Next valiant and noble Lord Howard, That formerly dealt in lamb’s wool;
Who knowing what it is to be towered, By impeaching may fill the jails full.
p. 100 _Brumighams_. Bromingham was a slang term of the day for a Whig. Roger North says that the Tories nicknamed the opposite party ‘_Birmingham_ Protestants, alluding to the false groats struck at that place’. Birmingham was already noted for spurious coinage. cf. Dryden’s prologue to _The Spanish Friar_ (1681):–
What e’er base metal come
You coin as fast as groats at Bromingam.
A panegyric on the return of the Duke and Duchess of York from Scotland says of Shaftesbury’s medal that
‘Twas coined by stealth, like groats at Birmingham.
For Birmingham = Whig we have _Old Jemmy, an Excellent New Ballad_:
Let Whig and Bromingham repine,
They show their teeth in vain;
The glory of the British line,
Old Jemmy’s come again.
Also in Matthew Taubman’s _A Medley on the Plot_, this stanza occurs:–
Confound the hypocrites, Birminghams royal, Who think allegiance a transgression; Since to oppose the King is counted loyal, And to rail high at the succession.
Dryden in his Preface to _Absalom and Achitophel_, I, speaks of ‘an Anti-Bromingham’, i.e. a Tory.
p. 100 _dry bobs_. A bob was a sarcastic jest or jibe. cf. _Sir Giles Goosecappe_ (1606), Act. v, I. ‘Marry him, sweet Lady, to answere his bitter Bob,’ and Buckingham’s _The Rehearsal_ (1671), Act iii, I, where Bayes cries: ‘There’s a bob for the Court.’ A dry bob (literally = a blow or fillip that does not break the skin) is an intensely bitter taunt, cf. _Cotgrave_ (1611), _Ruade seiche_, a drie bob, jeast or nip. _Bailey_ (1731) has ‘_Dry Bob_. a Taunt or Scoff’.
p. 100 _By Yea and Nay_. ‘Yea and Nay’ was often derisively applied to the Puritans, and hence to their lineal descendants the Whigs, in allusion to the Scriptural injunction, _S. Matthew_ v, 33-7, which they feigned exactly to follow. Timothy Thin-beard, a rascally Puritan, in Heywood’s _If you Know Not Me, You Know Nobody_, Part II (4to, 1606), is continually asseverating ‘By yea and nay’, cf. Fletcher’s _Monsieur Thomas_, Act ii, III, where Thomas says:–
Do not ye see me alter’d? ‘Yea and Nay,’ gentlemen; A much-converted man.
In _Sir Patient Fancy_ (1678), Lady Knowell’s late husband, a rank Puritan, is said to have been ‘a great Ay and No Man i’th’ City, and a painful promoter of the good Cause.’
p. 109 _Twins_. Vide note (p. 319, _Amorous Twire_), Vol. II, p. 440, _The Feigned Courtezans_.
p. 113 _gives Julia the Letter_. Mrs. Behn took the hint for this device from _L’Ecole des Maris_, ii, XIV, where Isabella feigning to embrace Sganarelle gives her hand to Valere to kiss.
p. 116 _Just-au-corps_. ‘A sort of jacket called a _justacorps_ came into fashion in Paris about 1650. M. Quicherat informs us that a pretty Parisienne, the wife of a _maitre de comptes_ named Belot, was the first who appeared in it. In a ballad called _The New-made Gentlewoman_, written in the reign of Charles II, occurs the line “My justico and black patches I wear”. Mr. Fairholt suggested that _justico_ may be a corruption of _juste au corps_.–Planche’s _Cyclopedia of Costume_, Vol. I, p. 318. Pepys, 26 April, 1667, saw the Duchess of Newcastle ‘naked-necked, without anything about it, and a black just-au-corps’. cf. Dryden’s _Limberham; or, The Kind Keeper_ (1678), iv, I: ‘_Aldo_. Give her out the flower’d Justacorps with the petticoat belonging to’t.’
p. 116 _Towers_, The tower at this time was a curled frontlet of false hair. cf. Crowne’s _The Country Wit_ (1675), Act ii, II, where Lady Faddle cries to her maid, ‘run to my milliner’s for my gloves and essences … run for my new towre.’ Shadwell, _The Virtuoso_ (1676), Act iii, mentions ‘Tires for the head, locks, tours, frouzes, and so forth’. _The Debauchee_ (1677), Act ii, I: Mrs. Saleware speaks of buying ‘fine clothes, and tours, and Points and knots.’ _The Younger Brother_ (1696), Act v, the last scene, old Lady Youthly anxiously asks her maid, ‘is not this Tour too brown?’ During the reign of Mary II and particularly in the time of Anne a Tower meant almost exclusively the high starched head-dress in vogue at that period.
p. 116 _beat the hoof_. To go packing; to trudge off on foot. _Dic. Canting Crew_ (1690), ‘Hoof it or beat it on the Hoof–to walk on foot.’ Pad the hoof is a yet commoner expression. These and similar slang are still much used.
p. 117 _finical_. According to the _N.E.D_. the use of finical as a verb is a nonce word only found in this passage.
p. 119 _lead Apes in Hell_. To die an old maid. A very common expression. It will be remembered that Beatrice had something to say on the subject. –_Much Ado About Nothing_, Act ii, I.
p. 122 _Docity_. Gumption, cf. note (p. 340), Vol. II, p. 441, _The Feign’d Curtezans_.
p. 123 _Don Del Phobos_. The adventures of the Knight of the Sun and his brother Rosiclair belong to the Amadis school of romance. They were published in two volumes, folio, at Saragossa, 1580, under the title _Espejo de principes e cavalleros; o, Cavallero del Febo_. The first part of this romance was translated into English by Margaret Tiler, _The Mirrour of Princely deedes and Knighthood_ (4to, 1578), other portions appearing subsequently. The whole four parts, translated from the original Spanish into French, appeared in eight volumes, and an abridged version was made by the Marquis de Paulmy. The Amadis cycle long remained immensely popular.
p. 129 _Gad-bee in his Brain_. As we now say ‘a bee in his bonnet’. For ‘Gad-bee’ cf. Holland’s _Pliny_ (1601) I, 318. ‘The bigger kind of bees … and this vermin is called _Oestrus_ (i.e. the gad-bee or horse fly).’ cf. _The Lucky Chance_, ii, II: ‘The Gad-Bee’s in his Quonundrum’ and note on that passage infra. For the idea compare ‘brize-stung’ (= crazed).
p. 142 _Cockt_. Set his hat jauntily. A very frequent phrase.
p. 146 _Slashes_. Bumpers. From the idea of vigour contained in ‘slash’. The word is extremely rare in this sense and perhaps only found here. But cf. Scottish (Lothian) ‘slash’ = a great quantity of broth or any other sorbile food.
p. 148 _what the Devil made me a ship-board_? cf. Geronte’s reiterated complaint ‘Que diable allait-il faire dans cette galere?’–_Les Fourberies de Scapin_ (1671), ii, VII; and the phrase in Cyrano de Bergerac’s _Le Pedant Joue_ (1654): ‘Ha! que diable, que diable aller faire en cette galere?… Aller sans dessein dans une galere!… Dans la galere d’un Turc!’–Act ii, IV. In France this phrase is proverbial.
p. 156 _glout thy Eyes_. Scowl; frown. Glout (without ‘thy Eyes’) is very common in this sense. cf. Note (p. 201), Vol. II, p. 433.
p. 160 _an Antick_. A fantastic measure. This is a favourite word with Mrs. Behn.
p. 165 _Aquinius his Case_. This is, I take it, some confused allusion to the great Dominican Doctor, S. Thomas Aquinas, who was regarded as being the supreme Master of scholasticism and casuistry. Casuistry must be taken in its true and original meaning–the balancing and deciding of individual cases.
p. 175 _Bantring and Shamming_. Banter = to chaff or make fun of, at this time a new slang word. It is almost certain that the verb, which came into use about 1670, was a full decade earlier than the noun. In 1688 the substantive ‘Banter’ was up-to-date slang. For the verb _vide_ D’Urfey’s _Madam Fickle_ (1676), Act v, I, where Zechiel cries to his brother: ‘Banter him, banter him, Toby. ‘Tis a conceited old Scarab, and will yield us excellent sport–go play upon him a little–exercise thy Wit.’ cf. Swift, _Apology_ (1710), _Talke of a Tub_: ‘Where wit hath any mixture of raillery, ’tis but calling it banter, and the work is done. This polite word of theirs was first borrowed from the bullies in Whitefriars, then fell among the footmen, and at last retired to the pedants.’
