164. knew] Old ed. “know.”
166. knew] Old ed. “know.”
167. rule] Used, perhaps, as a dissyllable; but qy. “yet rule”?
168. the Bear at the Bridge-foot in heaven] If Steevens had recollected this passage, he would not have proposed to alter the following one in The Puritan by reading “in the even” for “in heaven,”—“Ay, by yon Bear at Bridge-foot in heaven, shalt thou.” Malone’s Supp. to Shakespeare, vol. ii. p. 559.—The Bear was a well-known tavern—according to Steevens (ibid.), “at the foot of London bridge.” Gifford says, in a note on Shirley’s Lady of Pleasure, where this expression occurs (Works, vol. iv. p. 72), that “the bridge meant was in Shirley’s time called the Strand-bridge.”
169. Hoyday! there’s ... revenge to thee] Here, perhaps, the text is corrupted, as the metre is faulty.
170. quit] i. e. requite.
171. and] i. e. if.
172. the act, &c.] “An Acte to restrayne all persons from Marriage untill theire former Wyves and former Husbandes be deade.”
173. neck-verse] i. e. the verse (generally the beginning of the 51st Psalm, Miserere mei, &c.) read by a criminal to entitle him to benefit of clergy.
174. exercis’d] Old ed. “examin’d.”
175. hose] i. e. breeches.
177. weakness] An evident misprint; but I know not what word to substitute for it: qy. “wittiness”? see title of the play.
178. lets] i. e. hinders.
180. answer] Here a line (ending with the word “Cancer”) has dropt out.
181. vild] i. e. vile: a form common in our early writers.
182. who’s this] Old ed. “who’s t’is.”
183. Kersmas] A corruption of Christmas.
184. poulters’] i. e. poulterers’.
186. spiny] i. e. thin, slender.
187. nunchions ... bever] Refreshments taken between meals; see Richardson’s Dict. in vv.: the latter seems, properly, to mean a whet.
188. stomachful] i. e. stubborn.
189. Choosing King and Queen] See much concerning the Choosing of King and Queen on Twelfth Day, in Brand’s Pop. Antiq. vol. i. p. 19, ed. 1813.
190. In-and-in] A game at dice,—“very much used in an ordinary,” says Cotton: see Compleat Gamester, p. 164, ed. 1674.
191. the basket] In which the broken meat and bread from the sheriffs’ table was carried to the Counters, for the use of the poorer prisoners.
192. Gleek and Primavista] Games at cards: concerning the former, see The Compleat Gamester, p. 90; and for an account of the latter, which is the same as Primero, vide Singer’s Researches into Hist. of Playing Cards, p. 248, and Nares’s Gloss. in v.
193. Noddy] A game at cards, which seems to have been played in more ways than one: see Nares’s Gloss. in v.
194. Tickle-me-quickly ... My-lady’s-hole ... My-sow-has-pigged] Games at cards.
195. my nephew Gambols] In The Masque of Christmas, 1616, Ben Jonson introduces Christmas and his ten children, among whom is “Gambol, like a tumbler, with a hoop and bells; his torch-bearer armed with a colt-staff and a binding-cloth.” Works (by Gifford), vol. vii. p. 274.
196. shoe the mare] A Christmas sport:
197. Wassail-bowl] Filled with spiced wine or ale, &c., and used on New-year’s eve, &c.: see Brand’s Pop. Antiq. vol. i. p. 1, sqq. ed. 1813. In the Masque by Jonson just mentioned, one of the children of Christmas is “Wassel, like a neat sempster, and songster; her page bearing a brown bowl, drest with ribands and rosemary, before her.”
198. affects] i. e. affections, feelings.
