Our army with the spoil of this rich town.
[Exeunt.
EnterPorsenna.
Porsenna.
Our secretary!
EnterSecretary.
Secretary.
My lord.
Porsenna.
Command lights and torches in our tent,
[EnterSoldierswith Torches.]
And let a guard engirt our safety round,
Whilst we debate of military business.
Come, sit and let’s consult.
EnterScevola,disguised.
Scevola.
[Aside.] Horatius famous for defending Rome,
But we ha’ done nought worthy Scevola,
Nor of a Roman: I in this disguise
Have passed the army and the puissant guard
Of King Porsenna: this should be his tent;
And in good time, now fate direct my strength
Against a king, to free great Rome at length.
[Stabs theSecretaryin mistake forPorsenna.
Secretary.
Oh, I am slain! treason, treason!
Porsenna.
Villain, what hast thou done?
Scevola.
Why, slain the king.
Porsenna.
What king?
Scevola.
Porsenna.
Porsenna.
Porsenna lives to see thee torturèd,
With plagues more devilish than the pains of hell.
Scevola.
O too rash Mutius, hast thou missed thy aim!
And thou, base hand, that didst direct my poniard
Against a peasant’s breast, behold, thy error
Thus I will punish: I will give thee freely
Unto the fire, nor will I wear a limb
That with such rashness shall offend his lord.
[Thrusts his hand into the fire.
Porsenna.
What will the madman do?
Scevola.
Porsenna, so,—
Punish my hand thus, for not killing thee.
Three hundred noble lads beside myself
Have vowed to all the gods that patron Rome
Thy ruin for supporting tyranny;
And, though I fail, expect yet every hour
When some strange fate thy fortunes will devour.
Porsenna.
Stay, Roman; we admire thy constancy,
And scorn of fortune. Go, return to Rome,—
We give thee life,—and say, the King Porsenna,
Whose life thou seek’st, is in this honourable.
Pass freely; guard him to the walls of Rome;
And, were we not so much engaged to Tarquin,
We would not lift a hand against that nation
That breeds such noble spirits.
Scevola.
Well, I go,
And for revenge take life even of my foe. [Exit.
Porsenna.
Conduct him safely. What, three hundred gallants
Sworn to our death, and all resolved like him!
We must be provident: to-morrow’s fortunes
We’ll prove for Tarquin; if they fail our hopes,
Peace shall be made with Rome. But first our secretary
Shall have his rites of funeral; then our shield
We must address next for to-morrow’s field. [Exit.
EnterBrutus, Horatius, Valerius, Collatine,andLucretius,marching.
Brutus.
By thee we are consul, and still govern Rome,
Which but for thee had been despoiled and ta’en,
Made a confusèd heap of men and stones,
Swimming in blood and slaughter; dear Horatius,
Thy noble picture shall be carved in brass,
And fixed for thy perpetual memory
In our high Capitol.
Horatius.
Great consul, thanks!
But, leaving this, let’s march out of the city,
And once more bid them battle on the plains.
Valerius.
This day my soul divines we shall live free
From all the furious Tarquins. But where’s Scevola?
We see not him to-day.
EnterScevola.
Scevola.
Here, lords, behold me handless as you see.
The cause—I missed Porsenna in his tent,
And in his stead killed but his secretary.
The ’mazèd king, when he beheld me punish
My rash mistake with loss of my right hand,
Unbegged, and almost scorned, he gave me life,
Which I had then refused, but in desire
To ’venge fair Lucrece’ rape.
[Soft alarum.
Horatius.
Dear Scevola,
Thou hast exceeded us in our resolve:
But will the Tarquins give us present battle?
Scevola.
That may ye hear; the skirmish is begun
Already ’twixt the horse.
Lucretius.
Then, noble consul,
Lead our main battle[67]on.
Brutus.
O Jove, this day
Balance our cause, and let the innocent blood
Of rape-stained Lucrece crown with death and horror
The heads of all the Tarquins! See, this day
In her cause do we consecrate our lives,
And in defence of justice now march on.
I hear their martial music: be our shock
As terrible as are the meeting clouds
That break in thunder! yet our hopes are fair,
And this rough charge shall all our loss repair.
[Exeunt. Alarum, battle within.
EnterPorsennaandAruns.
Porsenna.
