Eva. It is that fery verfon for all the 'orld, as juft as you will defire; and feven hundred pounds of monies, and gold, and filver, is her grandfire, upon his death's-bed, (Got deliver to a joyful refurrections!) give, when the is able to overtake feventeen years old it were a goot motion, if we leave our pribbles and prabbles, and defire a marriage between master Abraham, and mistress Anne Page. Shal. Did her grandfire leave her feven hundred pound ? Eva. Ay, and her father is make her a petter penny. Shal. I know the young gentlewoman; fhe has good gifts. Eva. Seven hundred pounds, and poffibilities, is good gifts. Shal. Well, let us fee honeft mafter Page: Is Falstaff there? Eva. Shall I tell you a lie? I do defpife a liar, as I do defpife one that is false; or, as I defpife one that is not true. The knight, fir John, is there; and, I beseech you, be ruled by your well-willers. I will peat the door [knocks] for master Page. What, hoa! Got plefs your houfe here! Page. Who's there? Enter PAGE. Eva. Here is Got's pleffing, and your friend, and justice Shallow and here young mafter Slender; that, peradventures, fhall tell you another tale, if matters grow to your likings. Page. I am glad to fee your worfhips well: I thank you for my venifon, master Shallow. Shal. Mafter Page, I am glad to fee you; Much good do it your good heart! I wish'd your venifon better; it was ill kill'd-How doth good miftrefs Page ?—and I love you always with my heart, la; with my heart. Page. Sir, I thank you. Shal. fenfe, for, little, as well as low," but fimply for weak, flender, feminine ; and the only pleafantry of the paffage feems to be, that poor Slender should characterife his miftrefs by a general quality belonging to her whole fex. MALONE A fmall voice is a fift and melodious voice. When female characters were filled by boys, to speak small like a woman must have been a valuable qualification. HOLT WHITE. Shal. Sir, I thank you; by yea and no, I do. he was out-run on Cotfale. Page. It could not be judg'd, fir. Slen. You'll not confefs, you'll not confefs.. Shal. That he will not;'tis your fault, 'tis your fault::S 'Tis a good dog, Page. He means Cotswold, in Gloucestershire. In the beginning of the reign of James the First, by permiffion of the king, one Dover, a publick-fpirited attorney of Barton on the Heath, in Warwickshire, Instituted on the hills of Cotswold an annual celebration of games, confifting of rural sports and: exercises. There he conftantly conducted in person, well mounted, and accoutred in a fuit of his majesty's old cloaths; and they were frequented: above forty years by the nobility and gentry for fixty miles round, till the grand rebellion abolished every liberal establishment. I have feen a very fcarce book, entitled, “Annalia Dubrenfia. Upon the yearly celebration of Mr. Robert Dover's Olympick games upon Corfold bills," &c. London, 1636, 4to. There are recommendatory verfes prefixed, written by Drayton, Jonfon, Randolph, and many others, the moft eminent wits of the times. The games, as appears from a curious frontispiece, were, chiefly,. wrestling, leaping, pitching the bar, handling the pike, dancing of women, various kinds of hunting, and particularly courfing the hare with grey-hounds.. Hence alfo we fee the meaning of another paffage, where Falstaff, or Shallow, calls a tout fellow a Corsavoldman. But from what is here faid, an inference of another kind may be drawn, respecting the age of the play. A meager and imperfect fetch of this comedy was printed, in 1602. Afterwards Shakspeare new-wrote it entirely. This allusion therefore to the Cotfivold games, not founded till the reign of James the First, afcertains a period of time beyond which our author must have made the additions to his original rough draft, or, in other words, composed the prefent comedy, James the First came to the crown in the year 1603 And we will fuppofe that two or three more years at least must have paffed before these games could have been effectually established. I would there-fore, at the earliest date this play about the year 1607. T. WARTON. The Annalia Dubronfia confißts entirely of recommendatory verses. DOUCE. The Cotswold hills in Gloucestershire are a large tract of downs, famousfor their fine turf, and therefore excellent for courfing. I believe there is no village of that narée. BLACKSTONE.. 5 Perhaps Shallow means to fay, that it is a known failing of Page's not to confefs that his dog has been out-run. Or, the meaning may be, 'tis your misfortune that he was out run on Cotfwold; be is, however, a goodt dog. MALONE. Perhaps Shallow addresses thefe words to Slender, and means to tell bima, 5 Page. A cur, fir. Shal. Sir, he's a good dog, and a fair dog; Can there be more faid? he is good, and fair.-Is fir John Falstaff here? Page. Sir, he is within; and I would I could do a good office between you. Eva. It is fpoke as a chriftians ought to speak, Shal. He hath wrong'd me, mafter Page. Page. Sir, he doth in fome fort confess it. Shal. If it be confefs'd, it is not redrefs'd; is not that fo, mafter Page? He hath wrong'd me; indeed, he hathat a word, he hath ;-believe me ;-Robert Shallow, Efquire, faith, he is wrong'd. Page. Here comes fir John. Enter Sir John FALSTAFF, BARDOLPH, NYM, and PISTOL. Fal. Now, mafter Shallow; you'll complain of me to the king? Shal. Knight, you have beaten my men, kill'd my deer, and broke open my lodge.6 Fal. But not kifs'd your keeper's daughter? Shal. Tut, a pin! this fhall be answer❜d. Fal. I will anfwer it ftraight;-I have done all this a That is now anfwer'd. Shal. The Council fhall know this. Fal. 