198 Nightwork As Cowl and Humphreys observe (Ard1, Ard2), the term was common: cf. Jonson, Every Man Out, 5.8.30–2: ‘I mar’le what peece of nightwork you haue in hand … what, is this your Pandar?’; Middleton, A Mad World, 1.2.1: ‘She may make night-work on’t’; and Massinger, The Guardian, 3.5.39: ‘I had ever a lucky hand in such smock night-work’.

  188 Here] Q; There F 192 by my] Q; in good F 196 Master Shallow.] Q; good Master Shallow: No more of that. F 197 ’twas] Q; it was F

  200 away with endure, put up with (OED away adv. 16), or bear, with a possible sexual innuendo

  204 bona roba Cf. 23n. Its use here strengthens the likelihood that Shallow means high-class whore.

  204–5 Doth … well? ‘Is she still in good health?’ Falstaff’s reply indicates either that he is still in touch with her or that he is simply humouring Shallow with an answer.

  208–9 had … by had means ‘gave birth to’; by indicates paternity.

  210 As Melchiori notes, Silence’s observation is telling. If Shallow was a student at Clement’s Inn 55 years earlier, he must now be over 70, Jane Nightwork even older, and Falstaff, then a page, at least in his late 60s. In 1H4 Falstaff gives his age as ‘some fifty, or, by’r Lady, inclining to threescore’ (2.4.412–13), but it would be characteristic of him to shave a few years off his age, and Falstaff in 2H4 clearly is meant to appear older and more disease-ridden than in 1H4. Silence’s perspective is that of a younger man: 211–12 implies that he has not lived as long, nor seen as much, as Shallow and Falstaff. See also 10n.

  214 heard … midnight stayed up till all hours: a nostalgia for night-time revelry reminiscent of Pistol’s ‘We have seen the seven stars’ (2.4.186–7). In the context of Ubi sunt?, however, the lateness of the hour also signifies old age. Orson Welles took the American title of his film Chimes at Midnight from this line.

  chimes In clocks of Shakespeare’s time, a two-note descending third sounded incrementally at each quarter hour, so that eight notes would have chimed at midnight (GWW).

  203 By the mass] Q; not in F to th’] Q (too’th); to the F 209 Clement’s] Q(corr), F; Clemham Q(uncorr) 210 SP] Scilens Q; Sil. F year] Q; yeeres F 211 Silence] F; Scilens Q

  217 watchword password

  217–18 Hem, boys Tyrwhitt writes that ‘hem’ was a ‘vulgarism’ which meant ‘to cry courage’ as one lifted one’s cup (30–1), equivalent to ‘Drink up!’ or ‘Down the hatch!’ Cf. 1H4 2.4.16; Eliot, Ortho-epia Gallica (2.41); and an old drinking song used in Brome’s Jovial Crew which concludes, ‘He cheered up his heart when his goods went to wrack, / With a “hem boy, hem” and a cup of old sack’ (2.2.100–1). Duffin (192–3) argues that Shallow’s line makes explicit reference to this song. D.S. Bland speculates that ‘hem’ may also have served as the password by which students at the Inns of Court and Chancery were let through the City gates late at night (132). For ‘hem’ as notation of a vulgar noise such as a belch or hiccup, see 2.4.30n.

  220 Corporate Corporal: a malapropism akin to Mistress Quickly’s, and evidence that Bullcalf is ignorant of military terminology. Mouldy confuses Bardolph’s rank further by promoting him to Corporal Captain at 229. See also 2.4.138n.

  220, 230 stand act as (OED v. 15c)

  221–2 four … crowns perhaps a sleight of hand on Bullcalf’s part. Harry 10 shilling coins were Tudor in origin (Harry = Henry VII: the denomination is thus anachronistic). By the 1590s, however, they had been devalued and were worth only five shillings (Ard2). By offering Bardolph their worth in French crowns (which also had been devalued), Bullcalf could claim to pay him 40 shillings, or two pounds, while Shakespeare’s audience would recognize that the coins were worth only half that, or one pound. Mouldy doubles Bullcalf’s offer at 232 – 3. Thus Bardolph would receive three pounds in bribes, the amount he reports to Falstaff at 245. Earlier editors, believing Bullcalf to have paid a full two pounds, assumed that Bardolph was pocketing a pound for himself by under-reporting the amount to Falstaff; but this would be true only if the Harry 10 shillings and French crowns had kept their original value.

  223–7 and yet … much comically circular reasoning which hinges on the thrice repeated ‘for mine own part’. Bullcalf uses the phrase twice parenthetically, as if to qualify his reasons for not wanting to serve, and then as a climactic admission that ‘care for mine own part’ – concern for his own person – prompts him to be a coward.

