You must be godfather, and answer for her. K. Hen. Come, come, my lord, you'd spare your spoons; you shall have "Thy honourable metal may be wrought See also Vol. VII, p. 351, n. 3, and a note on Cymbeline, sc. ult. The superfluous pronoun in the text (if it be superfluous) may be justified by the following passage in Romeo and Juliet : this reverend holy friar, "All our whole city is much bound to him." Steevens. 3 You must be godfather,] Our prelates formerly were often employed on the like occasions. Cranmer was godfather to Edward VI. See Hall, fo. 232. Archbishop Warham to Henry's eldest son by Queen Katharine; and the Bishop of Winchester to Henry himself. See Sandford, 479, 495. Reed. 4 •you'd spare your spoons ;] It was the custom, long before the time of Shakspeare, for the sponsors at christenings to offer gilt spoons as a present to the child. These spoons were called apostle spoons, because the figures of the apostles were carved on the tops of the handles. Such as were at once opulent and generous, gave the whole twelve; those who were either more mo. derately rich or liberal, escaped at the expence of the four evangelists; or even sometimes contented themselves with presenting one spoon only, which exhibited the figure of any saint, in honour of whom the child received its name. In the year 1560, we find entered on the books of the Stationers' company, "a spoyne, of the gyfte of master Reginold Wolfe all gylte with the pycture of St. John." Ben Jonson also, in his Bartholomew Fair, mentions spoons of this kind: " and all this for the hope of a couple of apostle spoons, and a cup to eat caudle in.” So, in Middleton's comedy of A chaste Maid of Cheapside, 1620: "2 Gos. What has he given her?-what is it, gossip? 3 Gos. A faire high standing-cup, and two great 'postle spoons, one of them gilt. 1 Pur. Sure that was Judas then with the red beard." Again: “E'en the same gossip 'twas that gave the spoons." Again, in Sir Wm. D'Avenant's comedy of The Wits, 1639: my pendants, carcanets, and rings, 66 "My christ'ning caudle-cup, and spoons, Again, in The Maid in the Mill, by Beaumont and Fletcher "Yes, and who gave it her; Two noble partners with you; the old duchess of Nor folk, "And what they promis❜d more, besides a spoon, Again, in The Noble Gentleman, by the same authors: "I have an odd apostle spoon." Mr. Pegge, in his preface to A Forme of Cury, a Roll of ancient English Cookery, compiled about A. D. 1390, &c. observes, that "the general mode of eating must either have been with the spoon or the fingers; and this, perhaps, may have been the reason that spoons became the usual present from gossips to their godchildren, at christenings." Steevens. As the following story, which is found in a collection of anecdotes, entitled Merry Passages and Feasts, MSS. Harl. 6395, contains an allusion to this custom, and has not, I believe, been published, it may not be an improper supplement to this account of apostle spoons. It shows that our author and Ben Jonson were once on terms of familiarity and friendship, however cold and jealous the latter might have been at a subsequent period: "Shakspeare was godfather to one of Ben Jonson's children, and after the christening, being in deepe study, Jonson came to cheer him up, and ask'd him why he was so melancholy: No 'faith, Ben, says he, not I; but I have been considering a great while what should be the fittest gift for me to bestow upon my godchild, and I have resolv'd at last. I pr'ythee, what? says he.-I' faith, Ben, I'll give him a douzen good latten [Latin] spoons, and thou shalt translate them." The collector of these anecdotes appears to have been nephew to Sir Roger L'Estrange. He names Donne as the relater of this story. The practice of sponsors giving spoons at christenings continued to the latter end of the last century, as appears from a pamphlet written against Dryden, entitled The Reasons of Mr. Bayes's Conversion, &c. p. 14. At one period it was the mode to present gifts of a different kind. "At this time," [the first year of Queen Elizabeth] says the continuator of Stowe's Chronicle, "and for many yeeres before, it was not the use and custome, as now it is, [1631,] for godfathers and godmothers generally to give plate at the baptism of children, (as spoones, cups, and such like,) but only to give christening shirts, with little hands and cuffs wrought either with silk or blue thread; the best of them for chief persons were edged with a small lace of blacke silke and golde; the highest price of which for great men's children were seldom above a noble, and the common sort, two, three, or four and five shillings a piece." Whether our author, when he speaks of apostle-spoons, has, as usual, attributed the practice of his own time to the reign of Henry VIII, I have not been able to ascertain. Probably howe And lady marquiss Dorset; Will these please you Gar. And brother-love, I do it. Cran. With a true heart, And let heaven Witness, how dear I hold this confirmation. K. Hen. Good man, those joyful tears show thy true heart.5 The common voice, I see, is verify'd Of thee, which says thus, Do my lord of Canterbury Come, lords, we trifle time away; I long As I have made ye one, lords, one remain; So I grow stronger, you more honour gain. [Exeunt. SCENE III. The Palace Yard. Noise and Tumult within. Enter Porter, and his Man. Port. You'll leave your noise anon, ye rascals: Do you take the court for Paris-garden? ye rude slaves, leave your gaping.7 ver, he is here accurate; for we know that certain pieces of plate were, on some occasions, then bestowed; Hall, who has written a minute account of the christening of Elizabeth, informing us, that the gifts presented by her sponsors were a standing cup of gold, and six gilt bowls, with covers. Chron. Hen. VIII, fol 218. Malone. 