'Twere better for you, if it were known in counfel: 1 you'll be laugh'd at. Eva. it was bis fault to undervalue a dog whofe inferiority in the chafe was not afcertained." STEEVENS. This probably alludes to fome real incident, at that time well known So probably Falftaff's anfwer. FARMER. 7 The old copies read-"Twere better for you, if 'twère known in council. Perhaps it is an abrupt fpeech, and must be read thus :-Twere bet-. for you--if 'twere known in council, you'll be laugh'd at. "Twere bet ter for you, is, I believe, a menace. JOHNSON. Some of the modern editors arbitrarily read-if 'twere not known in council, but I believe Falstaff quibbles between council and counsel. The latter fignifies fecrecy. STEEVENS. Mr. Ritfon fuppofes the prefent reading to be juft, and quite in Falstaff's 4 infolent Eva. Pauca verba, fir John; good worts.. head; Slender, I broke your What matter have you against me ?. Slen. Marry, fir, I have matter in my head against you ;: and against your coney-catching rafcals, Bardolph, Nym,. and Piftol. They carried me to the tavern, and made me. drunk, and afterwards pick'd my pocket.. Bar. You Banbury cheese! * Slen. Ay, it is no matter. Pift. How now, Mephoftophilus ? 3 Nym. Slice, I fay! pauca, pauca; flice! that's my hu mour. Slen. Where's Simple, my man ?—can you tell, coufin ? Eva. Peace: I pray you! Now let us underftand: There is three umpires in this matter, as I understand: that ismafter Page, fidelicet, mafter Page; and there is myself, fide-licet, myfelf; and the three party is, laftly and finally, mine hoft of the Garter. Page. We three to hear it, and end it between them.. Eva. Fery goot: I will make a prief of it in my notebook; and we will afterwards 'ork upon the cause, with as great discreetly as we can. Fal. Piftol, Pift. He hears with ears.. 16 Evaz infolent fneering manner. "It would be much better, indeed, to have: it known in the council, where you would only be laugh'd at " REED. The fpelling of the old quarto (counfel, as well as the general purport of the paffage, fully confirms Mr. Steevens's interpretation. MALONE.. 8 Worts was the ancient name of all the cabbage kind. STEEVENS. 9 A coney-catcher was, in the time of Elizabeth, a common name for a cheat or fharper. Green, one of the firft among us who made a trade of. writing pamphlets, published A Detection of the Frauds and Tricks of Coney-... catchers and Cauzeners. JOHNSON. 2 This is faid in allufion to the thin carcafe of Slender. STEEVENS. 3 This is the name of a spirit or familiar, in the old story book of Sir Job Fauftus, or John Fauft: to whom our author afterwards alludes, Act II. fc. ii. Piftol means to call Slender a very uely fellow. STEEVENS. 4 Dr. Farmer (fee a former note,) would transfer the Latin words to Evans. But the old copy, I think, is right. Piftol, in K. Henry V. ules the fame language. In the fame fcene Nym twice ufes the word foluse MALONZE. Eva. The tevil and his tam! what phrafe is this, He hears with ear? Why, it is affectations. Fal. Piftol, did you pick master Slender's purfe? Slen. Ay, by thefe gloves, did he, (or I would I might never come in mine own great chamber again elfe,) of feven groats in mill-fixpences, and two Edward fhovel-boards,1 that coft me two fhilling and two pence a-piece of Yead Miller, by these gloves. Fal. 5 Sir Hugh is juftified in his cenfure of this paffage by Pecham, who in his Garden of Eloquence, 1577, places this very mode of expreffion under the article Pleonamus. HENDERSON.. It appears from a paflage in Sir William Davenant's Neives from Plimouth, that thefe mill'd-fixpences were used by way of counters to caft up money: A few mill'd-fixpences, with which "My puifer cafts accompt." STEEVENS. 7 One of thefe pieces of metal is mentioned in Middleton's comedy of The Roaring Girl, 1611: away flid I my man, like a shovel-board shilling,” &c. STEEVENS. "Edward Shovel-boards," were the broad fhillings of Edw. VI, Taylor, the water-poet, in his Trauch of Twelve-pence, makes him complain: the unthrift every day With my face downwards do at fboarve-board play; "That had I had a beard, you may fuppofe, "They had worne it off, as they have done my nofe." And in a note he tells us: "Edw. fhillings for the moft part are used at fhaave-board," FARMER. In the Secord Part of K. Henry IV. Falstaff says, "Quoiť him down, Bardolph, like a fove-great filling." This confirms Farmer's opinion, that pieces of coin were used for that purpofe. M. MASON. The following extraft, for the notice of which I am indebted to Dr. Farmer, will afcertain the fpecies of coin mentioned in the text. 66 I must here take notice before I entirely quit the subject of these last-mentioned fhillings, that I have alfo feen fome other pieces of good filver, greatly ref mbling the fame, and of the fame date 1547, that have been fo much thicker as to weigh about balf an ounce, together with fome others that have weighed an ounce." Folkes's Table of English filver Coins, p. 32. The former of thefe were probably what coft Mater Slender two shillings and two-pence a-piece. REED. It appears, that the game of hovel-board was played with the fhillings of Edward VI. in Shadwell's time; for in his Mifer, A&t L. fc. i. Cheatly fays," She perfuaded him to play with hazard at Backgammon, and he has already lost his Edward fillings that he kept for Shovel-board, and |