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ACT 4n1827
4.1
MISTRESS GENEROUS enters with ROBIN [bridled].n11376

562Mistress Generous.Know you this jingling bridle, if you see’t again? I wantedgg1437 but a pair of jingling spursgg1438 to make you mend your pace and put you into a sweat.

563Robin.Yes, I have reason to know it after my hard journey. They say there be lightgg1439 women, but for your own part, though you be merry, yet I may be sorry for your heavinessn1668.

564Mistress Generous.I see thou art not quite tired by shaking of thyself. ’Tis a sign that as thou hast brought me hither, so thou art able to bear me back, and so you are like, good Robert. You will not let me have your master’s gelding; you will not. Well, sir, as you like this journey, so deny himn1669 to me hereafter.

565Robin.You say well, mistress. You have jaded men1676 —   [Aside]   a pox take you for a jade! —   [Aloud]   Now I bethink myself how damnably did I ride last night and how devilishly have I been rid now.

566Mistress Generous.Do you grumble, you groom?   [She removes the bridle.]   Now the bridle’s off, I turn thee to grazing; gramercygg1450, my good horse. I have no better provender for thee at this time. Thou hadst best like Æsop’s ass to feed upon thistlesn1677, of which this place will afford thee plenty. I am bid to a better banquet, which done, I’ll take thee up from grass, spur cut, and make a shortcut homen1684. Farewell.[She exits.]

567Robin.A pox upon your tailgg1462!
All the witches enter [with the BOY and spirits] and MALL at several doors. [After them, MISTRESS GENEROUS re-enters; ROBIN remains aside.]

568All.The lady of the feast is come! Welcome, welcome!n11377

569Mistress GenerousIs all the cheer that was prepared to grace the wedding feast yet come?

570Goody Dickieson.Part of it’s here. The other we must pull for.   [Pointing to ROBIN]   But what’s he?

571Mistress Generous.My horse, my horse! Ha, ha, ha!

572All.Ha, ha, ha![All witches, BOY, and spirits exit. ROBIN remains.]

573Robin.‘My horse, my horse’! I would I were now some country major and in authority, to see if I would not venture to rouse your Satanical sisterhoodn1670: ‘Horse, horse, see thou be, and where I point thee, carry me.’ Is that the trick on’t? The devil himself shall be her carrier next if I can shungg1440 her, and yet my master will not believe there’s any witches. There’s no running away, for I neither know how nor whether; besides, to my thinking, there’s a deep ditch and a high quicksetgg1441 about me. How shall I pass the time? What place is this? It looks like an old barn. I’ll peep in at some cranny or other, and try if I can see what they are doing.   [He finds a vantage point and peers in.]   Such a bevy of beldamsgg1442 did I never behold; and cramminggg1443 like so many cormorantsgg1444! Marry, choke you, with a mischief!n1671
[All witches, BOY, and spirits re-enter, as though inside the barn. ROBIN, aside, peers at them through the cranny.]n3389

574Goody Dickieson.   [Impatiently]    Whoop, whirrgg1445, here’s a stirgg1446,
        Never a cat, never a cur,
        But that we must have this demurgg1447.

575Mall.A second course!
[They pull on ropes.]

576Mistress Generous.Pulln1685, and pull hard
        For all that hath lately been prepared
        For the great wedding feast.

577Mall.As chief,
        Of Doughty’s sirloin of roast beef.

578All.Ha, ha, ha!
[They pull on ropes. and the beef appears.]

579Meg.’Tis come, ’tis come.

580Maud.Where hath it all this while been?

581Meg.Some
        Delay hath kept it. Now ’tis here.
        For bottles next of wine and beer,
        The merchants’ cellars they shall pay for’t.
[They pull on ropes. and wine and beer appear.]

582Mistress Generous.Well,
        What sodgg1449 or roast meat more, pray tell?

583Goody Dickieson.Pull for the poultry, fowl, and fish,
        For empty shall not be a dish.
[They pull in fowl and fish dishes.]

584Robin.   [Aside, grazing]   A pox take them! Must only they feed upon hot meat, and I upon nothing but cold salads?

585Mistress Generous.This meat is tediousgs204. Now some fairygg1452
        Fetch what belongs unto the dairy.
[They pull in dairy dishes.]

586Mall.That’s butter, milk, whey, curds, and cheese;
        We nothing by the bargain leesegg1453.

587All.Ha, ha, ha!

588Goody Dickieson.   [Giving food]   Boy, there’s meat for you.n1678

589Boy.   [Accepts food, but merely nibbles once.]   Thank you.

590Goody Dickieson.   [Giving a cup]   And drink too.
[The BOY accepts the offer, but sips only once.]

591Meg.   [To the other witches]   What beast was by thee hither rid?

592Maud.A badger nabgg1454.

593Meg.And I bestrid
        A porcupine that never prickedn1679.

594Mall.The dull sides of a bearn1680 I kicked.
        I know how you rid, Lady Nangg1455.

595Mistress Generous.Ha, ha, ha! Upon the knave, my man!

596Robin.   [Aside]   A murraingg1259 take you! I am sure my hoofs paid for’t.

597Boy.Meat, lie there, for thou hast no taste, and drink, there, for thou hast no relish, for in neither of them is there either salt or savour.n1681

598All.Pull for the posset! Pull!
[They pull on the ropes and draw in the posset.]

599Robin.   [Aside]   The bride’s posset on my life! Nay, if they come to their spoon–meatgg1456 once, I hope they’ll break up their feast presently.

600Mistress Generous.So, those that are our waiters near,
        Take hence this wedding cheer.
        We will be lively all,
        And make this barn our hall.
[Spirits remove the food and drink.]

601Goody Dickieson.You, our familiars, come.
        In speech let all be dumb,
        And to close up our feast,
        To welcome every guest,
        A merry round let’s dance.

602Meg.Some music then i’th’ air
        Whilst thus by pair and pairgg1457
        We nimbly foot itgg1458. Strike!gg1459Music [plays].

603Mall.We are obeyed.

604Sprite.And we hell’s ministers shall lend our aid.
Dance and song together, in the time of which the BOY speaks.

605Boy.   [Aside]   Now whilst they are in their jolliy, and do not mindgg1460 me, I’ll steal away’, and shift for myself, though I lose my life for’t.He exits.

606Meg.Enough, enough! Now part
        To see the bride’s vexed heart,
        The bridegroom’s too, and all
        That vomit up their gallgg1461
        For lack o’th’ wedding cheer.

607Goody Dickieson.   [Looking around in confusion]   But stay, where’s the boy? Look out: if he escape us, we are all betrayed!
[The witches begin to search.]

608Meg.No following further! Yonder horsemen come.n3838
        In vain is our pursuit; let’s break up court.

609Goody Dickieson.Where shall we next meet?n1682

610Maud. At mill.n1683

611Meg.But when?

612Mistress GenerousAt night.

613Meg.To horse, to horse!
        Where’s my Mamilion?n1686

614Witch 1.And my Incubusgg1463?
ROBIN stands amazed at this.

615Witch 3.My Tiger to bestride?

616Mall.My Puggygg1176.

617Mistress Generous.My horse.

618All.Away, away! The night
        We have feasted; now comes on the day.
[MALL, MEG, MAUD, GILL, GOODY DICKIESON, and Witches 1, 2, and 3 exit with their spirits and familiars.]

619Mistress Generous.Come, sirrah, stoop your head like a tame jade, whilst I put on your bridle.

620Robin.I pray, mistress, ride me as you would be rid.

621Mistress Generous.That’s at full speed.

622Robin.Nay then, I’ll try conclusionsgg1464
[ROBIN seizes the bridle and puts it on MISTRESS GENEROUS.]
        Mare, mare, see thou be,
        And where I point thee, carry me.
A great noise within at their parting.
They exit [with ROBIN riding MISTRESS GENEROUS, now transformed into a horse]n3390.
4.2

Master GENEROUS enters, making him readygg1465.


623Generous.I see what man is loathgg1201 to entertaingg1467
        Offers itself to him most frequently,
        And that which we most covet to embrace
        Doth seldom court us, and proves most averse;
        For I, that never could conceive a thought
        Of this my woman worthy a rebuke,
        (As one that in her youth bore her so fairlygg1468
        That she was taken for a seeming saint)
        To render me such just occasion
        That I should now distrust her in her age.
        Distrust! I cannot. That would bring me in
        The poor aspersion of fondgg1469 jealousy,
        Which even from our first meeting I abhorred.
        The gentlegg1470 fashion sometimes we observe
        To sunder bedsgg1471, but most in these hot months —
        June, July, August — so we did last night.
        Now I, as ever, tendergg1472 of her health
        And therefore rising early, as I use,
        Entering her chamber to bestow on her
        A customedgg1473 visit — find the pillow swelled,
        Unbruised with any weight, the sheets unruffled,
        The curtains neither drawn nor bed laidgg1474 down,
        Which shows she slept not in my house tonight.
        Should there be any contract betwixt her
        And this my groom to abuse my honest trust,
        I should not take it well, but for all this
        Yet cannot I be jealous. — Robin? —
ROBIN enters.
        Is my horse safe, lusty, and in good plight?
        What, feeds he well?

