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ACT FOURn2235
4.1n7334
[At the Goat Tavern]
BETTY and FRANCISCA enter,n834 with swords drawn; they make
fast the doorsn835.

700BettyNay, you perpetual pussgg1698, I’ll fetch him out of the very bowels of thee.

701FranciscaHe never came so deep himselfn837 yet with all that he could do, and I scorn the threatening of a she-marmasetn3797gg1699.

702Nicholas   Withinn3281   Why, Betty, Frank, you mankind carrionsgg3125, you! I vow, open the door! Will you both kill one another, and cozen the hangman of his fees?

703BettyThou hadst been better have bit off the dugsgg2785 of thy dam, thou pin-buttockgg1700 jadegg532, thou, than have snappedgg3126 a bit of mine from me.

704FranciscaHere’s that shall stay your stomach better than the bit you snarl for. Thou greedy brachn841, thou.

705Nicholas   Withinn3281   Why, wenches, are ye wild? Break open the doors.

706BettyThat I could split that devilish tongue of thine!

707FranciscaI have as good a spite atgg3127 as ill a member about theen842.
NICHOLAS and ANTHONY enter

708NicholasHold, what’s the devil in ye?

709AnthonyAre ye so sharp-set, ye Amazonian trulls?gg1701n843

710Bettyn9179Let me but make one passgg3128 at her.

711FranciscaPray let me go, and let her come.

712NicholasCan no blunter toolsn4592 than these serve to take down your furies?

713BettyLet me come but within nails’ reach of her.

714FranciscaLet me but try the strength of my teeth upon her.

715NicholasAs Hector ’twixt the hosts of Greece and Troy,
        When Paris and the Spartan king should end
        Their nine years wars, held up his brazen lance
        In signal, that both armies should surcease
        And hear him speak. So, let me crave your audience:n3850
        Dear Bettie, be advised, and Frank, forbear
        Thy thirst of sister’s blood, whilest I rip up
        The folly of your strife. Your cases both
        Have been laid open to me.n7329 You contend
        For love of a lewd citizen, that sleights,
        Nay more, disdains, nay more, defies you both.
        Tony can tell, Mun Clotpoll also knows
        The words he spoke, that you were both poor whores,
        Not poor alone, but foul infectious harlots.
        And that he wears your marksn3851n845 with pain and sorrow,
        Hopeless to claw them off. With constant purpose
        Never to see you more, unless to greet
        Your bumping buttocks with revengeful feet.

716BettyDid he say so?

717FranciscaAnd must we two fall out for such a slanderous villain?

718AnthonyNo, agree, agree.

719NicholasBussgg1702 and be friends. Buss, or I’ll baste ye both, I vow.

720BettyCome, sister, we’ll be in for ever now.

721FranciscaFor my part, sister, sure I was not out with you.

722BettyBut did he say he would kick us?

723AnthonyLo here, the mann847 that dares it not deny.
CITIZEN and DRAWER enter

724CitizenBut do ye hear, gentlemen? I hope you will use me kindlier than so.

725NicholasThan how, Sir?

726CitizenThan to win all my money, and leave me at stake for the reckoning. Pray, do you pay the drawer for me, though I pay it you again.n3143

727AnthonyWhat is it, drawer?

728DrawerThe gentlewomen and he had fourteen shillings in before you came.

729Nicholas’Tis a plain case, your cloak must answer it at the bar, sir. Drawer, away with itn848.Exit DRAWER with [CITIZEN’s] cloak.

730CitizenNay, but gentlemen –

731NicholasI vow, do but look after it, till we be gone, and these shall claw thine eyes outn849.

732CitizenWell, sir, I hope this quarter will not be always lawlessn850.

733AnthonyDo you grumble, Master Cufflessn851?

734NicholasI vow, you shall have cuffsn852.

735BettyYes, that you shall.

736FranciscaCuts and slashes too before we part, sir.n4593

737CitizenYou will not murder me, will you?

738NicholasDamsels, forbear; and you, forbear your noise.n4594 I vow, I’ll slit your whistlegg3129 else. You shall give him due correction civillyn853, and we will make him take it civilly. Sit you down, sir.

739CitizenWhat will you do with me?

740NicholasI vow, mumgg1683.
CLOTPOLL and COCKBRAIN enter

741ClotpollO, are ye here? Was it a brotherly trick, do ye think, to leave me to pay one reckoning twice? Or did I think never to be made a mouth more, after I had paid my swearing dinner, and am I now a greater mouth than e’er I was?

742NicholasMum, hold your tongue still in your mouth, lest I halifaxn854 it with your teeth.

743Clotpoll   [Aside]   “Halifax my tongue”. And “listen to a business”.[Writes in his notebook]

744NicholasDo you know this man?

745ClotpollYes, the City mouth we had tother night.

746NicholasThese are the Sisters that his lavish tongue so lewdly did deprave.

747ClotpollI cry them heartily mercy. Are you of the sweet Sisterhood? I hope to know you all, all the pretty mumpersgg1647n855 in the buryn856 here, before I have done. ’Tis true, I protest, he spake words of you, that such flesh and blood could not bear. He could not have spoken worse of mutton of a groat a quartern857.

748BettyAnd were we so fondgg1469 to fight for him?

749FranciscaBut now we’ll both be revenged upon the flesh of him.

750CitizenPray, let me speak with you.

751NicholasNo, they shall beat you first. And mark me well. Do thou but stir an hand or foot, or raise a voice that may be heard to the next room, we’ll cut thy weasandgg1703. Now, wenches, take your course.
[BETTY and FRANCISCA attack the CITIZENn4271]

752BettyNay, you slave, we’ll mark you for a sheepbitern860.

753FranciscaWe’ll teach you how to scandalize.

754BettyHave I given you that you cannot claw off, you mongrel?

755ClotpollRare, I protestn2971.

756Citizenn9180Oh!–Oh!–Oh!

757NicholasThere, there!n7330

758FranciscaWe’ll claw thine ears off rather.

759CitizenOh!–Oh!–Oh!

760ClotpollO brave!

761CockbrainO outrage, most insufferable, all this goes into my black bookn2214.

762NicholasTo him Bettie, at him Frank; there, whores, there.

763AnthonyFie, fie, forbear, enough, too much in consciencen861.

764CockbrainThat young man has some pity yet.

765AnthonyI swear you shall no more.

766CockbrainAlas, good gentlemen, it is enough –

767NicholasI vow, do you prate? You shall have as much. Come, take the chair, sir, the brachesn9181 shall bait him too.n7331

768CockbrainO, good gentlemen!

769NicholasI vow, they shall. To him and claw him, I’ll clapperclawgg1704n862 your sides else.

770CockbrainO me! What mean you?
[BETTY and FRANCISCA attack COCKBRAIN; COCKBRAIN’s false beard and wig come off]

771BettyHeyday! His beard comes off.

772AnthonyAnd his head too.n4595 What rotten scabn863 is this?

773ClotpollI protest, they have pulled my pieced brothern864 in pieces here.n7332

774NicholasI vow, some disguised villain, and but for doing the state so good servicen865, we would hang him presently without examination.

775Anthony   [Aside]   I know him. And you shall not touch him. Best is, he knows nor me. Good heaven, what braintrick has possessed him?n866

776NicholasI vow, what canst thou be?

777AnthonyCome, ’tis an honest fellow, that is only ashamed to run so base a course for his living in his own facen867. Poor man, I warrant his fear threatens his breeches shrewdlyn3852. But let’s away, and quickly, our stay is dangerous. Come, we forgot Mick Crosswill and the wenches.

778NicholasCome all away, then. Sirrah, thank this gentlemann4596, and pray for him at the end of your songs hereafter.

779ClotpollFarewell, friend piece. I’ll know you better now, before you have ’tn8825 again.All exit except COCKBRAIN and CITIZEN

780CockbrainWhat monsters in mankind? What hell-hounds are they?n3144
        Only as Ovid feigned among the Getesgg1705.
        A friend at need, I with a friend was blessed,
        Whom I may gratify, and plague the rest.
How is it with you, sir?

781CitizenO, I am very sore.n7333

782CockbrainIndeed, you are sorely handled. This may warn you out of such caterwalinggg1706 company. You look like one more civil. And in hope you will be so, I’ll bring you to a barbergg1707.

783CitizenAlas, my cloak.

784CockbrainI’ll help you to that too, so you with me,
        Will in an honest plot assistant be.

785CitizenO Sir, in any thing, and thank you too, Sir.COCKBRAIN and CITIZEN exit together
4.2n4272
[At the Paris Tavern]
Enter MIHIL, GABRIELn4265, and BOY, with winen4266, &c.

786MihilA Paris il’y’a bien venun872. Here’s no bush at this doorn873, but good wine rides post upon, I mean, the sign-post. Boy, get you down, and if Nick Rooksbill or any of his company ask for me, bring ’em up, d’ yen874 hear?

787BoyI will, I will, sir.BOY exits

788MihilYou are welcome to Paris, brother Gabriel.

