Elinor. I like thee well: wilt thou forsake thy fortune, Bequeath thy land to him, and follow me? 156 I am a Souldier, and now bound to France. Baft. Brother, take you my land, Ile take my chance; Elinor. Nay, I would haue you go before me thither. 156. well: will] well. Will Johns Coll. Wh. i, Ktly, Sta. Del. Fleay, Dono. fortune] fortunne F2. 159, 162. Ile] I'le F1. 160. pound] pounds Steev. Varr. 160 163 Sing. Coll. Wh. i, Ktly, Huds. ii, Del. 160. a yeere] a-year Knt, Sta. Fleay. 161. decre:] decre. F2. dear. F¡F, et seq. 'French Historie,' closely following that given by Stone from Halle's Chronicle, save that the names are changed from the Duke of Orleans to the 'Duke of Guyses' and Cauny to 'Monsieur Granduyle.' The reply of the Bastard is almost in the same words as in Halle. [It is neither a profitable nor a pleasant task to collect further examples of such a choice as Philip Faulconbridge's; but the mere mention of the name of William D'Avenant will doubtless recall another case, certainly more widely known than any of those just given. See, if needful, Dict. Nat. Biog., s. v. D'Avenant, William, vol. v, p. 552.—ED.] 154. face] FLEAY: My emendation [hand for 'face'] is necessary for the rhyme, and also for the antithesis to 'foot,' which, after Shakespeare's usual custom, is used in a double sense, one meaning being merely glanced at. 155. It would not] MALONE: I am not sure that the correction [by the editor of Fa] is necessary.-The CAMBRIDGE EDD. (Note VII.) call attention to a like apparent misprint in Twelfth Night: 'I cannot be so answered.'-II, iv, 87, where all the Folios read 'It cannot,' etc. In the present passage KNIGHT and DELIUS (ed. i.) retain the reading of the Folio and thus make 'It would' refer to 'this face.' 155. sir nobbe] CAPELL (I, pt. ii, p. 118): 'Nob' is a cant word for head; and from its relation in sound to another cant word Bob for Robert, it may well be that that name too is alluded to, as well as the brother's face, who was a knight and a Robert. [Has not Capell confused the father with the younger son? King John later makes the distinction between Philip, after his knighting, and Robert, who is left merely as a squire.-KNIGHT, and the Cowden-Clarkes likewise, interpret 'Nob' here as the cant word for head, apparently independently. Excellent as the suggestion is, it is quite untenable, as the word 'nob,' in this sense, was unknown before 1700.—ED.] 157. Bequeath] MURRAY (N. E. D., s. v. II, 4.): To make a formal assignation of property of which one is possessed to anyone, so as to pass to him at once: To transfer, hand over, make over. (Obs.) [The present line quoted.] 162. vnto the death] Compare: 'You are both sure and will assist me? Conr. To the death, my lord.'-Much Ado, I, iii, 71. 163. Nay... before me thither] DEIGHTON: Elinor, playing upon his words, says: 'Nay, I would rather you should precede me thither, i. e., on the road to death,' to which the Bastard, keeping up the joke, answers, 'our rustic manners teach us to give precedence to our superiors.'-[Deighton is possibly right; at the same time, Baft. Our Country manners giue our betters way. Baft. Philip my Liege, fo is my name begun, Kneele thou downe Philip, but rife more great, 166. Philip] Philip, F1. Liege,...begun,] Ff, Rowe, Pope, +. liege,...begun,- Dyce, Hal. Sta. Words. liege,...begun; Cam.+. liege; ...begun Cap. et cet. 167. Philip] Om. Dono. wiues] wife's Rowe et seq. eldeft] eld'st Dyce ii, iii, Fleay. true eldest Dono. 168, 169. From...beareft] One line Pope et seq. 165 170 169. beareft] Ff, Rowe, Knt, Coll. Dyce i, Wh. i, Sta. Del. Craig. bear'st Pope et set. 170. downe] down, Ktly. rife] Ff, Rowe, Mal. Var. '21, Coll. Cam.