Yet grow our lofty plumes unflagged with blood,
And yet sweet pleasure wantons in the air.
How goes the battle, Aruns?
Aruns.
’Tis even balanced.
I interchanged with Brutus, hand to hand,
A dangerous encounter; both are wounded,
And, had not the rude press divided us,
One had dropped down to earth.
Porsenna.
’Twas bravely fought.
I saw the king your father free his person
From thousand Romans that begirt his state,
Where flying arrows thick as atoms sung
About his ears.
Aruns.
I hope a glorious day.
Come, Tuscan king, let’s on them.
[Alarum.
EnterHoratiusandValerius.
Horatius.
Aruns, stay!
That sword, that late did drink the consul’s blood,
Must with his keen fang tire upon[68]my flesh,
Or this on thine.
Aruns.
It spared the consul’s life
To end thy days in a more glorious strife.
Valerius.
I stand against thee, Tuscan!
Porsenna.
I for thee!
Horatius.
Where’er I find a Tarquin, he’s for me.
[Alarum. They fight;Arunsis slain,Porsennadriven off.
Alarum. EnterTarquinwith an arrow in his breast,Tulliawith him, pursued byCollatine, Lucretius, Scevola.
Tarquin.
Fair Tullia, leave me; save thy life by flight,
Since mine is desperate; behold, I am wounded
Even to the death. There stays within my tent
A wingèd jennet, mount his back and fly;
Live to revenge my death, since I must die.
Tullia.
Had I the heart to tread upon the bulk[69]
Of my dead father, and to see him slaughtered,
Only for love of Tarquin and a crown,
And shall I fear death more than loss of both?
No, this is Tullia’s fame,—rather than fly
From Tarquin, ’mongst a thousand swords she’ll die.
Collatine, Lucretius, and Scevola.
Hew them to pieces both.
Tarquin.
My Tullia save,
And o’er my caitiff head those meteors wave!
Collatine.
Let Tullia yield then.
Tullia.
Yield me, cuckold! no;
Mercy I scorn; let me the danger know.
Scevola.
Upon them, then!
Valerius.
Let’s bring them to their fate,
And let them perish in the people’s hate.
Tullia.
Fear not, I’ll back thee, husband.
Tarquin.
But for thee,
Sweet were the hand that this charged soul could free!
Life I despise. Let noble Sextus stand
To avenge our death. Even till these vitals end,
Scorning my own, thy life will I defend.
Tullia.
And I’ll, sweet Tarquin, to my power guard thine.
Come on, ye slaves, and make this earth divine!
[Alarum.TarquinandTulliaare slain.
EnterBrutusall bloody.
Brutus.
Aruns, this crimson favour, for thy sake,
I’ll wear upon my forehead masked with blood,
Till all the moisture in the Tarquins’ veins
Be spilt upon the earth, and leave thy body
As dry as the parched summer, burnt and scorched
With the canicular stars.
Horatius.
Aruns lies dead
By this bright sword that towered about his head.
Collatine.
And see, great consul, where the pride of Rome
Lies sunk and fallen.
Valerius.
Beside him lies the queen,
Mangled and hewn amongst the Roman soldiers.
Horatius.
Lift up their slaughtered bodies; help to rear them
Against this hill in view of all the camp:
This sight will be a terror to the foe,
And make them yield or fly.
Brutus.
But where’s the ravisher,
Injurious Sextus, that we see not him?
[Short alarum.
EnterSextus.
Sextus.
Through broken spears, cracked swords, unbowelled steeds,
Flawed armours, mangled limbs, and battered casques,
Knee-deep in blood, I ha’ pierced the Roman host
To be my father’s rescue.
Horatius.
’Tis too late;
His mounting pride’s sunk in the people’s hate.
Sextus.
My father, mother, brother! Fortune, now
I do defy thee; I expose myself
To horrid danger; safety I despise:
I dare the worst of peril; I am bound
On till this pile of flesh be all one wound.
Valerius.
Begirt him, lords; this is the ravisher;
There’s no revenge for Lucrece till he fall.
Lucretius.
Seize Sextus, then—
Sextus.
Sextus defies you all!
Yet will you give me language ere I die?
Brutus.
Say on.
Sextus.
