_ Ay, by his leave, he is, and under favour:
a pretty piece of civility!
a pretty piece of civility!
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
= As in other fields,
Jonson is well versed in magic lore. Lumps of crystal were one
of the regular means of raising a demon. Bk. 15, Ch. 16 of
Scot's _Discovery of Witchcraft_, 1584, is entitled: 'To make a
spirit appear in a christall', and Ch. 12 shows 'How to enclose
a spirit in a christall stone. '
Lilly (_History_, p. 78) speaks of the efficacy of 'a
constellated ring' in sickness, and they were doubtless
considered effective in more sinister dealings. Jonson has
already spoken of the devil being carried in a thumb-ring
(see note P. 6).
Charms were usually written on parchment. In Barrett's _Magus_,
Bk. 2, Pt. 3. 109, we read that the pentacle should be drawn
'upon parchment made of a kid-skin, or virgin, or pure clean
white paper. '
That parts of the human body belonged to the sorcerer's
paraphernalia is shown by the Statute 1 Jac. I. c. xii, which
contains a clause forbidding conjurors to 'take up any dead
man woman or child out of his her or their grave . . . or the
skin bone or any other parte of any dead person, to be imployed
or used in any manner of Witchcrafte Sorcerie Charme or
Inchantment. '
The wing of the raven, as a bird of ill omen, may be an
invention of Jonson's own. The lighting of candles within the
magic circle is mentioned below (note 1. 2. 26).
Most powerful of all was the pentacle, of which Scot's
_Discovery_ (Ap. II, p. 533, 4) furnishes an elaborate
description. This figure was used by the Pythagorean school as
their seal, and is equivalent to the pentagram or five-pointed
star (see _CD. _).
Dekker (_Wks. _ 2. 200) connects it with the Periapt as a 'potent
charm,' and Marlowe speaks of it in _Hero and Leander_,
_Wks. _ 3. 45:
A rich disparent pentacle she wears,
Drawn full of circles and strange characters.
It will be remembered that the inscription of a pentagram on the
threshold prevents the escape of Mephistopheles in Goethe's _Faust_.
The editors explain its potency as due to the fact that it is
resolvable into three triangles, and is thus a triple sign of the
Trinity.
Cunningham says that the pentacle 'when delineated upon the body of a
man was supposed to point out the five wounds of the Saviour. ' W. J.
Thoms (_Anecdotes_, Camden Soc. , 1839, p. 97) speaks of its presence
in the western window of the southern aisle of Westminster Abbey, an
indication that the monks were versed in occult science.
=1. 2. 21 If they be not. = Gifford refers to Chrysippus, _De
Divinatione,_ Lib. 1. ? 71: 'This is the very syllogism by which that
acute philosopher triumphantly proved the reality of augury. '
=1. 2. 22 Why, are there lawes against 'hem? = It was
found necessary in 1541 to pass an act (33 Hen. VIII. c. 8) by
which--'it shall be felony to practise, or cause to be practised
conjuration, witchcrafte, enchantment, or sorcery, to get
money: or to consume any person in his body, members or goods;
or to provoke any person to unlawful love; or for the despight
of Christ, or lucre of money, to pull down any cross; or to
declare where goods stolen be. ' Another law was passed 1 Edward
VI. c. 12 (1547). 5 Elizabeth. c. 16 (1562) gives the 'several
penalties of conjuration, or invocation of wicked spirits, and
witchcraft, enchantment, charm or sorcery. ' Under Jas. I, anno
secundo (vulgo primo), c. 12, still another law was passed,
whereby the second offense was declared a felony. The former act
of Elizabeth was repealed. This act of James was not repealed
until 9 George II. c. 5.
_Social England_, p. 270, quotes from Ms. Lansdowne, 2. Art.
26, a deposition from William Wicherley, conjurer, in which he
places the number of conjurers in England in 1549 above five
hundred. A good idea of the character of the more disreputable
type of conjurer can be got from Beaumont and Fletcher's
_Fair Maid of the Inn_. See especially Act 5, Sc. 2.
