P. 3. Persons represented. Prince John of | Lancaster.] The persons of the drama were Originally collected by Mr. Rowe, who has given the title of Duke of Lancaster to Prince John, a mistake which Shakspeare has been no where guilty of in the first part of this play, though in the second he has fallen into the same error. King Henry IV. was himself the last person that ever bore the title of Duke of Lan

caster

But all his sons (till they had peerazes, as Clarence, Bedford, Gloucester) were distinguished by the name of the royal house, as John of Lancaster, Humphrey of Lan caster, &c. and in that proper style, the present John (who became afterwards so illustrious by the title of Duke of Bedford) is always mentioned in the play before us.

TENS.

ACT I.

SCENE I

STEE

Jd. 19. No more the thirsty Erinnys-] The fury of discord; but Mr. Malone prefers "the thirsty entrance," a reading which is argued with insufferable tediousness by the commentators. I. c. 2, 1.7. Therefore we meet not now:] i. e.

not on that account do we now meet;-we are not now assembled, to acquaint you with our intended expedition.

1. 1. 10.

pedition.

this dear expedience.] For ex

12. And many limits-] Limits for estimates: or perhaps, outlines, rough sketches, or calculations.

1. 19. A thousand," &c. MALONE. P4. e. 1. 1. 4. — Archibald,] Archibald Douglas, earl Douglas.

Id115 Stain'd with the variation of each soil-] No circumstance could have been better chosen to mark the expedition of sir Walter. It is used by Falstaff in a similar manner: "As it were to ride day and night, and not to deliberate, not to remember, not to have patience to shift me, but to stand stained with travel." 14. 4. 20. Balk'd in their own blood,] Either bath'd, or piled together in a heap.

Id. 1. 22. "Mordake carl of Fife,"-MALONE
Id. l. 32. " to so blest a son:"-MALONE.

Id. l. 45. -the prisoners,] Percy had an exclusive right to these prisoners, except the earl of Fife. By the law of arms, every man who had taken any captive, whose redemption did not exceed ten thousand crowns, had him clearly for himself, either to acquit or ransom, at his pleasure.

Id.

l. 51. Malevolent to you in all aspects; An astrological allusion. Worcester is represented as a malignant star that influenced the conduct of Hotspur.

Id. l. 52. Which makes him prune himself.] The metaphor is taken from a cock, who in his pride prunes himself; that is, picks off the loose feathers to smooth the rest. To prune and to plume, spoken of a bird, is the same. Id. 1. 61. Than out of anger can be uttered.] That is, "more is to be said than anger will suffer me to say: more than can issue from a mind disturbed like mine."

SCENE II.

Id. c. 2, l. 23. got with swearing-lay by ;] i. e. swearing at the passengers they robbed, lay by your arms; or rather, lay by was a phrase that then signified stand still, addressed to those who were preparing to rush forward. To lay by, is a phrase adopted from navigation, and signifies, by slackening sail to become stationary.

Id. 1 24. - and spent with crying-bring in:]

i. e. more wine.

Id. 1. 30. And is not a buff jerkin a most sweet robe of durance?] To understand the propriety of the prince's answer, it must be remarked that the sheriff's officers were formerly clad in buff. So that when Falstaff asks, whether his hostess is not a sweet wench, the prince asks in return whether it will not be a sweet thing to go to prison by running in debt to this sweet wench,

Id. l. 60. For obtaining of suits?] Suit, spoken of one that attends at court, meaus a petition; used with respect to the hangman, means the clothes of the offender.

Id. l. 63. --a gib cat,] A gib cat means old cat, or perhaps an he-cat. Id. 1. 65. Lincolnshire bagpipe,] By the drone

of a Lincolnshire bagpipe, is meant the dull croak of a frog, one of the native musicians of that waterish county. In the neighbourhood

of Boston, in Lincolnshire, the noisy frogs are still humourously denominated "the Boston varts."

