269. uneven] i.e. unjust.
270. unreduct] i.e. unreduced.
271. act] Old ed. “art.”
272. But who comes here] In the old ed. these words are preceded by the stage-direction “Enter Lipsalve and Shrimp his Page;” and at the end of the speech Gerardine and Maria exeunt.
I have already noticed (p. 142) the want of moveable painted scenery in Middleton’s days. Here the spectators were to suppose that Gerardine and Maria, standing on the upper-stage (see note, p. 125), were either in the apartment of the latter, or in the gallery communicating with it (see p. 112): when Lipsalve had entered, they were to suppose that the stage represented a street; and when Gerardine and Maria had re-appeared “above,” they were to suppose that the upper-stage was a window. Having found it necessary to begin a new scene with the entrance of Lipsalve, I hope my readers will be kind enough to suppose that, when Gerardine says “who comes here,” he happens to turn his eye towards the window, and catches a glimpse of that gallant.
273. loose] Means, in archery, the discharging of the arrow.
274. Maria appears, &c.] The stage-direction in the old ed. is "Enter Gerardine and Maria above."—I may observe, that as curtains were suspended before the upper-stage (see note, p. 125), to conceal, if necessary, those who occupied it, they were probably used here for that purpose by Gerardine.
275. o’ercomes] Old ed. “ouercomes.”
277. cottens well] i.e. succeeds, goes on well—an expression drawn, as the present passage indicates, from the manufacturing of cloth.
278. hose] i.e. breeches.
279. in lavender] i.e. in pawn.
280. new for a] Old ed. “for a new.”
281. take her counsel, sir; get a cullis] Maria had recommended a caudle (see p. 150): but we find in old writers a distinction made between cullises and caudles. A cullis (which will be more particularly noticed hereafter) was a strong broth, a savoury jelly.
282. flutterers] Old ed. “flatterers.”
283. petronel-flashes] A petronel is a carbine, a horseman’s gun.
284. abrupt] i.e. separated.
286. our] Some copies of the old ed. “or,” others “nor:” I have already noticed that, though they occasionally present different readings, there is but one edition of the play: see p. 103.
287. collowest] i.e. begrimest, blackenest: she alludes to the smoke of the link. Collow is smut from burnt coals.
288. rine] A vulgar corruption of rind: old ed. “rhyne;”
290. I hope my body has no organs] “But the most dangerous of all was a Puritan Chandler ... he thought a man in a surplesse to be the Ghost of Heresy, and was out of love with his owne members, because they were called Organs.” Marmyon’s Fine Companion, 1633, sig. I 4.
293. the red letter] Qy. does he allude to the rubrick distinctions in the Prayer-book, or to those in the Calendar?
294. clergy] i.e. doctrine.
295. gear] i.e. matter, business.
296. in the Family] The old ed. adds, as part of the text, “Let in;” but the words are a stage-direction.—In The Displaying of the Family of Loue, &c. (already mentioned, see p. 106), we are told: “They are called together euer in the night time: and commonly to suche houses as be far from neighbours, one of them doth alwayes warne an other: and when they come to the house of meeting, they knocke at the doore, saying, here is a Brother in Christ, or a Sister in Christ.” Sig. H iiii.
297. peevish] i.e. silly.
299. trunks] i.e. tubes. We find the word used in this sense even during Charles the Second’s time;
300. hit] Old ed. “hits.”
301. Scene V.] I have marked a new scene here, and another after Gudgeon has entered the chamber, contrary to the old ed. and the arrangements (or rather, non-arrangements) of our early stage: see note, p. 147.
303. Hei mihi, &c.] Met. i. 523.
304. play at barriers] i.e. fight within lists.
305. Lip. Hold, &c.; Gud. Gogs, &c.; Lip. A pox, &c.; Gud. Truce, &c.] Form only one speech in the old ed., with the prefix “Ambo.”
306. Cornelius’ tub] i.e. the heated tub in which patients were sweated for the cure of the venereal disease: the origin of the term (see Douce’s Illust. of Shake. vol. ii. p. 70) is uncertain.