’Tis not for mercy, for I scorn that life
That’s given by any; and, the more to add
To your immense unmeasurable hate,
I was the spur unto my father’s pride;
’Twas I that awed the princes of the land;
That made thee, Brutus, mad, these discontent:
I ravished the chaste Lucrece; Sextus, I,—
Thy daughter,—and thy wife,—Brutus, thy cousin,—
Allied, indeed, to all; ’twas for my rape
Her constant[70]hand ripped up her innocent breast:
’Twas Sextus did all this.
Collatine.
Which I’ll revenge.
Horatius.
Leave that to me.
Lucretius.
Old as I am, I’ll do’t.
Scevola.
I have one hand left yet, of strength enough
To kill a ravisher.
Sextus.
Come all at once—ay, all!
Yet hear me, Brutus; thou art honourable,
And my words tend to thee: my father died
By many hands; what’s he ’mongst you can challenge
The least, ay, smallest honour in his death?
If I be killed amongst this hostile throng,
The poorest snaky[71]soldier well may claim
As much renown in royal Sextus’ death
As Brutus, thou, or thou, Horatius:
I am to die, and more than die I cannot;
Rob not yourselves of honour in my death.
When the two mightiest spirits of Greece and Troy
Tugged for the mastery, Hector and Achilles,
Had puissant Hector, by Achilles’ hand,
Died in a single monomachy,[72]Achilles
Had been the worthy; but, being slain by odds,
The poorest Myrmidon had as much honour
As faint Achilles in the Trojan’s death.
Brutus.
Hadst thou not done a deed so execrable
That gods and men abhor, I’d love thee, Sextus,
And hug thee for this challenge breathed so freely.
Behold, I stand for Rome as general:
Thou of the Tarquins dost alone survive,
The head of all these garboils,[73]the chief actor
Of that black sin, which we chastise by arms.—
Brave Romans, with your bright swords be our lists,
And ring us in; none dare to offend the prince
By the least touch, lest he incur our wrath:
This honour do your consul, that his hand
May punish this arch-mischief, that the times
Succeeding may of Brutus thus much tell,—
By him pride, lust, and all the Tarquins fell.
Sextus.
To ravish Lucrece, cuckold Collatine,
And spill the chastest blood that ever ran
In any matron’s veins, repents me not
So much as to have wronged a gentleman
So noble as the consul in this strife.
Brutus, be bold! thou fight’st with one scorns[74]life.
Brutus.
And thou with one that less than his renown
Prizeth his blood, or Rome’s imperial crown.
[Alarum; a fierce fight with sword and target; then a pause.
Brutus.
Sextus, stand fair: much honour shall I win
To revenge Lucrece, and chastise thy sin.
Sextus.
I repent nothing, may I live or die;
Though my blood fall, my spirit shall mount on high.
[Alarum; they fight with single swords, and, being deadly wounded and panting for breath, they strike at each other with their gauntlets and fall.
Horatius.
Both slain! O noble Brutus, this thy fame
To after ages shall survive; thy body
Shall have a fair and gorgeous sepulchre,
For whom the matrons shall in funeral black
Mourn twelve sad moons—thou that first governed Rome,
And swayed the people by a consul’s name.
These bodies of the Tarquins we’ll commit
Unto the funeral pile. You, Collatine,
Shall succeed Brutus in the consul’s place,
Whom with this laurel-wreath we here create.
[Crowning him with laurel.]
Such is the people’s voice; accept it, then.
Collatine.
We do; and may our power so just appear,
Rome may have peace, both with our love and fear.
But soft, what march is this?
Flourish. EnterPorsenna, Collatine,andSoldiers.
Porsenna.
The Tuscan King, seeing the Tarquins slain,
Thus armed and battled, offers peace to Rome,
To confirm which, we’ll give you present hostage;
If you deny, we’ll stand upon our guard,
And by the force of arms maintain our own.
Valerius.
After so much effusion and large waste
Of Roman blood, the name of peace is welcome:
Since of the Tarquins none remain in Rome,
And Lucrece’ rape is now revenged at full,
’Twere good to entertain Porsenna’s league.
Collatine.
Porsenna we embrace, whose royal presence
Shall grace the consul to the funeral pile.
March on to Rome. Jove be our guard and guide,
That hath in us ’venged rape, and punished pride!
[Exeunt.
Because we would not that any man’s expectation should be deceived in the ample printing of this book, lo, Gentle Reader, we have inserted these few songs, which were added by the stranger that lately acted Valerius his part, in form following.
