= Thomas of Woodstock, Earl
of Buckingham (1355-97), the youngest son of Edward III.
of Buckingham (1355-97), the youngest son of Edward III.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
a mirth-making bird,
so ridiculously mimical, that he is easily caught, or rather
catcheth himself by his over-active imitation. As the fowler
stretcheth forth his arms and legs, stalking towards the bird,
so the bird extendeth his legs and wings, approaching the fowler
till he is surprised in the net. '--G.
This is what is alluded to in 4. 6. 42. The use of the metaphor is
common. Gifford quotes Beaumont & Fletcher. _Bonduca_ and _Sea Voyage_.
Many examples are given in Nares and the _NED. _, to which may be added
_Damon and Pithias_, _O. Pl. _ 4. 68; Nash, _Wks. _ 3. 171; and Butler's
_Character of a Fantastic_ (ed. Morley, p. 401): 'He alters his gait
with the times, and has not a motion of his body that (like a dottrel)
he does not borrow from somebody else. ' Nares quotes _Old Couple_ (_O.
Pl. _, 4th ed. , 12. 41):
_E. _ Our Dotterel then is caught?
_B. _ He is and just
As Dotterels use to be: the lady first
Advanc'd toward him, stretch'd forth her wing, and he
Met her with all expressions.
It is uncertain whether the sense of 'bird' or 'simpleton' is
the original. _Dottrel_ seems to be connected with _dote_ and
_dotard_. The bird is a species of plover, and Cunningham says
that 'Selby ridicules the notion of its being more stupid than
other birds. ' In _Bart. Fair_ (_Wks. _ 4. 445) we hear of the
'sport call'd Dorring the Dotterel. '
=2. 2. 51 Nor faire one. = The dramatists were fond of
punning on _foul_ and _fair_. Cf. _Bart. Fair_ passim.
=2. 2. 77 a Nupson. = Jonson uses the word again in _Every
Man in_, _Wks. _ 1. 111: 'O that I were so happy as to light on
a nupson now. ' In _Lingua_, 1607, (_O. Pl. _, 4th ed. , 9. 367,
458) both the forms _nup_ and _nupson_ are used. The etymology
is uncertain. The _Century Dictionary_ thinks _nup_ may be a
variety of _nope_. Gifford thinks it may be a corruption of
Greek ? ? ? .
=2. 2. 78 with my Master's peace. = 'I. e. respectfully,
reverently: a bad translation of _cum pace domini_. '--G.
=2. 2. 81 a spic'd conscience. = Used again in _Sejanus_,
_Wks. _ 3. 120, and _New Inn_, _Wks. _ 5. 337.
=2. 2. 90 The very forked top too. = Another reference to the
horned head of the cuckold. Cf. 1. 6. 179, 80.
=2. 2. 93 engendering by the eyes. = Cf. Song in _Merch. of V. _
3. 2. 67: 'It is engender'd in the eyes. '
=2. 2. 98 make benefit. = Cf. _Every Man in_, _Wks. _ 1. 127.
=2. 2. 104 a Cokes. = Cf. Ford, _Lover's Melancholy_, _Wks. _
2. 80: 'A kind of cokes, which is, as the learned term [it], an
ass, a puppy, a widgeon, a dolt, a noddy, a----. ' Cokes is the
name of a foolish coxcomb in _Bart. Fair_.
=2. 2. 112 you neat handsome vessells. = Cf. note 1. 6. 57.
=2. 2. 116 your squires of honour. = This seems to be
equivalent to the similar expression 'squire of dames. '
=2. 2. 119-125 For the variety at my times, . . . I know, to
do my turnes, sweet Mistresse. = I. e. , when for variety you turn
to me, I will be able to serve your needs. Pug, of course, from the
delicate nature of the subject, chooses to make use of somewhat
ambiguous phrases.
=2. 2. 121. = Thos. Keightley, _N. & Q. _ 4. 2. 603,
proposes to read:
Of that proportion, or in the rule.
=2. 2. 123 Picardill. = Cotgrave gives: 'Piccadilles: Piccadilles;
the severall divisions or peeces fastened together about the brimme
of the collar of a doublet, &c. ' Gifford says: 'With respect to the
_Piccadil_, or, as Jonson writes it, Picardil, (as if he supposed the
fashion of wearing it be derived from Picardy,) the term is simply a
diminutive of picca (Span. and Ital. ) a spear-head, and was given to
this article of foppery, from a fancied resemblance of its stiffened
plaits to the bristled points of those weapons. Blount thinks, and
apparently with justice, that Piccadilly took its name from the sale
of the "small stiff collars, so called", which was first set on foot
in a house near the western extremity of the present street, by one
Higgins, a tailor. '
As Gifford points out, 'Pug is affecting modesty, since he had
not only assumed a handsome body, but a fashionable dress, "made
new" for a particular occasion. ' See 5. 1. 35, 36.
