THE ENGLISH MOOR,
OR THE MOCK-MARRIAGE.
OR THE MOCK-MARRIAGE.
| [Link] | ||
MEANWELL* n6153
RASHLEY* n6154
| } | Two old gentlemen and friends, supposed to have been killed in a duel. |
| ARTHUR [Meanwell]. | Meanwell's son, in love with Lucy. | |
| THEOPHILUS*n6156
| Rashley's son, in love with Millicent. | |
| [Mandeville] QUICKSANDS*n6155
| An old usurer. | |
| TESTY*n6161
| An old angry justice. | |
| WINLOSS*n6157
| A decayed gentleman. | |
| VINCENT. EDMUND. | } | Two gallants undone by Quicksands. |
| NATHANIEL Banelass*n6158
| A wencher. | |
| HOST. | [At an unnamed inn.] | |
| BOY*n6165
| [At the Devil Tavern.] | |
| RAFE. | Meanwell's servant. | |
| ARNOLD. | Rashley's servant. | |
| [Jonathan] BUZZARD*n3358
| Quicksands' servant. | |
| DIONYSIA*n6159
| Meanwell's daughter. | |
| LUCY [Rashley]. | Rashley's daughter. | |
| MILLICENT. | Testy's niece. | |
| PHILLIS [Winloss]. | Winloss's daughter. | |
| MADGE. | Quicksands' servant. | |
| [MASQUERS] | ||
| [A PAGE belonging to Theophilus] | ||
| [The INDUCTOR] | ||
| [Actors playing MOORS] | ||
| [DRINKERS at the Devil Tavern] |
The scene: London.
Prologue.
2PrologueMost noble, fair and courteous, to ye all
Welcome and thanks we give, that you would call
And visit your poor servants†gs183
the actors (who serve the audience by performing for them)
, that have been
gs183
So long and pitiless†gg1350
unpitied (rather than the modern meaning, unpitying)
unheard, unseen.
gg1350
Welcome! You’ll say, your money that does do*n1567
Your money does that - i.e., your money makes us welcome you.
:
n1567
Dissembling is a fault - we say so too.
And your long absence*n6152
Usually taken as a reference to the plague closure of 1636-7: but see Introduction for the argument this might actually refer to a later period of 'restraint', perhaps as late as 1641.
was no fault of your†gg1351
of yours
,
n6152
gg1351
But our sad fate to be so long obscure.
Jove and the Muses grant, and all good men*n6149
'May Jove (Jupiter, king of the gods in classical mythology), and the Muses (goddesses of poetry), and all good men, permit us not to suffer that again'. Brome's list moves slyly from supernatural agents towards human ones, in the form of the authorities.
,
n6149
We feel not that extremity†gs857
severe crisis
again;
gs857
The thought of which yet chills us with a fear
That we have bought our liberty too dear;
For should we fall into a new restraint*n1568
That is: a further ban on playing.
,
n1568
Our hearts must break that did before but faint.
You noble, great, and good ones, that vouchsafe
To see a comedy, and sometimes laugh
Or smile at wit and harmless mirth, as thus
Ye have begun to grace and succour us;
Be further pleased (to hold us still upright,
For our relief, and for your own delight)
To move for†gg1352
intercede for
us to those high powers whom we
gg1352
Submit unto in all humility,
For our proceeding*n1569
For our right to go on acting. The grammar is elegantly difficult here: 'You noble ones... be pleased to intercede with the authorities (to whom we submit), interceding on our behalf to allow us to go on acting...'
, and we’ll make it good
n1569
To utter nothing may be understood
Offensive to the state, manners or time:
We will as well look to our necks†gg1353
be careful not to break our necks
as climb.
gg1353
You hear our suit†gg773
(n) petition, supplication
, obtain it if you may;
gg773
Then find us money*n1570
i.e., by ensuring that we are permitted to go on playing
and we’ll find you play†gg1354
entertainment
.
n1570
gg1354
ACT ONE*n7023
Act 1 takes place through the day (and into the night) of Quicksands and Millicent's wedding. In structural terms, Act 1 consists of three scenes, each of which set off one of the three main strands of the plot. 1.1 introduces Dionysia and her desire for vengeance for her lost father: with clever misdirection, the audience might think the eponymous 'English Moor' might turn out to be, first her brother Arthur, whose very blood is said to be turning black from melancholy, and then Dionysia herself, displaying an implacability in her pursuit of revenge which the audience might well connect to the contemporary stereotype of Moors as ruthless revengers. 1.2 introduces Phillis, the impoverished gentlewoman who is the kept mistress of the wencher Nathaniel: just as we meet her, he is casting her off. The focus then shifts to Nathaniel and the other wastrel gallants, and their talk of Quicksands' marriage to Millicent. But the scene also links back to the previous one through the appearance of Theophilus, who links the Millicent-plot to the Dionysia-plot, and through the reappearance of Arthur. The dialogue in both 1.1 and 1.2 refers at length to Millicent and Quicksands, building up the audience's expectations for their appearance. In 1.3, these characters appear onstage, leading to a false climax: the mock-entertainment, which in turn leads to the unconsummated marriage night.
n7023
1.1
[Enter] ARTHUR [and] DIONYSIA.
3ArthurDear sister, bear with me.
4DionysiaI may not, brother.
In your unnatural melancholy*n2259
Renaissance medical theory held that grief could result in a chemical excess of black bile, or melancholy, in the body, and that this melancholy could itself cause further grief. Dionysia recommends exercise to reduce the amount of this 'humour' - ie the liquid bile - in his body.
fits;
n2259
Which have already turned your purer blood
Into a toad-pool dye*n2256
A 'toad-pool' is 'a mass of corrupt poisonous matter' (OED toad n, 7b). In particular, the phrase appears to suggest darkness due to an excess of the melancholic humour; Chapman's hero Bussy has a toad-pool complexion, while in The Changeling (1653), the malcontent De Flores is a 'standing toad-pool'.
Dionysia fears that there is so much melancholy in Arthur's bloodstream that his blood is starting to turn black: thus, Arthur is the first of the possible 'English Moors' in the play.
? I am ashamed,
n2256
Upon my life, almost to call you brother,
Therefore I crave you, as you are my brother,
By visiting the streets, and quit your chamber
Which is a sickness to you.
5ArthurO my sister!*n2413
Just as 'ha ha ha' constitutes an instruction to the actor to laugh, so 'O' often functioned as a corresponding instruction to the actor to weep (as is certainly the case for Dionysia's 'O my father' later in her speech). Arthur, here, weeps for a moment, and Dionysia replies with a mocking imitation of him.
n2413
6DionysiaI can say 'O my brother' too, to show you
How it becomes you. I have the same cause
Equally with your self, to spend my life
In solitary mourning; and would do it,
Could it make good our loss; my honoured father!
A tear has scaped me there. But that’s by the by,
And more of anger ’gainst his enemy,
That robbed us of a father, than of sorrow
For what we know is unrecoverable.