199. D. Al.] Old ed. “Fast.”
200. the long porter] “Walter Parsons born in this County was first Apprentice to a Smith, when he grew so tall in stature, that a hole was made for him in the Ground to stand therein up to the knees, so to make him adequate with his Fellow-work-men. He afterwards was Porter to King James; seeing as Gates generally are higher than the rest of the Building, so it was sightly that the Porter should be taller than other Persons. He was proportionable in all parts, and had strength equal to height, Valour to his strength, Temper to his valour, so that he disdained to do an injury to any single person. He would make nothing to take two of the tallest Yeomen of the Guard (like the Gizard and Liver) under his Arms at once, and order them as he pleased. Yet were his Parents (for ought I do understand to the contrary) but of an ordinary stature.... This Parsons died Anno Dom. 162-.” Fuller’s Worthies (p. 48, Stafford-shire), ed. 1662.
201. The guard ... bombards] i. e. large cans: compare The Martyred Souldier, 1638, by H. Shirley;
202. that he was, sir] Should, perhaps, be given to Doctor Almanac.
203. ye] Old ed. “you.”
204. Antimasque] “An Antimasque, or, as Jonson elsewhere calls it, ‘a foil, or false masque,’ is something directly opposed to the principal masque. If this was lofty and serious, that was light and ridiculous. It admitted of the wildest extravagancies; and it is only by Jonson that attempts are sometimes made to connect it, in any degree, with the main story.” Gifford’s note on B. Jonson’s Works, vol. vii. p. 251. The praise which Gifford would confine to Jonson may certainly be extended to Middleton.
205. in cone] Qy. incontinent (i. e. immediately)?—the MS. having had, perhaps, “incon.” A friend suggests that there might have been some abbreviation of contra, or contraries: see what follows; doctor Almanac charges them to do the reverse of what they ought to do, for “to bid ’em sin’s the way to make ’em mend.”
206. pull down bawdy-houses, &c. ... ruin the Cockpit] The apprentices used (as already observed, note, vol. iii. p. 217) to pull down brothels on Shrove-Tuesday: concerning Turnbull Street, see note, vol. iv. p. 34. The rest of the present passage, where there is a pun on the word “leak,” is explained by the following extract from Dekker’s Owles Almanacke, 1618: “Shroue-tuesday falles on that day, on which the prentices plucked downe the cocke-pit, and on which they did alwayes vse to rifle Madame Leakes house at the vpper end of Shorditch.” Sig. C.
207. warmest] A friend wishes to read “warnest.”
208. maundering] i. e. muttering, grumbling: (and in cant language, begging.)
209. collogue] “To Collogue. To wheedle or coax.” Grose’s Class. Dict. of Vul. Tongue, in which sense it is probably used here: it means also—to talk closely with, to plot.
210. gill] i. e. wench.
211. Enter, for the second Antimasque, &c.] This stage-direction (not in old ed.) is sufficient here, as the persons who compose the second Antimasque are minutely described in a subsequent stage-direction.
215. In dock out nettle] Compare vol. iii. p. 611, and note. The expression occurs in J. Heywood’s Dialogue, &c.;
and in Taylor’s Farewell to the Tower Bottles, p. 125—Workes, ed. 1630.
216. parcel-rascals] i. e. partly rascals.
217. Brainford] A corruption of Brentford—used here with a quibble.
218. In larger grounds, &c.] Old ed.
“In larger bounds, in Parke, sports, delights, and grounds.” In altering this corrupted line I have preferred retaining the word “grounds” rather than “bounds,” because the latter presently occurs.
219. Yet a third season] Old ed. “A third season yet.”
220. talenter] i. e. hawk. Our early poets repeatedly use talent for talon:
See, too, the quibble in Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, act iv. sc. 2. “If a talent be a claw,” &c.
221. prick] i. e. the point or mark in the centre of the butts.
222. royal’st guest] May mean Queen Anne; but more probably, I think, her brother, the king of Denmark, who visited England twice, in 1606 and in 1614. “In the reign of King James I. the house before us [Somerset-house] became, ipso facto, a royal residence on the part of the Queen, and even changed its name; and it appears that her Majesty repaired it, at her own charge, for the reception of her brother Christian IV., king of Denmark, who visited England A.D. 1606, from which time it is said that the Queen affected to call it Denmark-House.” Curialia, P. IV. p. 63, by Pegge; who, after more on this subject, chooses to rely on the statement of the continuators of Stow’s Survey of London—that on Shrove-Tuesday, 1616, Queen Anne having feasted King James at Somerset-House, he then changed its name, and appointed it to be thenceforth called Denmark-House, p. 65: see also Nichols’s Prog. of K. James, vol. iii. p. 253.
