692. poking-sticks] i. e. irons for setting the plaits of the ruff.
694. where] i. e. whereas.
697. gentlemen] Old ed. “gentleman.”
698. lerry] i. e. learning, lesson.
699. alablaster] So the word was formerly written,—even as late as the time of Milton: see the first editions of Comus, v. 660, and Par. Lost, b. iv. 544.
700. nock] i. e. notch—where the string is fastened.
701. guide’s] Qy. “girl’s?”
702. aventure] i. e. adventure.
703. wrack] i. e. wreck.
704. goldfinch] i. e. a piece of gold, or purse.
705. perilous] i. e. dangerously shrewd: when the word is used in this sense by our early dramatists, it is generally written parlous, as at p. 286.
706. lantern and candle-light] The old ed. gives these words in italics, with, perhaps, some allusion which I cannot explain. Of Dekker’s tract O per se O, or a new Crier of Lantern and Candle-light, no edition is known anterior to the production of the present drama.
707. O sconce, and O sconce!] i. e. (I suppose) O my head, and O my lantern!
708. ban] i. e. curse.
709. I’ve] Old ed. “I have.”
710. I’m] Old ed. “I am.”
711. I’m] Old ed. here, and in next line (where “courtier” is a trisyllable), “I am.”
713. and] i. e. if.
715. go by, old Jeronimo] A quotation from Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy, which was written probably about 1590. The words are spoken by Hieronimo to himself:
Dodsley’s Old Plays, vol. iii. p. 163. new ed. Though this expression, and other lines of The Spanish Tragedy, are so often ridiculed by contemporary writers, the play possesses no ordinary merit. Coleridge (see his Literary Remains, vol. ii. p. 129) thought that some passages of it were written by Shakespeare. We know (from Henslowe’s MSS.) that Ben Jonson made “adycions” to it in 1601 and 1602.
716. and] i. e. if.
717. and] i. e. if.
718. mum] Opposite this word the old ed. has a stage-direction “Clap”—which perhaps means that she is to clap to the window.
719. knew] Old ed. “know.”
721. I’m] Old ed. “I am.”
722. pantaples] or pantables—i. e. a kind of slippers.
723. up and down] The old ed. adds, “A song presently within,”—a direction intended to warn the singers and musicians to be in readiness.
724. cry] Old ed. here and in the next line, “cryes.”
725. curtal] i. e. horse.
726. The Spanish pavin] A grave and stately dance. Sir J. Hawkins says,—“Every pavan had its galliard, a lighter kind of air made out of the former:” see Nares’s Gloss. in v.
727. Satan] Old ed. “Satin,”—a play on the words Satan and satin.
728. Ho] The word here (as in our very earliest poets) is equivalent to “stop.”
729. cast] i. e. vomit.
730. I’ve] Old ed. “I have.”
731. gin] i. e. snare.
732. I’m] Old ed. “I am.”
734. Cast] i. e. let me consider.
735. sconce] i. e. lantern.
737. My sconce takes this in snuff] A poor conceit: to take in snuff is, to be angry, to take offence. So Shakespeare:
738. when?] An elliptical expression of impatience, very frequent in our old dramatists.
740. cony-catching] i. e. cheating, deceiving: the cony, or rabbit, was reckoned a simple animal. The tricks of the cony-catchers, or sharpers, with whom London used to abound, were described by R. Greene in several pamphlets: see the full titles of them in my ed. of his Dram. Works, vol. i. p. cvi.
741. Woodcock, how dost thou, Woodcock?] The old ed. gives these words to Blurt.
742. Woodcock, you are of our side] A proverbial expression, which, I suppose, originated in some game: see note, p. 203.
743. And] i. e. if.
746. And] i. e. if.
747. slop] i. e. breeches.
748. mandillion] “Mandiglione, a iacket, a mandillion.” Florio’s New World of Words, ed. 1611.—Stubbes (apud Strutt, Dress and Habits, vol. ii. p. 267.) says that it covered the whole body down to the thighs; and R. Holmes (ibid.) describes it as a loose garment having holes to put the arms through.
750. 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.”
753. Don Diego that was smelt out in Paul’s] So in Heywood’s Fair Maid of the West, 1631:
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.
755. bewrays] i. e. betrays, discovers.—Lazarillo immediately plays on the word,—beray, to foul.
758. Catso] Old ed. “At so.” This word, of obscene meaning, is borrowed from the Italian. So in The Malcontent:
759. Mapew] Qy. the beginning of some French song—Mais peu?
760. She] Qy. “Yea?”
762. and] i. e. if.
764. owe] i. e. own.
765. Did Phœbe here, &c.] Old ed.
766. I’m] Old ed. “I am.”
767. put up] i. e. sheathe your sword.
770. ventoy] i. e. fan.
771. yellow] i. e. jealous.
772. Much husbands here!] See note, p. 257. So Shakespeare:
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.
778. o’er] Old ed. “over.”
779. appose] i. e. oppose.
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.”
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.
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:
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.
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.
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:
which Warburton rightly explains,—of true metal unallayed: a metaphor from trying gold on the touchstone.
837. royals] Gold pieces current for 15s. 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.
are absurdly cited for an example of the word strange in the sense of remote.
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;
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;
Homer has merely;