But to sit grieving over his memory
In a resolved silence, as you do,
Killing your own blood while a vein holds any*n2414
Arthur is 'killing his own blood' in that he is poisoning his bloodstream with melancholy. Dionysia asks him instead to think of Rashley, who spilt the blood of their father. Before allowing himself the luxury of melancholy, she says, he should spill all the blood in the veins of Rashley's offspring (i.e. Theophilus and Lucy).
n2414
Proceeding from the flesh, that drew out his,
Is merely idle. Mingle then your grief
With thought of brave revenge. And do it not
In private meditation in your chamber;
But bear it out till it proceed to action.
7ArthurBy pouring blood on blood?
8DionysiaBy quenching fire
Of high revenge, with base unmanly blood;
By stopping of our father's cureless wounds
(Which still bleed fresh in our vexed memories)
With the proud flesh of him that butchered ours*n2261
While Arthur takes 'flesh' literally, as meaning 'the body of the man who murdered our father', Dionysia means it metaphorically, meaning 'the children of the man who murdered our father'.
.
n2261
9ArthurWe know he lives not that has slain our father:
Or, if he lives, 'tis where I cannot reach him.
He ne'er saw English harbour since his sword
Unfortunately had the better of my father.
10DionysiaBut his son lives.
11ArthurGood sister, cool thy passion
With reasonable means.
12DionysiaO where’s the spirit
That my slain father had? Have you no part of’t?
Must I now play the man, whilst you inherit
13ArthurI know thy drift*n2263
This carries the meaning, intention. Arthur is, of course, wrong: bloody revenge is exactly what Dionysia wants Arthur to carry out.
, good sister Dionysia,
n2263
Is not unto revenge, or blood; but to stir up
Some motion in me, to prevent the danger
A sad retiredness may bring upon me.
14DionysiaBe’t as you think it, so you will abroad*n6236
Leave the house, and you can believe whatever you like about why I want you to leave.
;
n6236
And make the house no longer dark with sighing*n6237
Not clear; presumably Dionysia imagines the sighs as creating a sort of fog within the house. It does, however, have an obvious place in the thematic tapestry of the play, introducing into its opening scene another reference to a metaphorical form of darkness.
.
n6237
Enter RAFE.
Now, sir, the news with you?
15RafeNews worth your hearing,
Merely to laugh at, good for nothing else!
16DionysiaIs the old ruffian ta'en, and hanged, that slew
My father? or his son brain-battered*n2264
This results presumably from having sustained a head injury from a beating.
? or
n2264
His daughter made a prostitute to shame*n2265
Someone who has sold herself into shame for money; the meaning is the same as the modern 'prostitute', but the flavour is more literary.
?
n2265
17ArthurHow merciless are your wishes!
18RafeLady, no.
But as I was hankering†gg4171
loitering
at an ordinary†gg4137
an inn or tavern at which a meal (usually also called an ordinary) was served
,
gg4171
gg4137
Will never last to a new livery*n2267
As Rafe's master, Arthur is expected periodically to buy Rafe a new livery, or servant's uniform. Rafe believes Arthur will die of grief before the next set of clothes are due.
n2267
’Less he were merrier) I heard the bravest noise
Of marriage, that was chopped up*n2268
This intimates that the affair was arranged through bartering: a comically reductive phrase when applied to a marriage.
this morning.
n2268
19DionysiaWhat marriage? Quickly*n2270
Rafe pauses for dramatic effect before delivering the news, to Dionysia's frustration. This motif is a recurring joke in Brome: compare [EM 1.2.speech50].
!
n2270
20RafeWho do you think
Has married fair mistress Millicent?
21DionysiaTheophilus (I can name him, though his father
Was fatal unto mine) was sure to her*n2271
Like Claudio and Julietta in Measure for Measure, Theophilus and Millicent have betrothed themselves to one another - a solemn personal ceremony which almost has legal force - but, as Rafe's next line makes clear, they are not formally married in church. See Nicholl (2007).
.
n2271
22RafeYes, but without a priest. She has slipped his hold,
And is made fast enough unto another,
For which fine master Theo*n2426
] ThEO MS; The. O. Rafe refers to Theophilus by a contemptuous diminutive. O's reading would scan better, but is probably an error for 'Theo', the manuscript reading and the usual diminutive form.
so whines and chafes†gg2120
becomes vexed, angry; displays irritation
,
n2426
gg2120
And hangs the head*n2272
A conventional sign of grief on the Renaissance stage: see Steggle (2007).
! More than he would do
n2272
For’s father, were he hanged, as you did wish
23DionysiaIt does me good to hear of any cross†gg586
(n) trial of one’s patience, because it crosses (thwarts) one’s purposes or intentions
gg586
That may torment their family. I wish
Joy to the man that did beguile him of her
Whate'er he be.
24ArthurBut who has married her?
25RafeThence springs the jest. Old Mr Quicksands, sir,
The bottomless devourer*n2276
Quicksands is figured as being as treacherous as quicksand, in his ability to trap and destroy young spendthrifts.
of young gentlemen;
n2276
By three-score i’the hundred*n2275
This amounts to sixty per cent annual interest on the loans he makes. The legal maximum was ten per cent, but this rule was widely broken.
; he that has
n2275
Undone by mortgages and under-buyings†gg1986
buying commodities or land more cheaply than their true value (for instance, someone who needs to settle a debt in a hurry might take a lower price for his land because he needs the money quickly)
gg1986
So many gentlemen, that they all despaired
Of means to be revenged.
26ArthurBut where’s your jest?
27RafeThe jest is, that they now have found that means,
As they suppose, by making of him cuckold†gg1331
man with an unfaithful wife, traditionally thought of as having horns on his head
.
gg1331
They are laying their heads together in every corner,
Contriving of his horns, and drinking healths
To the success*n2278
That is of the schemes to seduce Quicksands' wife.
. And there were sport for you now,
n2278
If you were anybody.
29DionysiaThat’s nobly said. Take courage with you, brother.
30ArthurAnd yet methinks I know not how to look
The wide world in the face, thus on the sudden.
I would fain get abroad, yet be unknown.
31RafeFor that, sir, look you, I have here by chance
A false beard*n2279
A recurring joke: false beards also feature in The Love-Sick Court, The Novella, The Queen and Concubine and The Weeding of the Covent Garden. In each case they provide an impenetrable disguise.
which I borrowed, with a purpose
n2279
To ha’ worn’t and put a jest upon your sadness.
ARTHUR puts on the beard.
32ArthurDoes it do well with me?
33RafeYou’ll never have
One of your own so good: you look like Hector*n2280
Troy's chief warrior in the Trojan war, hence an example of an ideal warrior. Presumably the thin-bearded, melancholic Arthur looks comically unlike such a hero even with the beard.
.
n2280
34Arthur [to Rafe] Go, fetch my sword and follow me.
35Dionysia [Aside to Rafe] Be sure you carry a strict eye o’er his actions*n2431
Dionysia addressses these lines and her next lines aside to Rafe.
,
n2431
And bring me a true account.
36Rafe [Aside to Dionysia] I warrant you, mistress*n2432
I assure you (that I will keep a strict watch on your brother).
.
n2432
37Dionysia [Aside to Rafe] Do, and I’ll love thee everlastingly.
[Aloud] Why, now you are my brother.
38ArthurFarewell, sister.ARTHUR and RAFE exit.*n6238
But they do not go in the same direction (since Rafe is sent off to get Arthur's sword). MS makes this point clearer by marking two separate exits, with Rafe exiting before Dionysia's final goodbye to Arthur.
