155 dread revered, awe-inspiring

  155 king i.e. Christ

  158 thrice-famèd well-renowned, much honored

  160 instance evidence

  161 settled congealed, not flowing

  162 timely-parted ghost corpse of a person who has died naturally, at their right time

  163 meagre emaciated

  164 Being (the blood) having

  166 aidance assistance

  167 Which i.e. the blood

  172 upreared standing on end

  173 abroad displayed spread out widely

  176 well-proportioned well-shaped

  176 rugged shaggy, disheveled

  177 lodged flattened

  179 probable sufficient evidence

  184 keep guard, protect

  185 like likely

  185 feast entertain

  186 well seen obvious

  187 belike perhaps

  188 timeless untimely

  192 puttock bird of prey, especially the kite

  199 ease disuse

  200 scoured cleaned (often with a thrusting action)

  201 badge insignia, sign of allegiance

  203 faulty guilty

  205 contumelious contemptuous, insolent

  206 controller critic

  214 stern untutored churl coarse ignorant peasant

  214 stock tree trunk/family tree

  215 graft united (horticultural image from the practice of grafting a cutting of one plant or tree onto the trunk of another, usually a stronger but coarser tree that allowed the superior cutting to flourish)

  215 crab-tree slip cutting of a wild apple tree (slip plays on the sense of “moral lapse”)

  217 bucklers shields (a buckler is a small round shield)

  218 And … fee i.e. by killing you myself rather than you being executed for the murder of Gloucester

  218 deathsman executioner

  219 Quitting ridding

  220 makes me mild makes me restrain myself

  222 passèd recently uttered

  225 fearful homage timorous servility

  226 hire payment (i.e. death)

  227 Pernicious destructive, wicked

  229 presence royal presence

  231 cope fight, encounter

  234 just justified, with righteousness on his side

  235 steel i.e. armor

  239 weapons … presence it was a punishable offense to draw a sword in the presence of the king

  251 mere pure, absolute

  252 opposite hostile, opposing

  253 As … liking which might be thought to be opposed to your wishes

  254 forward in insistent in demanding

  257 charge order

  258 In on

  259 strait strict

  263 suffered allowed to remain

  264 mortal worm fatal snake

  266 whe’er whether

  267 fell dangerous, destructive

  272 like likely (sarcastic)

  272 hinds peasants

  275 quaint skillful, cunning

  278 sort gang

  278 tinkers menders of metal pots and kettles (also applied to beggars or thieves)

  282 cited urged, incited

  283 purpose intend (to do)

  285 Mischance calamity, misfortune

  285 state kingly status

  286 his i.e. God’s

  288 breathe infection in contaminate

  289 But any more than

  290 gentle noble

  291 Ungentle discourteous, unkind

  296 be’st be

  305 tend attend

  306 execrations curses

  307 heavy sorrowful

  311 mandrake plant with forked roots that resembled the human form; it was said to shriek when pulled from the ground, causing madness or death in any who heard it

  312 bitter-searching sharp, piercing, probing

  314 fixèd gritted, clenched

  318 beaten flint this stone gives off sparks when it is struck

  319 fixed on end standing upright

  319 distract frenzied, mad

  320 ban curse

  323 Gall bile

  323 daintiest most refined thing

  324 cypress trees often planted in graveyards, they were associated with death

  325 prospect view

  325 basilisks mythical reptiles that could kill with a look

  326 smart painful, sharp

  326 lizards these reptiles were often confused with snakes and thought to be poisonous

  328 boding ominous

  328 consort group of musicians

  332 overchargèd overloaded

  334 leave stop

  339 sport entertainment, diversion

  343 monuments memorials, mementos

  345 these … seal these lips by the imprint they left on your hand

  347 know feel, realize the extent of

  348 surmised guessed at, imagined

  349 surfeits overindulges and grows sick

  349 want deprivation

  350 repeal recall from exile

  351 Adventure venture, hazard

  354 friends plays on the sense of “lovers”

  356 Loather more reluctant

  360 wert thou thence if you were not in it

  362 So provided

  364 several various

  366 joy enjoy

  372 catch the gasp for

  376 as as if

  377 overchargèd overburdened

  380 heavy sorrowful

  382 an … loss i.e. the cardinal’s old age would mean he did not have long to live in any event

  383 Omitting disregarding

  385 southern clouds rain was thought to come chiefly from the south

  385 contend in compete for

  388 by near

  388 but as good as

  390 die plays on the sense of “have an orgasm”

  391 lap plays on the sense of “vagina”

  392 breathe … air i.e. die

  394 dug nipple

  395 Where whereas

  395 from away from

  398 turn turn back, return

  400 lived would live

  400 Elysium heaven or paradise of Greek mythology

  401 but … jest not really to die at all/to play at dying (with sexual connotations)

  404 fretful abrasive, aggravating

  405 deathful deadly, fatal

  408 Iris in Greek mythology, goddess of the rainbow and the messenger of Juno, queen of the gods (plays on the sense of “part of the eye”)

