ten-crown ordinary, act i. sc. 1; and our
author, in _Father Hubburd’s Tales_, mentions a person
who had spent five pounds at a sitting in an ordinary.

# 907:

_overflown_] i. e. drunk.—“The young Gentleman is come
in, Madam, and as you foresaw very high _flowne_, but
not so drunke as to forget your promise.”—BROME’s _Mad
Couple well Match’d_, act iv. sc. 2. _Five New
Playes_, 1653.

# 908:

_tread_] A friend would read “thread,”—with an
allusion to the sport called Running at the Ring, when
the tilter, riding at full speed, endeavoured to
thrust the point of his lance through, and to bear
away, the ring, which was suspended at a fixed height.
But the text is quite right. G. Markham gives
particular directions how to make a horse _tread the
ring_—i. e. perform various movements in different
directions within a ring marked out on a piece of
ground: see _Cheape and good Husbandry_, &c., p. 18,
sqq. ed. 1631.

# 909:

_approve_] i. e. prove.

# 910:

_revenue_] Phœnix accidentally uses the word by which,
as the reader will remember, the Knight is accustomed
to address the Jeweller’s Wife.

# 911:

_Adieu, farewell_, &c.] The Knight is supposed to
enter from a tavern, and to be taking leave of the
companions with whom he had been carousing.

# 912:

_angels_] See note, p. 250.

# 913:

_rouses_] i. e. bumpers: see Gifford’s note on _The
Duke of Milan_, Massinger’s _Works_, vol. i. p. 239,
sec. ed.

# 914:

_mullwines_] A vulgar corruption of _mulled wines_.

# 915:

_Argo_] Like the _argal_ of the grave-digger in
_Hamlet_—a vulgarism for _ergo_.

# 916:

_two most famous universities, Poultry and Wood-
street_] i. e. the Counter prisons in the Poultry and
Wood-street. The same piece of wit occurs in our
author’s _Michaelmas Term_ and in his _Roaring Girl_.
So also in Fennor’s _Compter’s Commonwealth_, 1617;
“But before I was matriculated in one of these city
universities,” &c. p. 4: and in Jordan’s _Walks of
Islington and Hogsdon_, &c. 1657, where Wildblood,
when brought into Wood-street Counter, says, “I have
commenced in this college before now,” act iv. sc. 1.

# 917:

_from the Master’s side down to ... the Hole_] The
best _side_ or department in those prisons was called
the _Master’s side_; and one of the worst, the _Hole_:
see Fennor’s _Compter’s Commonwealth_, pp. 4, 5, 11,
18, 62, 69, 79; and Jordan’s _Walks of Islington and
Hogsdon_, &c. act iv.

Gifford (note on B. Jonson’s _Works_, vol. ii. p. 208)
mentions the _Knights’ ward_ as if it had been the
best department; but, I believe, it was the second
best,—after the _Master’s side_.

# 918:

_toys_] i. e. whimsical, odd things: see note, p. 378.

# 919:

_Phœnix_] See note, p. 378.

# 920:

_make a foot-cloth’d posterity_] i. e. make your
descendants persons of great consequence, riding with
_foot-cloths_ (long housings) on their horses.

# 921:

_keep_] Old eds. “keeps.”

# 922:

-_quicking_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “qucking.”—Query,
“quickening.”

# 923:

_At his first rising_, &c.] The words of Proditor to
Phœnix, see p. 396.

# 924:

_What’s here_] Old eds. “_Whats heere_ my Lord:” the
printer having by mistake inserted the exclamation of
Proditor twice.

# 925:

_affirm’t_] Old eds. “affirme it.”

# 926:

_vild_] i. e. vile: see note, p. 94.

# 927:

_what make I here?_] i. e. what business have I here?

# 928:

_contained in_] i. e. restrained in, confined to.

# 929:

_Discovers himself_] This stage-direction, which is
not in the 1st ed., is given as part of the dialogue
in ed. 1630,—“to approoue it discouers himselfe.”

# 930:

_keeps_] i. e. dwells.

# 931:

_stings_] Old eds. “strings” and “string.”

