ACT THREE*
n7025
Act 3 contains two of the centrepiece scenes of the play. The first is 3.1, at the heart of which is the section in which Quicksands paints Millicent black: a section that Brome expanded and lengthened in revision, putting extra emphasis on the visual emblem of the act of painting itself. It is, in a sense, the eponymous moment of the play, and fitly occupies the central position within it. The second, and more conventionally impressive centrepiece scene is 3.2, a noisy and lively 'place-realism' depiction of the Devil Tavern in Fleet Street. While offstage drinkers shout requests, and serving-boys career in and out, Buzzard becomes steadily more and more drunk: a bravura scene for a comic actor. And hanging over the whole tavern scene (if a location-board is used) is the emblem of the Devil Tavern: a woman turning into a black monster [NOTE n3370]. Finally, with striking economy, 3.3 collects together and advances the other strands of the plot, not merely for the characters present in it but for those - like Dionysia and Rafe - whose unfolding story is merely described in their absence.
n7025
3.1
[Enter] QUICKSANDS, BUZZARD [and] MADGE.
413QuicksandsOut of my doors, pernicious†gg2143
harmful
knave†gg779
rogue, scoundrel
and harlot†gs290
not necessarily sexual: can be a generally pejorative term for a woman
!
gg2143
gg779
gs290
Avaunt†gg2144
be off with you
, I say.
gg2144
414BuzzardGood master—
416QuicksandsYou have all the wages you are like to have.
417BuzzardNay, I dare take your word for that: you’ll keep
If you but gripe†gg3219
grasp
it once.
gg3219
418QuicksandsI am undone,
And shamed for ever by your negligence,
Or malice rather: for how can it be
She could depart my house without your knowledge*n4289
Another mean trick by Quicksands: doubtless they would have noticed her leaving had she left, but she is still in the inner parts of the house. (Similarly duplicitous is his later instruction to them not to return to the house until they have found her).
?
n4289
419BuzzardThat cursed mistress that ever she came here!
If I know of her flight, sir, may these hands
Never be held up, but to curse you only,
If you cashier†gg151
dismiss (a military term originally, frequently misapplied to relations between master and servant)
me thus: because you have lost
gg151
Poor innocents be guilty?
420MadgeFor my part,
Or aught I know, she may as well be gone
Out o’the chimney top as out o’door.
421QuicksandsThe door must be your way; and find her out,
Or never find my door again. Be gone.
422Buzzard and MadgeO, you are a cruel master.[BUZZARD and MADGE] exit.
423QuicksandsSo, so, so†gg3220
an interjection indicating that the speaker is thinking aloud (it is used, for instance, by Quicksands in The English Moor; Letoy in The Antipodes; and Touchwood in The Asparagus Garden)
.
gg3220
These cries are laughter to me, ha, ha, ha!
I will be master of my invention once,
And now be bold to see how rich I am
In my concealed wealth. Come, precious mark*n2529
The 'mark' is the bullseye of an archery target (a metaphor which Quicksands goes on to develop).
n2529
Of beauty and perfection, at which Envy
Enter MILLICENT.
And Lust aim all their rankling poisonous arrows*n2530
Lust's arrows are Cupid's arrows, already mentioned in this play; emblematically, Envy too is frequently represented with arrows. Cf. John Lyly, Endymion, 5.1.139-143: 'Envy with a pale and meagre face... stood shooting at stars, whose darts fell down again on her own face.'
.
n2530
But I’ll provide they ne’er shall touch thy blood.
424MillicentWhat, are your servants gone?
425QuicksandsTurned, turned away,
With blame enough for thy supposed escape:
Which they will rumour so to my disgrace
Abroad, that all my envious adversaries
Will, betwixt joy of my conceived misfortune
Run frantic through the streets, while we at home
Sit safe, and laugh at their defeated malice.
426MillicentBut now for my disguise.
427QuicksandsAye, that, that, that.
Be but so good and gentle to thyself
To hear me, and be ruled by me in that.
Give me but peace the way that I desire it—
428Millicent [Aside] Some horrible shape sure that he conjures so.
Over the lustful stallions†gg2145
a punning usage involving the sense of a) a male horse; b) by extension, a lustful man (OED n. 2b)
of our time;
gg2145
'Bed-bounders', and 'leap-ladies'*n2531
Both, apparently, coinages to describe promiscuous men.
, as they term ’em,
n2531
'Mount-mistresses'*n2532
Seemingly, another Brome coinage for a lustful man.
, diseases shackle*n2533
Optative: 'may diseases shackle them' (that is, disable them, as if their limbs were chained up).
’em,
n2532
n2533
430MillicentCome to the point. What’s the disguise, I pray you?
431QuicksandsFirst know, my sweet, it was the quaint device*n2535
The same phrase used by Millicent earlier, and in the stage directions of Shakespeare, The Tempest, 3.3.52, to describe the means by which Ariel causes the banquet to vanish. Virginia Mason Vaughan glosses the phrase as: 'a vague reference to stage machinery by someone who knows little about theater mechanics. Quicksands, an amateur producer/director, sees his black paint as a way to create a theatrical spectacle, his own version of The Masque of Blackness' (Vaughan, 2005, 117).
n2535
Of a Venetian merchant, which I learnt
In my young factorship*n2534
The office of a 'factor', or merchant's agent. An important detail of the backstory: Quicksands belongs to the merchant world, having learned his craft in Venice, the major trading port linking Western Europe and the Levant.
.
n2534
432MillicentThat of the moor?
An negro of me?
433QuicksandsYou have passed your word*n2536
That is: given your word.
,
n2536
That if I urge not to infringe your vow
For keeping this month your virginity,
Kill vain attempts in me, and guard you safe
From all that seek subversion of your honour.
I’ll fear no powdered†gg2751
wearing hair-powder, a marker of being fashionable
spirits*n2561
A pun obtains here, referring to a) fashionable young men; b) evil demons. Quicksands' imagination conflates the two senses, and he goes on in the next line to develop the trope of young men as monsters.
to haunt my house,
gg2751
n2561
Rose-footed†gg2752
a rose is 'an ornamental knot of ribbon or other material in the shape of a rose, worn upon a shoe-front' (OED n. 15); someone "rose-footed", then, is fashionably dressed
fiends, or fumigated†gg2753
perfumed
goblins
gg2752
gg2753
’Twill cool their kidneys*n2562
He means 'dampen their lust'. The liver, not the kidneys, was usually thought of as the seat of desire, but Quicksands' vaguely medical terminology is approximate rather than exact.
and allay their heats.
n2562
[QUICKSANDS shows MILLICENT] a box of black painting.*n2563
The 'painting' probably consists of a mixture of two components: a black pigment, and a base. The base may well have been lard or tallow, while early texts record various possible black pigments including charcoal; burnt cork; and more exotic alternatives including burnt cherrystones and burnt ivory (Vaughan, 2005, 11; Karim-Cooper, 2007). Cf. also this account from a nineteenth-century theatrical manual;
n2563
[T]he performer should cover the face and neck with a thin coat of pomatum, or what is better, though more disagreeable, of lard; then burn a cork to powder, and apply it with a hare's foot, or a cloth, the hands wet with beer which will fix the colouring matter.(Leman Thomas Rede, The Road to the Stage [1836], cited in Vaughan, 2005, 11).
434MillicentBless me! you fright me, sir. Can jealousy
Creep into such a shape?*n2564
Can jealousy assume such a strange form? An elegant line: Millicent is the one whose 'shape' is most obviously being altered by this subterfuge, but she identifies jealousy as the true shape-shifter. Cf. Quicksands' earlier fears that he may become a 'horned monster', and also The Antipodes, 5.1.speech190, where Jealousy itself is figured on stage as a half-formed monster.
