Lov. Enter Sir THOMAS LOVELL. 'Faith, my lord, What is 't for? I hear of none, but the new proclamation Cham. Lov. The reformation of our travell'd gallants, That fill the court with quarrels, talk, and tailors. Cham. I am glad, 'tis there; now I would pray our monsieurs To think an English courtier may be wise, And never see the Louvre. Lov. They must either (For so run the conditions) leave these remnants Of fool, and feather, that they got in France, leave these remnants Of fool, and feather,] This does not allude to the feathers anciently worn in the hats and caps of our countrymen, (a circumstance to which no ridicule could justly belong) but to an effeminate fashion recorded in Greene's Farewell to Folly, 1617; from whence it appears that even young gentlemen carried fans of feathers in their hands: "we strive to be counted womanish, by keeping of beauty, by curling the hair, by wearing plumes of feathers in our hands, which in wars, our ancestors wore on their heads." Again, in his Quip for an upstart Courtier, 1620: "Then our young courtiers strove to exceed one another in vertue, not in bravery; they rode not with fannes to ward their faces from the wind," &c. Again, in Lingua, &c. 1607, Phantastes, who is a male character, is equipped with a fan. Steevens. The text may receive illustration from a passage in Nashe's Life of Lacke Wilton, 1594: "At that time [viz. in the court of King Henry VIII,] I was no common squire, no undertroden torch-bearer, I had my feather in my cap as big as a flag in the foretop, my French doublet gelte in the belly, as though (lyke a pig readie to be spitted) all my guts had been pluckt out, a paire of side paned hose that hung down like two scales filled with Holland cheeses, my long stock that sate close to my dock,-my rapier pendant like a round sticke, &c. my blacke cloake of black cloth, ouerspreading my backe lyke a thornbacke or an elephant's eare;-and in consummation of my curiositie, my handes without gloves, all a more French." &c. Ritson. "Yes, In Rowley's Match at Midnight, Act I, sc. i, Sim says: yes, she that dwells in Blackfryers, next to the sign of The Fool laughing at a Feather," But Sir Thomas Lovell's is rather an allusion to the feathers which were formerly worn by fools in their caps. See a print on this subject from a painting of Jordaens, engraved by Voert; and again, in the ballad of News and no News: "And feathers wagging in a fool's cap." Douce. With all their honourable points of ignorance Out of a foreign wisdom,) renouncing clean Or pack to their old playfellows: there, I take it, The lag end of their lewdness, and be laugh'd at. Cham. What a loss our ladies Will have of these trim vanities! Lov. Ay, marry, There will be woe indeed, lords; the sly whoresons A French song, and a fiddle, has no fellow. Sands. The devil fiddle them! I am glad, they're go ing; (For, sure, there's no converting of them ;) now A long time out of play, may bring his plain-song, 7 -fireworks;] We learn from a French writer quoted in Montfaucon's Monuments de la Monarchie Françoise, Vol. IV, that some very extraordinary fireworks were played off on the evening of the last day of the royal interview between Guynes and Ardres. Hence, our "travelled gallants," who were present at this exhibition, might have imbibed their fondness for the pyrotechnic art. Steevens. 8 blister'd breeches,] Thus the old copy; i. e. breeches puff'd, swell'd out like blisters. The modern editors read-bolster'd breeches, which has the same meaning. Steevens 9 wear away] Old copy-wee away. second folio. Malone. Corrected in the Lov. Your lordship is a guest too. Cham. To the cardinal's; O, 'tis true: This night he makes a supper, and a great one, To many lords and ladies; there will be The beauty of this kingdom, I'll assure you. Lov. That churchman bears a bounteous mind indeed, A hand as fruitful as the land that feeds us; His dews fall every where. Cham. No doubt, he's noble; He had a black mouth, that said other of him. Sands. He may, my lord, he has wherewithal; in him, Sparing would show a worse sin than ill doctrine: Sway Men of his way"should be most liberal, sent They are set here for examples. Cham. True, they are so; But few now give so great ones. My barge stays;1 Sands. I am your lordship's. SCENE IV. The Presence-Chamber in York-Place. [Exeunt. Hautboys. A small Table under a State for the Cardinal, a longer Table for the Guests. Enter at one Door, ANNE BULLEN, and divers Lords, Ladies, and Gentlewomen, as Guests; at another Door, enter Sir HENRY GUILDFORD. Guild. Ladies, a general welcome from his grace Salutes ye all: This night he dedicates To fair content, and you: none here, he hopes, In all this noble bevy,2 has brought with her 1 My barge stays;] The speaker is now in the King's palace at Bridewell, from which he is proceeding by water to Yorkplace, (Cardinal Wolsey's house) now Whitehall. Malone. 