# 932:

_this diamond_] Which the Jeweller’s Wife had given to
Phoenix: see p. 391.

# 933:

_Torment again!_] Ed. 1630 has “Tormentagent:” qy. did
the author write “Torment’s agent?” Compare _The Old
Law_ (p. 31), where Evander calls the executioner
“Agent for death.”

# 934:

_wrack_] i. e. wreck.

# 935:

_mistress_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “Master.”

# 936:

_ne’er_] Old eds. “never.”

# 937:

_those_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “these.”

# 938:

_Turks_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “Turke.”

# 939:

_She never saw the dogs and the bears fight_] At
Paris-Garden, in Southwark. Brathwait, (writing
several years after this play was produced, though at
what particular date is uncertain,) mentions it as one
of the chief “sights” in London.

“Seven Hils there were in Rome, and so there be
Seven Sights in New-Troy crave our memorie:
1 Tombes, 2 Guild-Hall Giants, 3 Stage-plaies, 4
Bedlam poore,
5 Ostrich, 6 _Beare-garden_, 7 Lyons in the Towre.”

_Barnabees Journall_, sig. L. 3. 1st ed. n. d. (_Sec.
Part_, note.)

# 940:

_war’s_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “war.”

# 941:

_least_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “left.”

# 942:

_fathom_] i. e. comprehension,—compass of thought or
contrivance.—Old eds. “fadome.”

# 943:

_advance_] Old eds. “aduanceth.”

# 944:

_agen_] So the word is generally written by our early
poets; and where the rhyme requires that spelling, it
ought not to be modernised.

# 945:

_neasts_] i. e. nests—for the sake of the rhyme. So
Brome;

“That the tipling _feast_,
With the Doxie in the _neast_,” &c.
_A Jovial Crew_, 1652 (acted 1641), sig. F. 4.

# 946:

_The Middle_, &c.] The old eds. do not mark the place
of action; but the circumstance of the “bills” (see p.
423) evidently shews that the poet intended this scene
to lie in the middle aisle of St. Paul’s. That _bills_
(advertisements) used to be posted up there, and that
persons of all descriptions were in the habit of
resorting thither, both for business and amusement,
might be proved by citations from various writers: it
is sufficient to refer the reader to Ben Jonson’s
_Every Man out of his Humour_, act i. sc. 1.

# 947:

_You’ve_] Old eds. “_You_ have.”

# 948:

_possess’d_] i. e. persuaded, convinced: so Brome;

“My lord, I do presume I am unwelcome,
Because you are _possess’d_ I never lov’d you.”
_The Queen and Concubine_, p. 38.—_Five New Playes_,
1659.

# 949:

_vildly_] i. e. vilely: see note, p. 94.

# 950:

_Shortyard_, &c.] Old eds. “with his two spirits,
_Shortyard_,” &c.—It should seem that these assistants
of Quomodo’s villany were more than mere mortal
agents: vide the first speech of Shortyard in the 3d
scene of act iii.

# 951:

_look sleek_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “looke, _seeke_.”

# 952:

_Ne_] i. e. Nor—an archaism.

# 953:

_Observe ... gallantry_] Qy. did the author mean this
speech to open with two rhyming lines?

# 954:

_angels_] See note, p. 250.

# 955:

_subtilty’s_] Old eds. “subtiltie is.”

# 956:

_bills_] i. e. advertisements: see note, p. 418.

# 957:

_this_] Old eds. “tis.”

# 958:

_Has forgot_, &c.] The next speech of Rearage
concludes a couplet, which can only be rendered
complete by the following awkward arrangement of the
text;

“Has forgot his father’s
Name, poor Walter Gruel, that begot him,
Fed him, and brought him up.”

But let me observe, that Middleton, when he introduces
a couplet, does not always think it necessary that the
first line should consist of as many feet as the
second: compare the lines at the end of the fourth act
of this play;

“Delay not now; you’ve understood my love;
I’ve a priest ready; this is the fittest season.
No eye offends us: let this kiss
Restore thee to more wealth, me to more bliss.”