.
n6238
39DionysiaI hope he has some stratagem afoot
In our revenge to make his honour good:
1.2
[Enter] NATHANIEL [and] PHILLIS.
40NathanielPrithee be answered*n2442
] MS; be and answered O. O's reading makes no apparent sense, and is also extra-metrical, both of which factors suggest that it is a transmissional error.
, and hang off o’me,
n2442
I ha’ no more to say to you in the way
You wot on*n2282
You know. Nathaniel means 'I have no more to say to you on the subject of marriage', but cannot bring himself even to say the m-word. Phillis's reply uses 'that way which you wot on' as an allusion to sex.
, Phillis.
n2282
41PhillisNor do I seek to you
In that way which you wot on, wanton sir,
You have done too much the tother way*n2283
Another reference to sex. 'The tother', meaning 'the other of two', was a normal Renaissance phrasing (OED tother pron. and a.)
already.
n2283
42NathanielI wish you were more thankful, Mistress Phillis,
To one has taught you a trade*n2284
Sex. Nathaniel suggests that, having lost her virginity to him, Phillis is now well placed for a career as a prostitute.
to live upon:
n2284
You are not th’first by twenty*n2285
Nathaniel has already created at least twenty successful prostitutes this way.
I have taught it
n2285
That thrive well i’the world.
43PhillisThere are so many
Such teachers in the world, and so few
Reformers, that the world is grown so full
Of female frailties, the poor harlotries*n2286
Two senses of the word are relevant in this context: a) female prostitutes (OED n, 4); b) in a more general sense, promiscuous people (since 'harlot' itself was still a gender-neutral term). Phillis puns on the two senses; there are so many good women being seduced that the prostitutes can scarcely make a living from the promiscuous men.
n2286
Can scarce already live by one another,
And yet you would have me thrust in among ’em.
44NathanielI do not urge you. Take what course you please,
For matrimony, I thank my stars.
45PhillisShould I run evil courses*n6240
That is: fall into bad ways (specifically, prostitution). In the ensuing lines, Phillis puns on 'course', 'cause', and 'curse'.
, you are the cause;
n6240
And may in time, curse your own act in it.
You’ll find th’ undoing of an honest maid*n2390
This means an unmarried woman. Steen suggests that this indicates that Phillis was formerly Nathaniel's servant, but this is incorrect: Phillis, a gentleman's daughter, has not yet worked as a servant - which is why her doing so later in the play is so degrading.
n2390
Your heaviest sin upon your bed of sickness;
And in that hope I leave you.[PHILLIS] exit[s].
46NathanielFarewell, wag-tail*n2443
'A contemptuous term for a profligate or inconstant woman' (OED n, 3b). In particular, a reference to a woman's 'tail', or buttocks; perhaps, as Phillis walks off stage, Nathaniel is eyeing her up from behind.
.
n2443
Marry thee, quotha†gg43
'said he', i.e. indeed! (OED); sarcastic exclamation
! That’s wise work indeed!
gg43
If we should marry every wench we lie with,
’Twere after†gg1019
'at (the rate of)' OED, which dates this usage from 1530
six a week with some of us,
gg1019
(Marry†gg177
a common intensifier or expletive, a contraction of 'By Mary', 'By Mary of God'
, Love forbid*n2444
Nathaniel's debased version of 'God forbid'; a wish that what is being talked about (in this case, being forced to marry) may never come to pass.
!) when two is enough to hang one*n2287
Bigamy was a capital crime in the seventeenth century.
.
gg177
n2444
n2287
Enter VINCENT and EDMUND.
47VincentNat, we have sought diligently, for fear
The news that is abroad should fly before us.
48NathanielWhat news? What flying fame*n6241
This is an example of poetic periphrasis for rumour (Nathaniel engages in a moment of Pistol-like linguistic extravagance). As Steen notes, 'Flying Fame' is also the title of a tune commonly used for broadside ballads, especially those to do with Chevy Chase: EEBO locates over sixty printings of ballads that name this as their tune.
do you labour†gg4173
struggle (with overtones of childbirth)
with?
n6241
gg4173
49EdmundNews that makes all the gallants i’ the town
Fly out o’ their little wits, they are so eager
Upon the joy. I mean such youthful gallants
By the grave patron of arch-cozenage*n2289
A coinage by Edmund, meaning 'extreme deception' (in the manner of OED arch- pref. 4). The 'grave patron' of it is of course Quicksands.
,
n2289
Whose sad misfortune we are come to sing:
Shall I need to name him to thee?
50NathanielWho, the old rascal Quicksands? Speak, good Vince.
What! Has he hanged himself? Speak quickly, prithee.
51VincentWorse, worse by half, man. Durst thou hear a news
Whose mirth will hazard cracking of a rib?
52NathanielAy, and’t be two*n2290
Nathaniel wouldn't mind breaking two ribs through excessive laughter.
. Here’s hoops†gg1990
(jocularly) ribs (the body is figured as a barrel of beer)
enough besides
n2290
gg1990
To hold my drink in. Pray thee, speak; what mischief
Is come upon him?
53EdmundI pray thee guess again.
Of damnable extortion†gg1991
wringing out of money from victims (in seventeenth-century usage, the word denotes behaviour which is unfair but not necessarily illegal)
; and he cut his throat,
gg1991
Or swallowed poison?
55VincentTen times worse than that too.
56NathanielIs he then hoisted into the Star Chamber*n2292
'A court, chiefly of criminal jurisdiction, developed in the 15th c. from the judicial sittings of the King's Council in the Star Chamber at Westminster' (OED).
n2292
For his notorious practices? Or into
The High Commission*n2291
One of Britain's forms of law-court, specializing in 'various offences against the ecclesiastical establishment' (OED commission n1, 7).
for his blacker arts?
n2291
57EdmundWorse than all this.
58NathanielPax†gg1993
an interjection, a shortened form of 'a pox on it!' (OED pax n2, with further examples)
, keep it to your self then,
gg1993
If you can think it be too good for me.
Why did you set me a-longing? you cry, 'Worse
And ten times worse'; and know as well as I,
The worse it is to him, the better welcome
Ever to me; and yet you tell me nothing.
59VincentHe has married a young wife.
60NathanielHas he, cadzooks!†gg1992
an oath
gg1992
61EdmundWe bring you no comfort, we.
62NathanielNe'er go*n2293
A slang expression, seemingly meaning 'not at all'. Not in OED, and Deighton (1898) 116 proposes, unnecessarily, to emend to 'nere so'. In fact, the expression is moderately common: cf. the quarrelling young roisterers in John Tatham, The Scots Figgaries (1652) 28:
, fine sport! Ha, ha, ha! What is she?
n2293
WITWOULD: Hang him he cheated, he's a cheat.
WANTWIT: Nere go, not I, Gentlemen.
Would he had my wench, was here e'en now.
What is she he has married? Quickly, prithee!
63VincentOne much too good for him.