P. 4. c 2.1.66. --a hare.] The Egyptians in their hieroglyphics expressed a melancholy man by a hare Sitting in her form.

Id. 1. 67.

Id.

the melancholy of Moor-d.teh? It appears from Stowe's Surrey, that a broad ditch, called Deep-dit h, formerly parted the hospital from Moor-fields; and what has a more melancholy appearance than stagnant water?

80. damnable iteration;, i. e. wicked trick of citation or recitation.

P. 5, c. 1, 7. 18 have set a match., i. e. made an appointment.

Id. 1. 52 if thon darest not stand, &c.] Falstaff is quibbling on the word royal. The real or royal was of the value of ten shillings. A most the same jest occurs in a subsequent

scene.

Id 1 70. All-hallown summer!) All-hallows is All-hallown tide, or All-saints' day, which is the first of November. Shakspeare's allusion is designed to ridicule an old man with youthful passions.

Id. c. 2, l. 13. - for the nonce,] For the nonce is an expression in daily use amongst the common people in Suffolk, to signify on purpose; for the turn. Id. 1. 23. reproof] Reproof is confutation. Id. l. 45. shall I falsify men's hopes; To falsify hope is to exceed hope, to give inneh where mea hoped for little.

This speech is very artfully introduced to keep the prince from appearing vile in the opinion of the audience; it prepares them for his future reformation; and, what is yet more valuable, exhibits a natural picture of a great mind offering excuses to itself, and palliating those follies which it can neither justify nor forsake.

SCENE III.

Id. 1. 63. I will from henceforth rather be myself,

Mighty, and to be fear'd, than my conditione. I will from henceforth rather put on the character that becomes me, and exert the resentment of an injured king, than still continue in the inactivity and mildness of my natural disposition.

Id. l. 73. I do sce"-MALONE. Id. 1. 77. The moody frontier-] Frontier was anciently used for forehead,

Id. 1. 78. You have good leave - i. e. our ready

nose.

Id. 1. 32. To be so pester'd with a popinjay,] i. c. a parrot.

Id 1. 33. grief- i. e. pain.

Id. l. 70. -and indent with fears,] i. e. bargain and article with fears.

Id. c 2, 1.4. hardiment- An obsolete word, signifying hardiness, bravery, stoutness. Spen ser is frequent in his use of it.

Id. 1.5. three times did they drink.] It is the property of wounds to excite the most impatient thirst. The poet therefore hath with exquisite propriety introduced this circum stance, which may serve to place in its proper Philip Sydney; light the dying kindness of sir

who, though suffering the extremity of thirst from the agony of his own wounds, yet, notwithstanding, gave up his own draught of water to a wounded soldier' HENLEY. Id. 1. 10. - his crisp head-- Crisp is curled. Id. t. 23 Art thou not ashamed Id. l. 53. in eye of death, menacing death.

-MALONE. that is, an eye

P. 7, c. 1, 7. 10. this canker, Bolingbroke!) The canker rose is the dog-rose, the flower of the cynosbaton.

Id. l. 17. disdain'd-] for disdainful. Id. 1. 13. But out upon this half fae'd fellowship!] A coat is said to be faced when part of it, as the sleeves or bosom, is covered with something finer or more splendid than the main substance. The mantua-makers still use the word. Half fae'd fellowship is then "partnership but half-adorned, partnership which yet wants half the show of dignities and honours." JOHNSON.

Id. l. 41 --a world of figures here] Figures mean shapes created by Hotspur's imagina

II 1. 76.

ACT II.

SCENE I.

Charles' wain-] Charles's wain is the vulgar name given to the constellation eled the Bear. It is a corruption of the Chorles or Churls wain (Sax. ecoul, a countryman.)

P. 8. c. 1, 7. 1. Cut's saddle,] Cut is the name of a horse in The Witches of Lancashire, 1634, and, probably, a common one. Id. 1. 3. -- out of all cess. i. e. out of all measure: the phrase being taken from a cess, tax, or subsidy..

