Wor.

Cousin; a word.

Hear you,

Hot. All studies here I solemnly defy,

Save how to gall and pinch this Bolingbroke:

And that same sword - and - buckler prince of Wales,7

But that I think his father loves him not,

And would be glad he met with some mischance,
I'd have him poison'd with a pot of ale.

Wor. Farewell, kinsman! I will talk to you,

When you are better temper'd to attend.

North. Why, what a wasp-stung and impatient fool

Art thou, to break into this woman's mood;
Tying thine ear to no tongue but thine own?
Hot. Why, look you, I am whipp'd and scourg'd
with rods,

Nettled, and stung with pismires, when I hear
Of this vile politician, Bolingbroke.

In Richard's time,-What do you call the place?—
A plague upon't!-it is in Gloucestershire;-
'Twas where the mad-cap duke his uncle kept;
His uncle York;-where I first bow'd my knee
Unto this king of smiles, this Bolingbroke,
When you and he came back from Ravenspurg.
North. At Berkley castle.

Hot. You say true:-

Why, what a candy deal of courtesy

This fawning greyhound then did proffer me!
Look,-when his infant fortune came to age,
And,-gentle Harry Percy,—and, kind cousin,-
O, the devil take such cozeners! -God forgive

me!

"And that same sword-and-buckler prince of Wales,] A royster or turbulent fellow, that fought in taverns, or raised disorders in the streets, was called a Swash-buckler. In this sense sword-andbuckler is here used.

Good uncle, tell your tale, for I have done.
Wor. Nay, if you have not, to't again;
We'll stay your leisure.

Hot.

I have done, i'faith.

Wor. Then once more to your Scottish prisoners. Deliver them up without their ransome straight, And make the Douglas' son your only mean

For powers in Scotland; which,-for divers rea

sons,

Which I shall send you written,-be assur'd,
Will easily be granted.-You, my lord,-

[TO NORTHUMBERLAND.

Your son in Scotland being thus employ'd,—
Shall secretly into the bosom creep

Of that same noble prelate, well belov❜d,
The archbishop.

Hot. Of York, is't not?

Wor. True; who bears hard

His brother's death at Bristol, the lord Scroop.

I speak not this in estimation,

As what I think might be, but what I know
Is ruminated, plotted, and set down;

And only stays but to behold the face

Of that occasion that shall bring it on.

Hot. I smell it; upon my life, it will do well. North. Before the game's a-foot, thou still let'st

slip."

Hot. Why, it cannot choose but be a noble

plot:

And then the power of Scotland, and of York,-
To join with Mortimer, ha?

9

Wor.
And so they shall.
Hot. In faith, it is exceedingly well aim'd.
Wor. And 'tis no little reason bids us speed,

I speak not this in estimation,] Estimation for conjecture.
let'st slip.] To let slip, is to loose the greyhound.

To save our heads by raising of a head:1
For, bear ourselves as even as we can,

The king will always think him in our debt;2
And think we think ourselves unsatisfied,
Till he hath found a time to pay us home.
And see already, how he doth begin

To make us strangers to his looks of love.

Hot. He does, he does; we'll be reveng'd on him. Wor. Cousin, farewell;-No further go in this, Than I by letters shall direct your course. When time is ripe, (which will be suddenly,) I'll steal to Glendower, and lord Mortimer; Where you and Douglas, and our powers at once, (As I will fashion it,) shall happily meet, To bear our fortunes in our own strong arms, Which now we hold at much uncertainty.

North. Farewell, good brother: we shall thrive, I trust.

Hot. Uncle, adieu:-O, let the hours be short, Till fields, and blows, and groans applaud our sport! [Exeunt.

by raising of a head:] A head is a body of forces. The king will always, &c.] This is a natural description of the state of mind between those that have conferred, and those that have received obligations too great to be satisfied.

3 Cousin,] This was a common address in our author's time to nephews, nieces, and grandchildren.

ACT II.

SCENE I. Rochester. An Inn Yard.

Enter a Carrier, with a Lantern in his hand.

1 Car. Heigh ho! An't be not four by the day, I'll be hanged: Charles' wain' is over the new chimney, and yet our horse not packed. What, ostler! Ost. [Within.] Anon, anon.

1 Car. I pr'ythee, Tom, beat Cut's saddle,' put a few flocks in the point; the poor jade is wrung in the withers out of all cess."

Enter another Carrier.

2 Car. Pease and beans are as dank' here as a dog, and that is the next way to give poor jades the bots: this house is turned upside down, since Robin ostler died.

1 Car. Poor fellow! never joyed since the price of oats rose; it was the death of him.

2 Car. I think, this be the most villainous house in all London road for fleas: I am stung like a tench.

1 Car. Like a tench? by the mass, there is ne'er a king in Christendom could be better bit than I have been since the first cock.

Charles' wain-] Charles's wain is the vulgar name given to the constellation called the Bear. It is a corruption of the Chorles or Churls wain (Sax. ceonl, a countryman.)

5

Cut's saddle,] Cut is the name of a horse in The Witches

of Lancashire, 1634, and, probably, a common one.

6

out of all cess.] i. e. out of all measure: the phrase

being taken from a cess, tax, or subsidy.

7

as dank-] i. e. wet, rotten.

bots:] Are worms in the stomach of a horse.

2 Car. Why, they will allow us ne'er a jorden, and then we leak in your chimney; and your chamber-lie breeds fleas like a loach.?

1 Car. What, ostler! come away and be hanged, come away.

2 Car. I have a gammon of bacon, and two razes of ginger, to be delivered as far as Charing

cross.

1 Car. 'Odsbody! the turkies in my pannier are quite starved.-What, ostler!-A plague on thee! hast thou never an eye in thy head? canst not hear? An 'twere not as good a deed as drink, to break the pate of thee, I am a very villain.-Come, and be hanged:-Hast no faith in thee?

Enter GADSHill.'

Gads. Good morrow, carriers. What's o'clock ? 1 Car. I think it be two o'clock.

Gads. I pr'ythee, lend me thy lantern, to see my gelding in the stable.

1 Car. Nay, soft, I pray ye; I know a trick worth two of that, i'faith.

Gads. I pr'ythee, lend me thine.

2 Car. Ay, when? canst tell?-Lend me thy lantern, quoth a?-marry, I'll see thee hanged first. Gads. Sirrah carrier, what time do you mean to come to London.

2 Car. Time enough to go to bed with a candle, I warrant thee.-Come, neighbour Mugs, we'll call up the gentlemen; they will along with company, for they have great charge. Exeunt Carriers.

Gads. What, ho! chamberlain!

— breeds fleas like a loach.] i. e. as a loach breeds. The loach is a very small fish, but so exceedingly prolifick, that it is seldom found without spawn in it.

1

Gadshill.] This thief receives his title from a place on the Kentish road, where many robberies have been committed.