Too near unto my state. Therefore, my Harry,
Be it thy course to busy giddy minds

With foreign quarrels; that action, hence borne out,
May waste the memory of the former days.
More would I, but my lungs are wasted so
That strength of speech is utterly denied me.
How I came by the crown, O God forgive;
And grant it may with thee in true peace live!
PRINCE. My gracious liege,

You won it, wore it, kept it, gave it me;
Then plain and right must my possession be:
Which I with more than with a common pain
'Gainst all the world will rightfully maintain.

Enter LORD JOHN of LANCASTER

KING. Look, look, here comes my John of Lancaster. LAN. Health, peace, and happiness to my royal

father!

KING. Thou bring'st me happiness and peace, son

John;

But health, alack, with youthful wings is flown
From this bare wither'd trunk: upon thy sight
My worldly business makes a period.

Where is my Lord of Warwick?

PRINCE.

My Lord of Warwick!

Re-enter WARWICK, and others

KING. Doth any name particular belong Unto the lodging where I first did swoon?

234 the lodging] the apartment.

220

230

WAR. 'T is call'd Jerusalem, my noble lord. KING. Laud be to God! even there my life must end. It hath been prophesied to me many years,

I should not die but in Jerusalem;

Which vainly I supposed the Holy Land:

But bear me to that chamber; there I'll lie;
In that Jerusalem shall Harry die.

[Exeunt.

240

SHALLOW'S HOUSE

Enter SHALLOW, FALSTAFF, BARDOLPH, and Page

SHALLOW

Y COCK AND PIE, SIR, you shall not away to-night. What, Davy, I say!

FAL. You must excuse me, Master Robert Shallow.

SHAL. I will not excuse you; you shall not be excused; excuses shall not be admitted; there is no excuse shall serve; you shall not be excused. Why, Davy!

Enter DAVY

DAVY. Here, sir.

SHAL. Davy, Davy, Davy, Davy, let me see, Davy; let me see, Davy; let me see: yea, marry, William

1 By cock and pie] A popular petty oath: "cock" seems a corruption of God, while "pie" was a name given to the Roman Catholic

cook, bid him come hither. Sir John, you shall not be 10 excused.

DAVY. Marry, sir, thus; those precepts cannot be served: and, again, sir, shall we sow the headland with wheat?

SHAL. With red wheat, Davy. But for William cook : are there no young pigeons?

Here is now the smith's note for

DAVY. Yes, sir. shoeing and plough-irons.

SHAL. Let it be cast and paid. Sir John, you shall not be excused.

DAVY. Now, sir, a new link to the bucket must needs be had: and, sir, do you mean to stop any of William's wages, about the sack he lost the other day at Hinckley fair?

66

ordinal or service-book. The reference was vulgarly understood to be to the birds, the cock and the magpie. The Cock and Pie" became a common sign for taverns. 9-10 William cook, bid him] bid William the cook.

12 precepts] writs or summonses, which it was the office of Davy, the justice's factotum, to serve on debtors or witnesses.

13 the headland probably here a field on a high ground, a field on a hill. The headland commonly meant a strip of unploughed or uncultivated land bordering a ploughed field.

66

15 red wheat] wheat which was sown in early autumn, and was known in the country of the Cotswolds as red lammas wheat." This practice of wheat-sowing appears to have been almost peculiar to the Cotswold country, a district with which Shakespeare gives many signs of familiarity. Cf. M. Wives, I, i, 80, and III, ii, 20, supra. Cf. also Mr. Justice Madden's Diary of Master William Silence, pp. 89, seq.

17 smith's note] blacksmith's account or bill.

19 cast] added up (and verified).

23 Hinckley] a market-town of Warwickshire, northeast of Coventry.

20

SHAL. A' shall answer it. Some pigeons, Davy, a couple of short-legged hens, a joint of mutton, and any pretty little tiny kickshaws, tell William cook.

DAVY. Doth the man of war stay all night, sir?

SHAL. Yea, Davy. I will use him well: a friend i' the court is better than a penny in purse. Use his men 30 well, Davy; for they are arrant knaves, and will backbite.

DAVY. No worse than they are backbitten, sir; for they have marvellous foul linen.

SHAL. Well conceited, Davy: about thy business, Davy.

DAVY. I beseech you, sir, to countenance William Visor of Woncot against Clement Perkes o' the hill.

SHAL. There is many complaints, Davy, against that Visor: that Visor is an arrant knave, on my knowledge.

DAVY. I grant your worship that he is a knave, sir; 40 but yet, God forbid, sir, but a knave should have some countenance at his friend's request. An honest man, sir, is able to speak for himself, when a knave is not. I have served your worship truly, sir, this eight years;

25 A' shall answer it] He shall be answerable for it.

27 kickshaws] fancy dishes, French dishes.

...

29-30 a friend i'the court. purse] a proverb of antiquity. 36-37 William Visor of Woncot... hill] Woncot is still the local pronunciation of Woodmancote, a village in Gloucestershire, where a family of Visor or Vizard has resided from time immemorial, and is still represented. Adjoining the village of Woodmancote is Stinchcombe Hill, known locally as "The Hill," where a family named Perkes is shown by local records to have dwelt for many generations.