222Whetstone.My hand is there too, for a man cannot set to his mark†gg1204 sign a document (or mark it with an x, for an illiterate) (OED set v1, 113a) , but it may be called his hand. I am a gentleman both ways*n1191 Meaning uncertain. Whetstone may refer to both making his mark and signing his name, thus claiming he is not illiterate, and therefore can be considered a gentleman. Possibly he refers to both parents as gentry, although they did not marry and legitimize his birth. , and it hath been held that it is the part of a gentleman to write a scurvy†gg1207 contemptible, shabby or sloppy hand.

223Bantam.You write, sir, like yourself.*n1192 An insult: you write like a contemptible illiterate person. Generous's response on the next line is a gentlemanly rebuke.

228Whetstone.   [Aside]   Heyday†gg800 an exclamation indicating surprise , this gentleman speaks like a country parson that had took his text out of Metamorphosis*n1197 Whetstone also complains of the flattery but for him Arthur sounds like a minister basing his boring sermon on verses from Ovid (43 BC - 18 AD), arguably the most popular Roman writer of his time, with a huge afterlife in the works of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Jonson, and others. Whetstone has heard enough about Ovid to mention him, but not to say the title correctly. Ovid was banished from Rome in 8 AD for writing The Art of Love, a poetic treatise on how to seduce women. This story of Ovid's banishment is retold in Jonson's The Poetaster (1603). The Metamorphoses is a kind of epic that explains the nature of the universe through constant changes and transformations of one thing into another; for example, Daphne's escape from Apollo (her would-be rapist) by being transformed into a tree. For further overview on Ovid's work, see Brown, Larry A. Ovid’s Metamorphoses. http://larryavisbrown.homestead.com/files/xeno.ovid1.htm (14/05/2007). .

237Whetstone.Say you so, gentlemen? Nay then, I am for your company still! ’Tis said hares are like hermophrodites, one while male and another female*n1206 At some times male and at other times female. Technically, this is not the meaning of hermaphrodite, which denotes the co-existence of male and female sexual characteristics, not the alternating of sexual characteristics. However, Whetstone’s description of rabbit mutation is correct. Whetstone's delivery of such facts may offer opportunities to the actor to make this character more complex: he is not merely a fool, or merely a bastard who resents his illegitimate social position. His twitting of the gentlemen actually rests on information they may lack, despite their education. , and that which begets†gg1218 inseminates this year brings†gg1219 gives birth to young ones the next; which some think to be the reason that witches take their shapes so oft. Nay, if I lie, Pliny*n1207 Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) was the author of Natural History, which contains often dubious but entertaining science. lies too. But come, now I have light†gg1357 met with, especially unexpectedly or by accident (OED v1, 10d) upon you, I cannot so lightly†gs184 Whetstone is punning on light, used earlier in this same line (LLW 1.1.speech237) †gg1358 easily, readily (OED adv, 4) leave you. Farewell, uncle.

240Generous.Robin.

241Robert.*n1690 ] appears at the end of the previous line in Q Sir.*n1690 ] appears at the end of the previous line in Q

242Generous.Go call your mistress hither.

243Robert.My mistress, sir? I do call her mistress, as I do call you master, but if you would have me call my mistress to my master, I may call loud enough before she can hear me.

245Robert.And so she may have at supper too, for aught†gg1226 anything whatever I know, but I can assure you she is not now within my call.

247Robert.To tell you true, sir, I shall neither find my mistress here, nor you your gelding there.

248Generous.Ha! How comes that to pass?

249Robert.Whilst you were busy about your writings*n1222 That is, business paperwork, including the mortgage for Arthur. , she came and commanded me to saddle your beast, and said she would ride abroad to take the air.

250Generous.Which of your fellows did she take along to wait†gs155 tend (upon someone); accompany as a servant on her?

251Robert.None, sir.

252Generous.None! Hath she used it*n1223 been in the habit of doing this or behaving like this often?

253Robert.Oftener, I am sure, than she goes to church, and leave out Wednesdays and Fridays*n1592 That is, if she goes to church once a week on Sundays, she goes out alone on the horse at least 5 times oftener. .

254Generous.*n1691 ] appears at the end of the previous speaker's line in Q And still alone?*n1691 ] appears at the end of the previous speaker's line in Q

255Robert.If you call that alone when nobody rides in her company.

256Generous.But what times hath she sorted†gg1228 chosen as fitting or suitable (OED 14a, citing this usage for 1634) for these journeys?