789GabrielIt is nevertheless a tavern, brother Mihil, and you promised and covenanted with me at the last house of noise and noisomeness, that you would not lead me to any more taverns.

790MihilLead you, brother? Men use to be led from taverns sometimes. You saw I did not lead you nor bring you to any that was more a tavern than the last, nor so much neither; for here is no bush you saw.

791Gabriel’Twas that betrayed and entrapped me. But let us yet forsake it.

792MihilPray, let us drink first, brother. By your leave, here’s to you.
[He drinks a toast]

793GabrielOne glassfull more is the most that I can bear. My head is very full, and laboureth with that I have had already.[GABRIEL drinks a toast]

794MihilThere, sir.   [Aside]   I’ll undertake one good fellow, that has but just as much religion as will serve an honest man’s turn, will bear more wine than ten of these giddy-brained Puritans, their heads are so full of whimsiesgg3130.

795Gabriel’Tis mighty heady, mighty heady, and truly I cannot but think that the over-much abuse of these outlandish liquors have bred so many errors in the Romish churchn875.

796MihilIndeed, brother, there is too much abuse made of such good creatures. Wine in itself is good, you will grant, though the excess be nought; and taverns are not contemptible, so the company be good.

797GabrielIt is most true, we find that holy men have gone to taverns, and made good use of ’em upon their peregrinationsn3853.

798MihilAnd cannot men be content to take now and then a cup, and discourse of good things by the way? As thus: brother, here’s a remembrance (if she be living, and have not lost her honour) to our cousin Dorcas.
[They drink another toast]

799GabrielO, that kinswoman of ours. She was the dearest loss that e’er fell from our house.

800MihilPledge her, good brother.

801GabrielI do –
[GABRIEL drinks another toast]

802Mihil   [Aside]   I hope ’twill maudlenizegg1708n876 him.

803GabrielBut have you never seen that miscreant that wronged her, since he did that same? They say you knew him.

804MihilAlas, suppose I had, what could be done? She’s lost, we see. What good could she receive by any course against him?n2216

805GabrielIt had been good to have humbled him, though, into the knowledge of his transgression. And of himself for his soul’s good, either by course of law, or else in case of necessity, where the law promiseth no release, by your own right hand you might have smote him, smote him with great force, yea, smote him unto the earth, until he had prayed that the evil might be taken from him.

806Mihil   [Aside to the audience]   This is their way of loving enemies, to beat ’em into goodness.   [Aloud]   Well, brother, I may meet with him again, and then I know what to do.   [Aside]   If he knew him as I do now, what a religious combat were here like to be at Nick’s coming?
BOY enters

807BoySir, here’s a gentlewoman asks for Master Rooksbill.

808MihilThe travelled gallant, is’t not?

809BoyYes, sir, and the old black partyn2973, her landlady with her. But they ask for nobody but him, sir.

810MihilSay he is here by all means, and bring ’em up.BOY exits

811GabrielWomen! Pray, brother, let’s avoid the place, let us fly it. What should we do with women in a tavern?

812MihilNo harm, assure yourself. Cannot we govern ourselves?
DORCAS and MARGERY enter; [they] start back.

Nay, lady, stay, he will be here presently that you look for.

813GabrielI will not glance an eye toward temptation.

814Mihil   [Aside]   I am amazed. Sure, I have seen this face, howe’er your habit and the course of time may give’t another seeming.

815Dorcas   [Aside]   Good angels, help my thoughts and memory. It is my kinsman Mihil. What’s the other that hides his face so?

816Mihil   [To DORCAS]   Do you turn away?

817Dorcas   [Aside]   It is my cousin Gabrieln877, strangelygg231 altered.

818Mihil   [To MARGERY]   Come hither you. I’ll make a little bold with you, thou that hast been a concealer of more sins in women’s actions than thou hast grizzled hairs.

819Dorcas   [Aside]   Sure, I will speak to him. He always loved me.

820Mihil   [To MARGERY]   Reveal a truth to me on my demand, now instantly, without premeditation. I’ll cut thy tongue out elsen878.

821MargeryWhat’s here to do? Do you think I am a devil that you make such conjurations over me?

822MihilI think thou art as true a servant of his as any bawd can be. But lie now if thou darest. How long have you known that gentlewomann879? And what do you know by her?

823Dorcas   [To GABRIEL]   Sir.

824MargeryHere’s a stir about nothing. I know nothing by her, not I. Nor whether she has anything or nothingn880, that a woman should have by the report of knowledge of man, woman or beast, not I. She came to me but this morning, with a purpose to set me up in my new house as I hoped. But she has taken a course to make it honestly spoken of already, to my utter undoing; but she never comes within my doors again, as I hope to thrive by my trade hereafter.

825DorcasPray, look upon me, sir.

826MihilWas she so resolutely bent, and so soon altered?

827MargeryUpon the very first sight of the very first man that came into my house, the very first hour of my setting up in it.

828MihilWhat man was that?

829MargeryA shame take him, your roaring friend, Nick. I think she is enamoured of him or of something she guesses he has; and would fain play the honest woman with him, that never played honest man with woman in his life.

830Mihil   [Aside]   ’Tis she, and ’tis most wonderful.

831DorcasIf you knew who I were, you would not be so strangegg2316 to me.

832MargeryAnd here she comes me a-hunting after him, like a fondlinggg3173, whilst half a dozen pieces might ha’ been gotten at home by this time, and she have had the halves of it in her purse by this time; if she would have done, as I thought, she would have done by this time.

833MihilAlas, poor Howletn2977.

834MargeryI sent whooping after the best guestsn9182 that haunt my house, to have taken the first fruits of her conversation, and she would not see a man of ’em, to my undoing.

835MihilWell, leave thy hooting, Madge. And hold thy peace, thou shalt getn3854 by it.

836MargeryYes, I shall get a good name shortly, and this geargg1709 hold, and turn beggar, I shall.

837DorcasPray, sir, but one word.

838MihilSpeak to her, brother, ’tis our cousin Dorcas.

839GabrielWill you abuse me too? Is she not lost?

840MihilAnd will you not give her leave to be found again? His wine and her sudden apprehensionn3855 workn9183 on him at once. Cousin, I’ll speak to you, though I confess the miracle of our meeting thus amazes me.

841DorcasO, cousins both: as ye are gentlemen,n883
        And of that noble stock whose mere remembrance,
        When In9184 was given up, and at the brink
        Of desperate folly, struckn882 that reverend fear
        Into my soul, that hath preserved my honour
        From further falling, lend me now your aid,
        To vindicate that honour by that man,
        That threw me in the way of loss and ruin.

842MihilAll shall be well, good cousin, you shall have both hands and hearts to re-estategg1710 you in him. So that in fact you have not wronged that honourn885, since he forsook you?

843DorcasOn my soul, I have not.

844MihilInfantsn4597 then shall be pardoned. Brother, speakn886.

845DorcasYou were wont still to be my loving’st cousin.

846GabrielWhat a strange dream has wine wrought in my head.

847MihilI hope it will work out his superfluous zeal and render him civil Christian again.n887

848DorcasIt is no dream, good cousin, you are awake.n888
        And I, that Dorcas for whom you have wished
        Affinity of blood might be dispensed with,
        And you to be my choice. So well you loved me.

849GabrielAnd will above my life affect you still.n3146
        But you must leave these gauds and profane dressings.

850MargeryBawds, did he say? How comes he to know me, trow?

851DorcasHow came my cousin Gabriel thus translated
        Out of gay clothes, long hair, and lofty spirit,
        Stout and brave action, manly carriage,
        Into so strict a reformation?
        Where is the martial humour he was wont so to affect?

852MihilHis purity and your disgrace fell on you both about a time, i’faithn889.

853GabrielDo you swear by your FAITH?n3147

854MihilHe’s falling back again. Boy!n3148 Some more wine! You will drink with our cousin, brother, will you not?
[Enter BOY]

855BoyWhat wine is’t, gentlemen?

856GabrielYes, in a cup of sincere love.

857BoyWhat other wine you please, gentlemen, we have none such i’ th’ housen890.

858MihilOf the same we had, sir.

859DorcasCall not for wine for us, cousin.

860MargeryAssuredly, we are no profane wine-bibbers, not we.

861GabrielModest, and well-spoken verily, she should be a sister or a matrongg1711.
[MARGERY and GABRIEL converse apart with seriousness and piety]n3282

862MihilYes, yes, we’ll all drink for the good o’ th’ house. ’Tis upon putting down, they say, and more o’th neighboursn892. But, cousin, he knew you not today?

863DorcasNo, nor dreams of me.

864MihilAnd the old one knows nothing, does she?

865DorcasNo, by no means.

866MihilShe can bewraygg1968 nothing then. My brother knows not him. I only do for his fair sister’s sake, of which you may hear more hereafter; in the meann893, bear your self fair and free, as if you knew him not, and I’ll work him to your end, never fear it.

867DorcasYou are a noble spokesman.

