618. wings] “Lateral prominencies extending from each shoulder.” Whalley’s note on B. Jonson’s Works, vol. ii. p. 103, ed. Giff.
619. shark-gull] i. e. one who preys on simpletons.
621. door-keeper] i. e. bawd.
623. slops] i. e. breeches.]
625. bill-men] See note, p. 513.
626. risse] i. e. rose.
627. tiring-house] i. e. dressing-room,—in theatrical language.
628. descried] i. e. discovered.
630. tottered] i. e. tattered.
631. as if they had been conning of Tamburlaine] From this passage Malone conjectured that the play of Tamburlaine, generally ascribed to Marlowe, was written either wholly or in part by Nash,—Shakespeare (by Boswell), vol. iii. p. 357: but Mr. J. P. Collier has most satisfactorily shewn that it was the work of the former; see Hist. of Engl. Dram. Poetry, vol. iii. p. 113, sqq.—The present tract, and the one which follows it (Father Hubburd’s Tales), both published in 1604, prove that Nash died during that year: he is here described (I fear too truly) as living in a state of squalid poverty; in the next piece he is spoken of as deceased.
632. hose] i. e. breeches.
633. Saint Pulcher’s] A corruption of Saint Sepulchre’s.
634. wool-ward] i. e. in wool,—without linen (a word generally applied to persons who went so clothed for penance or humiliation: see notes of the commentators on Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, act. v. sc. 2, and Nares’s Gloss, in v.)
637. Tartary] See note, p. 524.
638. particular] Old ed. “particulars.”
639. wapper-eyed] “Wapper-eyed, sore-eyed.” Grose’s Class. Dict. of Vulg. Tongue.—“Wapper-eyed, goggle-eyed, having full rolling eyes; or looking like one scared; or squinting like a person overtaken with liquor.” Vocab. to An Exmoor Scolding, ed. 1839.
640. the Mayor’s bench at Oxford] There was a public seat at Oxford “adjoining to the east end of Carfax Church” (Warton’s Companion to the Guide, p. 15, sec. ed.), which bore the name of Pennyless-Bench.
641. noise] i. e. band, company—properly, of musicians: see note, vol. ii. p. 498.
642. hose] i. e. breeches.
643. bill-men] See note, p. 513.
644. the Burse] Means here the Royal Exchange: see note, p. 485.
645. villains] Old ed. “Villainies.”
646. luxurs] i. e. lechers.
647. banqrout] i. e. bankrupt.
648. penny-father] “A pennie-father, Vn homme riche et chiche.” Cotgrave’s Dict.
649. rounded] i. e. whispered.
650. points] i. e. tagged laces.
651. slops] i. e. breeches.
654. good-fellows] A cant term for thieves.
655. golls] A cant term for hands,—fists, paws.
656. she that was called in] See note on the address “To the Reader” prefixed to the following piece.
657. risse] i. e. rose.
658. departed] i. e. parted.
660. the horse, &c.] To the wonderful horse, called Morocco, are many allusions in our old writers; nor is this the only mention of his having gone up to the top of St. Paul’s church,—a feat which, according to Dekker, took place in 1600: “Since the dancing horse stood on the top of Powles, whilst a number of Asses stood braying below,—17 [years].” A memorial &c. untill this yeare, 1617—The Owles Almanacke, 1618, p. 7.—Both the horse and his master, whose name was Banks, are said to have been burned at Rome as magicians. See more on this subject in the notes of the commentators on Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, act i. sc. 2, and in Douce’s Illust. of Shakespeare, vol. i. p. 212.
661. proper] i. e. handsome.
662. polt-foot] i. e. club-foot.
663. tiring-house] See note, p. 526.
664. Tartary] See note, p. 524.
665. cullion] i. e. scoundrel, abject wretch.
666. Limbo] See note, p. 514.
667. Tunbold-street] Or Turnbull-street: see note, p. 512.
668. mazzard] i. e. head.