5 thy true heart.] Old copy-hearts. Corrected by the edi tor of the second folio. Malone. 0 Paris-garden?] The bear-garden of that time. Johnson. This celebrated bear-garden on the Bankside was so called from Robert de Paris, who had a house and garden there in the time of King Richard II, Rot. claus. 16 R. II, dors. ii. Blount's GLOSSOGRAPH. Malone. So, in Sir W. D'Avenant's News from Plimouth: do you take this mansion for Pict-hatch? Again, in Ben Jonson's Execration on Vulcan: "And cried, it was a threatning to the bears, The Globe theatre, in which Shakspeare was a performer, stoed [Within.] Good master porter, I belong to the larder. Port. Belong to the gallows, and be hanged, you rogue: Is this a place to roar in?-Fetch me a dozen crab-tree staves, and strong ones; these are but switches to them.—I'll scratch your heads: You must be seeing christenings? Do you look for ale and cakes here, you rude rascals? 8 Man. Pray, sir, be patient; 'tis as much impossible (Unless we sweep them from the door with cannons) To scatter them, as 'tis to make them sleep On May-day morning; which will never be: on the southern side of the river Thames, and was contiguous to this noted place of tumult and disorder. St. Mary Overy's church is not far from London Bridge, and almost opposite to Fishmonger's Hall. Winchester House was over against Cole Harbour. Paris-garden was in a line with Bridewell, and the Globe playhouse faced Blackfriars, Fleet-ditch, or St. Paul's. It was an hexagonal building of stone or brick. Its roof was of rushes, with a flag on the top. See a south view of London, (as it appeared in 1599,) published by T. Wood, in Bishop's Court, in Chancery Lane, in 1771. Steevens. 7 gaping.] i. e. shouting or roaring; a sense which this word has now almost lost. Littleton, in his Dictionary, has however given it in its present signification as follows: "To gape or bawi, vociferor." So, in Roscommon's Essay on translated Verse, as quoted in Dr. Johnson's Dictionary: "That noisy, nauseous, gaping fool was he." Reed. Such being one of the ancient senses of the verb—to gape, perhaps the "gaping pig" mentioned by Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, has hitherto been misinterpreted. Steevens. 8 Pray, sir, be patient;] Part of this scene in the old copy is printed as verse, and part as prose. Perhaps the whole, with the occasional addition and omission of a few harmless syllables, might be reduced into a loose kind of metre; but as I know not what advantage would be gained by making the experiment, I have left the whole as I found it. Steevens. 9 On May-day morning;] It was anciently the custom for all ranks of people to go out a maying on the first of May. It is on record that King Henry VIII and Queen Katharine partook of this diversion. See Vol. II, p. 345, n. 3. Steevens. Stowe says, that, "in the month of May, namely, on May-day in the morning, every man, except impediment, would walk into the sweet meadows and green woods; there to rejoice their spirits with the beauty and savour of sweet flowers, and with the noise [i. e concert] of birds, praising God in their kind." See also Brand's Observations on popular Antiquities, 8vo. 1777, p. 255. Reed We may as well push against Paul's, as stir them. Man. Alas, I know not; How gets the tide in? Port. You did nothing, sir. Man. I am not Sampson, nor sir Guy, nor Colbrand, i to mow them down before me: but, if I spared any, that had a head to hit, either young or old, he or she, cuckqueen old or cuckold-maker, let me never hope to see a"chine” wn again; and that I would not for a"cow, God save her. [Within.] Do you year, master Porter? crown Port. I shall be with you presently, good master puppy. Keep the door close, sirrah. Man. What would you have me do? Port. What should you do, but knock them down by the dozens? Is this Moorfields to muster in?2 or have we some strange Indian3 with the great tool come to court, the women so besiege us? Bless me, what a fry of fornication is at door! On my christian conscience, this one christening will beget a thousand; here will be father, godfather, and all together. Man. The spoons will be the bigger, sir. There is a fellow somewhat near the door, he should be a brazier by his face, for, o' my conscience, twenty of the dogdays now reign in 's nose; all that stand about him are 11 4 sir Guy, nor Colbrand,] Of Guy of Warwick every one has heard. Colbrand was the Danish giant, whom Guy subdued at Winchester. Their combat is very elaborately described by Drayton, in his Polyolbion. Johnson. 2 Moorfields to muster in?] The train-bands of the city were exercised in Moorfields. Johnson. 3 some strange Indian-] To what circumstance this refers, perhaps, cannot now be exactly known. A similar one occurs in Ram-Alley, or Merry Tricks, 1611: "You shall see the strange nature of an outlandish beast lately brought from the land of Cataia." 4 Again, in The Two Noble Kinsmen, by Beaumont and Fletcher: "The Bavian with long tail and eke long TOOL." Collins. he should be a brazier by his face,] A brazier signifies a man that manufactures brass, and a reservoir for charcoal occasionally heated to convey warmth. Both these senses are under stood. Johnson. |