=1. 2. 26 circles. = The magic circle is one of the things
most frequently mentioned among the arts of the conjurer. Scot
(_Discovery_, p. 476) has a long satirical passage on the
subject, in which he enjoins the conjurer to draw a double
circle with his own blood, to divide the circle into seven
parts and to set at each division a 'candle lighted in a
brazen candlestick. '
=1. 2. 27 his hard names. = A long list of the 'diverse
names of the divell' is given in _The Discovery_, p. 436,
and another in the Second Appendix, p. 522.
=1. 2. 31, 2 I long for thee. An' I were with child by him, . . .
I could not more. = The expression is common enough. Cf.
_Eastward Hoe_: 'Ger. As I am a lady, I think I am with child
already, I long for a coach so. ' Dekker, _Shomakers Holiday_,
_Wks. _ 1. 17: 'I am with child till I behold this huffecap. ' The
humors of the longing wife are a constant subject of ridicule.
See _Bart. Fair_, Act 1, and Butler's _Hudibras_, ed. 1819,
3. 78 and note.
=1. 2. 39 A thousand miles. = 'Neither are they so much
limited as Tradition would have them; for they are not at all
shut up in any separated place: but can remove millions of miles
in the twinkling of an eye. '--Scot, _Discovery_, Ap. II, p. 493.
=1. 2. 43 The burn't child dreads the fire. = Jonson is fond of
proverbial expressions. Cf. 1. 6. 125; 1. 6. 145; 5. 8. 142, 3, etc.
=1. 3. 5 while things be reconcil'd. = In Elizabethan
English both _while_ and _whiles_ often meant 'up to the time
when', as well as 'during the time when' (d. a similar use of
'dum' in Latin and of ? ? ? in Greek). --Abbot, ? 137.
For its frequent use in this sense in Shakespeare see Schmidt
and note on _Macbeth_ 3. 1. 51, Furness's edition. Cf. also
Nash, _Prognostication_, _Wks. _ 2. 150: 'They shall ly in their
beds while noon. '
=1. 3. 8, 9 those roses Were bigge inough to hide a clouen
foote. = Dyce (_Remarks_, p. 289) quotes Webster, _White
Devil_, 1612:
--why, 'tis the devil;
I know him by a great rose he wears on's shoe,
To hide his cloven foot.
Cunningham adds a passage from Chapman, _Wks. _ 3. 145:
_Fro. _ Yet you cannot change the old fashion (they say)
And hide your cloven feet.
_Oph. _ No! I can wear roses that shall spread quite
Over them.
Gifford quotes Nash, _Unfortunate Traveller_, _Wks. _ 5. 146: 'Hee
hath in eyther shoo as much taffaty for his tyings, as would serue
for an ancient. ' Cf. also Dekker, _Roaring Girle_, _Wks. _ 3. 200:
'Haue not many handsome legges in silke stockins villanous splay feet
for all their great roses? '
=1. 3. 13 My Cater. = Whalley changes to 'm'acter' on the authority
of the _Sad Shep. _ (vol. 4. 236):
--Go bear 'em in to Much
Th' acater.
The form 'cater', however, is common enough. Indeed, if we are
to judge from the examples in Nares and _NED. _, it is much the
more frequent, although the present passage is cited in both
authorities under the longer form.
=1. 3. 21 I'le hearken. = W. and G. change to 'I'd. ' The
change is unnecessary if we consider the conditional clause
as an after-thought on the part of Fitzdottrel. For a similar
construction see 3. 6. 34-6.
=1. 3. 27 Vnder your fauour, friend, for, I'll not
quarrell. = 'This was one of the qualifying expressions, by
which, "according to the laws of the duello", the lie might be
given, without subjecting the speaker to the absolute necessity
of receiving a challenge. '--G.
Leigh uses a similar expression. Cf. note 2. 1. 144. It occurs
several times in _Ev. Man in_:
'_Step. _ Yet, by his leave, he is a rascal, under his favour,
do you see.