257Robert.Commonly when you are abroad, aud sometimes when you are full of business at home.

259Robert.Only conjures me*n1225 1. conspires with me; makes me swear as her confederate (OED 1); 2. entreats me (OED 4); 3. sarcasm: invokes or effects my promise by supernatural means. Here the 'supernatural means' is money, but witchcraft becomes the issue later. that I shall keep it from you, then claps me in the fist with some small piece of silver*n1226 Slaps a silver coin into my hand (tone is derisive: see OED 5a). , and then a fish cannot be more silent than I.

261Robert.Now you have expressed your mind, I know what I have to do; first, not to tell her what I have told you, and next to keep her side-saddle†gg1368 saddle that allows a woman to sit with both feet on one side (usually the left) of a horse (In use since ancient times, as witnessed by illustrations on Greek vases and Celtic stones; but becoming more common in the middle ages, and still used by some modern female riders. Sitting aside rather than astride was considered more modest.) from coming upon your gelding’s back; but, howsoever, it is like to hinder me of many a round tester*n1230 Likely to prevent me from gaining many extra tips. A tester or teston was silver coin created by Henry VIII, and refers especially to debased and depreciated money; thus, a colloquial or slang term for a sixpence. .

263Robert.You say well in that, sir. I dare take your word. You are an honest gentleman and my master; and now take mine as I am your true servant. Before she shall back your gelding again in your absence, while I have the charge of his keeping, she shall ride me, or I’ll ride her.

265Robert.   [Aside]   Good news for me. --   [Aloud]   I shall, sir.

267Robert.Yes, sir, I so remember it, that most certain it is I never shal forget it; my mouth waters ever since when I but think on’t. Whilst you were at supper above, the drawer had me down into the cellar below. I know the way in again if I see’t, but at that time, to find the way out again, I had the help of more eyes than mine owne!*n1233 That is, Robert was too drunk to see the way by himself. Is the taste of that ipsitate†gg1236 very same, implying a specific extraordinary thing; bastard Latin (?) still in your palate, sir?

269Robert.I shall. --   [Aside, with glee]   Never could I have met with such a fair opportunity: for just in the midway lies my sweetheart, as lovely a lass as any is in Lancashire, and kisses as sweetly. I’ll see her going or coming! I’ll have one smooch†gg1369 kiss; incorrectly defined as a US colloquialism, but actually dating back to early modern England (see John Florio, A World of Words (1598) under Inbeccare, to embill or feed birds, to bill, to smouch (LEME); OED cites usage for smouch as far back as 1583; in a modern text, smooch is the more familiar term now) at thy lips, and be with thee to bring*n1234 Meaning uncertain, but the context suggests some mutually satisfying consequence, probably sexual, bringing the couple together for a pleasurable purpose. , Mall Spencer!

271Soldier.You seem, sir, a gentleman of quality, and no doubt but in your youth have been acquainted with affairs military. In your very looks there appears bounty, and in your person humanity. Please you to vouchsafe the tender†gs158 offer, especially an offer of money (OED n2, 1b) of some small courtesy to help to bear a soldier into his country†gg1237 countryside, including the idea of home town or county area, not necessarily a foreign nation .

273Soldier.With the Russian against the Polack*n1237 A very current reference to the Russo-Polish war of 1632-1634: on March 1, in the Battle at Smolensk, King Ladislaus IV of Poland defeated the Russian army. This soldier is evidently a mercenary who worked for the Russians, and was probably released from being a prisoner of war because he was English. , a heavy war*n1266 This particular engagement was part of the Thirty Years’ War, 1618-1648, which raged through most of Europe, with complicated alliances not simply governed by supporters of the Protestant Reformation on the one side and Catholic supporters of the Counter-Reformation on the other. Between 1625-1630, the English formed a league with the Dutch, the Danes, and the French against the Hapsburgs, but the league was defeated. , and hath brought me to this hard fate. I was took prisoner by the Pole, and after some few weeks of durance†gg1239 imprisonment , got both my freedom and pass†gg1241 document giving permission to leave, enter, or travel somewhere; equivalent to 'passport' . I have it about me to show; please you to vouchsafe the perusal†gg1240 act of reading through or over something, whether thorough or cursory reading .