868Margery   [Aloud]   Truly, you speak most edifyingly.
Enter BOY with [more] wine

869MihilWell said. Give it to my brother. Drink to our cousin, brother.

870GabrielI will, and to that virtuous matron, whose care of her, I hope, tends unto good edification.   [Drinks]   Truly, the wine is good, and I was something thirsty.

871MargeryBest drink again then, sir.

872GabrielI will follow your motherly advice.Drinks.

873Mihil’Twill work anon, I hope.

874GabrielAnd you have travelled, cousin. I may suppose you brought this well-disposed gentlewoman from Amsterdamn894 with you. And this unto your welcome, hoping I shall be informed by you how the two zealous brethren thrive there that broke in St. Helen’sn1009.
[Drinks]

875MargeryOf that or anything, sir. Pray, drink again, sir.n2219
[Drinks]

876MihilYou jade you, hold your tongue.
NICHOLAS, ANTHONY, CLOTPOLL, BETTY, and FRANCISCA enter

877NicholasO, are ye here, gallants? I made all the haste I could, but was stayed, I vow, by the bravest sport, baiting of a fellow or two with our pussy-cats here. I could e’en find in my heart to marry ’em both for their valours.

878Dorcas   [Aside to MIHIL]   Those words are daggers.

879Mihil   [Aside to DORCAS]   I pray, dissemble your passion.

880NicholasWhat? Are you acquainted already, Mich?n3151 Did I not tell thee she was a brave madona?

881MihilHow long have you had acquaintancen1010 with her, Nick?

882NicholasNever saw her before this morning, I, standing upon her balcony.

883GabrielTruly, cousin, I think ’twas you that I saw today too, standing upon a balcony.

884NicholasYou spellgg1712 very modestly, sir. Your brother, I take it. But did you call her cousin, sir?n2220

885GabrielYes, sir, she is my cousin.

886Mihil   [Aside]   ’Twill out too soon.   [Aloud]   Why, Nick, thou knowest these kind of creatures call and are called cousins commonlyn1012.

887NicholasYes, in their tribe. But I thought he had been too holy for them. But Dammy –

888GabrielO, fearfully profane!

889NicholasYou said you had a story to relate, of dire misfortune, and of unquothgg1713 hearing. I come to hear your story. What stop you your ears at, sir?

890GabrielI dare not speak it but in thy reproof. Thou swearest G O D, D A M Nn4603 thee, as I take it.

891NicholasI vow thou liest, I called her Dammy, because her name is Damyris.

892GabrielI say thou liest, her name is Dorcas, which was the name of an holy womann1014.[GABRIEL draws his sword]n1015

893NicholasShall we have things and thingsn2982? I vow![NICHOLAS] draw[s his sword]

894ClotpollAnd I protest![CLOTPOLL] draw[s his sword]

895Mihil   [Aside]   This will spoil all.   [Aloud]   Brother, I pray forbear.

896GabrielI may not forbear, I am moved for to smite him; yea, with often stripes to smite him; my zealous wrath is kindled, and he shall fly before me.

897DorcasLet me entreat you, sir.[MIHIL [restrains] GABRIELn1016]

898Betty and FranciscaWhat fury’s this?

899NicholasGreat damboysn1017 shrink, and give a little groundn1018.[NICHOLAS, ANTHONY, BETTY, and FRANCISCA] exit

900GabrielI will pursue him in mine indignation.n3149

901DorcasO me!

902GabrielAnd beat him into potsherdsgg1714n1019.

903MargeryNow he has banged the pitchern1020, he may do anything.

904MihilPray, brother, be persuaded.

905ClotpollA Brother to be so controlled?n1021

906MihilYou, sir, put up your steel-stickn1022.

907ClotpollI desire but to know first if he be a Brother.

908MihilYes, marry is he, sir.

909ClotpollSir, I am satisfied. So let him live.n1023[Sheathes his sword][CLOTPOLL exits]n9061

910GabrielPray give me leave to ask you, do these men take part with the brethren?

911MihilYes, and are brothers a little disguised, but for some ends.

912GabrielSome state-occasions?

913MihilMere intelligencersgg1715, to collect up such and such observations, for a great Separatistgg3132 that is now writing a book against playing at barlibreakgg1716, moulding of cocklebreadn1026, and such like profane exercisesn1027.

914GabrielTruly, such exercises are profane exercises that bear the denomination of good things ordained for man’s use, as barley, cockles, and bread. Are such things to be made sports and play-games? I pray you, let me see these brethren again, to make my atonement with them. And are those sisters too, that were with them?

915MihilO, most notorious ones, and are as equally disguised to be as rank spies as the other. S’lid, man, and they should be taken for such as they are, they would be cut off presently. They came in this mad humour to be merry with you for my sake.

916GabrielPray let ’em come again, I shall not be well until I have rendered satisfactionn1028.

917MihilYou must do as they do then, or they will think you are a spy upon them.

918GabrielI will be as merry as they. Let wine be given unto us.

919MihilMore wine, boy, and bid ’em all come in.Exit BOY

920DorcasAlas, cousin, let him drink no more.

921MihilFear nothing, cousin, it shall be for his good and yours, as I will order it.
NICHOLAS, ANTHONY, CLOTPOLL, BETTY, FRANCISCA,
enter, and DRAWER with [more] wine

922MihilAll welcome, not any repetition, but begin anewn1029.

923GabrielI will begin it, two glasses: it shall be a faithful salutation to all the brothers and sisters of –

924ClotpollThe Blade and the Scabbard.[Drinks a toast]

925NicholasIt shall go round.
[GABRIEL drinks another toast]

926AnthonyI’ll swear you do not well to let him drink so.

927MihilWell said, civil roarern1030.

928GabrielLet it go round, go to, you are a wag. I know what you mean by the blade and the scabbard.

929ClotpollWho could have thought this had been such a Brother?

930GabrielNay, who could have thought you had been of the brethren?

931NicholasBrethren, sir? We are the Brothers.

932GabrielYea, the disguised ones.

933NicholasHow? Disguised ones?

934MihilDo not cross him again. If thou dost, and I do not maul thee! Yes, brother, these are virtuous men howe’er they seem.

935NicholasI vow, I have so much virtuen1031 as to rebuke thee for lying. But we are Brethren, sir, and as factious as you, though we differ in the grounds; for you, sir, defy Ordersn3856, and so do we; you of the Church, we of the civil magistrate; many of us speak i’th’ nose, as you do; you out of humility of spirit, we by the wantonness of the fleshn1032; now in devotion we go beyond you, for you will not kneel to a ghostly father, and we do to a carnal mistress.

936MihilI’ll stop your mouth, you said you came to be merry.

937NicholasYes, I vow, and brought fiddlers along, but they must play i’ th’ next roomn4988, for here’s one breaks all the fiddles that come in his reach. Come, sir, will you drink, dance, and do as we do?

938GabrielI’ll drink, I’ll dance, I’ll kiss, or do anything, any living thing with any of you, that is brother or sister. Sweetheart, let me feel thy coneyn1033.

939Mihil   [Aside]   Aye, now he’s in.   [Aloud]   Play, fiddlers.n1034
[Fiddlers heard offstage.] [GABRIEL, MARGERY, BETTY, AND FRANCISCA] dancen4987

All bravely perform’d, admirably well done, &c.n3152

940NicholasI vow, thou art a Brother after my own heart.To GABRIELn1035.

941Betty, Francisca, and Margeryn9185We cannot commend you enough, sir.

942GabrielThis done in civil sort among ourselves, I hope, will prove no scandal to a brother.

943Nicholas’Twill prove an honour to our faction.

944GabrielI thirst to do it honour.

945ClotpollGive him some wine, he thirsts.

946MihilThou little dapper thingn3857, thou, hold thy peace.

947AnthonyThou seest he can scarce stand.

948GabrielNo, my religious brethren, no more wine.n1037
        Enough’s a feast, and little doth suffice.
        I thirst to do some honour to our cause.
        To lead forth legions to fight a battle
        ’Gainst our malignant adversaries.

949NicholasBrave!

950GabrielSuch an employment now would make me famous, for my sufficiency of art in armsn1038.

951NicholasI vow, this man has hidden things in him.

952MihilHe hadn3153 as brave a warlike spirit, man, before his precise humour tainted itn1039, as ever breath’d in Hector.

953NicholasI vow, then, a good, orderly diet of nothing but sack for a week together would revive it in him, and bring it to good again.

954MihilI hope ’tis done already.

955AnthonyHow do you, sir?

956GabrielI fear some Jesuiticaln2985, fumes have invaded my brainpan. All, methinks, goes whirly, whirly, whirly.

957AnthonyBest lie down upon a bed. Drawer!

958GabrielSoldiers must not be curiousn1040. A bench or anything.

959DrawerThe gentleman may have a bed here, an’t please you. But, sir, there’s an old angry gentleman below, that asks for you, and by all description for that mortifiedn1041 gentleman. And will by all means press into your room here.

960MihilIt is my father.

961Dorcas   [Aside to MIHIL]   O me! What shall I do?

