Footnotes:
1 (return)
[ Heywood dedicates the First
Part of THE IRON AGE (printed 1632) "To my Worthy and much Respected
Friend, Mr. Thomas Hammon, of Grayes Inne, Esquire."]
2 (return)
[ Tho. Heywood: The
well-known dramatist.]
3 (return)
[ censures: i.e. judgments.]
4 (return)
[ bin: i.e. been.]
5 (return)
[ best of poets: "Marlo."
Marg. note in old ed.]
6 (return)
[ best of actors: "Allin."
Marg. note in old. ed.—Any account of the celebrated actor, Edward
Alleyn, the founder of Dulwich College, would be superfluous here.]
7 (return)
[ In HERO AND LEANDER, &c.:
The meaning is—The one (Marlowe) gained a lasting memory by being
the author of HERO AND LEANDER; while the other (Alleyn) wan the attribute
of peerless by playing the parts of Tamburlaine, the Jew of Malta, &c.—The
passage happens to be mispointed in the old ed. thus,
A lasting memorie: in Tamberlaine,
This Jew, with others many: th' other wan," &c.
and hence Mr. Collier, in his HIST. OF ENG. DRAM. POET. iii. 114, understood the words,
This Jew, with others many,"
as applying to Marlowe: he afterwards, however, in his MEMOIRS OF ALLEYN, p. 9, suspected that the punctuation of the old ed. might be wrong,—which it doubtless is.]
8 (return)
[ him: "Perkins." Marg. note
in old ed.—"This was Richard Perkins, one of the performers
belonging to the Cock-pit theatre in Drury-Lane. His name is printed among
those who acted in HANNIBAL AND SCIPIO by Nabbes, THE WEDDING by Shirley,
and THE FAIR MAID OF THE WEST by Heywood. After the play-houses were shut
up on account of the confusion arising from the civil wars, Perkins and
Sumner, who belonged to the same house, lived together at Clerkenwell,
where they died and were buried. They both died some years before the
Restoration. See THE DIALOGUE ON PLAYS AND PLAYERS [Dodsley's OLD PLAYS,
1. clii., last ed.]." REED (apud Dodsley's O. P.). Perkins acted a
prominent part in Webster's WHITE DEVIL, when it was first brought on the
stage, —perhaps Brachiano (for Burbadge, who was celebrated in
Brachiano, does not appear to have played it originally): in a notice to
the reader at the end of that tragedy Webster says; "In particular I must
remember the well-approved industry of my friend Master Perkins, and
confess the worth of his action did crown both the beginning and end."
About 1622-3 Perkins belonged to the Red Bull theatre: about 1637 he
joined the company at Salisbury Court: see Webster's WORKS, note, p. 51,
ed. Dyce, 1857.]
9 (return)
[ prize was play'd: This
expression (so frequent in our early writers) is properly applied to
fencing: see Steevens's note on Shakespeare's MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, act.
i. sc. 1.]
10 (return)
[ no wagers laid: "Wagers
as to the comparative merits of rival actors in particular parts were not
unfrequent of old," &c. Collier (apud Dodsley's O. P.). See my ed. of
Peele's WORKS, i. x. ed. 1829; and Collier's MEMOIRS OF ALLEYN, p. 11.]
11 (return)
[ the Guise: "i.e. the Duke
of Guise, who had been the principal contriver and actor in the horrid
massacre of St. Bartholomew's day, 1572. He met with his deserved fate,
being assassinated, by order of the French king, in 1588." REED (apud
Dodsley's O. P.). And see our author's MASSACRE AT PARIS.]
12 (return)
[ empery: Old ed.
"Empire."]
13 (return)
[ the Draco's: "i.e. the
severe lawgiver of Athens; 'whose statutes,' said Demades, 'were not
written with ink, but blood.'" STEEVENS (apud Dodsley's O. P.).—Old
ed. "the Drancus."]
14 (return)
[ had: Qy. "had BUT"?]
15 (return)
[ a lecture here: Qy. "a
lecture TO YOU here"?]
16 (return)
[ Act I.: The Scenes of
this play are not marked in the old ed.; nor in the present edition,—because
occasionally (where the audience were to SUPPOSE a change of place, it was
impossible to mark them.]
17 (return)
[ Samnites: Old ed.
"Samintes."]
18 (return)
[ silverlings: When
Steevens (apud Dodsley's O. P.) called this "a diminutive, to express the
Jew's contempt of a metal inferior in value to gold," he did not know that
the word occurs in Scripture: "a thousand vines at a thousand
SILVERLINGS." ISAIAH, vii. 23.—Old ed. "siluerbings."]
19 (return)
[ Tell: i.e. count.]
20 (return)
[ seld-seen: i.e.
seldom-seen.]