274Generous.It shall not need. What countryman?*n1235 What part of the country are you from? *n1375 Although Q indicates Generous continues to speak in verse, it is not verse that scans in pentameter lines. It seems more likely that, once Generous recognises the Soldier as an honest man, he speaks more sympathetically and gets off his high horse of verse that was marking the class distance.

275Soldier.Yorkshire*n1267 This soldier has taken a meandering route home, since Lancashire is west of Yorkshire, and one would think that from Poland he would have reached Yorkshire first, before ending up in Lancashire. , sir. Many a sharp battle by land, and many a sharp storm at sea, many a long mile, and many a short meal, I have travelled and suffered ere I could reach thus far. I beseech you, sir, take my poor and wretched case into your worship’s noble consideration.

276Generous.Perhaps thou lov’st this wandering life, to be an idle loitering beggar than to eat of thine own labour.*n1376 Set as verse in Q, but the verse does not scan in a balanced way. As indicated in the earlier note, Generous demonstrates his generosity by speaking in prose with a man he recognises as honest.

277Soldier.I, sir! Loitering I defy, sir. I hate laziness as I do leprosy: it is the next way to breed the scurvy†gs159 (n.) a disease characterized by general debility of the body, extreme tenderness of the gums, foul breath, subcutaneous eruptions and pains in the limbs, induced by exposure and by a too liberal diet of salted foods, and now recognized as caused by insufficient vitamin C in the diet . Put me to hedge†gg1242 construct a boundary with hedge or fence; or maintain a hedge by trimming or tying branches , ditch, plough, thresh†gg1255 separate grains of wheat or corn from the husks or straw , dig, delve†gg1243 dig with a spade, especially preparing for crops (in northern dialects, more specific than ‘dig’); in conjunction with ‘hedge’, used of maintaining hedges and ditches along country roads (Barber) , anything! Your worship shall find that I love nothing less than loitering*n1268 I like to work; I don’t like wasting time hanging about doing nothing. .

278Generous.Friend, thou speakest well.

279Miller.Your mill, quoth he!†gg1256 the phrase 'said he?', used with contemptuous or sarcastic force in repeating a word or phrase used by another; hence meaning indeed! forsooth! If ever you take†gs164 find (someone in a specific place) me in your mill again, I’ll give you leave to cast my flesh to the dogs*n1271 I'll allow you to feed the dogs with my flesh. The implication is that if the miller is found in the mill again, he’ll be dead, and if so, the owner can use the meat on his bones for dogfood, since, if he is fool enough to return, he must be less than human and won’t deserve decent burial. , and grind my bones to powder betwixt the millstones*n1269 Instead of the more appropriate 'bones', the quarto repeats ‘flesh’, but this seems to be a printer’s error. Cf tale of Jack the Giant-Killer, who hears the giant’s threat, ‘Be he alive or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread’. The Miller unwittingly responds to the witches' tactic of turning men into tractable boys by slipping back into children's fairy-tales for his oath. . ‘Cats’ do you call them? For their hugeness they might be cat-a-mountains†gg1258 wildcats , and for their claws, I think I have it here in red and white*n1272 That is, in blood and scratched skin, as opposed to the black and white of a legal document. to show. I pray look here, sir. A murrain†gg1259 plague-like disease afflicting domestic animals take them, I’ll be sworn they have scratched where I am sure it itched not!*n1274 Proverbial: Tilley M49 and M205.

280Generous.How cam’st thou in this pickle?*n1273 How did you get into this disagreeable condition, plight, or predicament? The question is common: the same wording occurs in The Tempest, 5.1.284.

281Miller.You see, sir, and what you see, I have felt, and am come to give you to understand I’ll not endure such another night if you would give me your mill for nothing. They say we millers are thieves*n1275 Proverbial: Tilley M955. This prejudice also explains why the witches do not see scratching a miller as a criminal or harmful act; for the locals who have been cheated by millers, it is simply pay-back time. , but I could as soon be hanged as steal one piece of a nap*n1593 A short sleep, snooze (OED n, 3); punning on woolly material removed from the surface of cloth by shearing, especially considered as the stuffing of pillows or mattresses. (OED n, 2). The miller plays on the reputation of millers for theft, a crime for which he'd rather be hanged than endure any further sleepless nights in the mill. all the night long. Good landlord, provide yourself of a new tenant; the noise of such caterwauling*n1276 The cry of cats at rutting time; their rutting or heat; going after the opposite sex; lecherous motions or pursuits. By transference, any hideous, discordant howling noise. The sexual implications of the word describing the attack on the miller are repeated in subsequent scenes of the witches' molestation of boys and men generally. and such scratching and clawing, before I would endure again, I’ll be tied to the sail†gg1260 one of the arms of a windmill when the wind blows sharpest and they*n1277 That is, the sails or arms of the windmill. fly swiftest, till I be torn into as many fitters†gg1261 tatters as I have toes and fingers.

