Dramatis Personae
king Henry the fourth
prince Henry, Prince of Wales, sons of the King
prince john of Lancaster,
earl of Westmorland
sir Walter blunt
earl of Northumberland, Henry Percy,
Harry Percy, (hotspur), his son,
earl of Worcester, Northumberland's
younger brother,
lord Mortimer, Edmund Mortimer,
also referred to as the Earl of March,
Owen Glendower,
earl of Douglas, Archibald Douglas,
sir Richard Vernon,
archbishop of York, Richard Scroop,
sir Michael, a member of the
Archbishop's household,
lady Percy, Hotspur's wife and Mortimer's sister
lady Mortimer, Mortimer's wife and Glendower's daughter
sir john Falstaff
Ned Poins
Bardolph
Peto
Gadshill, arranger of the highway robbery
hostess of the tavern, Mistress Quickly
Francis, a drawer, or tapster
vintner, or tavern keeper
first carrier
second carrier
hostler
chamberlain
first traveler
sheriff
servant to Hotspur
messenger
second messenger
Soldiers, Travelers, Lords, Attendants
scene: England and Wales
1.1. Location: The royal court.
2 Find we let us find. frighted frightened
3 breathe short-winded accents speak, even though we are out of breath. accents words broils battles
4 strands afar remote far-off shores, i.e., of the Holy Land (to which, at the end of Richard II, Henry has pledged himself to a crusade)
5 thirsty entrance i.e., parched mouth
6 daub coat, smear
7 trenching cutting, plowing
9 paces horses' tread
12 intestine internal
13 close hand-to-hand encounter. civil (as in "civil war")
18 his its
21 impressed conscripted
22 power army
23 their mother's i.e., England's, but also suggesting their mothers'
1.1 A Enter the King, Lord John of Lancaster, [the] Earl of Westmorland, [Sir Walter Blunt,] with others.
king
So shaken as we are, so wan with care,
Find we a time for frighted peace to pant, 2
And breathe short-winded accents of new broils 3
To be commenced in strands afar remote. 4
No more the thirsty entrance of this soil 5
Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood; 6
No more shall trenching war channel her fields 7
Nor bruise her flowerets with the armed hoofs
Of hostile paces. Those opposed eyes, 9
Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven,
All of one nature, of one substance bred,
Did lately meet in the intestine shock 12
And furious close of civil butchery, 13
Shall now in mutual well-beseeming ranks
March all one way and be no more opposed
Against acquaintance, kindred, and allies.
The edge of war, like an ill-sheathed knife,
No more shall cut his master. Therefore, friends, 18
As far as to the sepulcher of Christ--
Whose soldier now, under whose blessed cross
We are impressed and engaged to fight-- 21
Forthwith a power of English shall we levy, 22
Whose arms were molded in their mothers' womb 23
To chase these pagans in those holy fields
Over whose acres walked those blessed feet
Which fourteen hundred years ago were nailed
For our advantage on the bitter cross.
But this our purpose now is twelve month old,
29 bootless useless
30 Therefore . . . now That is not the reason for our present meeting.
31 Of from. gentle cousin noble kinsman
33 dear expedience urgent expedition
34 hot in question being hotly debated
35 limits . . . charge particulars of military responsibility
36 athwart at cross purposes, contrarily
37 post messenger. loaden laden
43 corpse corpses
44 transformation mutilation
49 other other news
50 uneven disconcerting, distressing
52 Holy Rood Day September 14
54 approved proved by experience
55 Holmedon Humbleton in Northumberland
57 by judging from
58 shape of likelihood likely outcome
59 them the news
And bootless 'tis to tell you we will go. 29
Therefore we meet not now. Then let me hear 30
Of you, my gentle cousin Westmorland, 31
What yesternight our council did decree
In forwarding this dear expedience. 33
Westmorland
My liege, this haste was hot in question, 34
And many limits of the charge set down 35
But yesternight, when all athwart there came 36
A post from Wales loaden with heavy news, 37
Whose worst was that the noble Mortimer,
Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight
Against the irregular and wild Glendower,
Was by the rude hands of that Welshman taken,
A thousand of his people butchered--
Upon whose dead corpse there was such misuse, 43
Such beastly shameless transformation, 44
By those Welshwomen done as may not be
Without much shame retold or spoken of.
king
It seems then that the tidings of this broil
Brake off our business for the Holy Land.
