in East-cheap, there I'll sup. Farewel. Poins. Farewel, my lord. [Exit Poins. [hold P. Henry. I know you all, and will a while upThe unyok'd humour of your idleness: Yet herein will I imitate the sun; Who doth permit the base contagious clouds To smother up his beauty from the world, That when he please again to be himself Being wanted, he may be more wonder'd at, By breaking through the foul and ugly mists Of vapours, that did seem to strangle him. If all the year were playing holidays, To sport would be as tedious as to work; But when they seldom come, they wish'd-for come, And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents. So, when this loose behaviour I throw off, And pay the debt I never promised, By how much better than my word I am, By so much shall I falsify men's hopes'; SCENE III. [Exit. 5 Were, as he says, not with such strength deny'd, Hot. My liege, I did deny no prisoners. And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he held 15 He gave his nose, and took't away again;— With many holiday and lady terins He question'd me; among the rest, demanded My prisoners, in your majesty's behalf. 25I then, all smarting, with my wounds being cold, To be so pester'd with a popinjay", Out of my grief and my impatience, Answer'd, neglectingly, I know not what ; He should,or he should not;-for he made me mad, To see him shine so brisk, and smell so sweet, And talk so like a waiting-gentlewoman, [mark!) Of guns, and drums, and wounds, (God save the And telling me the sovereign'st thing on earth Was parmacity, for an inward bruise; An Apartment in the Palace. Unapt to stir at these indiguities, North. My lord, 35 And that it was great pity, so it was, K.Henry. Worcester, get thee gone, for I do see [lord, K. Henry. Why, yet he doth deny his prisoners; But with proviso, and exception,That we, at our own charge, shall ransom straight His brother-in-law, the foolish Mortimer; Who, on my soul, hath wilfully betray'd The lives of those, that he did lead to fight 1i. e. exceed men's expectations. 2i. e. 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. Moody is angry. Frontier was anciently used for forehead. A small box for musk and other perfumes then in fashion; the lid of which, being cut with open work, gave it its name; from po n oner, to prick, pierce, or engrave. Snuff is equivocally used for anger, and a powder taken up the nose. A popinjay is a parrot. Against 1 Against the great magician, damn'd Glendower; Hot. Revolted Mortimer! He never did fall off, my sovereign liege, North. Brother, the king hath made yournephew North. He was; heard the proclamation: 15 From whence he, intercepted, did return He did confound the best part of an hour Upon agreement, of swift Severn's flood; K. Henry. Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou He never did encounter with Glendower; Wor. And for whose death, we in the world's [then Live scandaliz'd, and foully spoken of. North. He did; myself did hear it. Hot. Nay, then I cannot blame his cousin king, To shew the line, and the predicament, I tell thee,he durst as well have met the devil alone, 35 Wherein you range under this subtle king. As Owen Glendower for an enemy. Art not ashamed? But, sirrah, henceforth [Exit King Henry. Here comes your uncle. Re-enter Worcester. Hot. Speak of Mortimer? Yes, I will speak of him, and let my soul Shall it, for shame, be spoken in these days, Even with the bloody payment of your deaths. Wor. Peace, cousin, say no more: The reason why he says, bargain and article with fears, meaning with Mortimer, is, because he supThe canker-rose is the dogposed Mortimer had wilfully betrayed his own forces to Glendower, out of fear, as appears from his next speech. 2 i. e. curled. 