And not in fear of your nativity.

Diseased nature oftentimes breaks forth
In strange eruptions: "oft the teeming earth
Is with a kidd of colick pinch'd and vex'd
By the imprisoning of unruly wind

Within her womb; which, for enlargement striving,
Shakes the old beldame1 earth, and topples' down
Steeples, and moss-grown, towers. At your birth,
Our grandam earth, having this distemperature,
In passion shook.

Glend.

Cousin, of many men

I do not bear these crossings. Give me leave
To tell you once again,—that at my birth,
The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes;
The goats ran from the mountains, and the herds
Were strangely clamorous to the frighted fields.
These signs have mark'd me extraordinary;
And all the courses of my life do show,

I am not in the roll of common men.

Where is he living,-clipp'd in with the sea
That chides the banks of England, Scotland, Wales,-
Which calls me pupil, or hath read to me?

And bring him out, that is but woman's son,
Can trace me in the tedious ways of art,
And hold me pace in deep experiments.

Hot. I think, there is no man speaks better Welsh :I will to dinner.

Mort. Peace, cousin Percy; you will make him mad.
Glend. I can call spirits from the vasty deep.

Hot. Why, so can I; or so can any man :
But will they come, when you do call for them?
Glend. Why, I can teach you, cousin, to command
The devil.

Hot. And I can teach thee, coz, to shame the devil,

8 Diseased nature-] The poet has here taken, from the perverseness and contrariousness of Hotspur's temper, an opportunity of raising his character, by a very rational and philosophical confutation of superstitious error.JOHNSON.

h beldame]-is not here used as a term of contempt, but in the sense of ancient mother.-STEEVENS.

topples-] i. e. Tumbles.

By telling truth; Tell truth and shame the devil.—
If thou have power to raise him, bring him hither,
And I'll be sworn, I have power to shame him hence.
O, while you live, tell truth, and shame the devil.
Mort. Come, come,

No more of this unprofitable chat.

Glend. Three times hath Henry Bolingbroke made head Against my power: thrice from the banks of Wye, And sandy-bottom'd Severn, have I sent him, Bootless home, and weather-beaten back.

Hot. Home without boots, and in foul weather too! How 'scapes he agues, in the devil's name?

Glend. Come, here's the map; shall we divide our right, According to our three-fold order ta'en?

Mort. The archdeacon hath divided it
Into three limits very equally:

England, from Trent and Severn hitherto,'
By south and east, is to my part assign'd:
All westward, Wales beyond the Severn shore,
And all the fertile land within that bound,
To Owen Glendower :-and dear coz, to you
The remnant northward, lying off from Trent.
And our indentures tripartite are drawn ;
Which being sealed interchangeably,
(A business that this night may.execute,)
To-morrow, cousin Percy, you, and I,

And my good lord of Worcester, will set forth,
To meet your father, and the Scottish power,
As is appointed us, at Shrewsbury.

My father Glendower is not ready yet,

Nor shall we need his help these fourteen days:- [gether
Within that space, [to GLEND.] you may have drawn to-
Your tenants, friends, and neighbouring gentlemen.
Glend. A shorter time shall send me to you, lords,

And in my conduct shall your ladies come :
From whom you now must steal, and take no leave :
For there will be a world of water shed,

Upon the parting of your wives and you.

Tell truth and shame the devil.] This is one of Ray's proverbs.
hitherto,] i. e. To this spot, pointing to the map.

Hot. Methinks my moiety," north from Burton here,
In quantity equals not one of yours:

See how this river comes me cranking in,
And cuts me, from the best of all my land,
A huge half-moon, a monstrous cantle" out.
I'll have the current in this place damm'd up,
And here the smug and silver Trent shall run,
In a new channel, fair and evenly:

It shall not wind with such a deep indent,

To rob me of so rich a bottom here.

Glend. Not wind? it shall, it must; you see, it doth.
Mort. Yea,

But mark, how he bears his course, and runs me up
With like advantage on the other side;

Gelding the opposed continent as much,
As on the other side it take from you.

Wor. Yea, but a little charge will trench him here,
And on this north side win this cape

And then he runs straight and even.

of land;

Hot. I'll have it so; a little charge will do it.
Glend. I will not have it alter'd.

Glend. I can speak English, lord, as well as you;

For I was train'd up in the English court:"

Where, being but young, I framed to the harp

Many an English ditty, lovely well,

m Methinks, my moiety,] The division is here into three parts,-A moiety was frequently used by the writers of Shakspeare's age, as a portion of any thing, though not divided into two equal parts-MALONE.

n

cantle-] i. e. A corner, or piece of any thing.