_E. Know.
_ Ay, by his leave, he is, and under favour:
a pretty piece of civility! '
--_Wks. _ 1. 68.
'_Down. _ 'Sdeath! you will not draw then?
_Bob. _ Hold, hold! under thy favour forbear! '
--_Wks. _ 1. 117.
'_Clem. _ Now, sir, what have you to say to me?
_Bob. _ By your worship's favour----. '
--_Wks. _ 1. 140.
I have not been able to confirm Gifford's assertion.
=1. 3. 30 that's a popular error. = Gifford refers to _Othello_
5. 2. 286:
_Oth. _ I look down towards his feet,--but that's a fable. --
If that thou be'st a devil, I cannot kill thee.
Cf. also _The Virgin Martyr_, Dekker's _Wks. _ 4. 57:
--Ile tell you what now of the Divel;
He's no such horrid creature, cloven footed,
Black, saucer-ey'd, his nostrils breathing fire,
As these lying Christians make him.
=1. 3. 34 Of Derby-shire, S^r. about the Peake. = Jonson seems to have
been well acquainted with the wonders of the Peak of Derbyshire. Two of
his masques, _The Gipsies Metamorphosed_, acted first at Burleigh on
the Hill, and later at Belvoir, Nottinghamshire, and _Love's Welcome
at Welbeck_, acted in 1633 at Welbeck, Nottinghamshire, the seat of
William Cavendish, Earl of Newcastle, are full of allusions to them.
The Devil's Arse seems to be the cavern now known to travellers as the
_Peak_ or _Devil's Cavern_. It is described by Baedeker as upwards of
2,000 feet in extent. One of its features is a subterranean river known
as the Styx. The origin of the cavern's name is given in a coarse song
in the _Gypsies Met. _ (_Wks. _ 7. 357), beginning:
Cocklorrel would needs have the Devil his guest,
And bade him into the Peak to dinner.
In _Love's Welcome_ Jonson speaks again of 'Satan's sumptuous Arse',
_Wks. _ 8. 122.
=1. 3. 34, 5. That Hole.
Belonged to your Ancestors? = Jonson frequently omits the relative
pronoun. Cf. 1. 5. 21; 1. 6. 86, 87; 3. 3. 149; 5. 8. 86, 87.
=1. 3. 38 Foure pound a yeere. = 'This we may suppose to have
been the customary wages of a domestic servant. '--C. Cunningham
cites also the passage in the _Alchemist_, _Wks. _ 4. 12;
'You were once . . . the good, Honest, plain, livery-three-pound-thrum,
that kept Your master's worship's house,' in which he takes the
expression 'three-pound' to be the equivalent of 'badly-paid'.
=1. 4. 1 I'll goe lift him. = Jonson is never tired of punning on
the names of his characters.
=1. 4. 5 halfe a piece. = 'It may be necessary to observe,
once for all, that the _piece_ (the double sovereign) went for
two and twenty shillings. '--G. Compare 3. 3. 83, where a
hundred pieces is evidently somewhat above a hundred pounds.
By a proclamation, Nov. 23, 1611, the piece of gold called the
Unitie, formerly current at twenty shillings was raised to the
value of twenty two shillings (S. M. Leake, _Eng. Money_ 2.
276). Taylor, the water-poet, tells us that Jonson gave him 'a
piece of gold of two and twenty shillings to drink his health
in England' (_Conversations_, quoted in Schelling's _Timber_,
p. 105). In the _Busie Body_ Mrs. Centlivre uses _piece_ as
synonymous with _guinea_ (2d ed. , pp. 7 and 14).
=1. 4. 31 Iust what it list. = Jonson makes frequent use of the
subjunctive. Cf. 1. 3. 9; 1. 6. 6; 5. 6. 10; etc.
=1. 4. 43 O here's the bill, S^r. = Collier says that the
use of play-bills was common prior to the year 1563 (Strype,
_Life of Grindall,_ ed. 1821, p. 122). They are mentioned in
_Histriomastix_, 1610; _A Warning for Fair Women_, 1599, etc.
