BONNETED. Act II., Sc. 2.

"Supple and courteous to the people, bonneted."

The commentators say that to bonnet is to take off the bonnet. The context appears to us to give exactly the contrary meaning: "His ascent is not by such easy degrees as those who, having been supple and courteous to the people," put on their bonnets "without any further deed."

COCKLE. Act III., Sc. 1.

It is the corn-rose, or

"The cockle of rebellion." The cockle is a weed amongst corn. darnel.

DEMERITS. Act I., Sc. 1.

"Of his demerits rob Cominius."

Demerit is constantly used by the old writers for desert; the meaning of ill-deserving was acquired later. It is used in 'Othello' in the sense of merits.

DETERMINE. Act V., Sc. 3.

66 I purpose not to wait on fortune till
These wars determine."

Determine is to come to an end, or determination.
EMBARQUEMENTS. Act I., Sc. 10.

66

'Embarquements all of fury."

Embarquements is embargoes.

EMPIRICUTICK. Act II., Sc. 1.

"Galen is but empiricutick."

This word is coined from empiric.

ENTERTAINMENT. Act IV., Sc. 3.

"Distinctly billeted, already in the entertainment."

To entertain was formerly frequently used in the sense of retaining in pay as soldiers. It is so used in Lord Berner's translation of Froissart.

FEN. Act IV., Sc. 1.

"Like to a lonely dragon, that his fen

Makes fear'd and talk'd of more than seen."

The fen is the pestilential abode of the "lonely dragon,” which he makes "fear'd and talk'd of more than seen."

FIRST. Act IV., Sc. 1.

'My first son."

First is here used in the sense of noblest, best.

FLOUR. Act I., Sc. 1.

"From me do back receive the flour of all."

Flour is certainly here used as the flour of corn, as opposed to bran; the original has flower, which, though correct in

the original sense of flour, might give an erroneous impression.

GIRD. Act I., Sc. 1.

"He will not spare to gird the gods."

To gird is to taunt. Falstaff uses the word as a noun when he says, "every man has a gird at me."

KAM. Act III., Sc. 1.

"This is clean kam."

Kam is probably from the French camus, bent, turned up,
crooked, and means that the reasons are nothing to the pur-
pose. Skelton, in his 'Poems against Garnesche,' has—
"Crooked as a camoke,"

and in a translation of Guzman d'Alfarache we have-
"All goes topsy-turvy, all kem-kam."

LOCKRAM. Act II., Sc. 1.

"Her richest lockram 'bout her reechy neck."

Lockram was no doubt a kind of coarse linen. In 'The Spanish
Curate' of Beaumont and Fletcher, we find-

"To poor maidens' marriages

I give per annum two hundred ells of lockram."

LOTS. Act V., Sc. 2.

"It is lots to blanks."

Lots are the whole number of tickets in a lottery: blanks are a proportion of the whole number.

MALKIN. Act II., Sc. 1.

"The kitchen malkin."

A malkin was a scarecrow, a figure of rags; also a mop of rags used to clean the oven; was the kitchen-wench so called from her dirty resemblance to such an object? It is also said that Malkin is the diminutive of Mall, Moll, and thus in the time of Beaumont and Fletcher, the lady of the May had degenerated into Malkin. Is the scarecrow then called after the kitchen-wench? The reader must decide.

MANKIND. Act IV., Sc. 2.

"Are you mankind?"

Sicinius asks sneeringly if Volumnia is mankind,— -a woman with the rough qualities of a man. She answers that she is of human kind-had a man to her father. In a Winter's Tale,' Shakspere uses the term a mankind witch."

PоTCH. Act I., Sc. 10.

66

"I'll potch at him some way."
Potch, is probably from the French pocher.
is to blacken the eyes by a blow, and is
or thrust.

Pocher les yeux used for a blow

RAPTURE. Act II., Sc. 1.

"Into a rapture lets her baby cry."

Rapture is used for a fit

RUTH. Act I., Sc. 1.

"Would the nobility lay aside their ruth."

Ruth is pity: another old English word.

"Scaling his present bearing with his past."

Scaling is weighing.

SHENT. Act. V., Sc. 2.

"Do you hear how we are shent."

Shent is rebuked, reproved, scolded.

SITHENCE.

Act. III., Sc. 1.

"Have you inform'd them sithence."

Sithence, from the Anglo-Saxon sith, is since, or since then. SoWLE. Act IV., Sc. 5.

'Sowle the porter of Rome gates."

Sowle is a provincial term for to pull out.

STALE. Act I., Sc. 1.

"To stale 't a little more."

To stale, according to Gifford, is to render it flat, deprive it of zest by previous intimation. The original has scale 't, which Theobald judiciously altered to stale.

WELL APPEARED. Act IV., Sc. 3.

Your favour is well appeared by your tongue." Well appeared, is made to appear, rendered apparent. WHATEVER.

Act I., Sc. 2.

"Whatever have been thought on."

Whatever have is used elliptically for whatever things have. WREAK. Act IV., Sc. 5.

"If thou hast

A heart of wreak in thee."

Wreak, from the Anglo-Saxon wrac, is revenge, vindictive punishment.