  411 cask casket

  413 bark ship

  413 sunder we we are split in two, we separate

  413 severally separately

  Act 3 Scene 3

  3.3 Location: the cardinal’s bedchamber

  4 So if

  6 is seen appears

  9 he i.e. Gloucester

  14 dust i.e. to which all bodies return

  16 lime-twigs twigs smeared with birdlime, a sticky substance used to catch birds

  18 of from

  21 fiend the devil

  24 grin grimace

  30 argues testifies to, suggests

  32 close tightly

  33 meditation reflection and prayer

  Act 4 Scene 1

  4.1 Location: the coast of Kent

  4.1 Ordnance cannon

  1 gaudy bright

  1 blabbing revealing, telltale

  3 arouse awaken jades worn-out horses, but here dragons (who drew the chariot of Hecate, Greek goddess of the night)

  5 flagging drooping

  6 Clip strike glancingly, skim/embrace, clasp

  8 prize captured vessel

  9 pinnace small two-masted boat

  9 Downs an anchorage off the coast of Kent

  11 discoloured i.e. which will be discolored

  4.1 Master officer in charge of sailing a ship

  13 make boot take advantage, make profit

  18 much it too much

  19 port social position

  22 counterpoised compensated, offset

  25 laying … aboard boarding the captured ship

  29 George badge or emblem of Saint George, patron saint of England; part of the insignia of the knightly Order of the Garter

  30 Rate value

  31 Walter pronounced like “water”

  32 affright frighten you

  34 cunning man one skilled in magic and fortune-telling calculate my birth cast my horoscope

  36 bloody-minded intent on murder/think on my death

  37 sounded pronounced

  41 sell revenge i.e. ransom prisoners

  42 arms coat of arms

  48 Jove Roman king of the gods

  50 Obscure lowly, insignificant

  50 lousy despicable, louse-infested

  50 swain rustic, yokel

  52 jaded contemptible (language in the next line picks up a play on “jades,” i.e. worn-out horses)

  52 groom servant/servant who tended to horses

  53 kissed thy hand a gesture of respect

  54 Bare-headed servants did not wear hats in deference to their masters

  54 foot-cloth mule mule used to carry (or possibly wearing) the stately ornamental cloth used to drape a nobleman’s horse

  55 happy fortunate

  55 shook my head nodded in approval/gave the slightest sign of acknowledgment

  56 waited … cup served me drink

  57 Fed … trencher acted as my taster/been supported by my household

  57 trencher plate

  57 kneeled … board bowed, served deferentially at the table (board)

  59 crest-fall’n humbled

  61 voiding lobby antechamber or lobby for those leaving the main chamber

  64 charm i.e. silence (with a spell)

  65 forlorn swain wretched fellow/neglected lover (of Queen Margaret; or Whitmore mocks the idea of the servant-master relationship Suffolk has just elaborated on)

  67 blunt forthright/unthreatening, lacking sharpness

  68 longboat the largest boat belonging to a sailing vessel, presumably used to bring the men ashore

  70 for thy own for fear of losing your own head

  72 Pole? Suffolk reacts to the insolent use of his family name by an inferior; in his ensuing speech, the Lieutenant puns on “pool”

  73 kennel gutter

  73 sink sewer

  74 Troubles stirs up, muddies

  75 yawning gaping

  77 sweep the ground either as the body kneels with its head bowed for execution or as the decapitated head falls to the ground, its lips against the dirt

  79 Against exposed to

  79 senseless unfeeling

  79 grin grimace

  80 Who i.e. the winds

  80 again in response

  81 hags of hell the three Furies of classical mythology

  82 affy betroth, engage mighty … king i.e. Henry VI to Margaret

  84 subject subjects

  85 policy cunning, strategy

  86 Sylla Sulla (138–78 BC), notoriously cruel Roman dictator who drew up a list of his enemies who were to be killed

  86 overgorged stuffed, glutted

  87 gobbets chunks of raw flesh mother’s i.e. native country’s

  89 revolting rebellious

  89 thorough through, because of

  90 Picardy region of northern France

  91 surprised seized

  95 As hating in hate of

  97 murder … king i.e. Richard II, who was deposed by Bullingbrook (Henry IV), thus establishing the ascendancy of the house of Lancaster

  98 encroaching grasping (wrongfully)

  99 whose i.e. the House of York

  99 colours military banners (of the House of York)

  100 Advance raise, hold up

  100 half-faced sun the emblem of Edward III and Richard II consisted of the sun’s rays emerging above clouds

  101 ‘Invitis nubibus’ “In spite of clouds” (Latin)

  102 commons common people

  106 god … thunder Jove (Jupiter), the Roman king of the gods, was traditionally armed with a thunderbolt

  107 drudges base servants

  109 pinnace i.e. relatively small boat, often in attendance on a larger

  110 Bargulus … pirate a pirate mentioned in Cicero’s De Officiis, a standard text in Elizabethan schools

  111 Drones … beehives nonworking male bees (whose sole purpose is to impregnate the queen) were thought to eat the honey other bees had made; equally inaccurate was the belief that beetles sucked eagles’ blood

