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n4347   ACT THREE The central act opens in Luckless's household. Luckless is reading yet another letter from Constance asserting her honour and her undying love for him. Wigeon and Anvil disturb Luckless's peace with ill-judged encouragements to him to consummate (and thereby formalise) his wedding (it is still the evening of the wedding). Luckless asks Anvil how he came to be associated with the group of masquers seen in Act 2, and a typical rewriting of history on Anvil's part ensues in which he claims to have pursued Triedwell, purposing to exact revenge on him. He then betrays Triedwell's plot to Sir Philip saying that it was an attempt to prevent him consummating the match with Fitchow so that Triedwell could have her for himself. At this point a furious Triedwell enters and threatens more violence against the hapless Anvil. Fitchow, it appears, has refused to offer Luckless access to her bed and so Luckless and Triedwell retire to spend the night together (as was customary for male friends in this period). Wigeon now enlists Anvil's help to woo the northern lass. In the second scene we are in Squelch's household and find Sir Paul in a foul mood, insisting that Constance bend to his will and marry the man of his choosing, the young Cornish gentleman Salomon Nonsense. Trainwell tries to counsel more understanding treatment of Constance who has descended into a deep state of melancholy. In an aside we get a little of the back-story of Squelch and Trainwell. Trainwell was the housekeeper when Squelch's wife was alive and so they know each other well. Despite their surface wrangling, there is a sense that this is well-established relationship and that, for all his railing, Squelch values Trainwell’s presence in his life. Nonsense attempts to engage Constance in conversation but his own inarticulacy and her deep state of distress means this attempt founders in a series of half-sentences. At one point Nonsense feigns to be Sir Philip (the second character to do so thus far in the play) in the mistaken belief this may help 'cure' Constance, but this seems only to increase her anger and distress. In her melancholia, a kind of madness in early modern understanding, Constance sings and this brings to mind other Jacobean characters such as Ophelia in Hamlet and the Jailer’s daughter in Shakespeare and Fletcher’s The Two Noble Kinsmen. Nonsense is dispatched to attend to Constance when she runs offstage. In the meantime, Trainwell advises Squelch that Constance be removed from his household and attended to by doctors who might be able to cure her of her love-melancholy. Squelch grudgingly agrees to this and even at one point hints that he had considered marrying Trainwell but will now not marry again having seen what marriage means for Luckless and Fitchow (we hear from Trainwell of a highly unsettled household in which the couple shout at each other, use their servants as pawns in their disputes, and lock their bedroom doors against each other). Trainwell had invoked the Luckless-Fitchow example herself in order to dissuade Squelch from enforcing an arranged marriage on the vulnerable and fragile Constance. Squelch instead embarks upon a fit of spending and profligate behaviour. Summoning his clerk he orders him to arrange a fine supper and invite all the gamblers, gamesters and unreliable people of the town to attend it. He will be 'merry' with his money rather than bestow it on anyone else. This is clearly completely out of character and surprises the clerk. The local constable Vexhem then arrives with a woman to be examined by Sir Paul in his capacity as Justice of the Peace for Middlesex. Squelch instructs the clerk to show them in and in the meantime Nonsense and Constance return to the room, Nonsense clearly nursing a head injury he has received at her hands. Constance's songs have grown ever more confused and distressed and her behaviour has grown erratic. The scene is clearly unsettling for all onstage to witness and this feeling presumably transfers into watching members of the theatre audience. Trainwell takes Constance away to be seen by doctors as arranged with Squelch. In the third scene of this act, we find ourselves back in Luckless's troubled household (he describes Fitchow’s presense as shaking the place 'like an earthquake'). Triedwell appears to have filled Luckless in about his aims and intentions and the two men have become co-conspirators. There is yet more to reveal, however, as becomes apparent when Anvil arrives with news that he has successfully placed Sir Philip’s prostitute (Constance, really Camitha, Holdup as we will learn later is her name) in the J.P.'s household by means of Vexhem the constable. Everyone seems to be in on a very complex plot except Sir Paul and the hapless constable; in this respect Squelch is typical of early modern Justices who easily have the wool pulled over their eyes (compare Justice Adam Overdo in Ben Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair). Fitchow enters onstage screaming at her husband's servant Pate and sacking him on the spot. In retaliation, Luckless offers to sack Howdee. What we are seeing performed before our eyes are the kinds of household battles that defined the Luckless-Fitchow union in Trainwell's account in the previous scene. Wigeon attempts to dispel the tension through group song but Fitchow continues to rail all the while. Even the JP Bulfinch, who arrives belatedly into the scene, is pulled into the noise and chaos of the argument. A distressing sequence ensues in which Fitchow appears to be subjected to a kind of group bullying as the others sing over and against her. With most of the other characters having left the stage, Triedwell eventually offers her his understanding and sympathy and in her state of distress she agrees to accept his help. In an aside Triedwell reveals his pleasure that all his complicated plotting and counter-plotting is going to plan. [go to text]