When this Masque was originally produced as a royal entertainment, I know not. The noble pair to whom it is dedicated were not married till 1620: see Collins’s Peerage (by Brydges), vol. iv. p. 277. Towards the end of it there is an evident allusion to the wars in the Palatinate.
224. over-brave] i. e. over-finely dressed.
225. valure] Or rather velure—i. e. velvet.
226. a throwster] “One that throws, or winds, silk or thread” (Kersey’s Dict.), preparing the materials for the weaver.
227. superstichious] So old ed.—with a quibble.
228. periphrase] Old ed. “Paraphrase.”
229. the other’s] Old ed. “the t’others.”
230. pickadill] i. e. collar with stiffened plaits.
231. presence glorious] Old ed. “glorious presence.”
232. conscience knowing] Old ed. “knowing conscience.”
233. Lady divine] Old ed. “Diuine Lady.”
234. himself] This word should, perhaps, be thrown out.
235. Altitonant] i. e. thundering from on high.
236. Y-meditate] The right reading, I presume: old ed. “I meditate.”
238. states] i. e. persons of dignity.
239. Honey-lingued] i. e. Honey-tongued.
240. duke] i. e. general, commander.
241. Mattathias’ son] i. e. Judas Maccabæus.
242. psalmograph] i. e. psalm-writer, viz. David.
243. a Macedonian born] i. e. Alexander the Great.
244. Troy’s best soldier] i. e. Hector.
245. Charles of France] i. e. Charlemagne.
246. Bulloin duke] i. e. Godfrey of Bouillon.
247. Britain’s glory] i. e. Arthur.
248. The Nine Worthies dance, &c.] Qy. did the authors intend them to dance with the Muses? but in the preceding stage-direction (which I have given as it stands in old ed.) the entrance of the latter is not marked.
249. affected colours] i. e. the colours which they affect: compare p. 7, and note.
250. jet] i. e. strut.
251. frokin] i. e. little fro (frow, Dutch for woman)—little jade.
252. batter] Used for the pancakes on that day.
254. state] Gifford observes, that “the state sometimes means the raised platform and canopy under which the ornamented chair was placed, and sometimes the chair itself.” Note on B. Jonson’s Works, vol. ii. p. 334. Here, perhaps, it means the machine in which Jupiter had descended: see p. 175.
255. cogging] i. e. wheedling.
257. Have] Old ed. “Has.”
258. Chambers] i. e. small pieces of ordnance.
259. make] Old ed. “makes.”
260. rear] i. e. raw.
261. agen] The old spelling of again—required here for the rhyme.
262. a ——] So old ed.
263. i’ their inn] i. e. in their own house: concerning this proverbial expression, see notes on Shakespeare’s Henry IV. (First Part), act iii. sc. 3.
264. egrimony] Used here with a quibble; an old form of (the herb) agrimony, and also—sorrow. (Lat. ægrimonia.)
267. poniarded] Poniards, or, as they were generally called, knives, were formerly, says Gifford, “worn at all times by every woman in England:” see note on B. Jonson’s Works, vol. V. p. 221.
268. needle-bearded gallants] Taylor, the water-poet, in a passage concerning the “strange and variable cut” of beards, mentions “Some sharpe Steletto fashion, dagger like.” Superbiæ Flagellum, p. 34—Workes, 1630.
269. stammel] i.e. a kind of red, coarser and cheaper than scarlet.
270. the prince] i.e. Charles.
271. I’ll over yonder, &c.] He means to the Palatinate: great enthusiasm was felt in the cause of the unfortunate Queen of Bohemia. Some passages, perhaps, were inserted here subsequently to the original production of the Masque: see note, p. 167.
272. deckt with laurel] James was accustomed to receive such incense.
See also B. Jonson’s Works, vol. viii. p. 154, and Gifford’s note.