For ‘shamming’ cf. Wycherley’s _The Plain Dealer_ (1674), iii, I, where the Lawyer says to Manly: ‘You … shammed me all night long.’ ‘Shammed!’ cries Manley, ‘prithee what barbarous law-term is that?’ ‘Shamming …’ answers the lawyer, ”tis all our way of wit, Sir.’ And Freeman explains ‘Shamming is telling you an insipid dull lie with a dull face, which the sly wag the author only laughs at himself; and making himself believe ’tis a good jest, puts the sham only upon himself.’
p. 176 _Dumfounding_. A rude and rough form of practical joking. The players ‘dumfounded’ each other with sudden blows stealthily dealt. cf. Shadwell’s The True Widow (1678), Act iv, I. Prig in the theatre says: ‘You shall see what tricks I’ll play; ‘faith I love to be merry’. (Raps people on their backs, and twirls their hats, and then looks demurely, as if he did not do it.) The pit, often a very pandemonium, was the chief scene of this sport. Dryden, prologue to _The Prophetess_ (1690), speaks of the gallants in the theatre indulging freely in
That witty recreation, called dumfounding.
p. 176 _stum’d Wine_. To stum wine is to renew dead and insipid wine by mixing new wine with it and so raising a fresh fermentation. cf. Slang (still in common use) ‘stumer’, a generic term for anything worthless, especially a worthless cheque.
p. 176 _Grisons_. A ‘grison’ is a servant employed on some private business and so dressed in gray (gris) or a dark colour not to attract notice. cf. Shadwell’s _The Volunteers_ (1693), Act ii, sc. I: ‘_Sir Nich_. I keep grisons, fellows out of livery, privately for nothing but to carry answers.’
THE LUCKY CHANCE.
p. 183 _Laurence, Lord Hyde_. This celebrated statesman (1641-1711) was second son of Edward Hyde, first Earl of Clarendon. The Dedication must have been written in 1686 when, wavering between the Catholic Faith and Protestantism, he was still high in favour with the King. 4 January, 1687, he was dismissed from court owing to his persistent refusals to be received into the Church.
p. 183 _The Abbot of Aubignac_. Francois Hedelin, Abbe D’Aubignac, a famous critic and champion of the theatre, was born at Paris, 4 August, 1604. Amongst his best known works are: _Terence justifie_ (4to, 1646, Paris), an attack on Menage; _La Practique du theatre_ (4to, 1669, Paris); and _Dissertations concernant le poeme dramatique en forme de remarques sur les deux tragedies de M. Corneille, intitulees_ Sophonisbe _et_ Sertorious (12mo, 1663, Paris). He died at Nemours, 27 July, 1676.
p. 185 _Dr. Davenant_. Charles Davenant, LL.D, (1656-1714), eldest son of Sir William Davenant. He sat for St. Ives, Cornwall, in the first parliament of James II, and was appointed, along with the Master of the Revels, to license plays.
p. 185 _Sir Roger L’Estrange_. The celebrated Tory journalist, pamphleteer and censor was born in 1616. He had ever been a warm defender of James II, and upon this monarch’s accession was liberally rewarded. 21 May, 1685, a warrant was issued directing him to enforce most strictly the regulations concerning treasonable and seditious and scandalous publications. After the Revolution he suffered imprisonment. He died 11 December, 1704.
p. 185 _Mr. Killigrew_. Charles Killigrew (1655-1725), Master of the Revels, was son of Thomas Killigrew by his second wife Charlotte de Hesse. He had been appointed Master of the Revels in 1680, patentee of Drury Lane Theatre in 1682. He was buried in the Savoy, 8 January, 1724-5.
p. 186 _Mr. Leigh_. Antony Leigh, the famous comedian, who created Sir Feeble Fainwood. The scene referred to is Act iii, sc. II, where it must be confessed that, in spite of her protestation, Mrs. Behn gives the stage direction–Sir Feeble ‘throws open his Gown, they run all away, he locks the Door.’
p. 186 _Oedipus_. Dryden and Lee’s excellent tragedy was produced at Dorset Garden in 1679. Betterton created Oedipus and his wife Jocasta. It was extraordinarily popular, as, indeed, were all the plays Mrs. Behn marshalls forth in this preface. The scene particularly referred to is Act ii, I: ‘Oedipus enters, walking asleep in his Shirt, with a Dagger in his Right-Hand and a Taper in his Left.’ A little after ‘Enter Jocasta, attended with Lights, in a Night-Gown.’
p. 186 _City Politicks_. This comedy by Crowne is a mordant satire upon the Whigs. It was produced with great success at the Theatre Royal and printed quarto 1683. A certain Florio feigns to be dying in order to prevent the Podesta suspecting an intrigue between his wife, Rosaura, ‘the Lady Mayoress’, and so impotent an invalid. Artall is in love with Lucinda, who is married to a toothless old lawyer, Bartoline. Says Genest: ‘The Podesta and Bartoline are as well cuckolded as any Tory could wish.’ cf. The conclusion of Act ii and the commencement of Act iii; also the discovery of Florio and Rosaura in Act v.
p. 186 _London Cuckolds_. This immensely popular play, five merry side-splitting acts which kept the stage for a century, was produced in 1682 at Dorset Garden. Ravenscroft has no less than three cuckolds in his Dramatis Personae: Doodle, Dashwell, and Wiseacre. The intrigues and counter-intrigues are innumerable. At the end the cuckolds all jeer one another.
p. 186 _Sir Courtly Nice_. This witty comedy, Crowne’s masterpiece, was produced at the Theatre Royal in 1685. Mrs. Behn’s allusion is to Act ii, II, where Crack, disguised as a tailor, visits Leonora. The language is often cleverly suggestive.
p. 186 _Sir Fopling_. Etheredge’s third comedy, _The Man of Mode; or, Sir Fopling Flutter_ was produced at the Duke’s Theatre in 1676. It met ‘with extraordinary success’. Mrs. Behn points at Act iv, II.
p. 186 _Valentinian_. The reference is to the Earl of Rochester’s _Valentinian_, altered from Fletcher, which was produced with great applause at the Theatre Royal in 1684. The Court Bawds, Balbus, Proculus, Chylax, Lycinius, with the ‘lewd women belonging to the court’, Ardelia and Phorba, are important characters in the tragedy. The direct allusion is, perhaps, to Act ii, I. The scene after the rape, Act iv, sc. III, ‘opens, discovers th’Emperor’s Chamber. Lucina newly unbound by th’Emperor’. The ‘Prologue spoken by Mrs. Cook the first day’ is by Mrs. Behn (_vide_ Vol. VI). It is certain that an audience which found no offence in Rochester’s _Valentinian_ could ill have taken umbrage at the freedoms of _The Lucky Chance_.
