of mood with playfulness of manner towards his wife, we hear him fiery and rapid of speech, quick of temper, witness him rash of deed, elastic of heart, unconquerable in hope and energy amid a hailstorm of difficulties and discouragement, We see the very man in his mode of speaking, walking, riding; his abrupt breaks, his short, swift strides, his every hasty tone, look, and movement. With the few marked lines and faithful traces by which the historian's page denotes effects and results, we also find in the dramatist's page causes and operating agencies; and while Holinshed gives us Henry V. as a prince given to vicious courses in his youth, and proving a reformed and most popular monarch in his manhood, Shakespeare shows us Prince Hal lolling away hours in Eastcheap, swinging his leg from a tavern table, extolling the merits of "small beer" with Poins, bantering Bardolph, bandying jokes with glorious Jack Falstaff, yet between whiles throwing out such self-revealing hints of better and more serious purpose as pre-indicate most naturally the ultimate auto-redemption. It has been traced almost to certainty of proof that the name originally given to Sir John Falstaff was Sir John Oldcastle. One of the persons in "The Famous Victories," &c., is thus named; and there are contemporaneous references to the character of the fat knight in Shakespeare's play as bearing the name of "Oldcastle." Moreover, there are a few scattered evidences in Shakespeare's own text, as now existing, which go to corroborate the fact; and which evidences will be pointed out by special notes in their several places. It is said that the reason of the author's chang 1. As one proof of the great popularity attained by this play, no fewer than six quarto editions of it had appeared before its publication in the first Folio copy; and five of these six were published during its author's lifetime. The first and best quarto edition of this fine drama bore the following title: "The History of Henrie the Fovrth; with the Battell at Shrewsburie, betweene the King and Lord Henry Percy, surnamed Henrie Hotspur of the North. With the humorous conceits of Sir John Falstalffe. At London, printed by P. S. for Andrew Wise, dwelling in Paule's Churchyard, at the sign of the Angell, 1598." The other quarto editions bear the successive dates of 1599, 1604, 1608, 1613, and 1622. The play was entered on the Register of the Stationers' Company, 25th February, 1597-8; but there is no evidence respecting the date when it was written. It is included in the enumeration of Shakespeare's plays by Francis Meres, 1598; and in that year there was a reprint of an old drama called "The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth," which treating, as it did, of the reigns of Henry IV. and V., had long before enjoyed popular favour, and which, from Shakespeare's having dramatised the same subject, excited sufficient interest to cause its being thus republished. From some slight tokens of coincidence in events and names of characters, it appears probable that this 'piece of "The Famous Victories," &c., was known to Shakespeare; but his own production is in all essentials original and supremely skilful. It combines the striking incidents and stately realities of history with vividness of dramatic colouring and richness of imagination; it unites chronicle truth with pocticing this name was, that some descendants of Sir John Oldcastle, beauty; it blends stern actualities of war and civil discontent with comedy wit and humour such as never were excelled; it enables us to see not only the men that figured in broad outline on the canvas of traditional record, but it paints them to us as they lived, loved, laughed, wept, and felt. We behold King Henry, not only as the ambitious usurper and the astute politician, but we see his fatherly anxieties, his gnawing cares, his sleepless hours; we know not merely of Glendower's tenacity of purpose an 1 warlike constancy, but we are permitted to see into his Welsh pepperiness, his Welsh superstition, his weaknesses of egoism, his tendernesses of paternity; we learn not only Hotspur's personal courage, his indomitable spirit, his bravery in action, his hotness of will, but we look into his waywardness Lord Cobham, the Protestant martyr, remonstrated against the ridicule which might attach to the name were it associated with the dramatic character in question. Certain it is, that before the publication of the first printed copy, the 1598 quarto, Falstaff was the name given by Shakespeare to that immortal comic personage, known to us all as the greatest and most complete embodiment of wit and humour ever created by mortal pen. 2. Stronds. An old form of 'strands.' 