gg583   melancholy a depressive illness, which in the seventeenth century was thought to be caused by an excess of ‘black bile’, one of the four humours controlling the well-being of the body and the mind [go to text]

gs547   dub To award a knighthood, but with an additional sexual connotation in this context. [go to text]

n1842   We wait for your points ‘Points’ or tagged laces from the bridegroom's clothes (usually fastening breeches to a doublet) were traditionally thrown to the wedding guests as souvenirs at early modern marriage ceremonies. Cf. Ben Jonson, The New Inn, 5.4.35 ‘Give us points, my lord.’ Anvil's meaning here is that everyone is anxious to see the culmination of the wedding ceremony when the bridegroom and bride retire to their bedroom to consummate the match. This follows on from Wigeon's anxiety that the marriage be consummated and his sister's status as wife of a titled gentleman confirmed in law. [go to text]

gg1722   points tagged laces (used as ties on garments, often securing breeches to a doublet) [go to text]

gg1434   posset’s bedtime drink made from hot milk curdled with ale, wine, or other liquor, flavoured with sugar, herbs, and spices; such were used medicinally, but were also commonly prepared for bridegrooms, or served to the whole wedding party in the seventeenth century (the posset pot used for weddings was generally a large two-handled jug with a lid and a spout, which was passed among the guests to toast the bridal pair); the posset settled into three layers after preparation: the milky foam at the top, a custard in the middle, and the alcohol mostly at the bottom (hence the spout for accessing it), the rest of the posset could be eaten with a spoon (several photographs of English posset pots are available on the internet) [go to text]

n4356   this society i.e. the group of masquers who appeared at Sir Philip Luckless's house in Act 2. [go to text]

n1843   which I thank Mars never yet failed me Mars was traditionally regarded as the god of war, hence he is the site of Anvil's appeal in this context. [go to text]

gg1723   greasy used as a contemptuous epithet (OED) [go to text]

n1844   Why he confessed he wronged me, was sorry for’t, and so forth. The audience is of course in the know that this is the opposite of what happened between Anvil and Triedwell and can enjoy his outrageous claims here for what they are. [go to text]

n4357   a separation before carnal copulation It was deemed possible in law to annul a marriage if it could be proven that the match had not been sexually consummated. It is on this legal point that Morose's divorce from Epicoene takes place in Ben Jonson's 1609 Epicoene. [go to text]

n4358   in statu quo prius That is: in your earlier or former (unwedded) state(Latin). [go to text]

gg583   melancholy a depressive illness, which in the seventeenth century was thought to be caused by an excess of ‘black bile’, one of the four humours controlling the well-being of the body and the mind [go to text]

n4278   There’s a canon for it, sir, if both parties agree to a divorce after marriage, so it be before copulation. Compare the divorce plotline in Ben Jonson's Epicoene, [go to text]