962Margery, Betty, and FranciscaWe shall all be clapped upn1042.

963Mihil   [Aside to DORCAS]   Fear nothing, veil your face a little.   [Aloud]   Who is with him?

964DrawerNobody but his old servingman, that it seems discovered you. You may put this gentleman into this inner room, and keep the key yourself. I know not what chargen3858 he has about him.

965MihilAdmirable honest fellow.

966DrawerAnd you may tell your father he is gone, for he is gone, you seen1044.

967NicholasI vow, a wit.

968DrawerNow, if you’ll be civiln1045, I may bring him up to you; if not, because he is your father, we’ll thrust him out of doors, an’t please you.

969MihilNotable rascal. Well, sir, let him up. I know how to fitgg1616 him.

970Dorcas   [Aside to MIHIL]   But this delays my business, cousin, and will, I fear, frustrate my hopes.

971Mihil   [Aside to DORCAS]   Nor hinder anything. I’ll warrant thee, he’s thine.   [Aloud]   Play, fiddlers, t’other dance.

972NicholasI vow!

973ClotpollWill you? I protest!

974AnthonyYou are not wild?n1046

975MargeryCome, wenches, if he venture in his father’s sight, shame take us and we blush.[Fiddlers heard playing offstage] [They] Dance.
CROSSWILL and BELT enter

976Crosswilln3283   [Aside to BELT]   And I had not sold all my land to live upon my money in town here, out of danger of the statute, I would give thee a copyholdn1047 for this discovery.

977Belt   [Aside to CROSSWILL]   I thank your worship, and truly ’tis a goodly sight, methinks, an’t please your worship.

978CrosswillI’m glad it likes you. Heigh, excellent good again. Heigh, heigh, what an happiness may fathers boast, that can bring their children up to this.    Dance endsn2223   I cry ye mercy, gentlemen all, ha! I am sorry I interrupted your serious, private occasions.

979NicholasWould you speak with any here, sir?

980MihilIt is my father, gentlemen.

981CrosswillThy father? Hold thy peace! Dar’st thou use thy father thus? To spend thy time thus? Ha! Is this place fit for the son of a gentleman of quality? Ha! Why dost not answer me, does this company sortgg3135 with thy reputation? Ha!

982MihilSir, the company –

983CrosswillHold thy peace, I say. Or are these exercises allowable for a gentleman, that ever said or heard grace at his father’s table? Answer me that.

984MihilAn’t please you, sir.

985CrosswillHold thy peace when I bid thee.

986NicholasThe company, sir, offends not you, I hope. You see the worst of us.

987CrosswillIn good time, sir. You are the distracted gentlemen, I take it, that asked him if he would mootgg2784 tonight? Is this your mootinggg2784? Do you put casesgg1717 to your wenches, or they to you?

988NicholasI vow, thy father talks too much.

989CrosswillWhich are the better lawyers? Ha!

990MargeryBut thatn1049 you are his father, sir, and an old man, and he an honest young gentleman, and our friend, we would tell you.

991CrosswillI thank you for him, yes truly, heartily; and for your good opinion of him, heartily. Pray keep him amongst you while you have him, for I’ll ha’ no more to say to him, I. Is your invectives against drinking, wenching, and the abomination of the times come to this? Is this your spending of time more precious than money? Is it you that knows not what to do with money but to buy books and were drawn with such unwillingness to a tavern? Ha! You shall graze upon Littleton’s Commonsn3352, or eat nothing but books, an’t please you, for any exhibitiongg2806 thou ever get’st from me – And in that faith thou hast lost a father.   [To BELT]   Come, sir, you have brought me to a goodly sight here; would any villain but thyself have showed his master light to see so much woe? Thy coxcombgg105 shall yet pay for’t.
[CROSSWILL beats BELT]

992BeltOh sir, oh!

993CrosswillThis was your trimgg990 sight, was it?
[CROSSWILL beats BELT]

994BeltOh!

995CrosswillBut well remembered. Pray, where’s your brother? My son, I would say, for I know no brother or father thou hast. Where is Gabriel?

996MihilHe is not here, sir.

997CrosswillDid you not tell me, sirrah, he was here?

998BeltI told you then too much. I feel it heren3150.

999Mihiln3150He was here, sir, but he is gone, sir.

1000CrosswillSo, so, he’s lost. He must be criedn1051, or we shall never find him.

1001MihilI’ll warrant you, I’ll find him yet tonight, sir. Pray, gentlemen, pay you the reckoning. I’ll wait upon my father home.

1002CrosswillWas that spoke like a son of mine? Must others pay your reckoning, and I in place? Take that, and do not make me mad.   [CROSSWILL gives MIHIL money]   And why should you home with me, I pray, sir?

1003MihilBecause, sir, it grows dark, and ’tis the worst way as it is about the town, so many odd holesn4598 a man may slip into. Pray take me with you, sir.

1004CrosswillPray take no care for me, sir, and let the way be as it is. Do not think me worse at it in the dark than yourself, I beseech you.n8826 But you talked of the reckoning: pray let not the want of money for that hinder the search of your brother.   [CROSSWILL gives MIHIL more money]   There’s towards your pains for that; and so for a farewell to you and your friends here; till I hear thou keepest better company, let me hear no more of thee.CROSSWILL and BELT exit

1005MihilThere was no way to get this money and be rid of him, but to offer him my service. He would have driven me out before him else. But come, let’s see my brother that went to sleep in so warlike a passion. I hope he’ll wake in a better.

1006NicholasMun Clotpoll, thou art dull.

1007ClotpollNo, I protest, but struck with admiration at the old blade’sgg649 humour.

1008NicholasCome, Dammy and the rest, be merry. I vow, we’ll sup together, and so at last hear all thy dismalgg3136 story.

1009Mihiln3154   [Aside]   I mean he shall, and such an auditn3859 make,
        As shall restore her honour from the stakegg3137.All exit

Edited by Michael Leslie


n2235   ACT FOUR Act Four is again composed of two scenes, both of which are set in taverns in Covent Garden. In the first, the sadism previously seen becomes more pronounced when two prostitutes are encouraged to assault a citizen who has spent the night with them but then badmouthed them the next morning. The scene can be acted with different intensities of violence, from the essentially farcical to something far more disturbing. During the assault, which is orchestrated by Nick, Cockbrain enters and attempts to intervene, whereupon Nick encourages the prostitutes to turn their attention to the disguised would-be magistrate, whose false beard and wig come off in the struggle. Cockbrain's son, Anthony, recognizes his father and intervenes to protect him.
In the second scene Mihil has taken his elder brother Gabriel to the Paris Tavern, continuing the attempt to get him so drunk that he will forget his puritanism. Here they meet Dorcas and Madge, who are attempting to rendezvous with Nick. Mihil recognizes Dorcas and Dorcas recognizes Mihil and Gabriel and there is a touching set of dialogues among them as Dorcas attempts to make herself known to Gabriel, with whom she has previously been in love, while Mihil increasingly takes command of the situation and begins to formulate schemes that will enable the various plotlines to be brought to a satisfactory conclusion. Towards the end of the scene, Nick, Anthony, Clotpoll, and the two prostitutes Betty and Frank arrive at the Paris Tavern and a scene of some confusion develops, with Gabriel, now well and truly drunk, misunderstanding much and nearly engaging in a fight with Nick. The scene ends with Crosswill's arrival, having been guided by Belt. Mihil encourages the young people to brazen it out and successfully manipulates his father to give them yet more money to pay for the entertainment. [go to text]

n7334   4.1 This scene is full of a turbulent energy, with more and more characters arriving on the stage to participate in or observe the chaos and violence of the lives of the prostitutes, the young men, and all who associate with them. The scene is both funny and disturbing, and Brome's skill in maintaining and alternating the two is impressive. Even something close to a preliminary reading of the scene revealed its vitality, moving forwards with dynamism and confidence and carrying the audience through radically different moods in their response. [go to text]

n835   BETTY and FRANCISCA enter, with swords drawn; they makefast the doors Video Betty and Frank come on stage in striking manner, armed with swords drawn. They deliberately seek a duel of the masculine type, locking the doors to prevent interruption. The scene is humorous, but also possibly exciting (erotic?) and disconcerting, in its transgression of stock gender roles. The prostitutes trade insults and threats, while Nick and Anthony shout from offstage and attempt to force the door. [go to text]

n834   BETTY and FRANCISCA enter, Francisca. Bettie and Francisca are listed as 'two punks' in the DP. [go to text]

gg1698   puss generally a term, often of abuse, for a woman, but here specifically for a prostitute [go to text]

n837   came so deep himself Obvious obscene reference. [go to text]

gg1699   marmaset a small monkey, usually used in a derogatory way for a contemptible male [go to text]

n3797   marmaset ] marmaser [go to text]

n3281   Within 1659: (Within), set at the beginning of Nick's speech. [go to text]

gg3125   carrions something disgusting and corrupt (OED carrion n, 6); but here, preceded by mankind, also implying that the prostitutes are human versions of flesh-eating birds or animals (OED carrion-crows) [go to text]