307. suppositor] i.e. suppository.—Old ed. "suppositar."—“I hold my life hee is a pottecarie, doe you neuer make no suppositors sir?” Cupids Whirligig, sig. C 4, ed. 1616.
308. cockatrice] A cant term for a harlot.
309. Phitonessa’s power] The word Phitoness—i.e. Pythoness—is of frequent occurrence in the works of our earliest poets. It generally means the witch of Endor:
See also Gower’s Conf. Am. fol. lxxiii. ed. 1554; Skelton’s “Adicyon” to Phyllyp Sparowe; Sir D. Lyndsay’s Monarchie, Works, vol. iii. p. 151, ed. Chal. Sometimes it is used in a more extended sense;
See also Lydgate’s Warres of Troy, sig. K vi. ed. 1555.
310. corpse of her friend] Qy. “corps of her friends:” at p. 135, l. 6, corps is used for bodies.
312. surcease] i.e. cease.
313. on] Old ed. “in.”
314. those] Old ed. “these.”
315. our clothes] He means the dresses in which they were to pass for Familists: see what follows.
316. Guttide] i.e. Shrovetide.
317. Hollantide] A common corruption of Hallowstide.
318. courtlike] Old ed. “courttake.”
319. make] Old ed. “makes.”
320. Lip.] Old ed. here and before the next speech which I have given to Lipsalve, “Sa.”
321. Master, &c.] This speech has no prefix in the old ed.
324. private. Whispers] Old ed. “priuate whisper:” but the second word is a stage-direction.
325. Galen] Old ed. “Gallus.”
326. eke] i.e. also.
327. five] Old ed. “fine.”
329. qd——] Those who are acquainted with the sayings of Titus Silus will probably understand this hieroglyphic.
330. disguised as a porter] These words are not in the old ed. From what follows in this scene we find that he wears a disguise, and we may justly conclude that it is no other than the porter’s dress in which he appears during the next scene.
332. star-like] Old ed. “warlike:” but see the next line.
333. His] Old ed. “This.”
334. a bell and a clack-dish] A clack-dish, or clap-dish, was a wooden dish with a moveable cover, which was carried by beggars, and which they clacked to shew that it was empty: see Steevens’s note on Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, act iii. sc. 2. The bell was another means of attracting attention.
335. paritor] i.e. apparitor—a messenger employed to cite persons to appear in the spiritual courts. The word is found so contracted not only in prose but in verse:
336. I play] Old ed. “he plaies.”
337. crier] Old ed. “parritor.”
338. crier] Old ed. "sumner"—(i.e. apparitor). That the alterations which I have made in this dialogue between Gerardine and Dryfat are absolutely necessary, will appear from subsequent scenes. Of the “faults in the printing” Middleton was aware: see his address To the Reader, p. 107: he perhaps had at first assigned the parts of paritor, crier, and proctor differently; and after he had made a new distribution of them, neglected to alter this portion of the MS.
339. time out of sight] i.e. (I suppose) time that I was gone.
340. perfection] Old ed. “affecton.”
341. celsitude] i.e. height.
342. Give] Old ed. “Giues.”
343. gazer loves] Qy. “gazers’ love.”
344. Than the Titanian, &c.] Old ed.
Ægeon (or, as he was called by the gods, Briareus,) was thrown under mount Ætna.
345. worm’s bed; teeth] Old ed. “worme bed, to the.”
346. square] i.e. (I suppose) fall to quarrelling.
347. Mis. G.] Old ed. “Mar.”
348. Orders of knaves] Their number was 25: see Brit. Bibliogr. vol. ii. p. 16, where they are each reckoned up from a tract, printed and probably compiled by Awdeley, called The Fraternitye of Vacabondes, &c. Wherunto also is adioyned the XXV. Orders of Knaues, otherwyse called a Quartern of Knaues, &c., 4to, the first ed. of which appeared in 1565: see Typ. Antiq. (ed. Dibdin), vol. iv. p. 564.
349. startups] Were a sort of clumsy shoes with high tops, worn by peasants. Cotgrave has “Guestres: Startups; high shooes, or gamashes for countrey folkes.”
350. sir-reverence] A corruption of save-reverence, salva reverentia: see Nares in V.