p. 186 _The Moor of Venice. Othello_ was one of the first plays to be revived at the Restoration, and was, perhaps, the most frequently seen of all Shakespeare. On 11 October, 1660, Burt acted Othello at the Cockpit. Downes gives Mohun as Iago; Hart, Cassio; Cartwright, Brabantio; Beeston, Roderigo; Mrs. Hughes, Desdemona; Mrs. Rutter, Emilia. But it is certain Clun had also acted Iago–(Pepys, 6 February, 1668). Hart soon gave up Cassio to Kynaston for the title role in which he is said to have excelled. After his retirement in 1683 it fell to Betterton, of whose greatness in the part Cibber gives a lively picture. The _Tatler_ also highly commends this actor’s Othello.
p. 186 _The Maids Tragedy_. Mrs. Behn refers to Act ii, I, and Act iii, I. Hart acted Amintor; Mohun, Melantius; Wintershall, the King; Mrs. Marshall, Evadne. Rymer particularly praises Hart and Mohun in this tragedy, saying: ‘There we have our Roscius and Aesopus both on the stage together.’ After 1683 it was differently cast. It will be remembered that Melantius was Betterton’s last role, in which he appeared for his benefit 13 April, 1710, to the Amintor of Wilks and the Evadne of Mrs. Barry. He died 28 April, a fortnight after.
p. 187 _Wills Coffee House_. This famous coffee-house was No. 1 Bow Street, Covent Garden, on the west side corner of Russell Street. It derived its name from Will Unwin who kept it. The wits’ room was upstairs on the first floor. Some of its reputation was due to the fact that it was a favourite resort of Dryden.
p. 187 _write for a Third day only_. The whole profits of the third day’s performance went to the author of the play; and upon these occasions his friends and patrons would naturally rally to support him. There are numberless allusions to this custom, especially in Prefaces, Prologues and Epilogues.
p. 189 _the Mall_. The Mall, St. James’s Park, was formed for Charles II, who was very fond of the game ‘pall-mall’. The walk soon became a popular and fashionable resort. There are innumerable references. cf. Prologue, Dryden’s _Marriage a la Mode_ (1672):–
Poor pensive punk now peeps ere plays begin, Sees the bare bench, and dares not venture in; But manages her last half-crown with care, And trudges to the Mall, on foot, for air.
The scene of the first Act of Otway’s _The Soldier’s Fortune_ (1681) is laid in the Mall, and gives a vivid picture of the motley and not over respectable company that was wont to foregather there.
p. 189 _the Ring_. The Ring, Hyde Park, a favourite ride and promenade was made in the reign of Charles I. It was very fashionable, and is frequently alluded to in poem and play. cf. Etheredge, _The Man of Mode; or, Sir Fopling Flutter: ‘Sir Fopling_. All the world will be in the Park to-night; Ladies, ’twere pity to keep so much beauty longer within doors, and rob the Ring of all those charms that should adorn it.’–Act iii sc. II. cf. also Lord Dorset’s _Verses on Dorinda_ (1680):–
Wilt thou still sparkle in the Box, Still ogle in the Ring?
p. 193 _Starter_. This slang word usually means a milksop, but here it is equivalent to ‘a butterfly’, ‘a weathercock’–a man of changeable disposition. A rare use.
p. 193 _Finsbury Hero_, Finsbury Fields, which Pepys thought ‘very pleasant’, had been kept open for the citizens to practise archery. An ordinance of 1478 is extant which orders all obstacles to be removed and Finsbury to be ‘made a plain field for archers to shoot in’. As late as 1737 there were standing twenty-four ‘rovers’ or stone pillars for shooting at distances.
p. 196 _Mr. Barnardine_. This allusion must almost certainly be to a recent revival of _Measure for Measure_, which particular play had been amongst those set aside by the regulation of 12 December, 1660, as the special property of Davenant’s theatre. After the amalgamation of the two companies in November, 1682, a large number of the older plays were revived or continued to be played (with a new cast and Betterton in the roles which had been Hart’s) during the subsequent decade. Downes mentions _Othello, The Taming of the Shrew_, and several by Beaumont and Fletcher, Ben Jonson, and Brome. On the other hand, it is possible this reference may merely be to _The Law Against Lovers_ (1661, folio, 1673), in which Sir William Davenant has mixed Benedick and Beatrice with Angelo, Claudio, Isabella and the rest. It is a curious conglomeration, and the result is very pitiful and disastrous. Bernardine and the prison scenes are retained. _Measure for Measure_ was again profanely altered by Gildon in 1700, mutilated and helped out by ‘entertainments of music’.
p. 197 _Snicker Snee_. See note Vol. I, p. 449, _Snick-a-Snee, The Dutch Lover_, iii, III (p, 278).
p. 198 _Spittal Sermon_. The celebrated Spital Sermons were originally preached at a pulpit cross in the churchyard (now Spital Square) of the Priory and Hospital of St. Mary Spital, founded 1197. The cross, broken at the Reformation, was rebuilt during Charles I’s reign, but destroyed during the Great Rebellion. The sermons, however, have been continued to the present time and are still preached every Easter Monday and Easter Tuesday before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, at Christ Church, Newgate Street.
P. 201. _Alsatia_. This cant name had been given to the precinct of Whitefriars before 1623, then and for many years a notorious refuge for persons wishing to avoid bailiffs and creditors. The earliest use of the name is Thomas Towel’s quarto tract, _Wheresoever you see meet, Trust unto Yourselfe: or the Mysterie of Lending and Borrowing_ (1623). The second use in point of time is the Prologue to Settle’s _Pastor Fido_ (1676):–
And when poor Duns, quite weary, will not stay; The hopeless Squire’s into _Alsatia_ driven.
Otway’s comedy, _The Soldiers Fortune_ (4to, 1681), where Courtine says: ‘I shall be ere long as greasy as an Alsatian bully,’ comes third; and Mrs. Behn’s reference to Alsatia in this play, which is often ignored, claims fourth place. We then have Shadwell’s famous comedy, _The Squire of Alsatia_ (1688), with its well-known vocabulary of Alsatian jargon and slang, its scenes in Whitefriars, the locus classicus, a veritable mine of information. The particular portions of Whitefriars forming Alsatia were Ram-Alley, Mitre Court, and a lane called in the local cant Lombard Street. No. 50 of Tempest’s _Cries of London_ (drawn and published in James II’s reign) is called ‘A Squire of Alsatia’, and represents a fashionable young gallant. Steele, _Tatler_ (No. 66), 10 September, 1709, speaks of Alsatia ‘now in ruins’. It is interesting to note that many authorities, ignoring Settle and Mrs. Behn’s allusions, quote Powel and Otway as the only two places where the word ‘Alsatia’ is found before Shadwell made it so popular.
p. 202 _Dornex_. Or dornick, a worsted or woollen fabric used for curtains, hangings and the like, so called from Tournai, where chiefly manufactured. cf. Shadwell’s _The Miser_ (1672), Act i, I: ‘a dornock carpet’. Also _Wit and Drollery_ (1681): Penelope to Ulysses:–
The Stools of _Dornix_ which that you may know well Are certain stuffs Upholsterers use to sell.
p. 202 _Henry the Eighth_. Henry VIII had been put on by Davenant in December, 1663 with a wealth of pomp and expenditure that became long proverbial in the theatrical world. An extra large number of supers were engaged. Downes dilates at quite unusual length upon the magnificence of the new scenery and costumes. The court scene was especially crowded with ‘the Lords, the Cardinals, the Bishops, the Doctors, Proctors, Lawyers, Tip-staves.’ On New Year’s Day, 1664, Pepys went to the Duke’s house and saw ‘the so much cried up play of Henry VIII; which tho’ I went with resolution to like it, is so simple a thing, made up of a great many patches, that, besides the shows and processions in it, there is nothing in the world good or well done.’ On 30 December, 1668, however, he saw it again, ‘and was mightily pleased, better than ever I expected, with the history and shows of it.’ In _The Rehearsal_ (1671), Act v, I, Bayes says: ‘I’l shew you the greatest scene that ever England saw: I mean not for words, for those I do not value; but for state, shew, and magnificence. In fine I’ll justifie it to be as grand to the eye every whit, I gad, as that great Scene in Harry the Eight.’