21 (return)
[ Into what corner peers my
halcyon's bill?: "It was anciently believed that this bird (the
king-fisher), if hung up, would vary with the wind, and by that means shew
from what quarter it blew." STEEVENS (apud Dodsley's O. P.),—who
refers to the note on the following passage of Shakespeare's KING LEAR,
act ii. sc. 2;
With every gale and vary of their masters," &c.]
22 (return)
[ custom them: "i.e. enter
the goods they contain at the Custom-house." STEEVENS (apud Dodsley's O.
P.).]
23 (return)
[ But: Old ed. "By."]
24 (return)
[ fraught: i.e. freight.]
25 (return)
[ scambled: i.e. scrambled.
(Coles gives in his DICT. "To SCAMBLE, certatim arripere"; and afterwards
renders "To scramble" by the very same Latin words.)]
26 (return)
[ Enter three JEWS: A
change of scene is supposed here, —to a street or to the Exchange.]
27 (return)
[ Fond: i.e. Foolish.]
28 (return)
[ Aside: Mr. Collier (apud
Dodsley's O. P.), mistaking the purport of this stage-direction (which, of
course, applies only to the words "UNTO MYSELF"), proposed an alteration
of the text.]
29 (return)
[ BARABAS. Farewell,
Zaareth, &c.: Old ed. "Iew. DOE SO; Farewell Zaareth," &c. But
"Doe so" is evidently a stage- direction which has crept into the text,
and which was intended to signify that the Jews DO "take their leaves" of
Barabas: —here the old ed. has no "EXEUNT."]
30 (return)
[ Turk has: So the Editor
of 1826.—Old ed. "Turkes haue": but see what follows.]
31 (return)
[ Ego mihimet sum semper
proximus: The words of Terence are "Proximus sum egomet mihi." ANDRIA, iv.
1. 12.]
32 (return)
[ Exit: The scene is now
supposed to be changed to the interior of the Council-house.]
33 (return)
[ bassoes: i.e. bashaws.]
34 (return)
[ governor: Old ed.
"Gouernours" here, and several times after in this scene.]
35 (return)
[ CALYMATH. Stand all
aside, &c.: "The Governor and the Maltese knights here consult apart,
while Calymath gives these directions." COLLIER (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]
36 (return)
[ happily: i.e. haply.]
37 (return)
[ Officer: Old ed.
"Reader."]
38 (return)
[ denies: i.e. refuses.]
39 (return)
[ convertite: "i.e.
convert, as in Shakespeare's KING JOHN, act v. sc. 1." STEEVENS (apud
Dodsley's O. P.).]
40 (return)
[ Then we'll take, &c.:
In the old ed. this line forms a portion of the preceding speech.]
41 (return)
[ ecstasy: Equivalent here
to—violent emotion. "The word was anciently used to signify some
degree of alienation of mind." COLLIER (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]
42 (return)
[ Exeunt three Jews: On
their departure, the scene is supposed to be changed to a street near the
house of Barabas.]
43 (return)
[ reduce: If the right
reading, is equivalent to—repair. But qy. "redress"?]
44 (return)
[ fond: "i.e. foolish."
REED (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]
45 (return)
[ portagues: Portuguese
gold coins, so called.]
46 (return)
[ sect: "i.e. sex. SECT and
SEX were, in our ancient dramatic writers, used synonymously." REED (apud
Dodsley's O. P.).]
47 (return)
[ Enter FRIAR JACOMO, &c.:
Old ed. "Enter three Fryars and two Nuns:" but assuredly only TWO Friars
figure in this play.]
48 (return)
[ Abb.: In the old ed. the
prefix to this speech is "1 Nun," and to the next speech but one "Nun."
That both speeches belong to the Abbess is quite evident.]
49 (return)
[ Sometimes: Equivalent
here (as frequently in our early writers) to—Sometime.]
50 (return)
[ forgive me—: Old
ed. "GIUE me—"]
51 (return)
[ thus: After this word the
old ed. has "|",—to signify, perhaps, the motion which Barabas was
to make here with his hand.]
52 (return)
[ forget not: Qy. "forget
IT not"]
53 (return)
[ Enter BARABAS, with a
light: The scene is now before the house of Barabas, which has been turned
into a nunnery.]
54 (return)
[ Thus, like the
sad-presaging raven, that tolls The sick man's passport in her hollow beak
Mr. Collier (HIST. OF ENG. DRAM. POET. iii. 136) remarks that these lines
are cited (with some variation, and from memory, as the present play was
not printed till 1633) in an epigram on T. Deloney, in Guilpin's
SKIALETHEIA OR THE SHADOWE OF TRUTH, 1598,—
"LIKE TO THE FATALL OMINOUS RAVEN, WHICH TOLLS
THE SICK MAN'S DIRGE WITHIN HIS HOLLOW BEAKE,
So every paper-clothed post in Poules
To thee, Deloney, mourningly doth speake," &c.]