Jonson mentions the _Picardill_ again in the _Challenge at
Tilt_, _Wks. _ 7. 217, and in the _Epistle to a Friend_,
_Wks. _ 8. 356. For other examples see Nares, _Gloss_.
=2. 2. 127 f. your fine Monkey=; etc. These are all common
terms of endearment. The monkey is frequently mentioned as a
lady's pet by the dramatists. See _Cynthia's Revels_, passim, and
Mrs. Centlivre's _Busie Body_.
=2. 3. 36, 7 and your coach-man bald! Because he shall be bare. =
See note to 4. 4. 202.
=2. 3. 45 This man defies the Diuell. = See 2. 1. 18.
=2. 3. 46 He dos't by Ingine. = I. e. , wit, ingenuity, with a
possible reference to the name of Merecraft's agent.
=2. 3. 49 Crowland. = Crowland, or Croyland is an ancient town
and parish of Lincolnshire, situated in a low flat district, about
eight miles north-east from Peterborough. The origin of Crowland was
in a hermitage founded in the 7th century by St. Guthlac. An abbey
was founded in 714 by King Ethelbald, which was twice burnt and
restored.
=2. 4. 6 Spenser, I thinke, the younger. = Thomas (1373-1400)
was the only member of the Despenser family who was an Earl of
Gloucester. The person referred to here, however, is Hugh le
Despenser, the younger baron, son of Hugh le Despenser, the elder.
He married Eleanor, daughter of Gilbert of Clare, Earl of Gloucester,
and sister and coheiress of the next Earl Gilbert. After the
death of the latter, the inheritance was divided between the husbands
of his three sisters, and Despenser was accordingly sometimes called
Earl of Gloucester.
Despenser was at first on the side of the barons, but later joined
the King's party. In 1321 a league was formed against him, and he
was banished, but was recalled in the following year. In the
Barons' rising of 1326 he was taken prisoner, brought to Hereford,
tried and put to death.
=2. 4. 8 Thomas of Woodstocke.
= Thomas of Woodstock, Earl
of Buckingham (1355-97), the youngest son of Edward III. , was
made Duke of Gloucester by his nephew, Richard II. , in 1385, and
later acquired an extraordinary influence, dominating the affairs of
England for several years. By his high-handed actions he incurred
Richard's enmity. He was arrested July 10, 1397, and conveyed to
Calais, where he was murdered in the following September by the
king's order.
=2. 4. 10 Duke Humphrey. = Humphrey, called the Good Duke
Humphrey (1391-1447), youngest son of Henry IV. , was created
Duke of Gloucester and Earl of Pembroke in 1414. During the
minority of Henry VI. he acted as Protector of the kingdom. His
career was similar to that of Thomas of Woodstock. In 1447 he
was arrested at Bury by order of Henry VI. , who had become king
in 1429. Here he died in February, probably by a natural death,
although there were suspicions of foul play.
=2. 4. 11 Richard the Third. = Richard III. (1452-1485), Duke of
Gloucester and King of England, was defeated and slain in the battle
of Bosworth Field, 1485.
=2. 4. 12-4 MER. By . . . authentique. = This passage has been
the occasion of considerable discussion. The subject was first
approached by Malone. In a note to an essay on _The Order of
Shakespeare's Plays_ in his edition of Shakespeare's works (ed.
1790, 3. 322) he says: 'In _The Devil's an Ass_, acted in 1616,
all his historical plays are obliquely censured. '
Again in a dissertation on _Henry VI. _: 'The malignant Ben, does
indeed, in his _Devil's an Ass_, 1616, sneer at our author's
historical pieces, which for twenty years preceding had been in high
reputation, and probably were _then_ the only historical dramas that
had possession of the theatre; but from the list above given, it is
clear that Shakespeare was not the _first_ who dramatized our old
chronicles; and that the principal events of English History were
familiar to the ears of his audience, before he commenced a writer
for the stage. ' Malone here refers to quotations taken from Gosson
and Lodge. Both these essays were reprinted in Steevens' edition, and
Malone's statements were repeated in the edition by Dr. Chalmers.