624Robin.Yes sir, he’s broad buttocked and full flanked; he doth not bate an ace gg1475of his flesh.

625Generous.When was he rid last?

626Robin.Not, sir, since you backed him.

627Generous.Sirrah, take heed I find you not a knave.
        Have you not lent him to your mistress late?
        So late as this last night?

628Rob.Who? I, sir? May I die, sir, if you find me in a lie, sir.

629Generous.Then I shall find him where I left him last.

630Robin.No doubt, sir.

631Generous.Give me the key o’th’ stable.

632Robin.   [Handing him the key]   There, sir.

633Generous.Sirrah, your mistress was abroad all night,
        Nor is she yet come home. If there I find him not,
         I shall find thee, what to this present hour
         I never did suspect and, I must tell thee,
         Will not be to thy profit.n1687He exits.

634Robin.Well sir, find what you can, him you shall find, and what you find else, it may be for that, instead of ‘Gramercy, horse’, you may say ‘Gramercy, Robin’. You will believe there are no witches! Had I not been late bridled, I could have said more, but I hope she is tied to the rackgg1476 that will confess something, and though not so much as I know, yet no more than I dare justify ——
GENEROUS re-enters.

Have you found your gelding, sir?

635Generous.Yes, I have.

636Robin.I hope not spurredgg1477, nor put into a sweat? You may see by his plump belly and sleek legs he hath not been sore travailedgg1478.

637Generous.You’re a saucy groom to receive horses
        Into my stable, and not ask me leavegg1479.
        Is’t for my profit to buy hay and oats
        For every stranger’s jades?

638Robin.I hope, sir, you find none feeding there but your own. If there be any you suspect, they have nothing to champgg1480 on but the bridle.

639Generous.Sirrah, whose jade is that tied to the rack?

640Robin.The mare, you mean, sir?

641Generous.Yes, that old mare.

642Robin.Old do you call her? You shall find the markgg1481 still in her mouth, when the bridle is out of it! I can assure you ’tis your own beast.

643Generous.A beast thou art to tell me so. Hath the wine
        Not yet left working? Not the Mitre wine?
        That made thee to believe witchcraft?
        Prithee persuade me. ——
        To be a drunken sot like to thyself
        And not to know mine own!

644Robin.I’ll not persuade you to anything. You will believe nothing but what you see. I say the beast is your own, and you have the most right to keep her; she hath cost you more the curryinggg1482 than all the combs in your stable are worth. You have paid for her provendergg1483 this twenty years and upwards, and furnished her with all the caparisonsgg1484 that she hath worn, of my knowledge; and because she hath been ridden hard the last night, do you renounce her now?

645Generous.Sirrah, I fear some stolen jade of your own
        That you would have me keep.

646Robin.I am sure I found her no jade the last time I rid her! She carried me the best part of a hundred miles in less then a quarter of an hour.

647Generous.The devil she did!

648Robin.Yes, so I say, either the devil or she did. An’t please you, walk in and take off her bridle, and then tell me who hath more right to her, you or I.

649Generous.Well, Robert, for this once I’ll play the groom,
        And do your office for you.He exits.

650Robin.I pray, do, sir, but take heed lest, when the bridle is out of her mouth, she put it not into yours; if she do, you are a gone man: if she but say once ‘Horse, horse, see thou be. Be you rid (if you please) for me.’
Master GENEROUS and MISTRESS GENEROUS enter, he with a bridle.

651Generous.My blood is turned to ice, and my all vitals
        Have ceased their working! Dull stupidity
        Surpriseth me at once, and hath arrested
        That vigorous agitation which till now
        Expressed a life within me: I, methinks,
        Am a mere marble statue and no man.
        Unweave my age, O time, to my first thread!n3391
        Let me lose fifty years in ignorance spent,
        That being made an infant once again,
        I may begin to know what or where am I,
        To be thus lost in wonder!

652Mistress Generous.Sir! ——

653Generous.Amazement still pursues me. How am I changed
        Or brought ere I can understand myself,
        Into this new world?

654Robin.You will believe no witches?

655Generous.This makes me believe all, ay, anything;
        And that myself am nothing! Prithee, Robin,
        Lay me to myself openn3392: what art thou,
        Or this new transformed creature?

656Robin.I am Robin, and this your wife, my mistress.

657Generous.Tell me the earthn1693
        Shall leave its seat, and mount to kiss the moon,
        Or that the moon, enamoured of the earth,
        Shall leave her sphere, to stoop to us thus low.
        What? What’s this in my hand, that at an instant
        Can from a four–legged creature make a thing
        So like a wife?

658Robin.A bridle, a jinglingn1694 bridle, sir.

659GenerousA bridle! Hence, enchantmentgg1487!
Casts it away. ROBIN takes it up.
        A viper were more safe within my hand
        Than this charmed enginegg1485.

660Robin.Take heed, sir, what you do: if you cast it hence, and she catch it up, we that are here now, may be rid as far as the Indies within these few hours.   [To MISTRESS GENEROUS]   Mistress, down of your mare’s bones, or your marrowbones, whethergg1486 you please, and confess yourself to be what you are, and that’s in plain English a witch, a grand notorious witch.

661Generous.A witch! My wife a witch!

662Robin.So it appears by the story.

663Generous.The more I strive to unwind
        Myself from this meandergg1488, I the more
        Therein am intricated. —   [To MISTRESS GENEROUS]   Prithee, woman,
        Art thou a witch?

664Mistess Generous.It cannot be denied:
        I am such a cursed creature.

665Generous.Keep aloof,
        And do not come too near me! O my trustgg2183!
        Have I, since first I understood myself,
        Been of my soul so charygg1490, still to study
        What best was for its health, to renounce all
        The works of that black fiendn1695 with my best force,
        And hath that serpentn1696 twined me so about
        That I must lie so often and so long
        With a devil in my bosom!

666Mistress Generous.Pardon, sir!

667Generous.Pardon! Can such a thing as that be hoped?
        Lift up thine eyes, lost woman, to yon hillsn1697;
        It must be thence expected. Look not down
        Unto that horrid dwelling which thou hast sought
        At such dear rate to purchase. Prithee, tell me,
        For now I can believe, art thou a witch?

668Mistress Generous.I am.

669Generous.With that word I am thunderstruck
        And know not what to answer. Yet resolvegg1491 me:
        Hast thou made any contract with that fiend,
        The enemy of mankind?

670Mistress Generous.Oh, I have.

671Generous.What? and how far?

672Mistress Generous.I have promised him my soul.

673Generous.Ten thousand times better thy body had
        Been promised to the staken1699, ay, and mine too,
        To have suffered with thee in a hedge of flames,
        Than such a compactgg1492 ever had been made. Oh —!

674Robin.What cheer, sir? Show yourself a man, though she appeared so late a beast. —    [To MISTRESS GENEROUS]   Mistress, confess all. Better here than in a worse place: out with it!

675Generous.Resolve me, how far doth that contract stretch?

676Mistress Generous.What interest in this soul myself could claim
        I freely gave him, but His part that made it
        I still reserve, not being mine to give.

677Generous.O cunning devil, foolish woman, know
        Where he can claim but the least little part,
        He will usurp the whole; th’art a lost woman.

678Mistress Generous.I hope not so.

679Generous.Why, hast thou any hope?

680Mistress Generous.Yes, sir, I have.

681Generous.Make it appear to me.

682Mistress Generous.I hope I never bargained for that fire
        Further than penitent tears have power to quench.

683Generous.I would see some of them.

684Mistress Generous.   [Weeping]   You behold them now ——
        If you look on me with charitable eyes ——
        Tincturedgg2829 in blood, blood issuing from the heart!
        Sir, I am sorry; when I look towards heaven,
        I beg a gracious pardon; when on you,
        Methinks your native goodness should not be
        Less pitifulgg1493 than they: ’gainst both I have erred;
        From both I beg atonementgg1494.

685Generous.May I presum’t?

686Mistress Generous.   [She falls to her knees.]   I kneel to both your mercies. ——n1700

687Generous.Know’st thou what a witch is?

688Mistress Generous.Alas, none better,
        Or after mature recollection can be
        More sad to think on’t.

689Generous.Tell me, are those tears
        As full of true–hearted penitence
        As mine of sorrow to behold what state,
        What desperate state, th’art fallen in?

690Mistress Generous.Sir, they are.

691Generous.Rise, and as I do, so heaven pardon men1701;
        We all offend, but from such falling off,
        Defend us. Well, I do remember, wife,
        When I first took thee, ’twas for good and bad;
        Oh, change thy bad to good, that I may keep thee,
        As then we passed our faiths till death us sever.
        I will not aggravate thy grief too much
        By needless iteration. ——   [To ROBIN]   Robin, hereafter
        Forget thou hast a tongue. If the least syllable
        Of what hath passed be rumoured, you lose men1702;
        But if I find you faithful, you gain me ever.