Id 1.5. --(S dank-- i. c. wet, rotten Id. L. 7. bots: are worms in the stomach of a horse.

Id. l. 19. —-breeds fleas like a loach.] i, e. as a loach breeds. The loach is a very small fish, but so exceedingly prol fic, that it is seldom found without spawn in it.

I. 1. 30. Gadshill. This thief receives his title from a place on the Kentish road, where ma y robberies have been committed. Id. 1. 47. At hand, quoth pick purse. This is a

proverbial expression often used by Green, Nashe, and other writers of the time, in whose works the cant of low conversation is preserved.

P. 8. c. 1, l. 55. —franklin-] is a little gentleman, perhaps an opulent freeholder. Fortescue, says the editor of The Canterbury Tales, vol. iv. p. 202. (de L. L. Ang. c. IX.) describes a franklain to be pater familias-magnis ditatus possessionibus. He is classed with (but after) the miles and armiger; and is distinguished from the Libere tenentes and valecti; though, as it should seem, the only real distinction between him and other freeholders consisted in the largeness of his estate. Spelman, in voce Franklein, quotes the following passage from Trivet's French Chronicle (MSS. Bibl. R. S. n. 56). "Thomas de Brotherton filius Edwardi I. marescallus Angliæ, après la mort de son père exposa la fle de un Franchelyn appelée Alice." The Historian did not think it worth his while even to mention the name of the Frankleian. REED. Id.1 61. -saint Nicholas' clerks,] St. Nicholas was the patron saint of scholars; and Nicholas, or old Nick, is a cant name for the devil. Hence he equivocally calls robbers, St. Nicholas' clerks.

IL 170. other Trojans-] Trojan had a cant signification, and perhaps was only a more creditable term for a thief. 11.74. I am joined with no foot land-rakers, &c.] that is, with no padders, no wanderers on foot. No long staff sixpenny strikers,-no fellows hat infest the road with long staffs, and knock Ben down for sixpence. None of these mad mustachio purple-hued malt-worms, - none of those whose faces are red with drinking ale. JOHNSON.

Id. L. 77. — - burgomasters, and great oneyers;] Perhaps public accountants. Some read monyers, ot bankers.

-

ld c 2. 1. 2. such as can hold in; such as will strike sooner than speak, and speak sooner than drink, and drink, &c.] Perhaps the meaning may be,-Men who will knock the traveller down sooner than speak to him; who yet will speak to him and bid him stand sooner than drink (to which they are sufficiently well inclined; and lastly who will drink sooner than pray. ILL. 9. She will, she will; justice hath liquored her. A satire on chicane in courts of justice; which supports ill men in their violations of the law, under the very cover of it.

Id. t. 10. ——as in a castle,] Perhaps Shakspeare means, we steal with as much security as the ancient inhabitants of castles, who had those strong holds to fly to for protection and defence agnst the laws.

Id. 11. we have the receipt of fern-seed,] The ancients, who often paid more attention to received opinions than to the evidence of their senses, believed that fern bore no seed. Our ancestors imagined that this plant produced seed which was invisible. Hence, from an Extraordinary mode of reasoning, founded on the fantastic doctrine of signatures, they concluded that they who possessed the secret of wearing this seed about them would become invisible.

12. l. 16. —— purchase,] anciently the cant term for stolen goods.

SCENE II.

Id. l. 36. ———— four foot by the squire-] Dr. Warburton extracts humour out of this expression, but Dr. Johnson and the other commentators rank that by the squire means no more than by a rule.

Id. L. 62. —to colt-] is to fool, to trick; but the prince taking it in another sense, opposes it by uncoll, that is, unhorse.

SCENE III.

-MALONE.

SCENE IV.

Corinthian,] A wencher. A cant expression, common in old plays.