In 1808 appeared Gilchrist's essay, _An Examination of the
Charges . . . of Ben Jonson's enmity,_ etc. _towards Shakespeare_.
This refutation, strengthened by Gifford's _Proofs of Ben
Jonson's Malignity_, has generally been deemed conclusive.
Gifford's note on the present passage is written with much
asperity. He was not content, however, with an accurate
restatement of Malone's arguments. He changes the italics in
order to produce an erroneous impression, printing thus: 'which
were probably then the _only historical dramas on the stage_:
He adds: 'And this is advanced in the very face of his own
arguments, to prove that there were scores, perhaps hundreds, of
others on it at the time. ' This is direct falsification. There
is no contradiction in Malone's arguments. What he attempted
to prove was that Shakespeare had had predecessors in this
field, but that in 1616 his plays held undisputed possession
of the stage. Gifford adds a passage from Heywood's _Apology
for Actors_, 1612, which is more to the point: 'Plays have
taught the unlearned the knowledge of many famous _histories_,
instructed such as cannot read in the discovery of our _English
Chronicles_: and what man have you now of that weake capacity
that being possest of their true use, cannot discourse of any
notable thing recorded even from _William the Conqueror_, until
this day? '
This passage seems to point to the existence of other historical plays
_contemporary_ with those of Shakespeare. Besides, Jonson's words
seem sufficiently harmless. Nevertheless, although I am not inclined
to accept Malone's charge of 'malignity', I cannot agree with Gifford
that the reference is merely a general one. I have no doubt that the
'Chronicle,' of which Merecraft speaks, is Hall's, and the passage
the following: 'It semeth to many men, that the name and title of
Gloucester, hath been vnfortunate and vnluckie to diuerse, whiche
for their honor, haue been erected by creacion of princes, to that
stile and dignitie, as Hugh Spencer, Thomas of Woodstocke, sonne to
kyng Edward the third, and this duke Humfrey, which thre persones,
by miserable death finished their daies, and after them kyng Richard
the iii. also, duke of Gloucester, in ciuill warre was slaine and
confounded: so y^t this name of Gloucester, is take for an vnhappie
and vnfortunate stile, as the prouerbe speaketh of Seianes horse,
whose rider was euer unhorsed, and whose possessor was euer brought to
miserie. ' Hall's _Chronicle_, ed. 1809, pp. 209-10. The passage in 'the
Play-bookes' which Jonson satirizes is at the close of _3 Henry VI. _ 2.
6:
_Edw. _ Richard, I will create thee Duke of Gloucester,
And George, of Clarence: Warwick, as ourself,
Shall do and undo as him pleaseth best.
_Rich. _ Let me be Duke of Clarence, George of Gloucester;
For Gloucester's dukedom is too ominous.
The last line, of course, corresponds to the _'Tis fatal_ of
Fitzdottrel. Furthermore it may be observed that Thomas of
Woodstock's death at Calais is referred to in Shakespeare's _K.
Rich. II. _; Duke Humphrey appears in _2 Henry IV. _; _Henry V. _;
and _1_ and _2 Henry VI. _; and Richard III. in _2_ and _3 Henry
VI. _ and _K. Rich. III. _ _3 Henry VI. _ is probably, however, not
of Shakespearean authorship.
=2. 4. 15 a noble house. = See Introduction, p. lxxiv.
=2. 4. 23 Groen-land. = The interest in Greenland must have been
at its height in 1616. Between 1576 and 1622 English explorers
discovered various portions of its coast; the voyages of Frobisher,
Davis, Hudson and Baffin all taking place during that period.
Hakluyt's _Principall Navigations_ appeared in 1589, Davis's _Worldes
Hydrographical Description_ in 1594, and descriptions of Hudson's
voyages in 1612-3. The usual spelling of the name seems to have
been _Groenland_, as here. I find the word spelled also _Groineland_,
_Groenlandia_, _Gronland_, and _Greneland_ (see Publications of the
Hakluyt Society). Jonson's reference has in it a touch of sarcasm.
=2. 4. 27 f. Yes, when you=, etc. The source of this passage is
Hor. , _Sat. _ 2. 2. 129 f. :
Nam propriae telluris erum natura neque illum
Nec me nec quemquam statuit; nos expulit ille,
Ilium aut nequities, aut vafri inscitia juris
Postremo expellet certe vivacior haeres.
Nunc ager Umbreni sub nomine, nuper Ofelli
Dictus, erit nulli proprius, sed cadet in usum
Nunc mihi, nunc alii.
