9TouchwoodWith me, gentlemen?

10GilbertOnly a few neighbourly and friendly words*n7161 The context of the neighbourhood as a concept and social force in this play is discussed at further length in the introductory essay. , sir.

11TouchwoodOh, you are most friendly welcome, good Master Gilbert Goldwire.   [Offers his hand to GILBERT and then turns to WALTER]   And Master Walter Chamlet, I take ye to be?

12Gilbert and Walter [together]*n9776 Ambo (Q). I have indicated that Gilbert and Walter speak this line together since there is precedent for Brome's use of the latin Ambo in this way elsewhere (for example, in A Mad Couple Well Matched). He also uses the term again in Act 3 to indicate a joint exit by characters. The suggestion that Ambo could have referred to the character Ambodexter Trampler in the play was rejected; there is no evidence for his entry into the play this early and although speech prefixes in the quarto edition are erratic, in his case he is consistently identified by the speech prefix Tram. The same, sir, at your service.

13TouchwoodYour fathers both were my good neighbours*n7163 Again the concept of neighbourliness and the social construct of the neighbourhood is brought into the frame of the audience's consideration. , indeed; worthy and well reputed members of the city while they lived. But that may be read upon the hospital walls and gates*n5625 In the early modern period donators and benefactors to good works such as hospitals had their names recorded on the signs or in the name of the building much as in the present day. Both Goldwire and Chamlet's fathers were clearly social philanthropists. ; it is enough for me to say they loved me, Samson*n7162 Touchwood's first name may be a way of indicating the parental relationship to Samuel in the play, or a comic allusion to his ageing masculinity. Touchwood. And I were a wretch if I should not honour their memory in their happy succession. Again, gentlemen, you are welcome.

14GilbertYet you may be pleased, sir, to remember, though our fathers were both loving friends to you, yet they were sometimes at odds one with another.

15TouchwoodTrue, true, ever at odds. They were the common talk of the town for a pair of wranglers†gg1007 quarrelsome arguers (in the context: highly litigious individuals) . Still at strife for one trifle or other, they were at law loggerheads†gg3850 to be contending about differences of opinion (OED 8) *n5626 This back-story of the Chamlet-Goldwire legal tussles that lasted nine years and served only to lose the defendants money is a forerunner of Dickens's notorious Jarndyce vs Jarndyce dispute in Bleak House. together in one match that held ’em tugging th’one the t’other by the purse-strings a matter of nine years, and all for a matter of nothing. They coursed†gg3851 chased (as a hare would be by a greyhound) one another from court to court, and through every court, temporal and spiritual, and held one another play*n5708 i.e. made one another stay in the legal game or process till they lost a thousand pound a man to the lawyers, and till it was very sufficiently adjudged that your father was one fool, and your father was another fool. And so again, gentlemen, you are welcome. Now, your business?

16WalterYou may now be pleased, sir, to remember that our fathers grew friends at last.

17TouchwoodHeaven forbid else!

18GilbertAnd note the cause, the ground of their reconciliation, which was upon the love betwixt me and this gentleman’s sister. My father’s son married his father’s daughter, and our two fathers grew friends and wise men again.

19TouchwoodTo the point, good gentlemen; yet, you are welcome.

20GilbertTroth, sir, the point is this: you know (and the town has ta’en sufficient notice of it) that there has been a long contention betwixt you and old Master Striker your neighbour –

21TouchwoodHa?

22GilbertAnd the cause or ground of your quarrel (for aught anybody knows but yourselves) may be as trivial as that which was derided in our fathers.

23TouchwoodAre you there with me?*n5709 = Is that what you have come to discuss?

24GilbertAnd great hopes there are and wagers†gg4099 bet , laid by your friends on both sides, that you two will be friends.

25TouchwoodI’ll hold you an hundred pounds o’ that.

26GilbertNay, more, that Master Striker will be willing to give his grandchild to your son, so you’ll give your consent.

27TouchwoodAnd your coming is to persuade that, is it not? If it be so, speak; deal plainly with me, gentlemen, whilst yet you are welcome.