The Cries of Rome.
Thus go the cries in Rome’s fair town;
First they go up street, and then they go down.
Round and sound, all of a colour; buy a very fine marking stone, marking stone; round and sound, all of a colour; buy a very fine marking stone, a very very fine!
Thus go the cries in Rome’s fair town;
First they go up street, and then they go down.
Bread and—meat—bread—and meat, for the ten—der—mercy of God, to the poor pris—ners of Newgate, four—score and—ten—poor—prisoners!
Thus go the cries in Rome’s fair town;
First they go up street, and then they go down.
Salt—salt—white Wor—stershire salt!
Thus go the cries in Rome’s fair town;
First they go up street, and then they go down.
Buy a very fine mouse-trap, or a tormentor for your fleas!
Thus go the cries in Rome’s fair town;
First they go up street, and then they go down.
Kitchen-stuff, maids!
Thus go the cries in Rome’s fair town;
First they go up street, and then they go down.
Ha’ you any wood to cleave?
Thus go the cries in Rome’s fair town;
First they go up street, and then they go down.
I ha’ white radish, white hard lettuce, white young onions!
Thus go the cries in Rome’s fair town;
First they go up street, and then they go down.
I ha’ rock-sampier, rock-sampier![75]
Thus go the cries in Rome’s fair town;
First they go up street, and then they go down.
Buy a mat, a mil-mat, mat, or a hassock for your pew, a stopple for your close-stool, or a pesock to thrust your feet in!
Thus go the cries in Rome’s fair town;
First they go up street, and then they go down.
Whiting, maids, whiting!
Thus go the cries in Rome’s fair town;
First they go up street, and then they go down.
Hot fine oat-cakes, hot!
Thus go the cries in Rome’s fair town;
First they go up street, and then they go down.
Small-coals here!
Thus go the cries in Rome’s fair town;
First they go up street, and then they go down.
Will you buy any milk to-day?
Thus go the cries in Rome’s fair town;
First they go up street, and then they go down.
Lanthorn and candle-light here! Maid, a light here!
Thus go the cries in Rome’s fair town;
First they go up street, and then they go down.
Here lies a company of very poor women in the dark dungeon, hungry, cold, and comfortless night and day! Pity the poor women in the dark dungeon!
Thus go the cries where they do house them;
First they come to the grate, and then they go louse them.
The Second Song.
“Arise, arise, my Juggy, my Puggy,
Arise, get up, my dear;
The weather is cold, it blows, it snows;
Oh, let me be lodgèd here.
My Juggy, my Puggy, my honey, my cony,
My love, my dove, my dear;
Oh, oh, the weather is cold, it blows, it snows,
Oh, oh, let me be lodgèd here.”
“Begone, begone, my Willy, my Billy,
Begone, begone, my dear;
The weather is warm, ’twill do thee no harm;
Thou canst not be lodgèd here.
My Willy, my Billy, my honey, my cony,
My love, my dove, my dear;
Oh, oh, the weather is warm, ’twill do thee no harm
Oh oh, thou canst not be lodgèd here.”
“Farewell, farewell, my Juggy, my Puggy,
Farewell, farewell, my dear;
Then will I begone from whence that I came,
If I cannot be lodgèd here.
My Juggy, my Puggy, my honey, my cony,
My love, my dove, my dear;
Oh, oh, then will I begone, from whence that I came,
Oh, oh, if I cannot be lodgèd here.”
“Return, return, my Willy, my Billy,
Return, my dove and my dear;
The weather doth change, then seem not strange;
Thou shalt be lodgèd here.
My Willy, my Billy, my honey, my cony,
My love, my dove, my dear;
Oh, oh, the weather doth change, then seem not strange,
Oh, oh, and thou shalt be lodgèd here.”
[1]“So compared by the Fathers,” Heywood explains in the margin.
[2]Prefixed to hisApology for Actors(1612).
[3]Until recently, Heywood’s plays were only accessible piecemeal and in parts. Dodsley’s collection contained two; Dilke’s contained three, and Baldwyn’s two. Between 1842 and 1851, the Old Shakespeare Society produced altogether twelve; while Mr. Halliwell in 1853 printed theLancashire Witchesseparately. At last, in 1874 Mr. John Pearson issued a complete edition in six volumes. Since that date another play in MS. by Heywood,The Captives, was discovered and printed by Mr. A. H. Bullen in the last volume of hisOld Plays(1885).