gg2785   dugs breasts (by the early seventeenth century this term is becoming derogatory) [go to text]

gg1700   pin-buttock as in All's Well that Ends Well 2.2, refers to a thin-buttocked person [go to text]

gg532   jade on the analogy with an exhausted horse, a jade is an overused prostitute (or more crudely: a clapped-out tart) [go to text]

gg3126   snapped (of animals) to make a quick or sudden bite at something; to feed on in this way (OED snap v, I 1a) [go to text]

n841   brach A variant of bitch (OED hound n, 7), from which also a female beggar (OED beggar n, 8). [go to text]

n3281   Within 1659: (Within), set at the beginning of Nick's speech. [go to text]

n842   I have as good a spite at as ill a member about thee The exact meaning is difficult to identify here and there may be a textual corruption. However, the sense is clear: the 'member' is the tongue and Francisca is as ready as Betty to split her rival’s in a fight. [go to text]

gg3127   spite at a particular instance of malignant or rancorous feeling directed towards a special object (OED 3a) [go to text]

n843   Amazonian trulls? Anthony’s ridiculous combination, 'Amazonian trulls,' initiates the bathetic juxtaposition of epic reference and low behaviour that Nick will engage in so exuberantly in the following speech. [go to text]

gg1701   trulls? a low prostitute or concubine; a drab, strumpet, trollop (OED) [go to text]

n9179   Betty This is an example of a press correction in the 1659 printing. Some copies (British Library BL 162.c.21, British Library BL 18536, and Bodleian Library, Oxford, Douce B 334) assign this speech to Belt, clearly misreading the manuscript. Others correct to 'Bett'. The British Library BL 18536 ms. annotator spots the error and corrects. [go to text]

gg3128   pass in fencing, a lunge or thrust made with a sword or rapier (OED n4. 10a) [go to text]

n4592   blunter tools 'Tool' is often a term for a sword, and so appropriate here. But it is also a slang term for penis and the 'blunter tools' are a probably sexual joke at the expense of the prostitutes. [go to text]

n3850   As Hector ’twixt the hosts of Greece and Troy, When Paris and the Spartan king should end Their nine years wars, held up his brazen lance In signal, that both armies should surcease And hear him speak. So, let me crave your audience: Video Nick's speech makes fun of the women's breach of decorum in proposing to fight in a manner appropriate to men. He parodies the heroic verse, narrative and dramatic, of the period. Using elevated diction ('surcease') he invokes the pre-eminent epic, the Iliad, casting himself as the noble and peace-seeking Hector attempting to part the Trojan Paris and the Spartan king Menelaus and their armies (Book 3: Hector 'went to the middle ground, between the armies, halted Trojan troops, grasping the centre of his spear shaft'). The result of Nick's intervention is bathos, deflating the women's anger and defusing the quarrel.
Nick thoroughly enjoys himself, however, even as he prevents the fight. Adam Kay leapt onto a table to show Nick's dominance of the scene, giving him a stage on which to perform his parody. [go to text]

n7329   Your cases both Have been laid open to me. Nick ceases with epic diction and now turns judicial. [go to text]

n845   marks ] mark (singular). But the noun needs to correspond with 'them' in next line, so emended to plural.
The prostitutes may have wounded the Citizen already, but Nicholas probably also makes facetious reference to the marks of venereal disease acquired from them. [go to text]

n3851   marks The Citizen has been complaining that the prostitutes have transmitted venereal diseases to him. [go to text]

gg1702   Buss embrace, kiss [go to text]

n847   Lo here, the man Anthony echoes a standard epic formula ('Lo, here the man...'), continuing Nick’s mock-heroic diction. His line is, appropriately, an iambic pentameter. [go to text]

n3143   though I pay it you again. Meaning, 'for I will repay you'. The use of 'though' (OED 4) may be provoked by the form of the Citizen's request to the young men: 'Pray do you pay the Drawer'. [go to text]

n848   Drawer, away with it Unable to pay with money, the Citizen forfeits his cloak in payment of the outstanding debt. [go to text]

n849   do but look after it, till we be gone, and these shall claw thine eyes out If you but look at your cloak until the rest of the company has left, the two punks will attack you. [go to text]

n850   I hope this quarter will not be always lawless Splendidly hypocritical, after a night with the whores in the tavern. [go to text]

n851   Cuffless The citizen is nowhere else called by this name. Though it may be the character’s name, it seems more likely to be a snide epithet, a caste insult. Generous cuffs marked higher social status; cuffless shirts labeled the wearer as an artisan. It is ironic that Anthony, whose own caste is uncertain, makes this joke. [go to text]

n852   cuffs Nick puns to mean 'blows.' [go to text]

n4593   Cuts and slashes too before we part, sir. Francisca too has a line of iambic pentameter here. [go to text]

n4594   Damsels, forbear; and you, forbear your noise. Nick takes control once more with iambic pentameter rhythm and obvious rhetorical patterning ('forbear ... forbear'). [go to text]

gg3129   whistle a jocular, colloquial name for the mouth or throat as used in speaking or singing (OED n. 2) [go to text]

n853   civilly Nick harps on 'civil', drawing attention again to the difference in caste. [go to text]

gg1683   mum be silent [go to text]

n854   halifax No other such literary uses have been found, but probably refers to a Halifax blade, used in sheep shearing. Nick is threatening to cut off Clotpoll’s tongue if he persists in talking. [go to text]

n855   mumpers OED cites usages in The Weeding of Covent Garden but says the precise sense is unclear. Clearly, Brome's characters think that, as well as beggar, the word connotes prostitute. Here almost surely a sexually active woman, a prostitute, 'a goer' in colloquial modern English [go to text]

gg1647   mumpers a beggar, a mendicant; a person who sponges on others (OED), from the Dutch, Momper [go to text]

n856   bury 'Berry' is a colloquial form of 'borough' or 'burrow', closely connected terms. Clotpoll may mean 'all the prostitutes in the town', or 'all the prostitutes in the [coney-]burrow', with the obscene reference to female genitalia and rabbits; or he may mean both. [go to text]

n857   mutton of a groat a quarter a cheap cut of meat, but 'mutton' means prostitute. [go to text]

gg1469   fond foolish [go to text]

gg1703   weasand throat, windpipe [go to text]

n4271   BETTY and FRANCISCA attack the CITIZEN Video The attack on the Citizen can be played with different tones, ranging from slapstick to sadistic. In a full performance the attack would surely contain both. Actors and directors explored the staging of the attack as both funny and intimating genuine and disturbing violence. [go to text]

n860   sheepbiter A malicious, shifty person; but here more specifically a whore-monger, as in John Tatham’s play, Love Crowns the End (1632), 25, 'since I came among these mutton-mongers - these sheep-eaters'. See John Tatham, The Fancies Theater (1640). [go to text]

n2971   Rare, I protest Clotpoll's wide-eyed enjoyment of the attack on the Citizen is another indication of his unpleasant character. He exhibits a range of sociopathic attitudes and responses. [go to text]

n9180   Citizen This is another example of a press correction. Some copies print the Speech Prefix as 'Ciot.' (British Library BL 162.c.21; Bodleian Library, Oxford, 8o B 459(2) Linc.; National Art Library Dyce 25.E.44); others have this correctly as 'Cit.'. [go to text]

n7330   There, there! Video Nick appears to be directing the prostitutes to attack the citizen in specific parts of his body. It seems likely they aim for his genitalia. [go to text]

n2214   all this goes into my black book Video There is no suggestion that Cockbrain is actually writing in a notebook, but the similarity with Clotpoll does not tend to increase his dignity.
Cockbrain can here address the audience in an aside, drawing them into the scene while indulging his own pomposity. [go to text]

n861   Fie, fie, forbear, enough, too much in conscience Video Anthony is working himself up to intervene, being morally outraged by the attack. But Brome renders him risible by packing his speech with fs: 'Fie, fie, forbear, enough'. Jonson undermines Bonario when he prevents the rape of Celia in the same way in Volpone: 'Forbear, foul ravisher, libidinous swine, free the forced lady, or thou diest, impostor.' (3.7. 266). Like his master Jonson, Brome undermines his 'hero' by making him say 'forbear' instead of the more authoritative monosyllable, 'Stop'.
Nonetheless, Anthony's role -- both here and in maintaining moral order throughout the play -- is more than funny. One of this scene's problems explored with actors was how to render Anthony's role more prominent than the number of his lines would seem to permit. Without that, his status as a moral touchstone seems inconsequential. By making his asides directly to the audience and placing him at the front of the stage, audience awareness of Anthony's significance could be strengthened. [go to text]

n7331   I vow, do you prate? You shall have as much. Come, take the chair, sir, the braches shall bait him too. Video Cockbrain's incautious intervention is another of the scene's turning-points. Nick rounds on him and thrusts him into the place vacated by the citizen, so that Cockbrain too can be bullied and hurt. Nick's response is dark and sadistic. [go to text]