3. Entrance. Various alterations have been proposed for this word here; but it metaphorically expresses the mouth-like apertures on the earth's surface, which drink in the dark streams shed upon a battle-ground. No more shall trenching war channel her fields, West. My liege, this haste was hot in question, Upon whose dead corse' there was such misuse, K. Hen. It seems, then, that the tidings of this broil Brake off our business for the Holy Land. West. This, match'd with other, did, my gra cious lord; For more uneven and unwelcome news 13 | On Holy-rood day," the gallant Hotspur there, Where they did spend a sad and bloody hour; K. Hen. Here is a dear and true-industrious Sir Walter Blunt, new lighted from his horse, Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights, took Mordake, Earl of Fife, 16 and eldest son To beaten Douglas; and the Earls of Athol, 4. As ar as to the sepulchre shall we levy. To levy a power to a place, though an unusual form of construction, is not an unexampled one; as is shown by a passage from Gosson's "School of Abuse," 1587:-" Scipio, before he levied his force to the walls of Carthage, gave his soldiers the print of the citie in a cake to be devoured." 5. Bootless. Here used for needless,' 'superfluous.' 6. Therefore. Used here as 'for that purpose,' account;' 'in reference to that subject.' " on that 8. Limits. Here used for 'regulations,' 'prescribed condi tions, appointed particulars.' 9. Upon whose dead corse'. "Corse'" is here employed for · 'corses;' a plural form which was used by poetical writers, where the verse required this elisional contraction. See Note 33, Act i., "Tempest." 10. Or spoken of. There is historical record for this deed of posthumous outrage, in Holinshed and other chroniclers. 11. Holy-rood day. The 14th of September. An "old festival," says Brand, "called also Holy-cross day; instituted on account of the recovery of a large piece of the cross, by the Emperor Heraclius, after it had been taken away, on the plundering of Jerusalem by Cosroes, King of Persia, about the year of Christ 615." 12. The gallant Hotspur there, young Harry Percy. The word "there" in this passage, as the word "here" elsewhere (see Note 28, Act iv., "Richard II."), is used as an expletive; and is, in the present case, expressive of denotement. Holinshed, in his "History of Scotland," says: "This Harry Percy was surnamed, for his often pricking, Henry Hotspur, as one that seldom times rested, if there were anie service to be done abroad." "Pricking" was an old term for riding fast. 13. Archibald. The Earl of Douglas. 14. This seat of ours. Shakespeare uses "seat" here, and elsewhere, for 'throne,' 'court,' 'royal station.' See Note 22, Act iii., "Richard II." 15. Balk'd in their own blood. 'Heaped up, or piled in heaps, in their own blood.' A "balk" was a ridge of land or bank of earth, laid up between two furrows; and to 'balk' was to throw up the earth so as to form these ridges, banks, or heaps. 16. Mordake, Earl of Fife. This personage was, in fact, son to the Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland; but the poet is not answerable for the error, which arose from a mispunctuation in Holinshed, whence Shakespeare derived these particulars of the prisoners taken at Holmedon. In envy that my Lord Northumberland Should be the father to so blest a son, A son who is the theme of honour's tongue; coz, Of this young Percy's pride? the prisoners, Malevolent to you in all aspects; Which makes him prune himself,19 and bristle up The crest of youth against your dignity. SCENE II.-LONDON. A Room in Prince HENRY'S House.20 Enter Prince HENRY and FALSTAFF. Fal. Now, Hal, what time of day is it, lad ? P. Hen. Thou art so fat-witted, with drinking of old sack, and unbuttoning thee after supper, and sleeping upon benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to demand that truly which thou wouldst truly know. What a devil hast thou to do with the time of the day? unless hours were cups of sack, and minutes capons, and clocks the tongues of tapsters, and dials the signs of drinking-houses, and the blessed sun himself a fair wench in flamecoloured taffeta,-I see no reason why thou shouldst be so superfluous to demand the time of the day. Fal. Indeed, you come near me now, Hal; for we, that take purses, go by the moon and the seven stars, and not by Phoebus,-he, "that wandering knight so fair." 23 And, I pr'ythee, sweet wag, when thou art king,-as, God save thy grace K. Hen. But I have sent for him to answer this; (majesty I should say, for grace thou wilt have And for this cause awhile we must neglect Our holy purpose to Jerusalem. Cousin, on Wednesday next our council we Will hold at Windsor;-so inform the lords: none), P. Hen. What! none? Fal. No, by my troth,-not so much as will serve to be prologue to an egg and butter. 