28WalterInsooth it is so, we come to negotiate the match for your son, and your friendship with old Master Striker.

29TouchwoodYou are not welcome.

30GilbertBut when you weigh the reasons and consider the perfect love of the young pair, and how the world will praise your reconciliation and bless the providence that made their loves the means to work their parents’ charity?

31TouchwoodAgain? You are not welcome.

33WalterBut our fathers loved their children.

34TouchwoodYour fathers were a couple of doting fools, and you a pair of saucy knaves. Now you are not welcome; and more than so, get you out of my doors!

35GilbertWill you sir, by your wilfulness, cast away your son?

36TouchwoodMy son? No son of mine, I have cast him off already for casting an eye upon the daughter of mine enemy. Let him go; let him pack; let him perish. He comes not within these doors; and you, that are his fine spoken spokesmen, get you off o’my ground, I charge you.

37WalterWe are gone, sir: only but wishing you Master Touchwood to remember that your son’s your son.

38TouchwoodIndefinitely not, sir; until he does not only renounce all interest in the love of that baggage, but do some extraordinary mischief in that family to right me for the trespass he has done; and so win my good opinion, till which be done a daily curse of mine he shall not miss; and so you may inform him.[TOUCHWOOD] Exit[s].

39GilbertWhat an uncharitable wretch is this?

40WalterThe touchiest piece of Touchwood that e’er I met withal.

41GilbertI feared we should inflame him.

42WalterAll the comfort is his son may yet outlive him.

43GilbertBut the danger is his father may disinherit him.

44WalterHe cannot be so devilish.    [SAMUEL enters, deep in contemplation.]*n5628 In all the references to Samuel's contemplative mood here and in the passionate encounter between him and Annabel in the following scene of the first act, there appear to be a series of self-conscious intertheatrical allusions to the archetypal early modern lovers Romeo and Juliet and to the parental strife they suffered at the hands of.     Here comes his son, a gentleman of so sweet a disposition and so contrary to his crabbed†gg3852 of a disagreeably forward or fractious nature sire that a man who never heard of his mother’s virtue might wonder who got him for him.

45GilbertNot at all I assure you. Sam is his father’s known son, for the old man, you see, is gentle enough till he be incensed; and the son, being moved, is as fiery as the father.

46WalterBut he is very seldom and slowly moved; his father often and o’the sudden.

47GilbertAye, prithee, would’st thou have green wood*n5627 fresh untreated wood, often left to season before use. Interestingly the early modern theatres were themselves constructed from green oak timbers seasoned in forests. take fire as soon as that which is old and sere†gg3365 dried up and withered ?

73StrikerYou will not assault me in mine own house*n5712 A typical line to help the audience locate the new location of the scene in Striker's house. ? I hope you will not; nor urge me beyond my patience with your borrowing attempts! Good Sir Hugh Moneylacks, I hope you will not.

75StrikerPrivate conference! A new coined word for borrowing of money. I tell you, your very face, your countenance (though it be glossed*n5632 Q (glosled) with knighthood) looks so borrowingly that the best words you give me are as dreadful as ‘Stand and deliver*n5714 The traditional catchphrase of highwaymen when intending to rob a coach or travellers on horseback. Striker is comparing Moneylacks to a common criminal in this regard. ’ and there I think I was wi’ye*n5713 = I think I understood (or deceiphered) you correctly. This is Striker's tag line throughout this scene. Brome was fond of giving characters linguistic markers in this way; compare Sir Paul Squelch's fondness for the term 'directly' in The Northern Lass. . I am plain wi’ye, sir, old Will Striker, aye.

76MoneylacksMy father Striker, I am bold to call you.

77StrikerYour father! No, I desire no such near acquaintance with you, good Sir Hugh Moneylacks: you are a knight and a noble gentleman and I am but an esquire and out of debt; and there I think I was wi’ye again.

78MoneylacksI shall be with you, anon, when you have talked yourself out of breath.

