dares, being dared.
Mer. Alas, poor Romeo, he is already dead ! stabbed
with a white wench's black eye ; shot thorough i 5
the ear with a love-song ; the very pin of his
heart cleft with the blind bow-boy's butt-shaft ;
and is he a man to encounter Tybalt ?
Ben. Why, what is Tybalt?
Mer. More than prince of cats, I can tell you. O, 20
6, 7.] verse Q I ; prose Q, F. 6. to] Q, F ; of Q I. 15. shot} Q I ;
run Q, F and several editors ; thorough} Q I ; through Q, F. 19, 20.
Why . . . 0} Capell from Q i ; (), F omit / can tell you. 20. prince}
Q, F; the prince Q I.
12. answer} The same play on See Love's Labour's Lost, iv. i. 138.
answer (by letter or word) and answer, So Middleton, No IVit, No Help
encounter in person, occurs in Hamlet like a Woman's, II. i. 27: "And
(see note on v. ii. 173, ed. Dowden). I '"11 cleave the black pin in the midst
13. dared} challenged. So Lyly, o' the white."
Euphues (ed. Avber), 316: "An 17. butt-shaft} an unbarbed arrow
Englishman . . . [cannot] suffer . . . used for shooting at butts. "The
to be dared Y>y any." marks to shoot at," says G. Markham
14. 15.] Daniel conjectures dead- {Count ly Contentments, p. 108, ed.
stabbed, and argues for rim Q, F, 1616), "are three, Buts, Tricks, and
instead of shot. Rovers." The Butt is a level mark,
15. ivhite wench's] White may and therefore would have an arrow
mean only pale-complexioned ; but with a very broad feather. So Love's
the word was commonly used as a Lab. Lost, I. ii. 181 : " Cupid's butt-
term of endearment or favour; so shaft is too hard for Hercules' club."
"white boy" of a favourite son ; we 20. prince of cats} Tybert is the
have even "his white villaine." cat's name in Reynard the Fox.
See Nares' Glossary. Steevens quotes Dekker, Satiromastix,
16. pin} Malone : "The clout or "Tybert, the long-tailed prince of
white mark at which the arrows [in cats," and Nash, Have with Yon to
archery] are directed was fastened Saffron H'alden: "not Tibalt prince
by a black /z placed in the center." of cats."
SC. IV.]
ROMEO AND JULIET
G9
he is the courageous captain of compliments.
Me fights as you sing prick-song, keeps time,
distance, and proportion ; rests me his minim
rest, one, two, and the third in your bosom ;
the very butcher of a silk button, a duellist, a 25
duellist ; a gentleman of the very first house,
of the first and second cause. Ah, the im-
mortal passado ! the punto reverso ! the hay !
Ben. The what ?
Mer. The pox of such antic, lisping, affecting 30
21. he is] Q i ; //<''.< Q, F. 23, 24. rest.; . . . rest} O i, Malone ; he
rests, his minitin rests Q ; he rests his ininnm, V.
21. captain of compliments] John-
son : " master of the laws of cere-
mony." Compare Love's Labours
Lost, i. i. 169 :
"A man of complements, whom
right and wrong
Have chose as umpire of their
mutiny."
22. priek-soiiff\ divisions or descant
upon a Plain-song or Ground, . . .
written, or pricked down, in con-
tradistinction to those performed
extemporaneously (drove, Diet, of
Afusic). Ascham, Toxophilus (ed.
Arher, p. 41): "I wysshe . . . that
the laudable cvistome of Englande to
teache chyldren their plainesonge
and priksong, were not so decayed.''
22, 23. time, distance, and propor-
tion} Steevens compares lonson,A"z p tvj'
A fan in his Plninour, \. iv. (Bobadil
teaching Matthew to fence): "note
your distance, keep your due pro-
portion of time."
25. bntton\ Steevens quotes The
Keturne from /'amassus (p. 86, cd.