[4]With this main-plot Heywood has interwoven a subordinate and independent story. To dwell upon this under-plot would be superfluous. Yet I may point out that it is borrowed from an Italian Novella by Illicini, the incidents of which Heywood carefully transferred to English scenes. In like mannerThe Captive, consists of a main-plot borrowed from theMostellariaof Plautus and an under-plot adapted from a novella of the Neapolitan,Masuccio. See myShakspere’s Predecessors(p. 462), and a letter written by me to theAcademy(Dec. 12, 1885).
[1]“The Shaking of the Sheets”a popular tune to which many ballads ware set. Here adouble ententeis intended.
[2]“In a good time that man both wins and woos, That takes his wife down in her wedding shoes.”a proverbial saying.
[3]fretsthe points at which a string is to be stopped in a lute or guitar.—Halliwell.
[4]hoighout of all bounds.
[5]angelsgold coins.
[6]be stirring early with the lark to-morrowdid Heywood remember Shakespeare’s “Stir with the lark to-morrow, gentle Norfolk”?
[7]crasha merry bout.
[8]“Rogero”, “The Beginning of the World”, “John come kiss me now.”...the tunes here mentioned are all more or less familiar from other passages in the old dramatists.
[9]sowsewe have here a number of not very intelligible terms borrowed from falconry. “At the sowse” was said of a bird when the hawk swooped straight down upon it.
[10]getsbooty.
[11]jessesthe short leather straps round the hawk’s legs.
[12]querreperhaps from the Germanquer=oblique.
[13]merlina small species of hawk.
[14]attacharrest.
[15]seenversed.
[16]censured onto censure, in legal language, means to pass judgment on.
[17]enter over the stagethey evidently pass through the gallery above and leave the stage to Wendoll.
[18]to bring him on his wayi.e.to accompany him.
[19]beholdingbeholden.
[20]michingsneaking or stealing into.
[21]bed-rolli.e.bead roll.
[22]from the gratealluding obviously to the debtors’ prisons; the lines remind us at once ofPickwick.
[23]wooden knifewith which the scraps were swept into the voider or basket.
[24]carpeti.e.table-cover.
[25]play the good husbandi.e.be frugal.
[26]before your beardi.e.before you had a beard.
[27]make-batepromoter of quarrels.
[28]a pair of cardsi.e.pack of cards.
[29]well saidi.e.well done.
[30]noddysaid to have been something like cribbage; of the other games mentioned accounts are easily accessible, while it would be superfluous to comment on the various quibbles.
[31]queanin the now obsolete sense of a whore.
[32]crosspiece of money.
[33]rememberi.e.remind.
[34]leeseor lese,i.e.lose.
[35]expectation“execution” in the early eds.
[36]diseaseinconvenience.
[37]two flight-shoti.e.two bow-shots.
[38]cast beyond the moona proverbial expression for anything extravagant or out of reach.
[39]patience perforce“patience perforce,” a phrase when some evil must be endured.—Halliwell.
[40]like the angel’s hand, Hast stayed me from a bloody sacrificealluding to Gen. xxii. 10, 11.
[41]uncivil kern“kern” signified in general any uncivilised person: used especially of the Irish.
[42]one deniera penny.
[43]resolvesatisfy.
[44]rebatoa species of ruff for the neck: the wire would be used to stiffen it.
[45]manorsa quibble on “manners” and “manors.”
[46]During this and some following speeches Wendoll evidently remains unseen.
[47]kept this coili.e.made this trouble.
[48]gotten those perfect tonguesi.e.acquired those tongues perfectly (French, German and Italian).
[49]atonedreconciled.
[50]once moremeaning probably ‘Kiss me once more.’
[51]filled‘filled’ is equivalent perhaps to ‘filled in,’i.e.on the tomb.
[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 personatedi.e. mutæ personæ.
[5]my lordthe Earl of Essex.
[6]the fleet’s bound for the Islandsthe so-called “Island Voyage” (1597) was against the Azores and Spanish East and West Indies.
[7]CalesCadiz.
[8]carrackslarge vessels: the word is of Spanish etymology.
[9]bushi.e.the ivy-bush, hung up outside taverns.