692Robin.A match, sir.n1703 You shall find me as mute as if I had the bridle still in my mouth.

693Generous.   [Turning to his still-weeping kneeling wife]   Ay, woman, thou hadst need to weep thyself
        Into a fountain, such a penitent spring
        As may have power to quench invisible flames,
        In which my eyes shall aid: too little alln1706,
        If not too littlen1707. All’s forgiven, forgot;
        Only thus much remember: thou hadst exterminedgg2830
        Thyself out of the blessed society
        Of saints and angels, but on thy repentance
        I take thee to my bosom once again,
           [Raising her to her feet, embracing her]   My wife, sister, and daughtern1704. ——   [To ROBIN]   Saddle my gelding.
        Some business that may hold me for two days
        Calls me aside.

694Robin.I shall, sir.   [GENEROUS and MISTRESS GENEROUS] exit.   Well, now my mistress hath promised to give over her witchery, I hope, though I still continue her man, yet she will make me no more her journeymann1705; to prevent which the first thing I do shall be to burn the bridle, and then —— away with the witch!He exits.
4.3
ARTHUR and DOUGHTY enter.

695Arthur.Sir, you have done a right noble courtesy which deserves a memory as long as the name of friendship can bear mention.

696Doughty.What I have done, I ha’ done; if it be well, ’tis well. I do not like the bouncinggg1495 of good offices: if the little care I have taken shall do these poor people good, I have my end in’t, and so my reward.
BANTAM enters.

697Bantam.Now, gentlemen, you seem very serious.

698Arthur.’Tis true we are so, but you are welcome to the knowledge of our affairsgg1496.

699Bantam.How does thine uncle, and aunt, Gregory, and his sister? The families of Seelys agree yetgg1497, can you tell?

700Arthur.That is the business: the Seely household is divided now.

701Bantam.How so, I pray?

702Arthur.You know, and cannot but with pity know,
        Their miserable condition, how
        The good old couple were abused, and how
        The young abused themselves; if we may say
        That any of them are their selves at all,
        Which sure we cannot, nor approve them fit
        To be their own disposersn1708, that would give
        The governance of such a house and living
        Into their vassals’n1709 hands, to thrust them out on’t
        Without or law or ordern1710. This considered
        This gentleman   [Indicating DOUGHTY]   and myself have taken home,
        By fair entreaty, the old folks to his house,
        The young to mine, until some wholesome order
        By the judicious of the commonwealthn1711
        Shall for their persons and estate be taken.

703Bantam.But what becomes of Lawrence and his Parnell?
        The lusty couple, what do they now?

704Doughty.Alas, poor folks, they are as far to seekn1712 of how they do, or what they do, or what they should do, as any of the rest. They are all grown idiots, and till some of these damnable jades with their devilish devices be found out, to discharmgg1498 them, no remedy can be found. I mean to laygg2831 the country for their hagships, and if I can anticipate the purpose of their grand master devil to confoundgg57 ’em before their lease be out, be sure I’ll do’t.

705[Rabble].   A shout within [of many voices] cry[ing]   A skimmingtonn1713! A skimmington! A skimmington!

706Doughty.What’s the matter now? Is hell broke loose?
Master SHAKESTONE enters.

707Arthur.Tom Shakestone, how now! Canst tell the news?

708Shakestone.The news? You hear it up i’th’ air, do you not?

709[Rabble]    (Within)   A skimmington! A skimmington! A skimmington!

710Shakestone.Hark you, do you not hear it? There’s a skimmington towardsgg1499, gentlemen.

711Doughty.Ware wedlock, ho!n1715

712Bantam.At whose suit, I prithee, is Don Skimmingtongg1514 come to town?

713Shakestone.I’ll tell you, gentlemen, since you   [To DOUGHTY]   have taken home old Seely and his wife to your house, and you   [To ARTHUR]   their son and daughter to yours, the housekeepersgg1500 Lawrence and his late bride Parnell are fallen out by themselves.

714Arthur.How, prithee?

715Shakestone.The quarrel began, they say, upon the wedding night and in the bride bed.

716Bantam.For want of bedstavesgg1501?

717Shakestone.No, but a better implement, it seems, the bridegroom was unprovided ofgg1502, a homely tale to tell.

718Doughty.Now out upon her, she has a greedy wormgg1504 in her! I have heard the fellow complained on, for an over-micklegg1503 man among the maids.

719Arthur.Is his haste to go to bed at afternoon come to this now?

720Doughty.Witchery, witchery, more witchery still, flat and plain witchery! Now do I think upon the codpiece point the young jade gave him at the wedding: she is a witch, and that was a charm, if there be any in the world.

721Arthur.A ligatoryn1714 point.

722Bantam.Alas, poor Lawrence!

723Shakestone.He’s coming to make his moan to you about it, and she too, since you have taken their masters and mistresses to your care, you must do them right too.

724Doughty.Marry, but I’ll not undertakegg1506 her at these years, if lusty Lawrence cannot do’t.

725Bantam.But has she beaten him?

726Shakestone.Grievously broke his head in I know not how many places; of which the hoydensgg1507 have taken notice, and will have a skimmington on horseback presently. Look you, here comes both plaintiffgg1508 and defendantgg1509.
LAWRENCE [his head bandaged] and PARNELL enter.

727Doughty.How now, Lawrence, what has thy wedlock brought thee already to thy nightcapn1716?

728Lawrence.Yie, gad wat, sir, I ware wadded but aw to seun.n1717

729Parnell.Han yeou reason to complain or ay, trow yeou, Gaffer Downought?   [She beats him.]   Wa warth the day that ever I wadded a Downought!n1718

730Arthur, Bantam, Shakestone.Nay, hold, Parnell, hold!

731Doughty.We have heard enough of your valour already. We know you have beaten him; let that suffice.

732Parnell.Ware ever poor maiden betrayed as ay ware unto a swagbellied carl that cannotn1721 —— aw waw! —— that cannot ——[She weeps.]

733Arthur.What says she?

734DoughtyI know not; she caterwauls, I think. —— Parnell, be patient, good Parnell, and a little modest too. ’Tis not amiss, we know, not the relish of every ear that hears us. Let’s talk within ourselves.   [He takes her aside.]   What’s the defect? What’s the impedimentn1737? Lawrence has had a lusty name among the bachelors.

735Parnell.What he ware when he ware a bachelor, I know better than the best maid i’th’ tawn. I wad I had not.n1719

736Arthur, Bantam, Shakestone.Peace, Parnell.

737Parnell.’Tware that that cossened me: he has not now as he had then!n1720

738Arthur, Bantam, Shakestone.Peace, good Parnell.

739Parnell.For then he could, butn2247 now he connot, he connot!

740Arthur, Bantam, Shakestone.Fie, Parnell, fie.

741Parnell.I say agean and agean, he connot, he connot!

742Arthur, Bantam, Shakestone.Alas, poor Parnell.

743Parnell.I am not a bit the better for him sin wye ware wadn1722.Cries.

744Doughty.   [Aside to the gentlemen]   Here’s good stuff for a jury of womenn1734 to pass upon.

745Arthur.But, Parnell, why have you beaten him so grievously? What would you have him do in this case?

746Doughty.   [Aside to the gentlemen]   He’s out of a doing casen1735, it seems.

747Parnell.Marry, sir, and beat him will I into his grave, or back to the priest, and be unwaddedn2248 agone, for I wonot be baund to lig with him and live with him, the laife of an honest woman for aw the layves good i’ Loncoshire.n1736

748Doughty.An honest woman: that’s a good mindgg1513, Parnell. What say you to this, Lawrence?

749Lawrence.Keep her off o’ me, and I shan teln yeou. An she be by I am nobody. But keep her off and search me: let me be searcht as never witch was searcht, and find onything more or lass upo’ me than a sufficient mon shold have, and let me me be honckt by’t.n1738

750Arthur.Do you hear this, Parnell?

751Parnell.Ah leear, leear, dee’ll tack the leear! Troist yee and hong yee!n1739

752Doughty.   [To the gentlemen]   Alas, it is too plain, the poor fellow is bewitched. Here’s a plain maleficium versus hancn1740 now.

753Arthur.   [To DOUGHTY, BANTAM, and SHAKESTONE]   And so is she bewitched too into this immodesty?

754Bantam.   [To ARTHUR, DOUGHTY, and SHAKESTONE]   She would never talk so else.

755Lawrence.I prayn yeow, gi’ me the lere o’ that Latinn1741, sir.

756Doughty.The meaning is you must get half a dozen bastards within this twelvemonth, and that will mend your next marriage.

757Lawrence.An I thought it would ma’ Parnell love me, I’d be sure on’t, and gang about it now right.

758Shakestone.You’re soon provided, it seems, for such a journey.

759Doughty.Best tarry till thy head be whole, Lawrence.

760ParnellNay, nay, ay’s white casten away ent I be unwadded agen. And then I’ne undertack to find three better husbands in a bean-codn1742.

761Shakestone.   [Hearing more noise within]   Hark, gentlemen, the show is coming.