p. 203 _Joan Sanderson_. See note Vol. I, p. 456: _Joan Sanderson. The Roundheads_, Act iv, IV (p. 402).
p. 204 _Haunce in Kelder_. Literally Jack-in-the-Cellar, i.e. the unborn babe in the womb. cf. Davenant and Dryden’s alteration of _The Tempest_, Act iv, sc. II. ‘_Stephano_, I long to have a Rowse to her Grace’s Health, and to the _Haunse in Kelder_, or rather Haddock in Kelder, for I guess it will be half Fish’; and also Dryden’s _Amboyna_ (1673), Act iv, sc. I, where Harman senior remarks at Towerson and Ysabinda’s wedding: ‘You Englishmen … cannot stay for ceremonies; a good honest Dutchman would have been plying the glass all this while, and drunk to the hopes of Hans in Kelder till ’twas bedtime.’
p. 204 an _Apple John_. An apple John is usually explained as being a kind of apple said to keep two years and to be in perfection when shrivelled and withered, cf. 2 _Henry IV_, ii, IV, and the context. If the allusion here is to such a kind of apple Sir Feeble’s phrase is singularly inept, as may perhaps be intended to be the case.
p. 204 _St. Martin’s Trumpery_. The parish of St. Martin-le-Grand was formerly celebrated for the number of shops vending cheap and imitation jewellery within its purlieus. ‘St. Martin’s ware’ came to mean a forgery.
p. 205 _nick their Inclinations_. To nick = to thwart. A somewhat uncommon use. Generally, to nick (slang), means ‘to arrest’, ‘to waylay and stop’.
p. 207 _the wonderful Salamanca Doctor_. cf. Notes, Vol. II, p. 433. _silken Doctor. The City Heiress_. Prologue (p. 202); and Vol. II, p. 437. _Salamanca. The City Heiress_, v, V (p. 297).
p. 208 _the Twire_. cf. Note, Vol. II, p. 440. _Amorous Twire. The Feign’d Curtezans_, i, II (p. 319).
p. 210 _gutling_. Guzzling, cf. supra, p. 479.
p. 210 _Docity_. cf. Note, Vol. II, p. 441. _Docity. The Feign’d Curtezans_. ii, I (p. 340).
p. 210 _laid in Lavender_. An old and common phrase for ‘to pawn’. cf. Florio, _Worlds of Wordes_ (1593): ‘To lay to pawne, as we say, to lay in Lavender.’ Ben Jonson, _Every Man out of his Humour_, Act iii, sc. III: ‘And a black sattin suit of his own to go before her in; which suit (for the more sweet’ning) now lies in Lavender.’
p. 210 _Enter Rag and Landlady_. Mrs. Behn remembered how Don John treated Dame Gillian, his landlady. _The Chances_, i, IX.
p. 211 _Judas_. cf. Note, Vol. I, p. 457. _The Roundheads_. v, II (p. 413).
p. 211 _flabber_. Fat; puffed out. A very rare adjective, perhaps only here. The _N.E.D_. quotes this passage with a reference to the adjective ‘flaberkin’ = puffed out, puffy, and a suggestion that it is akin to the substantive ‘flab’ = something thick, broad, fat.
p. 212 _this old Sir Guy of Warwick_. Sir Guy of Warwick is an old slang name for a sword; a rapier. The name is taken from the romance (of which there were many versions) and which proved extraordinarily popular. It was first licensed ‘in prose by Martyn Parker’ to Oulton, 24 November, 1640. Smithson’s version was first printed in black letter, and a second edition appeared in 1686. John Shurley’s version was published 4to, 1681 and again 1685. Esdalle, _English Tales and Romances_, enumerates sixteen versions, editions and abridgements, concluding with ‘The Seventh Edition’ 12mo, 1733.
p. 214 _Enter Bredwel_. Lady Fulbank supplying Gayman with money through the medium of Bredwel ‘drest like a Devil’ is reminiscent of incidents in Dryden’s first comedy, _The Wild Gallant_ (1663, and revised version, 1667; 4to, 1667), where Lady Constance employs Setstone, a jeweller, to accomodate Loveby with ready cash. Loveby is benefited to the tune of two hundred and fifty pounds, which are filched from the study of old Lord Nonsuch, who complains in much the same way as Sir Cautious. Loveby declares it must be the devil who has enriched him, and forthwith rescues his ‘Suit with the Gold Lace at Sleeves from Tribulation.’ Owing to his poverty he has been unable to visit Constance, and when he appears before her in his gay clothes he excuses his fortnight’s absence by saying, I have been ‘out of Town to see a little thing that’s fallen to me upon the Death of a Grandmother.’ In Act i of _The Wild Gallant_ Loveby gives Bibber a humorous description of a garret, which may be paralleled with Bredwel’s ‘lewd’ picture of Cayman’s chamber–_The Lucky Chance_, Act i, II. It must be allowed that Mrs. Behn bears away the palm in this witty passage. _The Wild Gallant_ is, by Dryden’s own confession (cf. the First Prologue), founded on a Spanish plot. In the Preface he says: ‘The Plot was not Originally my own: But so alter’d by me, (whether for better or worse, I know not) that, whoever the Author was, he could not have challeng’d a Scene of it.’ So vast, indeed, is the library of the Spanish Theatre that it has not as yet been identified, a task which in view of the author’s own statement may well be deemed nigh impossible. Recent critics have pertinently suggested that the device of furnishing Loveby with money was the chief hint for which Dryden is indebted to Spain. The conduct of the amour between Lady Fulbank and Gayman, founded as it is on Shirley’s _The Lady of Pleasure_, has nothing in common with Otway’s intrigue between Beaugard and Portia–_The Atheist_ (1683)–which owes itself to Scarron’s novel, _The Invisible Mistress_.
p. 222 _the Gad-Bee’s in his Quonundrum_. _Gad-Bee_, vide supra. _The False Count_, Act ii, II (p. 129), note, p. 481. _Quonundrum_ or Conundrum. A whim; crotchet; maggot; conceit. The _N.E.D_. quotes this passage, cf. Jonson’s _Volpone_, Act v, sc. II: ‘I must ha’ my crotchets! And my conundrums!’ _Dic. Cant. Crew_ (1700) has: ‘_Conundrums_. Whimms, Maggots and such like.’
p. 222 _jiggiting_. To jigget = to jig, hop or skip; to jump about, and to fidget, cf. T. Barker, _The Female Tatler_ (1709), No. 15: ‘She has a languishing Eye, a delicious soft Hand, and two pretty jiggetting Feet.’ cf. _to giggit_. Note, Vol. II, p. 436. _fisking and giggiting_. _The City Heiress_, ii, II (p. 262).
p. 223 _we’ll toss the Stocking_. This merry old matrimonial custom in use at the bedding of the happy pair is often alluded to. cf. Pepys, 8 February, 1663: ‘Another story was how Lady Castlemaine, a few days since, had Mrs. Stewart to an entertainment, and at night begun a frolique that they two must be married; and married they were, with ring and all other ceremonies of church service, and ribbands, and a sack posset in bed and flinging the stocking; but in the close it is said my Lady Castlemaine, who was the bridegroom, rose, and the King come and take her place.’