671. or that she goes to a woman’s labour] Compare (see note, p. 514) our author’s Trick to catch the Old One;
672. The Merry Devil of Edmonton] This comedy, which was, and deserved to be, extremely popular, may be found in Dodsley’s Old Plays, vol. v. last ed. Mr. J. P. Collier (Hist. of Engl. Dram. Poet.) ascribes it unhesitatingly to Drayton, probably on some authority (besides that of Oldys) which I do not recollect.
The following passage of The Merry Devil of Edmonton has puzzled the editors (who, by the by, choose to print it as verse): “How now, my old Jenerts bank, my horse, my castle; lie in Waltham all night, and not under the canopy of your host Blague’s house?” Steevens (Dodsley’s Old Plays, vol. v. p. 267, last ed.) says, “I once suspected this passage of corruption, but have found reason to change my opinion. The merry Host seems willing to assemble ideas expressive of trust and confidence. The old quartos begin the word jenert with a capital letter; and, therefore, we may suppose ‘Jenert’s bank’ to have been the shop of some banker, in whose possession money could be deposited with security. The Irish still say—as sure as Burton’s Bank; and our countrymen—as safe as the Bank of England. We might read ‘my house’ instead of ‘my horse,’ as the former agrees better with ‘castle.’ The services of a horse are of all things the most uncertain.” Nares (Gloss. in v. Jenert’s Bank) observes, “It has been conjectured that there was a bank called Jenert’s, so famous as to be proverbial for security; but it remains to be shewn that any country-bank existed in the seventeenth century, much more that they were so common as for one to be famous above the rest.... Can it be a misprint for ‘Ermen’s bank,’ or the old Roman road passing through Edmonton, which might have been written ‘Irmint’s?’”—I believe we ought to read; “How now, my old jennets [i. e. cavaliers, for so the word is sometimes used], bauk [i. e. balk] my house, my castle! lie in Waltham,” &c.
673. A Woman killed with Kindness] The masterpiece of Heywood; reprinted in Dodsley’s Old Plays, vol. vii. last ed.
674. luxurious] i. e. lustful.
677. red lattice] i. e. lattice painted red; the usual distinction of an ale-house: (it was sometimes of other colours).
679. Peter Bail] In using the name “Peter” the author seems to have attempted a sort of jest, perhaps alluding to the celebrated penman, Peter Bales, who is mentioned in the next piece.
680. counter] A play on the meanings of the word,—a false piece of money used for reckoning, and a prison.
681. noble] See note, p. 267.
682. likes] i. e. pleases.
683. old Rowse] Perhaps some Cornish wrestler.
684. conveyance] See note, p. 517.
685. black dogs of Newgate] A tract, partly verse and partly prose, called The Blacke Dogge of Newgate: both pithie and profitable for all Readers. London. 4to. n. d. (reprinted with some additions and alterations in 1638), was written, or at least professes to be written, by Luke Hutton, who, for robberies and trespasses, was hanged at York in 1598. Under the title of The Black Dog of Newgate, it was the author’s design to “shadow the knauerie, villanie, robberie, and Cunnicatching, committed daily by diuers, who in the name of seruice and office, were as it were, attendants at Newgate.” Sig. D 2. “They will vndertake if a man be robd by the way, they will helpe the party offended to his money againe, or to the theeues at the least. Likewise, if a Purse be cut, a House broken, a peece of Plate stole, they will promise the like: mary, to further this good peece of seruice, they must haue a Warrant procured from some Justice at the least, that by the sayd general Warrant, they may take vp all suspected persons: which being obteined, then marke how notably therewith they play the knaues, how shamefully they abuse the Justices who graunted the Warrant, and how notoriouslie they abuse a great sort of poore men, who neither the Warrant mentioneth, nor the partye agreeued in any wise thought to molest or trouble.” Sig. D 3. He then proceeds to give several instances of their various knaveries.