  113 vassal servant, slave

  115 of with a

  116 waft guide, convey

  119 Paene … artus “Cold fear almost entirely seizes my limbs” (Latin)

  122 fair courteously

  123 imperial commanding

  125 we Suffolk uses the royal pronoun

  126 suit entreaty

  129 bloody pole the heads of traitors were mounted on spikes and displayed on London Bridge; pole puns on Suffolk’s family name

  130 uncovered hatless (a mark of deference)

  133 Hale haul, drag

  136 vile low, contemptible

  136 Besonians beggars, basemen

  137 sworder assassin

  137 banditto bandit, lawless

  138 sweet sweet-voiced, rhetorically masterful

  138 Tully Cicero, famous Roman orator and statesman of the first century BC; in fact, he was killed by a centurion and a tribune, though Thomas Nashe refers to his murder by “slaves”

  138 Brutus’ bastard rumor had it that Brutus was Julius Caesar’s illegitimate son

  140 Pompey the Great famous Roman general of the first century BC; he was killed in Egypt, but a play by George Chapman depicted his death on the Greek island of Lesbos

  145 mistress “female master,” but here predominantly “lover”

  Act 4 Scene 2

  4.2 Location: Kent [George]  … Holland probably the names of the actors Shakespeare had in mind as he wrote this scene; John Holland is known to have been an actor at the time

  4.2 staves staffs used as weapons

  1 lath thin strip of wood; a dagger of lath was the conventional weapon of the Vice character in morality plays

  2 up in rebellion, up in arms

  4 clothier cloth worker, who dealt with cloth after it had been woven

  4 dress clothe/reform

  5 turn it turn it inside out (as a means of renewing it and prolonging its use)/turn it upside down socially

  5 set … it give it a smooth finish

  5 nap projecting fibers, surface texture

  7 merry world like the good old days up into fashion

  8 regarded noticed, valued

  10 think scorn disdain, consider it lowly leather aprons the typical clothing of an artisan

  12 ‘Labour … vocation’ proverbial, i.e. each man must walk in his own calling

  13 labouring working (manually)

  15 hit it got it, hit the nail on the head

  15 brave fine

  16 hard hardened, toughened (through manual labor)

  17 Best’s … tanner the son of Best, the tanner (leather worker)

  18 Wingham village near Canterbury, in Kent

  20 dog’s leather used for glove making

  25 Argo i.e. ergo—“therefore” (Latin)

  25 thread … spun in classical mythology, the three Fates spun, measured out, and cut the thread of a person’s life

  26 fall in join

  26 Sawyer workman who saws timber

  26 infinite numbers i.e. a large group of people

  27 We Cade uses the royal pronoun

  27 termed of named after

  28 of for

  28 cade barrel

  29 fail some editors emend to “fall,” thus generating a possible play on Cade’s name as cadere is Latin for “to fall”

  34 bricklayer puns on Mortimer/mortarer

  37 Lacys the family name of the earls of Lincoln

  39 laces puns on Lacys

  40 travel puns on “travail” (work, labor/have sex, as a roaming whore)

  41 furred pack pedlar’s pack (made of or trimmed with fur)/vagina covered with pubic hair

  41 washes bucks washes laundry/has sex with lecherous men

  43 field may play on the sense of “background of a coat of arms”

  44 under a hedge proverbial birthplace for the very lowly

  45 cage prison for petty criminals and vagabonds

  47 A must needs he must be

  47 valiant sturdy, capable of work

  50 whipped the standard punishment for vagabonds

  53 proof tried resistance (i.e. old, much worn; usually applied to impenetrable armor)

  54 stand remain

  55 burnt branded (with a “T” for “Thief”)

  59 the … hoops wooden drinking vessels had hoops around them as a means of measuring their contents; a three-hooped pot contained two pints, so Cade’s suggestion means that a drinker would get considerably more for his money

  59 small weak

  60 be in common become common land, available to all

  60 Cheapside market area of London

  60 palfrey a horse for riding (as opposed to a warhorse)

  61 grass graze

  64 score account, expense

  64 apparel dress

  65 livery servants’ uniform

  65 agree match/get on

  72 wax sealing wax, used on official documents

  72 seal agree, put my name (plays on the sense of “have sex”)

  72 thing i.e. document (plays on the sense of “vagina”)

  72.1 Clerk parish clerk with secretarial responsibilities as scribe or notary

  72.2 Chartham a village near Canterbury, in Kent

  75 cast account do arithmetic, add up accounts

  76 monstrous unnatural (a lack of literacy and numeracy was very common among country folk)

  77 took found, encountered/arrested, captured

  77 setting … copies preparing written exercises for schoolboys

  79 red letters in almanacs, the saints’ days were printed in red as were the capital letters in school primers

  80 conjurer magician (using an almanac to make predictions)

  81 make obligations draw up legal bonds

  81 court hand the script used in official, legal documents

  82 proper fine/handsome

  85 Emmanuel meaning “God with us,” a phrase often found at the heads of letters or deeds

  86 go hard with be the worse

  88 Dost … to do you usually

  89 mark to thyself illiterate people “signed” their name by making a mark such as an “X”

  90 plain-dealing simple, straightforward

  96 inkhorn portable inkwell

  98 particular private (playing on opposite of general)