p. 224 _the Entry_. In the Restoration theatre it was the usual practice for the curtain to rise at the commencement and fall at the end of the play, so that the close of each intermediate act was only marked by a clear stage. There are, however, exceptions to this rule, more particularly when some elaborate set or Tableau began a new act. A striking example is Act ii, _The Forc’d Marriage_.
p. 224 _Mr. Cheek_. Thomas Cheek was a well-known wit and songwriter of the day. His name not infrequently occurs to the graceful lyrics with which he supplied the theatre. There are some pretty lines of his, ‘Corinna, I excuse thy face’, in Act v of Southerne’s _The Wives Excuse; or, Cuckolds make Themselves_ (1692); and a still better song, ‘Bright Cynthia’s pow’r divinely great,’ which was sung by Leveridge in the second act of Southerne’s _Oroonoko_ (1699), came from his prolific pen.
p. 225 _Bandstrings_. Strings for fastening his bands or collar which were in the seventeenth century frequently ornamented with tassels, cf. Selden, Table-Talk (1689): ‘If a man twirls his Bandstrings’; and Wood, _Ath. Oxon_. (1691): ‘He [wore] snakebone bandstrings (or bandstrings with huge tassels).’
p. 225 _yare_. Eager; ready; prepared from A.-S. gearo. cf. _Measure for Measure_, iv, II: ‘You shall find me yare’; and _The Tempest_, i, I: ‘Cheerly, my hearts! yare, yare!’; also Act v, sc. I: ‘Our ship … is tight and yare.’ Also _Antony and Cleopatra_, v, II: ‘yare, yare, good Iras; quick.’ Ray gives it as a Suffolk word, and the ‘hear, hear’ of Lowestoft boatmen of to-day is probably a disguised ‘yare, yare’.
p. 226 _Livery and Seisin_. A very common error for the legal term ‘livery of seisin’ which signifies the delivery of property into the corporal possession of a person.
p. 251 _Song. Oh! Love_. Mr. Bullen, who includes this ‘impassioned song’ in his _Musa Proterva: Love-Poems of the Restoration_ (1889), has the following note: ‘Did Mrs. Behn write these fine verses?… Henry Playford, a well-known publisher of music, issued in the same year [1687] the Fourth Book of _The Theatre of Music_, where “O Love, that stronger art” appeared with the heading “The Song in Madam Bhen’s last New Play, sung by Mr. Bowman, set by Dr. John Blow.” At the end of the song Playford adds, “These words by Mr. Ousley.” … Mrs. Behn usually acknowledged her obligations; but she may have been neglectful on the present occasion. Ousley’s claim cannot be lightly set aside.’ There is nothing to add to this, and we can only say that Aphra Behn had such true lyric genius that ‘Oh! Love that stronger art’ is in no way beyond her. A statement which neither disposes of nor invalidates Ousley’s claim based, as this is, upon such strong and definite evidence.
John Bowman (or Boman) who acted Bredwel had ‘as a boy’ joined the Duke’s Company about 1673. He was, says Cibber, in the days of Charles II ‘a Youth fam’d for his Voice’, and he often sang before the King, no indifferent judge of music. Bowman’s name appears as Peter Santlow in _The Counterfeit Bridegroom; or, the Defeated Widow_ (1677). He soon became an actor of considerable merit, and created Tattle in _Love for Love_ (1695). He is said to have remained on the stage for the extraordinary period of sixty-five years, and to have played within a few months of his death. Davies speaks highly of his acting, even in extreme old age. Oldys (MS. note on Langbaine) refers to him as ‘old Mr. John Bowman’. Cibber, in his _Apology_ (1740), speaks of ‘_Boman_ the late Actor of venerable Memory’.
p. 234 _half Pike_. ‘Now _Hist_. A small pike having a shaft of one half the length of the full-sized one. There were two kinds; one, also called a _spontoon_, formerly carried by infantry officers; the other, used on ships for repelling boarders, a boarding-pike,’–_N.E.D_. which quotes (inter alia) Massinger, &c., _Old Law_ (4to, 1656), Act iii, II: ‘Here’s a half-pike’; and Froger, _Voyages_ (1698): ‘Their ordinary Arms are the Hanger, the Sagary (assagai), which is a very light Half-Pike.’
p. 245 _Geometry_. A colloquial term for magic.
p. 247 _a Sirreverence under your Girdle_. ‘To have an M under (or by) the Girdle’ was a proverbial expression = to have a courteous address by using the titles Mr., Mrs., Miss, &c. cf. Halliwell, _Dictionary Archaic and Proverhial Words_; ‘M. … to keep the term “Master” out of sight, to be wanting in proper respect.’ cf. _Eastward Hoe_ (1605), Jonson, Chapman, and Marston, iv, I: ‘You might carry an M under your Girdle’; and not infrequently. Sir- (or Save-) Reverence is an old and very common colloquialism. It was the most usual form of apology when mentioning anything likely to offend, or naming a word for which excuse was thought proper or necessary. Wherefore it came to stand in place of various words of obscene sound or meaning. There are innumerable instances from Mandeville (1356); down to recent times, and even Devonshire dialect to-day.
p. 248 _the George in White-Fryers_. The George tavern was situated in Dogwell Court, and some little time after the abolition of the vicious privileges of Alsatia by the Act 8 and 9 William III, c. 27 (1697), it was converted into the printing office of William Bowyer, the elder. These premises were destroyed by fire, 30 January, 1713. Scene II, Act i of Shadwell’s _The Squire of Alsatia_ (1688), is laid ‘at the George in Whitefriars’.
p. 249 _he cullies_. To cully = to cheat; trick. Although the verb, which came into use circa 1670, and persisted for a full century, is rare, the substantive ‘a cully’ (= a fool) is very common. For the verb, cf. Pomfret, _Poems_ (1699), _Divine Attributes_: ‘Tricks to cully fools.’
p. 249 _he pads_. The substantive ‘pad’ = a path or highway. Bailey (1730-6) has ‘to Pad … to rob on the road on foot.’ cf. Ford’s _The Lady’s Trial_ (1639), v, I: ‘One can … pick a pocket, Pad for a cloak or hat’; and also Cotton Mather’s _Discourse on Witchcraft_ (1689), chap, vii: ‘As if you or I should say: We never met with any robbers on the road, therefore there never was any Padding there.’
p. 250 _sport a Dye_. To play at dice. ‘To sport’, generic for ‘to parade’ or ‘display’ was, and is a very common phrase. It is especially found in public school and university slang. This is a very early example.
p. 250 _Teaster_. i.e. a tester–sixpence, cf. Farquhar’s _Love and a Bottle_, (1698), i, I, where Brush says: ‘Who throws away a Tester and a mistress loses sixpence.’
p. 251 _to top upon him_. To cheat him; to trick him; especially to cheat with dice. cf. _Dictionary of the Canting Crew_ (by B.E. _gent_., 1696): ‘Top. What do you Top upon me? _c_. do you stick a little Wax to the Dice to keep them together, to get the Chance, you wou’d have? He thought to have Topt upon me. _c_. he design’d to have Put upon me, Sharpt me, Bullied me, or Affronted me.’
p. 251 _we are not half in kelter_. Kelter (or kilter) = order; condition; spirits. cf. Barrow, Sermons, I, Ser. 6: ‘If the organs of prayer are out of Kelter, or out of time, how can we pray?’ _Dictionary Canting Crew_ (1690), has: ‘Out of Kelter, out of sorts.’ The phrase is by no means rare.
p. 251 _as Trincolo says_. Lady Fulbank mistakes. The remark is made by Stephano, not Trincalo. Dryden and Davenant’s _The Tempest_ (1667), Act ii, I: ‘_Ventoso_. My wife’s a good old jade … … _Stephano_. Would you were both hanged, for putting me in thought of mine!’
p. 252 _Ladies of Quality in the Middle Gallery_. The jest lies in the fact that the middle gallery or eighteenpenny place in a Restoration theatre was greatly frequented by, if not almost entirely set aside for, women of the town. cf. Dryden’s _Epilogue on the Union_ (1682):–
But stay; me thinks some Vizard-Mask I see Cast out her Lure from the mid Gallery: About her all the fluttering Sparks are rang’d; The Noise continues, though the Scene is chang’d: Now growling, sputt’ring, wauling, such a clutter! ‘Tis just like Puss defendant in a Gutter.
