4. brothel] i.e. harlot: so in a passage of Greene’s Groats-worth of Wit (quoted in my Account of Greene and his writings, p. xxx., prefixed to his Works), “brother to a brothell he kept.” The word was at an early period applied to the worthless of both sexes.
5. Long-acre] “Probably the name of the estate Witgood had mortgaged to his uncle.”—Edit. of 1816.
6. out of the compass of law] i.e. out of the reach of, not punishable by, law.
7. I’ve] Old eds. “I have.”
8. were] Old eds. “was.”
9. Fate, &c.] Qy. was the whole of this speech originally blank verse?
10. Come, &c.] The editor of 1816 printed,
without mentioning the reading of the old eds., which I have followed, and which (though this scene is probably more than slightly corrupted in several places) I believe to be right. Middleton sometimes, when he introduces a couplet, shews perfect indifference about the length of the first line: see note, vol. i. p. 424, and compare the following passage of The Phœnix;
vol. i. p. 351, (where, in my note, I too hastily remarked that part of the first line had probably dropt out).
11. valiant] i.e. worth.
12. furnished] The editor of 1816 prints “finish’d.”
13. Enter Onesiphorus Hoard, Limber, and Kix] In the old eds. the entrance of these “right worshipful seniors” is not marked, and the prefixes to their speeches are merely 1., 2., and 3. That one of them is Onesiphorus Hoard, there can be no doubt. That the other two are Limber and Kix, is, I think, as certain: they appear together with Onesiphorus in the last scene of the play, where they are addressed as “old master Limber and master Kix,” and where they immediately recognise the Courtesan.—The editor of 1816 makes the stage-direction here “Enter Two Gentlemen:” he ought at least to have observed, that the speech which concludes this scene is given to a third speaker.
14. You’ve] Old eds. “You have.”
15. the viol] i.e. the viol de gambo, which in those days it was the fashion for ladies to play.
16. laying] “Is used in the same sense by Jack Cade in the ‘Second Part of Henry VI.’ (Act iv. scene x.) ‘These five days have I hid me in these woods, and durst not peep out, for all the country is lay’d for me.’” Editor of 1816.
18. A Street] i.e. in London, which continues to be the place of action during the rest of the play.
19. Enter, &c.] Old eds. “Enter at seuerall doores.”
20. affront] i.e. encounter, face.
21. wipes his nose] i.e. cheats him: the expression is of frequent occurrence; but not so the following one, which has the same meaning,—“’Twould anger any man to be nos’d of such a match.” Brome’s English Moor, p. 7.—Five New Plays, 1659.
23. Pecunius] Though the word here is not printed with a capital letter in the old eds., we learn from a subsequent scene that it is the Christian name of Lucre.
24. manent] Old eds. “manet”—which I mention, because the editor of 1816 makes Freedom and Moneylove enter after the others have gone out.
25. crank] i.e. brisk.
26. masty] i.e. mastiff.
27. a noble] A gold coin worth 6s. 8p.
28. trampler of the law] Taylor, the water-poet, begins the account of “A Corrupted Lawyer, and a Knauish Vndershriue,” with the following lines;
In Brome’s Sparagus Garden, 1640 (acted 1635), one of the characters is a lawyer named Trampler.
29. galleasses] Large, heavy, low-built vessels: see Steevens’s note on Shakespeare’s Taming of a Shrew, act ii. sc. 1.
30. motions of Fleet Street, and visions of Holborn] The editor of 1816 says that he “knows not exactly what these visions were:” nor do I: they are evidently used here as a cant term, like the words with which they are coupled—tramplers (see note in the preceding page), and motions (i.e. puppet-shows, puppets: see note, vol. i. p. 229.)
31. trashed] The following passage of The Puritan, “a guarded lackey to run before it [a coach], and pied liveries to come trashing after it,” act iv. sc. 1, which is cited here by the editor of 1816, is given by Todd in his additions to Johnson’s Dict. as an example of trash in the sense of—to follow with bustle, to tramp about with fatigue; and such seems to be the meaning of the word in our text.