  216 that we have; in] Q; in F 217–18 Hem, boys] Theobald; Hemboies Q; Hem-Boyes F 219 Jesus] Q; Oh F SD Exeunt] Q; [Exeunt Falstaff, and Justices. Capell; not in F 221 here’s] Q; heere is F 222 SD] this edn 223 lief] F; liue Q

  228, 234 Go to come on (OED go v. 93a); a milder remonstrance here than at 117

  230 old dame’s sake The old dame Mouldy refers to here may be his mother rather than his wife (cf. 113). In either case, it intensifies his appeal for a family hardship deferment.

  231 do … her wait upon her. If, however, one takes his old dame to be his wife, then a gloss implying sexual service is likely: cf. 2.1.40–1n.

  233 forty 40 shillings, or two pounds.

  235–9 A man … next With typically Shakespearean irony, Feeble refutes the stereotype of cowardice by stoically citing two common proverbs – ‘A man can die but once’ (Dent, M219) and ‘I owe God a death’ (G237) – and, in his final clause, echoing two more: ‘Death pays all debts’ (D148) and ‘He that dies this year is excused for the next’ (D326.1). Feeble’s pun on death as a debt owed to God, for ‘death’ was pronounced ‘debt’ by Elizabethans, yokes a commercial image to a spiritual accounting. Versions of this sentiment appeared earlier in 1H4: ‘thou owest God a death’ (5.1.126) and ‘the end of life cancels all bonds’ (3.2.157). Henry Smith, in his Sermons (1609), explains the theological concept of debt: ‘I owe God a death, as his Son died for me’ (598, cited in Kittredge). Between these proverbs Feeble stuffs two popular tags also found in Famous Victories: ‘Dost think that we are so base-minded to die among Frenchmen?’ (10.47–8) and ‘I am sure he is not too good to serve the king’ (10.4).

  239 quit exempted, excused

  228 SD] this edn 230 old] Q(corr), F; not in Q(uncorr) has] Q; hath F 232 SD] this edn 234 SD] this edn 235 By my troth] Q; not in F 236 God] Q; not in F I’ll ne’er] Q (ile nere); I will neuer F 237 An’t … an’t] Q (and’t … and’t); if it … if it F 237 man’s] Q; man is F 238 serve ’s] Q; serue his F 240 Th’art] Q; thou art F 241 Faith, I’ll] Q (Faith ile); Nay, I will F

  248 a ruse, apparently to disguise the fact that Bardolph has already taken bribes from the two ablest recruits

  252 past service too old to do either military service or domestic service, the latter with a pun on the sexual service Mouldy renders his wife. Cf. similar plays on husbandry and drudgery in 114.

  for your part Falstaff wryly echoes Bullcalf’s reiterated phrase from 223–7.

  253 till … it until you reach maturity, from a bullcalf to a bull; or – continuing the pun on service – until you are ready to perform the duties of the town bull (cf. 2.2.153 – 4), with come meaning ejaculate (cf. 2.1.20n.). With characteristic audacity, Falstaff excuses Mouldy as too old, and Bullcalf too young, to be recruited.

  256 likeliest men ablest or most suitable recruits. Cf. 176.

  259–61 Care … spirit In rationalizing his illogical choice of recruits, Falstaff brazenly echoes 1 Samuel, 16.7, in which God prefers David over his bigger brothers: ‘But the Lorde sayde vnto Samuel: Loke not on his fashion, or on the height of his stature, because I haue refused him: for God seeth not as man seeth. For man loketh on the outward appearaunce, but the Lorde beholdeth the heart’. Humphreys argues that the passage parodies contemporary recruitment manuals such as Thomas Proctor’s Of the Knowledge and Conducte of Warres (1578), which holds it ‘most vayne’ to choose a soldier by ‘his shoulders, brest, armes, thyghes,’ or other physical attributes, for ‘the courage & mynde is as much to bee respected, as the bodye’.

  259 thews ‘bodily proportions, lineaments, or parts, as indicating physical strength’ (OED thew sb1. 3b)

  241.1] Q; not in F 244 SD] Davison subst. 246 SD] this edn 250 Shadow] Q (Sadow), F 254 SD] Oxf subst.; not in QF

  260 assemblance build, appearance

  262 ragged See 142n.

  262–3 charge … discharge you load and fire, with a play on sexual assault and ejaculation: cf. the puns in 2.4.111–13. On the use of you as an ethical dative, see 2.1.40–1n.

  263–4 the motion … hammer i.e. very rapid strokes

  264 come … on possibly a military phrase meaning to retreat and advance, or perhaps, in light of the image at 262–3, to lower and raise his gun. In any case, coming off and on, like charging and discharging, is bawdily suggestive of copulation.

  264–5 gibbets … bucket This enigmatic phrase probably refers to hoisting onto one’s shoulders (gibbets = hangs) a yoke or beam which carries counterbalanced buckets of beer for transport from the vat to the barrel (Shaaber, Variorum, 264), an act which had to be performed with speed and precision to avoid spillage.