n2237   canon Compare the recourse to ecclesiastical law on marriage in Jonson’s Epicoene, 4.4.142-3: ‘Some divine must resolve you in that, sir, or canon lawyer.&8217; [go to text]

gg423   canon law, rule, edict (OED 2a) [go to text]

n1845   his charge is in the house at whose charge he lives i.e. Wigeon, Anvil's ‘charge’ in respect that he is his tutor, but also the person who he lives at the expense or ‘charge’ of. [go to text]

gg1724   covenant formally contract [go to text]

gg1724   covenants formally contract [go to text]

gg1725   barricados a hastily formed rampart of barrels, wagons, timber, stones, household furniture or other materials readily available thrown up to obstruct the advance of an enemy; used figuratively to refer to any barrier or obstruction to passage [go to text]

n4279   you shall be my bedfellow It was not uncommon for men to share a bed in a non-sexual context in this period. Compare Iago and Cassio in Othello and see Wigeon's reference later in the scene inviting Anvil to 'lie with me'. [go to text]

n4279   lie with me It was not uncommon for men to share a bed in a non-sexual context in this period. Compare Iago and Cassio in Othello and see Wigeon's reference later in the scene inviting Anvil to 'lie with me'. [go to text]

n4294   [WIGEON and ANVIL exit.] Exeunt in Q. [go to text]

gg1940   huswife a pejorative term for a hussy or worthless woman (OED housewife n. 2) [go to text]

n4359   Accept of him i.e. agree to marry Nonsense, the husband that Squelch has chosen for his niece. [go to text]

gg1143   portion dowry (monies, goods or lands brought by the wife to augment her husband’s estate on their marriage) [go to text]

gg1144   jointure marriage settlement (usually the part of a husband’s wealth or property that he elected to assign to his wife in the event of his death) [go to text]

n4360   consider her disease Trainwell refers to Constance's melancholia, held by many at this time to be a medical condition requiring curative treatment. [go to text]

gg583   melancholy a depressive illness, which in the seventeenth century was thought to be caused by an excess of ‘black bile’, one of the four humours controlling the well-being of the body and the mind [go to text]

n4280   to be purged An excess of a humour, such as the melancholy Constance is said to be suffering from, was often treated by purging. [go to text]

n1847   Now the gig’s up! A gig was a small carriage so the meaning here appears to be that Trainwell is now up and running in terms of her involvement in the argument with Sir Paul. [go to text]

gg1970   will in an early modern context: desire, longing, liking, inclination [go to text]

n4361   no moreovers I beseech you, nor more of her A fairly clunky pun on 'moreover' occurs in the latter part of this statement. [go to text]

n1848   My wife, when she went out of the world, left me as great a curse behind her in the charge she gave me with this woman This is an interesting little insight into the characters’ back-history. Sir Paul is a widow and Trainwell clearly worked as chambermaid to his late wife. When she died, Trainwell was effectively bequeathed to Sir Paul. This long knowledge of each other in part explains the intimacy between them that Sir Paul’s subsequent consideration of marriage to her implies. [go to text]

n1849   the Ward Master’s informers The Ward Master was a superintendent of Bethlehem Hospital (or 'Bedlam') where the supposedly insane were incarcerated. It was common practice to inform on suspected cases of insanity to the Ward Master (Fried). [go to text]

n1850   Yes, lady, I am Sir Philip The action here, where Nonsense is encoruaged to assume the persona of Sir Philip, the object of Constance's affection and distress, directly mimics that of Shakespeare and Fletcher’s The Two Noble Kinsmen, where in 5.2 the Wooer woos the distracted Jailer's daughter in the guise of Palamon. [go to text]

n1851   sparrow A common popular name for someone called Philip; see Sir Philip Sidney's Astrophil and Stella sonnet sequence where he puns on his own nickname as the sparrow. [go to text]

n1723   Constance Interestingly Constance reverts to a more decorous form of verse-speech here as she thinks of Sir Philip, as if his social status requires of her a different form of discourse. [go to text]