282Soldier.I was a miller myself before I was a soldier. What, one of my own trade should be so poorly spirited†gg1262 cowardly , frighted with cats?

284Miller.Over and over! Here I utterly renounce it, nor would I stay in it longer, if you would give me your whole estate. Nay, if I say it, you may take my word, landlord.

290Boy.Now I have gathered bullies†gg1265 wild plums from the bullace tree (the local term appears in Edmund Robinson Jr.’s testimony in 1633) , and filled my belly pretty well, I’ll go see some sport. There are gentlemen coursing in the meadow hard by; and ’tis a game that I love better than going to school, ten to one.

What have we here? A brace of greyhounds broke loose from their masters: it must needs be so, for they have both their collars and slips†gg1271 leashes for dogs, so contrived that the animals can readily be released; especially ones used for a couple of greyhounds in coursing, by which they can be let go simultaneously (OED n3, 3a) about their necks. Now I look better upon them, methinks I should know them, and so I do: these are Master Robinson’s dogs*n1285 In naming Master Robinson, the playwrights draw in one of the few specific references to witnesses involved in the 1633 Lancaster trial of the witches. Robinson, father of Edmund Robinson, the boy whose false testimony convicted several witches in the 1633 trials, subsequently profitted from his son's lies by travelling to other parishes and offering witch-finder services after getting Edmund to retell his story of finding the greyhounds and being abducted by a witch. The details of that abduction are related in 2.5 and later in 4.1 in the experience of Robin at the witches' feast. , that dwells some two miles off. I’ll take them up and lead them home to their master; it may be something in my way*n1286 That is, there may be a tip or reward for the boy. , for he is as liberal a gentleman as any is*n1287 The comment is more ironic for subsequent audiences than for 1634 audiences, who did not yet know that the Robinsons would be exposed as liars by the London judges. The boy equates Master Robinson with Generous in calling him a 'liberal' or generous 'gentleman'. Robinson was a farmer, but not a member of the local gentry. His witch-finding activities between the Lancashire trial and the London hearing were mercenary and distinctly ungenerous to the women involved in the Lancaster trial and others accused by him in other parishes. His status equates rather with Master Doughty, who also becomes a witch-finder by mid-play. in our country.   [To one greyhound]   Come, Hector, come. Now if I could but start a hare by the way, kill her, and carry her home to my supper*n1288 The boy demonstrates here that he is a practical child; his interest in hunting is partly for the sport, but mostly for the result: pleasure in the prospect of meat and praise at home for bring back a hare for dinner. , I should think I had made a better afternoon’s work of it than gathering of bullies. Come, poor curs, along with me.He exits.

303Bantam.Well sir, I take you*n1334 I accept your wager. .   [Showing coins]   Will you cover these*n1300 Match the money shown. , give them into the hands of either of these two gentlemen?

304Whetstone.What needs that? Do you think my word and my money is not all one†gg1306 both the same thing ?

305Bantam.And weigh alike: both many grains*n1307 That is, Bantam is mean-minded to accuse Whetstone of illegitimacy. too light.*n1301 In other words, Bantam calls Whetstone a liar who makes bets without having the money to cover them.

306Shakestone.   [Aside to BANTAM]   Enough of that.   [To WHETSTONE]   I presume, Master Whetstone, you are not ignorant what belong to the sport of hunting?

307Whetstone.I think I have reason, for I have been at the death of more hares —

308Bantam.   [Interrupting]   More then you shed*n1302 Bantam is punning on 'hare' and 'hair'. Deliberate insult: loss of hair was a sign of venereal disease. the last fall of the leaf.

309Whetstone.More than any man here, I am sure. I should be loath at these years to be ignorant of haring or whoring*n1303 The pun shifts to the sexual. Whetstone defends his manliness against Bantam's jeering. . I knew a hare, close hunted, climb a tree —

310Bantam.   [Jeering]   To find out birds’ nests*n1304 A slang reference to female pudenda (Partridge). Reginald Scot tells a funny story of a witch who stole the townsmen's 'privy members' and put them in a nest up a tree, challenging any man missing a penis (or claiming that the witch caused him to be impotent) to climb up and retrieve it. .

