together; I have a fine hawk for the bush. Shall it be so? Ford. Any thing. Evans. If there is one, I shall make two in the 250 company. Caius. If there be one or two, I shall make-a the turd. 253-255.] Theobald and Steevens (1798) insert here from Q 1, "Evans. In your teeth: for shame! (Scene ix. ). the "birding piece" mentioned in IV. ii. 59. We have "birding" again later, in III. v. 46, and 1v. ii. 8. This sport is sometimes called hawking, but it must not be mixed up with the royal sport of falconry, which the orthodox books define as hawking at river or in the field-always in the open. Ben Jonson, in King James' reign (ante 1616), in The Forest-To Sir Robert Wroth, mentions the present pastime after small game: 66 Or hawking at the river or the bush, Or shooting at the greedy thrush." It was an amusement in the country for friends and guests. The hawk employed was the sparrowhawk, as we might have guessed from Mrs. Ford's eyas musket" (line 22). W. Lawson, in A New Orchard and Garden (1615), speaks of a Sparhawke in Winter to make the Blackbird stoope into a bush or hedge,' there to be "potted" by the arquebusier. Harting (Ornithology of Shakespeare, p. 72) says, prob. ably the goshawk," but Chaucer's Sir Thopas tells us expressly that hawk was for the river. Further, the same authority goes astray in endeavouring to identify Page's diversion with legitimate hawking, where of course the newly introduced "birding piece" (see note, IV. ii. 59) would be an unheard-of monstrosity. As well go fox-hunting with a gun. Probably this kind of hawking was of French origin. Hamlet tells us, "French falconers fly at everything," II. ii. 450; for a good 66 66 illustration of which the reader may refer to Court and Times of James 1. (ii. 446), in a letter of Chamberlain's, 1623-24. There, however, it is the real "chasse," according to French views, and was immensely delighted in by James. The best illustration of the sport in the text is, however, French, and will be found in an old treatise on domestic affairs entitled, Le Menagier de Paris (vol. ii. p. 311), quoted by Wright (History of Domestic Manners, p. 310), with an illustration of the pastime, for ladies using a crossbow. The text says (Wright): “when hawking of quails and partridges is over, and even in winter, you may hawk at magpies, at jackdaws, at teal which are in river, or others. at blackbirds, thrushes, jays, and woodcocks; and for this purpose you may carry a bow and a bolt, in order that, when the blackbird takes shelter in a bush, and dare not quit it for the hawk which hovers over and watches it, the lady or damsel who knows how to shoot may kill it with the bolt." This pastime gives us the time of year of the play, late winter or early spring. See Introduction. 250. make two] Evans' attempt to pick up the English idiom "make one" (see 11. iii. 48, note) is capital. 252.] Caius' speech here is inserted in the Quarto before line 85 (III. ii.). It is followed there by a coarse remark from "Sir Hugh," which is found in John Heywood, The Four PP., 1569; and in Ford. Pray you, go, Master Page. Evans. I pray you now, remembrance to-morrow on 255 the lousy knave, mine host. Caius. Dat is good; by gar, with all my heart! Evans. A lousy knave, to have his gibes and his mockeries! [Exeunt. SCENE IV.—A Room in Page's House. Enter FENTON and ANNE PAGE. Fent. I see I cannot get thy father's love; Therefore no more turn me to him, sweet Nan. Anne. Alas, how then? Fent. Why, thou must be thyself. And that, my state being gall'd with my expense, 5 He doth object I am too great of birth; I seek to heal it only by his wealth: Besides these, other bars he lays before me,- And tells me 'tis a thing impossible I should love thee but as a property. Anne. May be he tells you true. Fent. No, heaven so speed me in my time to come! Was the first motive that I woo'd thee, Anne: Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair, and elsewhere. 255-259.] Evans and Caius have formed their plot against the Host. See above, III. i. 120-126. And see later, IV. v. 65-95, and Introduction, pp. lxxiii-lxxviii. This conversation between Evans and Caius is not in the ΙΟ Quarto. So that their scheme is somewhat more clearly brought out in the Folio. Scene IV. 8. My riots past, my wild societies] See III. ii. 74. Anne. Yet, wooing thee, I found thee of more value That now I aim at. Gentle Master Fenton, Yet seek my father's love; still seek it, sir: 15 20 Cannot attain it, why, then,-hark you hither! Enter SHALLOW, SLENDER, and MISTRESS QUICKLY. Shal. Break their talk, Mistress Quickly: my kinsman shall speak for himself. Slen. I'll make a shaft or a bolt on 't: 'slid, 'tis but venturing. Shal. Be not dismayed. Slen. No, she shall not dismay me: I care not for that, but that I am afeard. Quick. Hark ye; Master Slender would speak a word 25 30 [Aside.] This is my father's choice. 16. stamps in gold] coins, money. Compare Macbeth, IV. iii. 153, and v. iv. 24. Not a common term. Wright (Provincial Dictionary) has Stamp, a halfpenny." See Beaumont and Fletcher, The Widow (Dyce, iv. 326): "I will consume myself to the last stamp Before thou getst me," In Middleton's Woman beware Woman, v. i., "Your stamp shall go current has a punning reference to money. دو whereas the bolt, usually for the cross- or shaft O, what a world of vile ill-favour'd faults Quick. And how does good Master Fenton ? you, a word with you. Pray Shal. She's coming; to her, coz. O boy, thou hadst a father! Slen. I had a father, Mistress Anne; my uncle can tell you good jests of him. Pray you, uncle, tell Mistress Anne the jest, how my father stole two geese out of a pen, good uncle. Shal. Mistress Anne, my cousin loves you. Slen. Ay, that I do; as well as I love any woman in Gloucestershire. 35 40 Shal. He will maintain you like a gentle- 45 woman. Slen. Ay, that I will, come cut and long-tail, under the degree of a squire. Shal. He will make you a hundred and fifty pounds jointure. 50 Anne. Good Master Shallow, let him woo for him self. Shal. Marry, I thank you for it; I thank you for that good comfort. She calls you, coz; I'll leave you. Anne. Now, Master Slender,— Slen. Now, good Mistress Anne,— Slen. My will! od's heartlings, that's a pretty jest Anne. I mean, Master Slender, what would you with me? Slen. Truly, for mine own part, I would little or nothing with you. Your father and my uncle hath made motions: if it be my luck, so; if not, happy man be his dole! They can tell you how things go better than I can you may ask your father; here he comes. Enter PAGE and MISTRESS PAGE. 55 бо 65 Page. Now, Master Slender: love him, daughter Anne.— 70 of the Shrew, 1. i. 144; Winter's Tale, I. ii. 163; 1 Henry IV. II. ii. 81). The sense varies a little. The expres sion is in Heywood's Proverbs (edition Sharman, p. 13), 1546, and is hardly obsolete. It is also in Edwards' Damon and Pithias (circa 1560). |