55 (return)
[ of: i.e. on.]
56 (return)
[ wake: Old ed. "walke."]
57 (return)
[ Bueno para todos mi
ganado no era: Old ed. "Birn para todos, my ganada no er."]
58 (return)
[ But stay: what star
shines yonder in the east, &c. Shakespeare, it would seem, recollected
this passage, when he wrote,—
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!"
ROMEO AND JULIET, act ii. sc. 2.]
59 (return)
[ Hermoso placer de los
dineros: Old ed. "Hormoso Piarer, de les Denirch."]
60 (return)
[ Enter Ferneze, &c.:
The scene is the interior of the Council-house.]
61 (return)
[ entreat: i.e. treat.]
62 (return)
[ vail'd not: "i.e. did not
strike or lower our flags." STEEVENS (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]
63 (return)
[ Turkish: Old ed.
"Spanish."]
64 (return)
[ luff'd and tack'd: Old
ed. "LEFT, and TOOKE."]
65 (return)
[ stated: i.e. estated,
established, stationed.]
66 (return)
[ Enter OFFICERS, &c.:
The scene being the market-place.]
67 (return)
[ Poor villains, such as
were: Old ed. "SUCH AS poore villaines were", &c.]
68 (return)
[ into: i.e. unto: see note
|, p. 15.
"| into: Used here (as the word was formerly often used)
for UNTO."]
69 (return)
[ city: The preceding
editors have not questioned this word, which I believe to be a misprint.]
70 (return)
[ foil'd]=filed, i.e.
defiled.]
71 (return)
[ I'll have a saying to
that nunnery: Compare Barnaby Barnes's DIVILS CHARTER, 1607;
For I must HAUE A SAYING to those bottels. HE DRINKETH.
True stingo; stingo, by mine honour.* * *
* * * * * * * * * * * *
I must HAUE A SAYING to you, sir, I must, though you be
prouided for his Holines owne mouth; I will be bould to be
the Popes taster by his leaue." Sig. K 3.]
72 (return)
[ plates: "i.e. pieces of
silver money." STEEVENS (apud Dodsley's O. P.).—Old ed. "plats."]
73 (return)
[ Slave: To the speeches of
this Slave the old ed. prefixes "Itha." and "Ith.", confounding him with
Ithamore.]
74 (return)
[ Lady Vanity: So Jonson in
his FOX, act ii. sc. 3.,
And be a dealer with the virtuous man," &c.;
and in his DEVIL IS AN ASS, act i. sc. 1.,—
PUG. Why, any: Fraud,
Or Covetousness, or LADY VANITY,
Or old Iniquity."]
75 (return)
[ Katharine: Old ed.
"MATER."—The name of Mathias's mother was, as we afterwards learn,
Katharine.]
76 (return)
[ stay: i.e. forbear, break
off our conversation.]
77 (return)
[ was: Qy. "was BUT"?]
78 (return)
[ O, brave, master: The
modern editors strike out the comma after "BRAVE", understanding that word
as an epithet to "MASTER": but compare what Ithamore says to Barabas in
act iv.: "That's BRAVE, MASTER," p. 165, first col.]
79 (return)
[ your nose: An allusion to
the large artificial nose, with which Barabas was represented on the
stage. See the passage cited from W. Rowley's SEARCH FOR MONEY, 1609, in
the ACCOUNT OF MARLOWE AND HIS WRITINGS.]
80 (return)
[ Ure: i.e. use, practice.]
81 (return)
[ a-good: "i.e. in good
earnest. Tout de bon." REED (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]
82 (return)
[ Enter LODOWICK: A change
of scene supposed here,—to the outside of Barabas's house.]
83 (return)
[ vow love to him: Old ed.
"vow TO LOUE him": but compare, in Barabas's next speech but one, "And she
VOWS LOVE TO HIM," &c.]
84 (return)
[ made sure: i.e.
affianced.]
85 (return)
[ Ludovico: Old ed.
"Lodowicke."—In act iii. we have,
In Don Mathias' and LODOVICO'S deaths." p. 162, sec. col.]
86 (return)
[ happily: i.e. haply.]
87 (return)
[ unsoil'd: "Perhaps we
ought to read 'unfoil'd', consistently with what Barabas said of her
before under the figure of a jewel—
'The diamond that I talk of NE'ER WAS FOIL'D'."
COLLIER (apud Dodsley's O. P.). But see that passage, p. 155,
sec. col., and note ||. [i.e. note 70.]]
88 (return)
[ cross: i.e. piece of
money (many coins being marked with a cross on one side).]
89 (return)
[ thou: Old ed. "thee."]