Westmorland
This matched with other did, my gracious lord; 49
For more uneven and unwelcome news 50
Came from the north, and thus it did import:
On Holy Rood Day, the gallant Hotspur there, 52
Young Harry Percy, and brave Archibald,
That ever-valiant and approved Scot, 54
At Holmedon met, where they did spend 55
A sad and bloody hour,
As by discharge of their artillery 57
And shape of likelihood the news was told; 58
For he that brought them, in the very heat 59
60 pride height
62-3 Here . . . Blunt (Whether Blunt enters at the start of the scene, or now, or possibly not at all, is not certain in the original text.)
66 smooth pleasant
67 discomfited defeated
69 Balked heaped up in balks, or ridges
71 Mordake i.e., Murdoch, son of the Earl of Albany
81 plant young tree
82 minion favorite
84 riot debauchery
86 night-tripping i.e., moving nimbly in the night
88 Plantagenet (Family name of English royalty since Henry II)
90 let him let him go. coz cousin, i.e., kinsman
And pride of their contention did take horse, 60
Uncertain of the issue any way.
king
Here is a dear, a true industrious friend, 62
Sir Walter Blunt, new lighted from his horse, 63
Stained with the variation of each soil
Betwixt that Holmedon and this seat of ours;
And he hath brought us smooth and welcome news. 66
The Earl of Douglas is discomfited; 67
Ten thousand bold Scots, two-and-twenty knights,
Balked in their own blood, did Sir Walter see 69
On Holmedon's plains. Of prisoners, Hotspur took
Mordake, Earl of Fife and eldest son 71
To beaten Douglas, and the Earl of Atholl,
Of Murray, Angus, and Menteith.
And is not this an honorable spoil?
A gallant prize? Ha, cousin, is it not?
Westmorland
In faith, it is a conquest for a prince to boast of.
king
Yea, there thou mak'st me sad, and mak'st me sin
In envy that my lord Northumberland
Should be the father to so blest a son--
A son who is the theme of honor's tongue,
Amongst a grove the very straightest plant, 81
Who is sweet Fortune's minion and her pride, 82
Whilst I, by looking on the praise of him,
See riot and dishonor stain the brow 84
Of my young Harry. Oh, that it could be proved
That some night-tripping fairy had exchanged 86
In cradle clothes our children where they lay,
And called mine Percy, his Plantagenet! 88
Then would I have his Harry, and he mine.
But let him from my thoughts. What think you, coz, 90
92 surprised ambushed, captured
93 To . . . use i.e., to collect ransom for them
94 none but Mordake (Since Mordake was of royal blood, being grandson to Robert II of Scotland, Hotspur could not claim him as his prisoner according to the law of arms.)
96 Malevolent . . . aspects (1) implacably hostile to you (2) in astrological terms, a planet in a disobedient orbit, ominous as seen from every angle
97 Which . . . himself i.e., which teaching makes Hotspur preen himself (as a falcon preens its feathers)
1.2 Location: London, perhaps in an apartment of the Prince's.
2 sack a Spanish white wine
4 forgotten forgotten how
6 a devil in the devil
8 dials clocks
9 leaping houses houses of prostitution
10 taffeta (commonly worn by prostitutes)
11 superfluous (1) unnecessarily concerned (2) self-indulgent
Of this young Percy's pride? The prisoners
Which he in this adventure hath surprised 92
To his own use he keeps, and sends me word 93
I shall have none but Mordake, Earl of Fife. 94
Westmorland
This is his uncle's teaching. This is Worcester,
Malevolent to you in all aspects, 96
Which makes him prune himself and bristle up 97
The crest of youth against your dignity.