1 17. In faith, it is. These words, in the old copies, are made to form the conclusion of the king's speech; whereas, they evidently form the commencement of Westmoreland's in rejuinder. 13. I shall have none but Mordake, &c. By the law of arms, Percy was justified in this refusal; a captor having a right to retain every prisoner whose price of redemption did not exceed ten thousand crowns, to ransom or reprieve at his pleasure. The Earl of Fife, however, being of the blood royal, could be claimed by the king, and could not be refused by Hotspur. 19 Makes him prune himself. A figurative expression, borrowed from falconry; a hawk being said to "prune" itself, when it picks and ruffles its feathers in order to dress them, and set them in good condition. See Note 92, Act iv., "Love's Labour's Lost." This little speech is quite in Shakespeare's style of compressed expression with varied-almost crowded-allusion : for not only have the words " malevolent to you in all aspects" metaphorical reference to the influence of the stars upon human individuals, as the words that follow introduce an image derived from falconry, but there is arbitrary use made of the pronoun "him," making it allude to the previously-named Percy, and not to the immediately-before-named Worcester. 20. A room in Prince Henry's house. The stage direction in most modern editions (for there is none in the old copies) is, **Another room in the Palace." But we learn from several passages in the plays where Prince Hal figures, that he does not frequent the court; and, from tradition, that he had a mansion, called Cold Harbour, granted to him, as Prince of Wales, for | 113 his residence. Now this mansion being situated not far from Eastcheap, was not only near to his favourite haunts, but was a likely locality for him to have his favourite companion, Falstaff, staying with him in, and to have Poins come and find him in. As a confirmation of our idea that this scene was probably meant to take place in Prince Henry's own usual dwelling, we point out the words "tarry at home," as used by Poins, Falstaff, and the prince, in this scene; for though they may mean merely remain in-doors instead of going forth to the proposed robbery, yet they may very fairly be taken to signify the prince's keeping in his own house, and Falstaff's keeping with him in the house that he makes his own, uses as his own, and considers as his own-his "home. 21. Thou hast forgotten to demand that truly which thou wouldst truly know. "Truly" is often used by Shakespeare and writers of his time for 'honestly;' and therefore we interpret the prince's meaning to be, that Falstaff has forgotten how to ask honestly that which he really wishes to know; that he inquires the time, when he cares nothing for it, and makes no use of it, and asks how the day is passing, when he cares only how the night is spent. 22. So superfluous to demand. to;' an ellipsis not unfrequently Note 31, Act iii., "Richard II." "To" is here used for 'as found in Shakespeare. See 23. "That wandering knight so fair." These words are supposed to be a scrap from some ballad on the subject of the Knight of the Sun (“El Donzel del Febo"), a Spanish romance, of which there was a translation popularly known in Shakespeare's time. VOL. II. 106 P. Hen. Well, how then? come, roundly, roundly.24 Fal. Marry, then, sweet wag, when thou art king, let not us that are squires of the night's body be called thieves of the day's beauty: 25 let us be Diana's foresters, gentlemen of the shade, minions of the moon; and let men say we be men of good government, being governed, as the sea is, by our noble and chaste mistress the moon, under whose countenance we steal. P. Hen. Thou sayest well, and it holds well too; for the fortune of us, that are the moon's men, doth ebb and flow like the sea, being governed, as the sea is, by the moon. As, for proof, now: a purse of gold most resolutely snatched on Monday night, and most dissolutely spent on Tuesday morning; got with swearing-"Lay by," 26 and spent with crying-" Bring in ;"27 now in as low an ebb as the foot of the ladder, and by-and-by in as high a flow as the ridge of the gallows. Fal. By the Lord, thou sayest true, lad. And is not my hostess of the tavern a most sweet wench? P. Hen. As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the castle.28 And is not a buff jerkin a most sweet robe of durance ?29 Fal. How now, how now, mad wag! what, in thy quips and thy quiddities? what a plague have I to do with a buff jerkin 930 P. Hen. Why, what a plague have I to do with my hostess of the tavern? Fal. Well, thou hast called her to a reckoning many a time and oft. Fal. No; I'll give thee thy due, thou hast paid all there. P. Hen. Yea, and elsewhere, so far as my coin would stretch; and where it