44 Convey" ['steal,' 'filch,' 'pilfer,' 'purloin,' 'rob'], the wise it call. "Steal!" foh! a fico for the phrase!-Merry W., i. 3. Since Henry's death, I fear, there is conveyance ['fraudulent dealing,' 'knavery,' *sly and tricking practice '].—1 H. VI., i. 3. Would we could see you at Corinth [our brothel,' 'our house of free-living.' See Corinthian," subsequently cited and explained].-Timon, ii. 2. O, nuncle, court holy-water ['flattering protestations,' favouring phrases'] in a dry house is better than this rain-water out o' door.-Lear, iii. 2. I think thee now some common customer ['bad woman,' a woman who infamously trades on her beauty']-All's W., v. 3. I marry her! what? a customer !—Oth., iv. 1. I'll thrust my knife in your mouldy chaps, an you play the saucy cuttle [the knife used by thieves and cutpurses'] with me.-2 H. IV., ii. 4. He, sir, that takes pity on decayed men, and gives them suits of durance ['captivity,' ' imprisonment'].—Com. of E., iv. 3. Is not a buff jerkin a most sweet robe of durance?—1 H. IV., They call drinking deep, dying scarlet.—Ibid., ii. 4. i. 2. I will retort the sum in equipage ['stolen goods'].—Merry W., ii. 2. And, being fap ['maudlin_drunk'], sir, was, as they say, cashier'd [‘turned out’his pockets, and then himself].—Ibid., i. 1. I am joined with no foot land-rakers ['footpads,' 'those who rob on foot'].— 1 H. IV., ii. 1. Thou diest on point of fox ['sword:' originating in the circumstance that Andrea Ferrara, and other foreign sword-cutlers, adopted a fox as the blade-mark of their weapons].-H. V., iv. 4. He woos both high and low, both rich and poor, Both young and old, one with another, Ford: He loves the gally-mawfry ['heterogeneous collection,' hotch-potch,' ' medley '].Merry W., ii. 1. And they have a dance which the wenches say is a gally-mawfry of gambols, because they are not in 't.-W. T., iv. 3. She's impudent, my lord; And was a common gamester ['wanton woman'] to the camp.-All's W., v. 3. Were you a gamester at five, or at seven ?-Per., iv. 6. He is drunk now: where had he wine? And Trinculo is reeling ripe: where should they Find this grand liquor that hath gilded [* intoxicated:' besides implying by this cant term for being drunk that they are in liquor, "gilded" here includes allusion to being enriched by the alchemist's elixir (which was a preparation of gold), as a fleer at their having become yellowed over by the "filthy mantled pool" through which they have been led by Ariel] them?-Temp., v. I. Nay, I can gleek ['gibe,' 'jeer:' in modern slang, 'chaff.' The expression originated in the name for a game of cards, called "gleek:" in which game a gleek" was the term for a set of three particular cards; "to gleek," for gaining an advantage over; and "to be gleeked," for being tricked, cheated, duped, or befooled. Hence, the words "gleek," and "gleeking" became used, for being tauntingly or hectoringly jocose] upon occasion.-Mid. Ñ. D., iii. 1. What will you give us?-No money, on my faith, but the gleek; I will give you the minstrel.-R. & Jul., iv. 5. I have seen you gleeking and galling at this gentleman twice or thrice.-H. V., v. 1. And high and low ['false dice'] beguile the rich and poor.-Merry W., i. 3. Ere I would say, I would drown myself for the love of a guinea-hen a woman who may be bought for money'], I would change my humanity with a baboon.Oth., i. 3. What comfortable hour canst thou name, That ever grac'd me in thy company? Faith, none, but Humphrey hour ['hungry hour:' we believe this to have been a cant term, arising out of the proverbial phrase, "to dine with Duke Humphrey "; which originated in the circumstance that one of the aisles in the ancient cathedral of St. Paul's was called Duke Humphrey's Walk, where those who had no means of procuring a dinner used to loiter, as if business, and not the passing away their hour for hunger, brought them there], that call'd Your grace to breakfast once forth of my company.