79Striker’Tis true I had the honour to be your worship’s father in law when time was that your knighthood married and ladified†gg3855 i.e. made into a lady (usually by marriage) a poor daughter of mine. But yet she had five thousand pounds in her purse, if you please to remember it; and, as I remember, you had then fourteen hundred a year: but where is it now? And where is my daughter now? Poor abused innocent; your riotousness abroad and her long night watches at home shortened her days and cast her into her grave – And ’twas not long before all your estate was buried too; and there I was wi’ye again, I take it. But that could not fetch her again*n7164 i.e. bring her back to life .

81StrikerNor mourned more justly: it is your only wearing*n5633 The implication is that Sir Hugh appears onstage in mourning attire. This would be highly unusual seven years after his the death of his wife. Mourning clothing was usually worn for a year. Striker suggests that this is less out of intense grief for his late wife than for the fact that Moneylacks cannot afford to replace his wardrobe due to his state of indebtedness. . You have just none other, nor have had means to purchase better any time these seven years as I take it. By which means you have got the name of the mourning knight; and there I am sure I was wi’ye.

82MoneylacksSir, if you will not be pleased to hear my desires to you, let me depart without your derision.

83StrikerEven when you please, and whither you please, good Sir Hugh Moneylacks: my house shall be no enchanted castle to detain your knight-errantship from your adventures*n5634 Striker plays with images and ideas from medieval romance here in order to indicate how far from the ideal of chivalry a knight such as Sir Hugh has fallen. . I hope your errand hither was but for your dinner, and so far forth (and especially at your going forth) you are welcome. Your daughter I do keep, and will for her poor mother’s sake that was my daughter, peace be with her. She shall be no more a trouble to you, nor be your child any longer: I have made her mine. I will adopt her into mine own name*n5636 Striker announces his decision here to adopt Annabel as his formal daughter which explains the confusion of terms in the play. Annabel is both his grand-daughter and his daughter in this respect. Brome seems to make comic capital of the confusion this creates. and make her a Striker; she shall be no more a Moneylacks, and if she please me well in matching with a husband, I know what I will do for her.

84MoneylacksI thank you, sir.

85StrikerDo you thank me, sir? I assure you you need not; for I mean so to order her estate and bind it up in that trust that you shall never finger a farthing on’t: am I wi’ye, sir?

86MoneylacksI cannot choose but thank you though in behalf of my child.

87StrikerCall her your child again, or let me but hear that you suffer her to ask you a bare blessing, I’ll send her after you upon adventures, Sir Knight: and who shall give a portion†gg1143 dowry (monies, goods or lands brought by the wife to augment her husband’s estate on their marriage) with her then? Or what can she hope from a father that groans under the weight of a knighthood for want of means to support it?

88MoneylacksI shall find means to live without your trouble hereafter.

89StrikerYou may, you may. You have a wit, Sir Hugh, and a projective one*n5637 Striker refers to the financial projects many courtiers became involved in during the early Stuart period, some of them more realistic and successful than others, such as fen-drainage. . What, have you some new project†gg3544 plan or design a scheme for (OED v1. 1a) (often used by Brome to suggest a scam or cheat of some kind) afoot now to outgo that of the handbarrows*n7165 one of several phrases for sedan chairs in the play; they are also referred to as 'hand-litters' at one point and the men who carry them are described as 'littermen' in the persons of the play. Sedan chairs were a new phenomenon in London in the 1630s and the subject of many references in plays and pamhplets. including Henry Peacham's 1635 pamphlet playlet, Coach and Sedan. – what call you ’em, the sedans*n5638 Sedan chairs had recently become a very fashionable mode of transport in the streets with London. Henry Peacham refers to the phenomenon in his pamphlet Coach and Sedan (London, 1637). See also Act 4 of The Antipodes. ? Oh, cry you mercy, cry you mercy; I heard you had put in for a share at the Asparagus Garden*n5635 This is the first mention of the central setting of the play. We will not actually enter the Asparagus Garden until the third act. The Prologue to the play as published makes a knowing reference to this withholding of the title location until the middle of the play. , or that at least you have a pension†gg4825 regular payment, fee thence – to be their gather-guest*n7166 i.e. Sir Hugh brings new custom (he quite literally gathers guests for the gardener and his wife who are its tenant managers) to the Asparagus Garden and presumably gets commission or a share of the profits as a result. and bring ’em custom – and that you play the Fly of The New Inn*n5639 Fly is a character in Ben Jonson's 1629 play The New Inn who is at the centre of operations in the inn that forms the setting for the action. He is variously described as having been signed over to the Host in the inventory of the building and as a gypsy but the comparison would ensure that audiences saw Moneylacks as a kind of servant to the owners of The Asparagus Garden. there and sip with all companies. Am I wi’ye there, sir?