273. properties] i. e. ensigns proper to her character—a theatrical term: see note, vol. ii. p. 308.
274. sithence] i. e. since.
276. cant] i. e. niche.
277. greeces] i. e. steps.
278. penciled] i. e. (not—having pensils, small flags, but) painted; so in an earlier passage of this pageant: “They helde in their handes pensild Shieldes; vpon the first was drawne a Rose,” &c.
279. shapes] i. e. dresses—a theatrical use of the word.
280. cantle] i. e. part.
281. eronie] Qy. “ourany”?
283. clipt] i. e. embraced—cherished.
284.
Black Monday] “Middleton here alludes to Anthony Munday, his rival City Poet, who had composed the Pageants of 1605 and 1611, and perhaps others of which no copies are known to exist. Though he this year (and the last, when Dekker was employed) lost the office of author, he did not lose that of supplying the apparell, &c., which was his business as a draper, and to which office only Middleton seems to have considered him competent [see p. 245]. This virulent attack, however, appears to have experienced no greater attention than such violence deserved, since Munday was employed in the three following years.” Nichols.—The inscription on Anthony’s tomb declares that he was a “citizen and draper:” but I am not sure that he furnished “the apparell and porters” for The Triumphs of Truth in the latter capacity; rather, perhaps, in consequence of being keeper of the properties of the pageants. In the remarks prefixed to Munday’s Downfall of the Earl of Huntington (Suppl. vol. to Dodsley’s Old Plays), I am surprised to find Mr. Collier doubting if Middleton alludes to him here; and I can only suppose that when Mr. C. wrote those remarks, his recollection of the present passage was somewhat imperfect.
The play just mentioned is evidence that Munday’s powers were far from contemptible. The ill will which the dramatists appear to have borne towards him was, perhaps, called forth by the extravagant encomium of Meres, who, in the Palladis Tamia, 1598, had chosen to term him “our best plotter,” fol. 283. With respect to the comedy called The Case is altered, in which he is ridiculed under the name of Antonio Balladino, there has been a question among critics, whether it is the work of Ben Jonson. Gifford pronounced it to be an early production of that poet; and he, I am confident, would not have changed his opinion even if he had lived to see the copy, without any author’s name on the title-page, which some years ago was added to the collection of the Duke of Devonshire.
285. Attend] Old eds. “Attends.”
286. What greater, &c.
... his honour’s confirmation] This second stanza is not reprinted by Nichols. The old ed. omits it in this place, but gives it afterwards with the musical notes of the song.
287. burn] Old eds. “burnes.”
288. are] Old eds. “is.”
289. Spots, &c.] We have had this couplet before, p. 199.
290. the river, &c.] “Sir Thomas Middleton, grocer, and mayor in 1613,” says Herbert, in his History of the Twelve Great Livery Companies of London, “was nearly the first who attempted an emblematical and scenic representation of his company, in a water spectacle, consisting (in imitation of the pageant mentioned to have been exhibited by Sir John Wells to Henry VI.[290A]) of ‘five islands, artfully garnished with all manner of Indian fruit trees, drugges, spiceries, and the like; the middle island having a faire castle especially beautified:’ the latter probably allusive to the newly-established East India Company’s forts, and whose adventures had contributed so much to enlarge the sphere of the grocers’ trade.” vol. i. p. 200.
290A. See Herbert’s work, vol. i. pp. 93, 4.
291. stand] Old eds. “stands.”
292. attend] Old eds. “attends.”
293. cleave] Old eds. “cleaues.”
294. slights] i. e. artifices.
295. most] Old eds. “must.”
296. the Five Senses] “The Senses were personated at the King’s Entry into London in 1603, and are represented in the engraving of the Arch erected at Soper-Lane end, in Harrison’s Arches. Jordan introduced them again in the Lord Mayor’s Pageant of 1681 (see Gent. Mag. vol. xcv. i. 131), at the same time assuring the Grocers’ Company in his prefatory address, ’that in these Triumphs there is nothing designed, written, said, or sung, that ever was presented in any show till this present day!’” Nichols.