This, the Archbishop says, is strange, in view of the frivolity of his earlier years.

I. i. 89. Edward. King Henry's claim to the French throne rested upon his descent from Philip IV of France. Henry's great-grandfather, Edward III of England, was the son of Isabella, daughter to Philip IV. Her three brothers died without male heirs. Upon the death of the third (Charles IV), Isabella claimed the French throne for her son Edward; but an assembly of French peers and barons barred the English king's claim, declaring that 'no woman, nor therefore her son, could in accordance with custom succeed to the monarchy of France.' Later the doctrine thus enunciated became known as the Salic law. (Cf. I. ii. 38.) The crown of France passed to a younger branch of the French royal family of Capet.

I. ii. 11. law Salique. The Salic law is stated, in Latin, in line 38 below. (See preceding note.)

I. ii. 57. four hundred one-and-twenty years. In giving this figure, Shakespeare has perpetuated a mistake in arithmetic made by Holinshed. Throughout this long historical lecture Shakespeare is following his source very closely.

I. ii. 65. King Pepin. Pepin the Short, who usurped the throne of Childeric III in 751, was the first of the Carolingian family to take the title of King of the Franks.

I. ii. 69. Hugh Capet. First king of the family of Capet, who came to the throne in 987. The 'Lady Lingare' of line 74 appears to have been a totally fictitious personage. Ritson, commenting on this passage, says that 'these fictitious persons and pedigrees seem to have been devised by the English heralds.'

I. ii. 77. Lewis the Tenth. It should be Lewis the Ninth (Saint Louis, 1214-1270). Shakespeare copies the error from Holinshed.

I. ii. 94. Than amply to imbar their crooked titles.

This line has been variously interpreted according to the meaning attached to the word 'imbar.' It appears most reasonable to translate the word as 'to bar in' or 'to secure': The kings of France prefer to involve themselves in contradictions ('hide them in a net') rather than fully to secure their own titles by showing that although they are descended from the female, like King Henry, their claim is stronger than his.

I. ii. 106-114. The Archbishop is alluding to the battle of Crécy, August 26, 1346.

I. ii. 120. May-morn of his youth. King Henry was twenty-six years old.

I. ii. 126. So hath your highness. 'Your highness hath indeed what they think and know you have.' (Malone.) The emphasis is upon hath.

I. ii. 160. impounded. David Bruce, king of Scotland, was taken prisoner by the English at Nevill's Cross, October 17, 1346.

I. ii. 266. chaces. The word is a technical expression from the old game of tennis, used of the second impact on the floor of a ball which the opponent had failed or declined to return. The value of the chace was determined by the nearness of the spot of impact to the end wall. If the opponent, on changing sides, could better the stroke by causing his ball to rebound nearer the wall, he scored the point; otherwise it was scored by the first player. Hence the word chaces came to be practically equivalent to 'points scored,' and Harry seems to use it figuratively in that sense in this passage.

I. ii. 270. living hence. On account of his 'addiction to courses vain' in his younger days, Henry lost his place at the royal council-table and became 'almost an alien to the hearts of all the court.' (Cf. Henry IV, Part 1, III. ii. 32 ff.) In that sense he might be said to have been living in exile from his native royalty.

II. Chor. 31, 32. Linger your patience on, etc. 'Extend your patience, and we will overcome the ordinary limitations of distance and produce a play by pressing widely separated events into a narrow compass.'

II. Chor. 41, 42. But, till .

scene to

scene. The meaning is quite obvious here, in spite of the curiously perverted construction: 'We shall shift our Southampton; but not until the king comes forth.' II. i. 6. there shall be smiles. Probably Nym means that when the time is ripe, the quarrel shall end in good humor.

II. i. 11. there's an end. Nym's language is a patchwork of the current phrases of the day, which he uses without any particular regard to their relevancy: 'that's the certain of it,' 'that is my rest,' 'things must be as they may,' 'there must be conclusions,' etc.