See Collier, _Annals_ 3. 382 f.
=1. 4. 50 a rotten Crane. = Whalley restores the right
reading, correctly explained as a pun on Ingine's name.
=1. 4. 60 Good time! = Apparently a translation of the Fr.
_A la bonne heure_, 'very good', 'well done! ' etc.
=1. 4. 65 The good mans gravity. = Cf. Homer, _Il. _, ? 105:
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .
Shak. , _Tempest_ 5. 1: 'First, noble friend, let me embrace
thine age. ' _Catiline_ 3. 2. : 'Trouble this good shame (good and
modest lady) no farther. '
=1. 4. 70 into the shirt. = Cf. Dekker, _Non-dram. Wks. _ 2.
244: 'Dice your selfe into your shirt. '
=1. 4. 71 Keepe warme your wisdome? = Cf. _Cyn. Rev. _,
_Wks. _ 2. 241: '_Madam, your whole self cannot but be perfectly
wise; for your hands have wit enough to keep themselves warm. _'
Gifford's note on this passage is: 'This proverbial phrase is
found in most (sic) of our ancient dramas. Thus in _The Wise
Woman of Hogsden_: "You are the wise woman, are you? You _have
wit to keep yourself warm enough_, I warrant you"'. Cf. also
_Lusty Juventus_, p. 74: 'Cover your head; For indeed you have
need to keep in your wit. '
=1. 4. 72 You lade me. = 'This is equivalent to the modern
phrase, you do not spare me. You lay what imputations you please
upon me. '--G.
The phrase occurs again in 1. 6. 161, where Wittipol calls
Fitzdottrel an ass, and says that he cannot 'scape his lading'.
'You lade me', then, seems to mean 'You make an ass of me'.
The same use of the word occurs in Dekker, _Olde Fortunatus_,
_Wks. _ 1. 125: 'I should serue this bearing asse rarely now, if
I should load him'. And again in the works of Taylor, the Water Poet,
p. 311: 'My Lines shall load an Asse, or whippe an Ape.
Jonson is well versed in magic lore. Lumps of crystal were one
of the regular means of raising a demon. Bk. 15, Ch. 16 of
Scot's _Discovery of Witchcraft_, 1584, is entitled: 'To make a
spirit appear in a christall', and Ch. 12 shows 'How to enclose
a spirit in a christall stone. '
Lilly (_History_, p. 78) speaks of the efficacy of 'a
constellated ring' in sickness, and they were doubtless
considered effective in more sinister dealings. Jonson has
already spoken of the devil being carried in a thumb-ring
(see note P. 6).
Charms were usually written on parchment. In Barrett's _Magus_,
Bk. 2, Pt. 3. 109, we read that the pentacle should be drawn
'upon parchment made of a kid-skin, or virgin, or pure clean
white paper. '
That parts of the human body belonged to the sorcerer's
paraphernalia is shown by the Statute 1 Jac. I. c. xii, which
contains a clause forbidding conjurors to 'take up any dead
man woman or child out of his her or their grave . . . or the
skin bone or any other parte of any dead person, to be imployed
or used in any manner of Witchcrafte Sorcerie Charme or
Inchantment. '
The wing of the raven, as a bird of ill omen, may be an
invention of Jonson's own. The lighting of candles within the
magic circle is mentioned below (note 1. 2. 26).
Most powerful of all was the pentacle, of which Scot's
_Discovery_ (Ap. II, p. 533, 4) furnishes an elaborate
description. This figure was used by the Pythagorean school as
their seal, and is equivalent to the pentagram or five-pointed
star (see _CD. _).
Dekker (_Wks. _ 2. 200) connects it with the Periapt as a 'potent
charm,' and Marlowe speaks of it in _Hero and Leander_,
_Wks. _ 3. 45:
A rich disparent pentacle she wears,
Drawn full of circles and strange characters.
It will be remembered that the inscription of a pentagram on the
threshold prevents the escape of Mephistopheles in Goethe's _Faust_.