n4518   His words would soften adamantine ears. Video Constance switches into verse register here which seems to be the linguistic mode she adopts when remembering Sir Philip and when seeking to console herself . It is as if verse signifies the past and/or escapism, whereas the prose register is all too obviously located in an unhappy present for her. We explored these shifts of register in the voice workshop with Lynn Darnley and also looked at examples in the scenes of Constance's love-melancholy of what we have come to describe as Brome's tendency to switch into 'metrical prose' if not full verse at comparable moments of high emotion and/or remembrance. Linguistic form itself becomes a site of memory in this way for Constance. We explored other ways in which theatrical memory was also key to this scene, with Constance's state of mind expressed through song drawing obvious parallels for theatre-literate audiences with both Ophelia in Hamlet and the Jailer's Daughter in The Two Noble Kinsmen. The comparison with the latter is further enhanced by Nonsense's instruction to play the role of Sir Philip in this scene to 'cure' her of her melancholy, just as the Wooer is instructed to perform the role of Palamon to soothe the distressed Jailer's daughter in the Shakespeare and Fletcher tragicomedy. We chose to heighten this sense of intertheatricality when workshopping the scene by dressing Constance in a white nightgown and having her carry the salient prop of a bunch of flowers, in an obvious visual reference to Ophelia .

As ever the performing of stage madness is a difficult business for the actor and we experimented with this scene both with Beth Vyse in her sub-Ophelia guise of nightshirt and gown and with Sarah Edwardson in the voice workshop with Lynn Darnley. In both instances the moving quality of the scene - of the songs, but also of watching someone 'rocking' before us as Sarah put it so astutely - was palpable.

In reality, in concentrating on the high emotion of this scene, we did not capture the sense that Nonsense is a comic character in the rest of the play, although Adam Kay's performance as the silent witness of Constance's distress was in its own right very moving . [go to text]

gg1726   adamantine with the qualities of adamant, i.e. incapable of being broken or penetrated [go to text]

n4281   O wea is me! woe is me (Northern dialect form). [go to text]

gg1727   gainest easiest (dialect) [go to text]

n1724   A bonny, bonny bird I had, 'Song' entered in right-hand margin (Q). [go to text]

n4362   A bonny, bonny bird I had, This song has been identified in New York Public Library MS Drexel 4041, n. 15 and New York Public Library MS Drexel 4257, n. 45 which attributes it to John Wilson (1595-1674) who was the main songwriter for the King's Men in this period, also contributing songs to plays by John Fletcher and John Ford. See Wood, 1991, vol. 2, Appendix 2, no. 4 (pp. 553-4). [With grateful thanks to Lucy Munro for work on the songs in The Northern Lass.] [go to text]

gg1728   playfere playmate (Northern dialect term) [go to text]

gg1729   Keep cut keep one's distance [go to text]

gg1973   bill to peck or kiss (OED v2. 3) [go to text]

n4471   ‘Philip, Philip, Philip’ it cries; ‘Philip, Philip,’ &c in Q. [go to text]

n4472   But he is fled and my joy dies. This repeat line is not actually reproduced in Q. I have repeated the refrain in full for the benefit of performers. The use of presenting text in this way became clear in the workshops when actors were working with the text often at very short notice. The printing convention of using '&c' reveals the intriguing status of songs in early modern playtexts. Often produced on papers separate from the main dialogue of a play they could become separated or confused in the printing house. Brome actually seems very careful to identify the songs in this play and the exact point where they should be performed but he is somewhat unusual in that. James Shirley is more inclined to indicate a 'Song' but no specific lyrics (there are examples of this practice in The Bird in a Cage (1633). Tiffany Stern has recently made the persuasive case for the role of songs as paper properties on the stage and I am indebted to her for sharing her work in this area. [go to text]

n1852   Juno’s bird with gaudy train Argus, the peacock who accompanied and guarded the goddess Juno. [go to text]

n1725   For his great namesake’s wealth of Spain Philip's namesake is Philip IV of Spain. Compare Constance's claim in 2.2 that she would not swap her position for the dowry of the Spanish Infanta. The Spanish court is being deployed proverbially here as both a symbol of great wealth and source of financially supported dynastic marriages. This would have resonated with late 1620s audiences who would have recent recall of James VI and I's attempts to marry the then Prince Charles to the Spanish Infanta in 1623/4. [go to text]

gg1613   Gin if, whether (OED, conj.; Scottish and dialect term; and records 1674 as its earliest example but this is clearly the sense here in Brome's usage) [go to text]