351. Tweedles] So the old ed. when the letter is afterwards read: here “Sweedlesse.”
352. pert] So old ed. afterwards: here it omits the word.
353. towards] i.e. in a state of preparation, at hand.
354. seiz’d] Old ed. “feard.”
355. peasant groom] Old ed. “pleasant Groine.”
356. Europa’s sea-form] I can only explain these words by supposing that they allude to Europa, as represented in ancient gems and pictures, holding the bull by the horns, while he bears her over the sea. Vide, for instance, the engraving prefixed to Fischer’s ed. of Palæphatus, 1772.
357. acrostic] i.e. crossed on his breast: perhaps some pun is intended here.
358. A pile, &c.] This speech has no prefix in the old ed.
359. manable] i.e. (I presume) bold, forward, ready.
363. Gud. Off, &c.] Old ed. “Gud. Off boyes, Shrimpe what dost thou,” &c.
364. Shrimp] Old ed. “Periwincle.”
367. Thrum] Old ed. “Thum.”
368. And Tipple, &c.] This part of Gerardine’s speech is given to “Gud.” in the old ed.
369. colour] i.e. pretence.
371. cucking-stool] i.e. a stool or chair at the end of a long pole, in which scolds, &c. being placed, were plunged into some muddy pool or stinking pond: see Brand’s Pop. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 441, ed. 1813.
372. come] Old ed. “comes.”
377. and] i.e. if.
378. doctor Doddipoll] Is a ridiculous character in an old play called The Wisdome of Doctor Dodypoll, printed 1600; but the term is found long before that date: doddipoll is dunderhead.
379. questuary] i.e. profitable.
381. I’ve] Old ed. “I have.”
382. Enter Maria above] So the old ed.; and we must suppose that she is standing in a gallery: the first words of Gerardine’s speech on entering shew that this scene takes place within the house: compare p. 159, where Glister appears “above,” within the house.
383. Give] Old ed. “Giues.”
384. liberal] i.e. licentious.
385. Deeply] Old ed. “Deadly.”
386. the round] Certain soldiers of inferior rank (only above the lancepesado), whose office was to go round and inspect the sentinels, watches, and advanced guard, were called gentlemen of the round: see Whalley’s note in Gifford’s ed. of B. Jonson’s Works, vol. i. p. 85.
387. word] i.e. watchword.
388. Do] Old ed. “Doth.”
389. sun approaches] Old ed. “sons aproache:” but I suspect that the whole line is corrupted, and that the epithet “blushing” belongs to “Aurora.”
391. statute-caps] i.e. citizens, who, according to a statute of Elizabeth in behalf of the trade of cappers, wore, on Sabbath days and holydays, caps of wool. See the notes of the commentators on "Well, better wits have worn plain statute-caps."—Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, act V. sc. 2.
392. pedlar’s French] i.e. unintelligible jargon. It is, properly, the cant language of vagabonds.
393. costards] i.e. heads.
395. O, but, &c.] Qy. ought this to be given to Gerardine?
396. Poppin] So some copies of the old ed., others “Exigent:” though there is certainly but one impression of this play: see p. 103. Middleton (who did not superintend the printing of it, see p. 107) had dismissed the name Exigent for that of Poppin, or vice versa; and his uncorrected MS., where Dryfat was sometimes called by one name, sometimes by the other, was followed by the printer. This, however, is the only place in which the copies (at least those that I have seen) differ from each other with respect to these names; an alteration having been made here after part of the impression had been worked off. I have retained the name Poppin throughout.
397. attone them] Attone or atone is—reconcile, set them at one.—Old ed. “attone them put themthem together:” but see notes, pp. 134, 162134, 162.
398. play Ambidexter] So in Nash’s Pierce Pennilesse; “it is like inough he is playing Ambidexter amongst them.” Sig. B, ed. 1595. The allusion is to Preston’s Cambises King of Percia, n. d. (written about the beginning of Elizabeth’s reign), in which the Vice is named Ambidexter. This “lamentable tragedie mixed full of plesant mirth” is reprinted in the first vol. of Hawkins’s Origin of the English Drama.
400. cum nemini, &c.]—“ea, quoniam nemini obtrudi potest, Itur ad me.” Ter. And. i. 5, 15.