+. rise up Pope,+, Cap. Marsh. to rise Ktly. arise Var. '73 et cet. 171. [knighting him. Capell. since 'to the death' was a familiar phrase, Elinor may refer to the expedition to France, and object to the Bastard's too literal interpretation of her word follow,' which she here uses in the sense of entering her service.-ED.] 164. Our... betters] WRIGHT: 'Betters' in this sense will never become obsolete so long as it is retained in the Church Catechism. 167. eldest] Walker (Vers., 167) quotes the present line among others as examples wherein for the sake of the metre the e in superlatives is often suppressed. (See also, I, ii, 189.) 170. but rise more great] As will be seen in the Text. Notes there have been various suggestions to amend the iregularity in the metre of this line.-MALONE'S remark that 'more is here used as a dissyllable,' provoked a characteristically sarcastic retort from RITSON (Cursory Criticisms, p. 61): 'What an admirable thing is it to have a delicate ear! A plain hobbling fellow unblessed with that advantage would have only thought the little word up wanting, and spoiled, of course, a most excellent monodissyllable.'-STEEVENS reprints Malone's note, not wishing, as he says, to 'suppress it,' though he does 'not concur.' Malone's last word on the subject appears in the Variorum of 1821; where he still maintains his preference for the dissyllable, and adds that 'Colonel Roberts suggested to him to read rise up,' thus ignoring Ritson and inadvertently betraying the fact that he had not consulted the texts of his predecessors, Pope, Theobald, Hanmer, Warburton, Johnson, and Capell.-ABBOTT (§ 506) quotes this line among others as an illustration of a gesture used to supply the place of a syllable or foot in lines with four accents where there is an interruption; thus here the King's action of dubbing Philip at the words 'But rise,' etc., fills out the line.-ED. 171. Plantagenet] MALONE: It is a common opinion that Plantaganet was the surname of the 'royal house of England from the time of King Henry II.; but it is, as Camden observes in his Remaines Concerning Britaine, 1614, a popular mistake. Plantaganet was not a family name, but a nick-name, by which a grandson of Geoffrey, the first Earl of Anjou, was distinguished, from his wearing a broomstalk in his bonnet. But this name was never borne either by the first Earl of Baft. Brother by th'mothers fide, giue me your hand, 172 My father gaue me honor, yours gaue land: Ele. The very spirit of Plantaginet: I am thy grandame Richard, call me fo. Baft. Madam by chance, but not by truth, what tho; Something about a little from the right, 172-184. Om. Words. th'] Ff, Rowe, Pope,+, Wh. i, Fleay, Huds. ii. the Cap. et cet. 173. land:] Ff, Knt, Sta. Huds. Cam. +, Del. Rlfe, Craig. land:- Cap. Var. '78, '85, Ran. Mal. Steev. Varr. Sing. Huds. land. Rowe et cet. 174, 175. Om. Dono. 174. blessed] blessed Dyce, Huds. ii. be] by Pope. houre...day] FaF3, Fleay. hour... day, Sing. Huds. hour,...day, F1 et cet. 175. got,] got F3, Coll. away.] away! Han. Warb. Johns. Var. '73, Dyce, Hal. Wh. i, Cam.+, Del. Huds. ii, Rlfe, Craig. 175 179 176. Plantaginet:] Plantaganet. Fr F3, Fleay. Plantaganet: F4, Rowe. Plantaganet! Pope et seq. 177. grandame] grandam F4, Rowe, Pope,+, Dyce, Hal. Cam.+, Del. Coll. iii, Huds. ii. grandame Richard,] F2F3. Grandam, Richard, F, Rowe. Grandam; Richard, Pope,+. grandame, Richard; Cap. et seq. 178. truth, what tho;] Ff, Rowe, Pope. truth; what tho'? Theob. Johns. Var. '73. truth:-What tho'? Cap. truth. What though? Ktly, Sta. Fleay. though? Warb. et cet. truth; what 179. about] F,F3, Pope. about, F et cet. Anjou, or by King Henry II, the son of that Earl by the Empress Maude, he being always called Henry Fitz-Empress; his son, Richard Cœur-de-Lion; and the prince who is exhibited in the play before us, John Sans-terre, or Lackland.