See also _The Phœnix_, p. 351, where my remark (note
^{845}) about the dropping out of part of the line was
inconsiderate.

Nor is this somewhat slovenly style of writing
peculiar to our author: in one of Brome’s plays, a
speech which consists of regular blank verse concludes
with the following couplet;

“So, now dye and sinke
Into thy grave, to rid us of thy stinke.”
_The Sparagus Garden_, 1640, sig. H. 3. (acted
1635.)

# 959:

_respective_] i. e. respectful.

# 960:

_I’d_] Old eds. “I had.”

# 961:

_I’ve_] Old eds. here and in the next line but three,
“I have.”

# 962:

_agen_] See note, p. 416.

# 963:

_pains_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “payne.”

# 964:

_apperil_] i. e. peril: see Gifford’s note—B. Jonson’s
_Works_, vol. v. p. 137.

# 965:

_death of sturgeon_] There seems to be some corruption
in the text here.

# 966:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 967:

_aloof off_] Lethe again uses this expression, act
iii. sc. 1, “since only her consent kept _aloof off_,
what might I think,” &c.

# 968:

_Some, poor_, &c.] i. e. Would that some poor, &c.

# 969:

_scurvy murrey kersey_] Equivalent, perhaps, to poor
piece of stuff.

# 970:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 971:

_kersened_] A vulgarism for christened.

# 972:

_disguise_] Old eds. “disquire.”

# 973:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 974:

_braver_] i. e. more richly clad.

# 975:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 976:

_Hellgill_] Old eds. “Lethes Pandar:” his name, as we
find afterwards, is Dick Hellgill.

# 977:

_thrummed_] Seems here to mean thatched: the father of
the Country Wench, speaking of her (act ii. sc. 2),
says,

“O, if she knew
The dangers that attend on women’s lives,
She’d rather lodge under a poor _thatch’d roof_” &c.

_Thrum_ is, properly, the tuft at the end of the warp
in weaving.

# 978:

_a loose-bodied gown_] Is frequently mentioned as a
common dress of courtesans: so Taylor, the water-poet;

“Her _loose gowne_, for her looser body fit.”
_A Whore_, p. 111.—_Workes_, 1630.

# 979:

_bums_] i. e., perhaps, _bum-rolls_: “The ladies
also extended their garments from the hips with
foxes’ tails and _bum-rolls_ [stuffed cushions],”
&c.—Strutt’s _Dress and Habits_, &c. vol. ii. p.
259.

# 980:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 981:

_deny_] i. e. refuse.

# 982:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 983:

_thing_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “things.”

# 984:

_most_] i. e. greatest,—thorough.

# 985:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 986:

_pants_] “Qy. haunts?” says a friend; but I believe
the text is right: for the sake of the rhyme, _pants_
is used in the forced sense of—breathes, exists,
dwells.

# 987:

_lie_] Old eds. “lyes.”

# 988:

_An Ordinary_] In Middleton’s days (and, I believe,
long after,) gambling was carried on at ordinaries.
The place of action is not marked in the old eds.

# 989:

_impressure_] Old eds. “impressier.”

# 990:

_skills_] i. e. signifies.

# 991:

_angels_] See note, p. 250.

# 992:

_wears a smock_] Equivalent, I believe, to—is a knave:
“the answer of a mad fellowe to his mistresse, who
being called knaue by her, replied that it was not
possible, for, said he, if you remember yourselfe,
good mistresse, this is leape yeare, and then, as you
know well, knaues _weare smockes_.”—_Treatise against
Jud. Astrol._, &c., by J. Chamber, 1601, p. 113.
Compare too vol. iii. p. 81.

# 993:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 994:

_will_] i. e. desire.

# 995:

_knew_] Old eds. “know.”

# 996:

_the Standard_] Of the Standard in Cheapside, which
John Wells, mayor in the year 1430, first “caused to
be made with a small cistern with fresh water,” &c.,
an ample account will be found in Stow’s _Survey of
London_, b. iii. p. 34, ed. 1720.

# 997:

_Push_] See note, p. 29.