King
But I have sent for him to answer this;
And for this cause awhile we must neglect
Our holy purpose to Jerusalem.
Cousin, on Wednesday next our council we
Will hold at Windsor. So inform the lords.
But come yourself with speed to us again,
For more is to be said and to be done
Than out of anger can be uttered.
Westmorland I will, my liege. Exeunt.
1.2 A Enter Prince of Wales and Sir John Falstaff.
Falstaff
Now, Hal, what time of day is it, lad?
prince Thou art so fat-witted with drinking of old sack, 2
and unbuttoning thee after supper, and sleeping upon
benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to de- 4
mand that truly which thou wouldst truly know. What
a devil hast though to do with the time of the day? Un- 6
less hours were cups of sack, and minutes capons, and
clocks the tongues of bawds, and dials the signs of 8
leaping houses, and the blessed sun himself a fair hot 9
wench in flame-colored taffeta, I see no reason why 10
thou shouldst be so superfluous to demand the time 11
of the day.
13 you . . . now i.e., you've scored a point on me
14 go by (1) travel by the light of (2) tell time by. the seven stars the Pleiades
15-16 Phoebus . . . fair (Phoebus, god of the sun, is here equated with the wandering knight of a ballad or popular romance.)
17 Grace royal highness (with pun on spiritual grace and also on the grace or blessing before a meal)
20 troth faith
21 prologue . . . butter i.e., grace before a brief meal
22 roundly i.e., out with it
23 Marry Indeed. (Literally, "by the Virgin Mary.") wag joker
24-5 let . . . beauty i.e., let not us who are attendants on the goddess of night, members of her household, be blamed for stealing daylight by sleeping in the daytime.
25-6 Diana's foresters (An elegant name for thieves by night; Diana is goddess of the moon and the hunt.)
26 minions favorites
27 government (1) conduct (2) commonwealth
29 countenance (1) face (2) patronage, approval. steal (1) move stealthily (2) rob
30 it holds well the comparison is apt
36 Lay by (a cry of highwaymen, like "Hands up!") Bring in (an order given to a waiter in a tavern)
37 ladder (1) pier ladder (2) gallows ladder
38 ridge crossbar
41 Hybla (a town, famed for its honey, in Sicily near Syracuse) old . . . castle (1) a roisterer (2) the name Sir John Oldcastle, borne by Falstaff in an earlier version of this play
42 buff jerkin a leather jacket worn by officers of the law. durance (1) imprisonment (2) durability, durable cloth
44 quiddities subtleties of speech
Falstaff Indeed, you come near me now, Hal, for we 13
that take purses go by the moon and the seven stars, 14
and not by Phoebus, "he, that wandering knight so 15
fair." And I prithee, sweet wag, when thou art king, 16
as, God save Thy Grace--Majesty I should say, for 17
grace thou wilt have none--
prince What, none?
Falstaff No, by my troth, not so much as will serve to 20
be prologue to an egg and butter. 21
prince Well, how then? Come, roundly, roundly. 22
Falstaff Marry, then, sweet wag, when thou art 23
king, let not us that are squires of the night's body be 24
called thieves of the day's beauty. Let us be Diana's 25
foresters, gentlemen of the shade, minions of the moon; 26
and let men say we be men of good government, 27
being governed, as the sea is, by our noble and chaste
mistress the moon, under whose countenance we steal. 29
prince Thou sayest well, and it holds well too, for the 30
fortune of us that are the moon's men doth ebb and
flow like the sea, being governed, as the sea is, by the
moon. As, for proof, now: a purse of gold most
resolutely snatched on Monday night and most dis-
solutely spent on Tuesday morning, got with swearing
"Lay by" and spent with crying "Bring in," now in as 36
low an ebb as the foot of the ladder and by and by in 37
as high a flow as the ridge of the gallows. 38
Falstaff By the Lord, thou say'st true, lad. And is not
my hostess of the tavern a most sweet wench?
prince As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the castle. 41
And is not a buff jerkin a most sweet robe of durance? 42
Falstaff How now, how now, mad wag, what, in thy
quips and thy quiddities? What a plague have I to do 44
with a buff jerkin?