Would you blot out
n2564
Heaven’s workmanship?
435QuicksandsWhy, thinkst thou, fearful beauty,
Has heaven no part in Egypt? Pray thee tell me,
Is not an Ethiop’s†gg2755
(literally) a person from Ethiopia; but used in a much vaguer sense to describe anyone black-skinned
face his workmanship
gg2755
As well as the fair’st lady's? nay, more too
Some can be pleased to lie in oils and paste
This, which is sacred, is for sin’s prevention.
Illustrious persons, nay, even queens*n2567
A clear reference to Jonson's The Masque of Blackness, performed in 1605, in which King James's wife, Anne of Denmark, and her retinue wore blackface make-up.
Conceivably, Brome may also have been aware of Mr Moore's Revels, an amateur entertainment performed at Oxford in 1636 in which the actors, presumably members of the University, blacked themselves up as Moors to celebrate a student named Moore. For an edition of and commentary on Mr Moore's Revels, see Elliott (1984).
themselves
n2567
To grace the work, suffered as much as this.
436MillicentEnough, sir, I am obedient.
437QuicksandsNow I thank thee.
Be fearless, love; this alters not thy beauty,
Though, for a time, obscures it from our eyes.
Thou mayst be white*n2568
] MS; while O.
at pleasure; like the sun*n2572
] MS; Sun; O. A consequential error from corrupting 'white' to 'while'.
,
n2568
n2572
Thou dost but case thy splendour in a cloud*n2586
Cf. Hal's speech in Shakespeare, 1 Henry IV, 1.2.191-7 (Steen).
,
n2586
To make the beam more precious when*n2569
] MS; in O. Again, O's version is an obvious corruption of the MS reading.
it shines.
n2569
In stormy troubled weather no sun’s seen
But let the roaring tempest once be over,
Shine out again and spare not*n2570
(Shine out) as much as you like.
.
n2570
438MillicentThere’s some comfort.
439QuicksandsTake pleasure in the scent first*n2577
Efstathiou-Lavabre (2003) notes Quicksands' sensuous, eroticized appreciation of the make-up.
; smell to’t fearlessly,
n2577
And taste my care in that, how comfortable
’Tis to the nostril, and no foe to feature*n2576
He means, no foe to beauty. As Karim-Cooper points out, in her perceptive reading of this play's use of make-up, Quicksands is literally correct: whereas whitening make-up tended to use poisonous and corrosive ingredients, 'the materials likely used to paint faces black were not poisonous' (Karim-Cooper, 2007, p. 146, reproduced in this edition).
.
n2576
[QUICKSANDS] begins to paint her.
n2575
When does Quicksands first apply black paint to her face? It has not happened by the first line of the speech, where he offers it her to smell; it has happened by 'What murder have I done upon a cheek there'. Indications in between are ambiguous. 'Farewell' appears to indicate a decisive moment of painting, but this decisiveness is retracted by the following phrase 'before I part with you'.
Secondly, what is the tone of this important sequence? Extensive workshopping revealed many possibilities. On the one hand, it was possible to play the scene seriously, looking to emphasise the cruelty of Quicksands and the violation of Millicent; on the other, it was possible to make the scene extremely funny, by comically emphasising the distance between Quicksands' inflated poetic rhetoric, and the action he undertakes . Various tones in between were also possible. The videos also demonstrate the different audience response obtained by each version: the way in which the laughing audience almost becomes complicit in Quicksands' enthusiastic humiliation of his wife, while the silent audience of the 'serious' version can hear the details of the words with which he accompanies his painting, and has more room to contemplate what they reveal about his motivations. The same effect applies to Millicent, too: one might say that the 'serious' version fits with the Millicent we see in Act Five Scene Two, the self-possessed, dignified heroine, whereas the 'comic' version offered, in effect, the Millicent of Act One Scene Three, able at least to see the absurdity of her predicament.
A lot, of course, depends on the practicalities of the making-up. Whereas, in the 'straight' version, Quicksands goes first to make up Millicent's eyes, as the text partly suggests, the more comic alternatives included smearing black around the whole face in one movement; or starting off by giving Millicent a black moustache.
In some workshopped versions, Millicent faced upstage, away from the audience, so that the audience did not get to see her reactions and could not see her blackened face until she got up to exit, an effect which created a strong coup de théâtre at the cost of giving her nothing to do in the earlier part of the scene. Another suggestion was that Quicksands start by painting on one side of her face, and not the other, so that parts of the audience can see what's going on but others cannot. By a felicitous accident, one video sequence mimics this effect, since the live audience can see Millicent's blackened face before the camera (whose view of it is blocked by the actor's script).
One final question: how completely black is Millicent by the end of the scene? One's instant assumption is that Millicent finishes the scene with a visibly but partially blackened face, more or less as happens in our, admittedly tentative, experiments along these lines: and . This would also fit with Quicksands' instruction that she finish the job herself in her own room. (In additional, a very partial blacking would run less risk of damaging Millicent's expensive costume: I owe this observation to Jenny Tiramani). However, one should also entertain the alternative idea. With practice, an accomplished performer might be able, in yet another virtuoso effect, to make a passably complete blackening in the available time.
.
n2575
Secondly, what is the tone of this important sequence? Extensive workshopping revealed many possibilities. On the one hand, it was possible to play the scene seriously, looking to emphasise the cruelty of Quicksands and the violation of Millicent
; on the other, it was possible to make the scene extremely funny, by comically emphasising the distance between Quicksands' inflated poetic rhetoric, and the action he undertakes . Various tones in between were also possible. The videos also demonstrate the different audience response obtained by each version: the way in which the laughing audience almost becomes complicit in Quicksands' enthusiastic humiliation of his wife, while the silent audience of the 'serious' version can hear the details of the words with which he accompanies his painting, and has more room to contemplate what they reveal about his motivations. The same effect applies to Millicent, too: one might say that the 'serious' version fits with the Millicent we see in Act Five Scene Two, the self-possessed, dignified heroine, whereas the 'comic' version offered, in effect, the Millicent of Act One Scene Three, able at least to see the absurdity of her predicament. A lot, of course, depends on the practicalities of the making-up. Whereas, in the 'straight' version, Quicksands goes first to make up Millicent's eyes, as the text partly suggests, the more comic alternatives included smearing black around the whole face in one movement; or starting off by giving Millicent a black moustache
.
In some workshopped versions, Millicent faced upstage, away from the audience, so that the audience did not get to see her reactions and could not see her blackened face until she got up to exit, an effect which created a strong coup de théâtre at the cost of giving her nothing to do in the earlier part of the scene. Another suggestion was that Quicksands start by painting on one side of her face, and not the other, so that parts of the audience can see what's going on but others cannot. By a felicitous accident, one video sequence mimics this effect, since the live audience can see Millicent's blackened face before the camera (whose view of it is blocked by the actor's script).One final question: how completely black is Millicent by the end of the scene? One's instant assumption is that Millicent finishes the scene with a visibly but partially blackened face, more or less as happens in our, admittedly tentative, experiments along these lines:
and . This would also fit with Quicksands' instruction that she finish the job herself in her own room. (In additional, a very partial blacking would run less risk of damaging Millicent's expensive costume: I owe this observation to Jenny Tiramani). However, one should also entertain the alternative idea. With practice, an accomplished performer might be able, in yet another virtuoso effect, to make a passably complete blackening in the available time. Now red and white, those two united houses*n2578
Dynasties. Quicksands' conceit is that the red and white are like two noble families, and that Beauty is their offspring.
n2578
Whence beauty takes her fair name and descent,
Like peaceful sisters under one roof dwelling,
For a small time farewell Oh let me kiss ye*n2579
Another line suggesting Quicksands finds this situation erotic, kissing the cheek one last time before painting it. An alternative performance option would be to have Quicksands kiss it after having partially painted it, thus smudging a little black facepaint onto his own face as well.
n2579
Before I part with you— now, jewels, up
Those sparkling eyes, that send forth modest anger
To singe the hand of so unkind a painter,
And make me pull’t away and spoil my work,
They will look straight like diamonds, set in lead*n2580
Proverbial for something of value whose value is not impaired by its unworthy setting. Cf. Webster, A Monumental Columne (1613), A2r: 'As a perfect diamond set in lead, /
Scorning our foil, his glories do break forth'. Also, like the 'ebon', diamonds are a product exported from the East.
