146–7 I am … dog an obscure joke, now lost, possibly referring to the man in the moon (the great belly = the full moon) who was said to be led (here, misled) by a dog. Cf. MND 5.1.134–5. The joke is extended at 2.2.104–5.

  148 gall make sore by rubbing or chafing

  149–50 gilded over to cover with liquid gold or gold paint (‘gilt’), and so, figuratively, to conceal defects (OED gild v.1 7); perhaps an intentional recollection of Hal’s concession to Falstaff in 1H4: ‘if a lie may do thee grace / I’ll gild it with the happiest terms I have’ (5.4.157–8).

  151–2 your … action the tacit overlooking of your offence, with quiet balancing unquiet. To ‘overpost’, a term drawn from riding post (see Ind.4n.), meant to move over the ground quickly (OED v. 1), or here, metaphorically, to dismiss a matter without fuss. Cf. 2H6: ‘His guilt should be but idly posted over / Because his purpose is not executed’ (3.1.255–6).

  154–5 wake … wolf a variation on the adage ‘It is evil waking of a sleeping dog’ (Dent, W7); or, in modern parlance, ‘Let sleeping dogs lie.’

  144 greater] QF; great Betterton waist] Hanmer2; waste QF slender] Q; slenderer F 150 Gad’s Hill] Gadshill Q; Gads-hill F 151 th’unquiet] Q; the unquiet F 153 lord – ] Q; Lord? F

  156 smell a fox proverbial for being suspicious (Dent, F652.1), with an allusion to the fox’s legendary cunning

  157–8 You … out The burning candle which consumes itself was a stock metaphor for mortality. See Tilley, C39: ‘A candle lights others and consumes itself.’

  159 wassail candle a candle big enough to last through a night of revelry (wassail = carousal, drinking healths). Falstaff implies that his girth lends him a kind of immortality.

  tallow animal fat used in making candles

  160 wax Falstaff puns on (1) beeswax, an alternative to tallow for making candles, and (2) increase in size, joking about his own corpulence. Contradicting the Justice (157–8), Falstaff in effect claims that his life is a candle that forever sustains itself.

  approve the truth prove this assertion

  162, 163 his effect the appearance: his = its. Cf. 118n.

  162 gravity possibly pronounced with a long a, like its root word grave, thus allowing a jingle with gravy (163)

  163 gravy fatty juices from hot meat, an appropriate gastronomic image for Falstaff following his recognition of a buried pun on hair as ‘hare’ at 161: Falstaff humorously twists the Justice’s admonition to mean that his beard should always be spattered with the fatty juices of a roasted hare. ‘To stew in one’s own gravy’ also meant to be bathed in sweat (OED sb. 2b).

  165 ill angel refers to an evil tempter like the Vice of medieval Morality plays. Hal uses a similar epithet for Falstaff in 1H4: ‘that reverend Vice, that grey Iniquity’ (2.4.441).

  166 Your … light a pun on Lucifer as ‘an angel of lyght’ (2 Corinthians, 11.14), and a coin that has been clipped and is therefore not its full weight or value (light). Tradesmen weighed coins to make sure they were not counterfeit or pared down. An angel was a gold coin so called for the impression on it of the archangel Michael slaying the dragon (OED angel sb. 6).

  156 smell] Q; to smell F 157 What? You] F; What you Q 161 in] Q; on F 165 ill] Q; euill F 167 without] Q; without, F

  169 go pass as genuine currency (OED v. 12a); walk or move easily (a possible allusion to the gout mentioned at 243–4)

  cannot tell do not know what to think or say

  regard account, importance

  170 coster-mongers’ i.e. crassly commercial. A coster-monger was an apple-seller (costard = apple) or fruiterer who, as opposed to a shopkeeper, sold produce in the open street; thus, a petty tradesman.

  171 bearherd keeper of performing bears. This debasement of true valour (170) would have had satirical point if it alluded to Edward Alleyn, the actor of heroic parts in Marlowe’s tragedies, who in 1594 acquired an interest in the bear-baiting house at Paris Garden and, according to Stow, on various occasions took part in the baiting himself (Shaaber, Variorum). Q’s ‘Berod’ is possibly a compositorial misreading but more likely an aberrant spelling of ‘bearherd’.

  pregnancy … tapster Fertility of intellect (pregnancy) has as little value as one who taps beer for customers at a tavern.

  his its

  172 wit understanding, intellect

  giving reckonings adding up how much is owed; dispensing bills

  173 gifts appertinent to qualities belonging to

  173–4 as … them as the wickedness of the present time fashions or corrupts them; his age = the times in which a man lives

  174 *them, are The Q compositor probably misread MS ‘are’ as ‘one’, an easy mistake occasioned by his failure to see the tilde over the e of them (GWW).

  not … gooseberry Cf. TC 5.4.11: ‘not proved worth a blackberry’.