-R. III., iv. 4. Some jay ['courtesan :' it is noteworthy that the Italian word for the bird of this name and for a hireling woman is the same-putta'] of Italy, whose mother was.—— Cym., iii. 4. We'll teach him to know turtles from jays.-Merry W., iii. 3. He wears his honour in a box unseen, That hugs his kicky-wicky [ unruly jade:' employed by the coarse Parolles as a synonyme for wife'] here at home.-All's W., ii. 3. I, a lost mutton ['scapegrace fellow,' a stray sheep from the fold of righteousness'], gave your letter to her, a laced mutton [dizened courtesan '], and she, a laced mutton, gave me, a lost mutton, nothing for my labour.-Two G. of V., i. 1. Is he so young a man, and so old a lifter? [thief'; and shop-lifter' is still a term in use for one who steals goods from shop-counters].-Tr. & Cr., i. 2. No, he's in Tartar limbo [' prison,'' confinement,'] worse than hell.-Com. of E., iv. 2. I have some of 'em in Limbo Patrum ['prison,' confinement: the term origi. nating in Limbus Patrum, the place where the fathers and patriarchs were supposed to await the resurrection], and there they are like to dance these three days.— H. VIII., v. 3. None of these mad mustachio purple-hued malt-worms ['ale-topers;' fellows who dip their mustachios so deeply and perpetually in liquor as to stain them purple-red].I H. IV., ii. I. His face is Lucifer's privy-kitchen, where he doth nothing but roast malt-worms ['beer-drinkers'].—2 H. IV., ii. 4. I think I am as like to ride the mare ['come to the gallows'; the two-legged or three-legged mare being a slang name for the gallows].-Ibid., ii. 1. I will say 66 marry trap" ['catch who catch can,' by Mary, catch me if you can'] with you.-Merry W., i. 1. or her I come to her in white, and cry "Mum"; she cries, " Budget": and by that we know one another. That's good too: but what needs either your "Mum” Budget"? [A cant signal and counter-signal, implying silence and secret intelligence in use among thieves].-Ibid., v. 2. 66 I went to her in white, and cried "Mum," and she cried Budget," as Anne and I had appointed.—Ibid., v. 5. If you run the nut-hook's ['bailiff'; a hooker of thieves] humour on me.-Ibid., i. 1. Nut-hook, nut-hook, you lie. Come on.-2 H. IV., v. 4. As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the castle [roaring boy,'' roysterer': and Prince Hal applies this term to his boon companion, the fat knight, in reference to the Oldcastle," which Shakespeare originally gave to the character of Sir John .-1 H. IV., i. 2. name of " Falstaff]. Let senses rule; the word is, "Pitch and pay" ['pay on delivery, 'pay down at once']; trust none.-H. V., ii. 3. When you breathe in your watering, they cry ['toss off your drink at a draught'].—1 H. IV., ii. 4. "Hem!" and bid you play it off If a crow help us in, sirrah, we'll pluck a crow together ['have a squabbling-bout,' 'a set-to,'' a quarrel'].—Com. of E., iii. 1. Out upon him! Prig, for my life, prig [' thief'].—W. T., iv. 2. The white sheet bleaching on the hedge, Doth set my pugging ['prigging,' 'thieving,'] tooth on edge.—Ibid., iv. 2 (Song). Thou shalt have a share in our purchase ['booty,' 'plunder,'' stolen goods,'] as I am a true man.-1 H. IV., ii. 1. They will steal anything, and call it purchase.-H. V., iii. 2. 4 Here's Agamemnon,-an honest fellow enough, and one that loves quails ['common women' but though allusion may be made to this sense of the word, as a cant term, in the present passage, we believe, that "loves quails" may be used to express 'is fond of quail-fighting,' is fond of gambling with quails,' in reference to the ancient practice of matching quails against one another, as cocks were more modernly matched; to which practice Shakespeare alludes in a passage in "Antony and Cleopatra," ii. 3).