311Whetstone.Another leap into a river, nothing appearing above water, save only the tip of her nose to take breath.

312Shakestone.Nay, that’s very likely, for no man can fish with an angle†gs172 fishing rod but his Line must be made of hair*n1305 This is continuing the pun on 'hare'. Whetstone, to judge from his answer, does not get the joke. .

313Whetstone.You say right. I knew another who, to escape the dogs, hath taken†gg1308 made use of, appropriated; also legally entered into possession of (OED 15a and b) a house and leaped in at a window*n1306 The upper half of a Dutch door or hatch-way was the sign of the brothel, and associated with the London ‘red-light’ district of Pict Hatch. A bastard child was associated with window-leaping, the sign of illicit sex. Leaping itself was an exercise associated with sexual games or virility. But Whetstone is speaking literally of a hare; Bantam's reply interprets the colloquialism. .

314Bantam.It is thought you came into the world that way.

315Whetstone.How mean you that?

316Bantam.Because you are a bastard.

317Whetstone.Bastard! Oh, base!*n1307 That is, Bantam is mean-minded to accuse Whetstone of illegitimacy.

318Bantam.And thou art base all over.

320Whetstone.Bastard? That shall be tried†gg1333 proved or tested by examination . Well, gentlemen, concerning hare-hunting, you might have heard*n1824 Barber; hard Q. more, if he had had the grace to have said less. But, for the word ‘bastard’, if I do not tell my uncle, ay, and my aunt too, either when I would speak aught, or go off the score*n1308 Pay off a debt. The 'score' or tally was usually kept on a chalkboard in taverns, or otherwise indicated by marks or notches. In this case, the score Whetstone wants to pay off is metaphorical. for anything, let me never be trusted! They are older than I, and what know I but they might be by when I was begot. But if thou, Bantam, dost not hear of this with both thine ears — if thou hast them still, and not lost them by scribbling*n1309 Clipping or cutting off ears was a 'warning' punishment for certain offences; William Prynne had his ears clipped, one on 7 May 1634 and the other on 10 May 1634, for writing offensive puritan tracts against the government and the Church of England. — instead of Whetstone, call me Grindstone*n1335 Whetstone may be thinking here of the ancient proverb 'The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small', with the implication that, no matter how long it takes, Whetstone will be even with Bantam for the insult. , and for By-blow, Bulfinch*n1336 This choice of new name is a mystery: the bird is a common songbird, easily trained as a pet, but with no apparent folk meaning. At least it is a legitimate breed, not a by-blow. Egan suggests that Whetstone will 'sing' or complain to his aunt and uncle. See the character of Bullfinch in The Northern Lass and corresponding note. . Gentlemen, for two of you, your company is fair and honest; but for you, Bantam, remember and take notice also, that I am a ‘bastard’*n3387 Whetstone echoes Dogberry's frequent request in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, 4.2, that all the witnesses remember that he is an ass, and must be recorded as such. , and so much I’ll testify to my aunt and uncle.He exits.

321Arthur.   [To BANTAM]   What have you done? ’Twill grieve the good old gentleman to hear him baffled†gg1334 unworthily handled, injuriously used , abused (LEME) thus.

322Bantam.I was in a cold sweat ready to faint the time he stayed amongst us.*n1692 ] set as verse in Q

323Shakestone.But come, now the hare is found and started, she shall have law*n1337 That is, the hare will be subject to the rules of the hunt, be tried in the chase, and executed, if the hunters succeed. The gentlemen assume the hare is female, and thus in gender terms it becomes the assertion of patriarchal order over female bodies, something the witches are out to subvert in their 'sports' with neighbourhood males. . So, to our sport!*n1378 Although Q sets these lines as verse, they do not scan as iambic pentameter. This edition offers them as prose. They exit.