  176–7 You … galls From ancient times, the liver was thought to be the source of love and passion (cf. 4.2.102–3 and 5.5.31), and gall (bile) the seat of anger. Falstaff thus claims a physiological basis for old age’s misunderstanding of youth, and in doing so he facetiously echoes Lyly’s Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit (1579), wherein the dissolute young Euphues remonstrates with the older Eubulus: ‘Do you measure the hot assaults of youth by the cold skirmishes of age, whose years are subject to more infirmities than our youth? We merry, you melancholy; you careful, we careless; we bold, you fearful; we in all points contrary unto you, and ye in all points unlike unto us’ (40).

  177 vaward vanguard, forefront

  178 wags mischievous fellows

  180–1 that … age who are inscribed with all the physical signs of old age. The metaphor of writing involves a play on characters, meaning both letters of the alphabet and characteristics. The following description of Falstaff as an old man may be indebted to the writings of Theophrastus, a Greek philosopher who mercilessly sketched various types of human failings in his popular Characters. The Justice would thus reprove Falstaff with the force of classical authority.

  180 written down old It is possible to hear in this line an implicit reference to the enforced name change of Oldcastle to Falstaff.

  181–4 moist … single Cf. Hamlet’s satirical characterization of old men to Polonius: ‘their eyes purging thick amber and plumtree gum … they have a plentiful lack of wit together with most weak hams’ (Ham 2.2.195–7).

  181 moist watery, rheumy

  dry hand anthithetical to the moist hand, which was a sign of youth and health. Cf. Oth 3.4.36–7.

  182 decreasing shrivelling, perhaps in relation to his increasing belly

  170 coster-mongers’] Q (costar-mongers), F (Costor-mongers) times] Q; dayes F3–4; not in F1–2 171 bearherd] F (Beare-heard); Berod Q and] Q; and hath F 172 reckonings] Q; Recknings F 173 his] Q; this F 174 them, are] F; the one Q 176 do] Q; not in F 177 vaward] QF; van-guard Pope

  183–4 wind short breathing laboured (i.e. he is short of breath)

  184 wit single understanding slow; perhaps owing to senility (single = slight, poor: OED adj. 12b)

  185 blasted withered, shrivelled, blighted (OED blast v. 7)

  187–8 about … afternoon i.e. when the day was well advanced. As plays were performed in the afternoon, Falstaff may be humorously acknowledging that he was born as a fully fleshed character (R.G. White).

  190 hallowing onomatopoeia for the shouting Falstaff has done either while hunting, as he urged on dogs to the chase, or in battle. If one pairs it with singing of anthems, hallowing may take on more spiritual overtones, since ‘hallow’ literally means ‘to honour as holy’ (OED v.1 3).

  singing of anthems An anthem was a musical setting of a prose passage usually taken from Scripture or the Liturgy. Falstaff’s anthem-singing may simply be an irreverent joke; but it also may be a survival of the original Falstaff, Sir John Oldcastle, whose death as a Lollard in 1417 accorded him, nearly two centuries later, the status of a Puritan martyr. It may contain, too, an implicit reference to Ephesians, 5.18–19, in which St Paul urges his followers to make ‘melodie to the Lord in your hearts’ by ‘[s]peaking vnto your selues in psalms, and hymnes, and spiritual songs’. Cf. the reference to Puritans’ singing of psalms in 1H4: ‘I would I were a weaver; I could sing psalms or anything’ (2.4.126–7). Many English weavers were Calvinist refugees from the Netherlands.

  approve See 160n.

  184 your chin double] Q; not in F 186 yet] Q; not in F 187–8 about … afternoon] Q; not in F 190 hallowing] QF1–2; hollowing F3–4; hallooing Dyce2

  191–2 old … understanding a biblical aphorism. Cf. Job, 12.12: ‘Among olde persons there is wysedome, and in age is vnderstanding’, and 1 Corinthians, 14.20: ‘but in vnderstanding bee of a ripe age’.

  192–3 caper with me compete with me in cutting capers (leaping with a scissor-kick motion) or, more generally, in frolicsome dancing. Falstaff offers this as absurd proof of his youthful vigour.

  193 for … marks As a mark was valued at thirteen shillings and four pence, this represented a vast sum; but with characteristic bravado, Falstaff wants the person who challenges him to caper also to lend him money for the bet. This anticipates his asking the Justice for an ever bigger loan of a thousand pounds at 222–3.