762Arthur.What, shall we stay and see’t?

763Bantam.Oh, by all means, gentlemen.

764Doughty.’Tis best to have   [Indicating LAWRENCE and PARNELL]   these away first.

765Parnell.   [To DOUGHTY]   Nay, marry, shan yeou not, sir. I hear yeou well enough, and I con the meaning o’ the show well enogh. An I stay not the show, and see not the show, and ma’ one i’ the show, let me be honkt up for a show! I’ll ware them to mel or ma’ with a woman that mels or ma’s with a testril, a longie, a dow-little losel that connot, and if I skim not their skimmington’s cockskeam for’t, may that warplin boggle me a week lonker, and that’s a curse eno’ for any wife, I trow.n1743

766Doughty.Agreed! Perhaps ’twill mend the sport!
Enter drum beating before a Skimmington and his wife on a horse [with] divers country rustics. As they pass, PARNELL pulls Skimmington off the horse, and LAWRENCE, Skimmington’s wife: they beat ’em. Drum beats alarumgg1515, [and the] horse comes away. The hoydens at first opposegg1516 the gentlemen, who drawgg1517: the clowns vail bonnetgg1518, make a ring [around] PARNELL and Skimmington, [and watch the] fight.

767Doughty.Beat, drum, alarum!   [The fight continues amid noises of drum and specatators. LAWRENCE’s match concluded more swiftly than PARNELL’s]   Enough, enough! Here, my masters!   [Showing a bag of money]   Now patch up your show, if you can, and catch your horse again, and when you have done, drink that   Giving money.   

768Rabble.Thank your worship.Exeunt shout[ing].

769Parnell.Lat’em, as they laik this, gang a procession with their aydol Skimmington agean.n1744

770Arthur.Parnell, thou didst bravely.

771Parnell.I am sure I han drawn blood o’ their aydol.

772Lawrence.And I think I tickled his waifen1745.

773Parnell.Yie, to be sure, yeou been eane of the owd ticklers. But with what, con yeou tell?n1746

774Lawrence.Yieu, with her own ladle.n1747

775Parnell.   [Sarcastically]   Yie, marry, a ladle is something!

776Doughty.Come, you have both done well. Go in to my house; see your old master and mistress, while I travel a coursen1748 to make you all well again. I will now a-witch-hunting.

777Parnell.Na course for usn1749 but to be unwadded agone.

778Arthur, Shakestone, Bantam.We are for Whetstone and his aunt, you know.

779Doughty.Farewell, farewell.
[LAWRENCE and PARNELL] exit [in one direction, DOUGHTY and the gentlemen in another].
4.4
MISTRESS GENEROUS and MALL SPENCER enter.

780Mistress Generous.Welcome, welcome, my girl! What, hath thy Puggy
        Yet sucked upon thy pretty duggy?

781Mall.All’s well at home and abroad too.
        Whate’er I bid my Pug, he’ll do.
        You sent for me

782Mistress Generous.I did.

783Mall.And why?

784Mistress Generous.Wench, I’ll tell thee. Thou and I
        Will walk a little. How doth Meg?
        And her Mamilion?

785Mall.Of one leg
        She’s grown lame.

786Mistress Generous.Because the beast
        Did miss us last Good Friday feast.
        I guessed as much.

787Mall.But All-Saints night
        She met, though she did haltgg1519 downrightgg1520.

788Mistress Generous.Dickieson and Hargrave, prithee tell,
        How do they?

789Mall.All about us well.
        But Puggy whispered in mine ear
        That you of late were put in fear.

790Mistress Generous.The slave, my man.

791Mall.Who? Robin?

792Mistress Generous.He.

793Mall.My sweetheart?

794Mistress Generous.Such a trick served me.

795Mall.About the bridle? Now, alack!

796Mistress Generous.The villain brought me to the rack.
        Tied was I both to rack and manger.

797Mall.But thence how scaped you?

798Mistress Generous.Without danger,
        I thank my spirit.

799Mall.Ay, but then
        How pacified was your good man?

800Mistress Generous.Some passionate words mixed with forced tears
        Did so enchant his eyes and ears,
        I made my peace, with promise never
        To do the like; but once and ever
        A witch, thou know’st. Now understand
        New business we took in hand.
        My husband packed out of the town,
        Know that the house and all’s our own.
WHETSTONE enters.

801Whetstone.Nauntgg1521, is this your promise, naunt? ——   [Aside to MALL]   What, Mall! How dost thou, Mall? ——   [Aloud, to MISTRESS GENEROUS]   You told me you would put a trick upon these gentlemen, whom you made me invite to supper, who abused and called me bastard. ——   [Aside to MALL]   And when shall I get one upon thee, my sweet rogue? ——   [Aloud, to MISTRESS GENEROUS]   And that you would do I know not what; for you would not tell me what you would do. ——   [Aside to MALL]   And shall you and I never have any doinggg1522 together? ——    [Aloud, to MISTRESS GENEROUS]   Supper is done, and the table ready to withdrawn1750. And I am risen the earliest from the boardgg1523, and yet for aught I can see I am never a whitgg2832 the nearer. ——   [Aside to MALL]   What, not one kiss at parting, Mall?

802Mistress Generous.Well, cousingg1220, this is all you have to do:
        Retire the gallants to some private room,
        Where call for wine and junketsgg1524, what you please;
        Then thou shalt need to do no other thing
        Than what this note directs thee   [Handing him a paper]   . Observegg1525 that,
        And trouble me no farther.

803Whetstone.   [Taking and reading the paper]   Very good, I like this beginning well: for where they slightedn1771 me before, they shall find me a man of note.He exits.

804Mall.Of this, the meaning?

805Mistress Generous.Marry, lass,
        To bring a new conceitgg1526 to pass.
        Thy spirit I must borrow, more
        To fill the number three or four,
        Whom we will use to no great harm.
        Only assist me with thy charmgg1527.
        This night we’ll celebrate to sportgg1528:
        ’Tis all for mirth. We mean no hurt.

806Mall.My spirit and myself command;
        Mamilion and the rest at hand
        Shall all assist.

807Mistress Generous.Withdraw then, quick!
        Now, gallants, there’s for you a trick.They exit.
4.5
WHETSTONE, ARTHUR, SHAKESTONE, [and] BANTAM enter.

808Whetstone.Here’s a more private room, gentlenmen, free from the noise of the hall. Here we may talk, and throw the chamber out of the casementsn3395. ——   [Calling to Servants within]   Some wine and a short banquetgg278!
[Servants] enter with a banquet, wine, and two tapers.

809Whetstone.So. Now leave us.
[Servants exit.]

810Arthur.We are much bound to you, Master Whetstone,
        For this great entertainment. I see you command
        The house in the absence of your uncle.

811Whetstone.Yes, I thank my aunt; for though I be but a daily guest, yet I can be welcome to her at midnight.

812Shakestone.How shall we pass the time?

813Bantam.In some discourse.

814Whetstone.But no such discourse as we had last, I beseech you.

815Bantam.Now, Master Whetstone, you reflect on me.
        ’Tis true, at our last meeting some few words
        Then passed my lips, which I could wish forgot:
        I think I called you bastard.

816Whetstone.I think so too; but what’s that amongst friends? For I would fain know which amongst you all knows his own father.

817Bantam.You are merry with your friends, good Master By-blow, and we are guests here in your uncle’s house, and therefore privileged.
MISTRESS GENEROUS, MALL, and spirits enter [unseen by the gentlemen] .

818Whetstone.I presume you had no more privilege in your gettinggg1532 than I. But tell me, gentlemen, is there any man here amongst you that hath a mind to see his father?

819Bantam.Why, who shall show him?

820Whetstone.That’s all onen1751. If any man here desire it, let him but speak the word, and ’tis sufficient.

821Bantam.Why, I would see my father.

822Mistress Generous.   [Aside to the musicians]   Strike!   Music.   
A PEDANT entersgg1529 dancing to the music; the straingg683 done, he points at BANTAM,and looks full in his face.

823Whetstone.Do you know him that looks so full in your face?

824Bantam.Yes, well; a pedant in my father’s house,
        Who, being youngn1752, taught me my A B C.

825Whetstone.In his house that goes for your father, you would say. For know one morning, when your mother’s husband rid early to have a nisi priusn1753 tried at Lancaster ’sizesgg1530, he crept into his warm place, lay close by her side, and then were you gotgg1531. Then come, your heels and tail together, and kneel unto your own dear father.

826All.Ha, ha, ha!
[PEDANT exits.]

827Bantam.   [Shocked and angry]   I am abused.

828Whetstone.Why laugh you, gentlemen? It may be more men’s cases than his or mine.

829Bantam.To be thus jeered!

830Arthur.   [To BANTAM]   Come, take it as a jest.
        For I presume ’twas meant no otherwise.

831Whetstone.   [To ARTHUR and SHAKESTONE]   Would either of you two now see his father in earnest?

832Shakestone.Yes, canst thou shew me mine?