90 (return)
[ resolv'd: "i.e.
satisfied." GILCHRIST (apud Dodsley's O. P.).]
91 (return)
[ Enter BELLAMIRA: She
appears, we may suppose, in a veranda or open portico of her house (that
the scene is not the interior of the house, is proved by what follows).]
92 (return)
[ Enter MATHIAS. MATHIAS.
This is the place, &c.: The scene is some pert of the town, as Barabas
appears "ABOVE,"—in the balcony of a house. (He stood, of course, on
what was termed the upper-stage.)
Old ed. thus;
Math. This is the place, now Abigail shall see Whether Mathias holds her deare or no.
Math. What, dares the villain write in such base terms?
Lod. I did it, and reuenge it if thou dar'st."]
93 (return)
[ Lodovico: Old ed.
"Lodowicke."—See note *, p. 158. (i.e. note 85.)]
94 (return)
[ tall: i.e. bold, brave.]
95 (return)
[ What sight is this!: i.e.
What A sight is this! Our early writers often omit the article in such
exclamations: compare Shakespeare's JULIUS CAESAR, act i. sc. 3, where
Casca says,
(after which words the modern editors improperly retain the interrogation-point of the first folio).]
96 (return)
[ Lodovico: Old ed.
"Lodowicke."]
97 (return)
[ These arms of mine shall
be thy sepulchre: So in Shakespeare's THIRD PART OF KING HENRY VI., act
ii. sc. 5, the Father says to the dead Son whom he has killed in battle,
My heart, sweet boy, SHALL BE THY SEPULCHRE,"—
lines, let me add, not to be found in THE TRUE TRAGEDIE OF RICHARD DUKE OF YORKE, on which Shakespeare formed that play.]
98 (return)
[ Katharine: Old ed.
"Katherina."]
99 (return)
[ Enter ITHAMORE: The scene
a room in the house of Barabas.]
100 (return)
[ held in hand: i.e. kept
in expectation, having their hopes flattered.]
101 (return)
[ bottle-nosed: See note
|, p. 157. [i.e. note 79.]]
102 (return)
[ Jaques: Old ed.
"Iaynes."]
103 (return)
[ sire: Old ed. "sinne"
(which, modernised to "sin", the editors retain, among many other equally
obvious errors of the old copy).]
104 (return)
[ As: Old ed. "And."]
105 (return)
[ Enter BARABAS: The
scene is still within the house of Barabas; but some time is supposed to
have elapsed since the preceding conference between Abigail and Friar
Jacomo.]
106 (return)
[ pretendeth: Equivalent
to PORTENDETH; as in our author's FIRST BOOK OF LUCAN, "And which (ay me)
ever PRETENDETH ill," &c.]
107 (return)
[ self: Old ed. "life"
(the compositor's eye having caught "life" in the preceding line).]
108 (return)
[ 'less: Old ed.
"least."]
109 (return)
[ Well said: See note *,
p. 69.]
"* Well said: Equivalent to—Well done! as appears from
innumerable passages of our early writers: see, for
instances, my ed. of Beaumont and Fletcher's WORKS, vol. i.
328, vol. ii. 445, vol. viii. 254.")]
110 (return)
[ the proverb says, &c.:
A proverb as old as Chaucer's time: see the SQUIERES TALE, v. 10916, ed.
Tyrwhitt.]
111 (return)
[ batten: i.e. fatten.]
112 (return)
[ pot: Old ed. "plot."]
113 (return)
[ thou shalt have broth
by the eye: "Perhaps he means—thou shalt SEE how the broth that is
designed for thee is made, that no mischievous ingredients enter its
composition. The passage is, however, obscure." STEEVENS (apud Dodsley's
O. P.).—"BY THE EYE" seems to be equivalent to—in abundance.
Compare THE CREED of Piers Ploughman:
With gold BY THE EIGHEN."
v. 167, ed. Wright (who has no note on the expression): and Beaumont and Fletcher's KNIGHT OF THE BURNING PESTLE, act ii. sc. 2; "here's money and gold BY TH' EYE, my boy." In Fletcher's BEGGARS' BUSH, act iii. sc. 1, we find, "Come, English beer, hostess, English beer BY THE BELLY!"]
114 (return)
[ In few: i.e. in a few
words, in short.]
115 (return)
[ hebon: i.e. ebony,
which was formerly supposed to be a deadly poison.]
116 (return)
[ Enter FERNEZE, &c.:
The scene is the interior of the Council-house.]
117 (return)
[ basso: Old ed.
"Bashaws" (the printer having added an S by mistake), and in the preceding
stage-direction, and in the fifth speech of this scene, "Bashaw": but in
an earlier scene (see p. 148, first col.) we have "bassoes" (and see our
author's TAMBURLAINE, PASSIM).