# 998:

_vild_] i. e. vile: see note, p. 94.

# 999:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 1000:

_Push_] See note, p. 29.

# 1001:

_inward_] i. e. intimate.

# 1002:

_beholding_] Is often used for _beholden_ by our early
writers.

# 1003:

_slight_] i. e. contrivance, artifice.

# 1004:

_She’d_] Old eds. “She would.”

# 1005:

_keeps_] i. e. dwells.

# 1006:

_fond_] i. e. foolish.

# 1007:

_Thomasine_] Here, and in a subsequent stage-
direction, the old eds. designate her “_Quomodoes
Wife_,” but in all the other stage-directions, and in
all the prefixes to her speeches, “_Thomasine_.”

# 1008:

_look_] Old eds. “lookes.”

# 1009:

_a cast of manchets_] i. e. a couple of small loaves,
or rolls, of fine white bread. “A _cast_ of hawks” (a
not unfrequent expression) occurs in our author’s
_Spanish Gipsy_, act ii., scene 2.

# 1010:

_a custard_] Appears, from several passages in our old
writers, to have been a common love-present.

# 1011:

_aunt_] i. e. procuress—in which sense the word often
occurs.

# 1012:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 1013:

_sir-reverence_] See note, p. 171.

# 1014:

_my shop is not altogether so dark_, &c.] See note, p.
482.

# 1015:

_cloth_] i. e. hangings.

# 1016:

_virginals_] See note, p. 278.

# 1017:

_Retires_] Old eds. “Exit:” but presently, when called
by Quomodo, he replies, “I’m ne’er out a’ the shop,
sir.”

# 1018:

_what lack you_] Was the constant address of
shopkeepers to customers. In 1628, Alexander Gill was
brought before the council for saying, among other
things, that the king was only fit to stand in a shop
and cry _what do you lack?_

# 1019:

_inward_] i. e. intimate acquaintance.

# 1020:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 1021:

_bedfellow_] It was formerly common for men (even
those of the highest rank) to sleep together; and the
custom was still prevalent in the time of Cromwell:
see the notes of Steevens and Malone on Shakespeare’s
_Henry V._ act ii. sc. 2; and Clarendon’s _Hist. of
the Rebellion_, vol. vii. p. 34, ed. 1826.

# 1022:

_Gum_] Old eds. here, and afterwards in this scene,
“Goome:” but see p. 437.

# 1023:

_walk_] i. e. depart.

# 1024:

_Brainford_] A common corruption of Brentford.

# 1025:

_take up a commodity of cloth_] Many passages in our
early writers might be cited to shew how common
a custom it was for needy gallants to take up
_commodities_, i. e. wares which they were to convert
into ready money. Brown paper (which Quomodo presently
mentions,) was an article frequently taken up; see
Steevens’s note on Shakespeare’s _Measure for
Measure_, act iv. sc. 3; and ginger, pins, packthread,
&c. &c., are also found in the strange list of
_commodities_.

# 1026:

_grow diseased_] i. e. become uneasy.

# 1027:

_i-wis_] i. e. certainly, truly. There can be no doubt
that the word is an adverb.

# 1028:

_foot-cloths_] See note, p. 396.

# 1029:

_take me with you_] i. e. understand me fully.

# 1030:

_where_] i. e. whereas.

# 1031:

_brown paper_] See note, p. 450.

# 1032:

_as late our graceless dames_] The allusion here is
probably to the execution of Sir Everard Digby, who,
for his share in the gunpowder plot, was drawn,
hanged, and quartered, at the west end of St. Paul’s
Church, 30th January, 1606: see Stow’s _Annales_, p.
882, ed. 1631.

# 1033:

_wale_] i. e. texture; properly, the ridge of threads.

# 1034:

_quo’_] i. e. quoth.

# 1035:

_wold_] Old eds. “wilde.”

# 1036:

_bedfellow’s_] See note, p. 448.

# 1037:

_price_] Qy. “piece:” see p. 452.

# 1038:

_Push_] See note, p. 29.