Gifford quotes a part of the passage and adds: 'What follows is
admirably turned by Pope:
Shades that to Bacon might retreat afford,
Become the portion of a booby lord;
And Helmsley, once proud Buckingham's delight,
Slides to a scrivener, or city knight. '
A much closer imitation is found in Webster, _Devil's Law Case_,
_Wks. _ 2. 37:
Those lands that were the clients art now become
The lawyer's: and those tenements that were
The country gentleman's, are now grown
To be his tailor's.
=2. 4. 32 not do'it first. = Cf. 1. 6. 14 and note.
=2. 5. 10 And garters which are lost, if shee can shew 'hem. =
Gifford thinks the line should read: 'can not shew'. Cunningham gives
a satisfactory explanation: 'As I understand this it means that if a
gallant once saw the garters he would never rest until he obtained
possession of them, and they would thus be _lost_ to the family.
Garters thus begged from the ladies were used by the gallants as
_hangers_ for their swords and poniards. See _Every Man out of his
Humour_, _Wks. _ 2. 81: "O, I have been graced by them beyond all aim
of affection: this is her garter my dagger hangs in;" and again p.
194. We read also in _Cynthia's Revels_, _Wks. _ 2. 266, of a gallant
whose devotion to a lady in such that he
Salutes her pumps,
Adores her hems, her skirts, her knots, her curls,
_Will spend his patrimony for a garter_,
Or the least feather in her bounteous fan. '
Gifford's theory that ladies had some mode of displaying their
garters is contradicted by the following:
_Mary. _ These roses will shew rare: would 'twere in fashion
That the garters might be seen too!
--Massinger, _City Madam_, _Wks. _, p. 317.
Cf. also _Cynthia's Revels_, _Wks. _ 2. 296.
=2. 5. 14 her owne deare reflection, in her glasse. = 'They must haue
their looking glasses caryed with them wheresoeuer they go, . . . no
doubt they are the deuils spectacles to allure vs to pride, and
consequently to distruction for euer. '--Stubbes, _Anat. _, Part 1, P. 79.
=2. 6. 21 and done the worst defeate vpon my selfe. = _Defeat_ is often
used by Shakespeare in this sense. See Schmidt, and compare _Hamlet_ 2.
2. 598:
--A king
Upon whose property and most dear life
A damn'd defeat was made.
=2. 6. 32 a body intire. = Cf. 5. 6. 48.
=2. 6. 35 You make me paint. = Gifford quotes from the _Two Noble
Kinsmen_:
How modestly she blows and paints the sun
With her chaste blushes.
=2. 6. 37 SN. = 'Whoever has noticed the narrow streets or
rather lanes of our ancestors, and observed how story projected
beyond story, till the windows of the upper rooms almost touched
on different sides, will easily conceive the feasibility of
everything which takes place between Wittipol and his mistress,
though they make their appearance in different houses. '--G.
I cannot believe that Jonson wished to represent the two houses
as on opposite sides of the street. He speaks of them as
'contiguous', which would naturally mean side by side. Further
than this, one can hardly imagine even in the 'narrow lanes of
our ancestors' so close a meeting that the liberties mentioned
in 2. 6. 76 SN. could be taken.
=2. 6. 53 A strange woman. = In _Bart. Fair_, _Wks. _ 4. 395,
Justice Overdo says: 'Rescue this youth here out of the hands
of the lewd man and _the strange woman_. ' Gifford explains in a
note: 'The scripture phrase for an immodest woman, a prostitute.
Indeed this acceptation of the word is familiar to many
languages. It is found in the Greek; and we have in Terence--pro
_uxore habere hanc_ peregrinam: upon which Donatus remarks, _hoc
nomine etiam_ meretrices _nominabantur_. '
=2. 6. 57-113 WIT. No, my tune-full Mistresse? = etc.
This very important passage is the basis of Fleay's theory of
identification discussed in section D. IV. of the Introduction.
The chief passages necessary for comparison are quoted below.
A CELEBRATION OF CHARIS:
In Ten Lyric Pieces.
V.
His Discourse with Cupid.
Noblest Charis, you that are
Both my fortune and my star,
And do govern more my blood,
Than the various moon the flood,
Hear, what late discourse of you, 5
Love and I have had; and true.
'Mongst my Muses finding me,
Where he chanced your name to see
Set, and to this softer strain;
Sure, said he, if I have brain, 10
This, here sung, can be no other,
By description, but my Mother!