n9181   braches In the 1659 printing, this is set as 'breaches' (see [GLOSS gg5102]). But Nick is referring to the prostitutes as attacking dogs (Cockbrain himself will later refer to them as 'hell-hounds' [CG 4.1.speech780]. [go to text]

n862   clapperclaw Nick may be playing on the diseased nature of the prostitutes, 'clap'. [go to text]

gg1704   clapperclaw to claw or scratch with the open hand and nails; to beat, thrash, drub (OED) [go to text]

n4595   And his head too. Clotpoll means that Cockbrain's wig has come off in the struggle. [go to text]

n863   scab Scab is a term for the pox. Anthony playfully asks if the disguised Cockbrain is so far gone in venereal disease that he’s falling apart. [go to text]

n7332   I protest, they have pulled my pieced brother in pieces here. Video Clotpoll's lines can again be direct address to the audience, framing the action and drawing the audience in. [go to text]

n864   pieced brother A 'pieced brother' in the sense that Cockbrain had paid Clotpoll’s pieces, his reckoning at the last tavern. This is the beginning of a series of different uses of piece and peace in this act, but it began with Cockbrain’s praise of 'yond magnificent Piece', the Piazza in Covent Garden, in Act 1, Scene 1. [go to text]

n865   but for doing the state so good service By delivering him alive as a spy to the authorities. [go to text]

n866   I know him. And you shall not touch him. Best is, he knows nor me. Good heaven, what braintrick has possessed him? The actor has to make decisions at this point about how much of this speech is an aside or direct address to the audience. Is all of it aside, or only after 'touch him'? Anthony’s next speech implies that Nick has not heard any of this one. [go to text]

n867   ashamed to run so base a course for his living in his own face Anthony suggests that Cockbrain is ashamed of being a low tavern singer and so does his job in disguise. [go to text]

n3852   his fear threatens his breeches shrewdly Video Terrified of the coming attack, the disguised Cockbrain may lose control of his bowels. In keeping with the rest of the scene, which combines comedy with something much darker and sadistic throughout, Cockbrain's terror and its consequence can be played for broad humour. [go to text]

n4596   thank this gentleman Nick indicates that Anthony is the intercessor. [go to text]

n8825   ’t It is not immediately clear what 'it' refers to. Has Clotpoll picked up Cockbrain's false beard or wig? [go to text]

n3144   What monsters in mankind? What hell-hounds are they? The first two lines of this speech are printed as prose in the 1659 text. However, they are sufficiently close to iambic pentameter for this edition to set all four lines as verse. Cockbrain seems to be self-dramatising as ever. [go to text]

gg1705   Getes the Getae, the Thracian tribe among whom Ovid was sent into exile [go to text]

n7333   O, I am very sore. Video Attention turns to the Citizen at the end of the scene: hurt, humiliated, pitiful, and potentially very funny. [go to text]

gg1706   caterwaling crying like a cat in heat, but also lecherous (OED vbl.n, 1 and 2) [go to text]

gg1707   a barber a surgeon [go to text]

n4272   4.2 Throughout this scene, Brome characteristically varies the rhythms, metre, and diction to represent various characters' shifting responses to their situations as they, too, change. Gabriel uses the ponderous rhythm and diction of the humourless Puritan, and his brother Mihil occasionally adopts these in order to manipulate him; but Dorcas, humbly approaching her cousins for pardon and assistance, frequently speaks in iambic pentameter or something close, and Mihil responds similarly to reassure her. Gabriel, too, begins to adopt pentameter rhythm in speaking to her, as he softens. When Gabriel and Nicholas nearly come to blows, the latter uses pentameter, but here as a parody of the heroic: he uses an iambic line to cover his cowardly retreat. [go to text]

n4265   GABRIEL In this scene Gabriel, increasingly drunk and becoming violent, draws a sword. His costume is probably already changing from that of a demure and godly Puritan to become more that of a young man of the town, including a sword. [go to text]

n4266   wine The standard paraphernalia of a tavern, including glasses. [go to text]

n872   A Paris il’y’a bien venu The play’s characters have a running joke about the ambiguity of Paris as a city and Paris as a tavern. [go to text]

n873   bush at this door The bush is a traditional symbol for a wine shop or tavern. Unlicensed taverns and alehouses were a major issue in the Covent Garden area, with repeated and unsuccessful attempts to close them. The Paris Tavern appears to be unlicensed and to be concealing itself by not using the traditional advertising symbol. [go to text]

n874   d’ ye Mihil adopts his father's end-of-sentence question, demonstrating that he is a chip off the old block in his dealings with inferiors. [go to text]

gg3130   whimsies A variant of 'whim': a capricious notion or fancy; a fantastic or freakish idea; an odd fancy (OED Whim n, 1 and 3) [go to text]

n875   so many errors in the Romish church Gabriel as a Puritan expresses his fear of Papistry. But ironically the Paris Tavern was one of those sometimes associated with covert French and Catholic property interests in Covent Garden. [go to text]

n3853   peregrinations Gabriel chooses a word from a religious or theological register. See OED peregrination n.1: orig. and chiefly Theol. The course of a person's life viewed originally as a temporary sojourn on earth (cf. sense 4b) and hence as a spiritual journey, esp. to heaven.
Brome draws on these associations also in naming the character Peregrin in The Antipodes. [go to text]

n876   maudlenize There is an ironic ambiguity, here, in that Gabriel is to be reclaimed from Puritanism to a less extreme position, while Dorcas is to be reclaimed from prostitution. See OED Magdalen 2. In extended uses a. A repentant (female) sinner; esp. a reformed prostitute. [go to text]

gg1708   maudlenize sobering or reforming [go to text]

n2216   What good could she receive by any course against him? Mihil studiously avoids answering his brother, leaving unclear the degree of his knowledge of Nick's behaviour. [go to text]

n2973   old black party The boy may be referring to Madge's cleanliness, but calling her 'the old black party' recalls the play on devils and hell in the first act, where Nick called her 'infernal'. [go to text]

n877   cousin Gabriel In the Globe 'Read not Dead' reading, the actress playing Dorcas made the mistake of calling Gabriel 'brother', suggesting that she was aware in some way that the relationship between Dorcas and Gabriel was closer than that of cousins. [go to text]

gg231   strangely very greatly (OED adv. 4); surprisingly, oddly, wondrously, unaccountably (OED adv. 5); (compare Jonson, Volpone, in which Peregrine, when asked how he likes the mountebank, replies, ‘Most strangely’) [go to text]

n878   I’ll cut thy tongue out else Cutting out or slitting tongues is a recurrent threat in the play, as in Nick’s earlier reference to 'Halifax thy mouth' and Bettie and Francisca’s threat to split each other’s tongues. [go to text]

n879   gentlewoman Mihil immediately calls Dorcas a gentlewoman. [go to text]

n880   anything or nothing A common obscene reference to male and female genitalia: thing and no thing. [go to text]

gg2316   strange aloof, distant [go to text]

gg3173   fondling a foolish, childish, or innocent person [go to text]

n2977   Howlet Mihil uses an affectionate diminutive of 'owl' (see also note 465) to commiserate with Madge; but the whole phrase recalls Shakespeare: 'Alas, poor Yorick' (Hamlet 5.1). [go to text]

n9182   guests guest. Singular in the 1659 printing. [go to text]

n3854   get Mihil encourages Madge to remain silent by holding out the prospect of some sort of reward or prize if his strategem succeeds. [go to text]

gg1709   gear habits, manners (OED 1c; obsolete; rare) [go to text]

n3855   her sudden apprehension Gabriel's sudden realization that it is his cousin Dorcas. See [GLOSS gg3131] [go to text]

n9183   work works. Singular in the 1659 printing. [go to text]

n883   O, cousins both: as ye are gentlemen, This is set as prose in the 1659 text but, as McClure concludes, it is iambic verse, communicating Dorcas’s victim-nobility here. From this point on in the conversation between Dorcas and her cousins, iambic verse is used to give the sense of redemption and affection. [go to text]

n9184   I he. Left unamended, the grammar of this sentence is unclear; it appears to refer to giving up Nick. But the Folger Shakespeare Library B4872 ms. annotator is surely right in thinking this should be Dorcas referring to herself, as in the rest of the sentence. [go to text]

n882   struck 1659: stroke [go to text]

gg1710   re-estate to reinstate, re-establish (very common in the seventeenth century) [go to text]

n885   not wronged that honour Always assuming that you have not gone further in vice since Nick abandoned you. [go to text]

n886   Infants then shall be pardoned. Brother, speak In the 1659 text, the next three lines are set as prose, but are in iambic pentameter (though with an additional syllable, as is common for Brome). [go to text]

n4597   Infants Dorcas is not a child, so she is technically no 'infant'. But Mihil seems to be using this word in line with the etymological root of 'innocent': one who has not hurt or damaged something (chiefly here herself and her family's honour). [go to text]

n887   I hope it will work out his superfluous zeal and render him civil Christian again. Set as prose in the 1659 text, but this could easily divide into 12 and a 10 syllable line, the 12 syllable line being about superfluity [go to text]