  265 half-faced i.e. with a face so thin it can only be seen in profile, as on a coin

  266–70 Give … off Falstaff again parodies military manuals such as Matthew Sutcliffe’s The Practice, Proceedings, and Lawes of Armes (1593): ‘Men of meane stature are for the most parte more vigorous and couragious … and commonly excell great bodied men in swiftnesse and running, which is a matter in a souldier verie requisite and commendable’ (65); and Sir John Smythe’s Instructions … and Orders Mylitarie (1596), which observes that small-arms men are ‘of the smallest sorte and size of men, because they should be the lesser markes in the sightes of their enemies in skirmish near at hand’ (188). See Jorgensen, ‘Rank’, 34–5.

  267 mark target

  267–8 as great aim either (1) as much chance of success, or (2) as large a target

  level aim or shoot (OED v. 7a, b)

  269–70 how … off an ironically inaccurate appraisal. Falstaff and Shallow were not present to hear Feeble contradict the stereotype of the cowardly women’s tailor at 235–9.

  270 spare puns on spare first as an adjective (lean, thin) and then as a verb: ‘relieve me from having to endure’

  261 Here’s Wart:] Q; Where’s Wart? F 262 ’A] Q(a); hee F 268 retreat] Q (retraite), F (Retrait)

  271 me On use of the ethical dative, see 2.1.40–1n.

  caliver a light musket – other than the pistol, the lightest portable firearm. See also 137n.

  272 Bardolph shouts commands as if Wart were in his platoon. To traverse was to march to and fro (OED v. 5). Thas may be an aberrant spelling of ‘thus’, but just as likely, it imitates the nearly unintelligible orders barked by drill sergeants to their troops.

  273 manage me show me how you can handle (ethical dative, see 2.1.40–1n.)

  274–5 give … shot Falstaff’s argument continues to burlesque advice given in recruitment manuals of the day (see 259–61n., 266–70n.). Though small stature and agility may have been regarded as virtues in a musketeer (shot), it was never recommended that he be old, dried up (QF ‘chopt’ was a variant of ‘chapt’ = chapped), or bald. Furthermore, shot was a term, common in dialect, for ‘a refuse animal left after the best of the flock or herd have been selected’ (OED sb.3), and thus a derogatory epithet for an older man.

  276 Well said ‘Well done.’ Cf. 5.3.9.

  scab a mild epithet meaning rascal or scoundrel, with a pun on Wart’s name

  277 tester sixpence. Falstaff gives money to Wart probably as a reward for his performance, not as press-money.

  278 not … master i.e. not skilled in his handling of a caliver

  279 Mile End Green an open field in London now known as Stepney Green, formerly used for fairs and shows and as a drill ground for training the citizen militia. Contemporary references to the military exercises performed there are often contemptuous: see, for example, Barnabe Riche, Souldiers Wishe to Britons Welfare (1604): ‘God blesse me, my countrey, and frendes, from his direction that hath no better experience than what hee hath atteyned unto … from a traynyng at Mile-end-greene’ (cited in Steevens4). Shallow’s using such exercises as the standard by which to judge Wart’s expertise is thus ludicrous.

  lay lodged, lived

  280–1 Sir … Show Sir Dagonet was King Arthur’s fool in Malory’s Morte d’Arthur (9.18), a figure whose name elicited derisive laughter in Jonson’s Every Man Out (4.4.118–19), Cynthia’s Revels (5.4.549) and Beaumont and Fletcher’s Knight of the Burning Pestle (4.46). Arthur’s Show was a popular archery exhibition held at Mile End Green by the Society of Arthur’s Knights, each member of which adopted the name of a knight of the Round Table. Shallow unselfconsciously remembers playing the fool.

  271 SD] this edn 272 Thas, thas, thas] Q; thus, thus, thus F 275 chopped, bald] F (chopt, bald), Q (chopt Ballde) 276 i’faith] Q (yfaith); not in F Th’art] Q; thou art F 277 there’s] Q; there is F SD] Oxf1 subst.

  281 quiver nimble

  281–5 ’a … come Shallow here attempts to re-enact – thus (282) – and no doubt to comic effect, how the quiver fellow would execute single-handedly the drill of an entire company of musketeers. In order to maintain a constant barrage on the enemy, and because Elizabethan muskets took a long time to reload, the front rank of men would fire and then run to the rear to reload (about and about) while the next rank fired, each subsequent rank doing the same until the first rank had its turn again (come you in). Rah, tah, tah! imitates the noise either of gunfire or of reloading the caliver. Bounce, a newly fashionable onomatopoeia, was equivalent to ‘bang’. Cf. Thomas Heywood, 1 Fair Maid of the West, 4.1: ‘Bounce quoth the guns’ (Heywood, 2.315).