So hath Homer praised her hair;
So Anacreon drawn the air
Of her face, and made to rise 15
Just about her sparkling eyes,
Both her brows bent like my bow.
so ridiculously mimical, that he is easily caught, or rather
catcheth himself by his over-active imitation. As the fowler
stretcheth forth his arms and legs, stalking towards the bird,
so the bird extendeth his legs and wings, approaching the fowler
till he is surprised in the net. '--G.
This is what is alluded to in 4. 6. 42. The use of the metaphor is
common. Gifford quotes Beaumont & Fletcher. _Bonduca_ and _Sea Voyage_.
Many examples are given in Nares and the _NED. _, to which may be added
_Damon and Pithias_, _O. Pl. _ 4. 68; Nash, _Wks. _ 3. 171; and Butler's
_Character of a Fantastic_ (ed. Morley, p. 401): 'He alters his gait
with the times, and has not a motion of his body that (like a dottrel)
he does not borrow from somebody else. ' Nares quotes _Old Couple_ (_O.
Pl. _, 4th ed. , 12. 41):
_E. _ Our Dotterel then is caught?
_B. _ He is and just
As Dotterels use to be: the lady first
Advanc'd toward him, stretch'd forth her wing, and he
Met her with all expressions.
It is uncertain whether the sense of 'bird' or 'simpleton' is
the original. _Dottrel_ seems to be connected with _dote_ and
_dotard_. The bird is a species of plover, and Cunningham says
that 'Selby ridicules the notion of its being more stupid than
other birds. ' In _Bart. Fair_ (_Wks. _ 4. 445) we hear of the
'sport call'd Dorring the Dotterel. '
=2. 2. 51 Nor faire one. = The dramatists were fond of
punning on _foul_ and _fair_. Cf. _Bart. Fair_ passim.
=2. 2. 77 a Nupson. = Jonson uses the word again in _Every
Man in_, _Wks. _ 1. 111: 'O that I were so happy as to light on
a nupson now. ' In _Lingua_, 1607, (_O. Pl. _, 4th ed. , 9. 367,
458) both the forms _nup_ and _nupson_ are used. The etymology
is uncertain. The _Century Dictionary_ thinks _nup_ may be a
variety of _nope_. Gifford thinks it may be a corruption of
Greek ? ? ? .
=2. 2. 78 with my Master's peace. = 'I. e. respectfully,
reverently: a bad translation of _cum pace domini_. '--G.
=2. 2. 81 a spic'd conscience. = Used again in _Sejanus_,
_Wks. _ 3. 120, and _New Inn_, _Wks. _ 5. 337.
=2. 2. 90 The very forked top too. = Another reference to the
horned head of the cuckold. Cf. 1. 6. 179, 80.
=2. 2. 93 engendering by the eyes. = Cf. Song in _Merch. of V. _
3. 2. 67: 'It is engender'd in the eyes. '
=2. 2. 98 make benefit. = Cf. _Every Man in_, _Wks. _ 1. 127.
=2. 2. 104 a Cokes. = Cf. Ford, _Lover's Melancholy_, _Wks. _
2. 80: 'A kind of cokes, which is, as the learned term [it], an
ass, a puppy, a widgeon, a dolt, a noddy, a----. ' Cokes is the
name of a foolish coxcomb in _Bart. Fair_.
=2. 2. 112 you neat handsome vessells. = Cf. note 1. 6. 57.
=2. 2. 116 your squires of honour. = This seems to be
equivalent to the similar expression 'squire of dames. '
=2. 2. 119-125 For the variety at my times, . . . I know, to
do my turnes, sweet Mistresse. = I. e. , when for variety you turn
to me, I will be able to serve your needs. Pug, of course, from the
delicate nature of the subject, chooses to make use of somewhat
ambiguous phrases.
=2. 2. 121. = Thos. Keightley, _N. & Q. _ 4. 2. 603,
proposes to read:
Of that proportion, or in the rule.
=2. 2. 123 Picardill. = Cotgrave gives: 'Piccadilles: Piccadilles;
the severall divisions or peeces fastened together about the brimme
of the collar of a doublet, &c. ' Gifford says: 'With respect to the
_Piccadil_, or, as Jonson writes it, Picardil, (as if he supposed the
fashion of wearing it be derived from Picardy,) the term is simply a
diminutive of picca (Span. and Ital. ) a spear-head, and was given to
this article of foppery, from a fancied resemblance of its stiffened
plaits to the bristled points of those weapons. Blount thinks, and
apparently with justice, that Piccadilly took its name from the sale
of the "small stiff collars, so called", which was first set on foot
in a house near the western extremity of the present street, by one
Higgins, a tailor. '
As Gifford points out, 'Pug is affecting modesty, since he had
not only assumed a handsome body, but a fashionable dress, "made
new" for a particular occasion. ' See 5. 1. 35, 36.