64EdmundThe beauteous Millicent,
Driven by the tempest of her uncle's will,
65NathanielBut he will never split*n2294
Two meanings are relevant: a) pierce the hull, continuing the image of Millicent as a ship; b) sexually penetrate her. Nathaniel alleges Quicksands is impotent.
her, that’s the best on’t.
n2294
I hope she’ll break his heart first. Gentlemen,
I thank you for your news; and know what I
Will presently go do*n2295
With comic impatience, Nathaniel intends to go round to Quicksands' house and seduce Millicent at once.
.
n2295
[NATHANIEL makes to leave. The others restrain him*n6231
] No SD in MS or O. But this stage action is required by the subsequent dialogue.
.]
n6231
66VincentPray stay a little.
67EdmundAnd take us with you. What will you go do?
68NathanielThat which we cannot do all at once.*n6232
] yor MS; you O. O's reading is clearly an error.
n6232
Do not hold me.
70NathanielCast a pudding*n2297
A contemptuous and dismissive modification of Vincent's phrase - puddings were proverbially worthless (OED pudding P1). Cf. Beaumont and Fletcher, The Coxcomb, in Works (1647), 97:
—
n2297
RICHARDO: Thou art the strangest lover of a tavern, what shall we do there now? lose the hour, and ourselves too?Hoy (1980) 2.241 lists numerous other examples.
UBERTO: Lose a pudding! What, dost thou talk of the hour; will one quart muzzle us?
How long ha’they been married?
71EdmundBut this morning.
72NathanielYou’ll ha’me come too late.
73VincentThat had been a fine first course
At a wedding feast indeed. A little patience.
74NathanielPray let me take my course*n2298
Two meanings are current here: a) eat that course of my dinnner (picking up on the previous speech); b) follow my chosen path (of seducing Millicent).
’fore supper yet.
n2298
75EdmundThe business ’longs to us as much as you,
As much as you.
76NathanielHe has made me so poor
That my poor whore*n2299
Phillis. 'Whore' is a loaded word here - Nathaniel is using it in a loose derogatory sense, but the preceding dialogue has established that Phillis may now have to become an actual prostitute. MS's reading, 'So poore / That my poore whore eene now had hope to had me', clarifies the sense; were he still rich, he reasons, she would never have dared ask that he marry her.
e'en now claimed marriage of me.
n2299
So shall his wife be, can we purchase her*n2300
That is, if we can win her over (in the sense of seducing her).
:
n2300
Did we bring you the news for you to run
And prevent us, do you think?
78NathanielPardon my zeal, good gentlemen; which only
Enter THEOPHILUS and ARNOLD.
79EdmundAnd see here comes a fourth man that has lost
More on her part, than we upon the bridegroom's.
80VincentHe’s very sour and sad. ’Tis crept upon him
By this untoward accident.
But I'll remove his sorrow.
Gentle Theophilus, you are well met,
Your sorrow is familiar with us all
But, sir, be comforted. You have our pity
Her husband shall be instantly a cuckold!
82TheophilusMost sinfully thou liest*n2304
Theophilus is offended by Nathaniel's unthinking assumption that Millicent will be easily seduced.
; and all that give
n2304
Breath to that foul opinion.
[THEOPHILUS, and then NATHANIEL] draw [their swords] and fight.
83NathanielWhat do you mean?
84TheophilusGive me that thought from you*n6286
Give up that thought (as if a thought was a physical object that could be confiscated).
; nay, from you all,
n6286
Or I will rip†gg1996
cut up
you for’t.
gg1996
85NathanielZooks†gg1998
a shortened version of 'gadzooks', a strong oath
, what mean you?
gg1998
86VincentHold, sir, forbear.
87TheophilusI'll have that thought out first*n2305
Theophilus imagines the thought still physically contained in Nathaniel's breast.
.
n2305
88NathanielI say he does deserve to be a cuckold;
Let him be what he will, a pox upon him.
89Edmund and VincentSo we say all.
90TheophilusWhat’s that to ill in her?
I stand upon that point. Man’s evil merit’s
No warrant for a woman’s dishonesty.
I say, had she a man forty*n2306
The figure was commonly used in the seventeenth century 'indefinitely to express a large number' (OED).
degrees
n2306
Beneath his undeservings†gg1997
unworthiness (usage is rare, but this is not a Brome coinage: see OED)
, ’twere more possible
gg1997
For him to deceive her with a good life*n2307
That is: surprise her by living a good life in spite of his natural inclination to wickedness.
,
n2307
Than she him with a wicked.
91NathanielI say so too.
But then I say again, the more’s the pity*n2308
Theophilus is almost calmed down. After a moment's comic pause, Nathaniel then goes back to thinking about seducing Millicent, and it all erupts again.
.
n2308
92TheophilusDo, and undo.
[They fight again. THEOPHILUS] hurts [NATHANIEL. EDMUND and VINCENT draw their own swords and attack THEOPHILUS].
93NathanielZooks, now your bitch*n2314
Theophilus's sword, which Nathaniel likens to a dog.
has bit me.
n2314
I’ll make him one myself.
Enter ARTHUR in his false beard.
94Edmund and VincentAnd we'll both help him.
96ArthurThis is oppression*n2312
An unfair fight, because three men (Nathaniel, Vincent, and Edmund) are fighting against one (Theophilus).
gentlemen; an unmanly one.
n2312
[ARTHUR] sides with THEOPHILUS.
97NathanielWhat devil’s this, raised*n2313
That is: who has been raised (from Hell).
?
Fall off†gg1999
retreat (OED, fall v, 92b)
, ’tis an ill business.NATHANIEL, VINCENT, and EDMUND exit.
n2313
gg1999
98ArnoldHave you no hurt, sir?
99TheophilusNo, I’m confident.
100ArnoldBy your favour, I will see.
ARNOLD searches*n2315
He checks carefully to see if Theophilus is wounded. While Arnold is doing this, Arthur recognizes Theophilus (who, though, does not recognize him because of the false beard).
THEOPHILUS.
n2315
101Arthur [Aside] What fortune’s this?
I fought ’gainst friends to save mine enemy,
But I hope neither know me. I desire
To rest hid to my friends for my offence to them,
And to mine enemy, till I make him dearer.[ARTHUR] exits.
102TheophilusI told thee there was none.
103ArnoldI’m glad it proves so.
104TheophilusBut where’s the gentleman?
105ArnoldDo you not know him, sir?
106TheophilusNot I, ’tis the first time that e'er I saw him,
To my remembrance; yet he fought for me.
Beshrew†gg2000
curse
thy idler care*n2316
That is, his making sure that Theophilus wasn't wounded: Theophilus is comically negligent of himself.
that made me lose him!
gg2000
n2316
What should he be that so could fight for me,
Yet care not for my company? beshrew thy heart.
Why should he use me thus? I shall be sick to think on’t.
And I’m the worst to sue or seek to a man—
108TheophilusWhat’s that?
109ArnoldWhy, to be deadly angry, sir,
On least occasion, and friends as quickly,
Hot and cold in a breath: you are angry now
With him that fought for you I warrant you.
110TheophilusIn troth I am, and friends with them I fought with;
Ere I could thank him.
111ArnoldSo ’tis that I told you.
112TheophilusBut did you mark th’humanity of my gentlemen?
On that unworthy Quicksands, devil take him,
They thought ’twould sound like music in my ears
To hear her disgrace sung; when her fair honour
Is all I have to love, now she’s took from me;
And that they’d go about to rob me of.