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

gg476   gear apparel, clothing (OED I, 1a) [go to text]

gg1730   Jenny Howlet a popular name for a small owl (or howlet, or owlet) [go to text]

gg1731   Tassel Gentle male falcon (tassel is an obsolete form of 'tercel') [go to text]

gg1732   eene eane only one (dialect) [go to text]

n4515   thus would he kiss his hand; and thus take me by mine. There seems in this a memory of the references to hands and hand-kissing that played such a central part in Constance's memory of her first encounter with Sir Philip, as she recalled it to Trainwell at 2.2. of the play [NOTE n4342]. [go to text]

n4282   God you good even, sir.— Goodbye. The line is a deliberate echo of Ophelia's mad scene in Hamlet. [go to text]

n1856   put her to’t force her (Fried). [go to text]

n1854   out of this humour Melancholy was believed to be a product of an imbalance of black bile in human physiognomy, one of the four 'humours' of popular medical belief. The representation of these 'humours' had become popular on the early modern stage in the early comedies of Ben Jonson. [go to text]

gg1143   portion dowry (monies, goods or lands brought by the wife to augment her husband’s estate on their marriage) [go to text]

n1857   bring her about restore her to her right mind [go to text]

gg61   handsomely courteously (OED 5a); liberally (5b); cleverly, skilfully [go to text]

gg2999   gear goods, merchandise, stuff (but in a depreciatory sense, meaning rubbish) but also in slang at this date may punningly refer to the sexual organs, much like the twenty-first century use of the word, tackle (OED gear n, 9a, 10 and 5b) [go to text]

n4283   remove her lodging i.e. move her from where she is currently staying [go to text]

n1858   take me along with you inform me of your meaning [go to text]

n1726   if ever I marry, let me suffer all that the law provides for perjury Compare Benedick's declaration against his marrying in Much Ado About Nothing, 1.1.245-50. [go to text]

n1727   cropped and slit The reference is to the common punishment for those convicted of libel, slander, and blasphemy, which was the cropping of the ears and the slitting of the nose, usually carried out in public. It was, famously, the punishment endured twice by the puritan pamphleteer William Prynne in the 1630s; see McRae (2006), pp. 171-88. [go to text]

gg1511   curtal horse with a docked or cropped tail; but also therefore used figuratively of someone whose ears had been cropped as a form of official punishment [go to text]

gg687   delinquent offender [go to text]

gg1512   blood royal royal race or family [go to text]

n1728   I will now bestow my wealth in monumental good deeds and charitable uses in my lifetime, to be talked well on when I am dead. Compare Subtle's account of the plans Sir Epicure Mammon has for how he will spend the exorbitant wealth he expects to acquire from the secrets of alchemy in Ben Jonson's The Alchemist, 1.1.17-29. [go to text]

n11655   Bridewell A former palace on the west side of the Fleet Ditch near the River Thames, originally bequested by Edward IV as a workhouse for the poor, it was by the Caroline period a prison for women and with a particular association with punishment relating to sex crimes and prostitution. [go to text]

n218   Bedlam Bethlehem Hospital, London, formerly the Priory of St. Mary of Bethlehem. After 1402 it became where the mentally infirm were placed. [go to text]

n4285   travel Brome frequently uses this word in a punning sense to suggest travail or hardship. [go to text]

n1860   I will be merry with it This rapidly becomes Sir Paul's second catchphrase in the play. [go to text]