# 1039:

_logs yet to keep Christmas with_] The bringing in and
burning of the log, a huge piece of fire-wood, was (at
least in the country) an important ceremony on
Christmas eve. It was lighted with a piece of the last
year’s brand: see the poem entitled _Ceremonies for
Christmasse_ in Herrick’s _Hesperides_, p. 309, ed.
1648.

# 1040:

_Poultry and Wood-street_] See note, p. 392.

# 1041:

_before_] Old eds. “_with the cloath_:” but see his
first speech as Idem, p. 460.

# 1042:

_he_] i. e. Quomodo: so ed. 1630. First ed. “we.”

# 1043:

_a proper springall_] i. e. a handsome youth. Old eds.
“_a proper_, springfull.”

# 1044:

_What do ye lack_] See note, p. 447.

# 1045:

_he_] i. e. he who.

# 1046:

To her speeches in this scene, and in all the
subsequent scenes where she appears, is prefixed
“_Curt._” i. e. courtesan; and in the stage-directions
after this scene, she is called “_Courtesan_” or
“_Harlot_.”

# 1047:

_the tailor points it_] When this play was written,
women’s gowns were usually made by men.

# 1048:

_tirewoman_] i. e. cap-maker, milliner.

# 1049:

_Hellgill’s Servant_] Old eds. “One.”

# 1050:

_toy_] See note, p. 378.

# 1051:

_Fath._] Old eds. “Sho.”

# 1052:

_risse_] i. e. risen.—Ed. 1630, “rissen:” but the
other form frequently occurs.

# 1053:

_and_] Old eds. “_and_ a.”

# 1054:

_Clubs, clubs_] Was the cry which called forth the
London apprentices when any fray arose.

# 1055:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 1056:

_Byrlady_] See note, p. 365.

# 1057:

_mother_] See note, p. 186.

# 1058:

_aloof off_] See note, p. 427.

# 1059:

_merely_] i. e. absolutely.

# 1060:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 1061:

_cast of manchets_, &c.] See notes, p. 444.

# 1062:

_aunt_] See note, p. 444.

# 1063:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 1064:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 1065:

_banes_] i. e. bans.

“Whenere my heart Love’s warmth but entertaines,
O Frost! O Snow! O Haile forbid the _Banes_.”
HERRICK’s _Hesperides_, p. 42. ed. 1648.

# 1066:

_likes_] i. e. pleases.

# 1067:

_in Paul’s_] See note, p. 418.

# 1068:

_spirits_] See note, p. 421.

# 1069:

_a warning-piece_] So old eds.: but qy. “a warning:
peace!”

# 1070:

_know_] So ed. 1630.—First ed. “knew.”

# 1071:

_knew_] Old eds. “know.”

# 1072:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 1073:

_lecher_] Old eds. “leather.”

# 1074:

_a_] So ed. 1630. Not in first ed.

# 1075:

_come_] Old eds. “comes.”

# 1077:

_proceeded in both the counters_] See note, p. 392.

# 1078:

_bachelors_] So ed. 1630.—First ed. “batchler.”

# 1079:

_Much_] See note, p. 257.

# 1080:

_Fal._] Qy. _Easy_?

# 1081:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 1082:

_Easy_] Qy. _Fal._?

# 1083:

_bring_] So ed. 1630.—First ed. “ring.”

# 1084:

_gossip_] i. e. sponsor.

# 1085:

_bands_] Old eds. “bonds:” the words were formerly
used indiscriminately: see note, p. 245.

# 1086:

_Byrlady_] See note, p. 365.

# 1087:

_owe_] i. e. own.

# 1088:

_a dark shop’s good for somewhat_] The city tradesmen
were frequently twitted about the darkness of their
shops. “What should the city do with honesty?... Why
are your wares gumm’d; _your shops dark_,” &c.—BROME’s
_City Wit_, act i. sc. 1. (_Five New Playes_, 1653.)

# 1089:

_recullisance_] i. e. (I suppose) recognisance:
_cullisen_ frequently occurs as a corruption of
_cognisance_: see Gifford’s note on B. Jonson’s
_Works_, vol. ii. p. 36.

