fa ba! 3 He bounds from the earth, as if his entrails were hairs; le cheval volant, the Pegafus, qui a les narines de feu! When I beftride him, I foar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; the earth fings when he touches it; the bafeft horn of his hoof is more mu fical than the pipe of Hermes. Orl. He's of the colour of the nutmeg. Dau. And of the heat of the ginger. It is a beaft for Perfeus: he is pure air and fire; and the dull elements of earth and water never appear in him, but only in patient ftillnefs, while his rider mounts him he is, indeed, a horfe; and all other jades you may call-beasts. Con. Indeed, my lord, it is a moft abfolute and excellent horfe. Dau. It is the prince of palfreys; his neigh is like the bidding of a monarch, and his countenance enforces homage: He bounds from the earth, as if his entrails were hairs ;] Alluding to the bounding of tennis-balls, which were stuffed with hair, as appears from Much Ado about Nothing, "And the old ornament of his cheek hath already stuff'd tennis balls." WARBURTON. -be is pure air and fire; and the dull clements of earth and water never appear in him,] Thus Cleopatra, fpeaking of herself, "I am air and fire; my other elements 3 "I give to bafer life." STERVENS. —and all other jades you may call—beafts.] It is plain that jades and brafts fhould change places, it being the first word and not the laft, which is the term of reproach; as afterwards it is faid: I had as lieve have my mistress a jade. WARBURTON. There is no occafion for this change. In the Second Part of King Henry IV. scene i he gave his able horse the head, T "And, bending forward, ftruck his armed heels "Against the panting fides of the poor jøde." Jade is fometimes used for a poft horfe.. Bent is always employed as a contemptuous diftinction. So, in Macbeth: what beaft was't then "That made you break this enterprize to me? Again, in Timon: "what a wicked beaft was I to disfurnish myfelf against fo good a time!" STEEVENS. Orl. Orl. No more, coufin. from Dau. Nay, the man hath no wit, that cannot, the rifing of the lark to the lodging of the lamb, vary deferved praife on my palfrey it is a theme as fluent as the fea; turn the fands into eloquent tongues, and my horfe is argument for them all: 'tis a fubject for a fovereign to reafon on, and for a fovereign's fovereign to ride on; and for the world (familiar to us, and unknown) to lay apart their par ticular functions, and wonder at him. I once writ a fonnet in his praife, and began thus, Wonder of nature, 6 Orl. I have heard a fonnet begin fo to one's miftress. Dau. Then did they imitate that which I compos'd to my courfer; for my horfe is my mistress. Orl. Your miftrefs bears well. Dau. Me well; which is the prefcript praise and perfection of a good and particular mistress. Con. Ma foy! the other day, methought, your miftrefs fhrewdly fhook your back. Dau. So, perhaps, did yours. Con. Mine was not bridled. Dau. O! then, belike, fhe was old and gentle; and you rode, 'like a kerne of Ireland, your French hose off, and in your' ftrait troffers. Con -Wonder of nature] Here, I fuppofe, fome foolish poem of our author's time is ridiculed; which indeed partly appears from the answer. WARBURTON. In the first part of K. Henry VI. act V. fc. iv. Shakspeare himfelf uses the phrafe which he here feems to ridicule : "Be not offended, nature's miracle!" MALONE. The phrafe is only reprehenfible through its mifapplication. It is furely proper when applied to a woman, but ridiculous indeed when addreffed to a horje. STEEVENS. 7 like a kerne of Ireland, your French bose off, and in your frait troffers.] Thus all the editions have mistaken this word, which fhould be trosfers; and fignifies a pair of breeches. Con. You have good judgment in horfemanship. Dau, Be warn'd by me then: they that ride fo, and ride not warily, fall into foul bogs; I had rather have my horfe to my miftrefs. Con. I had as lief have my mistress a jade. This word very frequently occurs in the old dramatic writers. A man in The Coxcomb of Beaumont and Fletcher, fpeaking to an Irish fervant, fays, "I'll have thee flead, and treffers made of thy fkin, to tumble in." Troffers appear to have been tight breeches. The kerns of Ireland anciently rode without breeches, and therefore firait traffers, I believe, means only in their naked fkin, which fits clofe to them. The word is still preserved, but now written trowers. STEEVENS. Trowes," fays the explanatory Index to Cox's Hiflory of Ireland," are breeches and ftockings made to fit as