[10]adamantmagnet.
[11]Graves winei.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-upa term of contempt, as much as to say, “Go and be hanged.”
[13]roaringblustering.
[14]Bettricethe 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 yearsi.e.term of apprenticeship.
[17]corn grew to be at a high ratewe 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 Mermaida room in the tavern.
[19]ruddocksgold coins.
[20]be-talla quibble on the Germanbezahlen, to pay.
[21]Fayalin the Azores.
[22]atonereconcile.
[23]Mary Ambreea famous English heroine, with whom Long Meg is sometimes associated.
[24]untruss that pointuntie that lace.
[25]Little Davy, Cutting Dickcontemporary bravos of note.
[26]prick-songmusic noted down.
[27]capriciouswitty.
[28]jowl of lingthe fish so-called, which had been served to the guests in the Portcullis.
[29]skilletssmall metal pots.
[30]sodboiled.
[31]pitchheight: properly a hawking term.
[32]motionpropose.
[33]king’s lieutenantmore properly, queen’s lieutenant.
[34]dissolutelyhe means “resolutely.” Slender makes the same blunder (Mer. Wives, i., 1).
[35]crazeburst.
[36]bravefine.
[37]Aragoosaquery “Saragossa,” which produces a large quantity of common wine.
[38]peter-see-mea sweet Spanish wine from the Pedro Ximenes grape.
[39]charnicoa sweet wine grown in the neighbourhood of Lisbon.
[40]bastardbastard was the name of a sweet Mediterranean wine: a time-honoured joke.
[41]punksprostitutes.
[42]tablepicture.
[43]gingthe old form of “gang.”
[44]I sound it noti.e., I cannot fathom your meaning.
[45]enginesall instruments of torture.
[46]bragging Thrasosi.e.boasters, Thraso being a braggart in one of Terence’s plays.
[47]censuressentences.
[48]tastetest.
[49]changed my copymade a complete change.
[50]ginggang.
[51]conceitidea.
[52]poor-johnsalt-fish.
[53]hautboys longi.e.they are to play for some time so as to admit of fresh stage arrangements for the coming scenes.
[54]carvelor caravel, a small light ship.
[55]vaillower.
[56]oughtowned.
[57]fightsdefences placed round a vessel to protect the combatants.
[58]you that made Paul’s to stinkan allusion to the unsavoury exploit of a Spaniard, often referred to at this period.
[59]peruseexamine.
[60]habiteddressed.
[61]commerceintercourse.
[62]From Kyd’s oft-referred-toSpanish Tragedy.
[63]angelsi.e.coins.
[64]cunning quidditsubtle point.
[65]generosityi.e.people well-born.
[66]mooriannegro: perhaps a play on the word “murrain” is intended.
[1]Histrio-Mastixby William Prynne: published in 1633. The full title of this bitter Puritan treatise wasHistrio-Mastix, the Player’s Scourge, or Actor’s Tragædie.
[2]censurejudge.
[3]censurejudgment.
[4]wherei.e.whereas.
[5]jackwhich made the spit turn; it had been recently introduced.
[6]buttery hatcha term still used in the Universities.
[7]speck ... whiga species of inferior drink, made from whey, and drunk by the lower classes in place of small beer. The exact nature of “speck” is unknown.
[8]indenturebond.
[9]burnt wineburnt wine, it will be remembered, was much affected by Pepys.
[10]consorti.e., concert.
[11]reakspranks.
[12]lanchingi.e., lancing.
[13]soulthe dark spongy substance inside a fowl’s back.—Halliwell.
[14]shrewdsharp or bitter.
[15]alfarezensigns (Spanish).
[16]rebellingsi.e.ravelins (Sp.rebellin).
[17]possessinform.
[18]noveli.e.novelty.
[19]“This piece of pleasant exaggeration gave rise to the title of Cowley’s Latin play,Naufragium Joculare, and furnished the idea of the best scene in it.”—Charles Lamb.
[20]atonemake up, appease.
[21]billa kind of halbert, carried by the watchmen of the period.
[22]Bermoothes“Bermoothes” is the usual form of “Bermudas” in the old dramatists.
[23]duranceconfinement.
[24]prodigiousi.e.portentous.
[25]countervailcounterbalance.
[26]break their dayfail to pay at the appointed time.