Heaven grant me patience. O, my slaughtered father!
I am thy son, and know by*n2317
That is: am the wiser for: in other words, he has learned a lesson from the fate of his too-reckless father.
thy infirmity.
n2317
Impatience was his ruin.
114TheophilusPush†gg2004
an interjection expressing impatience, equivalent to 'pish' (OED push n3)
, we see
gg2004
Thieves daily hanged for robberies; yet some
Go on still in the practice! What a fine
Is set upon the head of*n2318
That is: as a punishment for (OED head n1, 35). Seventeenth-century law used fines, whippings, and other sorts of punishment for adultery.
foul adultery,
n2318
And yet our neighbours’ wives can hardly scape us!
There’s laws against extortion, and sad penalties
Set upon bribes,
Yet great men’s hands ha’their fore-fathers’ itch*n2319
An itch for money: this was an accepted euphemism for avarice: cf. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 4.3.10, where Brutus is ‘much condemned to have an itching palm’.
!
n2319
Prisons are filled with bankrupts; yet we see
And Londoners fly to live at Amsterdam*n2320
A city in Holland. English bankrupts frequently fled to Amsterdam to avoid their creditors.
!
n2320
Nothing can banish Nature*n6235
Theophilus is quoting (and expounding upon) Horace, Epistles, 1.10: Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret, 'You may drive Nature out with a pitchfork, but she comes back again'.
, that’s the moral.
n6235
But of your father, is there yet no hope
Of better news?
116TheophilusNo, certainly he’s slain.
117ArnoldI have not heard a story of more wonder;
That two such men, of such estates and years,
Should at the last fall out so mortally
On a poor cast at bowls*n2322
Bowls, in which players take it in turns to 'cast' bowls along a green, was hugely popular in the period. Elsewhere in the Brome canon, it is played by Cash in NA, a sign of his social climbing, and by Careless in MC, who gets money by betting on it. See Sudgen (1925), s.v. 'bowling alley', for a list of allusions to bowling in other early modern plays.
! Where was’t they fought?*n2326
'These speeches are quick exposition: Arnold was Rashley's servant, and he would have known what had happened and when' (Steen).
n2322
n2326
118TheophilusIt is uncertain. All we heard of ’em
Was, they rode forth (’tis now a whole year past)
Part of the kingdom, or the world they took,
We can by no inquiry find or hear
Of either of them. Sure they crossed the seas,
And both are slain.
120TheophilusI speak as my heart finds. She’s gone for ever too;
Her heart’s desire be with her.
122TheophilusThen my poor sister’s sickness; that torments me,
Never in health since our dear father left us.
123Arnold [Aside] And now there*n2325
This goes back to his other obsession, the death of his father. The 'sister' is Lucy, and this is the first time we hear of her existence.
.
n2325
124TheophilusHow shall I do to see these men again?
I shall not be at rest till I be friends with ’em.
125Arnold [Aside] Why here’s the noble nature still. ’Twill show itself.
126TheophilusI’ll seek ’em out. Nathaniel always loved me.[THEOPHILUS] exits.
He’ll ne’er be mad, nor ever well in’s wits.[ARNOLD] exits.
1.3
[Enter] TESTY, QUICKSANDS, [and] MILLICENT.
128TestyGo to†gg2147
an exhortation, equivalent to 'come, come', or the modern 'for heaven's sake' (OED go v, 93b)
I say, go to; as y’are my niece,
gg2147
And hope t’inherit anything that’s mine,
Shake off this maiden peevishness. Do you whimper
Upon your wedding day? Or, do you think
You are not married yet? Did you not say,
'I, Millicent, take Mandeville*n2327
Evidently, Quicksands' Christian name. It suggests 'man-devil', appropriate to the odious Quicksands, but also suggests reference to Sir John Mandeville, supposedly a fourteenth-century English knight. Mandeville was the author of a hugely successful book of Travels, outlining his fantastic adventures outside Europe, which form a major source for Brome's play The Antipodes, composed either just before or just after The English Moor. Quicksands, like the Mandeville-loving hero of The Antipodes, has a fatal weakness, one might say, for the idea of the exotic. For a deeper reading of Mandeville's significance in early modern English culture, see Greenblatt, Marvelous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991), pp. 26-51.
'? Aha!
n2327
I that have bred you from the cradle up
To a fit growth to match with his fair years*n2329
Not in OED, but seemingly a vague term of praise for someone no longer young: cf. [AN 2.9.speech383], where Peregrine sees three old men dressed as schoolboys, and asks, 'Do men of such fair years here go to school?'
;
n2329
And far more fair estate.
129Millicent [Aside] Ay, there’s the match*n2328
The estate was the factor that really mattered to Testy.
—
n2328
130TestyLove him, I charge you.
131MillicentI’ll endeavour’t, sir.
132TestyYou will endeavour’t! Is’t no further yet?
133QuicksandsLet me entreat your patience. She’s my wife, sir.
134TestyDandle†gs203
pamper, make much of; also, trifle or toy with
her in her humour, do; and spoil her*n2330
If you indulge her in her peevishness, she will become spoilt.
.
gs203
n2330
135Quicksands’Tis but her modesty.
136TestyHer sullen doggedness,
As I do, nephew.
137QuicksandsI shall, sir, before morning*n2331
That is because this will be their wedding night. The joke, for the audience, may lie in the differing reactions of Quicksands, and Millicent, to this prospect.
n2331
Better I doubt not. Come, we shall agree.
138TestyYou will endeavour’t! Come, I’ll see it done.
Marry a man first, and then endeavour
To love him, will you? Ha! Is it but so?
I’ll see you love him presently. So to bed.
139MillicentWhat, before supper?
140TestyA posset†gg1434
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)
, and to bed,
gg1434
(To bed, I say!), there I will see more done*n2332
To Millicent's horror, her uncle doesn't just want the marriage consummated this minute, but he also invites himself in to watch.
n2332
Than I will speak. Tell me of your endeavour!
141QuicksandsBe not so rough and stiff with her, good uncle.
I know my supple tender dealing will
Get more upon her love than all your chidings.
142TestySuch tender dealers spoil young brides; and get
Nothing but*n2333
] MS; Nothing of O.
stubbornness. Down with her*n2335
That is: push her down.
I say
n2333
n2335
Now in her wedding sheets*n2334
The sheets laid on the bed on the day of the marriage. Cf. Othello, 4.2.105.
. She will be naught†gg1310
worthless, nothing, useless (OED adj. C1a)
else.
n2334
gg1310
143MillicentConstrue more charitably, I beseech you,
My virgin blushes.
144Testy’Tis your sullenness;
Would you have brided it†gg4196
been a bride (cf. Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew 3.2.253)
so lumpishly†gg2013
clumsily
gg4196
gg2013
With your spruce younker†gg2016
young man
? That fine silken beggar*n2336
Theophilus, who, although a fashionable young man (and hence 'silken') has mortgaged much of his land to Quicksands (and hence a 'beggar').
,
gg2016
n2336
Whose land lies in your husband's counting-house,
Or the most part.
145MillicentO my Theophilus!
To have the rest, as he may want my money.
