LADY P. Then be ftill. HOT. Neither; 'tis a woman's fault.4 LADY P. What's that? HOT. Peace! fhe fings. A Welsh SONG fung by Lady M. HOT. Come, Kate, I'll have your fong too. HOT. Not yours, in good footh! 'Heart, you fwear like a comfit-maker's wife! Not you, in good footh; and, As true as I live; and, As God fhall mend me; and, As fure as day: And giv'ft fuch farcenet furety for thy oaths, As if thou never walk'dft further than Finsbury. 5 4 Neither; 'tis a woman's fault.] I do not plainly fee what is a woman's fault. JOHNSON. It is a woman's fault, is spoken ironically. FARMER. This is a proverbial expreffion. I find it in The Birth of Merlin, 1662: Again: " 'Tis a woman's fault: p- of this bathfulnefs." 66 "A woman's fault, we are fubje& to it, fir." Again, in Greene's Planetomachia, 1586: a woman's faulte, to thruft away that with her little finger, whiche they pull to them with both their hands." I believe the meaning is this: Hotspur having declared his refolution neither to have his head broken, nor to fit ftill, flily adds, that such is the usual fault of women; i. c. never to do what they are bid or defired to do. STEEVENS. The whole tenor of Hotfpur's converfation in this fcene fhows, that the ftillness which he here imputes to women as a fault, was fomething very different from filence; and that an idea was couched under these words, which may be better underftood than explained.He is ftill in the Welsh lady's bedchamber. WHITE. As if thou never walk'dft further than Finsbury.] Open walks 1 Swear me, Kate, like a lady, as thou art, To velvet-guards,' and funday-citizens. and fields near Chifwell-ftreet, London Wall, by Moorgate; the common refort of the citizens, as appears from many of our ancient comedies. I fuppofe the verfe originally (but elliptically) ran thus: As thou ne'er walk' dft further than Finfbury. i. e. as if thou ne'er &c. STEEVENS. 6 fuch proteft of pepper-gingerbread,] i. e. proteftations as common as the letters which children learn from an alphabet of ginger-bread. What we now call Spice ginger-bread was then called pepper ginger-bread. STEEVENS. Such proteftations as are uttered by the makers of gingerbread. MALONE, Hotfpur had juft told his wife that the "fwore like a comfitmaker's wife;" fuch protefts therefore of pepper ginger-bread, as " in footh," &c. were to be left to perfons of that clafs. HENLEY. 7 -velvet-guards,] To fuch as have their clothes adorned with fhreds of velvet, which was, I fuppofe, the finery of cockneys. JOHNSON. "The cloaks, doublets, &c. (fays Stubbs, in his Anatomie of Abuses) were guarded with velvet guards, or else laced with coftly lace." Speaking of women's gowns, he adds: "they must be guarded with great guards of velvet, every guard four or fix fingers broad at the leaft." So, in The Malcontent, 1606: "You are in good cafe fince you came to court; garded, garded: "Yes faith, even footmen and bawds wear velvet." Velvet guards appear, however, to have been a city fashion. So, in Hiftriomaflix, 1610: Again: "Nay, I myself will wear the courtly grace: "Out on these velvet guards, and black-lac'd fleeves, "I like this jewel; I'll have his fellow. "How?-you?-what fellow it?-gip, velvet-guards !" STEEVENS. LADY P. I will not fing. HOT. 'Tis the next way to turn tailor, or be redbreaft teacher.8 An the indentures be drawn, I'll To velvet guards means, I believe, to the higher rank of female citizens, the wives of either merchants or wealthy fhopkeepers. It appears from the following paffage in The London Prodigal, 1605, that a guarded gown was the beft dress of a city lady in the time of our author: Frances. But Tom, muft I go as I do now, when I am married? "Civet. No, Franke, [i. e. Frances,] I'll have thee go like a citizen, in a' garded gown, and a French hood." Fynes Morifon is ftill more exprefs to the fame point, and furmishes us with the beft comment on the words before us. Defcribing the dress of the various orders of the people of England, he says, "At public meetings the aldermen of London weere fkarlet gownes, and their wives a clofe gown of skarlet, with gardes of black velvet." ITIN. fol. 1617, P. III. p. 179. See Vol. VI, p. 108, n. 2. MALONE. * 'Tis the next way to turn tailor, &c.] I fuppofe Percy means, that finging is a mean quality, and therefore he excuses his lady. JOHNSON. The next way is the nearest way. So, in Lingua, &c. 1607: "The quadrature of a circle; the philofopher's ftone; and the next way to the Indies " Tailors feem to have been as remarkable for finging, as weavers, of whofe mufical turn Shakspeare has more than once made mention. Beaumont and Fletcher, in The Knight of the Burning Pelle, speak of this quality in the former: "Never truft a tailor that does not fing at his work; his mind is on nothing but filching." The honourable Daines Barrington obferves, that "a gold-finch fill continues to be called a proud tailor, in fome parts of England; (particularly Warwickshire, Shakspeare's native country) which renders this paffage intelligible, that otherwife feems to have no meaning whatsoever." Perhaps this bird is called a proud tailor, becaufe his plumage is varied like fuit of clothes made out of remnants of different colours, fuch as a tailor might be supposed to wear. The sense then will be this :-The next thing to finging onefelf, is to teach birds to fing, the goldfinch and the robin. I hope the poet meant to inculcate, that finging is a quality defrudive to its poffeffor; and that after a perfon has ruined himfelf by it, he may be reduced to the neceffity of inftruding birds in au art which can render birds alone more valuable. STEEVENS. away within these two hours; and fo come in when ye will. [Exit. GLEND. Come, come, lord Mortimer; you are as As hot lord Percy is on fire to go. By this our book 's drawn ; we'll but feal, and then To horfe immediately. MORT. With all my heart. [Exeunt. One inftance may fuffice, to fhew that next has been rightly interpreted: and when mattens was done, the erles and the lordes went the next way to the deane's place to breckfaft." Ives's Select Papers, 4to. 1773, p. 165.. This paffage has been interpreted as if the latter member of the fentence were explanatory of the former; but furely they are entirely diftin&. The plain meaning is, that he who makes a common pradice of finging, reduces himself to the condition either of a tailor, or a teacher of mufick to birds. That tailors were remarkable for finging in our author's time, he has himself informed us elsewhere. "Do you make an alehouse of my lady's house, (fays Malvolio in Twelfth Night,) that ye fqueak out your coziers' catches, without any mitigation or remorfe of voice?". MALONE. 9 --our book 's drawn ;] i. e. our articles. Every compofition, whether play, ballad, or hiftory, was called a book, on the regifters of ancient publication. STEEVENS. SCENE II. London. A Room in the Palace. Enter King HENRY, Prince of Wales, and Lords. K. HEN. Lords, give us leave; the prince of 3 Muft have fome conference: But be near at hand,3 [Exeunt Lords. I know not whether God will have it fo, - Make me believe, that thou art only mark'd 3 Must have fome conference: But be near at hand,] The old copies redundantly read—some private conference; but, as the lords. were difmiffed on this occafion, they would naturally infer that privacy was the King's object. STEEVENS. For fome difpleafing service-] Service for action, fimply. STEEVENS. 5 in thy paffages of life, ] i. e. in the paffages of thy life. G -fuch lewd, fuch mean attempts, ] Mean attempts, áre mean, unworthy undertakings. Lewd does not in this place barely fignify wanton, but licentious. So, B. Jonfon, in his Poetafter: great actions may be fu'd "Gainft fuch as wrong men's fames with verfes lewd." > |