Macray) : ''Strikes his poinado at a
l>ut tons breadth." Staunton quotes
Silver, Paradoxes of Defence, 1509:
"Signior Rocca . . . thou that
takest upon thee to hit anie English-
man with a thrust upon anie button."
So Massinger, Unnatural Combat, n.
ii. : "He can teach Our modern
duellists how to cleave a button."
26. first house} may mean best
family ; or, in a^ heraldic sense, the
sons of the original ancestors as dis-
tinguished from the issue of those
sons (forming "the second house").
In Fletcher's U'oman's Prize, IV. i.,
"a gentleman of the first house''
may mean an upstart. See also
Dyce's note on Fletcher's Women
J'i'eased, I. iii. (vol. vii. p. 16), where
the expression occurs.
27. first and second cause} Compare
Lore 1 s Labour s Lost, I. ii. 184, and As
Yon Like It, v. iv. 52-69, for the
methodised causes of quarrel. It is
doubtful whether Yincentio Saviola's
" Of honor and honorable Quarrels"
in his Practice of the Rapier and
Da^'cr is alluded to in As You Li/:c
It.'
28. passado} Explained by Saviola
as a step forward or aside in fenc-
ing ; see Love's Labour s Lost, ]. ii.
185.
28. pun/o rer'erso} a back-handed
stroke: Saviola: "You may give
him a pun/a either drilta or riverta." 1
28. hav} a home-thrust, Ital. liai,
thou hast (it). Compare Lat. hab t f,
exclaimed when a gladiator was
wounded. (New Eng. Diet.)
70 ROMEO A^ T D JULIET [ACTH.
fantasticoes, these new tuners of accents !
" By Jesu, a very good blade ! a very tall man ! a
very good whore ! " Why, is not this a lament-
able thing, grandsire, that we should be thus
afflicted with these strange flies, these fashion- 35
mongers, these pardonnez-mois, who stand so
much on the new form that they cannot sit at
ease on the old bench ? O, their bons, their
bans \
Enter ROMEO.
Ben. Here comes Romeo, here comes Romeo. 40
Mer. Without his roe, like a dried herring. O flesh,
31. fantasticoes} Q I ; phantacies Q, F ; accents} Q i ; accent Q, F. 32.
B)'~\ Q r > Q; omitted F. 36. pardonnez-mois] Collier, from Theobald;
pardonmees O I ; pardons mees Q ; pardona-mees Qq 4, 5 ; pardon-mee : s F.
38, 39. bons . . . bons] Theobald (printing bon'.s) ; bones . . . bones Q, F, and
several editors. 40. Here . . . Romeo} only once in Q I.
31. fantasticoes} Steevens quotes meaning of form = seat or bench,
Dekker, Old Fortimatits : " 1 have that they cannot sit at ease, etc.
. . . sc&nfanlasticces, conversed with 38, 39. bons] Malone confirms
humourists." Theobald's emendation of bones (\v\\.\\,
32. tall} sturdy, lusty, valiant, as however, a play on that word), by a
frequently in Shakespeare. passage from Greene's Tii tjuoque,
34. grandsire} The staid Benvolio from which we learn that ban jour
addressed as if he belonged to an was the common salutation of those
elder generation. who affected to appear fine gentlemen :
35. flies} Compare the description "No, I want the ban jour . . .
of Osric as a " water-fly," Hamlet, v. which yonder gentleman has."
ii. 84, and "gilded butterflies," Possibly, as Capell says, there is an
courtiers in Lear, v. iii. 13. allusion to "the French disease."
