Henry IV, Part 1 (Folger Shakespeare Library) Read online

  304 at once all at the same time

  305 happily fortunately

  310 fields battlefields

  1 by the day in the morning

  2 Charles' wain Charlemagne's wagon, old name for the constellation of the Plow 3 packed loaded

  ostler groom at an inn

  4 Anon soon, in a moment

  5 Tom presumably the Second Carrier, though possibly the Ostler beat Cut's saddle beating a saddle would soften it; Cut is the horse's name flocks tufts of wool (for padding)

  6 point pommel of saddle

  jade worn-out old horse

  wrung...withers rubbed sore between the shoulders

  out...cess beyond measure

  8 Peas and beans i.e. horses' food

  dank...dog damp

  9 bots intestinal worms

  house inn

  11 joyed was happy

  14 tench freshwater fish with spots said to resemble fleabites 17 first cock first cockcrow, midnight

  18 jordan chamber pot

  19 leak urinate

  chimney fireplace

  chamber-lye urine

  20 loach small freshwater fish, thought to harbor

  fleas

  21 Come away come along

  23 gammon of bacon ham

  razes either "races" (roots) or "rasers" (a measure amounting to four bushels) 24 Charing Cross village between London and Westminster, site of a market 25 pannier one of a pair of baskets

  27 An...thee if cracking your skull were not as good a thing as drinking 29 Hast have you

  faith honesty, trustworthiness

  31 two o'clock either an error, since the First Carrier earlier said that he thought it was four o'clock, or a lie to mislead Gadshill (who may have aroused suspicion) 32 gelding castrated horse

  34 I know...that i.e. I'm not so stupid as to fall for such an old trick 37 Ay...tell? What time is it? Do you know? (repeating Gadshill's earlier request); or proverbial phrase meaning "you must be joking"

  38 quoth a did you say

  41 Time...candle i.e. sometime tonight

  42 warrant assure

  neighbour Mugs i.e. the First Carrier;

  neighbour is a friendly form of address

  call wake

  43 along...charge want to travel in a group because they're carrying valuable goods Chamberlain inn attendant in charge of the bedrooms

  46 At...pick-purse I'm ready, as the pickpocket says

  47 That's...fair as i.e. you might as well have said 49 giving...labouring giving orders does from working

  50 lay'st...how devise the plan, direct the thief

  51 current movement, onward flow

  heady violent, swiftly moving

  52 franklin small landowner

  wild of Kent Kentish weald, wooded country between the North and South Downs of southern England 55 auditor treasury official

  abundance of charge a lot of baggage

  56 eggs and butter i.e. breakfast

  57 presently immediately

  58 Saint Nicholas' clerks thieves, highwaymen;

  Saint Nicholas was supposedly their patron saint

  65 starveling skinny, starving person

  66 Trojans fine fellows (slang

  the which who

  67 profession i.e. of robbery

  69 make all whole put everything right, sort things out

  foot-land rakers thieves who operate on foot (as opposed to on a horse) 70 long-staff sixpenny strikers thieves who, merely to steal sixpence, strike their victims with a long stick mustachio purple-hued malt-worms purple-faced drunkards with large mustaches 71 tranquillity those living a peaceful life

  72 burgomasters town officials

  oneyers exact meaning uncertain, perhaps "ones," i.e.

  great personages

  hold in hold firm/keep silent

  75 commonwealth nation

  76 ride i.e. like a horse, but also with sexual connotations 77 boots booty, plunder (the Chamberlain plays on the sense of "footwear"; there is also a quibble on the sense of "vagina") 79 hold...way keep you dry on a muddy road/piss herself

  80 liquored oiled (to make waterproof)/plied with alcohol 81 as...castle i.e. in complete safety

  cocksure completely secure

  receipt of fern-seed recipe for fern seed (supposed to confer invisibility) 86 true honest

  88 Homo Latin for "man"

  pupil age youthful time (i.e. the present)

  common name to general name for

  89 muddy muddled, dull-witted (plays on the sense of "dirty") 2 frets...velvet fusses or, literally, frays like cheap velvet stiffened with gum 3 close concealed