833Mistress Generous.   [Aside to the musicians]   Strike!   [Music.]   
A nimble TAILOR enters dancing, using the same posture to SHAKESTONE.

834Whetstone.He looks on you. Speak, do you know him?

835Shakestone.Yes, he was my mother’s tailorn1754. I remember him ever since I was a child.

836Whetstone.Who, when he came to take measure of her upper parts, had more mind to the lower. Whilst the good mangg1533 was in the fields hunting, he was at home whoring.
        Then, since no better comfort can be had,
        Come down, come down, ask blessiing of your dad.

837All.Ha, ha, ha!
[TAILOR exits.]

838Bantam.This cannot be endured.

839Arthur.It is plain witchcraft.
        Nay, since we are all bid unto one feast,
        Let’s fare alike, come show me mine too.

840Mistress Generous.   [Aside to the musicians]   Strike!   [Music.]   
ROBIN enters with a switchgg1317 and a curry-combgg1535 [dancing]; he points at Arthur.

841Whetstone.He points at you.

842Arthur.What then?

843Whetstone. You know him.

844Arthur.Yes,
        Robin, the groom belonging to this house.

845Whetstone.And never served your father?

846Arthur.In’sn1755 youth I think
        He did.
[ROBIN exits.]

847Whetstone.Who, when your supposed father had business at the Lord President’s court in Yorkn1756, stood for his attorneyn1774 at home, and so it seems you were got by deputy. What, all amort? If you will have but a little patience, stay and you shall see mine too:
        And know I show you him the rather
        To find who hath the best man to his father.

848Mistress Generous.   [Aside to the musicians]   Strike! ——
Music. A GALLANT enters as before to him.

849Whetstone.Now, gentlemen, make me your precedent, learn your duties, and do as I do —   He kneels and addresses the GALLANT.]   A blessing, Dad.
[After blessing him, the GALLANT exits.]

850Bantam.n1757Come, come, let’s home. We’ll find some other time
        When to dispute of these things —n1758

851Whetstone.Nay, gentlemen, no parting in spleengs195! Since we have begun in mirth, let’s not end in melancholy; you see there are more by-blows than bear the name. It is grown a great kindred in the kingdom. Come, come, all friends! Let’s into the cellargg1538 and conclude our revelsgs193 in a lusty health.gg2833
[The gentlemen attempt to draw their weapons.]

852Shakestone.I fain would strike, but cannot!

853Bantam.Some strange fate holds me.

854Arthur.Here then all anger end.
        Let none be mad at what they cannot mend.
[ARTHUR, BANTAM, and SHAKESTONE exit, followed by the jeering WHETSTONE].

855Mall.Now say what’s next?

856Mistress Generous.I’th’ mill there lies
        A soldier yet with unscratched eyes.
        Summon the sisterhood together,
        For we with all our spirits will thither;
        And such a caterwauling keep,
        That he in vain shall think to sleep.
        Call Meg and Doll, Tib, Nab, and Jug.
        Let none appear without her puggs194.
        We’ll try our utmost art and skill
        To fright the stout knave in the mill.They exit.

Edited by Helen Ostovich


n1827   ACT 4 Several strands of plot hit unusual reversals in this act. The wedding feast, which the audience had thought was destroyed in act 3, turns up as the witches' feast in act 4. But the feast, an apparent triumph for witch power, ends in panic, as first the Boy and then Robin escape the the women's witchcraft. Generous learns the truth of his wife's night-time excursions, but again the situation reverses as Mistress Generous begs his pardon and promises to reform. The result of the Parnell-Lawrence wedding quarrel, in which Parnell beats her husband for failing to perform sexually, is the community's sanction against her, as they parade in a skimmington. But instead of putting Parnell in her place, the skimmington arouses Parnell's and Lawrence's desire to defend each other from public humiliation, and they end up silencing the community's criticism. By scene 4, we learn of yet another reversal: Mistress Generous laughs with her fellow witches about her false promise to abandon witchcraft; she clearly holds her husband in contempt. Finally, we see Whetstone's revenge as he plays the humiliation game with the gentlemen who scorned him in earlier acts. [go to text]

n11376   MISTRESS GENEROUS enters with ROBIN [bridled]. Video Robibn, transformed into a horse, carries Mistress Generous to the witches' feast. Instead of his sexual pleasure at riding a magic horse with Mall, Robin is now the horse, ridden, not riding as before. The pleasure belongs to Mistress Generous. Robin's bitterness at this turn of events makes him realize how he has been 'jaded' [go to text]

gg1437   wanted lacked [go to text]

gg1438   jingling spurs fashionable spurs with loose rowels that made a jingling sound when the wearer moved; they were not necessarily good for riding, being more decorative than useful [go to text]

gg1439   light lightweight, and 'merry', meaning light-hearted, but punning on unchaste [go to text]

n1668   I may be sorry for your heaviness I may regret your heavy weight on my back (in terms of physical pain at the exercise); also punning on serious import in pracising magic and reversing gender norms, possibly pursuing unnatural sexual goals, and weighing heavily on Robin's conscience by making him swerve in his duty to his master. [go to text]

n1669   him That is, the gelding. Since a gelding is a castrated male, the male reference is perhaps a courtesy only. She intends to treat Robin like a gelding, and her husband as well by proxy, asserting her power over both of them, man and master. [go to text]

n1676   jaded me Punning on ‘made me cynical’ and ‘turned me into a horse’ (jade was a contemptuous term for a horse, often also applied to an unruly woman). Robin suggests he has been ridden both for transport and for sex. [go to text]

gg1450   gramercy thanks [go to text]

n1677   Æsop’s ass to feed upon thistles In Aesop's story, an ass carrying delicious provisions of food to workers in a field stops to eat thistles along the way; the moral of the tale is: each to his own taste. [go to text]

n1684   spur cut, and make a shortcut home Sexually equivocal. In ordinary terms, a cut is a horse, usually a common horse used for labouring. In bawdy language, a spur is a penis; a cut is a vagina. The comment that follows, modelled on strike home, 'make an effective thrust with a weapon or tool' (OED, strike, v.1, 80), suggests a quick bout of sexual intercourse, with Mistress Generous playing the man's part, and Robin the woman's. [go to text]

gg1462   tail pudendum [go to text]

n11377   The lady of the feast is come! Welcome, welcome! Video The witches gather to enjoy the stolen wedding feast and jeer at Robin, the 'horse'. Robin's curious response to the jeering leads to his spying on the feast in the barn through a cranny in the wall. [go to text]

n1670   your Satanical sisterhood Sarcastic reference to Mistress Generous, whom he proceeds to mimic. [go to text]

gg1440   shun seek safety by concealment or flight from (an enemy) (OED v1, 2; now obsolete) [go to text]

gg1441   quickset hedge or thicket (OED n1, 2) [go to text]

gg1442   beldams loathsome old women, hags; witches (OED 3) [go to text]

gg1443   cramming stuffing the mouth with food; gorging [go to text]

gg1444   cormorants large and voracious black sea-birds; hence, insatiably greedy persons (OED 1, 2) [go to text]

n1671   choke you, with a mischief! May you choke, damn you! Mischief, in this context, is evil done to or suffered by people, a plague of misfortune, not simply naughtiness. [go to text]

n3389   [All witches, BOY, and spirits re-enter, as though inside the barn. ROBIN, aside, peers at them through the cranny.] Video In the workshop with 10 actors for this scene, the witches 'flew' into the barn as though blown in through a shute (actually a kind of 'hell-mouth' created by crawling under and through the legs of a table); Robin stood on the table behind the curtain and poked his head out to observe their revels. The witches call for more food and drink, pulling on invisible ropes to cause the feast to appear. [go to text]

gg1445   whirr growl, purr (OED v, 3b) [go to text]

gg1446   stir active or energetic bustle of a number of persons (or animals); commotion, excitement (OED n, 1, 2 and 3) [go to text]

gg1447   demur delay, lingering, waiting (OED 1; now obsolete) [go to text]

n1685   Pull Exactly how this stage business was effected, we do not know. But we do know that ropes or cords were used to effect the business. In the letter written by Nathaniel Tomkyns to his friend Sir Robert Phelips, 16 August 1634, we read of the witches' 'banqueting with all sorts of meat and drink conveyed unto them by their familiars upon the pulling of a cord' - but the description does not clarify the stage business. Perhaps the witches pulled on ropes, and then the spirits and familiars brought in the food or drink expected. Or perhaps the repast was attached to ropes and the witches either pulled the food props down from above, or drew them in from the tiring-house doors or from elsewhere on the stage or even below the stage. The cords and familiars certainly had a magical effect that seems to have amused Tomkyns enough to write home about it. See Egan for part of the letter's text in Appendix 1, or Herbert Berry, Shakespeare's Playhouses (New York: AMS Press, 1987), 123-4. See film clip for another possibility of magical invocation. In one workshopped version, the witches danced into a circle, mimed the drawing down of food and drink, and then mimed consuming it. But the letter seems to indicate that the appearance of food and drink was not merely imaginary. [go to text]

gg1449   sod boiled [go to text]