36. pardonnez-mois] The reading 41. roc} Seymour has the grotesque
of ( v >q 4, 5 supports the form adopted notion that Romeo without his roe is
by Cambridge editors, pcrdona-mfs. inco, or 0, me ! a lover's sigh. Kolfe
But Frenchified gallants seem to be thinks roc may mean mistress (from
the object of mockery. In \Vest-ward the female deer). Why has not an
Hoe (Pearson's Dekker, ii. p. 355), "ingenious gentleman" said that
we have the hfrnpardona nwy. roc stands for /iVsaline ? "A herring
36, 38. stand . . . bench} who without a roe" is the crowning corn-
insist so much on the new mode of parison of Menelaus with contempt-
manners, or of clothes, possibly the ible creatures put into Thersites'
large breeches, which made sitting mouth, Troilus and Cressida, v. i.
difficult with a quibble on the 168.
SC. IV.]
ROMEO AND JULIET
71
flesh, how art thou fishificd ! Now is he for the
numbers that Petrarch flowed in : Laura to
his lady was but a kitchen-\vench ; marry,
she had a better love to be-rhyme her; Dido, 45
a dowdy; Cleopatra, a gipsy; Helen and
Hero, hildings and harlots; Thisbe, a grey
eye or so, but not to the purpose. Signior
Romeo, bon jour \ there 's a French salutation
to your French slop. You gave us the 50
counterfeit fairly last night.
Rom. Good morrow to you both. What counterfeit
did I give you ?
Mer. The slip, sir, the slip ; can you not con-
ceive ?
44. was 1'it! 1 ] O i ; was Q, F.
46. dowdy] slattern. Rich, /';v-
well to Military Professiott(\$%l} : "If
plaine or homely, we say she is a
doudie or a slut."
46. gipsy] because Egyptian, and
dark of hue. This passage is jestingly
alluded to in The Return* from
Parnassus, in. i. (p. 57, eel. Macray).
47. hildings} worthless persons ;
used by Shakespeare of both men
and women. See in. v. 168.
47, 48. grey ere] In Two Gent, of
Verona, iv. iv. 197, we have (Chaucer's
comparison) eyes, " grey as glass" ;
in Sir Eglamoitr line 86 1 : " eyen
grey as crystalle stone " ; in The
Returns from Parnassus, \, i. (p. 31,
cd. Macray), of silver money : "my
purse wants these grey silver eyes
that stand idelye in the face of a
citizen's daughter." It is certain,
however, that grey in Elizabethan
literature (and I think in a few
passages of Shakespeare) means
sometimes bluish. Cotgrave has
" Rluard, gray, skie coloured,
55
blewish." C(csius is explained by
Cooper, Thesaurus (1573): "Gray,
skie colour with speckes of gray,
blunket " (i.e. greyish blue) ; Glaiicns,
says Cooper, "is commonly taken
for blewe or gray like the skie with
speckes as Ciesiiis is, but I thinke it
rather reddie, " etc. Unless we
understand grey as bluish, Shake-
speare nowhere speaks of blue eyes
in our meaning. lie praises blue-
veined eyelids. " Blue eyes" with
him means having a bluish circle
round the eyes.
48. but not] Ilanmer (after War-
burton) reads but now.
50. French slop] large, loose
trousers, as in Much Ado, in. ii. 36.
54. slip] a piece of false money
(with a play on the word). Greene,
in Thieves falling out, has: "certain
slips, which are counterfeit pieces of
money.'' So Trail us and Cressida, n.
iii. 27 : " If I could have remembered
a gilt counterfeit, thou wouldst not
have slipped d\\\. of my contemplation.'''
72 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT H.
Rom. Pardon, good Mercutio, my business was great ;
and in such a case as mine a man may strain
courtesy.
Mer. That 's as much as to say, such a case as yours
constrains a man to bow in the hams. 60
Rom. Meaning, to court'sy.
Mer. Thou hast most kindly hit it.
Rom. A most courteous exposition.
Mer. Nay, I am the very pink of courtesy.
Rom. Pink for flower. 65
Mer. Right.
Rom. Why, then is my pump well flowered.
Mer. Well said ; follow me this jest now till thou
hast worn out thy pump, that when the single
sole of it is worn, the jest may remain, after 70
the wearing, solely singular.
Rom. O single-soled jest, solely singular for the
singleness !
