5 SCENE IV.-" Si fortuna," &c. There is little doubt, when Pistol exclaims, "Have we not Hiren here?" that, however the Hostess may mistake him, he alludes to his sword. King Arthur's sword was called Ron. Douce has been enabled to supply a very curious illustration of this passage, by having met with an old rapier on which these lines are inscribed : "Si fortune me tourmente, L'esperance me contente." This is precisely the meaning of Pistol's bad Italian; and Douce therefore very ingeniously conjectures that Pistol, unmindful of the Hostess's interruption, goes on spouting the inscription upon his sword. Douce has given an engraving of this rapier, which we copy: Fortune metourmente L'Esperance mecontente 6 SCENE IV.-"A shove-groat shilling." Bardolph was to quoit Pistol down stairs as quickly as the smooth shilling-the shove-groatflies along the board. Ben Jonson, in the same "made it run as allusion to quickness, says, smooth off the tongue as a shove-groat shilling." Shove-groat, in a statute of the 33rd of Henry VIII., is called a new game; and it was also called slide-groat,-slide-board,-slide-thrift, and slipthrift. The game was no doubt originally played with the silver groat. The broad shilling of Edward VI. came afterwards to be used in this game, which in all probability varied little from shovel-board. Master Slender, in the Merry Wives of Windsor, had his pocket picked of "two Edward shovelboards, that cost him two and two pence a piece." Slender's costly shillings were probably lucky ones. 7 SCENE IV.-" Bartholomew boar-pig." A roasted pig in Bartholomew fair was a dainty to which Ben Jonson has several allusions; and thus it is used as a term of endearment to Falstaff. Davenant has some lines on the subject, which are quoted by Gifford : "Now London's Mayor on saddle new, Rides to the fair of Bartlemew; Enter KING HENRY, with a Page. K. Hen. Go, call the earls of Surrey and of Warwick; But, ere they come, bid them o'er-read these letters, And well consider of them: Make good speed. How many thousand of my poorest subjects And hush'd with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber; Than in the perfum'd chambers of the great, a A watch-case, &c. The metaphor here may be taken thus:-The kingly couch, the place of repose for the king, being deserted by sleep, is as the case or box in which the wakeful centinel is sheltered: it is also as a common 'larum Wilt thou upon the high and giddy mast bell which is to rouse a sleeping population upon the approach of danger. But a 'larum, an alarum, an alarm, was also called a watch. In an ancient inventory cited by Strutt, there is the following article: "a laume, or watch of iron, in an iron case, with two leaden plummets." By this laume, or watch of iron, we are to understand the instrument which we now call an alarum-a machine attached to a clock so as to ring at a certain hour. It is difficult to say whether Shakspere means by the "watch-case" the box of a centinel, and by the "common 'larum bell," the alarm bell which is rung out in cases of danger; or whether the "watch-case" is the covering of an instrument which gives motion to the bell of an alarum. It is possible, in either case, that the or in the line is a misprint, for which by or for might be substituted; and then the comparison would not be double; but the kingly couch would be as unfavourable to sleep as the case or box of him who watches by the alarm bell of a garrison; or as the covering of a watch, for an alarm bell. a Clouds. Some editors have proposed to read shrouds. A line in Julius Cæsar makes Shaks pere's meaning clearer; "I have seen Th' ambitious ocean swell, and rage, and foam b Hurly. Loud noise. Some say from the French, hurler, to yell. Hurling, however, means a disturbance, a commotion; and we have it used in this sense in the Paston Letters. Hurly, therefore, in the sense of noise, may be a consequential meaning from the hurling, which implies noise. Can'st thou, O partial sleep! give thy repose Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. Enter WARWICK and SURREY. War. Many good morrows to your majesty ! K. Hen. Why then, good morrow to you all, Have you read o'er the letters that I sent you? War. We have, my liege. K. Hen. Then you perceive, the body of our kingdom How foul it is; what rank diseases