gs204   tedious exhausted: the witches are literally fed up with excessive amounts of food (OED 3) [go to text]

gg1452   fairy spirit or sprite [go to text]

gg1453   leese lose [go to text]

n1678   Boy, there’s meat for you. Video In her brief conversation with the Boy, Goody Dickieson reverts to prose; that is, she does not use the 4-beat line that makes up most of the witches' dialogue with one another. Her act of kindness in feeding the Boy may be a grandmotherly act, or it may be a trick to make him ingest magic food that will turn him into a demon-boy or changeling. According to Edmund Robinson's evidence, he did not eat or drink at the feast, but bided his time until he could escape. The following recorded clip shows the actors exploring this moment in the action. [go to text]

gg1454   badger nab badger head (OED nab n2, 1); or possibly a hat made out of badger fur (LEME); badger was erroneously used to describe otter or beaver, the latter commonly used for hats [go to text]

n1679   never pricked Never having thrown a quill. This qualifier identifies the porcupine as young, and the witches have a predilection for youth. The reference also includes a sexual analogy: the witch initiated the porcupine's sex life. [go to text]

n1680   bear The bear, a figure sometimes associated with the Wild Man in folk-plays and masquings, stands for brutal, unthinking wrath, its violence linked to winter blasts and ferocious lusts; it must be driven out or killed before society can return to a civilized state (Twycross and Carpenter 48-50). The sudden appearance of the bear in The Winter's Tale, 3.3.57 ff.) is a good illustration of this interpretation of punishment meted out by the gods to those who obeyed Leontes' order to abandon Perdita. In that sense, the control of a witch over a bear suggests the inverted gender roles and demonic forces at work, also shown in Mistress Generous's control over Robin or Goody Dickieson's control over the Boy and the demon-child. [go to text]

gg1455   Nan diminutive for Anne [go to text]

gg1259   murrain plague-like disease afflicting domestic animals [go to text]

n1681   Meat, lie there, for thou hast no taste, and drink, there, for thou hast no relish, for in neither of them is there either salt or savour. The Boy's comment in rejecting food and drink shows that, like Persephone in the underworld, he has tasted each, but not enough to keep him in the witches' thrall indefinitely. The lack of taste is equivalent to frequent testimony by witches who admit to having sex with the devil: they claim he functions like a man, but is cold and gives no pleasure. [go to text]

gg1456   spoon–meat custard, made of milk, sugar, and flavouring [go to text]

gg1457   by pair and pair in couples [go to text]

gg1458   foot it dance [go to text]

gg1459   Strike! burst into song, play music (OED 29d, 51c); the term is also used in magical descriptions, to indicate the working of a charm or enchantment [go to text]

gg1460   mind (v) pay attention to [go to text]

gg1461   gall bitter secretion of the liver, bile; used figuratively to suggest bitterness, rancour, esp. as the result of injury or insult (OED n1, 1 and 3b) [go to text]

n3838   Yonder horsemen come. Video Although Edmund Robinson claimed in his evidence that when he escaped from the barn-feast he ran toward the sound of approaching horsemen, the RSC actors came up with another reading of the moment. Robin, excited by the antics of the witches, has begun dancing on his horse's hooves, thus making the sound that frightens the witches away. Visually it creates another funny moment, and may be an involuntary or deliberate action on Robin's part. Either way, the audience will laugh. But a production could simply produce the off-stage sound of cantering horses, thus giving the cue for the witches' flight [go to text]

n1682   Where shall we next meet? Video This sequence echoes the opening scene of Macbeth: "When shall we three meet again? ... Where the place?" The witches flee, however Robin is revenged in the ensuing action. [go to text]

n1683   At mill. The omission of the article is typical of northern dialect. [go to text]

n1686   Where’s my Mamilion? This edition, following Egan, assigns this line to Meg, not to Witch 2, as in Q, because Meg's (Margaret Johnson's) familiar was Mamilion. The next two speeches are assigned to Witch 1 and Witch 3, as in Q, leaving Witch 2 silent except for places in the scene where all speak together. The odd numbering pattern suggests that perhaps a line is missing in between Witch 1 and Witch 3. In any case, Witch 2 is valuable visually because she raises the number of witches on stage to nine, a multiple of three favoured by witches in folklore and other witch plays and documents. [go to text]

gg1463   Incubus evil spirit or demon (originating in personified representations of the nightmare) supposed to descend upon persons in their sleep, and especially to seek carnal intercourse with women (OED 1) [go to text]

gg1176   Puggy term of endearment for children; but also an imp or hobgoblin, like Puck (also called Pook, Pug); possibly, a monkey (OED pug n2, 1, 5 and 6), as in The Queen and Concubine [go to text]

gg1464   try conclusions test a theory to see if it works; or test which of two opponents is the stronger (OED conclusion 8b) [go to text]

n3390   [with ROBIN riding MISTRESS GENEROUS, now transformed into a horse] Video The next scene's effect depends entirely upon the suggestiveness of this transformation, which may suggest horse-like movements or whinnies from Mistress Generous and an implied mounting of the mare by Robin. Again the comedy depends on the sexuality of the image, this time 'righting' gender relations as the male asserts control over the female [go to text]

gg1465   making him ready getting himself dressed for the day (see a similar stage direction at the beginning of Jonson's Epicoene 1.1, in which Clerimont enters 'making himself ready'; indeed, he spends virtually all of act 1 putting on his clothes while his friends drop in for a chat) [go to text]

gg1201   loath reluctant, unwilling (OED a, 4a) [go to text]

gg1467   entertain admit to consideration (an opinion, argument, request, proposal, etc.); to receive (an idea) into the mind (OED 14b) [go to text]

gg1468   bore her so fairly behaved or comported herself so properly or fitly [go to text]

gg1469   fond foolish [go to text]

gg1470   gentle associated with the gentry [go to text]

gg1471   To sunder beds to sleep apart in separate rooms [go to text]

gg1472   tender solicitous [go to text]

gg1473   customed customary, habitual [go to text]

gg1474   laid turned; that is, the covers turned down [go to text]

gg1475   bate an ace lose or abate a jot or tittle, to make the slightest abatement [go to text]

n1687   If there I find him not, I shall find thee, what to this present hour I never did suspect and, I must tell thee, Will not be to thy profit. If I do not find the horse in the stable, I shall know the truth about you (that you are a liar), something I never suspected and, I warn you, will not be to your advantage. [go to text]

gg1476   rack instrument of torture, on which a body is tied and stretched to prompt a confession of guilt; punning on the rack of a manger, at which a horse is tied [go to text]

gg1477   spurred cut by spurs [go to text]

gg1478   sore travailed worked hard [go to text]

gg1479   leave permission [go to text]

gg1480   champ make a biting and chewing action or movement with the jaws and teeth, especially of horses chewing on the bit [go to text]

gg1481   mark (n) sign or brand that indicates ownership (possibly a glance at mark of the beast, a sign placed on followers or worshippers of the Antichrist as in Revelation 16:2 (OED n1, 12c) [go to text]

gg1482   currying action of rubbing down or grooming (a horse) with a curry-comb [go to text]

gg1483   provender fodder; food, provisions, esp. dry food, as corn or hay, for horses [go to text]

gg1484   caparisons cloths or coverings spread over the saddles or harnesses of horses, often gaily ornamented (OED n, 1) [go to text]

n3391   Unweave my age, O time, to my first thread! This prayer for time to be reversed offers the image of the three fates spinning the thread of life from birth to death, but running the thread backwards, unravelling Generous's years in order to return him to his original and forgivably ignorant state as an infant. As a mature adult, he should have been more alert to the duplicity of his wife. [go to text]

n3392   Lay me to myself open Reveal my true self to me, show me what a fool I've been. Generous now distrusts all evidence of his eyes and his experience. [go to text]

n1693   Tell me the earth This line completes Generous's last line, interrupted by Robin's reply. This style of interrupted verse lines is characteristic of Generous's speech patterns. He does not seem to respond to others, but completes his own poetic lines despite interruptions. [go to text]

n1694   jingling Egan; jugling Q. As Egan points out, this bridle has already been described as jingling, and although juggling = deceitful makes a successful point in this scene, Robin seems to be trying to focus on facts, not interpretation. [go to text]

gg1487   enchantment witchcraft; tool of magic or sorcery [go to text]

gg1485   engine contrivance for catching game; snare, trap (OED 5c) [go to text]

gg1486   whether whichever [go to text]

gg1488   meander winding or labyrinthine plan, concept, or course of action (OED n, 1b, citing this line) [go to text]

gg2183   trust loyalty, fidelity, steadfast allegiance (OED n, 1a); honesty, virtue, integrity (OED n, 4); true religious belief (OED n, 10a) [go to text]

gg1490   chary careful, cautious, circumspect, wary (OED 4) [go to text]

n1695   that black fiend That is, the devil, Satan. [go to text]

n1696   serpent The form taken by the devil in the Garden of Eden. [go to text]

n1697   Lift up thine eyes, lost woman, to yon hills Reference to Psalm 121:1: 'I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help' (Barber). [go to text]