  194 have at him an expression of defiance, announcing the speaker’s intention to attack an adversary (OED have v. 20); here, ‘I’ll take him on.’

  box of the ear See 56–7n. Q’s ‘yeere’ for ear suggests compositorial error.

  195 rude discourteous, uncivil (OED adj. 4)

  196 sensible a quibble on (1) reasonable, and (2) capable of feeling physical sensation (alluding to the pain inflicted by the Prince)

  checked reprimanded

  197 lion The iconic image of the King (or, in Harry’s case, future king) as a lion was traditional. Cf. 1H4 3.3.145–8.

  marry Originally ‘by the Virgin Mary’, this had become a mild oath meaning ‘to be sure’.

  198 ashes and sackcloth Having ashes sprinkled on one’s head and dressing in sackcloth, the coarsest of fabrics, were traditional signs of abject penitence (OED sackcloth sb. 1b; ash sb.2 7). Falstaff echoes Luke, 10.13, and Matthew, 11.21: ‘They had repented long agone in sackecloth and ashes’.

  new … sack echoes the proverb ‘To mourn in sack and claret’ (Dent, S13), meaning to lament outwardly but rejoice inwardly. Sack was a canary wine – Spanish white, named for the Canary Islands – which improved with age; and silk was material of which extravagant garments were fashioned (cf. 30–1n.). Playing on the sack in sackcloth, Falstaff makes the ironic point that Harry’s self-indulgence betokens no penitence at all.

  191 further] Q; farther F 194 him! For] F (him. For); him for Q the ear] F (th’eare); the yeere Q 197 – marry] Q (, mary), F (: Marry), Cam1

  202 severed separated. F’s ‘and Prince Harry’ clarifies what is implicit in Q.

  202–4 I … Northumberland See 65n.

  205 I … it The it is ambiguous. Falstaff probably means that he holds the Justice responsible for separating him and the Prince; but he may instead be offering the Justice sarcastic thanks for an unwelcome military assignment.

  206 look make sure

  kiss … Peace Falstaff disparages those men remaining safely at home (like the Justice), rather than going to battle, as effete courtiers who make love to an allegorized Lady Peace. Cf. Othello’s reference to ‘the soft phrase of peace’ (Oth 1.3.83).

  207 join encounter one another, meet in conflict (OED v.1 12)

  208–9 1I … extraordinarily Falstaff warns the Lord Chief Justice that if the day is too hot, he will not exert himself in battle, the implication being that without Falstaff’s exertion, the King’s forces will lose.

  210 1I … bottle Falstaff’s bravado recalls that at Shrewsbury, he kept a bottle instead of a pistol in his holster, to the Prince’s dismay (1H4 5.3.52–6); brandish is customarily used of swords.

  211 spit white a phrase of uncertain meaning: white may signify clear and therefore healthy spit, as opposed to spit tainted with blood from wounds or phlegm from disease. Possibly, too, Falstaff is making a bawdy reference to ejaculation, with spit meaning ‘emit semen’ (Williams, Dictionary, 3.1288, spit 2), incidentally assuring the Justice of his sexual potency.

  212 action military operation

  213 ever forever

  213–19 *but … motion On F’s omission of these lines.

  213 alway archaism for ‘always’, the genitive form which superseded it

  199 God] Q; heauen F 200 God] Q; Heauen F 202 severed you] Q; seuer’d you and Prince Harry F 205 Yea] Q; Yes F 207–8 for … Lord, I] Q; for if I F 210 and] Q; if F a] Q; my F bottle,] F; bottle. Q I would] Q; would F 213 ever;] euer, Q; euer. F 213–19 but … motion.] Q; not in F

  214 trick habit, practice or custom, with a pejorative connotation (OED sb. 7)

  215 common undervalued because too familiar, with the implication here of using up a good thing so that nothing is left of it. Falstaff complains that his value as a soldier has been cheapened through exploitation and overuse. Related to two proverbs, ‘The more common a good thing is the better’ (Dent, T142) and ‘Too much of one thing is good for nothing’ (Dent, T158).

  will needs are determined to (OED needs adv. e)

  218–19 The image is of armour. In an ironic inversion of the proverb ‘It is better to wear out than rust out’ (Dent, W209), Falstaff claims that as an old soldier, he should be allowed to retire (be eaten … with a rust), not expected to wear himself out in battle (be scoured to nothing), the idea being that perpetual motion will act as an abrasive on the armour. As Cowl notes (Ard1), a number of treatises on perpetual motion were published in the late 16th century; and in a letter to Lord Burghley in 1594, Edmund Jentill claimed to have invented a ‘perpetuall motion’ able to ‘dryve a myll’. Thus Falstaff’s words would have had topical resonance.