# 1090:

_blue beadles_] The dress formerly worn by beadles was
blue: so Taylor, the water-poet;

“The very _blue-coate Beadles_ get their trash
By whips and rods, and the fine firking lash.”
_Anagrams and Satyrs_, p. 254—_Workes_, 1630.

# 1091:

_as before_] See p. 481.

# 1092:

_bedfellow_] See note, p. 448.

# 1093:

_disguised as before_] See p. 481.—Old eds. “_his
disguised spirits_.” see note, p. 421.

# 1094:

_i-wis_] See note, p. 451.

# 1095:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 1096:

_a bow wide_] A term in archery—when the arrow flew a
bow-length wide (on one side or other) of the mark.

# 1097:

_let_] i. e. hinderance.

# 1098:

_vild_] See note, p. 94.

# 1099:

_spirits_] See note, p. 421.

# 1100:

_slight_] See note, p. 441.

# 1101:

_I’ll have ’emlopt_, &c.] Something seems to have
dropt out before these words.

# 1102:

_laugh and lie down_] See note, p. 269.

# 1103:

_toy_] See note, p. 378.

# 1104:

_beaten_] i. e. trite.

# 1105:

_take on_] i. e. grieve bitterly.

# 1106:

_searchers_] i. e. persons appointed officially to
examine bodies, and report the cause of death.

# 1107:

_spirits_] See note, p. 421.

# 1108:

_the great_] i. e. the gross.

# 1109:

_brave_] i. e. richly dressed.

# 1110:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 1111:

Immediately before these exclamations the old eds.
have a stage-direction (a warning for the bell-ringer
and performers to be in readiness), “_A Bell Toales, a
Confused crie within_.” The bell, of course, does not
toll till the Boy has been sent to “bid ’em ring out.”

# 1112:

_reap’t_] Old eds. “reape it.”

# 1113:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 1114:

_mought_] i. e. might.

# 1115:

_and_] i. e. if.

# 1116:

_passion_] i. e. sorrow.

# 1117:

_ringing_] See p. 493.

# 1118:

_the hospital boys_] Compare Brome: “He is indeed my
brother, and has been one of the true blew _Boyes of
the Hospitall; one of the sweet singers to the City
Funeralls_ with a two penny loafe under his arme.”
_The City Wit_, act iii. sc. 1.—(_Five New Playes_,
1653.)

# 1119:

_censure_] i. e. opinion.

# 1120:

_I’ve_] Old eds. “I have.”

# 1121:

_One_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “Ont.”

# 1122:

_hear_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “feare.”

# 1123:

_lewd_] i. e. vile, base.

# 1124:

_A coffin brought in_, &c.] The stage-direction in the
old eds. is, “_A counterfet Coarse brought in, Tomazin
and al the mourners equally counterfeit_:” but we find
there (see next page) a subsequent stage-direction,
“_Pointing after the_ coffin.”

# 1125:

_T.’s Moth._] The old eds. (which do not mark her
entrance) merely prefix “_Moth._” to her speeches.

# 1126:

_cousin_] i. e. kinsman, relation: in Shakespeare,
Olivia calls her uncle Toby _cousin_ (_Twelfth
Night_); and the king says,

“But now my _cousin_ Hamlet and my son.”

I suspect that the word was sometimes used (and
perhaps is so in the present passage) as a familiar
address to a person who was not related to the
speaker.

# 1127:

_I’ve_] Old eds. “I have.”—The line is the second of a
couplet.

# 1128:

_I’ve_] Old eds. “I have.”

# 1129:

_I’ve_] Old eds. “I have.”

# 1130:

_No eye offends us: let this kiss_, &c.] An imperfect
couplet: see note, p. 424.

# 1131:

_with writings_] The old eds. add, “_having cousned
Sim Quomodo_.”

# 1132:

_I’ve_] Old eds. “I have.”

# 1133:

_Enter Thomasine_, &c.] Old eds. “_Enter Quomodoes
wife marryed to Easie_:” see note, p. 443.

# 1134:

_I’ve_] Old eds. here and in the next line but two, “I
have.”