Id.

l. 52.-brown bastard-] Bastard was a kind of sweet wine. The prince finding the waiter not able, or not willing, to understand his instigation, puzzles him with unconnected prattle, and drives him away. JOHNSON. I am not yet of Percy's P. 11, c. 1, 7. 9. mind.] The drawer's answer had interrupted the prince's train of discourse. He was proceeding thus: I am now of all humours, that have showed themselves humours;--1 am not yet of Percy's mind; that is, I am willing to indulge myself in gaiety and frolic, and try I am not yet all the varieties of human life of Percy's mind,-who thinks all the time fost that is not spent in bloodshed, forgets decency and civility, and has nothing but the talk of a soldier. JOHNSON.

Id. l. 19. Rivo] This was perhaps the cant of the English taverns.

Id. l. 26.

stockings.

Id. l. 32.

-nether-stocks,] Nether-stocks are

"sweet tale of the sons!" MALONE.

P. 11, c. 2, 7. 50. Fal. Their points being broken,-

Poins. Down fell their hose] To understand Poins's joke, the double meaning of point must be remembered, which signifies the sharp end of a weapon, and the lace of a garment. Id l. 57. - Kendal Kendal, in Westmorland, is a place famous for making cloths, and dying them with several bright colours. Kendal green was the livery of Robert earl of thuntington and his followers, while they remained in a state of outlawry, and their leader assumed the title of Robin Hood.

Id. 1 63. tallow-keech. A keech of tallow is the fat of an ox or cow rolled up by the butcher in a round lump, in order to be carried to the chandler. It is the proper word in use

now.

P. 12, c. 1, l. 49. -- there is a nobleman

Give him as much as will make him a royal man. Perhaps here is a kind of jest intended. He that received a noble was, in cant language. called a nobleman: in this sense the prince catches the word, and bids the Jandlady give | him as much as will make him a royal man. that is, a real, a royal man, and Send him away. The royal went for 10s.-the noble for 6. and Sd.

Id. l. 74. taken with the manner. Taken with the manner is a law phrase, and then in common use, to signify taken in the fact. Id. c. 2. 1 3. Hot livers, and cold purses". That is, drunkenness and poverty. To drink was, in the language of those times, to heat the liver. Id. 1.5 Bard. Choler, my lord, if rightly taken. P. Hen. No, if rightly taken, halter ] The reader who would enter into the spirit of this repartee, must recollect the similarity of sound between collar and choler.

Id. l. 8. Id. 1 21

-bombast? is the stuffing of clothes upon the cross of a Welsh hook. A Welsh hook appears to have been some instrument of the offensive kind.

Id. l. 29. - pistol―) Shakspeare never has any care to preserve the manners of the time. Pistols were not known in the age of Henry. Pistols were, about our author's time, eminently used by the Scots. Sir Henry Wotton somewhere makes mention of a Scottish pistol. But Beaumont and Fletcher are still more inexcusable. In The Humourous Lieutenant, they have equipped Demetrius Poliorcetes, one of the immediate successors of Alexander the Great, with the same weapon. Id. l. 40. blue capsA name of ridicule given to the Scots from their blue bonnets. Id. l. 43. you may buy land, &c. In former times the prosperity of the nation was known by the value of land, as now by the price of stocks. Before Henry the Seventh made it safe to serve the king regnant, it was the prac tice at every revolution, for the conqueror to confiscate the estates of those that opposed, and perhaps of those who did not assist him Those, therefore, that foresaw the change of government, and thought their estates in danger, were desirous to sell them in haste for something that might be carried away. JOHNSON. Id. l. 63 This chair shall be my state,] A state is a chair with a canopy over it Id. l. 64. - this cushion my crown.]

Dr. Letherland, in a MS. note, observes that the country people in Warwickshire use a cushion for a crown, at their harvest-home diversions. Id. l. 74. -king Cambyses- The banter is here upon a play called, A lamentable Trage

tickle-brain. This appears to have been the nick-name of some strong liquor.