32. bull-beggars] i.e. hobgoblins—a word of uncertain derivation.
33. he calls me thief] Because good fellow was one of the cant terms for a thief.
34. take me with you] i.e. let me understand you.
35. resolve] i.e. satisfactorily inform.
36. pax] For pox,—perhaps an affected mode of pronouncing the word: it occurs frequently in Middleton. See my note on Webster’s Works, vol. iii. p. 195.
39. sir] So ed. 1616. Not in first ed.
40. companions] i.e. scurvy fellows,—in which sense the word was often used.
41. blue coats have been turned into cloaks] Every reader of our early dramas is aware that blue was the colour usually worn by servants: from the present passage it appears that their coats had been recently exchanged for cloaks, like those which gentlemen then wore.
42. trow] i.e. think you.
43. and] i.e. if.
45. ’Twas] Old eds. “It was.”
46. kept it] So ed. 1616. First ed. “it kept.”
48. somner]—sumner, summoner—i.e. apparitor.
52. and] i.e. if.
54. about] So ed. 1616. First ed. “above.”
55. and] i.e. if.
56. again] i.e. against.
57. of] So ed. 1616. First ed. “a.”
58. make a bolt or a shaft on’t] “This is a proverbial expression, and is enumerated by Ray in his Collection of Proverbial Phrases. The meaning is, that he would immediately try his fortune with the widow, and either be rejected or accepted. The same expression is used by Slender in the Merry Wives of Windsor, act. iii. sc. 4. See notes on the passage.” Editor of 1816.
60. Remove me, &c.] “This and the next speech of Witgood’s form a couplet, and are, I am inclined to think, a quotation.” Editor of 1816.
61. sure yet to] Compare Brome:
62. resolved] i.e. convinced, satisfied.
63. I am] Old eds. “I’m.”
65. the better term] “Ladies of easy virtue were, in the time of our poet, frequently called termers, from their visiting the city when the courts of justice were open, and the inns of court filled with young lawyers: to this, I conceive, Witgood alludes.” Editor of 1816.—Witgood seems to use the word term with a playful allusion to the double meaning of suitors.
68. their] i.e. Witgood’s and his uncle’s.
69. censure] i.e. opinion, judgment.
70. So help us our best fortunes “The declaration of this gentleman somewhat resembles the oath taken by grand jurymen respecting their presentations, and was probably formed on that model.” Editor of 1816.
71. lie] Old eds. “lies.”
75. likes] i.e. pleases.
77. days] Altered by the editor of 1816 to “delays:” but I believe the old text is right. So in act iv. sc. 5, Dampit says of one who owed him money, “he comes to have a longer day.”
78. prevent] i.e. anticipate.
80. Gentlemen] As Lamprey and Spichcock appear afterwards with Hoard at Cole-Harbour, they ought perhaps to be with him on the present occasion. I suspect, indeed, that some of the speeches given here, and in a former scene, to Gentlemen, belong, properly, to these two worthies.
81. a Dutch widow] A cant term, sufficiently explained by what follows.
82. very] So ed. 1616. Not in first ed.
83. prigging] “Prig, in the cant language of that age, meant thief, or pickpocket. It is found in Shakespeare, and Beaumont and Fletcher.” Editor of 1816.—Prigging is used in this passage merely as a jocular term of reproach.
84. ’Las] Old eds. “asse,”—the initial letter having dropt out in the first ed.
85. Ay, boy] Old eds. “I bee.”
86. making] i.e. matching: in our early writers make is often used for mate.
87. Luc.] Ed. 1616, “Wit.”
89. we’ve] Old eds. “we have.”
90. anno 89] “Both the quartos read ‘99;’ but Stow does not mention any very great storm in that year, although he has noticed one or two; whereas in the year 1589, he observes, that on ‘The 1st August, at night, was the greatest lightning and thunder that had, at any time, bin seene or heard about London in the memory of any man living; and yet, thankes be given to God, little hurt heard of.’” Editor of 1816.—See Stow’s Annales, p. 757. ed. 1631.
