Where Charles the Great, having subdued the

Saxons,

There left behind and settled certain French;
Who, holding in disdain the German women
For some dishonest manners of their life,
Establish'd then this law; to wit, no female
Should be inheritrix in Salique land:
Which Salique, as I said, 'twixt Elbe and Sala,
Is at this day in Germany call'd Meisen.
Then doth it well appear the Salique law
Was not devised for the realm of France;
Nor did the French possess the Salique land
Until four hundred one and twenty years
After defunction of King Pharamond,
Idly supposed the founder of this law;
Who died within the year of our redemption
Four hundred twenty-six; and Charles the Great
Subdued the Saxons, and did seat the French
Beyond the river Sala, in the year

Eight hundred five. Besides, their writers say,
King Pepin, which deposed Childeric,
Did, as heir general, being descended

Of Blithild, which was daughter to King Clothair,
Make claim and title to the crown of France.
Hugh Capet also, who usurp'd the crown
Of Charles the duke of Lorraine, sole heir male
Of the true line and stock of Charles the Great,
To find his title with some shows of truth,
Though, in pure truth, it was corrupt and naught,
Convey'd himself as heir to the Lady Lingare,

49. dishonest, unchaste.

57, 61, 64. The numbers and the reckoning are from Holinshed. As Rolfe pointed out, he seems to have deducted 405 from 826, instead of 426 from 805.

72. find, furnish, provide.

50

60

70

74. Convey'd himself as, stole into the position of, contrived to pass himself off as.

74. Lingare. Holinshed has 'Lingard.' Her actual name was Liutgard.

Daughter to Charlemain, who was the son
To Lewis the emperor, and Lewis the son
Of Charles the Great. Also King Lewis the Tenth,
Who was sole heir to the usurper Capet,
Could not keep quiet in his conscience,
Wearing the crown of France, till satisfied.
That fair Queen Isabel, his grandmother,
Was lineal of the Lady Ermengare,

Daughter to Charles the foresaid duke of Lorraine :
By the which marriage the line of Charles the
Great

Was re-united to the crown of France.

So that, as clear as is the summer's sun,
King Pepin's title and Hugh Capet's claim,
King Lewis his satisfaction, all appear
To hold in right and title of the female :
So do the kings of France unto this day;
Howbeit they would hold up this Salique law
To bar your highness claiming from the female,
And rather choose to hide them in a net
Than amply to imbar their crooked titles
Usurp'd from you and your progenitors.

75. Charlemain, i.e. Carloman (Carlman). Historically

it was Charles the Bold.
76. Lewis (monosyllabic
throughout).

So

77. Lewis the Tenth. Holinshed. Historically it was Lewis IX.

82. lineal of, directly descended from.

88. Lewis his satisfaction, Lewis's conviction, release from uncertainty.

80

90

and Theobald 'imbare,' which has been widely adopted, and forms a plausible antithesis to 'hide.' But the antithesis intended is not merely between frankness and subterfuge, but between an open and a crafty method of defence. Hence Knight properly restored 'imbar' from Ff, in the sense of bar in,' 'fortify,' secure. The French prefer to shelter themselves under a delusive

93. a net, i.e. of flimsy appeal to the Salic law, which sophistries.

94. amply to imbar. F1 F2 'imbarre'; Qq 'imbace,' brace.' Rowe read 'make bare'

'em

excludes their claim as well as ours, instead of directly and unreservedly defending their title as nevertheless the better.'

K. Hen. May I with right and conscience make
this claim?

Cant. The sin upon my head, dread sovereign!
For in the book of Numbers is it writ,
When the man dies, let the inheritance
Descend unto the daughter. Gracious lord,
Stand for your own; unwind your bloody flag;
Look back into your mighty ancestors:
Go, my dread lord, to your great-grandsire's tomb,
From whom you claim; invoke his warlike spirit,
And your great-uncle's, Edward the Black Prince,
Who on the French ground play'd a tragedy,
Making defeat on the full power of France,
Whiles his most mighty father on a hill
Stood smiling to behold his lion's whelp
Forage in blood of French nobility.
O noble English, that could entertain
With half their forces the full pride of France
And let another half stand laughing by,
All out of work and cold for action!