,
n2580
That yet retain their virtue and their value.
What murder have I done upon a cheek there!
But there’s no pitying: ’Tis for peace and honour;
And pleasure must give way. Hold, take the tincture,
And perfect what’s amiss now by your glass*n2581
A looking-glass, possibly a small hand-mirror. Another performance decision: is this mirror offstage, a convenient justification for Millicent's exit, or is it onstage? The former idea has the advantage of being simpler, and requiring fewer props. However, the latter would allow another coup de théâtre as Millicent sees, for the first time, her besmirched face. In practical terms, too, it would not be impossible to ask Millicent to hold both tincture and mirror at once. For instance, in Mr Moore's Revels the apes black themselves up on stage, each holding both a mirror and an 'inkhorn' of black facepaint (Elliott, 1984, 417).
.
n2581
441QuicksandsPlease your own fancy†gs959
preference (compare the modern idiom 'as the fancy takes you')
. Take my keys of all;
gs959
In my pawn wardrobe*n2582
'A wardrobe in which pawned clothes are kept' (OED pawn n3, C2, citing this as the sole example).
you shall find to fit you.
n2582
443QuicksandsTrust to my care for that. One knocks*n2585
] MS; One knock O. The words are essential to the metre, otherwise it would be tempting to posit that this is a stage direction which has migrated into the text.
. In; in.[MILLICENT] exits [carrying the box].
n2585
Enter PHILLIS like a cook-maid*n4320
Cf. MS, where Phillis's disguise is that of a 'country lass'. Phillis is pretending to be from Norfolk, so as to evade questions about her past; and so desperate now is her plight, that she is looking for a job as a cook-maid, among the lowest-status of servant roles. In fact, the job she finds Quicksands is offering, as lady's maid, is an unexpected promotion from cook-maid (and comparable to the job she briefly held with Lucy) but still a humiliation for Phillis as an ex-gentlewoman.
.
n4320
Is it to me your business?
444PhillisYea, if you
Be Master Quicksands, sir, the master's worship*n2587
The master, who is also deserving of respect: compare the more normal idiom, 'your worship' (OED n, 5).
n2587
Here o’the house.
445QuicksandsI am so. What’s your business?
446Phillis’Tis upon that, sir, I would speak sir, hoping
That you will pardon my presumptuousness,
I am a mawther*n2588
An East Anglian dialect word meaning 'girl or young woman' (OED mawther n.). This sets up a series of bawdy puns on 'maid' = servant/unmarried woman; and 'mawther' = unmarried woman/mother. Quicksands uses the word 'mawther' himself three times in the rest of the scene, and we may imagine him making fun of East Anglian pronunciation each time.
that do lack a service*n2589
Usually the word means a job as a servant; but the use here may carry bawdy overtones.
.
n2588
n2589
447QuicksandsYou have said enough. I’ll entertain no mothers.
A good maidservant, knew I where to find one.
448PhillisHe is a knave, and like your worship*n2590
'If you please'. This is an aphetic abbreviation of 'and [if] it like [pleases] your worship'.
, that
n2590
Dares say I am no maid; and for a servant,
It ill becomes poor folks to praise themselves,
Where maids are mawthers, and mawthers are maids.
For my good bearing†gg2776
behaviour, [good] conduct
.
gg2776
451QuicksandsHast thou?
452PhillisYes indeed, sir.
I have a cousin that is a retorney*n2593
A comic and yokellish mistake for 'attorney' (which is in fact the MS reading).
n2593
Of Lyon’s Inn*n2594
An Inn of Chancery, that is, a training school for chancery lawyers, associated with the Inner Temple. It was located on the northern side of the Strand, in West London.
, that will not see me wronged;
n2594
And an old aunt in Muggle Street*n2595
A London street, running south from St Giles Cripplegate to Silver Street.
, a midwife,
n2595
453QuicksandsBut whereabout in Norfolk wert thou bred?
454PhillisAt Thripperstown*n2597
Real within the world of the play, but not to be found outside it (in spite of the confident statement to the contrary in Sugden [1925]). The name refers to 'thripping' (see below).
, sir, near the city of Norwich.
n2597
455QuicksandsWhere they live much by spinning with the rocks*n2795
A rock is a distaff: 'A cleft staff about 3 feet long, on which, in the ancient mode of spinning, wool or flax was wound. It was held under the left arm, and the fibres of the material were drawn from it through the fingers of the left hand, and twisted spirally by the forefinger and thumb of the right, with the aid of the suspended spindle, round which the thread, as it was twisted or spun, was wound.' (OED rock n.2; OED distaff).
?
n2795
456PhillisThripping*n2796
Specifically, to 'thrip' is to make a jerking movement with one's hand or fingers, and the OED cites Nashe in this connection: 'He with clapping his hands and thripping his fingers seemed to dance an antic'. Hence, in this context, 'thripping' refers in particular to the action of the hand pulling on the yarn (with obvious possible obscene overtones) as part of the process of hand-spinning.
, they call it, sir.
n2796
457QuicksandsDost thou not know one Hulverhead*n2797
A significant name, meaning 'Stupid; muddled; confused; as if the head were enveloped in a hulver [holly] bush' (OED, quoting a nineteenth-century guide to East Anglian dialect). Hulverhead's name, then, has an East Anglian flavour. As will later become clear, John Hulverhead is the East Anglian man paid to look after Quicksands' illegitimate son.
, that keeps
n2797
458PhillisThere are but few innocents i’the country, sir.
They are given too much to law for that. What should
That Hulverhead be? A councillor, sir?
459QuicksandsNo, a husbandman†gg4436
farmer
.
gg4436
460PhillisTruly I know none.
A servant?
462PhillisAt an old wives house in Bow Lane*n2798
London street running south through Cheapside, seemingly associated with hiring servants; cf. CW 1.1.speech91, where Josina expects 'Mistress Piccadell in Bow Lane' to find her a servant.
n2798
That places servants, where a maid came in*n4321
This, of course, is Madge, dismissed earlier on in this scene. Note Brome's characteristically fluid treatment of time. Phillis has come to apply for Madge's job.
n4321
You put away†gg3235
dismissed
to day.
gg3235
463QuicksandsAh*n2799
] MS; All O.
, and what said she?
n2799
She said her fault deserved her punishment
For letting of her mistress run away.
465Quicksands [Aside] The news goes current. I am glad o’that.
466PhillisAnd that you were a very strict hard man,
But very just in all your promises.
And such a master would I serve to choose*n4322
The same apparently inverted word-order occurs in the MS. As Steen suggests, it 'underscores Phillis's affected rustic speech'.
.
n4322
That Bow-lane purveyor, hath fitted me
With serviceable ware†gg2781
goods; specifically, women, imagined as a commodity (OED n3. 4b)
these dozen years.
gg2781
I’ll keep her at the least this gander-month*n2892
Literally, the month after a woman has given birth. 'During that time, husbands plead a sort of indulgence in matters of gallantry' (Grose, cited in OED gander n, 4).