3 i. e. an eye menacing death. rose. i. e. disdainful, • i. e. of a spear Laid across. Hot. Hot. If he fall in,good night :—or sink or swim:Send danger from the east unto the west, So honour cross it from the north to south, And let them grapple;-O! the blood more stirs, To rouze a lion, than to start a hare. North. Imagination of some great exploit Drives him beyond the bounds of patience. Hot. By heaven, methinks, it were an easy leap, To pluck bright honour from the pale-fac'd moon; Or dive into the bottom of the deep, Where fathom-line could never touch the ground, But out upon this half-fac'd fellowship! Wor. He apprehends a world of figures here, But not the form of what he should attend.Good cousin, give me audience for a while. Hot. I cry you mercy. Wor. Those same noble Scots, That are your prisoners, Hot. I'll keep them all; By heaven, he shall not have a Scot of them; No, if a Scot would save his soul, he shall not: I'll keep them, by this hand. Wor. You start away, And lend no ear unto my purposes.-- Hot. Nay, I will; that's flat: He said, he would not ransom Mortimer; Wor. Hear you, cousin; word. Hot. All studies here I solemnly defy2, Save how to gall and pinch this Bolingbroke: 5 10 North. At Berkley castle. Hot. You say true: Why, what a candy'd deal of courtesy Hot. I have done, i' faith. Wor. Then once more to your Scottish prisoners. reasons, Which I shall send you written,-be assur'd, Hot. Of York, is't not? Wor. True: who bears hard 25 His brother's death at Bristol, the lord Scroop. As what I think might be, but what I know 30 Of that occasion that shall bring it on. Hot. I smell it; upon my life, it will do well. slips. Hot. Why, it cannot chuse but be a noble plot : 35 And then the power of Scotland, and of York, To join with Mortimer, ha? Wor. And so they shall. Hot. In faith, it is exceedingly well aim'd. Wor. And 'tis not little reason bids us speed, And that same sword-and-buckler prince of 40 To save our heads by raising of a head': Wales', But that I think his father loves him not, And would be glad he met with some mischance, Wor. Farewel, kinsman! I will talk to you, Art thou, to break into this woman's mood; Nettled, and stung with pismires, when I hear For, bear ourselves as even as we can, Hot. He does, he does; we'll be reveng'd on him. In Richard's time,-What do you call the place?-55 Hot. Uncle, adieu :-O, let the hours be short, 'Till fields, and blows, and groans applaud our [Exeunt. sport! 2 i. e. refuse. 3A turbu1 Warburton thinks, that "this is probably a passage from some bombast play, and afterwards used as a common burlesque phrase for attempting impossibilities." lent fellow, who fought in taverns, or raised disorders in the streets, was called a swashbuckler. Alluding, probably, to a low company (drinkers of ale) with whom the prince spent so much of his time. e. conjecture. To let slip, is to loose the greyhound. i. e. a body of forces. ACT 2 Car. Pease and beans are as dank2 here as a dog, and that is the next way to give poor jades the 15 bots': this house is turn'd upside down, since Robin ostler dy'd. 1 Car. Poor fellow! never joy'd since the price of oats rose; it was the death of him. 2 Car.I think, this be the most villainous house in 20 all London road for fleas : I am stung like a tench. 1 Car. Like a tench? by the mass, there is ne'er king in Christendom could be better bit than I have been since the first cock. 2 Car. Why, they will allow us ne'er a jourden, 25 and then we leak in your chimney; and your chamber-lie breeds fleas like a loach. 1 Car.What, ostler! come away, and be hang'd, come away. 2 Car. I have a gammon of bacon, and two 30 razes of ginger, to be deliver❜d as far as Charing cross. 1 Car. 'Odsbody! the turkies in my pannier are quite starv'd.-What, ostler!-A plaugue on thee! hast thou never an eye in thy head? caust not hear? 35 An 'twere not as good a deed as drink, to break the pate of thee, I am a very villain.—Come, and be hang'd:-Hast no faith in thee? Enter Gadshill. Gads. Good morrow, carriers. What's o'clock: Gads. I pr'ythee, lend me thy lanthorn, to see my gelding in the stable. 1 Car. Nay, soft, I pray ye; I know a trick worth two of that, i' faith. Gads. I pr'ythee, lend me thine. 2 Car. Ay, when, canst tell?-Lend me thy lanthorn,quoth a-marry, I'll see thee hang'd first. Gads. Sirrah carrier, what time do you mean to come to London? 