Ely. Awake remembrance of these valiant dead
And with your puissant arm renew their feats :
You are their heir; you sit upon their throne;
The blood and courage that renowned them
Runs in your veins; and my thrice-puissant liege
Is in the very May-morn of his youth,
Ripe for exploits and mighty enterprises.

Exe. Your brother kings and monarchs of the earth

Do all expect that you should rouse yourself,
As did the former lions of your blood.

114. cold for action, i.e. in respect of action; nearly for want of action'; not heated by taking part in the fight.

West. They know your grace hath cause and

means and might;

So hath your highness; never king of England
Had nobles richer and more loyal subjects,

Whose hearts have left their bodies here in England
And lie pavilion'd in the fields of France.

Cant. O, let their bodies follow, my dear liege, 130
With blood and sword and fire to win your right;
In aid whereof we of the spiritualty

Will raise your highness such a mighty sum
As never did the clergy at one time

Bring in to any of your ancestors.

K. Hen. We must not only arm to invade the
French,

But lay down our proportions to defend

Against the Scot, who will make road upon us
With all advantages.

Cant. They of those marches, gracious sovereign, 140 Shall be a wall sufficient to defend

Our inland from the pilfering borderers.

K. Hen. We do not mean the coursing snatchers
only,

But fear the main intendment of the Scot,
Who hath been still a giddy neighbour to us;
For you shall read that my great-grandfather
Never went with his forces into France
But that the Scot on his unfurnish'd kingdom
Came pouring, like the tide into a breach,
With ample and brim fulness of his force,

126. So hath your highness; the emphasis is on 'hath'; there is no antithesis between highness' and 'grace.'

137. lay down our proportions, assign the number of troops requisite.

143. coursing raiders.

snatchers,

150

144. the main intendment, the attack in chief; a formal Scottish invasion.

145. giddy, untrustworthy. 150. brim fulness; 'brim' from its use as an adverbial determinant in 'brimful' is here used as an adjectival determinant to fulness.

Galling the gleaned land with hot assays,
Girding with grievous siege castles and towns;
That England, being empty of defence,

Hath shook and trembled at the ill neighbourhood.
Cant. She hath been then more fear'd than
harm'd, my liege;

For hear her but exampled by herself:

When all her chivalry hath been in France
And she a mourning widow of her nobles,
She hath herself not only well defended
But taken and impounded as a stray

The King of Scots; whom she did send to France,
To fill King Edward's fame with prisoner kings
And make her chronicle as rich with praise

As is the ooze and bottom of the sea
With sunken wreck and sumless treasuries.
West. But there's a saying very old and true,
'If that you will France win,

Then with Scotland first begin :'

For once the eagle England being in prey,
To her unguarded nest the weasel Scot
Comes sneaking and so sucks her princely eggs,
Playing the mouse in absence of the cat,

To tear and havoc more than she can eat.
Exe. It follows then the cat must stay at home :
Yet that is but a crush'd necessity,

151. gleaned, bare of defenders.

151. assays, assaults. 155. fear'd, frightened. 161. The King of Scots, King David, taken at Neville's Cross, 1346.

162. prisoner kings; King John of France was likewise taken.

163. her chronicle; Capell's correction of Ff their chronicle.' 165. treasuries, treasures.

160

170

166 f. Westmoreland. In Ff the following speech is given to Exeter, in Qq to a lord.' In Holinshed the corresponding speech is spoken by Westmoreland; hence Capell restored his name here.

173. tear. Rowe's emendation for Fftame,' Qq 'spoyle.'

175. crush'd necessity, one that is overborne, annihilated,

by contrary reasons. So Ff; Qq'curst.