2 noble bevy,] Milton has copied this word: "A bevy of fair dames." Johnson. Spenser had, before Shakspeare, employed this word in the same manner: One care abroad; he would have all as merry As first-good company, good wine, good welcome THOMAS LOVELL. The very thought of this fair company Clapp'd wings to me. Cham. You are young, sir Harry Guildford. Sands. Sir Thomas Lovell, had the cardinal But half my lay-thoughts in him, some of these Should find a running banquet* ere they rested, "And whither runs this bevy of ladies bright?" Shepheard's Calender. April. Again, in his Faery Queene: "And in the midst thereof, upon the flowre, "A lovely bevy of faire ladies sate." The word bevy was originally applied to larks. See the Glossary to the Shepheard's Calender. Malone. 3 As first good company, &c.] As this passage has been all along pointed, [As first, good company,] Sir Harry Guildford is made to include all these under the first article; and then gives us the drop as to what should follow. The poet, I am persuaded, wrote: As first-good company good wine, good welcome, &c. i.e. he would have you as merry as these three things can make you, the best company in the land, of the best rank, good wine, &c. Theobald. Sir T. Hanmer has mended it more elegantly, but with greater violence: As first, good company, then good wine, &c. Johnson. 4 — a running banquet -] A running banquet, literally speaking, is a hasty refreshment, as set in opposition to a regular and protracted meal. The former is the object of this rakish peer; the latter, perhaps, he would have relinquished to those of more permanent desires. Steevens. A running banquet seems to have meant a hasty banquet. “Queen Margaret and Prince Edward, (says Habingdon, in his History of King Edward IV,) though by the Earle recalled, found their fate and the winds so adverse, that they could not land in England, to taste this running banquet to which fortune had invited them." The hasty banquet, that was in Lord Sands's thoughts, is too obvious to require explanation. It should seem from the following lines in the prologue to a co. medy called The Walks of Islington, 1657, that some double mean. ing was couched under the phrase, a running banquet: I think, would better please them: By my life, Lov. O, that your lordship were but now confessor To one or two of these! Sands. I would, I were; They should find easy penance. Lov. 'Faith, how easy? Sands. As easy as a down-bed would afford it. Cham. Sweet ladies, will it please you sit? Sir Harry, Place you that side, I'll take the charge of this: His grace is ent'ring.-Nay, you must not freeze; Two women plac'd together makes cold weather:My lord Sands, you are one will keep them waking; Pray, sit between these ladies. Sands. By my faith, And thank your lordship.-By your leave, sweet ladies: [Seats himself between ANNE BULLEN and another Lady. If I chance to talk a little wild, forgive me; I had it from my father. Anne. Was he mad, sir? Sands. O, very mad, exceeding mad, in love too: But he would bite none; just as I do now, He would kiss you twenty with a breath. Cham. [Kisses her. Well said, my lord.So, now you are fairly seated :-Gentlemen, The penance lies on you, if these fair ladies Pass away frowning. Sands. Let me alone. For my little cure, Hautboys. Enter Cardinal WOLSEY, attended; and takes his State. Wol. You are welcome, my fair guests; that noble lady, Or gentleman, that is not freely merry, Is not my friend: This, to confirm my welcome; Sands. [Drinks. Your grace is noble : Let me have such a bowl may hold my thanks, "The gate unto his walks, through which you may "A play of walks, or you may please to rank it "With that which ladies love, a running banquet." Malone. |