  5 fat-kidneyed i.e. fat-bellied

  rascal may play on the sense of "young or inferior deer," a creature Falstaff is frequently compared to) 6 keep make, keep up

  12 by the square exactly

  square a measuring instrument

  13 break my wind lose my breath (plays on the sense of "fart"

  Well...rogue I expect to die well despite everything, as long as I'm not hanged for killing Poins 17 medicines potions

  19 ere before

  20 An if

  21 turn true man reform, become honest/become an informer veriest varlet most complete rogue

  26 Whew! Expression of alarm or perhaps Falstaff trying to whistle 33 exchequer treasury

  colt cheat

  35 uncolted without a horse

  36 to i.e. to find, but the prince takes him to mean "to mount"

  39 heir-apparent garters jokes on the fact that as heir apparent, the prince belonged to the knightly Order of the Garter 40 peach turn informer, betray (my accomplices

  ballads...all songs made up about you

  41 filthy disgraceful, obscene

  42 forward far advanced/presumptuous, immodest

  afoot when the robbery plot is under way/when I am on foot

  45 setter one who plans robberies

  47 Case ye mask yourselves

  51 make us all make our fortunes

  53 front confront

  54 lower further down

  55 light on come upon

  56 be are there

  60 Gaunt plays on the literal sense of "thin" (though actually the name was a form of "Ghent") 62 proof test

  68 hard near

  69 happy...dole may good fortune be every man's lot

  76 whoreson caterpillars bastard parasites

  whoreson son of a whore

  bacon-fed fat, well-fed

  77 youth youngsters

  78 undone ruined

  79 gorbellied big-bellied

  80 chuffs clowns/ misers

  store savings, full possessions

  bacons pigs

  81 grand-jurors wealthy men, eligible to sit on a jury

  82 jure judge, see to/make a juror of

  85 argument a topic of conversation

  88 my masters sirs

  89 arrant absolute

  90 equity stirring judgment in the world

  91 wild duck i.e. easily frightened

  99 lards drips fat on

  solus alone

  3 house family (Hotspur goes on to play on the literal meaning, contrasting it with barn) 10 uncertain unreliable

  11 unsorted unsuitable

  12 counterpoise counterbalance

  13 hind peasant/menial/nervous female deer

  14 lack-brain idiot

  protest declare, affirm

  16 expectation promise

  18 lord of York the Archbishop of York, Richard Scroop

  20 brain... fan knock his brains out with a lady's fan--light and suitable for one with little brain 22 the Douglas Archibald, Earl of Douglas; the signifies the head of a Scottish clan 26 in...of i.e. really motivated by

  28 go to buffets come to blows (with myself

  moving trying to persuade

  dish...milk i.e. weak, cowardly one

  29 action course of action/military enterprise/rhetorical gesture/division in a logical argumen
t 30 prepared drawn up for military action

  37 stomach appetite

  41 treasures...rights treasured intimacy and wifely rights 42 thick-eyed dull-sighted, preoccupied/heavy-lidded (from lack of sleep) 43 faint light, restless

  watched remained awake

  45 terms of manage words of control

  47 sallies and retires advances and retreats

  48 palisadoes defensive fortifications

  49 basilisks large cannon (named after a mythical reptile culverin another type of large cannon

  56 motions movements, expressions/emotions

  57 restrain hold/catch

  59 heavy important, weighty

  61 What, ho! summons to servant

  62 Gilliams name of another servant

  packet packet of letters, dispatch

  64 Butler another servant

  65 even just

  66 roan with a coat of mixed color

  crop-ear with the top of the ears cropped

  69 back mount

  straight straightaway

  Esperance! Hope! (the Percy family motto was "Esperance ma comforte," French for "In hope is my strength/ consolation") 73 carries you away transports you with emotion

  76 weasel a notoriously aggressive animal (Hotspur responds literally spleen anger, impulsiveness

  79 stir become roused, rebellious

  80 title claim to the throne

  81 line support

  83 paraquito little parrot

  85 little finger phallic connotations

  88 trifler frivolous time-waster

  90 mammets dolls, perhaps with play on Latin mamma ("breasts"

  tilt joust

  91 crowns heads (plays on the sense of "coins" as well as having royal connotations) 92 pass them current pass them off as good currency