Id l. 10.

though the camomile, &c.] This whole speech is supremely comie. The simile of camomile used to illustrate a contrary effect, brings to my remembrance an observation of a late writer of some merit, whom the desire of being witty has betrayed into a like thought. Meaning to enforce with great vehemence the mad temerity of young soldiers, he remarks, that though Bedlam be in the road to Hogsden, it is out of the way to promotion." JOHNSON.

Id. l. 19. --a micher;] i. e. truant; A micher, means a lurking thief distinguished from one more daring.

Id.

l. 49. rabbit-sucker, &e.] is, I suppose, a sucking rabbit. The jest is in comparing himself to something thin and little. poulterer's hare; a hare hung up by the hind legs without a skin, is long and slender. JOHN

SON

So a

Id. l. 66.

Manningtree ox— - Manningtree in Essex, and the neighbourhood of it, are famous for richness of pasture. The farms thereabouts are chiefly tenanted by graziers. Some ox of an unusual size was, probably, roasted there on an occasion of public festivity, or exposed for money to publie show.

Id. 1. 72. take me with you: that is, go no faster than I can follow. Let me know your meaning.

Id. c. 2, 1, 25. This speech Mr. Malone gives to prince Henry.

Id.

1. 38. -hide thee behind the arras; The bulk of Falstaff made him not the fittest to be concealed behind the hangings, but every poet sacrifices something to the scenery. If Falstaff had not been hidden, he could not have been found asleep, nor had his pockets searched.

JOHNSON.

When arras was first brought into England, it was suspended on small hooks driven into the bare walls of houses and castles. But this practice was soon discontinued; for after the damp of the stone or brickwork had been found to rot the tapestry, it was fixed on frames of wood at such a distance from the wall, as prevented the latter from being injurious to the former. In old houses, therefore, long before the time of Shakspeare, there were large spaces left between the arras and the walls, sufficient to contain even one of Falstaff's bulk. STEEVENS.

Id. l. 53. The man. I do assure you, is not here;]

Every reader must regret that Shakspeare would not give himself the trouble to furnish

price Heury with Some more pardonable

excuse; without obliging him to have recourse to an absolute falsehood, and that too uttered under the sanction of so strong an assur

ACT III.

SCENE 1.

P. 14, c. 1, 22. tranee; beginning. Id 1. 36. Of burning cressets;] A cresset was a great light set upon a beacon, light-house, or watch-tower: from the French word croissette, a little cross, because the beacons had anciently crosses on the top of them.

-induction-] that is, en

Id 1 50. Diseased nature-] The poet has here taken, from the perverseness and contrariousness of Hotspur's temper, an opportunity of raising his character, by a very rational and philosophical confutation of superstitious error. JOHNSON. Id. l. 55.

and topples down-] To topple is

to tumble. Id. c. 2, l. 50. Methinks, my moiety,] The division is here into three parts,-A moiety was frequently used by the writers of Shakspeare's age, as a portion of any thing, though not divided into two equal parts.

Id. 1.54.cantle out.] A cantle is a corner, or piece of any thing."

Id. 1.78. For I was train'd up in the English court: The real name of Owen Glendower Was Vaughan, and he was originally a barrister of the Middle Temple.

P. 15, c. 1, l. I. ——the tongue-] The English language.

Id 1 6 —— a brazen canstick turn'd,] The word candlestick which destroys the harmony of | the line, is written canstick in the quartos, 1598, 1599, and 1608; and so it was pronounced. Heywood and several of the old writers constantly spell it in this manner. Id. L. 18. Pil haste the writer.] He means the writer of the articles. Mr. Malone reads "I'll in and haste," &c.

Id 1 24 of the moldwarp and the ant,] This alludes to an old prophecy, which is said to have induced Owen Glendower to take arms azainst king Henry. The moldwarp is the mole, so called because it renders the surface of the earth unlevel by the hillocks which it

or conceit.