56. good] O, omitted F. 68. Well said] Q I, Sure wit Q, Sure wit, F.
71. solely singular Q I, Q ; sole-singular F.
57) 5$- strain courtesy"] So Chap- Gabriel's pumps were all unpink'dV
man, Alphonsits, V. ii. : "Mere's the heel/'
straining courtesy at a bitter feast." 72. single-soled] mean, contempt-
Go, hams] So in The Merry Devil ible. Single is used alone (in
of Edmonton (Ila/.litts Dodsley, x. quibbling) for simple, silly, as in
221): "do I bend in the hams?" Coriolauits, II. i. 40; soled is perhaps
(spoken of in a way which illustrates used with a ((nibble on sou!. Holin-
tliis passage). shed, Ireland, p. 23 : "a meane tower
62. kindly] naturally, hence pcrlin- might serve such single-soale kings
ently, appropriately. as were at those days in Ireland "
64. pink] So Beaumont and (Malonc). Steevens quotes from
Fletcher, The Pilgrim, I. ii. : "this Dckkcr'sfFtWivyW Yeare: "a sing/e-
is the prettiest pilgrim, The pink of .w/c/fidlcr" ; Cotgrave defines "Gentil-
pilgrims. " hommc de has relief," a thred-bare,
67. flowered} because Romeo's or single soled gentleman. Our
pumps were pinked, i.e. punched in slang "one-horse" corresponds in
holes with figures. Compare Taming meaning. Singleness in line 73
of the Shrew, \\ . i. 136: "And means simplicity or silliness.
sc. iv.] ROMEO AND JULIET 73
Mer. Come between us, good Benvolio ; my wits
faint. 7 5
Rom. Switch and spurs, switch and spurs ; or I '11
cry a match.
Mer. Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase,
I am done ; for thou hast more of the wild-
goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I 80
have in my whole five. Was I with you there
for the goose ?
Rom. Thou wast never with me for any thing when
thou wast not there for the goose.
Mer. I will bite thee by the ear for that jest. 85
Rom. Nay, good goose, bite not.
Mer. Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting ; it is a most
sharp sauce.
Rom. And is it not well served in to a sweet goose?
74, 75. wits faint'} Q 5 ; wits faints Q, F ; wit faints Ff 2-4 ; wits fail O I.
76. Switch . . . switch] Pope ; Swits . . . swits O, F. 78- }tr '//r]
Q, F ; thy wits Q I. 79. / am} O, F ; / hare Q i. 83. Thou wast] O, F ;
Thou -vert Q I. 87. bitter sweating} Q, Sitter-sweeting F. 89. well]
F, then well O ; in to} Q I, Q ; into F.
76. Switch and spurs] So Dekker, 170: "What, do you grumble? I'll
Honest Whore, Part II. (Pearson's be with you straight."
Dekker, ii. p. 96) : " Oh, we shall 85. bite thee by the ear] i.e. as a
ride switch and spurre." sign of fondness (as one horse does
77. match] wager. Capell reads another). Jonson, Alchemist, n.
for I cry a match. iii. : " Slave, I could bite thine car."
"8. wild-goose chase] Holt White So the French Mordrc forcing <},
describes this as a race of two horses ; explained by Cotgrave "as much as
the rider who takes the lead may JJa/lcr ou carcsscr mignontiemtnt,
choose what ground he pleases ; the wherein the biting of th' eare is, with
other must follow, unless he can in some, an usual! Action."
turn take the lead. Burton, Anatomy 86. bite not] Kay, rrovcrbs (p. 56,
of Melancholy (p. 266, ed. 1632). ed. I/6S), gives, as a "joculatory
names this among "the disports of proverb," " Good goose do not bite.''
great men." 87. bitter sweeting] The name of
Si. ?'//// ycii] Was I even with you, an apple ; the usual form of the word
with respect to the goose? As per- is bitter-sweet. Huloet, Abeccdarium,
haps in Taming of the Shrew, iv. i. 1552: " Apple called a bytter swetc,
ctinciriirieHiim."