  God's me God save me

  102 whereabout speculate why

  106 Constant faithful, trustworthy

  108 closer more tight-lipped

  116 force necessity

  1 fat stuffy (possibly "vat"

  lend...hand help me

  4 loggerheads blockheads, idiots

  three or fourscore sixty or eighty (a score is twenty)

  5 hogsheads large wine casks

  sounded...humility played the lowest note of baseness/ humbleness

  6 sworn brother avowed intimate friend

  leash set of three (usually animals tied together

  drawers bartenders, waiters

  7 Francis name of the bartender Hal subsequently teases

  10 proud pompous

  Jack fellow, knave/Jack

  Falstaff (diminutive version of John

  Corinthian fine fellow--Corinth in ancient Greece was notorious for riotous living 11 mettle spirit, worth

  13 dyeing scarlet probably because heavy drinking reddens the complexion; perhaps because urine, a product of drinking, was used to fix dye breathe...watering pause for breath while drinking (possibly "fart while urinating") 14 "Hem!" sound of disapproval/a clearing of the throat

  play it off finish it up

  16 drink...language i.e. consort comfortably with a drinker of any social class/drink heavily (tinkers were reputedly heavy drinkers) 18 action encounter (usually military)

  19 pennyworth of sugar small quantity of sugar used to sweeten wine 20 under-skinker low-ranking waiter (to "skink" is to pour out liquor) 23 Anon (I'm) coming, just a moment

  Score put on the bill

  bastard sweet Spanish wine

  24 Half-Moon one of the rooms in the tavern

  drive pass

  25 by-room side room

  26 puny inexperienced/young/weedy

  to what end why

  27 leave stop

  29 precedent example

  31 perfect word-perfect

  33 Pomgarnet Pomegranate, the name of another room in the tavern 37 to serve left of your apprenticeship (the usual length was seven years; Francis is probably fourteen or sixteen) 41 By'r lady by Our Lady (the Virgin Mary

  long...pewter long apprenticeship to learn to be a barman (drinking vessels were made of pewter) 43 indenture contract by which an apprentice was bound

  45 books i.e. Bibles

  50 Michaelmas the feast of Saint Michael, 29 September

  52 stay wait

  53 for as for, about

  64 rob i.e. rob your master of service by running away leathern jerkin (the master who wears a) tight-fitting leather jacket crystal-button fashionable shiny buttons

  65 not-pated short-haired

  agate-ring ring set with a carved agate stone

  puke-stocking dark-colored heavy woolen stockings

  caddis-garter garter made of woolen tape

  66 smooth-tongue smooth-talker, flatterer

  Spanish-pouch wallet of Spanish leather

  68 brown bastard Spanish wine, sweeter than the white variety your only drink the best of drinks

  69 doublet tight-fitting jacket

  70 sully get dirty

  Barbary region in northern Africa (from which sugar was imported

  it i.e. sugar

  amazed dumbfounded

  Vintner innkeeper selling wine

  83 merry as crickets proverbial presumably because they jump about "singing"

  84 cunning match clever game, contest of wits

  85 issue outcome, point

  87 goodman title for those below the rank of gentleman (the biblical Adam was a gardener)

  86 I...midnight I now understand all the moods that have ever existed from the beginning of time until now (i.e. I'm in the mood for anything/I have seen everything) 90 Anon puns on "one" (pronounced similarly)

  92 yet nevertheless (be

  industry business, labor, diligence

  is is to run

  93 the...reckoning consists of the items on a bill

  94 mind opinion, way of thinking

  kills me kills me is colloquial/emphatic)

  98 drench drink/draught of medicine

  100 brawn lump of flesh/fattened boar or pig

  101 "Rivo!" presumably a drinking cry; of uncertain origin 102 ribs fatty meat on bones (i.e. Falstaff

  tallow animal fat

  104 of on

  106 nether stocks stockings for the lower leg

  foot darn the sole, repair the foot

  108 virtue extant courage still alive

  109 Titan Roman sun god (large and red-faced like Falstaff as he "kisses" the cup of sack); there may be sexual innuendo in butter (a whore was a "dish of butter"),

  melted (ejaculated), and

  tale (puns on "tail," i.e. genitals)