— Tr. & Cr., V. I. What says my bully-rook ['rogue,'' swindler,'' sharper'] ?-Merry W., i. 3. How now, bully-rook! . . . tell him, bully-rook. . . . What sayest thou, my bully-rook?-Ibid., ii. 1. What saucy merchant was this, that was so full of his ropery? [roguery,' 'ribaldry,' 'impudent banter,' 'abusive joking': the expression originated in the facetious custom of teaching parrots to make allusion to "a rope' (or hanging), as the probable end of those who addressed them].-R. & Jul., ii. 4. An he begin once, he'll rail in his rope-tricks [besides the above meaning, “ropetricks" is here intended (from its slight similarity in sound) to include the effect of "rhetorics"].-Tam. of S., i. 2. Sirrah, if they meet not with Saint Nicholas' clerks ['thieves,' 'robbers,' 'pickpockets': Saint Nicholas being the patron saint of children and scholars, he was said to be tutelary to another race of clever fellows and dexterous gentry], I'll give thee this neck.-1 H. IV., ii. 1. Now shall we know if Gadshill have set a match ['planned a robbery'].—Ibid., i. 2. Wouldst thou not be glad to have the niggardly rascally sheep-biter ['paltry thief'] come by some notable shame ?-Tw. N., ii. 5. Show your knave's visage, . . . Show your sheep-biting face.-M. for M., v. 1. Slice, I say! pauca, pauca; slice ['cut,' be off'], I say! that's my humour.— Merry W., i. 1. It would make a man as mad as a buck, to be so bought and sold ['tricked,' • duped,' befooled,' 'outdone'].-Com. of E., iii. 1. Fly, noble English, you are bought and sold ['betrayed,' 'deceived,' ' deluded'].— John, v. 4. Whither, my lord! From bought and sold Lord Talbot.-1 H. VI., iv. 4. For Dickon thy master is bought and sold.-R. III., v. 4 (Scroll). Thou art bought and sold among those of any wit.-Tr. & Cr., ii. 1. The boy hath sold him a bargain ['made a fool of him '], a goose, that's flat.Love's L. L., iii. 1. I know not how they sold ['betrayed,' 'defrauded,' 'yielded at too low a price,' at too small a cost'] themselves, but thou, like a kind fellow, gavest thyself away gratis.-2 H. IV., iv. 3. 'Tis thou hast sold ['betrayed'] me to this novice; . . . to the young Roman boy she hath sold me.—Ant. & C., iv. 10. He hath wronged his honour in marrying the renowned Claudio . . to a contaminated stale [woman hackneyed in vicious courses'], such a one as Hero.M. Ado, ii. 2. To link my dear friend to a common stale.-Ibid., iv. 1. ¡No long-staff sixpenny strikers [' pickpockets']. .—1 H. IV., ii. 1. He's no swaggerer, hostess; a tame cheater ['a petty rogue,' 'a low gamester,' 'a cozener'], i' faith.-2 H. IV., ii. 4. Every coystril that hither comes inquiring for his Tib ['common woman'].— Per., iv. 6. Peace, good pint-pot! peace, good tickle-brain! [this cant term for some kind of strong drink is jocosely applied to Hostess Quickly by Falstaft, as a nick-name].— 1 H. IV., ii. 4. Am I a woodman ['a hunter of forbidden game,'' a pursuer of wanton sports'], ha?-Merry W., v. 5. Friar, thou knowest not the duke so well as I do: he's a better woodman than thou takest him for.-M. for M., iv. 3. There are some cant terms, in use when Shakespeare wrote, which designated natives of particular countries famed for dexterous trickery or dissolute manners : I will not believe such a Cataian [Cataia, or Cathay, was a name for China, whose people have the reputation of being adroit jugglers and the imputation of being dexterous cheats; hence the term "Cataian became used as a slang term for a cheat.' But we believe that Shakespeare included in it the meaning of outlandish,' 'farfetched,'' extravagant,' 'eccentric'; in the present passage, in reference to Nym's fantastic style of phraseology] though the priest.