gg1976   toy trick (OED n. 2) [go to text]

n1861   Godwits, knots, quails, All marsh, coastal, or wetland birds which were commonly used in early modern recipes. [go to text]

n1862   answerable for half a score a sum equal to ten (Fried). [go to text]

n1863   to thrust himself out of the commission to get himself removed from the Commission of the Peace which appointed and empowered justices of the peace. [go to text]

gg1733   ordinaries dining places, much favoured by city gallants, who also used the rooms for gambling and other nefarious activities (Caroline dramatist William Cartwright wrote a play called The Ordinary) [go to text]

gg1977   cut fashion (OED n2. III 17a) [go to text]

n4286   paid for gold lace or scarlet Expensive items of clothing (such as gold lace) were regularly hired or rented in this period. [go to text]

gg1734   protection a passport or document of safe conduct, traditionally issued by a monarch [go to text]

gg343   brave splendid [go to text]

n1729   my man is best acquainted at the ordinaries. Her implication is that Beavis hangs out in taverns when not working. [go to text]

gg508   piece a woman, usually with the connotation of being a sexual object (OED II 9b) [go to text]

n1864   his horns i.e. the horns of a cuckold (a husband whose wife has been sleeping around) [go to text]

gs209   cast rejected (here used of a person) [go to text]

n1865   hatching a cuckoo The cuckoo tends to lay its eggs in the nests of other, smaller birds (which means the parents often exhaust themselves and starve their own young to feed their unexpected charge). [go to text]

gg687   delinquent offender [go to text]

gg1978   succubae devilish (a succubus was a devil or spirit, often in female form) [go to text]

gg1735   in fee in league [go to text]

n1866   has brought more profit to my desk than all the honest officers in the counties of your commission This casual reference to the corruption endemic in local government is typical of the satire on JPs and their commissions in Brome's drama. Compare, for example, the role of Justice Clack in A Jovial Crew. Local government was also examined in Ben Jonson's Caroline drama, A Tale of a Tub (see Butler, 1992; Sanders, 1997). [go to text]

n1867   tickle a whore in coney The sense is slightly obscure, but presumably he'll do deals with prostitutes dressed in furs (that is to say those who can cut a financial deal with him). [go to text]

gg1736   privity secret, privacy [go to text]

n1856   put her to’t force her (Fried). [go to text]

n1730   I cannot put her to’t, nor she will not be put to’t. Sing in righthand margin (Q). [go to text]

n1856   put her to’t force her (Fried). [go to text]

n1868   go to’t Copulate (usually applied to animals, though here intended to shock in terms of Constance's sexually explicit reference to herself. In a manner directly akin to Ophelia in her mad scenes in Hamlet, Constance's madness renders her discourse and in particular her ballad-singing full of obscenities. [go to text]

n1869   written on his forehead Constance has, we learn, hit out at Nonsense, so presumably his forehead bears the red marks of her blows and therefore betray his advances to her to the world. [go to text]

n1870   ’tis your own handwriting i.e the marks on my forehead were made by your hands. [go to text]

n1871   Secretary, roman, court, or text? These are all types of handwriting common to the early modern period. The joke continues the notion of Constance's blows acting as handwriting on Nonsense's forehead. [go to text]

n1872   ’tis all dominical letters, red ink Dominical letters were calendar letters, usually in red, used to denote Sundays (hence the modern phrase for holidays as 'red-letter days'). The joke continues the interpretation of the red marks on Nonsense's head caused by Constance's blows as 'handwriting'. [go to text]

gg1737   stenography the art of writing in shorthand [go to text]

n1873   The Life and Death of Raw-head and Bloody-Bones An invented ballad. Ballads and broadsides of this kind celebrating the lives of violent highwaymen and sea pirates were very popular at this time. [go to text]

n1874   his meaning was you should put her fairly on like a lover, with sweet speeches and gentle behaviour Though this is actually an over-generous reading of Sir Paul's instruction to Nonsense to 'put her to't'. [go to text]