46 pox syphilis (Here, what a pox is used as an expletive, like "what the devil.")
48 reckoning settlement of the bill (with bawdy suggestion that is continued in pay thy part and my coin would stretch)
58 resolution courage (of a highwayman). fubbed cheated
59 Antic Buffoon
62 rare splendid. brave excellent
65 have . . . thieves (1) be in charge of hanging thieves (or protecting them from hanging) (2) hang like other thieves. rare (1) rarely used (2) excellent
67-8 jumps . . . humor suits my temperament
68 waiting in the court being in attendance at the royal court
70 suits petitions. (But Falstaff uses the word to mean suits of clothes; clothes belonging to an executed man were given to the executioner.)
72 'Sblood By his (Christ's) blood
73 gib cat tomcat. lugged bear bear led by a chain and baited by dogs.
76 hare (a proverbially melancholy animal)
77 Moorditch (a foul ditch draining Moorfields, outside London walls)
prince Why, what a pox have I to do with my hostess 46
of the tavern?
falstaff Well, thou hast called her to a reckoning 48
many a time and oft.
prince Did I ever call for thee to pay thy part?
falstaff No, I'll give thee thy due, thou hast paid all
there.
prince Yea, and elsewhere, so far as my coin would
stretch, and where it would not I have used my credit.
falstaff Yea, and so used it that, were it not here
apparent that thou art heir apparent--But I prithee,
sweet wag, shall there be gallows standing in England
when thou art king? And resolution thus fubbed as it 58
is with the rusty curb of old father Antic the law? Do 59
not thou, when thou art king, hang a thief.
Dramatis Personae
king Henry the fourth
prince Henry, Prince of Wales, sons of the King
prince john of Lancaster,
earl of Westmorland
sir Walter blunt
earl of Northumberland, Henry Percy,
Harry Percy, (hotspur), his son,
earl of Worcester, Northumberland's
younger brother,
lord Mortimer, Edmund Mortimer,
also referred to as the Earl of March,
Owen Glendower,
earl of Douglas, Archibald Douglas,
sir Richard Vernon,
archbishop of York, Richard Scroop,
sir Michael, a member of the
Archbishop's household,
lady Percy, Hotspur's wife and Mortimer's sister
lady Mortimer, Mortimer's wife and Glendower's daughter
sir john Falstaff
Ned Poins
Bardolph
Peto
Gadshill, arranger of the highway robbery
hostess of the tavern, Mistress Quickly
Francis, a drawer, or tapster
vintner, or tavern keeper
first carrier
second carrier
hostler
chamberlain
first traveler
sheriff
servant to Hotspur
messenger
second messenger
Soldiers, Travelers, Lords, Attendants
scene: England and Wales
1.1. Location: The royal court.
2 Find we let us find. frighted frightened
3 breathe short-winded accents speak, even though we are out of breath. accents words broils battles
4 strands afar remote far-off shores, i.e., of the Holy Land (to which, at the end of Richard II, Henry has pledged himself to a crusade)
5 thirsty entrance i.e., parched mouth
6 daub coat, smear
7 trenching cutting, plowing
9 paces horses' tread
12 intestine internal
13 close hand-to-hand encounter. civil (as in "civil war")
18 his its
21 impressed conscripted
22 power army
23 their mother's i.e., England's, but also suggesting their mothers'
1.1 A Enter the King, Lord John of Lancaster, [the] Earl of Westmorland, [Sir Walter Blunt,] with others.
king
So shaken as we are, so wan with care,
Find we a time for frighted peace to pant, 2
And breathe short-winded accents of new broils 3
To be commenced in strands afar remote. 4
No more the thirsty entrance of this soil 5
Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood; 6
No more shall trenching war channel her fields 7
Nor bruise her flowerets with the armed hoofs
Of hostile paces. Those opposed eyes, 9
Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven,
All of one nature, of one substance bred,
Did lately meet in the intestine shock 12
And furious close of civil butchery, 13
Shall now in mutual well-beseeming ranks
March all one way and be no more opposed
Against acquaintance, kindred, and allies.