90MoneylacksYou may be when you please, sir. I can command the best entertainment there for your money.

91StrikerIn good time, sir.

92MoneylacksIn the meantime, sir, I had no mind to beg nor borrow of you, and though you will not give me leave to call you father, nor my daughter my daughter, yet I thought it might become my care to advertise†gg3856 warn you (that have taken the care of her from me) of a danger that will much afflict you, if it be not carefully prevented.

93StrikerHow’s this?

94MoneylacksYou have an adversary –

95StrikerBut one that I know, the rascal, my neighbour Touchwood.

96MoneylacksThere I am wi’ye, sir. I am informed that his only son is an earnest suitor to your daughter (I must not call her mine)

97StrikerHow’s that?

98MoneylacksThat there is a deep secret love betwixt ’em; and that they have had many private meetings; and a stolen match very likely to be made if you prevent it not.

99StrikerCan this be true?

100MoneylacksGive me but a piece†gg2873 coin, usually gold, and at this date the equal of twenty-two shillings (the spending worth in today's currency would be £94.38p.) from you, and if by due examination you find it not so, I’ll never see your face again till you send for me.

101StrikerTo be rid of you, take it.Gives [MONEYLACKS the money].

102MoneylacksI am gone, sir, and yet I think I’m wi’ye.[MONEYLACKS] Exit[s].

103StrikerIs the devil become a match-broker*n7167 i.e. an arranger of marriages ? What, who within there? What?[He calls offstage]

104FriswoodHere, sir, I am here forsooth.

105StrikerAre you so, forsooth? But where’s your mistress, forsooth?

106Friswood   [Aside]*n5640 It is interesting that Friswood's first line in the play is an aside (possibly delivered to the audience) indicating that she has overheard the previous scene and will think on her feet to protect Sam and Annabel from the consequences. This immediately positions her somewhat within our sympathies and Brome's decision to give asides and soliloquies to female characters in this way is present in other plays such as The Northern Lass, where it is the female characters alone who speak (albeit brief) soliloquies. Friswood has a direct counterpart in that play in the role of Trainwell, Sir Paul Squelch's housekeeper who has also been in his employ since the days of his late wife.    Listening is good sometimes; I heard their talk, and am glad on’t.

107StrikerWhere is your mistress, I say?

108FriswoodMy mistress, Annabel, forsooth, my young mistress?

109StrikerWhat other mistress hast thou but the devil’s dam herself, your old mistress*n5641 This is Striker's less than flattering reference to his late wife. ? And her I ask not for, good Mistress Flibber de Jibb*n5642 A play on the term flibbertigibit, meaning a gossip or a frivolous woman. with the French fly-flap†gs710 headwear or hood o’your coxcomb.

110Friswood   [Aside]   Is the old man mad trow?

111StrikerI ask for Annabel.

112FriswoodBless me, how do you look!

113StrikerWhere’s Annabel I say? Fetch her me quickly, lest I beat her out of your old white-leather hide*n5643 Striker's implication is that Friswood has very leathery old skin. This leads into a whole series of ageist references. .

114FriswoodHow youthful you are grown! She is not far to fetch, sir; you know you commanded her to her chamber and not to appear in sight till her debauched father was gone out o’the house.

115StrikerAnd is not he gone now forsooth? Why call you her not?

