hound bitches." That this meaning for it was creeping in as early as Henry the Eighth's reign, appears from a passage in Sir Thomas More's Comfort against Tribulation, p. 199, ed. 1573: "I am so cunning, i.e. unskilful (ironical), that I cannot tell whether among them (i.e. in the phrase of hunting men) a bitch be a bitch, but as I remember she is no bitch, but a brach." I find in Rowland's Martin Mar-all's Apology, the term "Friskin Fitzfizler, my lady brach." 135 135. in-a-door] showest] do not 128. Have. parade thy wealth. 129. Speak... knowest] be not a babbler, be reticent. 130. Lend... owest] do not lend all thou possessest. For this, a frequent sense of owe, see Richard II. IV. i. 185. . 131. Ride. goest] take the world easy. For go in the sense of walk, see Sonnet cxxx. II. 132. Learn... trowest] believe not all you hear. For trow in the sense of believe, see 2 Henry VI. 11. iv. 38: "Trowest thou that e'er I'll look upon the world." Furness, following Capell, explains, "learn more than thou already know." This seems forced. Tovey thinks it may mean "ascertain much, and don't indulge in guessing." 124. A pestilent gall to me!] The exact significance of these words is not clear. Does Lear connect truth of the last speech with Cordelia, and "Lady the brach" with his more favoured daughters, and are the words another expression of the bubbling-up sorrow for his conduct towards his younger daughter, as if he would say 133. Set... throwest] be cau"a plague take me for my folly"? or is tious in gaming. Do not stake all the Fool the "pestilent gall" which thou winnest at a throw. See continues "gleeking and galling" at Richard II. Iv. i. 57: “Who sets me him? or again, is the expression indica- else? by heaven, I'll throw at all." tive of Oswald's late impudent demeanour, which is still rankling in his mind? 135. in-a-door] in doors, at home. Compare Dialogue prefixed to Per And thou shalt have more Than two tens to a score. Kent. This is nothing, fool. Fool. Then 'tis like the breath of an unfee'd lawyer; you gave me nothing for 't. Can you make no 140 Lear. Why, no, boy; nothing can be made out of nothing. Fool. [To Kent.] Prithee, tell him, so much the rent of his land comes to: he will not believe a 145 Lear. A bitter fool! Fool. Dost thou know the difference, my boy, be 138. Kent] F, Lear Q. 139. 'tis] F, omitted Q. 141. nuncle] F, uncle Q. 144. [To Kent] Rowe; omitted Q, F. 148. Dost thou] F, Dost Q. 149. sweet fool?]Q, sweet one F. 151-167. That lord... snatching] Q, omitted F. cival's Spanish Dictionary, 1594, P. 64, "without daring to come near, nor to come forth-a-doores." 138. This is nothing] I think it is right to give this line, as the Folio does, to Kent, rather than, with the Quarto, to Lear, for in the first clause of the fool's speech he seems to be clearly addressing Kent. 147. bitter] cruelly sarcastic. See As You Like It, III. v. 69: "I'll sauce her with bitter words." 151. That lord] Skalliger, a lord in the old play, who gives certain advice to Leir about the division of the kingdom, may have been in Shakespeare's mind here. 157. motley] the pied, or parti Lear. Dost thou call me fool, boy? Fool. All thy other titles thou hast given away; 160 that thou wast born with. Kent. This is not altogether fool, my lord. Fool. No, faith, lords and great men will not let me; if I had a monopoly out, they would Lear. What two crowns shall they be? Fool. Why, after I have cut the egg i̇' the middle 170 and eat up the meat, the two crowns of the borest thine ass on thy back o'er the dirt: 164. out] Q, on't Pope. 165. on't and . . . too] Capell, an't, and ladies too QI (some copies), a'nt, and lodes too QI (some copies), on't and lodes too Q2. 166. all the fool] Q 1, all fool Q2. 167. Nuncle... egg] F, give me an egg, nuncle Q. 174. thine] F, thy Q; on thy] Q 2, F ; at'h Q 1. coloured, dress of the domestic fool. See As you Like It, 11. vii. 43, 44. It is very often referred to by the dramatic authors of the time. See Ben Jonson, Epigram, liii.: "For, but thyself, where, out of to thee?" 164. monopoly out] i.e. one granted. In spite of the Declaratory Act against monopolies, passed at the end of Elizabeth's reign, James I. constantly granted them to his needy courtiers, and there was a great popular outcry in consequence. Steevens quotes various passages from the drama attacking them. See Malone's Shakespeare, Boswell, 1821, x. 57. 