-[JAMES TAIT (Dict. of Nat. Biog., s. v. Plantaganet, Family of) says that the family did not assume the surname until the middle of the fifteenth century, and that the explanation of its traditional derivation from Geoffrey's adorning his cap with a sprig of the p anta genista 'cannot be traced to any mediæval source. One version ascribes it to his "having applied some twigs of the plant to his person by way of penance" (Vestigia Anglicana, i, 266).'-ED.] 178. by chance, but not by truth] JOHNSON: That is, I am your grandson, madam, by chance, but not by honesty; what then?-MOBERLY: Elinor of Guienne was not likely to object much to this freedom of tone, considering the youthful passages which had led to her divorce from Louis le Jeune, after the second Crusade. 179. Something about, etc.] JOHNSON: This speech, composed of allusive and proverbial sentences, is obscure. I am, says the sprightly knight, your grandson, a little irregularly, but every man cannot get what he wishes the legal way. He that dares not go about his designs by day, must make his motions in the night; he, to whom the door is shut, must climb the window, or leap the hatch. This, however, shall not depress me; for the world never enquires how any man got what he is known to possess, but allows that to have is to have, however it was caught, and that he who wins shot well, whatever was his skill, whether the arrow fell near the mark, or far off it.-WRIGHT: The proverbial sayings which follow are characteristic In at the window, or else ore the hatch: 180 Who dares not stirre by day, must walke by night, And haue is haue, how euer men doe catch: Neere or farre off, well wonne is ftill well shot, And I am I, how ere I was begot. K.Iohn. Goe, Faulconbridge, now haft thou thy defire, A landlesse Knight, makes thee a landed Squire: 185 185. Faulconbridge] Falconbridge Dyce, Hal. Huds. ii, Words. of the Bastard's rusticity of breeding. 186. Knight,] Knight Rowe ii, et seq. Squire:] 'Squire: Pope,+, Cap. 'squire. Var. '78, '85, Ran. Mal. Steev. Varr. Sing. Coll. Hal. Wh. i. squire. Knt, Dyce, Ktly, Sta. Huds. Cam.+. [Wright compares Coriol., I, i, 199: 'They said they were an-hungry; sighed forth proverbs.'] 180. In at the window] STEEVENS: These expressions mean, to be born out of wedlock. So, in The Family of Love, Middleton, 1608: 'Woe worth the time that ever I gave suck to a child that came in at the window!' [IV, iii, 113; ed. Bullen, p. 83.] So, in Northward Hoe, Dekker & Webster, 1607: '-kindred that comes in o'er the hatch.' [I, i; ed. Pearson, p. 7.] Such another phrase occurs in Anything for a Quiet Life, [Middleton, 1662]: '—then you keep children in the name of your own, which she suspects came not in at the right door.' [III, ii, 215; ed. Bullen, p. 299.] Again, in The Witches of Lancashire, Heywood & Brome, 1634: '—It appears then by your discourse that you came in at the window.' [I, i; ed. Pearson, p. 174.] Again, -to escape the dogs hath leaped in at a window-'Tis thought you came into the world that way,-because you are a bastard.' [Ibid., II, i; ed. Pearson, p. 198.] 181. Who dares ... by night] JOHNSON'S paraphrase of this line, 'He that dares not go about his designs by day, must make his motions in the night,' leaves it much as it was before, without a hint as to its special application. It is, however, with the greatest diffidence that I offer a possible explanation of this puzzling phrase a proverb of the Bastard's own invention, as far as I have been able to ascertain. Thus: There is a very marked antithesis between the first part of the sentence and the second half. He who does not even dare to move in the day-time will be compelled to walk in the dark. That is, in seeking to avoid that which is easy, he must do that which is difficult; and Philip thus applies it to his case. If he had not dared to renounce the ownership of lands and money, mere outward ornaments, he would have been forced to forego the much higher honor of being Cœur de Lion's son.