The editors explain its potency as due to the fact that it is
resolvable into three triangles, and is thus a triple sign of the
Trinity.
Cunningham says that the pentacle 'when delineated upon the body of a
man was supposed to point out the five wounds of the Saviour. ' W. J.
Thoms (_Anecdotes_, Camden Soc. , 1839, p. 97) speaks of its presence
in the western window of the southern aisle of Westminster Abbey, an
indication that the monks were versed in occult science.
=1. 2. 21 If they be not. = Gifford refers to Chrysippus, _De
Divinatione,_ Lib. 1. ? 71: 'This is the very syllogism by which that
acute philosopher triumphantly proved the reality of augury. '
=1. 2. 22 Why, are there lawes against 'hem? = It was
found necessary in 1541 to pass an act (33 Hen. VIII. c. 8) by
which--'it shall be felony to practise, or cause to be practised
conjuration, witchcrafte, enchantment, or sorcery, to get
money: or to consume any person in his body, members or goods;
or to provoke any person to unlawful love; or for the despight
of Christ, or lucre of money, to pull down any cross; or to
declare where goods stolen be. ' Another law was passed 1 Edward
VI. c. 12 (1547). 5 Elizabeth. c. 16 (1562) gives the 'several
penalties of conjuration, or invocation of wicked spirits, and
witchcraft, enchantment, charm or sorcery. ' Under Jas. I, anno
secundo (vulgo primo), c. 12, still another law was passed,
whereby the second offense was declared a felony. The former act
of Elizabeth was repealed. This act of James was not repealed
until 9 George II. c. 5.
_Social England_, p. 270, quotes from Ms. Lansdowne, 2. Art.
26, a deposition from William Wicherley, conjurer, in which he
places the number of conjurers in England in 1549 above five
hundred. A good idea of the character of the more disreputable
type of conjurer can be got from Beaumont and Fletcher's
_Fair Maid of the Inn_. See especially Act 5, Sc. 2.
=1. 2. 26 circles. = The magic circle is one of the things
most frequently mentioned among the arts of the conjurer. Scot
(_Discovery_, p. 476) has a long satirical passage on the
subject, in which he enjoins the conjurer to draw a double
circle with his own blood, to divide the circle into seven
parts and to set at each division a 'candle lighted in a
brazen candlestick. '
=1. 2. 27 his hard names. = A long list of the 'diverse
names of the divell' is given in _The Discovery_, p. 436,
and another in the Second Appendix, p. 522.
=1. 2. 31, 2 I long for thee. An' I were with child by him, . . .
I could not more. = The expression is common enough. Cf.
_Eastward Hoe_: 'Ger. As I am a lady, I think I am with child
already, I long for a coach so. ' Dekker, _Shomakers Holiday_,
_Wks. _ 1. 17: 'I am with child till I behold this huffecap. ' The
humors of the longing wife are a constant subject of ridicule.
See _Bart. Fair_, Act 1, and Butler's _Hudibras_, ed. 1819,
3. 78 and note.
=1. 2. 39 A thousand miles. = 'Neither are they so much
limited as Tradition would have them; for they are not at all
shut up in any separated place: but can remove millions of miles
in the twinkling of an eye. '--Scot, _Discovery_, Ap. II, p. 493.
=1. 2. 43 The burn't child dreads the fire. = Jonson is fond of
proverbial expressions. Cf. 1. 6. 125; 1. 6. 145; 5. 8. 142, 3, etc.
=1. 3. 5 while things be reconcil'd. = In Elizabethan
English both _while_ and _whiles_ often meant 'up to the time
when', as well as 'during the time when' (d. a similar use of
'dum' in Latin and of ? ? ? in Greek). --Abbot, ? 137.
For its frequent use in this sense in Shakespeare see Schmidt
and note on _Macbeth_ 3. 1. 51, Furness's edition. Cf. also
Nash, _Prognostication_, _Wks. _ 2. 150: 'They shall ly in their
beds while noon. '
=1. 3. 8, 9 those roses Were bigge inough to hide a clouen
foote. = Dyce (_Remarks_, p. 289) quotes Webster, _White
Devil_, 1612:
--why, 'tis the devil;
I know him by a great rose he wears on's shoe,
To hide his cloven foot.