Jonson mentions the _Picardill_ again in the _Challenge at
Tilt_, _Wks. _ 7. 217, and in the _Epistle to a Friend_,
_Wks. _ 8. 356. For other examples see Nares, _Gloss_.
=2. 2. 127 f. your fine Monkey=; etc. These are all common
terms of endearment. The monkey is frequently mentioned as a
lady's pet by the dramatists. See _Cynthia's Revels_, passim, and
Mrs. Centlivre's _Busie Body_.
=2. 3. 36, 7 and your coach-man bald! Because he shall be bare. =
See note to 4. 4. 202.
=2. 3. 45 This man defies the Diuell. = See 2. 1. 18.
=2. 3. 46 He dos't by Ingine. = I. e. , wit, ingenuity, with a
possible reference to the name of Merecraft's agent.
=2. 3. 49 Crowland. = Crowland, or Croyland is an ancient town
and parish of Lincolnshire, situated in a low flat district, about
eight miles north-east from Peterborough. The origin of Crowland was
in a hermitage founded in the 7th century by St. Guthlac. An abbey
was founded in 714 by King Ethelbald, which was twice burnt and
restored.
=2. 4. 6 Spenser, I thinke, the younger. = Thomas (1373-1400)
was the only member of the Despenser family who was an Earl of
Gloucester. The person referred to here, however, is Hugh le
Despenser, the younger baron, son of Hugh le Despenser, the elder.
He married Eleanor, daughter of Gilbert of Clare, Earl of Gloucester,
and sister and coheiress of the next Earl Gilbert. After the
death of the latter, the inheritance was divided between the husbands
of his three sisters, and Despenser was accordingly sometimes called
Earl of Gloucester.
Despenser was at first on the side of the barons, but later joined
the King's party. In 1321 a league was formed against him, and he
was banished, but was recalled in the following year. In the
Barons' rising of 1326 he was taken prisoner, brought to Hereford,
tried and put to death.
=2. 4. 8 Thomas of Woodstocke.
= Thomas of Woodstock, Earl
of Buckingham (1355-97), the youngest son of Edward III. , was
made Duke of Gloucester by his nephew, Richard II. , in 1385, and
later acquired an extraordinary influence, dominating the affairs of
England for several years. By his high-handed actions he incurred
Richard's enmity. He was arrested July 10, 1397, and conveyed to
Calais, where he was murdered in the following September by the
king's order.
=2. 4. 10 Duke Humphrey. = Humphrey, called the Good Duke
Humphrey (1391-1447), youngest son of Henry IV. , was created
Duke of Gloucester and Earl of Pembroke in 1414. During the
minority of Henry VI. he acted as Protector of the kingdom. His
career was similar to that of Thomas of Woodstock. In 1447 he
was arrested at Bury by order of Henry VI. , who had become king
in 1429. Here he died in February, probably by a natural death,
although there were suspicions of foul play.
=2. 4. 11 Richard the Third. = Richard III. (1452-1485), Duke of
Gloucester and King of England, was defeated and slain in the battle
of Bosworth Field, 1485.
=2. 4. 12-4 MER. By . . . authentique. = This passage has been
the occasion of considerable discussion. The subject was first
approached by Malone. In a note to an essay on _The Order of
Shakespeare's Plays_ in his edition of Shakespeare's works (ed.
1790, 3. 322) he says: 'In _The Devil's an Ass_, acted in 1616,
all his historical plays are obliquely censured. '
Again in a dissertation on _Henry VI. _: 'The malignant Ben, does
indeed, in his _Devil's an Ass_, 1616, sneer at our author's
historical pieces, which for twenty years preceding had been in high
reputation, and probably were _then_ the only historical dramas that
had possession of the theatre; but from the list above given, it is
clear that Shakespeare was not the _first_ who dramatized our old
chronicles; and that the principal events of English History were
familiar to the ears of his audience, before he commenced a writer
for the stage. ' Malone here refers to quotations taken from Gosson
and Lodge. Both these essays were reprinted in Steevens' edition, and
Malone's statements were repeated in the edition by Dr. Chalmers.
In 1808 appeared Gilchrist's essay, _An Examination of the
Charges . . . of Ben Jonson's enmity,_ etc. _towards Shakespeare_.
