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Pet. Why, there's a wench!-Come on, and kiss

me, Kate.

Luc. Well, go thy ways, old lad; for thou shalt

ha't.

Vin. 'Tis a good hearing, when children are toward.

Luc. But a harsh hearing when women are fro

ward.

Pet. Come, Kate, we'll to-bed:

We three are married, but you two are sped.

'Twas I won the wager, though you hit the white 65;

[To Lucentio.

And, being a winner, God give you good night! [Exeunt Petruchio and Katharina. Hor. Now go thy ways, thou hast tam'd a curst

shrew.

Luc. 'Tis a wonder, by your leave, she will be [Exeunt 66

tam'd so.

ANNOTATIONS

UPON

TAMING OF THE SHREW.

I'll pheese you, in faith.] To pheeze or fease, is to separate a twist into single threads. In the figurative sense it may well enough be taken, like teaze or toze, for to harass, to plague. Perhaps I'll pheeze you, may be equivalent to I'll comb your head, a phrase vulgarly used by persons of Sly's character on like occasions. The following explanation of the word is given by Sir Thomas Smyth in his book de Sermone Anglico, printed by Robert Stephens, 4to. To feize, means in fila diducere.

JOHNSON.

2 —paucas pallabris;] Sly, as an ignorant fellow, is purposely made to aim at languages out of his knowledge, and knock the words out of joint. The Spaniards say, pocas palabras, i. e. few words: as they do likewise, Cessa, i. e. be quiet. THEOBALD. 3-burst-] To burst and to break were anciently synonimous. Fallstaff says that John of Gaunt burst Shallow's head for crowding in among the marshal's men.

STEEVENS.

4 Go by, says Jeronimy ;] This passage has parti

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cular humour in it, and must have been very pleasing at that time of day. But I must clear up a piece of stage history, to make it understood. There is a fustian old play, called Hieronymo; Or, The Spanish Tragedy: which, I find, was the common butt of raillery to all the poets in Shakspeare's time: and a passage, that appeared very ridiculous in that play is here humorously alluded to. Hieronymo, thinking himself injur'd, applies to the king for justice; but the courtiers, who did not desire his wrongs should be set in a true light, attempt to hinder him from an audience.

Hiero. Justice, oh! justice to Hieronymo.

Lor. Back; see'st thou not, the king is busy? Hiero. Oh, is he so?

King. Who is he, that interrupts our business? Hiero. Not I:-Hieronymo, beware; go by, go by. So Sly here, not caring to be dun'd by the Hostess, cries to her in effect, "Don't be troublesome, don't interrupt me, go, by;" and to fix the satire in his allusion, pleasantly calls her Jeronymo. THEOBALD.

Brach, Merriman.] Here, says Pope, brach signifies a degenerate hound: but Edwards explains it a hound in general.

That the latter of these criticks is right, will appear from the use of the word brach in Sir J. Mores's Comfort against Tribulation, book iii. ch. 24. "Here "it must be known of some men that can skill of hunting, whether that we mistake not our terms, " for then are we utterly ashamed, as ye wot well.

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"And I am so cunning, that I cannot tell, whether among them a bitche be a bitche or no; but as I "remember she is no bitche but a brache." The meaning of the latter part of the paragraph seems to be, "I am so little skilled in hunting, that I can

hardly tell whether a bitch be a bitch or not; my "judgment goes no further, than just to direct me "to call either dog or bitch by their general name— "Hound." I am aware that Spelman acquaints his reader, that brache was used in his days for a lurcher, and that Shakspeare himself has made it a dog of a particular species.

Mastiff greyhound, mungrill grim,
Hound or spaniel, brache or hym.

K. LEAR, Act iii. Sc. 5.

But it is manifest from the passage of More just cited, that it was sometimes applied in a general sense, and may therefore be so understood in the passage before us; and it may be added, that brache appears to be used in the same sense by Beaumont and Fletcher. "A. Is that your brother? E. Yes, have "you lost your memory? A. As I live he is a pretty "fellow. Y. O this is a sweet brache." Scornful Lady, Act i. Sc. 1.

WARTON.

Sir T. Hanmer reads, Leech Merriman, that is, apply some remedies to Merriman, the poor cur has his joints swelled. Perhaps we might read, bathe Merriman, which is I believe the common practice of huntsmen, but the present reading may stand:

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