• For I was train'd up in the English court :] The real name of Owen Glendower was Vaughan, and he was originally a barrister of the Middle Temple. He took the name of Glyndour or Glendowr, from the lordship of Glyndourdwy of which he was owner. He claimed the principality of Wales. He afterwards became esquire of the body to King Richard II. with whom he was in attendance at Flint castle, when Richard was taken prisoner by Henry of Bolingbroke, afterwards King Henry IV. Owen Glendower was crowned prince of Wales in the year 1402, and for nearly twelve years was a very formidable enemy to the English. He died in great distress, 1415.-MALONE.

And gave the tongue a helpful ornament;

A virtue that was never seen in you.

Hot. Marry, and I am glad of 't with all my heart; I had rather be a kitten, and cry-mew,

Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers.

I had rather hear a brazen canstick9 turn'd,
Or a dry wheel grate on an axle-tree;

And that would set my teeth nothing on edge,
Nothing so much as mincing poetry;

"Tis like the forc'd gait of a shuffling nag.

Glend. Come, you shall have Trent turn'd.

Hot. I do not care: I'll give thrice so much land

To any well-deserving friend;

But, in the way of bargain, mark ye me,

I'll cavil on the ninth part of a hair.

Are the indentures drawn? shall we be gone ?

Glend. The moon shines fair, you may away by night:

I'll haste the writer," and withal,

Break with your wives of your departure hence :

I am afraid, my daughter will run mad,

So much she doteth on her Mortimer.

[Exit.

Mort. Fye, cousin Percy! how you cross my father!
Hot. I cannot choose: sometimes he angers me,

With telling me of the moldwarp3 and the ant,
Of the dreamer Merlin, and his prophecies;
And of a dragon, and a finless fish,

A clip-wing'd griffin, and a moulten raven,
A couching lion and a ramping cat,
And such a deal of skimble-skamble stuff
As puts me from my faith. I tell you what,-

He held me, but last night, at least nine hours,

In reckoning up the several devils' names,

That were his lackeys: I cried humph,-and well,-go to,

p the tongue-] The English language.-JOHNSON.

a brazen cånstick turn'd,] The word candlestick which destroys the harmony of the line, is written canstick in the quartos, 1598, 1599, and 1608; and so it was pronounced. Heywood, and several of the old writers, constantly spell it in this manner.- -STEEVENS.

r I'll haste the writer,] He means the writer of the articles.

the moldwarp-] i. e. The mole. This alludes to an old prophecy, which is said to have induced Owen Glendower to take arms against King Henry.-POPE.

.

But mark'd him not a word. O, he's as tedious
As is a tired horse, a railing wife;

Worse than a smoky house :-I had rather live
With cheese and garlick, in a windmill, far,
Than feed on cates, and have him talk to me,
In any summer-house in Christendom.

Mort. In faith, he is a worthy gentleman:
Exceedingly well read, and profited

In strange concealments; valiant as a lion,
And wond'rous affable; and as bountiful
As mines of India. Shall I tell you, cousin?
He holds your temper in a high respect,
And curbs himself even of his natural scope,
When you do cross his humour; 'faith, he does:
I warrant you, that man is not alive,

Might so have tempted him as you have done,
Without the taste of danger and reproof;

But do not use it oft, let me entreat you.

Wor. In faith, my lord, you are too wilful blame;"
And since your coming hither, have done enough
To put him quite beside his patience.

You must needs learn, lord, to amend this fault;
Though sometimes it show greatness, courage, blood,
(And that's the dearest grace it renders you,)
Yet oftentimes it doth present harsh rage,
Defect of manners, want of government,
Pride, haughtiness, opinion, and disdain:

X

The least of which, haunting a nobleman,

Loseth mens hearts; and leaves behind a stain

Upon the beauty of all parts besides,

Beguiling them of commendation.

Hot. Well, I am school'd; good manners be your speed!

Here come our wives, and let us take our leave.

Re-enter GLENDOWER, with the Ladies.

Mort. This is the deadly spite that angers me,

My wife can speak no English,' I no Welsh.

t

-profited

In strange concealments;] Skilled in wonderful secrets.-JOHNSON.
wilful blame ;] i. e. Wilfully to blame.-STEEVENS.
opinion,]-means here conceit.

y My wife can speak no English,] Mortimer did not marry the daughter of