324BoyA hare, a hare! Halloo†gg1315 exclamation to incite dogs to the chase , halloo! The devil take these curs! Will they not stir? Halloo, hallo! There, there, there! What, are they grown so lither†gg1316 slothful, sluggish and so lazy? Are Master Robinson’s dogsturned tykes*n1312 That is, transformed into mongrels without hunting skills (that is, no longer greyhounds). The phrasing echoes 'turned Turk', the Christian fear of (enforced) conversion to Islam when travelling in Muslim countries; or possibly enforced and unnatural sexual activity, especially buggery. This was one joking fear affecting travel wagers on Puntarvolo's greyhound in Jonson's Every Man Out of his Humour. Cf Revels edition 4.3.16 and note. , with a wanion†gg1122 with a plague, with a vengeance ? The hare is yet in sight. Halloo, halloo! Marry, hang you for a couple of mongrels (if you were worth hanging), and have you served me thus? Nay then, I’ll serve you with the like sauce: you shall to the next bush, there will I tie you, and use†gs178 treat, with implication of treat harshly you like a couple of curs as you are, and though not lash you, yet lash you*n1313 Not leash you, but whip you. whilst my switch†gg1317 thin flexible shoot cut from a tree, used as a whip will hold. Nay, since you have left your speed, I’ll see if I can put spirit into you, and put you in remembrance what ‘halloo, halloo’ means.

Now bless me heaven, one of the greyhounds turned into a woman, the other into a boy! The lad I never saw before, but her I know well. It is my Gammer Dickiesonn1315 "Gammer" was conventionally a rustic way of addressing an elderly woman. In this case, Goody Dickieson is not necessarily the boy's grandmother. The actor here must decide whether the boy is relieved to see a woman he recognises, or terrified at realising that the gossip about her being a witch is now confirmed. Both reactions may be performed sequentially to give comic depth to the moment .

326Boy.When you had put yourself into a dog’s skin, I pray how could I help it? But, Gammer, are not you a witch? If you be, I beg upon my knees you will not hurt me.[He kneels.]

328Boy.   [Standing up and backing away]   I’ll have none of your money, Gammer, because you are a witch.   [Aside]   And now she is out of her four-legged shape, I’ll see if with my two legs I can outrun hern1318 The workshop here focused on what is another problematic stage action: the actors' solution was to have the boy run as fast as he could but be unable to move more than a short distance before Dickieson pulled him back on an invisible thread. The following clips record two attempts to realise this sequence in performance. .[He runs as fast as he can but cannot move very far.]

329Dickieson.Nay, sirrah†gs174 address to a young boy or servant , though you be young, and I old, you are not so nimble nor I so lame but I can overtake you.[She reels him in on an invisible line.]

330Boy.But Gammer, what do you mean to do with me, now you have me?*n1379 Q sets these lines as verse, but this edition sets as prose: more likely, since Goody Dickieson does not share the boy's incomplete line.

332Boy.Not I, Gammer, indeed–la, I dare not stay out late. My father is a fell†gg323 dreadful, terrible; cruel, savage man, and if I be out long, will both chide and beat me.

334Boy.The boy is vanished, and I can see nothing in his stead but a white horse ready saddled and bridled.*n1380 In Q, the obvious prose lines are set as verse; in this edition, they are set as prose.

336Boy.   [Crying as he is carried off]   Help, help!

337RobertThanks my sweet Mall for thy courteous entertainment, thy cream, thy cheesecakes, and every good thingn1339 Mall's job is dairy-maid, thus giving her access to such delicacies, but in feeding Robin's appetites, they are also euphemisms for sexual pleasures. A workshop with the actors explored this play with meanings. : this, this, and this for all.Kisse[s her three times.]

338Mall.But why in such haste, good Robin?

339RobertI confess my stay with thee is sweet to me, but I must spur Cut*n1340 Interesting choice of name for Robin's horse: generally, Cut was a common name for a curtailed horse; that is, one who had its tail docked. Specifically, it might refer to (a) an animal that has been castrated (OED v, 26); (b) horse whose gait, when running, strikes or bruises the inside of the fetlock with the shoe or hoof of the opposite foot, often without noticing or reacting to pain -- possibly an explanation for Robin's insensitivity to Mall's witchcraft (OED v, 27); (c) (one's) lot, fate, fortune; fate or fortune as a ruler of events (OED 2). the faster for’t, to be at home in the morning. I have yet to Lancaster to ride tonight, and this my bandoleer†gg1324 broad belt, worn over the shoulder and across the breast, with loops by which bottles or implements might be suspended (Obs.) of bottles to fill tonight, and then half a score mile*n1322 That is, 10 miles. The singular was often used in early modern English, especially when reckoning amounts (weights, sums, distances). to ride by curry-comb time†gg1325 the time at which horses are groomed for the day with an iron comb i’the morning, or the old man*n1323 That is, Generous. Robin here suggests he is much younger than his master, but their shared memories of drinking in London indicate they are probably much of an age. chides, Mall.