173, 174. thou... ass] Æsop's well-known fable of the man, his two sons, and the ass is referred to, a pithy rendering of which was given by Warner in his "Albion's England,' which poem, first published in 1586, had appeared in 1602, "revised newly and enlarged by the author." 176-178. If... so] Perhaps it means: If my words are folly, yet it being your interest to believe them good sense, let the finder out of them for folly be whipped, for he can be no friend of yours. like myself in this, let him be whipped that first finds it so. Fools had ne'er less grace in a year ; For wise men are grown foppish, And know not how their wits to wear, Their manners are so apish. Lear. When were you wont to be so full of songs, sirrah? 180 Fool. I have used it, nuncle, ever since thou madest 185 thy daughters thy mothers; for when thou gavest them the rod and puttest down thine own breeches, Then they for sudden joy did weep, And I for sorrow sung, That such a king should play bo-peep, 179. grace] F, wit Q. 181. And] F, They Q; to] F, do Q. ever] Q, ere F. 186. mothers] F, mother Q. 189-192. Then . among] put into stanza form by Theobald. 192. fools] Q, Foole, F. 179. Fools . . . year] Johnson explains: "There was never a time when fools were less in favour than now, and the reason is they were never so little wanted, for wise men now supply their place." Malone quotes a parallel from Lyly, Mother Bombie, ii. 3: "I think gentlemen had never less wit in a year." See Fairholt, Works, ii. 98. 180. foppish] foolish. I. ii. 14. See note to 185. used it] made a practice of it, indulged in the habit. See Hamlet, III. ii. 50: "That speaks a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it"; also Greene, The Collier of Croydon (Dodsley's Old Plays, Hazlitt, viii. 399): "They say he is of such religious life That angels often use to talk with him." 190 185. We 189, 190. Then . . . sung] find in Heywood's Rape of Lucrece, 1608, as Steevens pointed out, that Valerius sings the following verse: "When Tarquin first in court began, And was approved king: Some men for sudden joy 'gan weep, But I for sorrow sing." See Works, Pearson, v. 179. The first two lines are evidently, by the way, a parody of the first two of the ballad of Sir Lancelot du Lake: "When Arthur first in court began, And was approved king." 191. That such . . . bo-peep] play silly pranks with, referring to the well Prithee, nuncle, keep a schoolmaster that can 195 Lear. An you lie, sirrah, we'll have you whipped. Fool. I marvel what kin thou and thy daughters are: they'll have me whipped for speaking true, thou 'lt have me whipped for lying; and sometimes I am whipped for holding my peace. 200 I had rather be any kind o' thing than a fool; and yet I would not be thee, nuncle; thou hast pared thy wit o' both sides, and left nothing i' the middle: here comes one o' the parings. Enter GONERIL. Lear. How now, daughter! what makes that frontlet on? Methinks you are too much of late i' the frown. Fool. Thou wast a pretty fellow when thou hadst 205 no need to care for her frowning; now thou art 210 an O without a figure. I am better than thou 194, 195. learn to lie] learne lye QI (some copies). 196. An (and) Q1, F If Q2; sirrah] F, omitted Q. 200. sometimes] F, sometime Q. 201. o' thing] F, of thing Q. 203. o' both] F, a both Q. 207. Methinks] Q, omitted F; of late] F, alate Q. 210. frowning] F, frowne Q ; now thou] Q I (some copies) F, thou thou Q 1 (some copies), Q 2. known nursery game; see Faire les deux yeux, to play at bo-peep with, Cotgrave's French Dictionary. It is used in a similar metaphorical sense in the tragedy of Sir John Barnavelt, iii. 1; Bullen, Old Plays, ii. 348: "This blinded state that plays at boa-peep with us.” 206, 207. what... on] referring to the frowning visage of Goneril. The frontlet was a band worn on the forehead by women for ornament, and sometimes at night to remove wrinkles. figure] a mere |