gg1491   resolve answer (a question, argument, etc.); to solve (a problem of any kind); explain (something to someone) (OED n, 11a and 11c) [go to text]

n1699   stake Witches in England were not burned at the stake, as they were in Scotland and continental Europe. Generous may be thinking of heresy here (as in the burning of heretics in Foxe's popular Book of Martyrs (1563); or of the burning of a guilty wife for petty treason (usually for killing her husband, not for destroying his faith or soul). But there is no doubt that Generous feels mortally wounded by his wife's breach of faith. [go to text]

gg1492   compact confederacy, plot, conspiracy (OED n1, 2, now obsolete) in the pejorative sense; also the word may imply the pact with the devil that early modern witchcraft authorities believed is what started a witch's career in evil (the usual pact involved sexual congress with the devil, and the regular feeding of a 'familiar', or personal demon, with the witch's blood) [go to text]

gg2829   Tinctured coloured, stained, tinged [go to text]

gg1493   pitiful compassionate [go to text]

gg1494   atonement forgiveness; restoration of friendly relations between persons who have been at variance; reconciliation (OED 2a) [go to text]

n1700   I kneel to both your mercies. —— The incomplete verse line (dashes added; not in Q) suggests the pause during which Generous contemplates his wife before continuing his questioning. He has not yet been persuaded to forgive her. The actor can decide how tough Generous's struggle between condemnation and compassion is. His impulse, of course, as signalled by his name, is always to be generous towards others. [go to text]

n1701   as I do, so heaven pardon me That is, as I pardon you, may heaven also pardon me. It may be, however, that the printer made an error, and the original said 'pardon thee', because the conversation has been about Mistress Generous's seeking forgiveness from both her husband and God. Generous has not been seeking forgiveness for himself. On the other hand, if he fears that forgiving his wife now is a sin, then he may hope for God's forgiveness for himself. [go to text]

n1702   be rumoured, you lose me That is: (it this) be spread abroad as rumour or gossip, you will lose my good will as employer and as friend. [go to text]

n1703   A match, sir. It's a deal, sir. [go to text]

n1706   too little all All the tears we produce may not be enough (to secure God's forgiveness). [go to text]

n1707   If not too little Even if we secure God's forgiveness, what we offer Him in return is too small. [go to text]

gg2830   extermined exterminated (OED extermine v, 1, citing this usage as the first example) [go to text]

n1704   My wife, sister, and daughter That is, she is his entire family, the only woman to whom he owes duty and love. [go to text]

n1705   journeyman One who, having served his apprenticeship to a handicraft or trade, is qualified to work at it for days' wages; also, an invented pun meaning a man on whom a journey is taken, as was Robin's experience when he was transformed into a horse. [go to text]

gg1495   bouncing bragging; boastful exaggeration (OED vbl. n, 3, citing this usage). [go to text]

gg1496   affairs business [go to text]

gg1497   yet still [go to text]

n1708   To be their own disposers To take care of themselves responsibly, to manage their lives, or be allowed to live under their own recognisance. [go to text]

n1709   their vassals’ That is, Lawrence and Parnell’s. The family has degenerated further in their upside-down lives, and now the servants have taken over the estate and ejected the Seely family from the property. [go to text]

n1710   Without or law or order With neither legal permission nor orderly process. [go to text]

n1711   By the judicious of the commonwealth Carried out by the judges of the nation. The comment suggests that the Seely household's problems are no longer a private matter; the community needs to take a hand in sorting out ownership and management while the Seely family is suffering from insanity. [go to text]

n1712   as far to seek That is: no closer to an understanding or awareness. [go to text]

gg1498   to discharm in order to remove the magic, or undo the enchantment [go to text]

gg2831   lay belay; waylay, lie in wait for (a person); beset or line (a way or passage) with armed men so as to intercept an enemy (OED belay v, 2c and 2b) [go to text]

gg57   confound defeat, ruin [go to text]

n1713   skimmington A community protest against disruption, in which neighbours parade around the unruly household banging pots with skimming-ladles and making other noises or performances to comment on the specific situation, usually marital discord in which the wife rules the husband, and beats him on occasion. Cross-dressing and burlesque role-playing were often part of the ‘game’. The ‘Don Skimmington’ figure is the unmanly husband. [go to text]

gg1499   towards on the way [go to text]

n1715   Ware wedlock, ho! Beware, or look out, wedlock is coming! (OED ware v., 3). Doughty comments on the parody of the married couple as represented in the Skimmington ride. [go to text]

gg1514   Don Skimmington Master Skimmington (Don is a Spanish title), the role given to the (male) participant playing the unmanly husband in a skimmington. Skimmington's wife would also have been played by a local man. [go to text]

gg1500   housekeepers people in charge of the house (OED 3a) [go to text]

gg1501   bedstaves slats or sticks that supported the mattress and held the bedding firmly on the mattress [go to text]

gg1502   unprovided of impotent, incapable of having a penile erection [go to text]

gg1504   greedy worm greediness or lustfulness as an itching passion in the heart (OED worm, 11c) [go to text]

gg1503   over-mickle over-active sexually [go to text]

n1714   ligatory Serving to bind up; or having binding force. Binding or sometimes laming was the term to describe impotence, often blamed on maleficent activities of witches. Reginald Scot comments on such beliefs with scepticism and derision; Middleton's The Witch also has a plot device depending on the witch-inflicted binding of the husband, in order to preserve the virginity of his bride for another. In that play, however, the binding was only a problem in sexual attempts on his wife; it did not impair relations with his mistress. [go to text]

gg1506   undertake take on, deal with; punning on (a) take in charge; to accept the duty of attending to or looking after (OED 5); and (b) take on, sexually [go to text]

gg1507   hoydens rude, ignorant fellows; clowns, boors (OED 1) [go to text]

gg1508   plaintiff complainant bringing a suit in a court of law [go to text]

gg1509   defendant person being sued in a court of law, defending himself against the plaintiff [go to text]

n1716   nightcap A jocular reference to Lawrence's bandages, referring to the cap worn in bed with nightclothes; and continuing the legal jesting: a skullcap or biggen worn instead of a wig by judges and lawyers in court. [go to text]

n1717   Yie, gad wat, sir, I ware wadded but aw to seun. Yes, God knows, sir, I were wedded, but all too soon. [go to text]

n1718   Han yeou reason to complain or ay, trow yeou, Gaffer Downought?[She beats him.]Wa warth the day that ever I wadded a Downought! Have you reason to complain, or I, do you think, Grandad Do-nothing? Woe was the day that ever I wedded a do-nothing! [go to text]

n1721   swagbellied carl that cannot A big-bellied churl that cannot (perform sexually). [go to text]

n1737   impediment Something that impedes the functions or health of the body; a (physical) defect; an affection or malady (OED n. 2a). Legally, early ecclesiastical law listed several impediments warranting an annulment after a marriage; see act 5 scene 3 of Jonson's Epicoene for an extended parody of legal process involving the twelve impediments. [go to text]

n1719   What he ware when he ware a bachelor, I know better than the best maid i’th’ tawn. I wad I had not. What he was when he was a bachelor, I know better than the best maid in the town. I would I had not. That is, Parnell knows exactly what Lawrence used to be able to do sexually, and grieves more for knowing the pleasures of the past. This is not a confused virgin bride, but an an angry woman of experience. [go to text]

n1720   ’Tware that that cossened me: he has not now as he had then! It was that that cozened (tricked or fooled) me: he has not now what he had before. [go to text]

n2247   but An inverted letter u in the copytext; should be but. [go to text]

n1722   sin wye ware wad Since we were wed. [go to text]

n1734   jury of women Such juries or searchers were employed by a court to examine women's bodies for consummation of marriage (as in the Essex annulment case, during which Frances Howard was searched to ascertain if she were still a virgin) or for witchcraft accusations, checking for the devil's mark, an extra nipple by which a demon or familiar might suckle. [go to text]

n1735   out of a doing case That is: incapable of having sexual intercourse, punning on case, meaning legal cause, and vagina. 'Doing' is a euphemism for sexual activity, as in 'doing the deed of darkness'. [go to text]

n1736   be unwadded agone, for I wonot be baund to lig with him and live with him, the laife of an honest woman for aw the layves good i’ Loncoshire. Thzat is: be unwedded again, for I will not be bound (by oath of matrimony) to lie with him (have sex with him) and live with him the life of an honest woman, for all the lives good in Lancashire. [go to text]

n2248   unwadded The printer has added an extra d in Q. [go to text]

gg1513   mind (n) intention [go to text]

n1738   I shan teln yeou. An she be by I am nobody. But keep her off and search me: let me be searcht as never witch was searcht, and find onything more or lass upo’ me than a sufficient mon shold have, and let me me be honckt by’t. I shall tell you. If she be near, I am nobody. Only keep her away and search me: let me be searched (physically inspected) as never witch was searched, and find anything more or less upon me than a sufficient (sexually capable) man should have, then let me be hanged by it. [go to text]