,
n2892
While my fair wife lies in of*n2893
Literally, 'lying in' refers to the period after giving birth (OED lie v1, 24). Quicksands imagines Millicent's confinement to the house as being like her having given birth to her new black face.
her black face
n2893
Lust, when it is restrained, the more ’twill burn.
468PhillisMay I make bold to crave your answer, sir?
469QuicksandsCome in, I’ll talk with you.[QUICKSANDS] exits.
470PhillisProsper now my plot,
And hulk*n2894
Two meanings are current: a) a ship (an image Phillis develops in the next phrase); and b) a 'big, unwieldy person' (OED hulk n2). Perhaps this is a clue to Quicksands' appearance.
, thou art twixt wind and water*n2895
'Referring to that part of a ship's side which is sometimes above water and sometimes submerged, in which part a shot is peculiarly dangerous' (OED wind n1, 30). Hence the phrase was used metaphorically for any injury in a vulnerable spot.
shot.[PHILLIS] exits.
n2894
n2895
3.2
[Enter] NATHANIEL, VINCENT, EDMUND, [and] BUZZARD [into the Devil Tavern*n3370
The Tavern of the Devil and St Dunstan, on Fleet Street in West London, was one of London's leading taverns, owned by the Wadlow family. For Brome, it was associated in particular with his mentor Jonson, who held court there for many years in an upstairs chamber, the Apollo Room, and who christened people his literary 'sons' there. The Devil and its landlord Simon Wadlow are frequently mentioned in Jonson's work, and Jonson also wrote the leges conviviales, a list of mock-laws of tavern etiquette, to be displayed there. This play offers a brief portrait of the tavern in a place-realism mode typical of Brome's London comedies - one might, in particular, compare the representations of the Goat and the Paris taverns in CG. See Simpson (1939); Esdaile (1944); Steggle (2004), arguing that the scene can be construed as an affectionate literary tribute to Jonson, who died in 1637.
The real force of the Devil Tavern, though, may be iconographic. According to the legend which gives the tavern its name, Saint Dunstan, a tenth-century English saint, was working at his forge when the Devil appeared before him in the shape of a beautiful young woman. Dunstan, seeing through the temptation, picked up his tongs and seized the Devil by the nose, whereupon he reverted to his true, monstrous shape.
There survives a tavern-token issued for the Devil Tavern by John Wadlow, son (probably) and successor to Simon, which can be dated (probably) to between 1627 and 1660. On its obverse it illustrates the moment when the devil is changing from young woman back to his true form. Burn, who describes the token, also gives some (unsourced) information about the painted signboard of the Devil Tavern: firstly, that it too depicted this moment of transformation, and secondly, that "the devil on the signboard was as usual sable", that is, black-skinned, which he ascribes to the fact that "the devils often used to appear to the monks in the figure of Ethiopian boys or men" (Burn, 1855, 104-5). The sign of the Devil Tavern, then, was a beautiful woman being transformed into a black-skinned monster. [IMAGE EM_4_2] This motif, of course, reflects ironically upon the previous scene, in which Millicent has changed from white to black. What is more, it may be more than just a subdued metaphor. There is some evidence that early modern drama used "locality boards" to establish location, and that these 'locality boards' often took the form of inn signs (Gurr, 1992, 180, 193, 210). If this were a method used to establish the location of 3.2, then the locality board would show a beautiful woman being transformed into a black monster: exactly what has just happened, literally, in the world of the play in the course of Millicent's transformation.
The devil of the Devil Tavern, black-skinned and looking out over Fleet Street, is another black Londoner in the play, to set alongside Catalina and the other characters more subtly associated with blackness: he is another potential 'English Moor', and he dominates the play's 'place-realism' centre.
. Enter BOY].
n3370
The real force of the Devil Tavern, though, may be iconographic. According to the legend which gives the tavern its name, Saint Dunstan, a tenth-century English saint, was working at his forge when the Devil appeared before him in the shape of a beautiful young woman. Dunstan, seeing through the temptation, picked up his tongs and seized the Devil by the nose, whereupon he reverted to his true, monstrous shape.
There survives a tavern-token issued for the Devil Tavern by John Wadlow, son (probably) and successor to Simon, which can be dated (probably) to between 1627 and 1660. On its obverse it illustrates the moment when the devil is changing from young woman back to his true form. Burn, who describes the token, also gives some (unsourced) information about the painted signboard of the Devil Tavern: firstly, that it too depicted this moment of transformation, and secondly, that "the devil on the signboard was as usual sable", that is, black-skinned, which he ascribes to the fact that "the devils often used to appear to the monks in the figure of Ethiopian boys or men" (Burn, 1855, 104-5). The sign of the Devil Tavern, then, was a beautiful woman being transformed into a black-skinned monster. [IMAGE EM_4_2] This motif, of course, reflects ironically upon the previous scene, in which Millicent has changed from white to black. What is more, it may be more than just a subdued metaphor. There is some evidence that early modern drama used "locality boards" to establish location, and that these 'locality boards' often took the form of inn signs (Gurr, 1992, 180, 193, 210). If this were a method used to establish the location of 3.2, then the locality board would show a beautiful woman being transformed into a black monster: exactly what has just happened, literally, in the world of the play in the course of Millicent's transformation.
The devil of the Devil Tavern, black-skinned and looking out over Fleet Street, is another black Londoner in the play, to set alongside Catalina and the other characters more subtly associated with blackness: he is another potential 'English Moor', and he dominates the play's 'place-realism' centre.
471BoyY’are welcome, gentlemen.
472NathanielLet’s ha’ good wine, boy, that must be our welcome.
473BoyYou shall, you shall sir.
474[A drinker, within]*n4324
] Within. O; Wthin MS. O and MS both indicate, according to Brome's usual practice, an offstage voice. The context indicates that this unseen voice is a drinker at the Devil Tavern.
Ambrose, Ambrose!
n4324
475BoyHere, here, anon†gg236
soon; immediately; in good time
, anon, by and by, I come, I come.[The BOY] exits.
gg236
476[A drinker, within]*n4325
] Within O; Wthin MS. This is probably a second offstage voice, rather than a second line from the first offstage speaker: a device which would help foster the impression of bustle.
Jerome, Jerome, draw a quart of the best canary†gg2800
wine from the Canary Islands (popular throughout the period and the favourite drink of Ben Jonson, among others)
into the Apollo.*n3034
An upstairs room within the Devil Tavern, associated, in particular, with the memory of Jonson: see [NOTE n3370] for further discussion.
n4325
gg2800
n3034
477BuzzardThis is a language that I have not heard. You understand it, gentlemen.
478VincentSo shall you anon, master Buzzard.
479BuzzardYour friend and Jonathan Buzzard*n4326
Delicate social comedy. Buzzard, as a servant, would not have been on first-name terms with the young gentlemen. Aware that their relationship seems to be changing, he offers intimacy by giving his first name, which Nathaniel declines to reciprocate. As the scene unfolds, they negotiate their way towards a compromise form of address, 'friend'.
, kind gentlemen.
n4326
480NathanielWhat excellent luck had we, friend Buzzard, to
meet with thee, just as thy master cast thee off.
481BuzzardJust, sir, as I was going I know not whither:
And now I am arrived at just I know not where. ’Tis a
rich room, this. Is it not Goldsmiths’ Hall*n3035
The guildhall of the guild of goldsmiths, in Foster Lane, London, near St Pauls: the building was completed in 1636, and this therefore is an up-to-the-minute reference.
?
n3035
482NathanielIt is a tavern, man! And here comes the wine.