And again, in his Prologue to Southerne’s _The Disappointment_ (1684), he has:–
Last there are some, who take their first degrees Of lewdness in our middle galleries:
The doughty bullies enter bloody drunk, Invade and grabble one another’s punk.
p. 257 _Hortensius_. Cato Uticensis is said in 56 B.C. to have ceded his wife Marcia to Q. Hortensius, and at the death of Hortensius in 50 B.C. to have taken her back again–Plutarch, _Cato Min_., 25.
p. 258 _he has a Fly_. A fly = a familiar. From the common old belief that an attendant demon waited on warlocks and witches in the shape of a fly, or some similar insect. cf. Jonson’s _The Alchemist_, I (1610):–
You are mistaken, doctor,
Why he does ask one but for cups and horses, A rifling fly, none of your great familiars.
Also Massinger’s The _Virgin Martyr_, ii, II:–
Courtiers have flies
That buzz all news unto them.
p. 271 _Snow-hill_. The old Snow Hill, a very narrow and steep highway between Holborn Bridge and Newgate, was cleared away when Holborn Viaduct was made in 1867. In the days of Charles II it was famous for its chapmen, vendors of ballads with rough woodcuts atop. Dorset, lampooning Edward Howard, has the following lines:
Whence
Does all this mighty mass of dullness spring, Which in such loads thou to the stage dost bring? Is’t all thine own? Or hast thou from _Snow Hill_ The assistance of some ballad-making quill?
p. 271 _Cuckolds Haven_. This was the name given to a well-known point in the Thames. It is depicted by Hogarth, _Industry and Idleness_, No. 6. Nahum Tate has a farce, borrowed from _Eastward Hoe_ and _The Devil’s an Ass_, entitled _Cuckold’s Haven; or, An Alderman no Conjuror_ (1685).
p. 278 _Nice and Flutter_. The two typical Fops of the day. Sir Courtly Nice, created by Mountford, is the hero of Crowne’s excellent comedy, _Sir Courtly Nice_ (1685). In Act v he sings a little song he has made on his Mistress: ‘As I gaz’d unaware, On a face so fair–.’ Sir Fopling Flutter is the hero of Etheredge’s masterpiece, _The Man of Mode; or, Sir Fopling Flutter_ (1676). Sir Fopling, a portrait of Beau Hewitt, became proverbial. The role was created by Smith.
p. 278 _shatterhead_. A rare word for shatter-(scatter) brained. cf. The Countess of Winchilsea, _Miscellany Poems_ (1713), ‘Pri’thee shatter-headed Fop’.
p. 278 _Craffey_. Craffy is the foolish son of the Podesta in Crowne’s _City Politicks_ (1683). He is described as ‘an impudent, amorous, pragmatical fop, that pretends to wit and poetry.’ He is engaged in writing _Husbai_ an answer to _Absalom and Achitophel_.
p. 278 _whiffling_. Fickle; unsteady; uncertain. To whiffle = to hesitate; waver; prevaricate. cf. Tillotson, _Sermons_, xiv (1671-94): ‘Everyman ought to be stedfast … and not suffer himself to be whiffled … by an insignificant noise.’ 1724 mistakenly reads ‘whistling’ in this passage.
p. 279 _Bulkers_. Whores. cf. Shadwell, _Amorous Widow_ (1690), Act iii: ‘Her mother sells fish and she is little better than a bulker.’ A bulker was the lowest class of prostitute. cf. Shadwell’s _The Scowerers_, Act i, I: ‘Every one in a petticoat is thy mistress, from humble bulker to haughty countess.’ Bailey (1790) has: ‘Bulker, one that would lie down on a bulk to any one. A common Jilt. A whore.’ Swift, _A Tale of a Tub_, Section II, has: ‘They went to new plays on the first night, haunted the chocolate houses, beat the watch, lay on bulks.’
p. 279 _Tubs_. A patient suffering from the _lues venerea_ was disciplined by long and severe sweating in a heated tub, which combined with strict abstinence was formerly considered an excellent remedy for the disease. cf. _Measure for Measure_, Act iii, sc. II: ‘Troth, sir, she has eaten up all her beef, and she is herself in the tub.’ Also _Timon of Athens_, iv, III: ‘Be a whore still’ …
p. 279 _Jack Ketch_. cf. _Dict. Canting Crew_ (by B.E. _Gent_, 1690): ‘Jack Kitch. The Hangman of that Name, but now all his Successors.’ He exercised his office circa 1663-87. It was Ketch who bungled the execution of Monmouth. There are innumerable contemporary references to him. cf. Dryden’s Epilogue to _The Duke of Guise_ (1682):–
‘Jack Ketch’, says I, ”s an excellent physician.’
THE FORC’D MARRIAGE.
p. 286 _The Nursery_. Vide note, _little Mrs. Ariell_, Vol. II, p. 430-1.
p. 287 _King. Mr. Westwood_. It has been quite mistakenly suggested that Westwood was Otway’s theatrical name. Westwood was a professional actor of mediocre though useful attainments. He is cast for such roles as Tom Faithfull in Revet’s _The Town Shifts_ (April, 1671); Eumenes in Edward Howard’s _The Woman’s Conquest_ (1671); and Battista in Crowne’s _Juliana_ (1671).
p. 300 _unsuit_. A rare form of ‘unsuitable’.
p. 304 _devoir_. Endeavour; effort. This passage is quoted in the _N.E.D_.
p. 305 _The Representation of the Wedding_. This curious tableau is a striking example of the Elizabethan ‘Dumb Show’ lingering on to Restoration days. Somewhat similar, though by no means such complete, examples may be seen in Orrery’s _Henry the Fifth_ (1664), at the commencement of Act iv, and again in the same author’s _The Black Prince_ (19 October, 1667), Act ii. It must be confessed that Mrs. Behn has made an excellent use of this technical contrivance. In the Restoration theatre it was the usual practice for the curtain to rise at the beginning and fall at the end of the play, so that the close of each intermediate act was only shown by a clear stage. Although I have marked Act ii, sc. I of _The Forc’d Marriage_ ‘The Palace’, I have little doubt that as the drama was staged Smith and Mrs. Jennings advanced and the curtain fell behind them hiding the rest of the characters, only to rise again upon Scene II, ‘The Court Gallery’. Philander and Galatea played upon the apron stage. If they, however, maintained their places in the tableau, they would have immediately after entered on to the apron, before the curtain, by way of the proscenium doors. In any case Scene I must have been acted well forward.
p. 312 _rencounter_. Meet.
p. 322 _Phi. Who’s there_. The Duke of Buckingham, in _The Rehearsal_ (1671), Actus ii, scaena V, has a fray burlesquing this passage.
p. 325 _Phi. Villain, thou ly’st_. cf. _The Rehearsal_, Actus v, scaena I: _’Lieutenant-General. Villain, thou lyest.’_
p. 330 _Campania_. The operations of an army in the field during a season. cf. Edmund Everard’s _Discourses on the Present State of the Protestant Princes of Europe_ (1679): ‘Since the last campania the Three … have entred into the entanglement of a War.’