  110 pitiful-hearted compassionate, tender

  111 compound mixture (melted butter), i.e. either Falstaff and sack or Falstaff and sweat 112 lime calcium oxide, used to preserve wine

  115 Go thy ways off you go

  118 shotten herring a herring that has spawned its eggs (i.e. thin and weak) 120 while present age

  121 weaver many were Protestant immigrants, known for psalm singing 123 wool-sack large bale of wool; judges traditionally sat on them 125 dagger of lath stage dagger made of soft wood, traditionally used by the comic Vice in morality plays 126 I'll...more i.e. I'm not a real man

  hair a beard

  128 round fat/plain speaking

  137 backing supporting/turning one's back, running away 138 face stand face to face/defy, contradict

  139 drunk have had anything to drink

  142 All's...that so what, it doesn't matter

  145 ta'en taken

  149 poor only

  151 at half-sword at close quarters/fighting with short swords 154 hose breeches

  buckler small shield--sword and buckler were considered old-fashioned or lower-class weapons 155 like a hand-saw with the edge so notched from blows it appears serrated like the blade of a saw ecce signum "behold the sign or proof" (Latin; echoes words from the Catholic Mass dealt fought

  156 all...do all this was not enough though

&n
bsp; 158 sons of darkness biblical phrase (1 Thessalonians 5:5) 165 Ebrew Jew a real (Hebrew) Jew, i.e. a knave

  168 come...other the others came in

  175 peppered made it hot for, stabbed repeatedly

  176 paid settled with, killed

  buckram coarse linen cloth

  178 ward defensive posture (fencing term

  lay positioned myself

  179 bore my point pointed my sword

  let drive at bore down on, attacked

  184 a-front abreast

  mainly violently

  185 made...ado didn't wait any longer

  points sword points

  186 target shield

  190 these hilts this sword handle

  194 mark observe, take note of/keep count

  198 points sword points, but Poins takes it to mean the laces attaching the hose to the doublet

  200 give me ground back away

  me is emphatic)

  201 foot and hand at close range

  with a thought as quick as thought

  205 misbegotten wretched, bastard

  206 Kendal green coarse, green woolen cloth from Kendal in Cumbria (associated with forest outlaws) 208 father i.e. Falstaff, here compared to the devil--the proverbial "father of lies"

  begets conceives, creates

  209 clay-brained dull-witted

  210 knotty-pated thickheaded

  211 tallow-catch accumulation of animal fat

  218 upon compulsion under force

  219 strappado means of torture: the victim was raised by ropes that tied his arms behind his back, then dropped suddenly, which usually dislocated the joints racks instruments of torture: the victim was tied to a frame which was then extended, stretching the arms and legs in opposite directions 220 reasons puns on "raisins" (i.e. grapes, less readily available than blackberries) 223 sanguine red-faced (with

  coward, this creates an oxymoron, as a sanguine temperament was equated with courage) 224 bed-presser heavyweight who will strain beds; perhaps also lazy, one who stays in bed horseback-breaker one so fat he breaks horses' backs (pun on "horse"/"whore's") 226 elf-skin man of shrunken, fragile form (often emended to "eel-skin"

  neat's ox's

  227 pizzle penis; a dried bull's penis was sometimes used as a whip stock-fish dried cod (suggestive of physical weakness and an impotent penis) 228 tailor's-yard measuring yardstick/penis (tailors were sometimes imaged as thin or effeminate men sheath cover for knife or sword, i.e. empty case/vagina

  bowcase long, thin case for an archer's bow, hence starveling/vagina

  229 standing-tuck slender sword that is either rigid (i.e. useless because insufficiently resilient) or upright (not engaged in action) or idle, delaying; with phallic connotations 237 with a word in a word/with merely a single word

  out-faced confronted and intimidated

  241 slave base-minded villain

  243 starting-hole bolt-hole, hiding place

  244 apparent evident

  246 knew recognized

  249 Hercules Greek hero renowned for strength

  instinct impulse/innate tendency/intuition

  lion...prince lions were popularly thought to recognize and refuse to harm royalty 254 clap to shut

  Watch remain awake (for revelry)/be on guard

  Gallants fine, fashionable young men