This refutation, strengthened by Gifford's _Proofs of Ben
Jonson's Malignity_, has generally been deemed conclusive.
Gifford's note on the present passage is written with much
asperity. He was not content, however, with an accurate
restatement of Malone's arguments. He changes the italics in
order to produce an erroneous impression, printing thus: 'which
were probably then the _only historical dramas on the stage_:
He adds: 'And this is advanced in the very face of his own
arguments, to prove that there were scores, perhaps hundreds, of
others on it at the time. ' This is direct falsification. There
is no contradiction in Malone's arguments. What he attempted
to prove was that Shakespeare had had predecessors in this
field, but that in 1616 his plays held undisputed possession
of the stage. Gifford adds a passage from Heywood's _Apology
for Actors_, 1612, which is more to the point: 'Plays have
taught the unlearned the knowledge of many famous _histories_,
instructed such as cannot read in the discovery of our _English
Chronicles_: and what man have you now of that weake capacity
that being possest of their true use, cannot discourse of any
notable thing recorded even from _William the Conqueror_, until
this day? '
This passage seems to point to the existence of other historical plays
_contemporary_ with those of Shakespeare. Besides, Jonson's words
seem sufficiently harmless. Nevertheless, although I am not inclined
to accept Malone's charge of 'malignity', I cannot agree with Gifford
that the reference is merely a general one. I have no doubt that the
'Chronicle,' of which Merecraft speaks, is Hall's, and the passage
the following: 'It semeth to many men, that the name and title of
Gloucester, hath been vnfortunate and vnluckie to diuerse, whiche
for their honor, haue been erected by creacion of princes, to that
stile and dignitie, as Hugh Spencer, Thomas of Woodstocke, sonne to
kyng Edward the third, and this duke Humfrey, which thre persones,
by miserable death finished their daies, and after them kyng Richard
the iii. also, duke of Gloucester, in ciuill warre was slaine and
confounded: so y^t this name of Gloucester, is take for an vnhappie
and vnfortunate stile, as the prouerbe speaketh of Seianes horse,
whose rider was euer unhorsed, and whose possessor was euer brought to
miserie. ' Hall's _Chronicle_, ed. 1809, pp. 209-10. The passage in 'the
Play-bookes' which Jonson satirizes is at the close of _3 Henry VI. _ 2.
6:
_Edw. _ Richard, I will create thee Duke of Gloucester,
And George, of Clarence: Warwick, as ourself,
Shall do and undo as him pleaseth best.
_Rich. _ Let me be Duke of Clarence, George of Gloucester;
For Gloucester's dukedom is too ominous.
The last line, of course, corresponds to the _'Tis fatal_ of
Fitzdottrel. Furthermore it may be observed that Thomas of
Woodstock's death at Calais is referred to in Shakespeare's _K.
Rich. II. _; Duke Humphrey appears in _2 Henry IV. _; _Henry V. _;
and _1_ and _2 Henry VI. _; and Richard III. in _2_ and _3 Henry
VI. _ and _K. Rich. III. _ _3 Henry VI. _ is probably, however, not
of Shakespearean authorship.
=2. 4. 15 a noble house. = See Introduction, p. lxxiv.
=2. 4. 23 Groen-land. = The interest in Greenland must have been
at its height in 1616. Between 1576 and 1622 English explorers
discovered various portions of its coast; the voyages of Frobisher,
Davis, Hudson and Baffin all taking place during that period.
Hakluyt's _Principall Navigations_ appeared in 1589, Davis's _Worldes
Hydrographical Description_ in 1594, and descriptions of Hudson's
voyages in 1612-3. The usual spelling of the name seems to have
been _Groenland_, as here. I find the word spelled also _Groineland_,
_Groenlandia_, _Gronland_, and _Greneland_ (see Publications of the
Hakluyt Society). Jonson's reference has in it a touch of sarcasm.
=2. 4. 27 f. Yes, when you=, etc. The source of this passage is
Hor. , _Sat. _ 2. 2. 129 f. :
Nam propriae telluris erum natura neque illum
Nec me nec quemquam statuit; nos expulit ille,
Ilium aut nequities, aut vafri inscitia juris
Postremo expellet certe vivacior haeres.
Nunc ager Umbreni sub nomine, nuper Ofelli
Dictus, erit nulli proprius, sed cadet in usum
Nunc mihi, nunc alii.