  282 manage … piece handle his firearm. On you as the ethical dative, see 2.1.40–1n.

  285–6 I … fellow ‘again’ is understood. Shallow continues to be nostalgic for the golden days of his youth: cf. his conversation with Falstaff at 194–219.

  287 These fellows i.e. his three recruits

  288–9 I … you another play on Silence’s name

  290 I … tonight The verb ‘ride’ is implied. Cf. 191–2.

  291 coats linen or leather jackets which could be reinforced with chainmail or steel plates. Because it is unlikely that an army in Elizabeth’s day would have carried stores of clothing, coats may be short for ‘coat and conduct money’ given to recruits to outfit themselves.

  281–5 ’a … ’a … ’a … ’a … ’a … ’a ] Q; hee … hee … hee … hee … hee … he F 286 ne’er] Q (nere); neuer F 287 will] F; wooll Q 288 God … Silence] Q (Scilens); Farewell Master Silence F 292–3 the Lord … God … God] Q; Heauen … and … and F 293 peace. At your] Collier; peace at your Q; Peace. As you F

  295 Peradventure perhaps. ‘Go’ is implied after will.

  296 would you would I wish you would

  297 I … word I mean what I say

  298–9 *Q reads ‘exit’ at the end of 298 and begins 299 with the SP ‘Shal.’ Shaaber (Variorum) speculates that the copy-text read ‘exit Shal.’ but that the words were so positioned that the compositor mistook ‘Shal.’ for a SP. Falstaff is clearly the speaker at 299.

  300 As when. On the illogic of Falstaff’s returning from Lincolnshire to London through Gloucestershire.

  fetch off fleece, con

  301 bottom … Shallow punning on his name and playing on the shallowness of his character

  301–2 1Lord … lying lines ironically spoken by a master. Cf. his similar sentiment in 1H4 5.4.145–6: ‘Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!’.

  303 starved justice a comment on Shallow’s scrawny physique, but metaphorically on his impoverished sense of ethics

  prate prattle, talk idly

  305 Turnbull Street (now Turnmill Street) notorious haunt of thieves and whores near Smithfield market in London

  duer more duly

  306 Turk’s tribute conventionally xenophobic reference to the barbaric practice by which the Sultan supposedly put to death those subjects who were delinquent in paying dues to him. Cf. 5.2.47–8.

  307–10 a man … knife Falstaff disparages Shallow’s slight build – and the insignificant figure he cut – by likening him to man moulded from a scrap of cheese rind left after dinner. Radishes had split (forked) roots: by imagining legs carved from the roots and a head grotesquely (fantastically) fashioned from the radish itself, Falstaff implies that Shallow, when naked, looked like a figure without a body, all head and legs. Root carving was a common diversion in Shakespeare’s day.

  294 our] Q; my F 295 ye] Q; you F 296 ’Fore God] Q; I F you would.] Q; you would, Master Shallow. F 297 God keep you.] Q; Fare you well. F 298 SD Exit] Q; after 297 F; Exeunt Shallow and Silence. / Dyce 299 On] F; Shal. On Q SD] Capell subst.; not in QF 301 Lord, Lord] Q; not in F 305 Turnbull] Q (Turne-bull); Turnball F 308 ’a] Q; hee F

  311 forlorn wretchedly thin, meagre (OED adj. 5b)

  thick sight faulty vision. Cf. JC 5.3.21: ‘My sight was ever thick’.

  312 *invincible QF’s word is defensible if understood to mean incapable of being perceived and to imply the defeat a short-sighted person would suffer in struggling to see Shallow. But Rowe’s emendation ‘invisible’ is often adopted by editors because it is the more obvious choice: invincible may have been a catachresis (OED invincible adj. 3) or possibly a compositor’s misreading of ‘invisible’ in the copy-text. Elsewhere in Shakespeare, invincible always carries its ordinary meaning.

  genius embodiment

  313 lecherous … monkey This commonly held belief also underlies Iago’s taunt about Desdemona’s sexuality: ‘as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys’ (Oth 3.3.406).

  314 mandrake The application to Shallow is twofold. First, mandrake is glossed in the Geneva Bible (Genesis, 30.14) as ‘a kinde of herbe whose rote hath a certeine likenes of ye figure of a man’, analogous to the radish to which Falstaff has already compared Shallow’s form (309–10). Gerard’s Herball (1597; 2.280) explains why the mandrake was so regarded: ‘The roote is long, thick, whitish, diuided many times into two or three parts, resembling the legs of a man, with other parts of his body adioining thereto as the priuie parts, as it hath been reported.’ Perhaps owing to this last association, the mandrake from ancient times was thought to be an aphrodisiac: cf. 1.2.15. Falstaff thus implies that the whores ridiculed Shallow’s insatiable lust.