would not, I have used my credit. Fal. Yea, and so used it, that, were it not here apparent that thou art heir-apparent, — but, I pr'ythee, sweet wag, shall there be gallows standing in England when thou art king? and resolution thus fobbed, as it is, with the rusty curb of old father antic, the law? Do not thou, when thou art king, hang a thief. P. Hen. No; thou shalt. Fal. Shall I? Oh, rare! By the Lord, I'll be a brave judge. P. Hen. Thou judgest false already: I mean, thou shalt have the hanging of the thieves, and so become a rare hangman. Fal. Well, Hal, well; and in some sort it jumps with my humour as well as waiting in the court, I can tell you. P. Hen. For obtaining of suits? Fal. Yea, for obtaining of suits, whereof the hangman hath no lean wardrobe. 'Sblood, I am as melancholy as a gib cat,31 or a lugged bear. P. Hen. Or an old lion, or a lover's lute.32 Fal. Yea, or the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe, 33 P. Hen. What sayest thou to a hare, 34 or the melancholy of Moor-ditch? Fal. Thou hast the most unsavoury similes, and art, indeed, the most comparative,35 rascallest, P. Hen. Did I ever call for thee to pay thy part? sweet young prince,—but, Hal, I pr'ythee, trouble 24. Roundly. 'Directly,' 'briefly:' without circumlocution. See Note 68, Act i., "Taming of the Shrew." 25. Thieves of the day's beauty. There is a pun on the word "beauty" here, as if it were spelt booty;' for it was sometimes, and is still provincially, pronounced thus. A latitude in similarity of words was allowable for punning purposes; as has been shown in Note 87, Act iv., "All's Well." 26. "Lay bv." A nautical phrase for slacken sail; and Shakespeare elsewhere uses it for 'remained still.' It is probable, therefore, that it was a cant phrase used by highwaymen, equivalent to 'Stand and deliver!' Moreover, judging by the word "swearing" before it, Shakespeare may have included a play upon the expression "lay by," in the sense of put by, or save up money; as if they commenced by swearing to be provident, and ended by squandering. 27. "Bring in.' The technical call to tapsters; signifying 'bring in more wine!' 28. My old lad of the castle. One of the evidences, mentioned in Note 1, that go to establish the belief of Shakespeare's having originally given the name of Oldcastle instead of Falstaff to Sir John. Unless he were called Oldcastle, there would be little apparent point in these words; but with that key to their interpretation, they form a palpably paraphrastic play upon the fat knight's surname. Independently of this question, the words probably include reference to a term which Ritson informs us was applied to roaring boys and roysterers; in proof of which he quotes from Gabriel Harvey:-" Old lads of the castell with their rapping babble. 29. Is not a buff jerkin a most sweet robe of durance? A garment of buff leather was the dress of a sergeant, or sheriff's officer; and is here facetiously called 'a robe of durance" from the durability of the stuff, and from "durance "being a cant term for imprisonment. See Notes 24 and 29, Act iv., "Comedy of Errors." 30. What a plague have I to do with, &c. Irrelevancy in question, illustration, or remark, was a form of jesting much in favour when Shakespeare wrote; and he himself has given us several humorous specimens of this style of joke. See, for instance, the several passages referred to in Notes 29, Act ii., and 19, Act iv., "Twelfth Night." 31. A gib cat. "Gib" is an abbreviation of Gilbert;' and "a gib cat" was formerly as much in use to express a male cat as 'a tom cat' is now. It was generally applied to an old cat; and 'as melancholy as a cat' was a proverbial simile. 32. A lover's lute. Referred to elsewhere as a type of melancholy. See Note 26, Act iii., "Much Ado." 33. A Lincolnshire bagpipe. It has not been ascertained why this county and this instrument should have been peculiarly associated; but it is affirmed that the expression, Lincolnshire bagpipes," is proverbial. Possibly the instrument was formerly as great a favourite among the Lincoln folk as it has ever been in Scotland. 