74 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACTH.
Mer. O, here 's a wit of cheveril, that stretches from 90
an inch narrow to an ell broad !
Rom. I stretch it out for that word " broad " ; which
added to the goose, proves thee far and wide
a broad goose.
Mer. Why, is not this better now than groaning for 95
love ? now art thou sociable, now art thou
Romeo ; now art thou what thou art, by art
as well as by nature : for this drivelling love
is like a great natural, that runs lolling up and
down to hide his bauble in a hole. 100
Ben. Stop there, stop there.
Mer. Thou desirest me to stop in my tale against
the hair.
Ben. Thou wouldst else have made thy tale large.
Mer. O, thou art deceived; I would have made it 105
short ; for I was come to the whole depth of
my tale, and meant indeed to occupy the
argument no longer.
94. a broad] Q I, Q ; abroad ' F. 106. for] O I, Q ; or F.
90. cheveril] kid leather (Fr. cuir 99. natural} fool, idiot, as in As
de chevreuil}; so Twelfth Night, in. You Like It, I. ii. 52, 57.
i. 13: " A sentence is but a cheveril 100. bauble] The fool's short stick,
glove to a good wit." ornamented with a fool's head, doll,
94. a broad goose] Broad may or puppet ; an inflated skin or
mean plain, obvious ; used of words bladder, for belabouring those who
it often means gross, indecent ; it also offended him, was often attached
means unrestrained. Other forms of (Douce and Dyce).
spelling were broode and brood. 102, 103. against the hair] as \ve
Hence there is probably a play on say, against the grain. See Merry
brood goose, which we find in Fletcher, Wives, 11. iii. 41, and " merry against
Humorous Lieutenant, II. i. : "To the hair, :) Troilus and Crcssida, I.
make us cuckolds, They have no more ii. 28.
burden than a brood-goose." Collier 104. large] licentious; "large
and Delius, retaining F abroad, read jests," Much Ado, II. iii. 206.
" far and wide abroad goose, "which 107. occupy] with a quibble on the
may be right. meaning alluded to in 2 Henry IV.
ii. iv. 161.
sc.iv.] ROMEO AND JULIET 75
Rom. Here 's goodly gear !
Enter Nurse and PETER.
Mer. A sail, a sail ! I i o
Ben. Two, two ; a shirt and a smock.
Nurse. Peter !
Peter. Anon ?
Nurse. My fan, Peter.
Mer. Good Peter, to hide her face ; for her fan 's 115
the fairer of the two.
Nurse. God ye good morrow, gentlemen.
Mer. God ye good den, fair gentlewoman.
Nurse. Is it good den ?
Mer. Tis no less, I tell you; for the bawdy hand 120
of the dial is now upon the prick of noon.
Nurse. Out upon you ! what a man are you !
Rom. One, gentlewoman, that God hath made for
himself to mar.
109. Enter . . .] Enter Nurse and her man Q, F (after longer, loS).
1 10. / sail, a. sail] O, F (but continued to Romeo) ; .-/ sail, a sail, a sail.
O I (given to Mercutio). III. Ben.] O I; Mer. O, F. 112-115.
Peter! . . . Peter} (^, F; Peter, free thee give me my fan. Mer. Pree thcc
doo food Peter, Q i. 113. Anon .'] Theobald ; Anon. (), F. 1 15. face :]
F 3, face, Q, face ? F. 116. fairer . . . two] O I, fairer face, (.^fairer
face .' F. 1 20. you} F, ycc (^. 123, 1 24. for himself} Q i ; hii/iselfQ, F.