116FriswoodI warrant he has told you some tale on her. That lewd†gg733 vile, evil; worthless; lascivious knight, now he has undone himself by his unthrifty practices, begins to practise the undoing of his daughter too! Is it not so forsooth? Has he not put some wickedness into your head to set you against her?

117StrikerI never knew thee a witch till now.

118FriswoodHa, ha, ha; I warrant he told you that your adversary Touchwood’s son and my mistress Annabel are in love-league together*n7168 i.e. conducting an illicit romance .

119StrikerMarry did he; and I will know the truth.

120FriswoodHa, ha, ha!

121StrikerDarest thou laugh at me?

122FriswoodNo, no; but I laugh at the poor knight’s officiousness in hope of some great reward for the gullery†gg2480 trickery that I put upon him: ha, ha, ha*n5716 This phrase or the act of laughing effectively punctuates Friswood's speech enabling her to improvise and think on her feet. It's a form of buying of mental time to process what needs to be done in the situation. . Good sir, a little patience, and I will tell you. Ha, ha, ha – ’twas I that devised it for a lie, and told it him in hope that his telling it to you would provoke you to beat him out o’the house for reporting a thing that had had no probability or resemblance of truth in it.

123StrikerIs it but so?

124FriswoodSir, I have been your creature†gg40 one ready to do another's bidding, puppet (through patronage or devotion) (OED 5) this thirty years, down lying and uprising*n5644 Friswood implies that there has been a sexual relationship between herself and her employer. (as you know), and you should believe me. You had me in my old mistress’s days ――

125StrikerAye, thou wast a handsome young wench then; now thou art old.

126FriswoodYet not so wondrous old as to be sung in a ballet*n5645 This is one of several references in the play to the newly fashionable art-form of ballet which was enjoying particular prominence at the Caroline court due to the French Queen consort Henrietta Maria's patronage. The French court's predeliction for extravagant spectacular ballets, often with romantic or moral themes, also influenced the English court masque at this time. (See Britland, 2006.) for’t, or to have been able ere Adam wore beard to have crept into Eve’s bed, as I did into my mistress’s*n5646 As at other points in the play Friswood implies that she has had a sexual relationship with her employer. . Heaven pardon you, as I do with all my heart.Weep[s].

127StrikerWhat in thy fooleries now?

128FriswoodNor so old neither but you are content to make a sorry shift†gg3794 movement (sometimes with a sexual meaning) with me still, as your abilities will serve you*n5717 There are numerous implications of Striker's impotency or fading sexual prowess in the course of this exchange with Friswood, with whom he appears to have sexual relations of a sort. ――Weep[s].

129StrikerCome, come; thou art not old.

130FriswoodNay that’s not what troubles me; but that I, that served you before your daughter was born – I mean your daughter that was mother to this daughter which now you have made your daughter*n5718 This is an example of a moment where Brome draws comic attention to his own convoluted plotline. – that I that saw the birth, the marriage, and the death of your daughter and have had the governance of this her daughter ever since, till now she is marriageable; and have all this while been as pliant as a twig about you, and as true as the sheath to your steel*n5719 A proverbial expression for loyalty although in context there are clearly also bawdy sexual undertones to the phrase. , as we say, that I should now be mistrusted to connive at an ill match for her, for whom my chiefest care has been from the cradle? There’s the unkindness.Weep[s].

131StrikerEnough, enough; Fid*n5648 Possibly Striker's familiar shortening of Friswood's surname (Annabel, however, calls her Fris); possibly an indicator of her first name, perhaps Fidelity, which would certainly describe her loyal thirty years service to her employer. , I believe there is no such matter.

132FriswoodI thought you had known me–Weep[s].

133StrikerI do, I do; I prithee, good Fid*n5648 Possibly Striker's familiar shortening of Friswood's surname (Annabel, however, calls her Fris); possibly an indicator of her first name, perhaps Fidelity, which would certainly describe her loyal thirty years service to her employer. , be quiet, it was a witty trick of thee to mock the poor knight withal. But, a pox on him, he cost me a piece†gg2873 coin, usually gold, and at this date the equal of twenty-two shillings (the spending worth in today's currency would be £94.38p.) for his news. There’s another for thee:   [Gives FRISWOOD some money.]   but the best is he hath tied himself by it never to trouble me more; I have that into my bargain.