The edge of war, like an ill-sheathed knife,
No more shall cut his master. Therefore, friends, 18
As far as to the sepulcher of Christ--
Whose soldier now, under whose blessed cross
We are impressed and engaged to fight-- 21
Forthwith a power of English shall we levy, 22
Whose arms were molded in their mothers' womb 23
To chase these pagans in those holy fields
Over whose acres walked those blessed feet
Which fourteen hundred years ago were nailed
For our advantage on the bitter cross.
But this our purpose now is twelve month old,
29 bootless useless
30 Therefore . . . now That is not the reason for our present meeting.
31 Of from. gentle cousin noble kinsman
33 dear expedience urgent expedition
34 hot in question being hotly debated
35 limits . . . charge particulars of military responsibility
36 athwart at cross purposes, contrarily
37 post messenger. loaden laden
43 corpse corpses
44 transformation mutilation
49 other other news
50 uneven disconcerting, distressing
52 Holy Rood Day September 14
54 approved proved by experience
55 Holmedon Humbleton in Northumberland
57 by judging from
58 shape of likelihood likely outcome
59 them the news
And bootless 'tis to tell you we will go. 29
Therefore we meet not now. Then let me hear 30
Of you, my gentle cousin Westmorland, 31
What yesternight our council did decree
In forwarding this dear expedience. 33
Westmorland
My liege, this haste was hot in question, 34
And many limits of the charge set down 35
But yesternight, when all athwart there came 36
A post from Wales loaden with heavy news, 37
Whose worst was that the noble Mortimer,
Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight
Against the irregular and wild Glendower,
Was by the rude hands of that Welshman taken,
A thousand of his people butchered--
Upon whose dead corpse there was such misuse, 43
Such beastly shameless transformation, 44
By those Welshwomen done as may not be
Without much shame retold or spoken of.
king
It seems then that the tidings of this broil
Brake off our business for the Holy Land.
Westmorland
This matched with other did, my gracious lord; 49
For more uneven and unwelcome news 50
Came from the north, and thus it did import:
On Holy Rood Day, the gallant Hotspur there, 52
Young Harry Percy, and brave Archibald,
That ever-valiant and approved Scot, 54
At Holmedon met, where they did spend 55
A sad and bloody hour,
As by discharge of their artillery 57
And shape of likelihood the news was told; 58
For he that brought them, in the very heat 59
60 pride height
62-3 Here . . . Blunt (Whether Blunt enters at the start of the scene, or now, or possibly not at all, is not certain in the original text.)
66 smooth pleasant
67 discomfited defeated
69 Balked heaped up in balks, or ridges
71 Mordake i.e., Murdoch, son of the Earl of Albany
81 plant young tree
82 minion favorite
84 riot debauchery
86 night-tripping i.e., moving nimbly in the night
88 Plantagenet (Family name of English royalty since Henry II)
90 let him let him go. coz cousin, i.e., kinsman
And pride of their contention did take horse, 60
Uncertain of the issue any way.
king
Here is a dear, a true industrious friend, 62
Sir Walter Blunt, new lighted from his horse, 63
Stained with the variation of each soil
Betwixt that Holmedon and this seat of ours;
And he hath brought us smooth and welcome news. 66
The Earl of Douglas is discomfited; 67
Ten thousand bold Scots, two-and-twenty knights,
Balked in their own blood, did Sir Walter see 69
On Holmedon's plains. Of prisoners, Hotspur took
Mordake, Earl of Fife and eldest son 71
To beaten Douglas, and the Earl of Atholl,
Of Murray, Angus, and Menteith.