Enter BOY*n4327
] this edn; Ent Drawere wth wine MS; no SD in O. This SD poses various problems of staging. I assume here that the "Drawer" of the MS SD, addressed as "Boy" in both MS and O, is the same person as the "Boy" already seen, and as the "Boy" who has one line at the end of this scene, although they could equally well be two or three different boys. The Boy here has to arrive and pour the wine without disrupting the flow of the scene, so that his actual entrance onto the stage may be a line or two earlier than here, where this SD is marked in MS.
No further exits or entrances are marked for this character. This edition assumes that the Boy exits and reappears when needed later. But he could also be left onstage throughout, pouring the wine for the gallants and taking a fuller part in the slapstick action of the scene.
with [a jug of] wine [and some drinking vessels. The BOY pours wine for them all].
n4327
Fill, boy— and here’s to thee, friend, a hearty draft to
cheer thee.
[NATHANIEL drinks to BUZZARD*n4331
The key to the comic sequence that follows is the careful management of pace, with Buzzard getting steadily more and more tipsy, while the gallants use more and more underhand methods to keep him drinking. Drunk scenes, offering opportunities for virtuoso clowning, are not uncommon on the Renaissance stage, and a subset of them revolve around drinking toasts: cf. for instance, Jonson, Every Man Out of his Humour, 5.3, where Carlo gets steadily drunker through drinking toasts to himself, or indeed the climax of Brome, CG.
.]
n4331
Fill again boy— There, drink it off.
[BUZZARD drinks to NATHANIEL.]
484BuzzardAnd truly ’tis the best cheer that e’er I tasted.
485VincentCome, taste it better, here’s another to thee.
[BUZZARD's cup is refilled. BUZZARD and VINCENT drink to each other.]
486BuzzardAnd truly this was better than the first.
487EdmundThen try a third. That may be best of all.
[BUZZARD's cup is refilled again. BUZZARD and EDMUND drink to each other.]
488BuzzardAnd truly, so it is— how many sorts of wine*n3036
Buzzard mistakenly thinks the cups he has drunk so far are of different sorts of wine, a sign of his inexperience with drink.
may a vintner bring in one pot together?
n3036
489NathanielBy Bacchus*n3037
Classical god of wine and drunkenness: but in translating him into terms Buzzard will understand, Vincent has to use the language of trade guilds.
, Mr. Buzzard, that’s a subtle question.
n3037
490BuzzardBacchus! Who’s that, I pray?
491VincentA great friend of the vintners, and Master
of their Company.
492BuzzardI was never in all my life so far in a tavern before.
What comforts have I lost!
493Edmund [Aside] Now he begins to talk.
494BuzzardNor ever was, in all my two and twenty years
under that Babylonian*n3038
From Babylon: here, used loosely to mean 'excessively wicked'.
tyrant Quicksands, so far as a vintner’s bar†gs472
counter from which wine is served
but thrice.
n3038
gs472
495NathanielBut thrice in all that time?
496BuzzardTruly, but thrice, sir. And the first time was to
fetch a gill†gg2802
a quarter of a pint
of sack for my master, to make a friend of his
drink, that joined with him in a purchase of sixteen thousand pound*n3287
This means that Quicksands and his partner bought something costing sixteen thousand pounds. This is an enormous sum of money by Caroline standards, for which a gill of sack would seem a miserly celebration. (The modern equivalent in currency in 2009 would be little short of one-and-a-half million pounds.)
.
gg2802
n3287
497VincentAye, there was thrift. More wine boy. A pottle†gg1680
a measure of capacity for liquids (also for corn and other dry goods, rarely for butter), equal to two quarts (four pints or half a gallon): now abolished (OED 1)
and a beer bowl*n3033
A conspicuously large cup for drinking beer out of. One should imagine something like the vessel held by Falstaff in the illustration of The Wits (1662) [IMAGE EM_4_1]. Drinking wine out of such a large vessel is, of course, a recipe for rapid drunkenness, but there is some suggestion that the idea of the practice, at least, was fashionable. Cf. Thomas Jordan, 'A Catch Royal, 1641': 'Here's a jolly health to the King... / Next to the Lady Mary / A beer-bowl of canary'. (Jordan, A royal arbor of loyal poesie [1663], 19).
.
gg1680
n3033
[The BOY brings a heavy jug of wine, and a very large cup. The BOY exits.]
498BuzzardThe second time was for a penny†gg2805
costing a penny
pot of muscadine†gg2803
a sweet wine made from the muscat grape
, which he drank all himself with an egg*n3288
'Wine with egg was sometimes believed to be an aphrodisiac' (Steen).
upon his
wedding morning.
gg2805
gg2803
n3288
499NathanielAnd to much purpose, it seemed, by his wife’s running away.
500BuzzardThe third and last time was for half a pint of sack
upon his wedding night, of later memory*n3289
That is: of more recent times, compared to the other two examples (a rather overblown phrase).
; and I shall
ne’er forget it, that riotous wedding night: when Hell
broke loose, and all the devils danced at our house, which
made my master mad, whose raving made my mistress run
away, whose running away was the cause of my turning away*n3290
That is: me being turned away from Quicksands's employment.
. O me, poor masterless wretch that I am—
O!
n3289
n3290
501NathanielHang thy master. Here’s a full bowl to his confusion.
[NATHANIEL gives BUZZARD the very large cup. BUZZARD drinks.]
502BuzzardI thank you. Let it come, sir, ha, ha, ha*n3291
Note the very rapid transition required from drunken weeping to drunken laughter. This whole routine is an exhibition piece for the clowning skills of Andrew Read.
.
n3291
503VincentThink no more of masters, friends are better than masters.
504BuzzardAnd you are all my friends, kind gentlemen, I
found it before in your money when my master, whose
confusion I have drunk, took your mortgages; and now
I find it in your wine. I thank you kind gentlemen still.
O how I love kind gentlemen.
505NathanielThat shows thou art of gentle blood thy self, friend Buzzard.
506BuzzardYes friend— shall I call you friend?
507AllBy all means, all of us.
508BuzzardWhy then, all friends, I am a gentleman, though
spoiled i’the breeding*n3292
Buzzard is a gentleman by birth, as he believes, but through the poverty of his parents has been educated as a mere manservant. Other manservants in the Brome canon with pretensions to gentry status include the aspirant Cash in NA, and Springlove in JC.
. The Buzzards*n3358
While Buzzard himself likes to trace his name to the Norman French 'Beaudesert', the joke for the audience is that buzzards are birds proverbial for their stupidity.
are all gentlemen. We came in with the Conqueror*n4353
See Sir Amorous La-Foole in Jonson, Epicoene, who similarly boasts: 'They all come out of our house, the La-Fooles of the north, the
La-Fooles of the west, the La-Fooles of the east and south--we are
as ancient a family as any is in Europe--but I myself am descended
lineally of the French La-Fooles' (1.1). See also Letoy's stress on his own ancestry and heraldry in AN. The joke enjoys a long afterlife, reappearing again when Kenneth Williams's appropriately named Judge Burke gives his own family history in Carry On Cowboy (1966).
. Our name (as the
French has it) is Beau-desert*n3357
'Good deserving': a plausible-sounding Norman French surname.
; which signifies— friends,
what does it signify?
n3292
n3358
n4353
n3357
509VincentIt signifies that you deserved fairly at your master’s hands, like a gentleman, and a Buzzard as you
were, and he turned you away most beastly like
a swine as he is. And now here is a health to him
that first finds his wife, and sends her home with a bouncing boy in her belly for him to father.
[Everyone drinks.]
510BuzzardHa, ha, ha! I’ll pledge that: and then I’ll tell you a secret.