91. mought, and] i.e. might, if.
92. years] Qy. “days?”
93. make you unready] i.e. undress you.
95. doubts] i.e. fears.
96. Cole-Harbour] The stage-direction in the old eds. is “Enter at Cole-harbour, Hoord, the Widdow, and Gentlemen, he married now.”—Cole-Harbour (a corruption of Cold-Harbour, or Cold-Harborough) was an ancient building, situated in the parish of All-hallows the Less, in Downgate Ward: see an account of it in Stow’s Survey, b. ii. p. 206. (vol. i.) ed. 1720. A good many years before the date of this play, the then Earl of Shrewsbury took it down, and built a number of small tenements in its stead, which were let at great rents, and served as a retreat for debtors, &c.; the place being considered a sort of sanctuary, probably because Tunstall, bishop of Durham, had resided there in Henry the Eighth’s reign. Lodge says, “It was pulled down by Earl Gilbert, about the year 1600.” Illust. of Brit. Hist. vol. i. p. 9: but its demolition must have been earlier; for, in Nash’s Haue with you to Saffron Walden, 1596, we find, “Or hast thou tooke thee a chamber in Cole-harbour?” &c. sig. D. 4. From the present scene, as the editor of 1816 observes in a note on act ii. sc. 1, “it may be inferred that it was notorious as a place where marriages were solemnised hastily and without the proper forms; such as the Fleet Prison and Keith’s Chapel were for some time previously to the passing the marriage-act.” He adds, that “the only [other] allusion he recollects to it among the dramatic writers of the time, is in our author’s Roaring Girl:” but half-a-dozen might easily be furnished.
97. pig-eater] An odd term of endearment: pigsnie is common enough.
98. Court.] Old eds. “Luc.”
99. friends] So ed. 1616. First ed. “friend.”
100. believe’t] Old eds. “believe it.”
101. I have no son, &c.] See what I have said on couplets imperfect in the first line, notes p. 7 of the present vol., and p. 424 of vol. i.
102. you’re] Old eds. “you are.”
103. Ha, ha!] Old eds. “ha, ha, ha.”
104. And] So ed. 1616. First ed. “I [ay] and.”—The speech is part of the first line of a couplet.couplet.
105. O man in lamentation] In The Old Wives’ Tale, “the tune of O man in desperation” is mentioned: see Peele’s Works, vol. i. p. 208 (ed. 1829), and my note there.
106. now] So ed. 1616. Not in first ed.
107. passion] i.e. sorrow.
108. fie, fie] So ed. 1616. First ed. “fie.”
109. Byrlady] A corruption of By our Lady.
110. toy] i.e. trifle.
111. would I might be truss’d up] Brome has the same poor play on words:
112. so] First ed. “to.” Sec. ed. “too.”
113. envy] i.e. bear ill will.
118. froating] “May mean freting or adorning with fretwork. But Witgood’s vices, according to his own confession in a former scene, were those of sensuality, and not of foppery; and it is possible that this was the demand of the keeper of some brothel,” &c. &c. Editor of 1816.—Perhaps so; but, I think, froating means here nothing more than dressing up, repairing.
119. and] i.e. if.
120. desire] Old eds. “desires.”
121. First C.] Old eds. “Cit.”
122. nonce] i.e. occasion.
124. capes] The editor of 1816 prints “caps,” which may be right.
125. champion] i.e. champaign.
128. marquesse] i.e. marchioness.
130. venture] Old eds. “ventures.”
132. peevish] i.e. foolish, trifling.
133. set the hare’s head to the goose-giblet] A not uncommon proverbial expression:
135. come] Old eds. “came.”
136. mark] i.e. 13s. 4d.
137. immoveables] So ed. 1616. First ed. “immouerables.”
138. some access] “The quarto of 1616 reads, ‘some above access;’ and the niece [Joyce] speaks without a notice of her having entered: whereas in the first quarto there is a stage-direction, ‘She is above;’ and I suppose the word caught the printer’s eye, and was erroneously introduced into the text.” Editor of 1816.