340Mall.He shall not chide thee. Fear it not.

341Robert.Pray Bacchus†gg1335 god of wine , I may please him with his wine, which will be the hardest thing to do; for since he was last at London and tasted the divinity of the Mitre, scarce any liquor in Lancashire will go down with him. Sure, sure, he will never be a Puritan, he holds so well with the Mitre*n1324 Puritans were fundamentalist Christians, dissenting from the standard Anglican or Church of England dogma. Aside from being the name of the tavern, a mitre is the tall deeply-cleft headdress worn by a bishop (occasionally an abbot) as a symbol of episcopal office; also, in the Roman Catholic church by cardinals and popes. The northern counties of England were thought to be Catholic strongholds in early modern England. !

342Mall.Well, Robert, I find your love by your haste from me. I’ll undertake you shall be at Lancaster, and twice as far, and yet at home time enough, an be ruled by me.n11373 Mall is toying with Robin to ensure her power is stronger than Robin's employer's power over him,, as she makes him swear to be ruled by her authority.

343Robert.Thou art a witty rogue, and thinkst to make me believe anything, because I saw thee make thy broom sweep the house without hands tother day.

344Mall.You shall see more than that presently, because you shall believe me. You know the house is all abed here, and I dare not be missed in the morning. Besides, I must be at the wedding of Lawrence and Parnell tomorrow.

345Robert.Ay, your old sweetheart, Lawrence? Old love will not be forgotten.

346Mall.I care not for the loss of him, but if I fit him not*n1341 If I don't serve my turn on him (OED v1, 4) or settle my account with him (OED v1, 9) , hang me! But to the point: if I go with you tonight, and help you to as good wine as your master desires, and you keep your time with him, you will give me a pint†gg1337 pint (approx. half a litre) of ale or beer for my company.

347Robert.Thy belly full*n1325 Quite as much (of anything) as you want or care to take. OED adds 'Now rather coarse', but the context here clearly has a coarse sexual code embedded in it. , wench.

348Mall.I’ll but take up my milk-pail and leave it in the field till our coming back in the morning, and we’ll away.

349Robert.Go fetch it quickly then.

350Mall.No, Robert, rather than leave your company so long, it shall come to me.

351Robert.I would but see that.

352Mall.Look yonder. What do you think on’t?

353Robert.’Light†gg1326 mild abbreviated oath, 'by God's light' , it comes! And I do think there is so much of the devil in’t as will turn all the milk*n1342 make all the milk turn sour shall come in’t these seven years, and make it burn too, till it stink worse than than the proverb of the bishop’s foot*n1343 A common proverb: 'The bishop's foot has been in it', based on the belief that bishops spoil whatever they meddle in. (see Notes and Queries, Fifth Series V, 49 and 333-4). It also appears in the Yale edition of Milton's Animadversions at the end of the tract in 'To the Postscript' (Complete Prose Works, 1:733). A Scottish and north-country proverb, in use since at least 1523, links the bishop's foot directly to milk that is burnt in the boiling. The smell of burnt milk is particularly foul. .

354Mall.Look you, sir, here I have it. Will you get up and away?

355Robert.My horse is gone!n11374 The challenge of creating a horse on stage for this couple suggests the relation between riding and sexual activity. In the first clip recorded during a workshop on this scene we see Mall transform a small horse into a large stallion. In the second recorded extract the couple mount the horse. The actors experimented with making this moment one fraught with sexual equivocation. Nay, prithee, Mall! Thou hast set him away. Leave thy roguery!

356Mall.Look again.

357Robert.There stands a black long-sided jade†gs179 sometimes used without depreciatory sense, playfully, or in generalized sense, horse ; mine was a trussed†gg1336 compactly framed or formed (Obs.) gray.

358Mall.Yours was too short to carry double such a journey. Get up, I say. You shall have your own again i’th’ morning.

359Robert.Nay but, nay but —

360Mall.Nay, an*n1381 ] and. In early modern English, 'an' meant 'if', but was frequently spelled 'and'. you stand butting now, I’ll leave you to look†gs180 look for (colloquial) your horse. Pail, on afore†gg1338 in advance (dialect) to the field, and stay till I come.

361Robert.Come away then. Hey for Lancaster! Stand up†gg1339 mount (the horse) !They exit.