Cunningham adds a passage from Chapman, _Wks. _ 3. 145:
_Fro. _ Yet you cannot change the old fashion (they say)
And hide your cloven feet.
_Oph. _ No! I can wear roses that shall spread quite
Over them.
Gifford quotes Nash, _Unfortunate Traveller_, _Wks. _ 5. 146: 'Hee
hath in eyther shoo as much taffaty for his tyings, as would serue
for an ancient. ' Cf. also Dekker, _Roaring Girle_, _Wks. _ 3. 200:
'Haue not many handsome legges in silke stockins villanous splay feet
for all their great roses? '
=1. 3. 13 My Cater. = Whalley changes to 'm'acter' on the authority
of the _Sad Shep. _ (vol. 4. 236):
--Go bear 'em in to Much
Th' acater.
The form 'cater', however, is common enough. Indeed, if we are
to judge from the examples in Nares and _NED. _, it is much the
more frequent, although the present passage is cited in both
authorities under the longer form.
=1. 3. 21 I'le hearken. = W. and G. change to 'I'd. ' The
change is unnecessary if we consider the conditional clause
as an after-thought on the part of Fitzdottrel. For a similar
construction see 3. 6. 34-6.
=1. 3. 27 Vnder your fauour, friend, for, I'll not
quarrell. = 'This was one of the qualifying expressions, by
which, "according to the laws of the duello", the lie might be
given, without subjecting the speaker to the absolute necessity
of receiving a challenge. '--G.
Leigh uses a similar expression. Cf. note 2. 1. 144. It occurs
several times in _Ev. Man in_:
'_Step. _ Yet, by his leave, he is a rascal, under his favour,
do you see.
_E. Know.
_ Ay, by his leave, he is, and under favour:
a pretty piece of civility! '
--_Wks. _ 1. 68.
'_Down. _ 'Sdeath! you will not draw then?
_Bob. _ Hold, hold! under thy favour forbear! '
--_Wks. _ 1. 117.
'_Clem. _ Now, sir, what have you to say to me?
_Bob. _ By your worship's favour----. '
--_Wks. _ 1. 140.
I have not been able to confirm Gifford's assertion.
=1. 3. 30 that's a popular error. = Gifford refers to _Othello_
5. 2. 286:
_Oth. _ I look down towards his feet,--but that's a fable. --
If that thou be'st a devil, I cannot kill thee.
Cf. also _The Virgin Martyr_, Dekker's _Wks. _ 4. 57:
--Ile tell you what now of the Divel;
He's no such horrid creature, cloven footed,
Black, saucer-ey'd, his nostrils breathing fire,
As these lying Christians make him.
=1. 3. 34 Of Derby-shire, S^r. about the Peake. = Jonson seems to have
been well acquainted with the wonders of the Peak of Derbyshire. Two of
his masques, _The Gipsies Metamorphosed_, acted first at Burleigh on
the Hill, and later at Belvoir, Nottinghamshire, and _Love's Welcome
at Welbeck_, acted in 1633 at Welbeck, Nottinghamshire, the seat of
William Cavendish, Earl of Newcastle, are full of allusions to them.
The Devil's Arse seems to be the cavern now known to travellers as the
_Peak_ or _Devil's Cavern_. It is described by Baedeker as upwards of
2,000 feet in extent. One of its features is a subterranean river known
as the Styx. The origin of the cavern's name is given in a coarse song
in the _Gypsies Met. _ (_Wks. _ 7. 357), beginning:
Cocklorrel would needs have the Devil his guest,
And bade him into the Peak to dinner.
In _Love's Welcome_ Jonson speaks again of 'Satan's sumptuous Arse',
_Wks. _ 8. 122.
=1. 3. 34, 5. That Hole.