p. 331 _Pattacoon_. A Spanish dollar value 4s. 8d; vide supra, Vol. I, _The Rover_ (I), ii, I (p. 36) and note on that passage, p. 442.
p. 347 _in a dishabit_. This word is excessively rare, if this be not the unique example. The _N.E.D_. fails to include it. Dishabille had been introduced from France in the reign of Charles II, and (in its various forms) became exceedingly popular. It is noticeable that all other editions, save the first quarto (1671), in this passage read ‘in an undress’.
p. 352 _or smothers her with a pillow_. This is only in the first quarto. Here in particular, and throughout the whole scene, Mrs. Behn’s reminiscences of _Othello_ are very patent.
p. 358 _Enter Erminia veil’d_. In Sir William Barclay’s _The Lost Lady_ (folio 1639), a good, if intricate, tragi-comedy, which was received with applause after the Restoration [Pepys saw it 19 January, 1661, and again, rather more than a week later, on the 28th of the same month], and not forgotten by Buckingham when he penned _The Rehearsal_, Milesia (supposed dead), the wife of Lysicles, appears to her husband as a ghost –Act v, sc. I. It is very possible that Mrs. Behn hence took her hint for the phantom of the living Erminia. It is noticeable that generations after Tobin borrowed not a few incidents from _The Lost Lady_ for _The Curfew_, produced at Drury Lane, 19 February, 1807, a posthumous play. In Lodowick Carlell’s _The Fool Would be a Favourite; or, The Discreet Lover_ (12mo, 1657), we have Philantus confronting Lucinda as his own ghost–(Actus Quintus).
p. 358 _Tiffany_. A kind of thin silk gauze. cf. Philemon Holland’s _Plinie_, Bk. XI, ch. xxii: ‘The invention of that fine silke, tiffanie, sarcenet, and cypres, which instead of apparell to cover and hide, shew women naked through them.’ All subsequent editions to 4to 1671, read ‘taffety’ in this passage.
THE EMPEROR OF THE MOON.
p. 390 _Lord Marquess of Worcester_. Charles, Marquis of Worcester (1661-1698), father of Henry Somerset, second Duke of Beaufort, was the second son [Henry, his elder brother, died young] of Henry Somerset, first Duke of Beaufort (1629-1700), by Mary, eldest daughter of Arthur, first Lord Capel. The first Duke of Beaufort, the staunchest of Tories, was high in favour with Charles I, Charles II, and James II. Charles, the son and heir, was killed through an accident to his coach in Wales, July, 1698, and the shock is said to have hastened the old Duke’s end.
p. 391 _acted in France eighty odd times_. The original scenes were produced by the Italian comedians at the Hotel de Bourgogne, 5 March, 1684. Their popularity did not wane for many a decade. In the fifth edition (1721) of Gherardi’s _Theatre Italien_ there are far fuller excerpts from the farce than in the first edition (1695).
p. 392 _who now cannot supply one_. The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. If Mrs. Behn’s complaint about the public is true, James II was, none the less, himself a good friend to the stage, and many excellent plays were produced during his reign. There is, however, considerable evidence that at this period of strife–religious and political, rebellion and revolt –things theatrical were very badly affected, and the play-house poorly attended.
p. 393 _No Woman without Vizard_. cf. Cibber in his _Apology_ (1740), ch. viii: ‘I remember the ladies were then observed to be decently afraid of venturing bare-faced to a new comedy, till they had been assured they might do it, without the risk of an insult to their modesty: or, if their curiosity were too strong for their patience, they took care, at least, to save appearances, and rarely came upon the first days of acting but in masks (then daily worn, and admitted in the pit, the side-boxes, and gallery) which custom, however, had so many ill consequences attending it, that it has been abolished these many years.’
p. 394 _Sice_. Six. The number six at dice.
p. 394 _it sings Sawny. Saunie’s Neglect_. This popular old Scotch song is to be found, with a tune, on p. 317, Vol. I, D’Urfey’s _Wit and Mirth; or, Pills to Purge Melancholy_ (1719). It had previously been given in _Wit and Drollery_ (1681). It commences thus:–
Sawney was tall and of noble race
And lov’d me better than any eane But now he ligs by another lass
And Sawney will ne’er be my true love agen.
Ravenscroft, in _The London Cuckolds_ (1682), Act iii, introduces a link-boy singing this verse as he passes down the street.
p. 394 _There’s nothing lasting but the Puppets Show_. About this time there was a famous Puppet Show in Salisbury Change which was so frequented that the actors were reduced to petition against it. cf. The Epilogue (spoken by Jevon) to Mountfort’s _The Injured Lovers_ (1688), where the actor tells the audience they must be kind to the poet:–
Else to stand by him, every man has swore. To Salisbury Court we’ll hurry you next week Where not for whores, but coaches you may seek; And more to plague you, there shall be no Play, But the Emperor of the Moon for every day.
Philander and Irene are the conventional names of lovers in the novels and puppet plays which were fashionable. It is interesting to note that less than a century after this prologue was first spoken, _The Emperor of the Moon_ was itself being played at the puppet show in Exeter Change.
p. 395 _Doctor Baliardo_. The Doctor was one of the leading masks, stock characters, in Italian impromptu comedy. Doctor Graziano, or Baloardo Grazian, is a pedant, a philosopher, grammarian, rhetorician, astronomer, cabalist, a savant of the first water, boasting of his degree from Bologna, trailing the gown of that august university. Pompous in phrase and person, his speech is crammed with lawyer’s jargon and quibbles, with distorted Latin and ridiculous metaphors. He is dressed in black with bands and a huge shovel hat. He wears a black vizard with wine-stained cheeks. From 1653 until his death at an advanced age in 1694 the representative of Dr. Baloardo was Angelo Augustino Lolli. The Doctor’s speeches in _Arlequin Empereur dans la Lune_ (1684), are a mixture of French and Italian.
p. 395 _Scaramouch_. In the original _Arlequin Empereur dans la Lune_ Scaramouch is Pierrot. The make-up and costume of Pierrot (Pedrolino) circa 1673 is thus described: ‘La figure blanchie. Serre-tete blanc. Chapeau blanc. Veste et culotte de toile blanche. Bas blancs. Souliers blancs a rubans blancs.’ It will be seen that he differed little from his modern representative. Arlechino appeared in 1671 thus: ‘Veste et pantalon a fond jaune clair. Triangles d’etoffes rouges et vertes. Boutons de cuivre. Bas blancs, Souilers de peau blanche a rubans rouges. Ceinture de cuir jaune a boucle de cuivre. Masque noir. Serre-tete noir. Mentonniere noire. Chapeau gris a queue de lievre. Batte. Collerette de mousseline.’