511NathanielWell said, friend; up with that, and then out with thy secret.
512BuzzardI will, friend.
[BUZZARD drinks.]
And tother two friends, here’s upon the same.
[BUZZARD drinks again.]
513EdmundI hope he will show us a way, out of the bottom
of his bowl, to find his mistress.
514VincentThis fellow was happily found.
515Buzzard (hiccup)*n4350
] /hickup/ MS; no SD in O.
. This was an excellent draught†gg1013
a quantity of liquid to be consumed, often in a single mouthful
.
n4350
gg1013
516NathanielBut the secret, friend, out with that, you must
keep no secrets amongst friends.
517BuzzardIt might prove a shrewd†gg139
cunning, artful (OED adj. 13a); perhaps also 'difficult, dangerous' or even evil (see OED 4)
matter against my mischievous master, as it may be handled.
gg139
518NathanielHang him, cullion†gg2810
a testicle, hence, figuratively, a rascal
, that would turn thee away.
We’ll help thee to handle it, fear it not.
gg2810
519BuzzardHark you then all friends. Shall I out with it?
520VincentWhat else?
521BuzzardI’ll first take tother cup, and then out with’t altogether—
[BUZZARD drinks.]
And now it comes—
(hiccup)*n4351
] -hickvp MS; no SD in O.
If my mistress do bring
him home a bastard, she’s but even with him.
n4351
523BuzzardThat he has, by this most delicate†gg647
synonym for dainty, with the same food associations; also, 'wanton, blunt, foolish, which knoweth not howe to discerne things, and boasteth vainelie of himselfe' (see Thomas Thomas, Dictionarium Linguae Latinae et Anglicanae (1587) on LEME)
drink. But it
is the arsy-versiest†gg2811
most preposterous (OED arsy-versy a, but the entry has no examples of this superlative form)
oaf†gg2812
(literally) an elf-child, but widely used to mean 'simpleton'
that ever crept into the world.
Sure, some goblin*n3359
Buzzard offers two explanations: either Timsy was fathered by a goblin rather than by Quicksands, or he is a changeling, swapped in the cradle for the true human son.
got it for him; or changed it in the
nest†gg3236
cradle
, that’s certain.
gg647
gg2811
gg2812
n3359
gg3236
524NathanielI vow thou utterest brave things. Is’t a boy?
525BuzzardIt has gone for a boy in short coats and long
coats*n3360
Traditionally, babies wore long coats, garments extending down to the ankles; children wore short coats; and idiots were dressed in long coats, such as that worn by 'Changeling' in the illustration to Kirkman's The Wits [IMAGE EM_4_1]. The point about Timsy, then, is that his dress resembles that of a baby even though he is in his twenties.
this seven and twenty years.
n3360
526EdmundAn idiot, is it?
527BuzzardYes. A very natural†gg2813
'a person having a low learning ability or intellectual capacity' (OED)
; and goes a thissen*n3361
Like this: presumably Buzzard imitates it.
; and
looks as old as I do too. And I think if my beard
were off, I could be like him: I have taken great pains
to practise his speech and action to make myself merry
with him in the country.
gg2813
n3361
528NathanielWhere is he kept, friend, where is he kept?
529BuzzardIn the further side of Norfolk, where you must never
see him. ’Tis now a dozen years since his father saw him,
and then he compounded for*n5243
Struck a deal to cover the cost of.
a sum of money with an old
man, one Hulverhead, to keep him for his lifetime; and
he never to hear of him. But I saw him within these three
months. We hearken after him, as land-sick*n3362
Eager for land: until their fathers die, the heirs cannot take possession of it.
heirs do
after their fathers, in hope to hear of his end at last.
n5243
n3362
530VincentBut hark you, friend, if your beard were off,
could you be like him, think you? What if you cut it off,
and to him for a father*n4352
'And went to him, claiming him for a father'. The construction, without a verb, is unusual, but it is present both in MS and O.
?
n4352
531Nathaniel [Aside to VINCENT] Pray thee hold thy peace*n3363
Nathaniel sees, correctly but too late, that Buzzard's drunkenness is about to cause him to erupt in anger.
.
n3363
532BuzzardMy beard, friend, no: My beard’s my honour*n4354
All Renaissance men, who could, cultivated a beard. As documented by Fisher (2001), beards were indeed central to early modern English ideas of manhood and manliness.
.
Hair is an ornament of honour upon man — or woman*n3364
If delivered as an afterthought, quite possibly obscene: perhaps Buzzard's thoughts are progressing to lechery.
.
n4354
n3364
533NathanielCome, come; I know what we will do with
him. Mun, knock him down with the other*n4355
'Another', in modern usage.
cup.
n4355
[EDMUND refills BUZZARD's cup. BUZZARD drinks.]
We’ll lay him to sleep; but yet watch and keep him betwixt
hawk and buzzard*n3365
Between sleep and waking. See Henry Burton, A reply to a relation of the conference between William Laud and Mr. Fisher the Jesuit (1640), 273, discussing an edict 'that binds up the sense of the [Thirty-Nine] Articles fast asleep, or in a slumber between hawk and buzzard, or as a speaking in a dream'.
as he is, till we make excellent sport*n3366
Nathaniel proposes a form of psychological torture which would have been familiar, at least as an idea, to early modern Londoners. For instance, a widow named Anne Elsden was for days kept drunk and deprived of sleep, in a series of taverns, by a man who wished to get his hands on her property. The lost play Keep the Widow Waking (1624), by Ford and Rowley, dramatized her story: see Sisson (1936).
with him.
n3365
n3366
534BuzzardHey ho! I am very sleepy*n3367
Another virtuoso transition for Read. Possibly Buzzard passes out altogether at this point, which would make Nathaniel's next line funnier.
.
n3367
535NathanielSee, he jouks*n3368
To 'jouk' is to compose oneself for sleep, a falconry term used to describe birds on their roost at night: hence, half-appropriate to Buzzard.
already.
n3368
[Enter BOY.]
Boy, show us a private room.
536BoyThis way, gentlemen.
537Buzzard (sings)
Down Plumpton-park*n3369
Buzzard is singing the refrain of a hugely popular and sometimes derided contemporary ballad, 'The Lamentation of John Musgrave'. Musgrave, a Cumberland gentleman, was executed at Kendal around 1608 for robbing the King's Receiver. The ballad, spoken by a supposed eye-witness of the execution, has the refrain:
... Etcetera.
n3369
Down Plumpton Park as I did pass,The ballad quickly established itself as a classic in its genre. In 1625, 'A.H.' complained of the poor literary taste of 'North villages, where every line / Of Plumpton Park is held a work divine' (John Davies and A.H., A Scourge for Paper-Persecutors [1625], 4). Jacomo in Fletcher's The Captain says that Plumpton Park is the only thing that he can sing; and the ballad itself was reprinted in the Restoration.
I heard a bird sing in a glen:
The chiefest of her song it was,
Farewell the flower of serving-men.
They lead BUZZARD out, and he sings. [All exit.]
3.3
[Enter] LUCY [and] THEOPHILUS.
538LucyIndeed you were unkind to turn away
My maid, poor harmless maid, whose innocent mirth
539TheophilusI am sorry sister, trust me, truly sorry,
And knew I which way to recover her,
With my best care I would. Yet, give me leave,
I saw her overbold; and overheard her
Say, she foresaw that Arthur my sole enemy
Should be your husband. I’ll marry you to death*n3371
That is: kill you. Once again, the recurring joke is that Theophilus has quickly lost his temper.
first.
n3371
540LucyNow you fly out again.
541TheophilusYour pardon again, sister,*n4374
] this edn; Your pardon again your sister O. This line is not in the manuscript version at all. O's reading, as it stands, seems meaningless, hence the emendation.