147TestyWould you have whined and puled, had you had him
And that wherein she has vexed me a thousand times,
I never saw her laugh, nor heard her sing
In all my life: yet she could both, I have heard,
In company she liked.
148MillicentIt has been ’mong maidens then.
But honoured sir— [Aside] (I know what I will do*n2338
An aside, in mid-sentence, marking the start of her stratagem to feign wantonness to dismay Quicksands and discourage his advances. Steen notes that the same ruse is used by Florimel in Fletcher's The Maid in the Mill (1623).
)
n2338
[Aloud] To let you see and hear, since you desire
To have me show a cheerfulness unto
My reverend husband,*n2339
] MS; husband. O. O's reading might be defensible - 'I know what I will do to let you see and hear' - were it not for the brackets which make it clear that in both versions 'I know what I will do' is an aside.
look you, sir, I’ll kiss him,
n2339
Clap†gg73
(v) to pat as a mark of endearment, 'to pat fondly' (OED v. 9a)
him, and stroke him: Ha, my jo†gg2017
darling
, ha, ha, ha*n2340
Almost always an indication of laughter on the Renaissance stage, with the 'etcetera' in the old-spelling text indicating an opportunity for the actor to improvise further noises in the same vein. See Steggle (2007), 25-39.
.
gg73
gg2017
n2340
[MILLICENT comes towards QUICKSANDS*n6301
Some sort of stage business is required, but it does not necessarily extend as far as the kissing and caressing implied by Millicent's next speech. Both in early modern performance, and in any contemporary one, this is a delicately balanced moment for the actor: Millicent must behave lasciviously enough to scare Quicksands, but not so lasciviously as to shake the audience's belief in her underlying purity.
.]
n6301
151MillicentI’ll sing him songs too.
Old as thy reverend self, my chick-a-bird*n2341
A term of affection, grotesquely inappropriate to the elderly Quicksands. The meaning and etymology is the same as OED chickabiddy (which OED lists only from the eighteenth century).
.
n2341
154Quicksands [Aside] She calls me chick and bird: the common names
155Millicent (sings) She made him a bed of the thistle-down soft,
She laid herself under to bear him aloft,
And ever she sung, 'Sweet, turn thee to me,
We’ll make the new bed cry jiggy joggy*n2342
'Imitative words expressing reiteration or alternation of light, short, jerky movements' (OED jig-a-jog n.).
Millicent is singing a version of a bawdy song which had already been popular for at least forty years. A tune for 'jiggy joggy' exists in a lute manuscript compiled by Matthew Holmes around 1600; John Florio's Queen Anna's New World of Words (1611) f.144 defines dibatticare as 'to thrum a wench lustily till the bed cry giggaioggie'. (See Palmer [2005], who includes a MIDI version of the tune). The song's continuing popularity can be seen from the broadside ballad A Job for a joiner (1663-74), set to the tune of 'Over the water, fain would I pass, or Jig a jog-goo'. A Job for a Joiner is an extended exercise in double entendre, in which a woman invites a joiner to do some unusual joinery work:
'.
n2342
You are the only man 'tis saidMillicent sings a verse from a lost earlier version, which, while not apparently about joinery, doubtless shares with A Job for a Joiner a sense of the woman as a willing initiator of sexual activity.
That can do wonders for a maid:
Dispatch then what you have to do
And make my bed go jig a jog goo.
156TestyWhat impudence is this?
157QuicksandsShe’s gone as far
Beyond it now, as it was to’t*n2348
As Millicent has gone from inappropriately unwilling to inappropriately willing, the first and third 'it's here are equivalent to something like 'correct female behaviour'.
.
n2348
158MillicentNow may you answer.
(sings) Go to bed, sweetheart, I’ll come to thee,
Make thy bed fine and soft, I’ll lie with thee*n2343
Another lost bawdy ballad, apparently also alluded to in Twelfth Night, 3.4.29.
.
n2343
Ha, ha, ha.
159QuicksandsIs this your bashful niece?
160TestyWhat canst thou mean by this? does this become thee?
161MillicentPray do not beat me*n2346
Does Testy physically threaten his niece here?
o’my wedding night, but tell me
n2346
Become an old man's wife some five years hence.
162QuicksandsO intolerable!
163TestyIs’t possible thou canst do thus?*n2598
Testy means by 'thus' her current lascivious demeanour; Millicent deliberately misunderstands him, and talks about her plans to have six children in five years.
n2598
164MillicentLet women judge. ’Tis very possible
That a young lusty wife may have six children
By one at once in five years, sir, and by
One father too. I’ll make him young enough
To father mine.
165Quicksands [Aside] She’ll make a youth of me.
166Millicent (sings) There was a lady lov’d a swine. "Honey," quoth she;*n2344
A traditional song, frequently alluded to in seventeenth-century texts but nowhere preserved in full. A version was current in Texas as late as 1939:
n2344
There was a lady loved a swine.Cited from Lomax (2000) 107-8, who also print the tune current in 1939. Digital Tradition (2009) includes a MIDI transcription of that tune. The song is particularly appropriate in implicitly casting Quicksands as a hog, not just for his boorishness but because the hog was emblematic of usurers (Wright [1938]; Steen, citing further references). Cf. also Edward Ravenscroft, The London Cuckolds (1682), 3.1, where this same song is sung by another wife trying to repel her elderly husband by feigning lasciviousness towards him.
'Honey,' said she,
'Pig hog, wilt thou be mine?'
'Humph!' said he.
'I'll build thee a silver sty,
Honey,' said she,
'And in it thou shalt lie.'
'Humph!' said he.
'I'll pin it with a silver pin,
'Honey,' said she,
'That thou may'st go out and in.'
'Humph!' said he.
'Wilt thou have me now?' said she,
'Honey,' said she.
'Speak or my heart will break.'
'Humph!' said he.
"And wilt thou be true love mine?" - "Hough,"*n2345
Here, imitative of the sound of a pig grunting. Cf. OED hough int.
quoth he.*n2344
A traditional song, frequently alluded to in seventeenth-century texts but nowhere preserved in full. A version was current in Texas as late as 1939:
n2345
n2344
There was a lady loved a swine.Cited from Lomax (2000) 107-8, who also print the tune current in 1939. Digital Tradition (2009) includes a MIDI transcription of that tune. The song is particularly appropriate in implicitly casting Quicksands as a hog, not just for his boorishness but because the hog was emblematic of usurers (Wright [1938]; Steen, citing further references). Cf. also Edward Ravenscroft, The London Cuckolds (1682), 3.1, where this same song is sung by another wife trying to repel her elderly husband by feigning lasciviousness towards him.
'Honey,' said she,
'Pig hog, wilt thou be mine?'
'Humph!' said he.
'I'll build thee a silver sty,
Honey,' said she,
'And in it thou shalt lie.'
'Humph!' said he.
'I'll pin it with a silver pin,
'Honey,' said she,
'That thou may'st go out and in.'
'Humph!' said he.
'Wilt thou have me now?' said she,
'Honey,' said she.
'Speak or my heart will break.'
'Humph!' said he.
167TestyDo you hear, gentlewoman? are you i’your wits?