Belonged to your Ancestors? = Jonson frequently omits the relative
pronoun. Cf. 1. 5. 21; 1. 6. 86, 87; 3. 3. 149; 5. 8. 86, 87.
=1. 3. 38 Foure pound a yeere. = 'This we may suppose to have
been the customary wages of a domestic servant. '--C. Cunningham
cites also the passage in the _Alchemist_, _Wks. _ 4. 12;
'You were once . . . the good, Honest, plain, livery-three-pound-thrum,
that kept Your master's worship's house,' in which he takes the
expression 'three-pound' to be the equivalent of 'badly-paid'.
=1. 4. 1 I'll goe lift him. = Jonson is never tired of punning on
the names of his characters.
=1. 4. 5 halfe a piece. = 'It may be necessary to observe,
once for all, that the _piece_ (the double sovereign) went for
two and twenty shillings. '--G. Compare 3. 3. 83, where a
hundred pieces is evidently somewhat above a hundred pounds.
By a proclamation, Nov. 23, 1611, the piece of gold called the
Unitie, formerly current at twenty shillings was raised to the
value of twenty two shillings (S. M. Leake, _Eng. Money_ 2.
276). Taylor, the water-poet, tells us that Jonson gave him 'a
piece of gold of two and twenty shillings to drink his health
in England' (_Conversations_, quoted in Schelling's _Timber_,
p. 105). In the _Busie Body_ Mrs. Centlivre uses _piece_ as
synonymous with _guinea_ (2d ed. , pp. 7 and 14).
=1. 4. 31 Iust what it list. = Jonson makes frequent use of the
subjunctive. Cf. 1. 3. 9; 1. 6. 6; 5. 6. 10; etc.
=1. 4. 43 O here's the bill, S^r. = Collier says that the
use of play-bills was common prior to the year 1563 (Strype,
_Life of Grindall,_ ed. 1821, p. 122). They are mentioned in
_Histriomastix_, 1610; _A Warning for Fair Women_, 1599, etc.
See Collier, _Annals_ 3. 382 f.
=1. 4. 50 a rotten Crane. = Whalley restores the right
reading, correctly explained as a pun on Ingine's name.
=1. 4. 60 Good time! = Apparently a translation of the Fr.
_A la bonne heure_, 'very good', 'well done! ' etc.
=1. 4. 65 The good mans gravity. = Cf. Homer, _Il. _, ? 105:
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .
Shak. , _Tempest_ 5. 1: 'First, noble friend, let me embrace
thine age. ' _Catiline_ 3. 2. : 'Trouble this good shame (good and
modest lady) no farther. '
=1. 4. 70 into the shirt. = Cf. Dekker, _Non-dram. Wks. _ 2.
244: 'Dice your selfe into your shirt. '
=1. 4. 71 Keepe warme your wisdome? = Cf. _Cyn. Rev. _,
_Wks. _ 2. 241: '_Madam, your whole self cannot but be perfectly
wise; for your hands have wit enough to keep themselves warm. _'
Gifford's note on this passage is: 'This proverbial phrase is
found in most (sic) of our ancient dramas. Thus in _The Wise
Woman of Hogsden_: "You are the wise woman, are you? You _have
wit to keep yourself warm enough_, I warrant you"'. Cf. also
_Lusty Juventus_, p. 74: 'Cover your head; For indeed you have
need to keep in your wit. '
=1. 4. 72 You lade me. = 'This is equivalent to the modern
phrase, you do not spare me. You lay what imputations you please
upon me. '--G.
The phrase occurs again in 1. 6. 161, where Wittipol calls
Fitzdottrel an ass, and says that he cannot 'scape his lading'.
'You lade me', then, seems to mean 'You make an ass of me'.
The same use of the word occurs in Dekker, _Olde Fortunatus_,
_Wks. _ 1. 125: 'I should serue this bearing asse rarely now, if
I should load him'. And again in the works of Taylor, the Water Poet,
p. 311: 'My Lines shall load an Asse, or whippe an Ape.
