Horace, 1567, that a wispe was the punishment of a scold: "So perfyte and exacte a scoulde that women mighte geve place "Whose tattling tongues had won a wispe," &c. STEEVENS. See also, Nashe's Apology of Pierce Pennilesse, 1593: "Why thou errant butter-whore, thou cotquean and scrattop of scolds, wilt thou never leave afflicting a dead carcasse ? continually read the rhetorick lecture of Ramme-Alley a wispe, a wispe, you kitchin stuffe wrangler." In A Warning for Faire Women, a tragedy, 1599, we meet the same allusion: "Thy jests are like a wispe unto a scold.” Again. in A Dialogue between John and Jone striving who shall wear the Breeches-PLEASURES OF POETRY, bl. 1. no date: "Good gentle Jone, with-holde thy hands, "This once let me entreat thee, "And make me promise, never more "That thou shalt mind to beat me ; "For fear thou wear the wispe, good wife, MALONE. 354. To make this shameless callat know herself.-] Shakspers uses the word callat likewise in The Winter's Tale, act II. sc. iii. "Leonatus of Paulina. A callat "Of boundless tongue, who late hath beat Callat, Callat, a lewd woman, a drab, perhaps so called from the French calote, which was a sort of head-dress worn by country girls. See Glossary to Urry's Chaucer. "A cold old knave cuckolde himself winyng, "And of calot of lewd demenyng.” Chaucer's Remedy of Love, ver. 307. So, Skelton, in his Elinour Rumming, Works, p. 133. "Then Elinour said, ye calettes, "I shall break your palettes.' And again, p. 136. "She was a cumlye-callet." Gammar. "Vengeance on those callets, whose conscience is so large." Gammar Gurton's Needle, act III. sc. iii. "A cart for a callat" Id. ib. “Why the callet you told me of here, "I have tane disguis'd." Ben Jonson's Volpone, act IV. sc. iii. 368. GREY. -hath broach'd this tumult, -] The STEEVENS. quarto reads, "hath mov'd this," &c. 372. -we saw our sun-shine made thy spring, And that thy summer bred us no increase,] When we saw that by favouring thee we made thee grow in fortune, but that we received no advantage from thy fortune flourishing by our favour, we then resolved to destroy thee, and determine to try some other means, though our first efforts have failed. The quartos read: JOHNSON. But But when we saw our summer brought thee And that the harvest brought us no increase. 387. A field of battle at Ferrybridge in Yorkshire.] We should read near Towton. Shakspere has here, perhaps, intentionally thrown three different actions into one. The Lord Fitzwater being stationed by king Edward, to defend the pass of Ferrybridge, was assaulted by the Lord Clifford, and immediately slain, “ and with hym,” says Hall, "the bastard of Salisbury, "brother to the earl of Warwycke, a valeaunt yong "gentleman, and of great audicitie. When the earl “of Warwycke,” adds he, “was informed of this “fate, he lyke a man desperated, mounted on his "hackeney, and came blowing to kyng Edwarde, say“ing: Sir, I praye God have mercy of their soules, "which in the beginning of your enterprise hath lost “their lyfes, and because I se no succors of the "world, I remit the vengeaunce and punishment to "God our Creator and Redeemer; and with that “lighted doune, and slewe his horse with his swourde, "saiying: let them flye that wyl, for surely I will "tary with him that will tary with me, and kissed the "cross of his swoarde. Clifford, in his retreat, was "beset with a party of Yorkists, when, eyther, says "the historian, for heat or payne, putting off his gorget sodainly, with an arrowe (as some say) with"out an hedde [he] was striken into the throte, and "incontinent rendered his spirite, and the erle of "Westmerlandes "Westmerlandes brother, and almost all his company were thare slayn, at a place called Dinting "Dale, not farr from Towton." In the afternoon of the next day (Palm Sunday eve, 1461) on a plain field between Towton and Saxton, joined the main battles which continued engaged that night, and the greater part of the following day: upwards of 30,000 men, all English (including many of the nobility and the flower of the gentry, especially of the northern parts), being slain on both sides. This battle, says Carte, "decided the fate of the house of Lancaster, "overturning in one day an usurpation strengthened "by sixty-two years continuance, and established "Edward on the throne of England.” REMARKS. An authentick copy of king Edward's account of this battle, together with a list of the noblemen and knights who were slain in it, may be seen in Mr. Fenn's Collection of the Paston Letters. Vol. I. p. 216, &c. Forspent with toil-] quartos read: Sore spent, &c. HENLEY. -] Thus the folio. The STEEVENS. 392. Smile, gentle heaven! &c.] Thus the folio. Instead of these lines, the quartos give the following: Smile, gentle heavens, or strike, ungentle death, That we may die unless we gain the day! What fatal star malignant frowns from heaven Upon the harmless line of York's true house? STEEVENS. 395. Our hap is loss, &c.] Thus the folio. The quartos thus: Come, brother, come, let's to the field again, War. How now, my lords? what hap? what hope of good? Our hap is loss, our hope but sad despair ;] Milton seems to have copied this line: 401. Thy brother's blood the thirsty earth hath drunk,] This passage, from the variation of the copies, gave me no little perplexity. The old quarto applies this description to the death of Salisbury, Warwick's father. But this was a notorious deviation from the truth of history. For the earl of Salisbury in the battle at Wakefield, wherein Richard duke of York lost his life, was taken prisoner, beheaded at Pomfret, and his head, together with the duke of York's, fixed over York gates. Then the only brother of Warwick, introduced in this play, is the marquess of Montacute (or Montague, as he is called by our author): but he does not die till ten years after, in the battle at Barnet; where Warwick likewise was killed. The truth is, the brother here mentioned is no person in the drama, and his death is only an incidental piece of history. Consulting the Chronicles, upon this |