168MillicentYes, and my own house*n2784
By virtue of now being Quicksands' wife. She reminds Testy that, strictly speaking, he is only a guest in her territory.
I hope. I pray be civil†gg2392
of the citizens (OED adj. 2); orderly, well-governed (OED adj. 7); civilised (OED adj. 8)
.
n2784
gg2392
Shall we to bed, sir, supperless? you need
How I will love him i’bed? Come away.
Dashed all quite out o’countenance! what a beast*n2347
Two meanings are current here: a) in respect of his stupidity; b) in that he fears he is about to be cuckolded, and thus become a horned beast.
n2347
Was I to marry? Rather, what a beast
Am I to be?
A sow-gelder's horn*n2349
Sow-gelders were travelling workmen who specialised in neutering female pigs. Instead of having a street cry, they would blow a horn to advertise their skills, and these horns were proverbially untuneful. Also blown at [CB 4.2.speech734].
blown.
n2349
How now? O, horrible!
170TestyWhat hideous noise is this?
Enter BUZZARD.
171BuzzardI cannot help it.
While I went forth for the half pint of sack
To make your prodigal*n2785
This means, extravagant (but only by the miserly standards of Quicksands).
posset; and the maid*n2786
The first mention in the play of Madge.
n2785
n2786
To shut the door, they all rushed in.
172QuicksandsWhat they, what all?
174QuicksandsOutrageous roisters†gg2028
people who behave uproariously; roisterers
!
gg2028
175TestyCall and raise†gg2029
'rouse or stir up (a number of persons, a district, etc.) for the purpose of common action, esp. for attack or defence' (OED raise v1, 5)
the street.
gg2029
176MillicentThat were to let in violence indeed.
These are some merry harmless friends I warrant.
I knew I could not be so ill-beloved
Among the bachelors, but some would find
Way to congratulate our honoured marriage.
177QuicksandsWhat, with horn-music*n2352
Two meanings are current: a) music played on a horn; b) suggesting the cuckold's horns.
?
n2352
This is your bashful, modest, whimpering niece.
180TestyThen let’em in. If they wrong us tonight,
The law tomorrow shall afford us right.
Pray let’s resolve to see’t. Here comes their Prologue.
Flourish†gg1096
a burst of horns or trumpets, a fanfare
. Enter MERCURY*n2353
The messenger of the gods. Frequently personified in Renaissance plays and entertainments: he features, for instance, in the inset entertainments in both The Antipodes and The Court-begger.
.
gg1096
n2353
181MercuryAt a late parliament held by the Gods,
Cupid*n11554
The Roman god of love was usually figured as a 'youth' or a small winged boy with a bow and arrow.
and Hymen*n2355
Roman god associated with marriage.
fell at bitter odds
n11554
n2355
Upon an argument, wherein each did try
T’advance his own ’bove tother's deity,
Out of this question, which might happier prove,
Love without marriage, or marriage without love?
By the effects the trial must be made,
So each from other's office†gs263
job, function (for Cupid, making people fall in love: for Hymen, arranging marriages)
drew†gg4197
withdrew
his aid:
gs263
gg4197
Cupid no more of Hymen's matches framed,
Nor Hymen married those that love inflamed.
Now, mark the sad effects this strife begot:
Cupid his fiery darts and arrows*n2356
These are the means by which Cupid effects people falling in love with each other.
shot
n2356
As thick as e’er he did; and equal hearts
He wounds with equal love. But Hymen parts
Their forward hands (alas!) and joineth none
But those which his new match-maker brings on,
In breasts of parents and of guardians dwells,
Which uncouth policy to sorrow leads
Thousands a thousand ways, of which the least
Is this*n2787
That is: cuckoldry, to be depicted in the horn-masque to follow. (Presumably the worse ways to sorrow would include suicide, husband-murder, and so on.)
- with which we celebrate your feast.
n2787
Enter four MASQUERS with horns on their heads: a stag, a ram, a goat, and an ox. Followed by four [MASQUERS costumed as] persons, a courtier, a captain, a scholar, and a butcher*n2788
] Enter four Masquers with horns on their heads: a Stag, a Ram, and Goat, a an Ox followed by four persons, a Courtier, a Captain, a Schollar and a Butcher O; Enter the masquers. A lawyer with stags' horns, followed by a courtier. A country chuff with rams' horns, and a soldier. An usurer with goats' horns, and a scholar. A spruce citizen with ox horns, and a butcher MS. The SD offered here is based on O, correcting obvious errors, but MS provides in some ways a clearer visual picture.
.
n2788
183MercuryThese few are thought enough to show how more
Would appear horrible; the town hath store*n2789
These few are enough to give you the idea: London has a great supply of other subtypes.
.
n2789
The first’s a lawyer, who by strife prevailed
To wed a wife, that was by love entailed*n2790
Two meanings are current here: a) promised to (a metaphorical use of appropriately legal terminology); b) with a double entendre on a woman's 'tail', or pudendum (OED n.1 5c). Strictly speaking, entail is a complex legal arrangement whereby the line of succession on a property is fixed in advance, so that the owner does not have the right to give it away.
n2790
Unto that courtier, who had the hap
The next, a country cormorant†gg1444
large and voracious black sea-birds; hence, insatiably greedy persons (OED 1, 2)
, whose great wealth,
gg1444
By a bad father’s will*n2360
Ambiguous: is the 'father' his own, or that of his wife? And is the 'will' in question simply 'desire', or a will in the legal sense? Perhaps the most likely reading is 'by the desire of his wife's bad father', since this would be a pointed parallel to Testy's pressuring of his niece Millicent.
, obtained by stealth
n2360
That valiant soldier's mistress; for which matter
The engineer*n2791
A military engineer: i.e., the soldier.
his sconce with rams*n2361
The usage here involves punning: 'sconce' can mean both 'fortification' and 'head', and 'ram' can mean both a military tool, a battering-ram, and also the ram's horns now on the landowner's head.
did batter.
n2791
n2361
This, an old goatish†gg2033
a) like a goat; b) lustful (because goats were proverbially so)
usurer, that must
gg2033
Needs buy a wretch’s daughter to his lust;
Doted†gg2034
became infatuated with
, and married her without a groat†gg75
coin valued at roughly fourpence (OED 2), which in today's currency would be worth about £1.43
-
gg2034
gg75
That herald gave this crest unto his coat*n2362
A crest is a) a heraldic ornament, appropriate to a 'coat' (i.e., a coat of arms); b) the set of horns that the old man wears. It is hard to tell whether the line actually indicates that the scholar is practised in the art of heraldry, or whether it is merely a joking allusion to his crest-adding activities.
.
n2362
Which this mad butcher cuckold-antedated*n2364
A twist in the tale of the last of the four cuckolds: this one married a woman who had already been seduced, and he thus, in a sense, was cuckolded before he was married.
.
n2364
Now by this dance let husband that doth wed
Bride from her proper love to loathed bed
Observe his fortune. Music, strike aloud
'The cuckold's joy*n2365
A made-up title for a tune, on the analogy of tunes like 'Soldier's Joy'.
', with merry pipe and crowd†gg2035
a musical instrument, a fiddle
!
n2365
gg2035
They dance to music of cornets and violins. [MERCURY and the] MASQUERS exit*n6291
] O; The daunce ended, the Masquers go off suddenly MS. MS makes explicit what is suggested anyway in the next line of dialogue.
