This sword hath ended him: so shall it thee, Blunt. I was not born a yielder, thou proud Scot; Lord Stafford's death. [They fight, and BLUNT is slain. Enter HOTSPUR. Hot. O Douglas, hadst thou fought at Holmedon thus, I never had triúmphèd o'er a Scot. Doug. All's done, all's won; here breathless lies the King. Hot. Where? Doug. Here. Hot. This, Douglas? no; I know this face full well: Doug. A fool go with thy soul, where're it goes! Fal. Though I could 'scape shot-free at London, I fear the shot here; here's no scoring but upon the pate.1- - Soft! 1 Falstaff has tavern thoughts and customs running in his mind; the mode of an inn-keeper's accounts being to score the items either by chalkmarks made upon the wall, or by notches cut in a stick. There is a pun implied in shot-free. Sir John was shot-free at Eastcheap, though not scotfree here he is scot-free, but not exactly shot-free. It seems likely, from this passage, that in scot the c was soft in the Poet's time, so as to give a pro who are you? Sir Walter Blunt: there's honour for you! here's no vanity!2 I am as hot as molten lead, and as heavy too: God keep lead out of me! I need no more weight than mine own bowels. I have led my ragamuffins where they are peppered: there's but three of my hundred and fifty left alive; and they are for the town's end,3 to beg during life. But who comes here? Enter Prince HENRY. Prince. What, stand'st thou idle here? lend me thy sword: Many a nobleman lies stark and stiff Under the hoofs of vaunting enemies, Whose deaths as yet are unrevenged: I pr'ythee, Lend me thy sword. Fal. O Hal, I pr'ythee, give me leave to breathe awhile. Turk Gregory 4 never did such deeds in arms as I have done this day. I have paid Percy, I have made him sure. Prince. He is, indeed; and living to kill thee. I pr'ythee, lend me thy sword. Fal. Nay, before God, Hal, if Percy be alive, thou gett'st not my sword; but take my pistol, if thou wilt. Prince. Give it me: what, is it in the case? Fal. Ay, Hal. city. 'Tis hot, 'tis hot: there's that will sack a [The PRINCE draws out a bottle of sack. one's score, that nunciation the same as in shot. To pay one's shot is to pay is, bill or reckoning, at a tavern; and to be shot-free is to have one's entertainment without charge. 2 The negative, "no vanity," is here used ironically, to indicate the excess of a thing; a frequent usage in colloquial speech. 3 The town's end probably means the poor-house; or perhaps a hospital for war-maimed soldiers. 4 That is, Pope Gregory the Seventh, called Hildebrand. Fox, in his Martyrology, had made Gregory so odious that the Protestants would be well pleased to hear him thus characterized, as uniting the attributes of their two great enemies, the Turk and the Pope, in one. Prince. What, is't a time to jest and dally now? [Throws it at him, and exit. Fal. Well, if Percy be alive, I'll pierce him.5 If he do come in my way, so; if he do not, if I come in his willingly, let him make a carbonado 6 of me. I like not such grinning honour as Sir Walter hath: give me life; which if I can save, so; if not, honour comes unlooked for, and there's an end. [Exit. Alarums. Excursions. Enter King HENRY, Prince HENRY, LANCASTER, and WESTMORELAND. King. I pr'ythee, Harry, withdraw thyself; thou bleed'st too much.- Lan. Not I, my lord, unless I did bleed too. My Lord of Westmoreland, lead him to his tent. West. Come, my lord, I will lead you to your tent. And God forbid, a shallow scratch should drive The Prince of Wales from such a field as this, Where stain'd nobility lies trodden on, And rebels' arms triúmph in massacres !2 5 "Well, if Percy be alive, I'll pierce him," is addressed to the Prince as he goes out; the rest of the speech is soliloquy. It would seem from this, that pierce and the first syllable of Percy were sounded alike. 6 A carbonado is a piece of meat slashed into stripes for roasting or broiling. A piece of pork is commonly carbonadoed on the rind side, to be baked with beans. 1 Amaze is here used in its original sense of to bewilder or cast into a maze.. Make up has the force of advance, the opposite of retire. 2 This battle took place in July, 1403, when Prince Henry was but sixteen Lan. We breathe too long:-come, cousin Westmoreland, Our duty this way lies; for God's sake, come. [Exeunt LANCASTER and WESTMORELAND. Prince. By Heaven, thou hast deceived me, Lancaster; I did not think thee lord of such a spirit: Before, I loved thee as a brother, John; But now I do respect thee as my soul. King. I saw him hold Lord Percy at the point With lustier maintenance than I did look for Of such an ungrown warrior. Prince. Lends mettle to us all! O, this boy Alarums. Enter DOUGLAS. [Exit. Doug. Another king! they grow like Hydra's heads: I am the Douglas, fatal to all those That wear those colours on them. What art thou, That counterfeit'st the person of a king? King. The King himself; who, Douglas, grieves at heart, So many of his shadows thou hast met, And not the very King. I have two boys Seek Percy and thyself about the field: But, seeing thou fall'st on me so luckily, I will assay thee; so, defend thyself. Doug. I fear thou art another counterfeit ; And yet, in faith, thou bear'st thee like a king : But mine I'm sure thou art, whoe'er thou be, And thus I win thee.3 [They fight; the King being in danger, re-enter P. HENRY. man. years old. It appears, however, that, boy as he was, he did the work of a Holinshed relates that early in the battle he was hurt in the face with an arrow, insomuch that several tried to withdraw him from the field; but that he, fearing the effect this might have on his men, insisted on staying with them to the last, and never ceased to fight where the battle was hottest. 3 The matter is thus delivered by Holinshed: "This battell lasted three Prince. Hold up thy head, vile Scot, or thou art like Of valiant Shirley, Stafford, Blunt, are in my arm : e; [They fight: DOUGLAS flies. Cheerly, my lord: how fares your Grace? Thou hast redeem'd thy lost opinion; 4 Prince. O God, they did me too much injury King. Make up to Clifton: I'll to Sir Nicholas Gawsey. Enter HOTSPUR. [Exit. Hot. If I mistake not, thou art Harry Monmouth. long houres, with indifferent fortune on both parts, till at length the king, crieng saint George, victorie, brake the arraie of his enemies, and adventured so farre, that (as some write) the earle Dowglas strake him downe, and at that instant slue sir Walter Blunt and three others, apparalled in the kings sute and clothing, saieng, I marvell to see so many kings thus suddenlie arise, one in the necke of an other. The king indeed was raised, and did that daie manie a noble feat of armes; for, as it is written, he slue that daie with his owne hands, six and thirtie persons of his enemies." 4 Opinion, again, for reputation. See page 101, note 15. |