II. i. 17. rest. A technical term in the old game of Primero, meaning 'stake' or 'wager.'

II. i. 18. that is the rendezvous of it. This is but one more of Nym's current phrases, and it is not necessary to suppose that it carries any more meaning than the others.

II. i. 44. Iceland dog. Obviously Pistol means this to be a very scathing term of abuse. There are frequent references, in early seventeenth-century books, to the shaggy, snappish dogs brought over from Iceland to serve as lap-dogs. Whether Pistol had in mind their unhandsome appearance or their evil temper is uncertain.

II. i. 57. Barbason. Nym, unimpressed by the sound and fury of Pistol's speech, assures him that he cannot dispose of him, as conjurers dealt with fiends, by uttering high-sounding words.

II. i. 77. hound of Crete. Although some editors believe that Pistol means to imply that Nym is as bloodthirsty as a Cretan bloodhound, such an implication seems far-fetched and out of place here. Like

the 'Iceland dog' of line 44, the expression is merely a term of abuse without any precise application, and chosen for no particular reason, unless it be Pistol's artistic craving for variety.

II. i. 79. powdering-tub. Literally, a tub in which meat was salted. Here it is used to denote the hot bath which formed part of the treatment for certain diseases.

II. i. 80. kite of Cressid's kind. This expression appears to have been a stock phrase in the literature of the day. Both Gascoigne and Greene use it. Henryson's Testament of Cresseid had told of Cressid's transformation into a leperous beggar (lazar).

II. i. 86. thy face. Bardolph's fiery complexion is the subject of more than one jest in Henry IV. Fluellen supplies us with further information on the same subject in III. vi. 110 ff.

II. i. 124. quotidian tertian. Dame Pistol has been so pleased with the learned sound of these medical terms that she uses them without any knowledge of their meaning. As a result, she confuses the quotidian fever, in which the paroxysms recur daily, with the tertian, in which the interval of recurrence is three days.

II. i. 130. corroborate. Of course the literal meaning of this word is quite inappropriate here; but that need not trouble us, as it obviously did not trouble Pistol, who uses it merely because it is a big word.

II. i. 133. careers. A term used to designate galloping a horse at full speed, backward and forward. Probably 'passes some careers' is Nym's way of saying 'Gives a free rein to his whims.'

II. ii. 118. bade thee stand up. 'Commanded thee to rise and do his bidding,' as one might give orders to a servant who could be relied upon for unquestioning obedience. Possibly, like the word dub in line 120, this is an allusion to the formula used in conferring knighthood.

intended. 'Diuerse

II. ii. 155-157. For me write that Richard earle of Cambridge did not conspire with the lord Scroope and Thomas Graie for the murthering of king Henrie to please the French king withall, but onelie to the intent to exalt to the crowne his brother in law Edmund earle of March as heire to Lionell duke of Clarence: after the death of which earle of March . . the earl of Cambridge was sure that the crowne should come to him by his wife, and to his children, of hir begotten.' (Holinshed.)

II. iii. 9. Arthur's bosom. Obviously the hostess means Abraham's bosom. Cf. St. Luke 16. 22.

II. iii. 17, 18. and a' babbled of green fields. This is the famous emendation offered by Theobald (16881744) for the incomprehensible 'and a Table of greene fields' of the Folio.

II. iv. S. d. Constable. The Constable of France, originally the principal officer of the household of the French kings, was at this time the commander-in-chief of the French army in the absence of the monarch.

II. iv. 25. Whitsun morris-dance. Whitsuntide is the week commencing with Whitsunday (the seventh Sunday after Easter), especially the first three days of the week. The morris-dance was a fantastic dance which commonly formed part of the Whitsuntide festivities in English villages. The name 'morris' is derived from 'Moorish' and would seem to indicate that the dance was imported from Spain.

II. iv. 37. Brutus. The reference is to Lucius Junius Brutus, who simulated madness to conceal his plans for the liberation of his country from the tyranny of Tarquinius Superbus.

II. iv. 50. flesh'd. Hounds and hawks, in training for the chase, were fed with flesh.

III. ii. 3. corporal. In Act II, Scene i, Bardolph is called 'Lieutenant.'