And is not this an honorable spoil?
A gallant prize? Ha, cousin, is it not?
Westmorland
In faith, it is a conquest for a prince to boast of.
king
Yea, there thou mak'st me sad, and mak'st me sin
In envy that my lord Northumberland
Should be the father to so blest a son--
A son who is the theme of honor's tongue,
Amongst a grove the very straightest plant, 81
Who is sweet Fortune's minion and her pride, 82
Whilst I, by looking on the praise of him,
See riot and dishonor stain the brow 84
Of my young Harry. Oh, that it could be proved
That some night-tripping fairy had exchanged 86
In cradle clothes our children where they lay,
And called mine Percy, his Plantagenet! 88
Then would I have his Harry, and he mine.
But let him from my thoughts. What think you, coz, 90
92 surprised ambushed, captured
93 To . . . use i.e., to collect ransom for them
94 none but Mordake (Since Mordake was of royal blood, being grandson to Robert II of Scotland, Hotspur could not claim him as his prisoner according to the law of arms.)
96 Malevolent . . . aspects (1) implacably hostile to you (2) in astrological terms, a planet in a disobedient orbit, ominous as seen from every angle
97 Which . . . himself i.e., which teaching makes Hotspur preen himself (as a falcon preens its feathers)
1.2 Location: London, perhaps in an apartment of the Prince's.
2 sack a Spanish white wine
4 forgotten forgotten how
6 a devil in the devil
8 dials clocks
9 leaping houses houses of prostitution
10 taffeta (commonly worn by prostitutes)
11 superfluous (1) unnecessarily concerned (2) self-indulgent
Of this young Percy's pride? The prisoners
Which he in this adventure hath surprised 92
To his own use he keeps, and sends me word 93
I shall have none but Mordake, Earl of Fife. 94
Westmorland
This is his uncle's teaching. This is Worcester,
Malevolent to you in all aspects, 96
Which makes him prune himself and bristle up 97
The crest of youth against your dignity.
King
But I have sent for him to answer this;
And for this cause awhile we must neglect
Our holy purpose to Jerusalem.
Cousin, on Wednesday next our council we
Will hold at Windsor. So inform the lords.
But come yourself with speed to us again,
For more is to be said and to be done
Than out of anger can be uttered.
Westmorland I will, my liege. Exeunt.
1.2 A Enter Prince of Wales and Sir John Falstaff.
Falstaff
Now, Hal, what time of day is it, lad?
prince Thou art so fat-witted with drinking of old sack, 2
and unbuttoning thee after supper, and sleeping upon
benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to de- 4
mand that truly which thou wouldst truly know. What
a devil hast though to do with the time of the day? Un- 6
less hours were cups of sack, and minutes capons, and
clocks the tongues of bawds, and dials the signs of 8
leaping houses, and the blessed sun himself a fair hot 9
wench in flame-colored taffeta, I see no reason why 10
thou shouldst be so superfluous to demand the time 11
of the day.
13 you . . . now i.e., you've scored a point on me
14 go by (1) travel by the light of (2) tell time by. the seven stars the Pleiades
15-16 Phoebus . . . fair (Phoebus, god of the sun, is here equated with the wandering knight of a ballad or popular romance.)
17 Grace royal highness (with pun on spiritual grace and also on the grace or blessing before a meal)
20 troth faith
21 prologue . . . butter i.e., grace before a brief meal
22 roundly i.e., out with it
23 Marry Indeed. (Literally, "by the Virgin Mary.") wag joker
24-5 let . . . beauty i.e., let not us who are attendants on the goddess of night, members of her household, be blamed for stealing daylight by sleeping in the daytime.
25-6 Diana's foresters (An elegant name for thieves by night; Diana is goddess of the moon and the hunt.)