.
n6291
184TestyHow now? All vanished! The devil take the hindmost*n2366
That is: may they go away as quickly as possible. Proverbial (OED hindmost a, 1b).
.
n2366
185QuicksandsThe foremost*n2367
Not proverbial. Quicksands imagines the devil felling the first one, whose body forms an obstacle ('a block') over which those behind him fall as they run.
I say; and lay him a block†gg4189
obstacle
n2367
gg4189
For all the rest to break their necks upon.
186TestyWho are they? Can you guess?
187MillicentTruly, not I, sir.
Some of my husband’s friends perhaps, that came
To warn him of his fortune.
188QuicksandsWell considered.
189MillicentLock the doors after’em, and let us to bed;
And lock ourselves up, chick, safe from all danger.
190QuicksandsWe will to bed, chick, since you’ll have it so.
This key shall be your guard; and here’s another
Shall secure me*n2368
Supposedly, from possible intruders; but the audience see that it is a sign of how scared Quicksands is of his apparently sexually rapacious wife.
. My house has store of beds in’t.
n2368
I bring you not to an unfurnished dwelling*n6302
Since Quicksands is a miser, his house is in fact likely to be extremely sparsely furnished. Testy and Millicent have a chance to convey this in their facial reactions to this line.
.
n6302
191MillicentBe not afraid to lie with me, good man,
I’ll so restore thee ’gain with caudles†gg78
(cup of) ‘a warm drink consisting of thin gruel, mixed with wine or ale, sweetened and spiced, given chiefly to sick people, esp. women in childbed; also to their visitors’ (OED n. 1a); aphrodisiac
and cock-broths†gg79
broth made from a boiled cock; aphrodisiac
,
gg78
gg79
So cuckle*n2369
Listed by OED as a separate word, a variant of cockle v3 and cocker v1, meaning to nourish. OED gives no examples other than in this play. It is a particularly appropriate form, perhaps, because it is so close in sound to 'cuckold' (Steen).
thee up, tomorrow thou shalt see—
n2369
192Quicksands [Aside] O immodesty!
193MillicentThou hast good store of gold, and shalt not want it
An angel*n2370
A valuable gold coin (OED n, 6). Gold was widely believed to have medicinal properties, and to be particularly good for sexual prowess. Quicksands is appalled by the threat not merely to his masculinity, but also to his gold.
at the least.
n2370
194QuicksandsI’ll hang first.
195TestyI am quite out of wits; and yet I’ll counsel
Thee, nephew*n2371
That is by virtue of now being the husband of Millicent, Testy's niece. The audience may well think Quicksands incongruously old to be called 'nephew'.
. Hark thee.
n2371
They whisper.
196Buzzard [Aside] ’Tis like to be mad counsel.
197MillicentBut will you not lie with me then?
198TestyNo, marry†gg177
a common intensifier or expletive, a contraction of 'By Mary', 'By Mary of God'
, shall he not.
gg177
Nephew, you shall not, till she bride it†gg2012
be a bride (cf. Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew 3.2.253)
modestly.
gg2012
199Buzzard [Aside] ’Tis too late now*n2793
Testy's 'now too late' had referred to the fact it is now late evening: perhaps Buzzard's rephrasing refers to the fact that Quicksands is now stuck with an unmanageable wife.
, and yet he’ll do’t tomorrow! good!
n2793
200TestyWill you to your lodging?
201MillicentWhere be my bride-maids*n6305
The jokes that follow depend upon early modern marriage customs recorded by Robert Herrick. On the wedding night, the bride is helped to disrobe for bed by her bridesmaids, and the groom is similarly helped by his 'bachelors', the male equivalents. Herrick instructs a newly married couple:
?
n6305
To bed, to bed, kind turtles, now, and writeThe bride's garters become trophies for the bridesmaids and bachelors, and so do the bridegroom's 'points', the laces which are used to attach a man's hose to his doublet.
This the short'st day, and this the longest night;
But yet too short for you: 'tis we,
Who count this night as long as three,
Lying alone,
Telling the clock strike ten, eleven, twelve, one.
Quickly, quickly then prepare;
And let the young men and the bride-maids share
Your garters; and their joints
Encircle with the bride-groom's points.
('A Nuptial Song, or Epithalamy, on Sir Clipsby Crew and his lady', in Hesperides [1648], 130).
202TestyThey wait you in your chamber.
203Buzzard [Aside] The devil o’maid’s*n2373
That is, no maid at all. It is another sign of how hasty the wedding is that the only bridesmaids are the housemaid and the cat.
i’this but my fellow Madge the
kitchen maid, and Malkin*n2375
A common name for a cat.
the cat, or bachelor but myself, and an old fox*n2376
The scent of foxes was widely believed to palliate the palsy (a catch-all term for symptoms of paralysis or tremor). See, for instance, Gervase Markham, Country Contentments (1623) 12: 'For the apoplexy or palsy, the strong scent or smell of a fox is exceeding sovereign'.
that my master has kept apprenticeship*n2377
That is, as an apprentice. The image strengthens our sense of Quicksands' fox-like cunning, and the audience may also recall Jonson's Volpone, another old trickster with links to foxes.
to palliate his palsy.
n2373
n2375
n2376
n2377
204MillicentWhere be the maids, I say, and bachelors*n2378
These were the groom's friends at a wedding, the male equivalent of bridesmaids.
n2378
To disappoint†gg2038
a) remove Quicksands's points; b) cheat (by seducing Millicent)
my husband?
gg2038
205QuicksandsMark you that?
206MillicentI mean, to take your points.
[MILLICENT lifts QUICKSANDS' doublet to examine his hose*n6306
] this edn; no SD in O or MS. An implied stage direction required by the next line. Again, Millicent invades Quicksands's personal space.
.]
n6306
But you have none.
O thrifty age! My bridegroom is so wise,
Instead of points, to hazard†gs264
take the risk of
hooks and eyes*n2379
The seventeenth century saw a gradual move from fastening hose with points towards the use of hooks and eyes instead, seen as a cheaper alternative because it did not require the expense of periodically buying new points when the existing ones wore out or were lost. See Jones and Stallybrass (2000), 24, with further references. However, such 'convenience clothing' is clearly inappropriate for a wedding night, particularly given the tradition in which the bridegroom's points became trophies for the bachelors.
.
gs264
n2379
207Buzzard [Aside] She means the eyes in’s head*n2383
Buzzard believes Quicksands runs the risk of being deceived by his new wife, and thus of being metaphorically 'blinded' to what is going on.
, I’ll hang else.
n2383
My master is like to make a blind match*n2380
Two meanings are current here: a) in a literal sense, by Buzzard's punning logic: b) reckless (OED a, 3).
here.
n2380
Of sleep; and sleep she shall, for me, tonight*n2794
That is: as far as I am concerned. (I don't intend to disturb her sleep by attempting to have sex with her).
.
n2794
210TestyAnd well said, nephew. Will you to your chamber,
mistress?
211MillicentHey ho, to bed, to bed, to bed.
No bride so glad— [Aside] to keep her maidenhead.[All exit.]
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