n888   It is no dream, good cousin, you are awake. Dorcas's speech returns to the emotional tone of her reconnection with her cousin Gabriel, so she speaks in verse, which is set as such in 1659. Her final lines are plangent, eleven syllable lines, ending on the weak syllable. [go to text]

n3146   And will above my life affect you still. 1659: set as prose but clearly the rhythm of the first line of Gabriel's response is iambic. However, although his second line is eleven syllables, the verse rhythm begins to break down as he turns from sympathy to judgemental instruction; so from verse to prose. [go to text]

n889   i’faith In 1659 this is 'I faith'. Two readings are possible, here: 'i’faith' and 'aye, faith'. [go to text]

n3147   FAITH? So capitalized in 1659, indicating Gabriel's loud emphasis. [go to text]

n3148   Boy! In the 1659 text this is set as a Speech Prefix, the compositor not realizing that Mihil is calling for an attendant and that his speech continues. Both the Folger Shakespeare Library B4872 and National Art Library Dyce 25.E.45 ms. annotators recognise the error. [go to text]

n890   What other wine you please, gentlemen, we have none such i’ th’ house As before, the tavern employees hear only orders for real wine, having no ear for imagery and metaphor. [go to text]

gg1711   matron a mature and respectable woman [go to text]

n3282   [MARGERY and GABRIEL converse apart with seriousness and piety] 1659: Bawd and Gabriel confer devoutly the while. This edition moves the stage direction to the point at which Mihil and Dorcas begin to talk unheard by Madge and Gabriel. [go to text]

n892   ’Tis upon putting down, they say, and more o’th neighbours The implication is that the Paris Tavern was about to be closed as unlicensed, along with a number of other unlicensed taverns in the same street and neighbourhood. This was indeed the order of the Privy Council. See introduction. [go to text]

gg1968   bewray to expose...by divulging secrets (OED archaic) [go to text]

n893   mean Mean=meantime [go to text]

n894   Amsterdam Amsterdam was well known both as a haven and centre for Separatists and as a notorious city of prostitutes; see Lotte van de Pol and Erika Kuijpers, 'Poor Women’s Migration to the City: The Attraction of Amsterdam Health Care and Social Assistance in Early Modern Times', Journal of Urban History 32 (2005), pp. 44-61 and Lotte van de Pol, Het Amsterdams hoerdom. Prostitutie in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw [The Whores of Amsterdam] (1996). Foreign place names were often associated with London prostitution, as in the famous brothel, Holland's Leaguer, and the Paris Garden. [go to text]

n1009   St. Helen’s This surely refers to an incident in Great St Helen’s in Bishopsgate, but no reference has yet been found. [go to text]

n2219   Pray, drink again, sir. This encouragement is probably directed to Gabriel. [go to text]

n3151   Mich? In the 1659 text this is printed as a Speech Prefix, indicating a speech for Mihil. But the compositor has mistaken Nick's addressing of Mihil by his nickname and assigns the rest of Nick's speech to him. The Folger Shakespeare Library B4872 ms. annotator recognises the problem and corrects. [go to text]

n1010   acquaintance There may be a covert sexual meaning to 'acquaintance'. If so, Nick appears entirely unconscious of Mihil’s meaning. [go to text]

gg1712   spell speak; to discourse or to preach; to talk, converse, or speak (OED v1 intr.) [go to text]

n2220   you call her cousin, sir? The ambiguous application of the term 'cousin' seems acknowledged in this tense exchange. [go to text]

n1012   cousins commonly Cousin was often used as a name for an illicit lover, especially a prostitute, so again Mihil is using terms the relevance of which to this situation are understood more fully by the audience than by Nick. 'Common', to imply prostitution, is later used of Dorcas by Nick himself. At this point the roisterers and Gabriel enter the series of confusions concerning 'brothers' and fraternities: the religious brethren, the club brethren, those who frequent brothels. [go to text]

gg1713   unquoth unquoth probably means hitherto unspoken [go to text]

n4603   G O D, D A M N Gabriel spells it out letter by letter, to avoid blasphemy. In the 1659 printing this is represented quasi-phonetically: 'Gee o Dee, Dee a m'. [go to text]

n1014   the name of an holy woman Acts 9.36: 'Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did'. [go to text]

n1015   [GABRIEL draws his sword] Gabriel, despite being a Puritan, must be carrying a weapon, and draws first, perhaps significantly in defence of his cousin’s honour. Though there is no stage direction in 1659 stating this action, Gabriel must do so to make sense of Mihil’s appeal to him to drop his weapon and avoid a fight. [go to text]

n2982   things and things Though I can find no other usage, the meaning appears clear: come to blows. [go to text]

n1016   MIHIL [restrains] GABRIEL Prevents him from engaging in fight. 1659:'Mihil holds up Gabriel'. Gabriel has been drinking heavily and will later collapse, so to 'hold up' could mean that Mihil prevents him falling (OED hold v. 44a); but in this context it is more likely to mean restrain (OED hold v. 44d) though this is said to be an American usage only. However, hold 2a,d,e; and 7a all have this sense of restraining. [go to text]

n1017   damboys Referring to the eponymous hero of George Chapman’s popular play, Bussy D’Ambois (c. 1603/4). But Nick here engages in this little rodomontade to cast a heroic light on the fact that he is running away from a fight. [go to text]

n1018   ground A pentameter; Gabriel’s next line is 11 syllables. Dorcas’s is 2, then Gabriels’ is 7. So it could be set thus: NICHOLAS Great Damboys shrink, and give a little ground.
GABRIEL I will pursue him in mine indigna-
tion. DORCAS O me! GABRIEL And beat him into Potsherds. The suggestions of the iambic-pentameter line contribute to the air of mock-heroic here. [go to text]

n3149   I will pursue him in mine indignation. Gabriel's next two speeches, together with Dorcas's interjected 'O Me!' add up to 30 syllables, three lines of pentameter. Again, Brome is indicating - this time rather satirically - an elevated emotional content, at least in Gabriel's mind. [go to text]

n1019   potsherds Gabriel again uses a vaguely religious diction, perhaps recalling Isaiah 45.9. [go to text]

gg1714   potsherds a fragment of a broken earthenware pot; a broken piece of pottery [go to text]

n1020   banged the pitcher Drunk the whole pitcher of alcohol. [go to text]

n1021   A Brother to be so controlled? Clotpoll seems disconcerted at Nick’s rapid exit from the field, not the courageous action he had expected of a member of the Brotherhood of the Blade. But he’s also remarking on Gabriel being restrained by his real brother, Mihil. Gabriel, meanwhile, thinks in terms of religious Brethren. [go to text]

n1022   put up your steel-stick His sword; a disdainful euphemism. [go to text]

n1023   So let him live. Clotpoll disguises his own disinclination to engage in combat with a furious opponent by claiming that fellowship prevents his fighting and killing Gabriel. [go to text]

n9061   [CLOTPOLL exits] There is no stage direction here in the 1659 printing. However, Clotpoll is included among those who re-enter a few lines later. [go to text]

gg1715   intelligencers one who conveys intelligence or information; one employed to obtain secret information, an informer, a spy, a secret agent [go to text]

gg3132   Separatist one who advocates ecclesiastical separation; one who belongs to a religious commmunity separated from the Church or from a particular church; a member of any of the sects separated from the Church of England; in the 17th c. (hence in mod. use Hist., with capital S) applied chiefly to the Independents and those who agreed with them in rejecting all ecclesiastical authority outside the individual congregation (OED a and n, 1) [go to text]

gg1716   barlibreak a country game, much used for sexual connotation (see The Changeling (1622) 5.3.164: 'I coupled with your mate/At barley-break; now we are left in hell') [go to text]

n1026   moulding of cocklebread John Aubrey, Remains (1688): 'Young wenches have a wanton sport which they call moulding of Cocklebread: viz. they get upon a table-board, and then gather up their knees and their Coates with their hands as high as they can, and then they wabble to and fro with their Buttocks as if they were kneading of Dowgh with their Arses, and say these words, viz. - "My Dame is sick and gone to bed And I'le go mould my Cockle-bread."' Brome, Jovial Crew, 2.1 has Rachel say she and her sister used to make their father laugh by dancing and performing bawdy jokes. An earlier reference to this lewd game appears in George Peele's The Old Wives Tale, when Zantippa goes to the well to draw a husband, and hears the head rising from the well recite: 'Fair maiden, white and red,/ Stroke me smooth, and comb my head, / And thou shalt have some cockell-bread' (666-68). Insulted, she breaks her pitcher over the head instead, but nevertheless gains a suitable husband. The idea of kneading dough with the buttocks was deemed a magic practice to secure a husband, and in Venice could bring the kneader before the Inquisition. [go to text]

n1027   profane exercises Mihil is persuading his brother that the Philoblathici are disguised fellow Puritans, gathering evidence on pastimes and sports as part of the campaign against them. [go to text]