,
n4374
And for your satisfaction I will strive
To oversway my passion.
Enter ARNOLD.
How now, Arnold!
Methinks I read good news upon thy face.
542ArnoldThe best, sir, I can tell is, the old jew*n3372
One of three examples (spread between O and MS) which refer to Quicksands as a 'Jew', a term seemingly used as a metaphorical description encapsulating his moneylending and general hatedness (OED n, 2). In no respect apart from these three references does Quicksands appear to be 'really' Jewish. For the wider picture of representations of Jewishness in England at this date see Shapiro (1996); for further discussion of Quicksands and Jewishness, see Steggle (2004).
n3372
Quicksands has lost his wife.
543TheophilusShe is not dead!
544Arnold’Tis not so well for him: for if she were,
He then might overtake her*n3373
As someone both old and evil, Quicksands himself will be going to hell soon.
though she were
n3373
Gone to the devil. But she’s run away:
But to what corner of the earth, or under
Whose bed to find her is not to be thought.
It has raised such a laughter in the town
Among the gallants!
545TheophilusAnd do you laugh too?*n6674
This moment has been carefully worked up to. The joke here lies in the irony: the mismatch between Arnold's expectation that this news will make Theophilus laugh, and our superior knowledge (based on having twice already seen him lose his temper about this topic) that it will make him explode with rage as never before. The pause before Theophilus starts to shout may well be the funniest moment of the exchange.
In addition, the exchange accomplishes useful plot points, showing the spread of the news of the 'disappearance'; and giving an occasion for Arnold's sacking.
n6674
546ArnoldYes; and if you do not outlaugh all men
That hear the joyful news, ’tis too good for you.
547TheophilusI am too merciful, I kill thee not.
Out of my doors, thou villain, reprobate.
[THEOPHILUS] beats ARNOLD.
548ArnoldHold, pray sir, hold!
549TheophilusNever while I have power to lift a hand
Against thee, mischievous villain.
550LucyIs not this passion, brother?
551TheophilusForbear, sister.
This is a cause turns patience into fury.
553TheophilusAnd my house too.
554ArnoldTurned out o’doors! A dainty frantic humour
In a young master! Good enough for me though;
To be so served. What course now must I take?
I am too old to seek out a new master.
I will not beg, because I’ll cross†gg2445
(v) thwart, forestall; contradict; afflict, go against
the proverb*n3374
As quoted in, for example, Gervase Markham, A Health to the Honest Profession of Serving-Men (1598), C4r: 'who is so simple but will confess, that the serving-man's profession (in regard of their pleasure and ease) is to be preferred before divers sorts of people, of more wealth, and greater ability, if their end were not misery, penury, scarcity, and almost beggary: for I hold it an infallible rule, an old serving-man, a young beggar.'
gg2445
n3374
That runs upon old serving-creatures; stealing
I have no mind to: ’tis a hanging matter.
Wit and invention help me with some shift
To help a cast-off†gg2816
a person who has been 'cast off', or sacked, by their employer
now at a dead lift*n3375
In an emergency. (According to OED, a metaphor from haulage: a horse at a 'dead lift' is one using their maximum strength in an attempt to move a load.)
.
gg2816
n3375
Sweet Fortune, hear my suit.
[ARNOLD] kneels. Enter NATHANIEL, VINCENT, and EDMUND.
556ArnoldI’ll tell you in your ear, sir, I dare trust you.
NATHANIEL and ARNOLD whisper.*n4375
That is, they whisper in dumb show while Edmund and Vincent talk. Unlike Quicksands' later whispering [NOTE n4371], which is an indication of how a line is delivered, this whispering is, in effect, mimed.
n4375
557VincentCould earthly man have dreamt this rascal Quicksands,
Whose lechery, to all our thinking, was
Could have been all this while a concealed whore-master*n4376
Implies a range of meanings crossing from 'man who keeps a mistress', to 'pimp', to, as here, 'fornicator'. It is an interesting choice of word, because Nathaniel uses it of himself at the end of the play: it thus draws attention to parallels between the two characters.
?
n4376
To have a bastard of so many years
558EdmundNote the punishments
That haunt the miscreant for his black misdeeds:
Next that his wife, by whom he might had*n3376
He might have had: an elision not unusual in seventeenth-century English.
comfort
n3376
In progeny, though of some other’s getting*n4377
That is, fathered by someone else (since Edmund assumes that Quicksands will be cuckolded).
,
n4377
Should with her light heels make him heavy-headed*n3377
'Light heels' imply a) speedy gait; b) unchaste behaviour. Cf. OED light-heeled a. In a parallel pun, 'heavy-headed' implies a) misery at her fleeing; b) a head made heavy with cuckold's horns.
n3377
The blinded wretch should cast his servant off,
To show us, that can have no mercy on him,
The way to plague him.
559VincentHa, ha, ha—
560EdmundWhat dost laugh at?*n4378
An idiomatic ellipsis for 'What dost thou laugh at?'. Moderately common in Restoration drama: cf., for instance, Edward Ravenscroft, The London Cuckolds (1682), 5: 'Prithee, what dost laugh at?'
n4378
To be revenged on’s master; how he has shaped himself,
Cut off his beard, and practised all the postures
To act the changeling bastard.
562EdmundCould we light
Our company†gs475
group, in a general sense; but also, specifically, a term for a group of actors
were full, and we were ready
gs475
To put our project†gs182
something projected or proposed for execution; a plan, scheme (OED n. 5a)
into present action.
gs182
563NathanielGentlemen, we are fitted: take this man w’ye;
He is the only man I would have sought
To give our project life. I’ll trust thee, Arnold,
565NathanielGo, follow your directions.
566VincentCome away then.VINCENT, EDMUND, and ARNOLD exit.
567NathanielSweet mirth, thou art my mistress. I could serve thee,
And shake the thought off of all womankind,
In documents of†gg2823
lessons about (note that 'document' does not yet carry the modern sense of 'piece of paper').
women, hardly leaves
gg2823
Yet mirth, when women fail, brings sweet encounters
They dull*n3381
They [that is, women] dull a man, they make him sluggish.
, but mirth revives a man—who’s here?
n3381
Enter ARTHUR.
The solitary musing man, called Arthur,
Possessed with serious vanity; mirth to me!
The world is full: I cannot peep my head forth
But I meet mirth in every corner: Ha!
Sure some old runt†gg2825
hag
with a splay-foot†gg2826
a foot which turns outwards, often believed to be a sign of a witch
has crossed†gg613
frustrated, jinxed; (literally) run across (one's path)
him!
gg2825
gg2826
gg613
[To ARTHUR] Hold up thy head man; what dost seek? thy grave?
I would scarce trust you with a piece of earth
You would choose to lie in, though, if some plump mistress
Or a deft lass were set before your search.
568Arthur [Aside] How vainly this man talks!
569NathanielGid ye good den*n3382
Good evening (OED good even). Presumably a sarcastic reflection on Arthur's lack of welcome to him.
forsooth.
n3382
'How vainly this man talks!' speak but truth now,
Does not thy thought now run upon a wench?
I never looked so but mine stood that way*n3383
My thought: but the line contains the possibilty for lewd double entendre.
.
n3383
570Arthur’Tis all your glory, that; and to make boast
Of the variety that serves your lust:
Yet not to know what woman you love best.
Since I put off my wench I kept at livery*n3384
That is, kept as a mistress. See Massinger, The City-Madam (1659) 56, where Goldwire's louche lifestyle is discussed: 'you that made / Your ten pound suppers; kept your punks [mistresses] at livery /
In Brainford, Staines, and Barnet, and this in London'.