2 Car. Time enough to go to bed with a candle, I warrant thee.-Come, neighbour Mugges, we'll call up the gentlemen; they will along with company, for they have great charge. [Exeunt Car. Enter Chamberlain. Gads. What, ho! chamberlain ! Gads. That's even as fair as-at hand, quoth the chamberlain: for thou variest no more from picking of purses, than giving direction doth from labouring; thou lay'st the plot how. Cham. Good morrow, Master Gad-bill. It holds current, that I told you yesternight: There's a franklin' in the wild of Kent, hath brought three hundred marks with him in gold; I heard him tell it to one of his company, last night at supper; a kind of auditor; one that hath abundance of charge too, God knows what. They are up already, and call for eggs and butter: They will away presently. Gads. Sirrah, if they meet not with saint Nicholas' clerks', I'll give thee this neck. Cham. No, I'H none of it: I pr'ythee, keep that for the hangman; for, I know, thou wor ship'st saint Nicholas as truly as a man of falshood mav. Gads. What talk'st thou to me of the hangman? If I hang, I'll make a fat pair of gallows: for, if I hang, old sir John hangs with me; and, thou know'st, he's no starveling. Tut! there are other Trojans that thou dream'st not of, the which, for sport-sake, are content to do the profession Some grace; that would, if matters should be look'd into, for their own credit sake, make all whole. I am join'd with no foot land-rakers”, no long-staff, six-penny strikers; none of these mad, mustachio, purple-hu'd malt-worms: but with nobility, and tranquillity; burgomasters, and great oneyers: such as can hold in; such as 45 will strike sooner than speak, and speak sooner than 40 1i. e. out of all measure; the phrase being taken from a cess, tax, or subsidy; which being by regular and moderate rates, when any thing was exorbitant, or out of measure, it was said to be out of all cess. 3 2i. e. wet, rotten. Bots are worms in the stomach of a horse. • Warburton explains this by a Scotch word loch, a lake; while Mr. Steevens thinks that the carrier means to say-fleas as big as a loach, i. e. resembling the fish so called, in size. This is a pro 8 verbial expression often used in the writings of that time, where the cant of low conversation is preserved. • Franklin is a little gentleman. 7 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. Trojan, in this and other passages of our author's plays, has a cant signification, and perhaps was only a more creditable term for a thief. 'i. e. with no padders, no wanderers on foot. No long-staff, six-penny strikers,-no fellows that infest the roads with long staffs, and knock men down for six-pence. None of these mad, mustachio, purple-hu'd malt-worms,-none of those whose faces are red with drinking ale. 10 Mr. Theobald substituted for oneyers, moneyers, which he says might either allude to an officer of the mint, or to bankers, and his emendation was adopted by Warbur ton. Dr. Johnson thinks no change is necessary; "Gadshill tells the chamberlain that he is joined 11 with than drink, and drink sooner than pray: And] yet I lie; for they pray continually unto their saint, the commonwealth; or, rather, not pray to her, but prey on her; for they ride up and down on her, and make her their boots. Cham. What, the common-wealth their boots? will she hold out water in foul way? Gads. She will, she will; justice hath liquor'd her. We steal as in a castle, cock-sure; we have| the receipt of fern-seed', we walk invisible. Cham. Nay, by my faith; I think, you are more beholden to the night, than to fern-seed, for your walking invisible. Gads. Give me thy hand: thou shalt have a share in our purchase', as I am a true man. Cham. Nay, rather let me have it, as you are a false thief. Gads. Go to; Homo is a common name to all men.-Bid the ostler bring my gelding out of the stable. Farewel, you muddy knave. SCENE II. The road by Gads-hill. 5 10 (I am the veriest varlet that ever chew'd with a tooth. Eight yards of uneven ground is threescore and ten miles afoot with me; and the stony-hearted villains know it well enough: A plague upon't, when thieves cannot be true one to another! [they whistle.] Whew!