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Shal. Be merry, master Bardolph;—and my little soldier there, be merry.

Sil. Be merry, be merry, my wife's as all ;

[Singing.

For women are shrews, both short and tall: 'Tis merry in hall, when beards wag all, And welcome merry shrove-tide.

Be merry, be merry, &c.

Fal. I did not think, master Silence had been a man of this mettle.

Sil. Who I? I have been merry twice and once,

ere now.

Re-enter DAVY.

Davy. There is a dish of leather-coats for you.

Shal. Davy,

[Setting them before BARDOLPH.

Davy. Your worship?-I'll be with

[To BARD.]-A cup of wine, sir?

you straight.

Sil. A cup of wine, that's brisk and fine,
And drink unto the leman mine;

And a merry heart lives long-a.

Fal. Well said, master Silence.

[Singing.

Sil. And we shall be merry;-now comes in the sweet of the night.

Fal. Health and long life to you, master Silence. Sil. Fill the cup, and let it come;

I'll pledge you a mile to the bottom.

Shal. Honest Bardolph, welcome: If thou wantest any thing, and wilt not call, beshrew thy heart.Welcome, my little tiny thief; [To the Page.] and welcome, indeed, too.-I'll drink to master Bardolph, and to all the cavaleroes' about London.

9-leather-coats-] The apple commonly denominated russetine, in Devonshire, is called the buff-coat.

7

cavaleroes-] This was the term by which an airy,

Shal. Honest gentleman, I know not your breed

ing.

Pist. Why then, lament therefore.

Shal. Give me pardon, sir;-If, sir, you come with news from the court, I take it, there is but two ways; either to utter them, or to conceal them. I am, sir, under the king, in some authority. Pist. Under which king, Bezonian?3 speak, or die. Shal. Under king Harry.

Pist.

Harry the fourth? or fifth?

Shal. Harry the fourth.

Pist.

A foutra for thine office!

Sir John, thy tender lambkin now is king;

Harry the fifth's the man.

I speak the truth: When Pistol lies, do this; and fig me, like The bragging Spaniard.*

Fal. What! is the old king dead?

Pist. As nail in door: the things I speak, are just. Fal. Away, Bardolph; saddle my horse.-Master Robert Shallow, choose what office thou wilt in the land, 'tis thine.-Pistol, I will double-charge thee with dignities.

Bard. O joyful day!—I would not take a knighthood for my fortune.

Bezonian? A term of reproach, frequent in the writers. contemporary with our poet. Bisognoso, a needy person; thence metaphorically, a base scoundrel.

fig me, like

The bragging Spaniard.] To fig, in Spanish, higas dar, is to insult by putting the thumb between the fore and middle finger. From this Spanish custom we yet say in contempt, you." JOHNSON.

Fal. What! is the old king dead?

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a fig for

Pist. As nail in door:] This proverbial expression is oftener used than understood. The door nail is the nail on which in ancient doors the knocker strikes. It is therefore used as a comparison to any one irrecoverably dead, one who has fallen (as Virgil says) multâ morte, i. e. with abundant death, such as reiteration of strokes on the head would naturally produce.

Pist. What? I do bring good news?

Fal. Carry master Silence to bed.-Master Shallow, my lord Shallow, be what thou wilt, I am fortune's steward. Get on thy boots: we'll ride all night:-0, sweet Pistol:-Away, Bardolph. [Exit BARD.]-Come, Pistol, utter more to me; and, withal, devise something, to do thyself good.Boot, boot, master Shallow; I know, the young king is sick for me. Let us take any man's horses; the laws of England are at my commandment. Happy are they which have been my friends; and woe to my lord chief justice!

Pist. Let vultures vile seize on his lungs also! Where is the life that late I led, say they:

Why, here it is; Welcome these pleasant days. [Exeunt.

SCENE IV.

London. A Street.

Enter Beadles, dragging in Hostess Quickly, and Doll Tear-sheet.

Host. No, thou arrant knave; I would I might die, that I might have thee hanged: thou hast drawn my shoulder out of joint.

1 Bead. The constables have delivered her over to me; and she shall have whipping-cheer enough, I warrant her: There hath been a man or two lately killed about her.

Dol. Nut-hook, nut-hook," you lie. Come on; I'll tell thee what, thou damned tripe-visaged rascal;

6 Nut-hook, &c.] Nut-hook seems to have been in those times a term of reproach for a catchpoll; or, as some think, a cant word for a thief, or rogue.

VOL. V.

K K

an the child I now go with, do miscarry, thou hadst better thou hadst struck thy mother, thou paperfaced villain.

Host. O the Lord, that sir John were come! he would make this a bloody day to somebody. But I pray God the fruit of her womb miscarry!

1 Bead. If it do, you shall have a dozen of cushions' again; you have but eleven now. Come, I charge you both go with me; for the man is dead, that you and Pistol beat among you.

Dol. I'll tell thee what, thou thin man in a censer! I will have you as soundly swinged for this, you blue-bottle rogue! you filthy famished correctioner! if you be not swinged, I'll forswear half-kirtles.*

1 Bead. Come, come, you she knight-errant,

come.

Host. O, that right should thus overcome might! Well; of sufferance comes ease.

Dol. Come, you rogue, come; bring me to a justice.

Host. Ay; come, you starved blood-hound.

Dol. Goodman death! goodman bones!
Host. Thou atomy thou!

Dol. Come, you thin thing; come, you rascal! 1 Bead. Very well.

[Exeunt.

7 a dozen of cushions-] That is, to stuff her out that she might counterfeit pregnancy.

thou thin man in a censer!] An embossed figure in the middle of the pierced convex lid of the censer.

9 ―

blue-bottle-rogue!] A name, I suppose, given to the beadle, from the colour of his livery; and an allusion to the fleshfly so called.

1

— half-kirtles.] From the description of a kirtle given by the commentators, a half-kirtle should seem to be a short cloak. Perhaps a cloak, without sleeves, was here meant.

SCENE V.

A publick Place near Westminster Abbey.

Enter two Grooms, strewing Rushes.

1 Groom. More rushes, more rushes.* 2 Groom. The trumpets have sounded twice. 1 Groom. It will be two o'clock ere they come from the coronation: Despatch, despatch.

[Exeunt Grooms.

Enter FALSTAFF, SHALLOW, PISTOL, BARDolph, and the Page.

Fal. Stand here by me, master Robert Shallow; I will make the king do you grace: I will leer upon him, as 'a comes by; and do but mark the countenance that he will give me.

Pist. God bless thy lungs, good knight.

Fal. Come here, Pistol; stand behind me.-O, if I had had time to have made new liveries, I would have bestowed the thousand pound I borrowed of you. [To SHALLOW.] But 'tis no matter; this poor show doth better: this doth infer the zeal I had to see him.

Shal. It doth so.

Fal. It shows my earnestness of affection.

Shal. It doth so.

Fal. My devotion.

Shal. It doth, it doth, it doth.

2 More rushes, &c.] It has been already observed, that, at ceremonial entertainments, it was the custom to strew the floor with rushes. Chambers, and indeed all apartments usually inhabited, were formerly strewed in this manner. As our ancestors rarely washed their floors, disguises of uncleanliness became necessary things.

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