close to the body as can be." Several of the morris-dancers reprefented upon the print of my window, have fuch hose or strait troufers; but the poet feems by the waggifh context to have a further meaning. TOLLET. The following paffage in Heywood's Challenge for Beauty, 1636, proves, that the ancient Irish troufers were fomewhat more than mere buff "Manhurft. No, for my money give me your fubftantial Englifh hofe, round, and fomewhat full afore. "Maid. Now they are, methinks, a little too great. "Manh. The more the difcretion of the landlord that builds them he makes room enough for his tenant to stand upright in them-he may walk in and out at eafe, without stooping: but of all the réft I am clean out of love without your Irish trowfes; they are for all the world like a jealous wife, always clofe at a man's tayle." the fpeaker is here circumftantially defcribing the fafhions of different countries. So, again, in Bulwer's Pedigree of the English Gallant, 1653: "Bombafted and paned hofe were, fince I can remember, in fashion; but now our hofe are made fo clofe to our breeches, that, like Irifh trofes, they too manifestly discover the dimenfion of every part." In Sir John Oldcastle, thé word is fpelt frouces. COLLINS. The following ftage direction in Ford's Perkin Warbeck, 1634, fhews that the lower Irifh were, in the time of our author, de feribed and reprefented as wearing trowfers."Enter at one door four Scotch Anticks accordingly habited. Enter at another door, four wild Irifb in trefes, long-haired, and accordingly. bied." Yet our author may have intended an equivoque. MALONE. Dau. Dau. I tell thee, conftable, my miftrefs wears her own hair. Con. I could make as true a boaft as that, if I had a fow to my miftrefs. Dau. Le chien eft retournè à son propre vomissement, & la truie lavée au bourbier: thou mak'ft use of any thing. Con. Yet do I not ufe my horfe for my mistress; or any fuch proverb, fo little kin to the purpose. Ram. My lord conftable, the armour, that I faw in your tent to-night, are those stars, or funs, upon -Con. Stars, my lord. it? Dau. Some of them will fall to-morrow, I hope. Dau. That may be, for you bear many fuperfluoufly; and 'twere more honour, fome were away. Con. Even as your horfe bears your praises; who would trot as well, were fome of your brags dif mounted. Dau. Would I were able to load him with his defert! Will it never be day? I will trot to-morrow a mile, and my way fhall be paved with English faces. Con. I will not fay fo, for fear I fhould be fac'd out of my way: But I would it were morning, for I would fain be about the ears of the English. Ram. Who will go to hazard with me for twenty English prifoners? Con. You must first go yourself to hazard, ere you have them. • Who will go to hazard with me for twenty English prisoners?] So, in the old anonymous Henry V : "Come and you see what me tro at the king's drummer and fife." Faith me will tro at the earl of Northumberland and, now I will tro at the king himself, &c." This incident, however, might have been furnished by the chronicle. STEEVENS. Dau. Dau. Tis midnight, I'll go arm myself. [Exit. Con. I think, he will eat all he kills. Orl. By the white hand of my lady, he's a gallant prince. Con. Swear by her foot, that the may tread out the oath. Orl. He is, fimply, the most active gentleman of France. Gon. Doing is activity; and he will still be doing. Orl. He never did harm, that I heard of. R Con. Nor will do none to-morrow; he will keep that good name ftill. Orl. I know him to be valiant.... Con. I was told that, by one that knows him better than you. Orl. What's he? Con. Marry, he told me fo himself; and he said, he car'd not who knew it. Orl. He needs not, it is no hidden virtue in him. Con. By my faith, Sir, but it is; never any body faw it, but his lacquey: ''tis a hooded valour; and, when it appears, it will bate. Orl. Ill-will never faid well. 2 Con. I will cap that proverb with-There is flattery in friendship. Orl. And I will take up that with Give the devil his due. I -bis lacquey:-] He has beaten nobody yet but his footboy. JOHNSON. 'tis a hooded valour, and when it appears, it will bate.] This is faid with allufion to falcons which are kept booded when they are not to fly at game, and, as foon as the hood is off, bait or flap the wing. The meaning is, the Dauphin's valour has never been let loose upon an enemy, yet, when he makes his first essay, we fhall fee how he will flutter. JOHNSON. 21 will cap that proverb.-] Alluding to the practice of capping verfes. JOHNSON. Con. |