-ED. 183. Neere or farre off] PAGE dissents from Johnson's explanation ('he who wins shot well whether the arrow fell near the mark or far off it') on the ground that 'near or far off' rather means whether the contestant were near or far off, as the winning depends on the arrow falling near or on the mark. Page is undoubtedly right. A contestant whose arrow fell wide of the mark would never be declared a winner.-ED. 186. a landlesse Knight] JOHN HUNTER refers this to the king himself on ac Come Madam, and come Richard, we must speed Exeunt all but bastard. Baft. A foot of Honor better then I was, But many a many foot of Land the worse. 187. Madam,...Richard,] Madam,... madam,-...Richard, 188. For France, for France] For France, for France! Hal. For France, for France! Sta. then] than F4. 189, 190. Om. Dono. 189. Brother adieu,] Ff, Rowe, Pope. Brother, adieu. Ktly. Brother, adieu; Theob. et cet. thee,] Ff, Rowe, Pope,+, Var. '78, '85. Coll. thee! Cap. et cet. 190. Om. Words. waft] was Pope,+ (—Var. '73). '85, 187 190 193 190. i'th] F.F. i'th F4, Rowe, Pope, +, Wh. i, Fleay. i'the Cap. et cet. honefly] honesty! Var. '73, '78, Rann. 191. all but bastard] Om. Cap. Dono. SCENE III. Pope, Han. Warb. Johns. SCENE II. The same. Ante-room of the same. Enter Bastard. Capell. SCENE II. Before the Castle. Enter Richard. Donovan. 192. Baft. A foot...] A foot... Rowe, +, Varr. Mal. Steev. Varr. Sing. Knt, Coll. Dyce. 193. many a many] many, a many Pope. many, many a Han. many, ah! many a Coll. ii. (MS.). count of his being known as Sans-terre or Lackland, but, as both Rolfe and Deighton remark, it can refer to Philip only, who by resigning his lands has made his brother a 'landed squire.' 189. good fortune come to thee] COLLIER: Alluding to the proverb that 'bastards are born lucky.' Philip wishes his brother good fortune, because Robert was not a bastard; had he been illegitimate, the wish, according to the proverb, would have been needless. [This may be called a superstitious belief rather than a proverb. It is given in Lean's Collectanea, ii, 609.-ED.] 191. Exeunt all but bastard] Capell (I, pt ii, p. 118): To this editor [this] appears a direction of mere convenience, put in by the players; his cause of thinking so, this: The letters [Scene ш.] that stand before: 'A foot of honour,' etc. . . . indicate an intended re-entry; [see Text. Notes] which some words of both the speeches before it make apparently proper, and has this propriety further-in admitting a new scene for the 'Lady' and her servant to enter on, which the first was most unfitted for certainly. The instant coming-in of a character who has but just made his exit is faulty, but not without its examples. [In support of this, see Macbeth, V, viii, where, after Macbeth's defiance of Macduff, the stage-direction in the Folio reads: 'Exeunt fighting,' which is immediately followed by: 'Enter Fighting and Macbeth slaine. Retreat, and Flourish.' etc.—ED.] 192. A foot of Honor] JOHNSON: That is, a step, un pas. 193. many a many] This is the only passage in Shakespeare wherein precisely this construction occurs. It is, moreover, the only example quoted by BRADLEY (N. E. D.) under 'many' used emphatically.—SCHMIDT compares Hamlet, III, iii, 9: 'Most holy and religious fear it is To keep those many many bodies safe.'— |