686. ballat-places] i. e., I suppose, places where ballads are sung.
687. cross-lays] i. e. cheating wagers.
689. ketlers] Compare Father Hubburd’s Tales, which follows the present tract; “like an old cunning bowler to fetch in a young ketling gamester:” but I do not understand this cant term, nor the words “couch” and “couches” which presently occur above.
690. upon stages] Tobacco was often taken by the gallants who (as already mentioned, note, vol. ii. p. 412) used to sit on hired stools upon the stage, during the performance.
691. counterblasts] An allusion to the celebrated work of King James, A Counterblast to Tobacco.
692. tobacco-Nashes] See p. 561, line 5.
693. his] Qy. “thy”?—A friend suggests that “his own” may be a reverential mode of expressing “God’s.”
694. thee] Old ed. “thy.”
695. a pitiful battler] “Though in the meanest condition of those that were wholly maintained [in the University of Oxford] by their parents, a battler or semi-commoner,” &c. Life of Bp. Kennett, p. 4—cited by Todd (Johnson’s Dict.) in v.
696. cue] i. e. small portion. “Cue, halfe a farthing, so called because they set down in the Battling or Butterie Books in Oxford and Cambridge the letter q. for halfe a farthing,” &c.: see Minsheu’s Guide into Tongues, in v.
697. gaudy-days] i. e. festivals.
698. vaulting-houses] i. e. brothels.
699. Mihell] Qy. “Michael”?
700. risse] i. e. rose.
701. censure] i. e. judgment, opinion.
702. gamashoes] Are variously explained—short spatterdashes, and coarse cloth stockings that button over other stockings.
703. have] Eds. “hath.”
704. Poultry] i. e. the Counter prison in the Poultry.
705. John of Paul’s Churchyard] Was, it appears from this passage, a haberdasher: he is again mentioned in the present tract. That he sold hats, we are informed by more than one old writer: so Dekker; “John in Paul’s churchyard shall fit his head for an excellent block [i. e. hat].” The Gull’s Hornbook, 1609, p. 94, reprint.
706. honest-minded] First ed. “honest-stitching,”—perhaps the better reading.
707. Bushel] An allusion to Thomas Bushell, for whom the first ed. of this tract was printed, see p. 549, and title-page of Micro-cynicon, p. 481.
708. Tale of Mother Hubburd, &c.] In the Bridgewater-House Catalogue this passage is quoted by Mr. J. P. Collier, who observes, “If it do not shew that Spenser’s ‘Mother Hubberd’s Tale’ was ‘called in again,’ it proves that obstruction was offered by public authorities to some subsequent production under the same name,” p. 200.—Assuredly the allusion is not to Spenser’s poem: in it the “ape” indeed figures conspicuously, but there is no mention of “rugged bears,” or “the lamentable downfal of the old wife’s platters.”
709. entreat] i. e. treat.
710. rugged] So first ed. Sec. ed. “Ragged.”
711. the quarter-jacks in Paul’s, that are up with their elbows] Compare Dekker’s Gull’s Hornbook, 1609, “If Paul’s jacks be once up with their elbows, and quarrelling to strike eleven,” p. 96, reprint. The figures which in old public clocks struck the bell on the outside were called Jacks of the clock or clockhouse: many readers will recollect those which a few years ago were to be seen at St. Dunstan’s Church, Fleet-street.
712. Kit] A friend queries if there be not here an allusion to Kit Marlowe?
713. Sat sapienti; and I hope, &c.] So our author (see note, p. 514) in the Induction to Michaelmas Term; “Sat sapienti: I hope there’s no fools i’ th’ house,” vol. i. p. 418.
714. Companies] So first ed. Sec. ed. “Companie.”
715. hallow’d] Eds. “hollowed.”
716. worm] Equivalent to—wretch, poor creature.
717. judgment’s seat] So first ed. Sec. ed. “Judgement seate.”