:
n3384
But of their use I think I have had my share,
And have loved every one best of living women;
A dead one I ne'er coveted, that’s my comfort;
But of all ages that are pressable*n3396
Seemingly, a Brome coinage. It means, 'fit to be lain upon', with obvious sexual intention: but 'pressable' is later documented as meaning 'able to be pressed into military service', and that may be a subdued metaphor here.
n3396
From sixteen unto sixty, and of all complexions
From the white flaxen*n3397
Of the colour of flax (a pale gold colour; normally an adjective applied to hair).
to the tawny-moor*n3398
'A name given to the tawny or brown-skinned natives of foreign lands; prob. originally to natives of northern Africa' (OED).
;
n3397
n3398
And of all statures between dwarf and giantess*n3399
] MS; giants O. Since the dwarf, the doxie, and the dowsabel are all in the singular, O's reading is probably merely a transmissional error.
;
n3399
Of all conditions†gg702
state, circumstance
, from the doxy†gg2835
the mistress of a beggar or rogue
to the dowsabel*n3400
A mistress: an English corruption of the name Dulcibella. The distinction in this line, perhaps, is between the common-sounding 'doxy' and the rather more poetic 'dowsabel'.
;
gg702
gg2835
n3400
(For what make they with any?*n3402
A hard-to-paraphrase throwaway joke. 'Opinion' refers to differing religious affiliations within Christianity, while 'religion' moves on to consider faiths other than Christianity as well. But then Nathaniel remembers that 'woman of religion', as a phrase, could also describe a very devout puritan. Such devout women, Nathaniel complains, never have anything do with men like him, and are no fun.
); and of all
n3402
Features and shapes, from the huckle-backed†gg2836
hump-backed
bum-creeper†gg2837
'one who walks almost bent double' (OED)
,
gg2836
gg2837
To the straight†gs479
upright in posture
spiny†gg2838
thin and gaunt
shop-maid†gg2839
woman who serves in a shop
in St. Martin’s*n3403
A disreputable area of London around the church of St Martin-le-Grand near Aldersgate, particularly noted for shops selling cheap and inferior goods, such as 'St Martin's Lace' (a type of cheap copper lace).
.
gs479
gg2838
gg2839
n3403
Briefly, all sorts and sizes I have tasted.
573NathanielAs well as I could with the worst of ’em*n3406
He means, 'my sexual performance was excellent even in the difficult cases'. Nathaniel misunderstands the terms of Arthur's question.
though I say it*n3405
'Don't think I'm boasting, what I'm telling you is true even though it reflects well on me': cf. the modern idiom, 'though I say it who shouldn't'.
.
n3406
n3405
Few men come after me that mend my work*n3407
'Men who have sex with women whom I have previously seduced rarely improve on my achievement'. Nathaniel imagines himself as a craftsman of sex. While this line is funny, the audience are also reminded by it of the twenty women he claims to have dragged into prostitution by seducing them [EM 1.2.speech42].
.
n3407
574ArthurBut thou ne’er thinkst of punishments to come;
Thou dream’st not of diseases, poverty,
The loss of sense or member*n3408
Part of the body, and in particular, the penis.
, or the cross†gs480
misfortune
n3408
gs480
A hell on earth to scourge thy conscience.
575NathanielYes, when I marry, let me have a wife
To have no mercy on me; let the fate
Of a stale doting*n3409
] doating MS; dovting O. On balance, 'dovting', i.e. 'doubting', is probably not a revision, but a transmissional error. 'Doubting' would be an adjective carrying the meaning 'insecure', but OED indicates that it is rare in this sense, and 'doting' - 'old and foolish' - fits much better with the thought of the speech.
bachelor*n3410
'Stale bachelor' is a fairly common seventeenth-century phrase describing an older unmarried man. 'Doting', which connotes specifically foolishness brought on by age, fits well with it. (Steen argues for a pun on 'stale-doting', since 'stale' can also mean 'whore', but this seems unnecessarily complicated).
fall upon me.
n3409
n3410
Let me have Quicksands’ curse, to take a wife
Will run away next day, and prostitute
Herself to all the world before her husband.
576ArthurNay, that will be too good: If I foresee
Any thing in thy marriage destiny,
’Twill be to take a thing†gg2841
a pejorative term for a woman (OED n1. 10a)
that has been common*n3411
promiscuous, or a prostitute
gg2841
n3411
To th’world before, and live with thee perforce†gg1323
forcibly, violently; by force or threat of force
gg1323
To thy perpetual torment.
577NathanielClose that point†gs494
topic, issue in debate or under discussion, which is to be resolved (brought to a conclusion)
.
gs494
I cannot marry. Will you be merry, Arthur?
I have such things to tell thee.
578ArthurNo, I cannot.
579NathanielPray thee, come closer to me. What has crossed thee?
Is thy supposed slain father come again,
To dispossess thee for another lifetime?
Or has thy valiant sister beaten thee? Tell me.
It shall go no further.
And jocund†gg153
cheerful, merry
humor be supposed no warrant*n3412
Your bold wit and merry disposition do not give you the right to insult your friends.
gg153
n3412
For you t’abuse your friends by.
581NathanielWhy didst tell me of marrying then? But I
Have done. And now, pray speak what troubles you.
My sister, on a private discontent
Betwixt herself and me, hath left my house.
583NathanielGone quite away?
584ArthurYes. And I know not whither.
585NathanielBeyond sea sure to fight with th’air, that took
Her father’s last breath into’t. Went she alone?
586ArthurNo, no. My man’s gone with her.
587NathanielWho, the fellow
That brags on’s back*n3414
(He) boasts about the strength of his back.
so, the stiff strong-chined*n3415
Having a strong chine, or backbone (a term more applicable to horses, than to people)
rascal?
n3414
n3415
588ArthurEven he.
589NathanielThe devil is in these young tits*n3416
Two meanings here are in play: a) young men; b) small horses. Nathaniel continues his horse-related punning.
,
n3416
And wildfire in their cruppers*n3417
The punning continues with a further play on two meanings: a) (of horses) with an inflammatory disease in their buttocks; b) (of young men) with wild energy in their loins.
.
n3417
590ArthurLet me charm you,
By all our friendship, you nor speak nor hear
An ill construction of her act in this.
I know her thoughts are noble; and my woe
Is swoll’n unto that fullness, that th’addition
But of word in scorn would blow me up
Into a cloud of wild distempered fury*n4386
Arthur imagines his woe as a cloud, full of rain and ready to break out into a violent storm.
Another unexpected and subtle piece of stagecraft and characterisation. Arthur, who generally appears mild-mannered and in control of himself, finally loses his temper, startling even Nathaniel with the vehemence of the next few lines. This playing against type offers potential for comedy, especially if accompanied by appropriate stage business, but it also reveals a certain depth to Arthur's character; and creates tension for the next act, when his enemy's lover is entirely in his power.
n4386
Over the heads of all whose looser breath
Dare raise a wind to break me. Then I fall
A sudden storm of ruin on you all.[ARTHUR] exits.
591NathanielI know not how to laugh at this, it comes
So near my pity*n4387
This line gives a clue to how Arthur's rage is performed, in that the observer's reaction at the end is 'pity' rather than alarm. Perhaps, after threatening Nathaniel, Arthur has burst into tears before leaving the stage.
. But I’ll to my grigs†gg906
wild and merry youths (a meaning derived from the term used to define slippery eels)
n4387
gg906
Again, and there will find new mirth to stretch
And laugh, like tickled wenches, hand o’er head†gg2843
recklessly (OED, hand over head adv. phr.)
.[NATHANIEL] exits.
gg2843
Edited by Matthew Steggle