34. A hare. That the hare has been esteemed to be an especially melancholy animal, is attested by numerous citations from old writers; and Pierus, in his "Hieroglyphics," says that the Egyptians symbolised melancholy by a hare sitting on her form. 35. Comparative. Full of comparisons; indulging in humorous similes. me no more with vanity. I would to Heaven thou and I knew where a commodity of good names were to be bought. An old lord of the council rated me the other day in the street about you, sir, but I marked him not; and yet he talked very wisely,—but I regarded him not; and yet he talked wisely, and in the street too. P. Hen. Thou didst well; for wisdom cries out in the streets, and no man regards it. Fal. Oh, thou hast abominable iteration,36 and art, indeed, able to corrupt a saint. Thou hast done much harm upon me, Hal,-Heaven forgive thee for it! Before I knew thee, Hal, I knew nothing; and now am I, if a man should speak truly, little better than one of the wicked. I must give over this life, and I will give it over; by the Lord, an I do not, I am a villain: I'll be condemned for never a king's son in Christendom. P. Hen. Where shall we take a purse tomorrow, Jack? Fal. Where thou wilt, lad, I'll make one; an I do not, call me villain, and baffle me.37 P. Hen. I see a good amendment of life in thee, -from praying to purse-taking. Enter POINS, at a distance. Fal. Why, Hal, 'tis my vocation, Hal; 'tis no sin for a man to labour in his vocation.-Poins! 38 -Now shall we know if Gadshill have set a match.39-Oh, if men were to be saved by merit, what hole were hot enough for him? This is the most omnipotent villain that ever cried "Stand!" to a true man. P. Hen. Good morrow, Ned. Poins. Good morrow, sweet Hal.-What says Monsieur Remorse? what says Sir John Sackand-Sugar ?40 Jack, how agrees the devil and thee about thy soul, that thou soldest him on Good Friday last, for a cup of Madeira and a cold capon's leg? 36. Iteration. Falstaff affects to rebuke Prince Hal for pervertedly repeating his words "regarded," wisely," "streets," &c.; as well as for punning and playing upon words generally, which they have both been doing throughout the scene in emulation of each other, though he chooses to cast the blame wholly upon his younger companion, whom he reproaches for corrupting him. 37. Call me villain, and baffle me. Falstaff uses the word 'villain" partly in its sense of "wicked," partly in its sense of base-born, low-born, serf-like, as opposed to gently-born, wellborn. "Baffle" implies 'treat with ignominy,' 'revile,' 'abuse;' and also 'unknight,'' degrade from chivalrous rank.' See Note 28, Act i., "Richard II." 38. Poins! In the Folio, this name is printed here as a prefix, dividing the speech into two; whereas it evidently belongs entirely to Falstaff, and "Poins!" is an ejaculation of the knight's on seeing him approach. 39 Set a match. Thus the Quartos; while the Folio prints Set a watch.' "To set a match" was used for making an appointment; but it meant, in thieves' cant phraseology, to plan a robbery. P. Hen. Sir John stands to his word, -the devil shall have his bargain; for he was never yet a breaker of proverbs,-he will give the devil his due. Poins. But, my lads, my lads, to-morrow morning, by four o'clock, early at Gadshill! there are pilgrims going to Canterbury with rich offerings, and traders riding to London with fat purses: I have visors for you all, you have horses for yourselves: Gadshill lies to-night in Rochester: I have bespoke supper to-morrow night in Eastcheap: 41 we may do it as secure as sleep. If you will go, I will stuff your purses full of crowns; if you will not, tarry at home and be hanged. Fal. Hear ye, Yedward; 42 if I tarry at home and go not, I'll hang you for going. Poins. You will, chops? Fal. Hal, wilt thou make one? P. Hen. Who, I rob? I a thief? not I, by my faith. Fal. There's neither honesty, manhood, nor good fellowship in thee, nor thou camest not of the blood royal, if thou darest not stand for ten shillings.43 P. Hen. Well, then, once in my days I'll be a madcap. Fal. Why, that's well said. P. Hen. Well, come what will, I'll tarry at home. Fal. I'll be a traitor, then, when thou art king. P. Hen. I care not. Poins. Sir John, I pr'ythee, leave the prince and me alone: I will lay him down such reasons for this adventure, that he shall go. Fal. Well, Heaven give thee the spirit of persuasion, and him the ears of profiting, that what thou speakest may move, and what he hears may be believed, that the true prince may (for recreation sake) prove a false thief; for the poor abuses of the time want countenance. Farewell: you shall find me in Eastcheap. P. Hen. Farewell, thou latter spring! farewell, All-hallown summer!44 [Exit FALSTAFF. 40. Sir John Sack-and-Sugar. That sack was sometimes drunk sweetened with sugar has been shown in Note 42, Act iii., "Merry Wives;" where the derivation of its name is likewise indicated. 41. Supper to-morrow night in Eastcheap. So called from its famous cheap or market, and formerly celebrated as a locality for good cheer; the shops of cooks, or eating-houses, existing plentifully among those of the butchers, poulterers, and other provision-vendors. 42. Yedward. A facetiously familiar corruption of 'Edward;' which still exists, as a provincial pronunciation, in some parts of England. In the "Merry Wives," Act i., sc. 1, we meet with "Yead Miller;" "Yead" or "Yed' being a varied form of 'Ned.' |