n1028   rendered satisfaction Gabriel means to reconcile with them, but there are obvious sexual double entendres given that some of the riotous crew are prostitutes and that he will indeed begin to behave lewdly with them later in the scene. [go to text]

n1029   All welcome, not any repetition, but begin anew Let’s start over and not pick up the quarrel [go to text]

n1030   civil roarer This may be spoken contemptuously to Anthony, but it is more likely an aside. Mihil’s oxymoron - 'civil roarer' - comments on Anthony’s lack of real essence of the roarer and his citizen status. [go to text]

n1031   virtue Playing on the different meanings of virtue, the religious and 'virtú', being nobly strong and manly. [go to text]

n3856   Orders Nick puns on the different meanings of 'order'. The riotous young men defy the orders of the civil magistracy; and the Separatist puritans defy the orders of the established church and, indeed, refuse to acknowledge the hierarchy of the church. See [GLOSS gg3133]. [go to text]

n1032   wantonness of the flesh Syphilis, contracted through sexual activity, eats away at the bridge of the nose. [go to text]

n4988   they must play i’ th’ next room Gabriel's violence gives good reason for keeping the musicians separate, but this is clearly also a way of managing the resources of the playhouse, avoiding the need to bring the fiddlers on stage. [go to text]

n1033   coney Female genitalia. To whom should Gabriel say this, however? One of the whores? Or to Dorcas, a more shocking and disturbing image. [go to text]

n1034   [Aside]Aye, now he’s in.[Aloud]Play, fiddlers. In 1659 this is all set as a single line spoken by Mihil: 'I now he's in. Play Fidlers. Dance'. McClure retains this setting: 'Aye, now he's in. Play fiddlers! Dance!' It is conceivable that Mihil is commanding music and dancing, but it seems more likely that Mihil calls for music ('Play, fiddlers') and then there is a Stage Direction ('Dance'), which the compositor has failed to recognize. Gabriel has said in the previous speech that he will dance. [go to text]

n4987   dance No indication is given in the text as to the nature of the dance performed here or of the second dance later in this scene. The occasion is dominated by Mihil, however, a sophisticated man-about-town and a student in the Inns of Court. The dance is probably courtly in style, something like a galliard (as opposed to a more stately form, such as a pavan); but country dances were also becoming fashionable among the more sophisticated and urbane. Students in the Inns of Court were known to take dancing lessons both privately and in dancing academies. The boundaries between decorous courtly activities and those considered sinful and illicit were contested, however, and courtesans and prostitutes were associated with dancing also, particularly by the more militant Protestants. [go to text]

n3152   All bravely perform’d, admirably well done, &c. In 1659, this is set as a continuation of Mihil's speech, a response to the dancing. McClure proposes that 'All' is a Speech Prefix. This is attractive but a radical proposal, and it seems unnecessary. [go to text]

n1035   To GABRIEL Set to the right of Nick's speech, it is not clear whether this applies to Nick’s line or the women’s, or both, since all are talking here to Gabriel. [go to text]

n9185   Betty, Francisca, and Margery In the 1659 printing, this line is given the Speech Prefix 'Women'. Dorcas surely does not join in. [go to text]

n3857   dapper thing Literally someone neat and well-dressed, 'dapper' is used in this period contemptuously for someone aspiring to fashion; by the eighteenth century, a kind of minor fop (see [GLOSS gg3134]. Mihil's contempt is intensified by the use of 'thing'. Brome may expect his audience to remember Ben Jonson's Dapper in The Alchemist. [go to text]

n1037   No, my religious brethren, no more wine. Though set as a mix of verse and prose in 1659, Gabriel's rhythms throughout this speech are those of iambic pentameter, suiting his assumption of a military role. [go to text]

n1038   Such an employment now would make me famous, for my sufficiency of art in arms Again, very close to pentameter. [go to text]

n1039   He had as brave a warlike spirit, man, before his precise humour tainted it Again, very close to pentameter. [go to text]

n3153   had 1659: has [go to text]

n2985   Jesuitical Gabriel associates everything wrong and evil with Catholicism and here, in particular, the feared and demonized Jesuits (Society of Jesus). Ironically, contemporary conspiracy theorists suspected the more outrageous independent protestants, such as the Quakers (Society of Friends) and the Jesuits of being one and the same. [go to text]

n1040   Soldiers must not be curious Must not be particular about the comfort of where they sleep - anything horizontal will do for him to lie on. [go to text]

n1041   mortified The drawer puns on various meanings of mortify: to shame and to render unconscious. See OED, mortify, v 7 and 1. [go to text]

n1042   We shall all be clapped up They mean 'be imprisoned' (OED clap v1 11), but the audience will also think of sexual disease (OED clap v2). [go to text]

n3858   charge The meaning here is obscure. 'Charge' could mean money, expense, or liability (financial and otherwise); or it could mean energy or force. [go to text]

n1044   he is gone, for he is gone, you see The witty Drawer suggests another pun: they can equivocate, saying Gabriel is gone, for he is far gone in drink; and he is mentally gone, in that he is no longer conscious. [go to text]

n1045   if you’ll be civil If you want to be civil or are prepared to be civil. [go to text]

gg1616   fit (v) punish accordingly (OED v1. 12) [go to text]

n1046   You are not wild? This probably means, 'You aren’t mad, are you?', Anthony, cautious citizen’s son that he is, is questioning the wisdom of Mihil’s behaviour. Madge says to the whores, 'Come on, if he’s prepared to do this, surely it’s up to us to play and dance with a bit of confidence'. [go to text]

n3283   Crosswill The 1659 text gives this speech to both Crosswill and Belt, a compositor's error. [go to text]

n1047   copyhold Tenure of lands belonging to a manor. [go to text]

n2223   Dance ends 1659:(Dance ended) [go to text]

gg3135   sort to answer or correspond to, to befit or suit (OED 8) [go to text]

gg2784   moot to complain, argue, plead, discuss, dispute, esp. in a law case; to bring an action to court, to litigate (OED v. 1 and 2a); later, specifically to debate a hypothetical case, to take part in a moot (the OED cites this usage by Brome) [go to text]

gg2784   mooting to complain, argue, plead, discuss, dispute, esp. in a law case; to bring an action to court, to litigate (OED v. 1 and 2a); later, specifically to debate a hypothetical case, to take part in a moot (the OED cites this usage by Brome) [go to text]

gg1717   cases vagina, punning on 'a thing fitted to contain or enclose something else; a receptacle or holder; a box, chest, bag, sheath, covering, etc.; in very early use a reliquary' (OED case n1, 1a) [go to text]

n1049   But that Were it not that [go to text]

n3352   Littleton’s Commons Crosswill refers again to the lawbooks Mihil should have been reading as a student in the Inns of Court, here Thomas de Littleton's treatise on land tenure, one of the most popular of all textbooks until the nineteenth century. Crosswill puns on 'Commons' as also common land, for grazing. [go to text]

gg2806   exhibition OED 1. a. Maintenance, support. Obs. [Cf. late L. exhibitio et tegumentum = ‘food and raiment’ (Forcellini).].
In modern English this usage survives in the scholarships sometimes given by Oxford and Cambridge colleges (OED 3. a. Pecuniary assistance given to a university student). [go to text]

gg105   coxcomb head; fool [go to text]

gg990   trim fine, neat, smart (clever) [go to text]

n3150   I feel it here 1659 assigns this speech to Crosswill. Several ms. annotators see the error and correct. [go to text]

n3150   Mihil 1659 assigns this speech to Crosswill. Several ms. annotators see the error and correct. [go to text]

n1051   He must be cried Sought through proclamation of his being lost. See OED cried, ppl. a. [go to text]

n4598   holes Mihil's literal meaning is that his father may fall in the poor streets of Covent Garden, but there is probably also a sexual pun concerning prostitution. Certainly Mihil teases his father into his usual competitiveness in his response: 'Do not think me worse at it in the dark than yourself, I beseach you'. Even if Crosswill is not taking this sexually, the audience is surely conscious of the double entendres. [go to text]

n8826   Do not think me worse at it in the dark than yourself, I beseech you. Crosswill appears to mean no more than that he can find his way home unharmed by night as well as his son. But the audience may hear an obscene double entendre, that Crosswill can have his way with a lady of the night just as well the young blades. [go to text]

gg649   blade’s smart, fashionable young men, so called from the swords or rapiers they carried as signs of their prowess (although such a reference to gallants was often familiarly laudatory, just as frequently it was contemptuous) [go to text]

gg3136   dismal disastrous, calamitous (OED dismal a, 3) [go to text]

n3154   Mihil 1659 misassigns this speech to Nick. Several ms. annotators recognise the error and correct. [go to text]

n3859   audit Mihil puns on 'audit' meaning to hear (Nick means to hear Dorcas's story, not knowing that he is its villain) and 'audit' as a statement of accounts. Nick will find himself forced to accept responsibility. [go to text]

gg3137   stake a post upon which persons were bound for execution, esp. by burning (OED stake n, 1b) [go to text]

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