109. ."far} GVrt;' is used for talk, and, 114. fan} Compare Lore's Labour's
in a depreciatory sense, rubbishy talk : Lost, IV. i. 147: ''To see him walk
also for stuff, and, in a depreciatory before a lady and to bear her fan ! "
sense, rubbish. It is also used for Farmer quotes The Serving Man's
apparel, attire. Probably Romeo Comfort, 1598: "The mistress must
relers to the preceding talk, not to have one to carry her cloake and
the habiliments of the approaching hood, another \\cr faiinc.''
nurse. 117. Cod ye} short for God give
ill. lien.] Henvolio, slow to ye: on good den, see I. ii. 57.
kindle, is caught into the fire of fun ; 121. prick of noon} point or mark
see line 138. But some editors of noon; so "noontide prick," .)'
accept the arrangement of speeches Henry VI. I. iv. 34, and Lucrece.
in l^t, F. line 781.
76 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT H.
Nurse. By my troth, it is well said ; " for himself to 125
mar," quoth a' ? Gentlemen, can any of
you tell me where I may find the young
Romeo ?
Rom. I can tell you ; but young Romeo will be
older when you have found him than he was 130
when you sought him : I am the youngest of
that name, for fault of a worse.
Nurse. You say well.
Mer. Yea, is the worst well ? very well took, i'
faith ; wisely, wisely. 135
Nurse. If you be he, sir, I desire some confidence
with you.
Ben. She will indite him to some supper.
Mer. A bawd, a bawd, a bawd ! So ho !
Rom. What hast thou found? 140
Mer. No hare, sir ; unless a hare, sir, in a lenten
pie, that is something stale and hoar ere it be
spent. \Sings.
125. well said] O I, Q ; saidY. 126. Gcntkmen~\ O, F (some copies F
Gentleman}. 134. well?} () 5; well, Q, F. 138. indite} Q, F (endite) ;
invite Q i, Ff 2-4. 143. Sings] O i has " He vvalkes by them, and sings."
136. confidence} The same jest of Romeo . . . asks, 'What hast thou
blundering on confidence for conference found ? ; " Madden, Diary of Blaster
appears in Merry Wives, I. iv. 172 William Silence, p. 173.
(Mrs. (Quickly), and in Much Ado, in. 141. hare} The word seems to
v - 3 (Dogberry). () i here reads have been used for courtesan. See
conference. the use of '"hare-pie" in Rowley, A
138. indite} Bern-olio follows suit Match at Midnight. (Hazlitt's
and transforms invite to indite. O i Dodsley, xiii. p. 88.)
reads invite, and omits sonic before 142. 'hoar} mould}-. New Eng. Diet,
suffer. quotes Sylvester's Du Barlas : " The
139. So ho!} "'As soon as he long journey we have gone, hath . . .
espieth her [the harej, he must cry turn'd our victuals hoar." Malonc
So how.'' Thus writes the author of supposes the quibbling verses that
the Noble Arte [of Venerie} . . . And follow to be part of an old song.
so when Mcrcutio cried So ho!,
sc. iv.] ROMEO AND JULIET
77
An old hare hoar,
A nd an old hare hoar, 145
Is very good meat in Lent :
But a hare that is hoar,
Is too much for a score,
When it hoars ere it be spent.
Romeo, will you come to your father's? we'll 150
to dinner thither.
Rom, I will follow you.
filer. Farewell, ancient lady ; farewell, \singing\
"lady, lady, lady"
\Excunt Mercutio and Benvolio.
Nurse. Marry, farewell! I pray you, sir, what 155
saucy merchant was this, that was so full of
his ropery ?
Rom. A gentleman, nurse, that loves to hear him-
self talk, and will speak more in a minute than
he will stand to in a month. 160
153. singing] Dyce (Farmer conj.).
omitted Q, F.
155. Marry, farewell!] Q I
154. "lady . . . lady' : ] from the
ballad of Susanna, quoted in Twelfth
Night, II. iii. 85. Perhaps part of the
mockery lies in bringing the Nurse into
relation with the "woman fair and
virtuous, Lady, lady " of the ballad.