Colombine (Mopsophil) in 1683 wore a traditional costume: ‘Casaquin rouge borde de noir. Jupe gris-perle. Souliers rouges bordes de noir. Manches et collerette de mousseline. Rayon de dentelle et touffe de rubans rose vif. Tablier blanc garni de dentelles.’
p. 397 _your trusty Roger_. cf. John Weever’s _Ancient funerall monuments_ (folio, 1631): ‘The seruant obeyed and (like a good trusty Roger) performed his Master’s commandment.’ Roger stands as a generic name.
p. 399 _Lucian’s Dialogue_. The famous [Greek: Ikaromenippos hae hypernephelos]–‘Icaromenippus; or, up in the Clouds.’ Mrs. Behn no doubt used the translation of Lucian by Ferrand Spence. 5 Vols. 1684-5. ‘Icaromenippus’ is given in Vol. III (1684).
p. 399 _The Man in the Moon. The Man in the Moone_, by Domingo Gonsales (i.e. Francis Godwin, Bishop of Llandaff, and later of Hereford), 8vo, 1638, and 12mo, 1657. This is a highly diverting work. The Second Edition (1657) has various cuts amongst which is a frontispiece, that occurs again at page 29 of the little volume, depicting Gonsales being drawn up to the lunar world in a machine, not unlike a primitive parachute, to which are harnessed his ‘gansas … 25 in number, a covey that carried him along lustily.’
p. 399 _A Discourse of the World in the Moon_. Cyrano de Bergerac’s [Greek Selaenarchia] _or the Government of the World in the Moon: Done into English by Tho. St. Serf, Gent_. (16mo, 1659), and another version, _The Comical History of the States and Empires of the Worlds of the Moon and Sun, newly Englished by A. Lovell, A.M_. (8vo, 1687).
p. 400 _Plumeys_. Gallants; beaus. So termed, of course, from their feathered hats. cf. Dryden’s _An Evening’s Love_ (1668), Act i, I, where Jacinta, referring to the two gallants, says: ‘I guess ’em to be Feathers of the _English_ Ambassador’s train.’ cf. Pope’s Sir Plume in _The Rape of the Lock_. In one of the French scenes of _La Precaution inutile_, produced 5 March, 1692, by the Italian comedians, Gaufichon (Act i, I) cries to Leandre: ‘Je destine ma soeur a Monsieur le Docteur Balouard, et trente Plumets comme vous ne la detourneroient pas d’un aussi bon rencontre.’ The French word = a fop is, however, extremely rare. Plumet more often = un jeune militaire. cf. Panard (1694-1765); _Oeuvres_ (1803), Tome III, p. 355:–
Que les plumets seraient aimables
Si leurs feux etaient plus constants!
p. 401 _Cannons_. Canons were the immense and exaggerated breeches, adorned with ribbons and richest lace, which were worn by the fops of the court of Louis XIV. There is more than one reference to them in Moliere. Ozell, in his translation of Moliere (1714), writes ‘cannions’. cf. _School for Husbands_, Vol. II, p. 32: ‘those great cannions wherein the legs look as tho’ they were in the stocks.’
Ces grands cannons ou, comme en des entraves, On met tous les matins ses deux jambes esclaves. –_Ecole des Maris_, i, I.
cf. Pepys, 24 May, 1660: ‘Up, and made myself as fine as I could, with the linen stockings on and wide canons that I bought the other day at Hague.’
p. 403 _The Count of Gabalis_. The Abbe Montfaucon de Villars (1635-73) had wittily satirized the philosophy of Paracelsus and the Rosicrucians and their belief in sylphs and elemental spirits in his _Le Comte de Gabalis ou Entretiens sur les sciences secretes_ (Paris, 1670), which was ‘done into English by P.A. _Gent_.’ (P. Ayres), as _Count Gabalis, or the Extravagant Mysteries of the Cabalists, exposed in five pleasant discourses_ (1680), and thus included in Vol. II of Bentley and Magnes, _Modern Novels_ (1681-93), twelve volumes. It will be remembered that Pope was indebted to a hint from _Gabalis_ for his aerial machinery in _The Rape of the Lock_.
p. 406 _Iredonozar_. This name is from Gonsales’ (Bishop Godwin) _The Man in the Moone_: ‘The first ancestor of this great monarch [the Emperor of the Moon] came out of the earth … and his name being Irdonozur, his heirs, unto this day, do all assume unto themselves that name.’
p. 407 _Harlequin comes out on the Stage_. This comic scene, _Du Desespoir_, which affords such opportunity for the mime, although not given in the first edition of Le _Theatre Italien_, finds a place in the best edition (1721). The editor has appended the following note: ‘Ceux qui ont vu cette Scene, conviendront que c’est une des plus plaisantes qu’on ait jamais jouee sur le _Theatre Italien_.’
p. 408 _a Man that laugh’d to death_. This is the traditional end of l’unico Aretino. On hearing some ribald jest he is said to have flung himself back in a chair and expired of sheer merriment. Later days elucidate his fate by declaring that overbalancing himself he broke his neck on the marble pavement. Sir Thomas Urquhart, the glorious translator of Rabelais, is reported to have died of laughter on hearing of the Restoration of Charles II.
p. 410 _Boremes_. A corrupt form (perhaps only in these passages) of bouts-rimes. ‘They were a List of Words that rhyme to one another drawn up by another Hand and given to a Poet, who was to make a Poem to the Rhymes in the same Order that they were placed on the List.’ –Addison, _Spectator_, No. 60 (1711).
p. 413 _Flute Doux_. Should be flute-douce. ‘The highest pitched variety of the old flute with a mouthpiece.’–Murray, _N.E.D_. cf. Etheredge, _The Man of Mode_ (1676), ii, II: ‘Nothing but flute doux and French hoyboys.’
p. 420 _a Curtain or Hangings_. When several scenes had to be set one behind another the device of using a curtain or tapestries was common. cf. Dryden and Lee’s _The Duke of Guise_ (1682), Act v, where after four or five sets ‘the scene draws, behind it a traverse’. We then have the Duke’s assassination–he shrieks out some four lines and dies, whereon ‘the traverse is drawn’. The traverse was merely a pair of curtains on a rod. All the grooves were in use for the scenes already set.
p. 422 _Harpsicals_. A common corruption of harpsicords on the analogy of virginals. The two 4tos, 1687 and 1688, and the 1711 edition all read ‘harpsicals’. 1724 gives ‘Harpsicords’.
p. 435 _Ebula_. The Ebelus was a jewel of great price bestowed upon Gonzales by Irdonozur. He tells us that: ‘to say nothing of the colour (the Lunar whereof I made mention before, which notwithstanding is so incredibly beautiful, as a man should travel 1000 Leagues to behold it), the shape is somewhat flat of the breadth of a _Pistolett_, and twice the thickness. The one side of this, which is somewhat more Orient of Colour than the other, being clapt to the bare skin of a man, in any part of his body, it taketh away from it all weight or ponderousness; whereas turning the other side it addeth force unto the attractive beams of the Earth, either in this world or that, and maketh the body to weigh half so much again as it did before.’
p. 446 _Guzman of Salamanca_. A Guzman was a common term of abuse. The first English translation (by James Mabbe) of Aleman’s famous romance is, indeed, entitled _The Rogue_, and it had as running title _The Spanish Rogue_. There is a novel by George Fidge entitled _The English Gusman; or, The History of that Unparalleled Thief James Hind_ (1652, 4to). Salamanca had an unsavoury reputation owing to the fictions of Titus Gates. cf. _The Rover_ (II), Act v: ‘Guzman Medicines.’
p. 446 _Signum Mallis_. This curious phrase, which is both distorted cant and canine, would appear to mean ‘your rogue’s phiz’.
p. 446 _Friskin_. ‘A gay lively person.’–Halliwell.
p. 446 _Jack of Lent_. A puppet set up to be thrown at; in modern parlance, ‘Aunt Sally’. Hence a butt for all.
p. 451 _Spitchcock’d_. To spitchcock is to split lengthwise, as an eel, and then broil.
p. 458 _Stentraphon_. A megaphone.
p. 460 _They fight at Barriers_. A comic combat between Harlequin and Scaramouch forms one of the traditional incidents (_Lazzi_), which occur repeatedly in the Italian and Franco-Italian farces. cf. Dryden’s Epilogue spoken by Hart when _The Silent Woman_ was played before the University of Oxford in 1673:–
Th’ _Italian_ Merry-Andrews took their place, And quite debauch’d the Stage with lewd Grimace: Instead of Wit and Humours, your Delight Was there to see two Hobby-horses fight, Stout _Scaramoucha_ with Rush Lance rode in, And ran a Tilt at Centaure _Arlequin_.