n4288   [CONSTANCE sings] This stage direction was placed after Trainwell's preceding line in the right margin in Q. [go to text]

gg1738   unguentum album white salve or ointment [go to text]

gg1739   gar him get him to (dialect) [go to text]

gg1740   barns children or young ones; see also 'bairns' (Northern dialect) [go to text]

n1875   TRAINWELL and CONSTANCE exit. Ex. with Tra. (Q). [go to text]

gg1741   Jack o’ Dandy conceited fellow: a contemptuous name for a fop or a dandy (OED) [go to text]

n1876   tutress The reference is to Trainwell, Constance's governess. [go to text]

n1877   The outrage of ’prentices Apprentices in London were renowned for their violent behaviour especially on public holidays. [go to text]

n4277   not so terrible to a bawd or a cutpurse Compare the Induction to Jonson's Bartholomew Fair, lines 31-3 where reference is made to young Inns of Court men tormenting prostitutes: 'a punk set unnder upon her head, with her stern upward, and ha' been soused by my witty young masters o' the Inns o' Court?'. [go to text]

n1878   she’s placed, successfully The reference, as will become clear, is to Constance [Camitha] Holdup, who has been sent before Sir Paul Squelch in his capacity as a Justice of the Peace. Thankfully for the audience, Sir Philip Luckless is as clueless as we are about the plot at this stage and so asks his interlocuters for an explanation. [go to text]

gs209   cast rejected (here used of a person) [go to text]

n1879   Ludgate Originally one of the old gateways to London. Ludgate was made a debtors' prison during the reign of Richard II. [go to text]

n11655   Bridewell A former palace on the west side of the Fleet Ditch near the River Thames, originally bequested by Edward IV as a workhouse for the poor, it was by the Caroline period a prison for women and with a particular association with punishment relating to sex crimes and prostitution. [go to text]

gg724   jeered mocked [go to text]

n1880   Puss! term of contempt for a woman. [go to text]

n4290   thrattle i.e. throttle [go to text]

n1881   woodcock [go to text]

n1882   Ninnihammer A simpleton. [go to text]

gg1742   Foutre to care not a fouter (jot) for [go to text]

n4291   tear me like a lark Larks were a common foodstuff in the early modern period and their small carcasses were easily torn by hand. [go to text]

n4292   put us in start us off, get us in tune [go to text]

n1731   Hey down, down, &c sing in righthand margin (Q). [go to text]

n1883   They all take hands and dance round. WIGEON in the midst sings this song. This is a fascinating moment of stage business which would seem to confirm Brome's strong interest in musical forms in this play. It does nothing in plot terms as such (unlike some inset dramas and dances in plays by Brome, Massinger, and others in this period) but becomes an interesting image of male bonding (to the physical exclusion of Fitchow in this scene) through ballad singing and jigs. Music's potential to act as a social glue in this play should not be underestimated.
Wigeon has already been identified in the play as an avid collector of ballads so it seems apt that he should be the one to deliver the song on this occasion. [go to text]

n1732   He that marries a scold, a scold. Song. in righthand margin (Q). [go to text]

n4293   apprehend Bulfinch's use of this term is a character trait that defines him throughout this play. He often uses it to mean 'understand' though in his role as a Justice of the Peace it could also mean to arrest someone. The further irony is that Bulfinch rarely does fully apprehend the situation he is in, a fact brought cruelly and comically to light in the fifth act mock-trial scene. [go to text]

n1885   roaring girl swaggering woman. Middleton's play The Roaring Girl had been published in 1611. [go to text]

gg3221   perpetrate (v) produce, cause, provoke [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]

n1886   bouncing after Fried speculates that this could also be a line from a ballad or from a children's game (the scene's use of song as a means of the performance of highly gendered acts of social inclusion and exclusion has much kinship with the potential cruelties of children's games). [go to text]

n1733   except proeter (Q) [go to text]

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