718. I am, &c.] Eds. “Trust me: I am,” &c.
719. rail] Seems to mean here—some sort of ruff
720. byss] i. e. fine linen.
721. They that forget a queen soothe with a king] By “a queen” is meant, I presume, Elizabeth; by “a king,” James, who had recently ascended the throne: and see the fourth stanza after this.
722. morning’s] So first ed. Sec. ed. “morning.”
723. Sith] i. e. Since.
724. sad] i. e. grave, sober.
725. Euphuize, which once was rare] i. e. use the unnatural affected style, which was once accounted excellent. It was rendered fashionable by the two famous productions of Lyly, Euphues, the Anatomy of Wit, and Euphues and his England.
726. Trigemini] i. e. Gabriel Harvey and his two less distinguished brothers, Richard and John. For various particulars concerning this memorable “strife” (which was terminated in 1599 by an order of the Archbishop of Canterbury), see my Memoir of R. Greene, prefixed to his Dramatic Works, D’Israeli’s Calamities of Authors, vol. ii., Sir E. Brydges’s Archaica, vol. ii., and Collier’s Bridgewater-House Catalogue.
727. improve] i. e. prove.
728. humorous theft] At p. 317 of a copy of Ritson’s Bibliographia Poetica, Malone has appended the following MS. note to the title of Samuel Rowlands’s Letting of humours blood in the head-vaine, &c.; “Stolen from Nash’s papers after his death in 1600. So says T. Middleton.”—What the “humorous theft” was, I know not; but the expression certainly has not the meaning which Malone chose to make it bear: Nash did not die till 1604 (see note, p. 527), and The Letting of humours blood in the head-vaine, &c. was first printed in 1600.
730. decimo sexto] An expression frequently applied by our old writers to diminutive personages: see Massinger’s Works, vol. i. p. 176, ed. 1813, and B. Jonson’s Works, vol. ii. p. 232 (by Gifford).
731. were] Eds. “was.”
732. fair-conditioned] i. e. of good disposition.
733. marmoset] i. e. ape.
734. New-fangle] This word is printed in both eds. with a capital letter: there seems to be some allusion, which I am unable to explain.
735. beholding] See note, p. 36.
736. approve] i. e. prove.
737. the great rider of horse] “But if like a restie Jade thou wilt take the bitt in thy mouth, and then runne over hedge and ditch, thou shalt be broken as Prosper broke his horses, with a muzzoule,” &c. Lyly’s Pappe with an hatchet, n. d. sig. D 4.
738. booted] In allusion to the dress of the various persons who rode up to London on law-business during that term.
739. the] So first ed. Not in sec. ed.
741. were] Eds. “was.”
742. hose] i. e. breeches.
743. gascoynes] i. e. galligaskins.
746. bost] i. e. embossed.
748. king Philip’s] i. e. Spanish.
749. gingle] Caused by the large loose rowels, which are presently mentioned: they were commonly of silver.
750. shape] i. e. dress.
751. approached] So first ed. Sec. ed. “approach.”
752. put to] Eds. “to put.”
753. neck-verse] See note, p. 126.
754. jigs] i. e. ballads.
755. like a sow-gelder] “Hark, how my merry horn doth blow,” is part of Higgen’s song, when he enters “like a sow-gelder:” see Beaumont and Fletcher’s Beggars’ Bush, act iii. sc. 1.
756. marmoset] See note, p. 564.
757. gear] i. e. matter, business.
758. Peter Bales] A particular account of this person may be found in Wood’s Athenæ Oxon. vol. i. p. 655, ed. Bliss, and in Chalmers’s Biog. Dict. I need only state that he was unrivalled, during his day, in the various branches of the art of penmanship, (occasionally producing specimens of extraordinary minuteness); that in 1590, when he published his Writing Scholmaster, he kept a school situated at the upper end of the Old Bailey; and that he is supposed to have died about 1610.
759. trunks] i. e., I suppose, trunk-hose,—round swelling breeches.