  222 a thousand pound the exact sum Falstaff eventually borrows from Shallow but cannot repay (cf. 5.5.72–5), establishing an ironic link between the two Justices. For an anticipation of his determination to borrow a large amount, see 192–4.

  223 furnish me forth equip me for the expedition. Falstaff’s impudent request may convey an implicit challenge to the Justice: ‘If you want me to be honest, you’ll need to provide me with the means to remain so.’

  225 crosses a play on (1) the term for silver coins stamped with a cross (Cf. LLL 1.2.32–4 and AYL 2.4.11–12), and (2) afflictions, as in Luke, 14.27: ‘whosoeuer doth not beare his crosse’. The Justice’s willingness to answer Falstaff pun for pun indicates that he is in all ways a worthy adversary, and he continues his numismatic punning at 2.1.117–20.

  226 cousin a term of respectful intimacy among people, especially of noble rank, not related by blood

  220 God] Q; heauen F 226 SD] Capell subst.; Exit. F2–4; not in QF

  227 fillip … beetle strike me (OED fillip v. 3) with a sledgehammer. A beetle was an outsized hammer used to drive stakes or ram paving stones; a beetle heavy enough to require three men would be comically appropriate to wield against a man of Falstaff’s size.

  227–9 A man … lechery a mixture of proverbial insights. Dent records ‘Old men are covetous by nature’ (M568); Dekker, in 2 Honest Whore, observes that ‘Letchery loues to dwell in the fairest lodging, and Couetousness in the oldest buildings’ (2.1.79–80). Falstaff, who persists in calling himself both old and young, attempts to justify the avarice of which the Justice has just accused him.

  229 ’a he

  gout Falstaff here identifies the malady which is causing him such physical pain – and which he in typical fashion universalizes as the bane of old age – as gout, an inflammation of the small joints that lodges in the big toe. Cf. 243–4.

  230 galls See 148n.

  the pox a sexually transmitted disease, particularly syphilis

  pinches hurts, causes physical pain to (OED v. 5)

  231 degrees prevent The meaning is unclear, and various editors have emended degrees to ‘diseases’. But it probably refers to the two stages of life, youth and age, both of which anticipate (prevent) Falstaff’s curses because each is plagued with its own ailment.

  233 What how much

  234 groats coins worth fourpence each

  235 consumption a pun on the spending of money and the wasting of the body by disease

  236–7 Borrowing … incurable Cf. an analogous proverb, ‘He is purse-sick and lacks a physician’ (Dent, P263).

  238–9 Go … Westmorland Since winning honours at Shrewsbury, Falstaff presumes a certain familiarity with the nobility, as his letters to the two Princes and the Earl attest. His impudent letter to Harry lends itself to a comic reading at 2.2.116–31.

  227 fillip] Q, F (fillop) 229 ’a] Q; he F 231 curses. – Boy?] F; curses, boy. Q 237–8 SD] this edn; (Giving letters) Oxf

  240 mistress Ursula perhaps the Christian name of Mistress Quickly, to whom Falstaff has sworn marriage on ‘Wednesday in Wheeson week’ (2.1.87–8), though in H5 she is called Nell (2.1.19) and is married to Pistol. Melchiori speculates that Shakespeare confused her name with that of Ursula, Hero’s attendant, in MA, which was printed at the same time as the 2H4 Quarto; but it is equally plausible that Falstaff is referring to some other woman.

  243 A pox … pox ‘A pox of [or on] something’ was a common curse, here made more comic by a quibble on its literal meaning. Cf. 230.

  243–4 for … toe a sure symptom of gout, though Falstaff acknowledges that he has syphilis (pox) as well. He ends the scene as he began it, concerned about his diseases.

  245 halt limp

  colour excuse, pretext. Falstaff will claim that a war wound has made him lame. Cf. more ominous punning on colour at 5.5.84–7.

  246 my pension … reasonable i.e. the evidence of injury will serve to justify Falstaff’s military pension, or, possibly, to increase it – make it more considerable (OED reasonable adj. 6b).

  248 commodity profit, material advantage

  1.3 Largely Shakespeare’s invention, this scene fleshes out Morton’s report of the Prelate’s Rebellion at 1.1.189–209 – a report omitted from Q, perhaps because its substance is dramatized here – and may have been suggested by two paragraphs in Holinshed (3.529) which identified a location for the meeting (the Archbishop’s palace in York) and the names of the conspirators: ‘Richard Scroope archbishop of Yorke Thomas Mowbraie earle marshall … the lords Hastings, Fauconbridge, [and] Berdolfe’.