Gifford quotes a part of the passage and adds: 'What follows is
admirably turned by Pope:
Shades that to Bacon might retreat afford,
Become the portion of a booby lord;
And Helmsley, once proud Buckingham's delight,
Slides to a scrivener, or city knight. '
A much closer imitation is found in Webster, _Devil's Law Case_,
_Wks. _ 2. 37:
Those lands that were the clients art now become
The lawyer's: and those tenements that were
The country gentleman's, are now grown
To be his tailor's.
=2. 4. 32 not do'it first. = Cf. 1. 6. 14 and note.
=2. 5. 10 And garters which are lost, if shee can shew 'hem. =
Gifford thinks the line should read: 'can not shew'. Cunningham gives
a satisfactory explanation: 'As I understand this it means that if a
gallant once saw the garters he would never rest until he obtained
possession of them, and they would thus be _lost_ to the family.
Garters thus begged from the ladies were used by the gallants as
_hangers_ for their swords and poniards. See _Every Man out of his
Humour_, _Wks. _ 2. 81: "O, I have been graced by them beyond all aim
of affection: this is her garter my dagger hangs in;" and again p.
194. We read also in _Cynthia's Revels_, _Wks. _ 2. 266, of a gallant
whose devotion to a lady in such that he
Salutes her pumps,
Adores her hems, her skirts, her knots, her curls,
_Will spend his patrimony for a garter_,
Or the least feather in her bounteous fan. '
Gifford's theory that ladies had some mode of displaying their
garters is contradicted by the following:
_Mary. _ These roses will shew rare: would 'twere in fashion
That the garters might be seen too!
--Massinger, _City Madam_, _Wks. _, p. 317.
Cf. also _Cynthia's Revels_, _Wks. _ 2. 296.
=2. 5. 14 her owne deare reflection, in her glasse. = 'They must haue
their looking glasses caryed with them wheresoeuer they go, . . . no
doubt they are the deuils spectacles to allure vs to pride, and
consequently to distruction for euer. '--Stubbes, _Anat. _, Part 1, P. 79.
=2. 6. 21 and done the worst defeate vpon my selfe. = _Defeat_ is often
used by Shakespeare in this sense. See Schmidt, and compare _Hamlet_ 2.
2. 598:
--A king
Upon whose property and most dear life
A damn'd defeat was made.
=2. 6. 32 a body intire. = Cf. 5. 6. 48.
=2. 6. 35 You make me paint. = Gifford quotes from the _Two Noble
Kinsmen_:
How modestly she blows and paints the sun
With her chaste blushes.
=2. 6. 37 SN. = 'Whoever has noticed the narrow streets or
rather lanes of our ancestors, and observed how story projected
beyond story, till the windows of the upper rooms almost touched
on different sides, will easily conceive the feasibility of
everything which takes place between Wittipol and his mistress,
though they make their appearance in different houses. '--G.
I cannot believe that Jonson wished to represent the two houses
as on opposite sides of the street. He speaks of them as
'contiguous', which would naturally mean side by side. Further
than this, one can hardly imagine even in the 'narrow lanes of
our ancestors' so close a meeting that the liberties mentioned
in 2. 6. 76 SN. could be taken.
=2. 6. 53 A strange woman. = In _Bart. Fair_, _Wks. _ 4. 395,
Justice Overdo says: 'Rescue this youth here out of the hands
of the lewd man and _the strange woman_. ' Gifford explains in a
note: 'The scripture phrase for an immodest woman, a prostitute.
Indeed this acceptation of the word is familiar to many
languages. It is found in the Greek; and we have in Terence--pro
_uxore habere hanc_ peregrinam: upon which Donatus remarks, _hoc
nomine etiam_ meretrices _nominabantur_. '
=2. 6. 57-113 WIT. No, my tune-full Mistresse? = etc.
This very important passage is the basis of Fleay's theory of
identification discussed in section D. IV. of the Introduction.
The chief passages necessary for comparison are quoted below.
A CELEBRATION OF CHARIS:
In Ten Lyric Pieces.
V.
His Discourse with Cupid.
Noblest Charis, you that are
Both my fortune and my star,
And do govern more my blood,
Than the various moon the flood,
Hear, what late discourse of you, 5
Love and I have had; and true.
'Mongst my Muses finding me,
Where he chanced your name to see
Set, and to this softer strain;
Sure, said he, if I have brain, 10
This, here sung, can be no other,
By description, but my Mother!
So hath Homer praised her hair;
So Anacreon drawn the air
Of her face, and made to rise 15
Just about her sparkling eyes,
Both her brows bent like my bow.