26 minions favorites
27 government (1) conduct (2) commonwealth
29 countenance (1) face (2) patronage, approval. steal (1) move stealthily (2) rob
30 it holds well the comparison is apt
36 Lay by (a cry of highwaymen, like "Hands up!") Bring in (an order given to a waiter in a tavern)
37 ladder (1) pier ladder (2) gallows ladder
38 ridge crossbar
41 Hybla (a town, famed for its honey, in Sicily near Syracuse) old . . . castle (1) a roisterer (2) the name Sir John Oldcastle, borne by Falstaff in an earlier version of this play
42 buff jerkin a leather jacket worn by officers of the law. durance (1) imprisonment (2) durability, durable cloth
44 quiddities subtleties of speech
Falstaff Indeed, you come near me now, Hal, for we 13
that take purses go by the moon and the seven stars, 14
and not by Phoebus, "he, that wandering knight so 15
fair." And I prithee, sweet wag, when thou art king, 16
as, God save Thy Grace--Majesty I should say, for 17
grace thou wilt have none--
prince What, none?
Falstaff No, by my troth, not so much as will serve to 20
be prologue to an egg and butter. 21
prince Well, how then? Come, roundly, roundly. 22
Falstaff Marry, then, sweet wag, when thou art 23
king, let not us that are squires of the night's body be 24
called thieves of the day's beauty. Let us be Diana's 25
foresters, gentlemen of the shade, minions of the moon; 26
and let men say we be men of good government, 27
being governed, as the sea is, by our noble and chaste
mistress the moon, under whose countenance we steal. 29
prince Thou sayest well, and it holds well too, for the 30
fortune of us that are the moon's men doth ebb and
flow like the sea, being governed, as the sea is, by the
moon. As, for proof, now: a purse of gold most
resolutely snatched on Monday night and most dis-
solutely spent on Tuesday morning, got with swearing
"Lay by" and spent with crying "Bring in," now in as 36
low an ebb as the foot of the ladder and by and by in 37
as high a flow as the ridge of the gallows. 38
Falstaff By the Lord, thou say'st true, lad. And is not
my hostess of the tavern a most sweet wench?
prince As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the castle. 41
And is not a buff jerkin a most sweet robe of durance? 42
Falstaff How now, how now, mad wag, what, in thy
quips and thy quiddities? What a plague have I to do 44
with a buff jerkin?
46 pox syphilis (Here, what a pox is used as an expletive, like "what the devil.")
48 reckoning settlement of the bill (with bawdy suggestion that is continued in pay thy part and my coin would stretch)
58 resolution courage (of a highwayman). fubbed cheated
59 Antic Buffoon
62 rare splendid. brave excellent
65 have . . . thieves (1) be in charge of hanging thieves (or protecting them from hanging) (2) hang like other thieves. rare (1) rarely used (2) excellent
67-8 jumps . . . humor suits my temperament
68 waiting in the court being in attendance at the royal court
70 suits petitions. (But Falstaff uses the word to mean suits of clothes; clothes belonging to an executed man were given to the executioner.)
72 'Sblood By his (Christ's) blood
73 gib cat tomcat. lugged bear bear led by a chain and baited by dogs.
76 hare (a proverbially melancholy animal)
77 Moorditch (a foul ditch draining Moorfields, outside London walls)
prince Why, what a pox have I to do with my hostess 46
of the tavern?
falstaff Well, thou hast called her to a reckoning 48
many a time and oft.
prince Did I ever call for thee to pay thy part?
falstaff No, I'll give thee thy due, thou hast paid all
there.
prince Yea, and elsewhere, so far as my coin would
stretch, and where it would not I have used my credit.
falstaff Yea, and so used it that, were it not here
apparent that thou art heir apparent--But I prithee,
sweet wag, shall there be gallows standing in England
when thou art king? And resolution thus fubbed as it 58
is with the rusty curb of old father Antic the law? Do 59
not thou, when thou art king, hang a thief.
/
