403. cotations] i.e. quotations—memoranda of what she had heard at the meetings of the Family.
407. gilt’s, &c.] Gilt or gelt, i.e. gold, money.
408. five-finger at maw] “For my game [at maw] stood, me thought, upon my last two tricks, when I made sure of the set, and yet lost it, hauing the varlet and the fiue finger to make two tricks.” Chapman’s May Day, 1611, p. 76.—For some account of maw, see Singer’s Researches into the Hist. of Playing Cards, p. 258, sqq.
410. Club. Silence!] Old ed. has only the stage-direction, “He cries.”
412. narrow-ruffed] Some copies of old ed. “narrow rusty,” others “narrow ruste:” yet there is but one impression of the play: see p. 103. Compare what Gudgeon says of mistress Purge’s “ruffs,” p. 131.
413. rout] i.e. rabble.
415. edax rerum] scil. tempus.
417. cast about] i.e. devise. Dryfat puns on the word cast, as meaning to vomit.
419. Kiss the book] Is, perhaps, only a stage-direction.
421. as if I knew you not] Imitated from Falstaff’s “I knew ye, as well as he that made ye.” Shakespeare’s Henry IV. Part I. act ii. sc. 4.
424. thereon] Old ed. “therein.”
426. Dry.] Old ed. “Club.”
427. Pis.] What place is indicated by this abbreviation, I cannot pretend to determine.
428. doctor] Old ed. "proctor"—but that part is assumed by Dryfat.
432. blot in your tables] An expression drawn from games played with the tables: “beware of blotting,” says the Complete Gamester, p. 155, ed. 1674.
433. limb-lifter] Old ed. “Timelifter:” but compare A Handefull of Pleasant Delites, &c., 1584, “a lustie lim lifter,” p. 18, reprint.
436. have] Old ed. “hath.”
437. enjoinment] Old ed. “enioyntment.”
438. Dry. The very, &c.] Old ed.
439. Epilogue] Is, of course, spoken by Gerardine.
440. touch] i.e. touchstone.
441. Presenter, or Prologue, &c.] Except that I have inserted between brackets the names of the “gallants,” I have given this strange Induction as it stands in the old ed. The latter part of it, “Now, for the other,” &c., seems to be an address to the reader; though perhaps it was spoken by the Presenter.
442. Frippery discovered, &c.] In the old ed. the only stage-direction here is “Enter a fellow,” and the prefixes to the dialogue which follows are Frip., 1., 2., 3., and 4.—Till the entrance of Primero, the scene in the old ed. is a mass of confusion.
443. jealous] i.e. suspiciously afraid: so afterwards in this play: “Ah, but I am jealous you will not keep your countenance, i’faith.”
444. casting-bottle] i.e. bottle for casting, or sprinkling, liquid essences and perfumes, often mentioned by our early dramatists; its use was not confined to ladies.
445. hose] i.e. breeches.
446. I’ll come to you presently] These words, which in the old ed. form part of the preceding speech, are, I suppose, addressed to the second fellow.
448. and] i.e. if.
449. falls] i.e. falling bands, which lay flat upon the dress from the neck.
450. gentlewomen’s] Old ed. “gentlewomans.”
452. do] Old ed. “does.”
453. I will] Old ed. “ile:” and in next line but one, “about.”
454. primero] An old and favourite game at cards: see Singer’s Researches into the Hist. of Playing Cards, p. 244 sqq.
455. and] i.e. if.
456. call it] Old ed. “calt.”
457. I’d] Old ed. “I had.”
458. trug] i.e. trull. The word is not very common: “nor (shall I speake plainely) please the Trugge his mistresse, without he goe to the Apothecaries,” &c. Greene’s Quip for an Upstart Courtier, sig D 3, ed. 1620.
459. gallant] Old ed. “Gallants.”
461. frippery] This word has been rightly explained by Gifford and others as—a place where old clothes are exposed for sale: but here the profession of frippery seems to be meant; compare Chapman;
463. changed] Old ed. “chande.”
464. Pri. But, mass, sir] Old ed. “Ar. But maister.”
466. I’m] Old ed. “I am.”
467. lins] i.e. ceases.
468. mark[s]] A mark was 13s. 4d.
469. rize] i.e. rose.
470. Nor ceas’d, &c.] All the latter part of this speech is prose in the old ed.: as to the arrangement of it, the reader must be aware that imperfect lines frequently occur in the blank verse of our early dramatists: see, for instance, the speeches of Katherine to her suitors in next scene.
471. censur’d me] i.e. held me in their opinion.
472. not] Old ed. “nor.”
473. in the Knight’s ward] See note, vol. i. p. 392.—The old ed. gives the passage thus: “I am sure he is fast inough? and Andrew Lucifer’s Rapier and dagger, in the knights ward, with the embost,” &c.
