Now set the teeth, and stretch the nostril wide; Have in these parts from morn till even fought, Dishonour not your mothers; now attest That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you! Be copy1 now to men of grosser blood, And teach them how to war! And you, good yeomen, That you are worth your breeding: which I doubt not; [Exeunt. Alarum, and chambers go off, within. Enter NYM, BARDOLPH, PISTOL, and the Boy. Bard. On, on, on, on, on! to the breach, to the breach! anciently was used for "wash'd much or long, drowned, surrounded by water." 3 Fet is an old form of fetched. Shakespeare has it several times. 4 Copy is here used for the thing copied, that is, the pattern or model. "Men of grosser blood" are men of lower rank simply, — the "good yeomen who are next addressed. " 5 The Poet seems to have relished the old English sport of hunting, and he abounds in terms of the chase. In hunting foxes, for instance, the hounds were held back in slips or strings, till the game was got out of its hole, when it was said to be a-foot. See Prologue, page 38. Nym. Pray thee, corporal, stay: the knocks are too hot; and, for mine own part, I have not a case of lives: the humour of it is too hot, that is the very plain-song" of it. Pist. The plain-song is most just; for humours do abound: Knocks go and come; God's vassals drop and die; Doth win immortal fame. Boy. Would I were in an alehouse in London! I would give all my fame for a pot of ale and safety. Pist. And I: Boy. If wishes would prevail with me, My purpose should not fail with me, But thither would I hie. As duly, but not as truly, As bird doth sing on bough. Enter FLUELLEN. Flu. Got's plood!-Up to the preaches, you rascals! will you not up to the preaches? [Driving them forward. Pist. Be merciful, great duke, to men of mould! Abate thy rage, abate thy manly rage! Abate thy rage, great duke! Good bawcock, bate thy rage! use lenity, sweet chuck !9 6" A case of lives" is a pair of lives; as "a case of pistols," poniards," a case of masks." a case of 7 Plain-song was used of the uniform modulation of the old simple chant. 8 That is, great commander; duke being only a translation of the Latin -"Men of mould" is men of earth, poor mortal men. dux. 9 Bawcock and chuck were terms of playful familiarity or endearment; the one being from the French beau coq, the other a corruption of chicken. See Twelfth Night, page 100, note 8. Nym. These be good humours! your honour wins bad humours. [Exeunt NYM, BARDOLPH, and PISTOL, followed by FLUELLEN. Boy. As young as I am, I have observed these three swashers.10 I am boy to them all three: but all they three, though they would serve me, could not be man to me; for, indeed, three such antics 11 do not amount to a man. For Bardolph, he is white-liver'd and red-faced; by the means whereof 'a faces it out, but fights not.12 For Pistol, he hath a killing tongue and a quiet sword; by the means whereof 'a breaks words, and keeps whole weapons. For Nym, he hath heard that men of few words are the best men; 13 and therefore he scorns to say his prayers, lest 'a should be thought a coward: but his few bad words are match'd with as few good deeds; for 'a never broke any man's head but his own, and that was against a post when he was drunk. They will steal any thing, and call it purchase.14 Bardolph stole a lute-case, bore it twelve leagues, and sold it for threehalfpence. Nym and Bardolph are sworn brothers in filching; and in Calais they stole a fire-shovel: I knew by that piece of service the men would carry coals.15 They would 10 A swasher is a swaggerer, blusterer, or braggart. 11 An antic is a buffoon. The word was also used of certain pictured oddities, such as would now be called caricatures. See Much Ado, page 69, note 4. 12 Has plenty of valour in his face, but none in his heart, and so fights with looks, not with blows; that is, substitutes impudence for valour. Lily-liver'd was a common epithet for a coward. See King Richard III. page 175, note 39. " 18" The best men are the bravest men, in Nym's dialect. So, a little after, "good deeds" are brave deeds. 14 Purchase was a word of equivocal meaning in Shakespeare's time, and was often used as a euphemism for theft. See 1 Henry IV., p. 88, n. 22. 15 As carrying coals was the lowest office in ancient households, the have me as familiar with men's pockets as their gloves or their handkerchers: which makes much against my manhood, if I should take from another's pocket to put into mine; for it is plain pocketing-up of wrongs.16 I must leave them, and seek some better service: their villainy goes against my weak stomach, and therefore I must cast it up. [Exit. Re-enter FLUELLEN, GOWER following. Gow. Captain Fluellen, you must come presently to the mines; the Duke of Gloster would speak with you. Flu. To the mines! tell you the duke, it is not so goot to come to the mines; for, look you, the mines is not according to the disciplines of the wars: the concavities of it is not sufficient; for, look you, th' athversary- you may discuss unto the duke, look you is diggt himself17 four yard under the countermines: by Cheshu, I think 'a will plow up all, if there is not better directions. -- Gow. The Duke of Gloster, to whom the order of the siege is given, is altogether directed by an Irishman, a very valiant gentleman, i'faith. Flu. It is Captain Macmorris, is it not? Gow. I think it be. Flu. By Cheshu, he is an ass, as in the 'orld: I will verify as much in his peard: he has no more directions in the true disciplines of the wars, look you, of the Roman disciplines, than is a puppy-dog. phrase became a proverb of reproach. So, in Romeo and Juliet, i. 1, Sampson says to his fellow-servant, " Gregory, o' my word, we'll not carry coals"; meaning that, if that reproach be spit at him, he will fight. 16" Pocketing-up of wrongs" is an old phrase for putting up with insults instead of resenting them. See 1 Henry IV., page 147, note 24. 17 Has dug his mines. Properly the order of the words should be re versed; as it is the besiegers who mine, and the besieged who countermine. Gow. Here a' comes; and the Scots captain, Captain Jamy, with him. Flu. Captain Jamy is a marvellous falorous gentleman, that is certain; and of great expedition and knowledge in th' auncient wars, upon my particular knowledge of his directions by Cheshu, he will maintain his argument as well as any military man in the 'orld, in the disciplines of the pristine wars of the Romans. Enter MACMORRIS and JAMY. Jamy. I say gude-day, Captain Fluellen. Flu. Got-den 18 to your Worship, goot Captain Jamy. Gow. How now, Captain Macmorris! have you quit the mines? have the pioneers 19 given o'er? Mac. By Chrish, la, tish ill done; the work ish give over, the trompet sound the retreat. By my hand, I swear, and my father's soul, the work ish ill done; it ish give over: I would have blowed up the town, so Chrish save me, la, in an hour: O, tish ill done, tish ill done; by my hand, tish ill done! Flu. Captain Macmorris, I peseech you now, will you voutsafe me, look you, a few disputations with you, as partly touching or concerning the disciplines of the wars, the Roman wars, in the way of argument, look you, and friendly communication? partly to satisfy my opinion, and partly for the satisfaction, look you, of my mind, as touching the direction of the military discipline; that is the point. Jamy. It sall be vary gude, gude feith, gude captains 18 Good-den or god-den was a familiar corruption of good day. 19 Pioneers are a class of soldiers who take the lead in siege operations; military engineers. |