134FriswoodAnd you would tie me so, too, would you?[She tries to give the money back to him.]

135StrikerNot so, Fid, not so; but look to my girl, and thus far mark me: if ever I find that young Touchwood, the son of that miscreant†gg4826 reprobate whose hatred I would not lose for all the good neighbourhood in the parish*n5720 The importance of parish politics and the ideas of a neighbourhood are palpable in this play. ; if ever I say, he and your charge do but look upon one another, I’ll turn her and you both out o’ doors. There I will be wi’ye, look to’t.

136FriswoodAgreed, sir; agreed.

137StrikerLook to’t, I say. I must abroad; my anger is not over yet. I would l could meet my adversary to scold it out; I shall be sick else. [STRIKER] Exit[s].

138Friswood   [Aside]   ’Twas well I overheard’em; my young lovers had been spoiled else. Had not I crossed the old angry man’s purpose before he had met with the young timorous virgin, she had confessed all; and all had been dashed now.

139AnnabelHow now, Fris, is my grandfather gone out of door?

140FriswoodIf he were as safe out o’the world, it were well for you.

141AnnabelNay, say not so, good Fris.

142FriswoodYour unlucky father has destroyed all your hopes in Master Sam Touchwood; in discovering your loves (what devil soever gave him the intelligence) and you must resolve never to see your sweet Sam again.

143AnnabelI must resolve to die first: oh!Sinks.

144Friswood’Ods pity! How now! Why mistress, why Annabel, why mistress Annabel; look up, look up, I say, and you shall have him ’spite of your grandfather and all his works. What, do you think I am an infidel†gg4827 an unbeliever (usually in the context of a dominant religion) to take Master Samuel’s forty pieces and a runlet†gg3728 cask or vessel of varying capacity; or the quantity of liquor contained therein of old muscadine†gg2803 a sweet wine made from the muscat grape for nothing? Come, be well, and indeed you shall have him.

145AnnabelOh, Sam, sweet Sam ――

146Friswood   [Aside]   These lovesick maids seldom call upon other saints than their sweethearts.   [To ANNABEL]   Look up I say, your sweet Sam is coming.

147AnnabelHa, where? where is he? Why do you abuse me?

148FriswoodI say he will come presently. Look up, I say. Forgive me, he comes indeed:

   [Aside]   my master thought I was a witch, and I now suspect myself for one.   [To SAMUEL]   Oh master Samuel, how came you hither?   [To ANNABEL]   Here he is, mistress.   [To SAMUEL]   What mean you to come now to undo her and yourself too? Yet she had died and you had not come as you did.   [To ANNABEL]   Why do you not look upon him and be well?   [To SAMUEL]   Get you gone, we are all undone if my master come back and find you. Speak to her quickly, then kiss her and part; you will be parted for ever else.

149SamuelHow fares my love?

151FriswoodI made you not die as you will die if you stand prattling†gg4828 talking foolishly (OED v.) till my master return and take you. For, Master Samuel, I must tell you, Master Samuel, he knows all, Master Samuel.

153FriswoodWhat horrible thing must we do trow? Pray, let me see the paper. I hope there is no pistolling†gg3795 action of shooting with a pistol nor poisoning in it. Though my old Striker come short of the man he was to be*n5723 further connotations of Striker's fading sexual prowess in his old age with me, I would be loath to shorten his days with the danger of my neck*n5650 i.e. the risk of hanging for the attempted murder of Striker. or making a bonfire in Smithfield*n5651 i.e. being burned as a witch in the market square (Friswood is being partly hyperbolic here in that witch-burnings had not taken place in London in recent times). . Pray, let me see the paper.

154SamuelNot until my departure, gentle Friswood.

155FriswoodIs there such horror in it that you dare not stand the opening of the paper?