THE FAIR MAID OF THE WEST FOOTNOTES.
[1] Elizabethan Literature, p. 284.
[2] (Prologue) Only spoken at court-performances of the play.
[3] Roughman “Ruffman” in the old edition, in which, also, “Fawcett” is spelled “Forset.”
[4] mutes personated i.e. mutæ personæ.
[5] my lord the Earl of Essex.
[6] the fleet’s bound for the Islands the so-called “Island Voyage” (1597) was against the Azores and Spanish East and West Indies.
[7] Cales Cadiz.
[8] carracks large vessels: the word is of Spanish etymology.
[9] bush i.e. the ivy-bush, hung up outside taverns.
[10] adamant magnet.
[11] Graves wine i.e. from the Graves district of Gascony, so called from the pebbly character of the soil, and to-day celebrated for its red, but more especially for its white wines.
[12] snick-up a term of contempt, as much as to say, “Go and be hanged.”
[13] roaring blustering.
[14] Bettrice the name, perhaps, of some ballad heroine.
[15] dumb show “intended to denote the departure of the General (the Earl of Essex) and his followers.”—Collier.
[16] your years i.e. term of apprenticeship.
[17] corn grew to be at a high rate we learn from Stow that in 1596 wheat was six, seven, and eight shillings per bushel; the dearth continued and increased in 1597.—Collier.
[18] the Mermaid a room in the tavern.
[19] ruddocks gold coins.
[20] be-tall a quibble on the German bezahlen, to pay.
[21] Fayal in the Azores.
[22] atone reconcile.
[23] Mary Ambree a famous English heroine, with whom Long Meg is sometimes associated.
[24] untruss that point untie that lace.
[25] Little Davy, Cutting Dick contemporary bravos of note.
[26] prick-song music noted down.
[27] capricious witty.
[28] jowl of ling the fish so-called, which had been served to the guests in the Portcullis.
[29] skillets small metal pots.
[30] sod boiled.
[31] pitch height: properly a hawking term.
[32] motion propose.
[33] king’s lieutenant more properly, queen’s lieutenant.
[34] dissolutely he means “resolutely.” Slender makes the same blunder (Mer. Wives, i., 1).
[35] craze burst.
[36] brave fine.
[37] Aragoosa query “Saragossa,” which produces a large quantity of common wine.
[38] peter-see-me a sweet Spanish wine from the Pedro Ximenes grape.
[39] charnico a sweet wine grown in the neighbourhood of Lisbon.
[40] bastard bastard was the name of a sweet Mediterranean wine: a time-honoured joke.
[41] punks prostitutes.
[42] table picture.
[43] ging the old form of “gang.”
[44] I sound it not i.e., I cannot fathom your meaning.
[45] engines all instruments of torture.
[46] bragging Thrasos i.e. boasters, Thraso being a braggart in one of Terence’s plays.
[47] censures sentences.
[48] taste test.
[49] changed my copy made a complete change.
[50] ging gang.
[51] conceit idea.
[52] poor-john salt-fish.
[53] hautboys long i.e. they are to play for some time so as to admit of fresh stage arrangements for the coming scenes.
[54] carvel or caravel, a small light ship.
[55] vail lower.
[56] ought owned.
[57] fights defences placed round a vessel to protect the combatants.
[58] you that made Paul’s to stink an allusion to the unsavoury exploit of a Spaniard, often referred to at this period.
[59] peruse examine.
[60] habited dressed.
[61] commerce intercourse.
[62] From Kyd’s oft-referred-to Spanish Tragedy.
[63] angels i.e. coins.
[64] cunning quiddit subtle point.
[65] generosity i.e. people well-born.
[66] moorian negro: perhaps a play on the word “murrain” is intended.