Ide 2.1.3. One that no persuasion"-MALONE. Ida feeling disputation:] i. e. a contest of sensibility, a reciprocation in which we engage on equal terms.

Id 1 16. With ravishing division, to her lute.] Divisions were very uncommon in vocal music during the time of Shakspeare. BURNEY. 14.1 21. She bids you on the wanton rushes lay you down."-MALONE.

ld. Making such difference 'twixt wake and sleep. She will full you by her song into soft tranquillity, in which you shall be so near to sleep as to be free from perturbation, and so much awake as to be sensible of pleasure; a state partaking of sleep and wakefulness, as the twilight of night and day. JOHNSON. Id 1 31. our book.] our paper of conditions.

35And straight"-MALONE.

14. L 66. As if thou never walk'dst further than Finsbury.] Open walks and fields near Caswell-street, London-wall, by Moorgate: the common resort of the citizens, as appears from many of our ancient comedies. Id 1 70.

velvet-guards,] To such as have

their clothes adorned with shreds of velvet which was, I suppose, the finery of cockneys. JOHNSON.

P. 16, c. 1, l. 1. our book's drawn ;] i. e. our articles. Every composition, whether play, ballad, or history, was called a book, on the registers of ancient publications.

ld. l. 8.

LONE.

SCENE II.

66 some private conference:"-MAId. 1 30. Yet such extenuation let me bey, &c.] The construction is somewhat obscure. Let me beg so much extenuation, that, upon confutation of many false charges, I may be pardoned some that are true. I should read on reproof, instead of in reproof; but concerning Shakspeare's particles there is no certainty. JOHNSON.

Id. l. 40. Thy place in council thou hast rudely lost.] Our author, has, I believe, here been guilty of an anachronism. The prince's removal from council, in consequence of his striking the lord chief justice Gascoigne, was some years after the battle of Shrewsbury (1403). His brother, Thomas duke of Clarence, was appointed president of the council in his room, and he was not created a duke till the 13th year of king Henry IV. (1411.) MALONE.

Id. l. 51. —— loyal to possession;] True to him that had then possession of the crown. JOHN

SON.

Id. l. 69. —-rash_bavin wits,] Rash, is heady, thoughtless: bavin is brushwood, which, fired, burns fiercely, but is soon out. Id. 1. 70. -carded his state; ] The metaphor seems to be taken from mingling coarse wool with fine, and card ng them together, whereby the value of the latter is diminished. The king means, that Richard mingled and carded together his royal state with capering fools, &c. Id. 1. 73. And gave his countenance, against his

name,] i. e. favoured and encouraged things that were contrary to his dignity and reputation. Id. 1. 75. Of every beardless vain comparative:} Comparative means here, one who affects wit, a dealer in comparisons: what Shakspeare calls, somewhere else, a simile-monger. Id. 1. 77. Enfeoff'd himself to popular ty:] To enfeoff is a law term, signifying to invest with possession.

Id. c. 2, l. 51. Capitulate-] i. e. make head. So, to articulate, in a subsequent scene, is to form articles.

Id. l. 54.

dearest-] Dearest is most fatal, most mischievous.

P. 17, c. 1, 1. 16. Lord Mortimer of Scotland hath sent word,] There was no such person as lord Mortimer of Scotland; but there was a lord March of Scotland (George Dunbar), who having quitted his own country in disgust, attached himself so warmly to the English, and did them such signal services in their wars with Scotland, that the parliament petitioned the king to bestow some reward on him. He fought on the side of Henry in this rebellion, and was the means of saving his life at the battle of Shrewsbury, as is related by Holinshed. This, no doubt, was the lord whom Shakspeare designed to represent in the act of sending friendly intelligence to the king.

Id. 1. 33. Advantage feeds him fat,] i. e. feeds himself.

SCENE III.

Id. l. 42. while I am in some liking: while I have some flesh, some substance. We have