—a plague upon you all! Give me my horse, you rogues; give me my horse, and be hang'd. P. Hen. Peace, ye fat-guts! lye down; lay thine ear close to the ground, and list if thou canst hear the tread of travellers. Fal. Have you any levers to lift me up again, being down? 'Sblood, I'll not bear mine own flesh so far afoot again, for all the coin in thy father's 15 exchequer. What a plague mean ye, to colt* me thus? [Exeunt. 20 Enter Prince Henry, Poins, and Peto. Poins. Come, shelter, shelter; I have remov'd Falstaff's horse, and he frets like a gumm'd velvet. P. Henry. Stand close. Enter Falstaff. Fal. Poins! Poins, and be hang'd; Poins! a brawling dost thou keep! Fal. What, Poins! Hal! P. Henry. He is walk'd up to the top of the hill; I'll go seek him. P. Hen. Thou liest, thou art not colted, thou art uncolted. Fal. I pr'ythee, good prince Hal, help me to my horse; good king's son. P. Hen. Out, you rogue! shall I be your ostler? Ful. Go hang thyself in thy own heir-apparent garters! If I be ta'en, I'll peach for this. An I have not ballads made of you all, and sung to 25 filthy tunes, let a cup of sack be my poison: When a jest is so forward, and afoot too!-I hate it. Enter Gadshill. 30 35 Fal. I am accurst to rob in that thief's company: the rascal hath remov'd my horse, and ty'd him I know not where. If I travel but four foot by the square further afoot, I shall break my wind. Well, I doubt not but to die a fair death 40 for all this, if I 'scape hanging for killing that rogue. I have forsworn his company hourly any time this two-and-twenty year, and yet I am bewitch'd with the rogue's company. If the rascal have not given me medicines to make me love him, 45 I'll be hang'd; it could not be else; I have drunk medicines.-Poins!-Hal!-a plague upon you both;-Bardolph !-Peto!-I'll starve ere I'll rob a foot further. An 'twere not as good a deed as drink, to turn true man, and to leave these rogues,[50] Gads. Stand. Fal. So I do, against my will. Poins. O, 'tis our setter; I know his voice. Gads. Case ye, case ye ; on with your visors; there's money of the king's coming down the hill, tis going to the king's exchequer. Fal. You lie, you rogue; 'tis going to the king's tavern. Gads. There's enough to make us all. P. Hen. Sirs, you four shall front them in the narrow lane; Ned Poins, and I, will walk lower: if they'scape from your encounter, then they light on us. Peto. But how many be there of them? Fal. Zounds! will they not rob us? P. Hen. What, a coward, Sir John Paunch! Fal. Indeed, I am not John of Gaunt, your grandfather; but yet no coward, Hal. P. Hen. Well, we leave that to the proof. with no mean wretches, but with burgomasters and great ones, or, as he terms them in merriment by a cant termination, great oneyers, or great-one-eers, as we say privateer, auctioneer, circuiteer." Mr. Malone explains the word thus: By onyers (for so I believe the word ought to be written) I understand pubic accountants; men possessed of large sums of money belonging to the state. It is the course of the Court of Exchequer, when the sherif makes up his accounts for issues, amerciaments, and mesne profits, to set upon his head o. ni. which denotes oneratur nisi habeat sufficientem exonerationem: he thereupon becomes the king's debtor, and the parties peracaile (as they are termed in law) for whom he answers, become his debtors, and are discharged as with respect to the king. To settle accounts in this manner, is still called in the Exchequer to ony; and from hence Shakspeare seems to have formed the word onyers. 2 'Alluding to some strange properties formerly ascribed to this plant. Purchase was anciently the cant term for stolen goods. Four foot by the square is probably no more than four foot by a rule. To colt, is to fool, to trick; but the Prince taking it in another sense, opposes it by uncolt, that is, unhorse. |