See "a goodly lady, O lady, lady" in
The Rare Triumphs of Love and
Fortune (1589), llazlitt's Dodsley's
Old Plays, vi. p. 198.
156. saucy merchant] impudent
fellow ; merchant is used like chap,
a shortened form of chapman.
Steevens quotes Churchyard's Chance,
1580: ' ; What sausie merchaunt speak -
eth now, saied Venus." So Udall,
Diot replies (1588), p. n, ed. Arber.
157. ropery] rascality; altered to
roguery in F 4. The same change
was made in Beaumont and Fletcher,
The Chances, in. i., where the first
folio reads : " You '11 leave this ropery
When you come to my years."
Steevens quotes The Three Ladies of
London, 1 584 : ' ' Thou art very pleas-
ant and full of thy roperye." O I
has roperipe, which, as an adjective,
meant ripe for hanging, lewd, un-
gracious, and so appears in Minsheu's
and Rider's Dictionaries. Compare
rope-triiks in Taming of the ^/ii^-i 1 ,
I. ii. 112.
78 ROMEO AND JULIET [ACT n.
Nurse. An a' speak anything against me, I '11 take
him down, an a' were lustier than he is, and
twenty such Jacks ; and if I cannot, I '11 find
those that shall. Scurvy knave ! I am none
of his flirt-gills ; I am none of his skains-mates. 165
[To Peter.'] And thou must stand by too,
and suffer every knave to use me at his
pleasure ?
Peter. I saw no man use you at his pleasure ;
if I had, my weapon should quickly have 1 70
been out, I warrant you. I dare draw
as soon as another man, if I see occa-
sion in a good quarrel, and the law on my
side.
Nurse. Now, afore God, I am so vexed, that every 175
161, 162. An} Pope ; And Q, F. 165. flirt-gills} Q I, Q, F ; gil-fluris
Qq 4, 5 ; skains-mates} hyphened first in F 4. 1 66. To Peter] Q I
has "She turnes to Peter her man." 171. out, I warrant you. ] Rowe,
out: I warrant you Q, out, I -warrant you, F.
163. Jacks} Often in Shakespeare none of his skains-mates." Douce
and other writers used contemptu- supposes that sempstresses is meant,
ously for fellow, as in Merchant of from " skein " of thread. This seems
Venice, in. iv. 77. to me not improbable, for sempsters
165. flirt-gills} Another form is (fern.) had an ill repute ; so Westward
gill-flirt; a woman of light or loose Hoe (Pearson's Uekker, ii. p. 291),
behaviour; &\soJKrt-giman(Gill&n<i "as stale as ... an Exchange
Gillian for Juliana). Gill was sempster "; and compare the opening
commonly used for wench, as in of the The Roaring Girl, where Mary
"Every Jack must have his Gill." Fitzallard, disguised as a sempster, is
Beaumont and Fletcher, Knight of addressed as "emblem of fragility,"
the Burning Pestle, iv. i. : "You and is assumed to have immoral
heard him take me up like a flirt Gill, designs. M. Mason suggests a
and sing bandy songs upon me." blunder for kinsmates (kins-mates,
165. skains-mates} Not explained Professor Littledale suggests, = mates
with certainty. Malone supposed it of his kind; see Skeat's Chaucer, Glos-
to mean cut-throat companions, from sary, Noskinnes}. Walker, "scurvy
skain or skene (a word well known to mates." Staunton says that a Kentish-
Elizabethan writers), a knife. To get man told him that skain was formerly
the sex, that seems the more suitable, a familiar term in parts of Kent for
Kinnear conjectures, "I am for scape-grace.
sc.iv.] ROMEO AND JULIET 79
part about me quivers. Scurvy knave ! Pray
you, sir, a word ; and as I told you, my young
lady bade me inquire you out ; what she bade
me say I will keep to myself; but first let me
tell ye, if ye should lead her into a fool's para- 180
disc, as they say, it were a very gross kind of
behaviour, as they say : for the gentlewoman