grow, And see the revolution of the times The beachy girdle of the ocean Too wide for Neptune's hips; how chances a Then, happy low-lie-down. Warburton's correction of "happy, lowly clown," which Johnson adopted, was somewhat bold. We have adopted a reading, depending on the punctuation, which is suggested by Coleridge, and we add his remark on this passage: "I know of no argument by which to persuade any one to be of my opinion, or rather of my feeling; but yet I cannot help feeling that 'Happy lowlie-down! is either a proverbial expression, or the burthen of some old song, and means, Happy the man, who lays himself down on his straw bed or chaff pallet on the ground or floor!"" b Distempered, is used as indicating a state of ill-health, somewhat milder than the rank diseases of which the king speaks. c These four lines, not in the folio, are found in the quarto of 1600. This Percy was the man nearest my soul; [TO WARWICK. When Richard, with his eye brimful of tears, Then check'd and rated by Northumberland,Did speak these words, now prov'd a prophecy? 'Northumberland, thou ladder, by the which My cousin Bolingbroke ascends my throne;'Though then, heaven knows, I had no such intent, But that necessity so bow'd the state, Shall break into corruption :'--so went on, War. There is a history in all men's lives, K. Hen. Are these things then necessities ? Then let us meet them like necessities: And that same word even now cries out on us; They say, the bishop and Northumberland Are fifty thousand strong. War. It cannot be, my lord; Rumour doth double, like the voice and echo, The numbers of the fear'd: Please it your grace To go to bed; upon my life, my lord, The powers that you already have sent forth, Shall bring this prize in very easily. To comfort you the more, I have receiv'd A certain instance that Glendower is dead. Your majesty hath been this fortnight ill; And these unseason'd hours, perforce, must add Unto your sickness. K. Hen. I will take your counsel: And, were these inward wars once out of hand, We would, dear lords, unto the Holy Land. [Exeunt. SCENE II.-Court before Justice Shallow's House in Gloucestershire. Enter SHALLOW and SILENCE, meeting; MOULDY, SHADOW, WART, FEEBLE, BULL-CALF, and Servants behind. Shal. Come on, come on, come on; give me your hand, sir, give me your hand, sir: an early stirrer, by the rood. And how doth my good cousin Silence? Sil. Good morrow, good cousin Shallow. Shal. And how doth my cousin, your bedfellow and your fairest daughter, and mine, my god-daughter Ellen? Sil. Alas, a black ouzel, cousin Shallow. Shal. By yea and nay, sir, I dare say my cousin William is become a good scholar: He is at Oxford, still, is he not? Sil. Indeed, sir; to my cost. Shal. He must then to the inns of court shortly: I was once of Clement's-inn; where, I think, they will talk of mad Shallow yet. Sil. You were called lusty Shallow, then, cousin. Shal. By the mass, I was called anything; and I would have done anything, indeed, and roundly too. There was I, and little John Doit of Staffordshire, and black George Bare, and Francis Pickbone, and Will Squele a Cotswold man,—you had not four such swinge-bucklers in all the inns of court again: and, I may say to you, we knew where the bona-robas were; and had the best of them all at commandment. Then was Jack Falstaff, now Sir John, a boy; and page to Thomas Mowbray, duke of Norfolk. Sil. This sir John, cousin, that comes hither anon about soldiers? : Shal. The same Sir John, the very same. I saw him break Skogan's head' at the court gate, when he was a crack, not thus high and the very same day did I fight with one Sampson Stockfish, a fruiterer, behind Gray's-inn. 0, the mad days that I have spent! and to see how many of mine old acquaintance are dead! Sil. We shall all follow, cousin. Shal. Certain, 'tis certain; very sure, very sure death, as the Psalmist saith, is certain to all; all shall die. How a good yoke of bullocks at Stamford fair? Sil. Truly, cousin, I was not there. Shal. Death is certain.-Is old Double of your town living yet? Sil. Dead, sir. Shal. Dead!-See, sce!-he drew a good bow; And dead!