474. hangers] i.e. fringed and ornamented loops attached to the girdle, in which the weapons were suspended.
475. than] Old ed. “them.”
476. your wrongs] May be right: but qy. “you wrong.”
477. perfection] Old ed. “perfections.”
478. commend] Old ed. “command.”
479. Vouchsafe, &c.] Old ed. thus:
482. I’ve] Old ed. here and in the next line but five, “I haue.”
485. Savoy] i.e. the Savoy: see Stowe’s Survey, b. i. p. 210, and b. iv. p. 106, ed. 1720.
486. inward] i.e. intimate.—The old ed. gives to Pursenet the words “gentleman; his parts deserve it.”
487. Piping hot, &c.] The first part of this speech relates to Fitsgrave, who has joined the “gallants” under the name of Bouser; the second part to Bungler.
488. clip] i.e. embrace.
492. You’re] Old ed. “You are.”
493. they’ll] Old ed. “they will.”
494. Exit] Is not marked in old ed.: but, as far as I understand the scene, it seems necessary.
495. queasy] i.e. squeamish.
496. I’m ... I’ve] Old ed. “I am ... I have.”
497. he] I have not altered this stage-direction, as I am not sure who is meant by the word he. Primero (see p. 234) had desired the Boy to “be ready for the song.”
498. no affliction] Qy. “not a fiction.”
499. Pri. My wits, &c.] I suspect that this speech ought to be divided thus:
500. and it] i.e. if it. Old ed. “an’t.”
501. and so] Old ed. “and has so.”
502. never] Old ed. “nere.”
504. Goldstone] Old ed. “Bouser,” which is Fitsgrave’s assumed name,—the author, I suppose, having merely written G., which the printer took for B.
506. You’ve] Old ed. “You have.”
507. miss it] i.e. let it go.
509. I’m] Old ed. “I am.”
510. were it] Old ed. “wer’t.”
511. you’ll] Old ed. “you will.”
513. Mermaid] A famous tavern in Cornhill, frequented by Shakespeare, Jonson, Beaumont, Fletcher, &c.
514. Mitre] Another celebrated tavern, in Bread Street, Cheapside: it was afterwards removed to Fleet Street.
515. Faith, &c.] This speech is given in old ed. to Goldstone; but it disagrees with what he has just said.
517. Boy, &c.] What I have here given to Pursenet is in the old ed. part of the speech of All.
519. tire-men] i.e. dressers belonging to the theatre,—as it seems from what follows.
520. Look you ... out forty] Given to Pursenet in old ed.
521. come] Old ed. “comes.”
522. pullen] i.e. poultry.
524. More censure] i.e. a higher opinion.
525. they’re] Old ed. “they are.”
527. What made you] i.e. what business had you?
528. you] Old ed. “your.”
529. ’Tween] Old ed. “Turne.”
530. populous] i.e. prevalent, common,—or, perhaps, abundant.
531. With which thou ever, &c.] After this line the old ed. has “Exeunt.
and after his conversation with the servant and exit (no new scene being marked),
But the scene between Fitsgrave and the servant intervenes here so awkwardly, that I have ventured to make a transposition.
532. mickle] i.e. great.
534. I’ve] Old ed. “I have.”
535. you belong to me, &c.] Is the text corrupted here, or is something wanting?
536. stoln] Qy., for the sake of the rhyme, "lorn,"—i.e. lost.
537. Scene III., &c.] Concerning the transposition of the preceding scene, see note, p. 246.—In the old ed. the present scene follows the exit of Primero with Tailby (see p. 247) thus:
The commencement of act iii., which the old ed. does not mark, might have taken place here, had not the preposterous length of act iv. in that ed. obliged me to divide it into the iii. and iv. acts.
538. the Mitre] See note, p. 240.—The entertainment given by “the gallants” to Primero and his ladies is supposed to be just over.
540. chatterer] Old ed. “quarter her.”
542. slight] i.e. contrivance, artifice.
543. and] i.e. if.
544. Exit Vintner, &c.] We are of course to suppose that Goldstone, while talking with the vintner, contrives to “shift away the beakers by a slight,” and leave in their places the “alchemy knaves” which Fulk had brought to him: but as I do not understand how the trick was executed, I have not ventured to add any stage-directions.
545. Fit.] Old ed. “Gold.”
546. I’ve] Old ed. “I have.”
548. rose-noble] i.e. a gold coin (stamped with a rose) worth sixteen shillings.
549. cracked in the ring] “The gold coin of our ancestors was very thin, and therefore liable to crack. It still, however, continued passable until the crack extended beyond the ring, i.e. beyond the inmost round which circumscribed the inscription; when it became uncurrent, and might be legally refused.” Gifford—note on B. Jonson’s Works, vol. vi. p. 76.