—Merry W'. ii. 1. My lady's a Cataian [Sir Toby partly uses this in the sense of a rogue,' partly in the sense of a strange fantastical creature.'].—Tw. N., ii. 3. Tell me flatly I am no proud Jack, like Falstaff; but a Corinthian [a 'free liver;' Corinth having been notorious for its profligate habits, manners, and people], a lad of mettle.-1 H. IV., ii. 4. It is thine host, thine Ephesian ['jolly companion,' roystering associate'; the term probably included a mixture of roguery,' as Ephesus was reputed for its "cozenage" (see the closing speech of act i., Comedy of Errors"); and we believe moreover that it also included some hint of heterodoxy, judging from the context, "of the old church" and "what pagan" in the passage we here next cite], calls.— Merry W., iv. 5. What company?-Ephesians, my lord; of the old church.-Sup_any women with him?-None, my lord, but old Mistress Quickly, and Mistress Doll Tear-sheet.-What pagan may that be?-2 H. IV., ii. 2. I pr'ythee, foolish Greek ['merry-maker,' 'frolicsome jester '; the familiar term, a merry grig, is a corruption of a merry Greek;' which expression originated in the fact that the Greeks were esteemed a jovial people, and was perhaps partly derived from the Latin græcari, to revel, to carouse], depart from me.-Tw. N., iv. I. Then she's a merry Greek indeed.—Tr. & Cr., i. 2. A woful Cressid 'mongst the merry Greeks.—Ibid, iv. 4. Hector was but a Trojan [thief;' probably originating in a reference to Paris, who stole Helen from her husband, Menelaus] in respect of this . . . unless you play the honest Trojan, the poor wench.-Love's L. L., v. 2. Dost thou thirst, base Trojan, to have me fold up Parca's fatal web? ... Base Trojan, thou shalt die.-H. V., v. 1. Tut! there are other Trojans thou dreamest not of.—1 H. IV., ii. 1. CHORUSES: INDUCTIONS: PROLOGUES: EPILOGues. These are among the dramatic resources used by Shakespeare; but he has introduced them into only a few of his plays : Enter TIME, as Chorus. I, that please some, try all; &c.—W. T., iv. Enter CHORUS (forming Prologue). O for a muse of fire, that would ascend, &c.—H. V., i. Enter CHORUS. Now all the youth of England are on fire, &c.—Ibid., ii. Enter CHORUS. Thus with imagin'd wing our swift cause flies, &c.—H. V., iii. Enter CHORUS. Now entertain conjecture of a time, &c.—Ibid., iv. Enter CHORUS. Vouchsafe to those that have not read the story, &c.—Ibid., v. Thus far, with rough and all unable pen, &c.—Ibid., v. 2. Two households, both alike in dignity, &c.-R. & Jul., i. Now old desire doth in his death-bed lie, &c.-Ibid., i. 5. To sing a song that old was sung, &c.—Per., i. Enter GOWER, as Chorus. Here have you seen a mighty king, &c.—Ibid., ii. Enter GOWER, as Chorus. Now sleep yslaked hath the rout, &c.—Ibid., iii. Enter GOWER, as Chorus. Imagine Pericles arrived at Tyre, &c.—Ibid., iv. Enter GOWER, as Chorus. Thus time we waste, and longest leagues make short, &c.-Ibid., iv. 4. Marina thus the brothel 'scapes, &c.—Ibid., v. Enter GOWER, as Chorus. Now our sands are almost run, &c.-Ibid., v. 2. Enter GOWER, as Chorus (forming Epilogue). In Antiochus, and his daughter, you have heard, &c.—Ibid., v. 3. There is an Induction to the play of "Taming of the Shrew,' consisting of two short scenes, and a brief bit of dialogue :— INDUCTION. SCENE I. Before an alehouse on a heath. Enter HOSTESS and SLY. Sly. I'll pheeze you, in faith, &c.-Tam. of S., Induc. 1. INDUCTION. SCENE II.-A bedchamber in the lord's house. SLY is discovered, with Attendants: some with apparel, &c. There is an Induction to the historical play of "The Second Part of King Henry IV.," consisting of a speech which forms a kind of Chorusprologue : INDUCTION. Warkworth. Before Northumberland's castle. Enter RUMOUR, painted full of tongues. Open your ears; for which of you will stop, &c.—2 H. IV., i. |