n1739   Ah leear, leear, dee’ll tack the leear! Troist yee and hong yee! Oh liar, liar, devil take the liar! Truss you and hang you! [go to text]

n1740   maleficium versus hanc That is: wickedness or witchcraft against this person present. The charge of performed maleficia was typically what started a witchcraft examination. [go to text]

n1741   I prayn yeow, gi’ me the lere o’ that Latin I pray you, give me the translation of that Latin. [go to text]

n1742   Nay, nay, ay’s white casten away ent I be unwadded agen. And then I’ne undertack to find three better husbands in a bean-cod No, no, I am quite cast away unless I be unwedded again. And then I would undertake to find three better husbands in a bean-pod. The pod of a large bean is euphemistically identified with the scrotum; hence cod-piece, for the covering over the genitals for a man's breeches or hose. Parnell's sarcasm here suggests that she would do better sexually with a dildo than with other husbands. [go to text]

n1743   Nay, marry, shan yeou not, sir. I hear yeou well enough, and I con the meaning o’ the show well enogh. An I stay not the show, and see not the show, and ma’ one i’ the show, let me be honkt up for a show! I’ll ware them to mel or ma’ with a woman that mels or ma’s with a testril, a longie, a dow-little losel that connot, and if I skim not their skimmington’s cockskeam for’t, may that warplin boggle me a week lonker, and that’s a curse eno’ for any wife, I trow. No, marry, shall you not, sir. I hear you well enough, and I know the meaning of the show well enough. If I stay not for the show, and see not the show, and make myself part of the show, let me be hanged up for a spectacle myself! I'll teach them to meddle or make trouble for a woman that meddles or makes trouble for a tester (small coin), a lout, a good-for-nothing scoundrel that cannot perform sexually, and if I skim not their skimmington's coxcomb (fool’s hat), may that impotent baby fumble with me a week longer, and that's a curse enough for any wife, I believe. [That is, the leader of a skimmington threatens the unruly with a beating, but Parnell is too tough to be scared. She is quite certain she can deal with any jeering or violence offered her.] [go to text]

gg1515   alarum signal calling upon men to fight or assault: it can be understood both as a call to arms, inciting violence, or a warning that accompanies the danger of approaching or current violence (OED esp 6 and 11) [go to text]

gg1516   oppose challenge [go to text]

gg1517   draw draw swords; pull weapons from scabbards [go to text]

gg1518   vail bonnet doff their caps as a sign of respect for authority [go to text]

n1744   Lat’em, as they laik this, gang a procession with their aydol Skimmington agean. Let them, if they like this [that is, Parnell's beating them up], go on a procession with their idol Skimmington again! [go to text]

n1745   tickled his waife Beat or chastised his wife (ironically, OED v, 6a); pleased or gratified his wife (sarcasm, with sexual implications). [go to text]

n1746   Yie, to be sure, yeou been eane of the owd ticklers. But with what, con yeou tell? Yes, certainly, you are one of the old ticklers. But with what, pray tell? Parnell picks up on the secondary sexual meaning of Lawrence's statement, and comments acidly on his lack of sexual equipment. [go to text]

n1747   Yieu, with her own ladle. Yeah, with her own weapon, a skimming spoon or ladle. The skimmington is so called after the skimmer = a shallow utensil, usually perforated, employed in skimming liquids; also, any utensil or implement by means of which skimming or some analogous process is performed (OED n., 1a). The mock-wife in the skimmington beats her mock-husband with it, in a parody of the upside-down marriage that the community objects to. [go to text]

n1748   travel a course Travel follows the Q spelling, but Doughty puns here on working out a course of action (travail) and intending to journey out or follow (travel) prey on a hunt (or course) to seek and destroy witches. [go to text]

n1749   us ] hus. This edition follows Egan and Barber. [go to text]

gg1519   halt limp [go to text]

gg1520   downright plainly, absolutely [go to text]

gg1521   Naunt familiar shortform for mine aunt [go to text]

gg1522   doing having sexual relations [go to text]

n1750   the table ready to withdraw the gentlemen at the table are ready to leave the diningroom. [go to text]

gg1523   board table [go to text]

gg2832   never a whit not at all, not the least bit [go to text]

gg1220   cousin generally used in speaking to or of kin, whether nephew or actual cousin, or any other relationship by blood or marriage outside the immediate nuclear family [go to text]

gg1524   junkets coagulated or jellied milk (created by adding rennet), which got its name from the reed basket (giunco in Italian; old north French jonquette, or from medieval Latin iuncata) in which it was put to drain; according to medieval and renaissance recipes, the best junket is made from the milk of young animals and makes the blood phlegmatic; it is useful in treating swelling of the stomach, and is considered most suitable for robust, young people with hot temperaments (presumably in calming them down -- comical in light of the mostly elderly witches consuming it here); it was frequently the final course of a banquet, sometimes served floating in sweet white wine [go to text]

gg1525   Observe act in accordance with, follow the instructions in [go to text]

n1771   slighted this edition; sleighted Q. The modern spelling slighted means belittled. The original spelling sleighted suggests tricked, made a fool of. The latter is not a modern expression, but the pun is worth keeping in mind. In retaliation, Whetstone is tricking the gentlemen in the same humiliating way that they have been baiting him. He successfully makes fools of them. [go to text]

gg1526   conceit conception, fancy, whim, clever trick [go to text]

gg1527   charm magical ability, such as a particular spell [go to text]

gg1528   sport fun, entertainment [go to text]

n3395   throw the chamber out of the casements The exact meaning of this expression is not listed in OED, but the meaning seems to be that Whetstone and his companions will relax over wine and dessert, and utter or express themselves comfortably with no fear of interruption or unpleasantness, throwing open the windows as a sign of such hospitality (see OED, throw, v. 44d). But at the same time Whetstone is disingenuous: his words also suggest throwing the room out of its accustomed order in some way. Shortly he begins his supernatural game of 'Who's your father?'. As Chris Meads points out (p 223), a banquet scene on stage was frequently the basis for comic revenge, in which the guilty are arraigned and humiliated with supernatural support. Decades earlier, the grisly dinner in Titus Andronicus, 5.3, provided such fare; Macbeth is put out by Banquo's ghost in Macbeth 3.4, finding he has no place at the table; and Ariel informs the 'three men of sin' of their impending punishment at the disappearing banquet in The Tempest, 3.3.53. [go to text]

gg278   banquet 'a course of sweetmeats, fruit, and wine, served either as a separate entertainment, or as a continuation of the principal meal' (OED n1, 3) [go to text]

gg1532   getting begetting; conception [go to text]

n1751   That’s all one That is not important. That is a side issue. [go to text]

gg1529   PEDANT enters teacher, tutor [go to text]

gg683   strain (n) melody, tune (OED n2, 13a); (n) a passage of poetry (OED n2, 13b) [go to text]

n1752   being young Here describing Bantam as a young boy, although the phrase seems to describe the pedant. [go to text]

n1753   nisi prius That is: unless previously: the first words of a writ directing a sheriff to provide a jury at the Court of Westminster on a particular day, unless the assize judges come before that day to the county from which the jury was to be drawn. The term may also mean the court action itself, brought by a writ of nisi prius. [go to text]

gg1530   ’sizes assizes, or sittings of the court [go to text]

gg1531   got begotten, conceived [go to text]

n1754   mother’s tailor Several playwrights deride women's tailors as men who are both unmanly and hovering over women eager to be or to fantasise about being their lovers. See, for example, Stuff in Jonson's The New Inn. [go to text]

gg1533   good man master or male head of a household (sometimes spelled as one word) [go to text]

gg1317   switch thin flexible shoot cut from a tree, used as a whip [go to text]

gg1535   curry-comb metal comb used for currying or grooming horses [go to text]

n1755   In’s In his (elided for the verse rhythm). [go to text]

n1756   the Lord President’s court in York The king's deputy presiding over the six northern counties, in conjunction with the Council of the North. [go to text]

n1774   stood for his attorney That is: held his power of attorney, but also punning on 'had an erection as his sexual proxy'. [go to text]

n1757   Bantam. ] Whet. Q ; Arthur (Egan). The speaker clearly cannot be Whetstone, and the speaker might be any of the three gentlemen. Bantam, as the first one teased, has had time to calm down enough to resolve to find revenge another day. Arthur is calm when he is not personally under attack, but in other scenes he has reacted violently against Whetstone, more than others. [go to text]

n1758   When to dispute of these things — This verse line is interrrupted and never completed, but the attempt at verse demonstrated the speaker's desire to appear dignified and thoughtful. [go to text]

gs195   spleen regarded as the seat of melancholy or depression (OED 1b); or more strongly describes a fit of bad temper (OED 7a); from the point of view of a prankster, spleen is the seat of mirth (OED 1c) [go to text]

gg1538   cellar wine-cellar [go to text]

gs193   revels music, dancing, and spectacles of wonder forming an evening's entertainment (here, ironic) [go to text]

gg2833   health. drink to everyone's health [go to text]

gs194   pug familiar spirit or hobgoblin [go to text]

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