# 1135:

_agen_] See note, p. 416.

# 1136:

_Enter Officers_, &c.] The old eds. have no stage-
direction here. From the words which presently follow,
“This is the other,” it seems that Falselight had been
previously taken into custody; and as they both
afterwards make their appearance together at the
justice’s house, I have thought it best to despatch
them thither in company.

# 1137:

_lands_] Old eds. “lands.”

# 1138:

_as before_] See p. 496.

# 1139:

_Saint Antling’s_] For an account of the church and
parish so called, see Stow’s _Survey of London_:
“First you have the fair Parish Church of St.
Anthonines, in Budge Row (more vulgarly known by the
name of St. Antlins),” &c.—B. iii. p. 15, &c. ed.
1720.

# 1140:

_byrlady_] See note, p. 365.

# 1141:

_owe_] i. e. own.

# 1142:

_hither_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “thether.”

# 1143:

_beset_] i. e. perplexed, embarrassed.

# 1144:

_Who’s this? ’Tis_] First ed. “_Whose? tis_.” Ed.
1630, “_Whose? this_.”

# 1145:

_Had-land_] Is given as two distinct words in the old
eds.: but compare our author’s _Trick to catch the Old
One_, act i. sc. 2, where the Host says to Witgood,
“what’s the news, bully _Had-land_?”

# 1146:

_Enter Officers_, &c.] The only stage-direction of the
old eds. in this scene is, “_Enter Lethe with
Officers, taken with his Harlot_:” that the additions
which I have made to it are necessary, the following
scene will shew.

# 1147:

_’Twixt_] Old eds. “Betwixt.”

# 1148:

_I’m_] Old eds. “I am.”

# 1149:

_lewd_] See note, p. 498.

# 1150:

_does it_] These words ought perhaps to be thrown
out.—In several parts of this scene the corruption of
the text has affected the metre.

# 1151:

_resolve_] i. e. convince, satisfy.

# 1152:

_Sale._] Old eds. “_Gent._:” for which I have
substituted _Salewood_, who, as we may gather from act
iii. sc. 5 (see p. 484), was privy to the design of
exposing Lethe.

# 1153:

_vild_] See note, p. 94.

# 1154:

_lashes_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “lastes.”

# 1155:

_Sale._] See note, p. 510.

# 1156:

_His own mother_, &c.] Before this speech something
seems wanting.

# 1157:

_Mistress_] So ed. 1630. First ed. “Maister.”

# 1158:

_again_] i. e. against.

# 1159:

_defy_] i. e. reject, renounce.

# 1160:

_Shortyard, we banish thee; it is our pleasure_] Old
eds. “_Shortyard we banish_, ’tis _our pleasure_.”—I
may remark that, though the guilty are deservedly
punished, the judge administers justice somewhat
arbitrarily in this scene, which is evidently supposed
to pass in a private dwelling.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Transcriber’s Note

The footnote scheme used lettered references, repeating a-z. On numerous of occasions, letters were skipped or repeated. The resequencing of notes here resolves those lapses. Footnotes on occasion are themselves footnoted. For uniqueness, these are referenced as, for example, ‘35A’.

One unanchored footnote at p. 239 l. 10 was mentioned at the bottom of that page, glossing the word ‘precept’. That anchor has been added as 239.10.

An errata section was prepated by the Editor and included in this first volume, which provides additions and corrections to all five volumes in this set. The relevant sections will be repeated at the end of the Transcriber’s note of each subsequent volume.

Stage directions, except for entrances, can be:

in-line
in the middle of a line and delimited with ‘[ ]’,

end of line
right-justified on the same line where there is room, with only
the leading ‘[’,

next line
right-justified on the following line, where there is
insufficent room, with a hanging indent.

The same convention is followed here. Since this version is wider than the original, most directions are on the same line as the speech.

Entrances were centered and separated slightly from lines above and below. This is rendered here as a full blank line.

Other errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original.

51.8 the end of serving[ /-]men: Added.
65.9 LYS. We’re for you, sir[,/.] Replaced.
343.5 [a/A]nd a loft above Replaced.