-he shot a fine shoot:-John Bard. My captain, sir, commends him to you: my captain, sir John Falstaff: a tall gentleman, and a most gallant leader. Shal. He greets me well, sir. I knew him a good backsword man: How doth the good knight? may I ask how my lady his wife doth? Bard. Sir, pardon; a soldier is better accommodated than with a wife. Shal. It is well said, in faith, sir; and it is well said indeed too. Better accommodated!-it is good; yea, indeed is it: good phrases are surely, and ever were, very commendable. Accommodated!--it comes of accommodo: very good; a good phrase. Burd. Pardon, sir: I have heard the word. Phrase, call you it? By this day, I know not the phrase but I will maintain the word with my sword to be a soldier-like word, and a word of exceeding good command.3 Accommodated; That is, when a man is, as they say, accommodated or, when a man is,-being,-whereby,he may be thought to be accommodated; which is an excellent thing. Enter FALSTAFF. Shal. It is very just :-Look, here comes good sir John.-Give me your good hand, give me your worship's good hand: Trust me, you look well, and bear your years very well: welcome, good sir John. a Twelve score. Yards is here understood, and subsequently at fourteen means at fourteen score yards. Douce says that "none but a most extraordinary archer would be able to hit a mark at twelve score." This careful antiquary overlooked the fact, that hy statute (33 Hen. VIII. ch. 9) every person above seventeen years of age was subject to fine if he shot at a less distance than twelve score yards. Fal. I am glad to see you well, good master Robert Shallow:-Master Sure-card, as I think. Shal. No, sir John; it is my cousin Silence, in commission with me. Fal. Good master Silence, it well befits you should be of the peace. Sil. Your good worship is welcome. Fal. Fye! this is hot weather.-Gentlemen, have you provided me here half a dozen of sufficient men? Shal. Marry, have we, sir. Will you sit? Shal. Where's the roll? where's the roll? where's the roll ?--Let me see, let me see, let me see. So, so, so, so: Yea, marry, sir:-Ralph Mouldy-let them appear as I call; let them do so, let them do so.-Let me see; Where is Mouldy? Moul. Here, if it please you. Shal. What think you, sir John? a good limbed fellow young, strong, and of good friends. : Fal. Is thy name Mouldy? Moul. Yea, if it please you. Fal. "Tis the more time thou wert used. Shal. Ha, ha, ha! most excellent, i' faith! things that are mouldy lack use: Very singular good!-Well said, sir John; very well said. Fal. Prick him. [To SHALLOW. Moul. I was pricked well enough before, if you could have let me alone: my old dame will be undone now, for one to do her husbandry, and her drudgery: you need not to have pricked me; there are other men fitter to go out than I. Fal. Go to; peace, Mouldy, you shall go. Mouldy, it is time you were spent. Moul. Spent! Shal. Ha, ha, ha!-you can do it, sir; you can do it: I commend you well.-Francis Feeble! Fee. Here, sir. Fal. What trade art thou, Feeble? Shal. Shall I prick him, sir? Fal. You may: but if he had been a man's tailor, he would have pricked you.-Wilt thou make as many holes in an enemy's battle, as thou hast done in a woman's petticoat! Fee. I will do my good will, sir; you can have no more. Fal. Well said, good woman's tailor! well said, courageous Feeble! Thou wilt be as valiant as the wrathful dove, or most magnanimous mouse.-Prick the woman's tailor well, master Shallow; deep, master Shallow. Fee. I would Wart might have gone, sir. Fal. I would thou wert a man's tailor; that thou might'st mend him, and make him fit to go. I cannot put him to a private soldier, that is the leader of so many thousands: Let that suffice, most forcible Feeble. Fee. It shall suffice, sir. Fal. I am bound to thee, reverend FeebleWho is the next? Shal. Peter Bull-calf of the green! Fal. Trust me, a likely fellow!- Come prick me Bull-calf till he roar again. Bull. O, good my lord captain,— Fal. What, dost thou roar before thou art pricked? Bull. O, sir! I am a diseased man. Fal. What disease hast thou ? Bull. A whoreson cold, sir; a cough, sir which I caught with ringing in the king's affairs, upon his coronation day, sir. Fal. Come, thou shalt go to the wars in a gown; we will have away thy cold; and I will take such order, that thy friends shall ring for thee. Is here all? Shal. There is two more called than your a Two more called. Capell proposes to omit two; as five only have been called, and the number required is four. |