I freely give unto you this young scholar,
That hath been long studying at Rheims, as

cunning

In Greek, &c.

TYRWHITT.

99. this small packet of Greek and Latin books.] In queen Elizabeth's time the young ladies of quality were usually instructed in the learned languages, if any pains were bestowed on their minds at all. Lady Jane Gray and her sisters, queen Elizabeth, &c. are trite instances. PERCY.

115. And every day I cannot come to woo.] This is the burthen of part of an old ballad, entitled, The Ingenious Braggadocia:

"And I cannot come every day to wooe."

STEEVENS. 149. her frets] A fret is that stop of a musical instrument which causes or regulates the vibration of the string. JOHNSON. 158. And twangling Jack;-] Of this contemptuous appellation I know not the precise meaning. Something like it, however, occurs in Magnificence, an ancient folio interlude by Skelton, printed by Rastell: -ye wene I were some hafter,

"Or ellys some jangelynge jacke of the vale.” STEEVENS.

To twangle is a provincial expression, and signifies to flourish capriciously on an instrument, as performers often do after having tuned it, previous to their beginning a regular composition.

HENLEY.

182. Good-morrow, Kate; &c.] Thus in the origi

nal play :

"Feran. Twenty good-morrows to my lovely Kate. "Kate. You jeast I am sure; is she yours already; "Feran. I tel thee Kate, I know thou lov'st me wel.

"Kate. The divel you do; who told you so? "Feran. My mind, sweet Kate, doth say I am the man,

Must wed, and bed, and marrie bonnie Kate.

“Kate. Was ever seene so grosse an asse as this? "Feran. I, to stand so long and never get a kisse. "Kate. Hands off, I say, and get you from this place;

❝ Or I will set my ten commandements in your face. "Feran. I prithy do, Kate; they say thou art a

shrew,

"And I like thee the better, for I would have thee so.

"Kate. Let go my hand, for fear it reach your eare. “Feran. No, Kate, this hand is mine, and I thy love. "Kate. Yfaith, sir, no; the woodcoke wants his taile.

"Feran. But yet his bil. will serve, if the other faile. "Alfon. How now, Ferando? what [says] my daughter?

"Feran. Shee's willing, sir, and loves me as her

life.

"Kate. 'Tis for your skin then, but not to be your

wife.

D

Alfon

"Alfon. Come hither, Kate, and let me give thy

hand

"To him that I have chosen for thy love;

"And thou to-morrow shall be wed to him.

"Kate. Why father, what do you mean to do with

me,

"To give me thus unto this brainsicke man, * That in his mood cares not to murder me?

[She turns aside, and speaks. "But yet I will consent and marry him,

"(For I methinkes have liv'd too long a maide) “And match him too, or else his manhood's good. "Alfon. Give me thy hand: Ferando loves thee well,

"And will with wealth and ease maintaine thy state. "Here, Ferando, take her for thy wife,

"And Sunday next shall be your wedding-day. "Feran. Why so, did not I tel thee I should be the

man ?

"Father, I leave my lovely Kate with you. "Provide yourselves against our marriage day, "For I must hie me to my country house "In haste, to see provision may be made "To entertaine my Kate when she doth come," &c. STEEVENS.

199. A joint-stool.] This is a proverbial expression: "Cry you mercy, I took you for a join'd stool." See Ray's Collection. It is likewise repeated as a proverb in Mother Bombie, a comedy by Lilly, 1594, and by the Fool in K. Lear. STEEVENS.

203. No such jade, sir.] Perhaps we should read jack. However there is authority for jade in a male sense. So, in Soliman and Perside, Picton says of Basilico, "He just like a knight! He'll just like a jade." FARMER.

211. Ay, for a turtle, as he takes a buzzard.] Perhaps we may read better:

Ay, for a turtle, and he takes a buzzard.

That is, he may take me for a turtle, and he shall find me a hawk. JOHNSON. This kind of expression likewise seems to have been proverbial. So, in the Three Lords of London, 1590: -hast no more skill,

"Than take a faulcon for a buzzard ?”

STEEVENS.

230. -a craven.] A craven is a degenerate, dispirited cock. So, in Rhodon and Iris, 1631: "That he will pull the craven from his nest." STEEVENS.

Craven was a term also applied to those who in appeals of battle became recreant, and by pronouncing this word, called for quarter from their opponents; the consequence of which was, that they for ever after were deemed infamous.

See Note on 'Tis Pity she's a Whore, in Reed's edition of Dodsley's Old Plays, vol. viii. p. 10.

A craven is a dunghill-cock, in opposition to one of the game-breed.

269. Am I not wise?

Yes; keep you warm.] So, in Beaumont and

Fletcher's Scornful Lady:

--your house has been kept warm, sir.

"I am glad to hear it; pray God, you are wise

Again, in our poet's Much Ado about Nothing:

-that if he has wit enough to keep himself STEEVENS.

warm.

275. -nill you,] So, in the Death of Robert Earl of Huntington, 1601:

"Will you or nill you, you must yet go in.” Again, in Damon and Pythias, 1582:

"Neede hath no law; will I, or nill I, it must be

281.

done."

STEEVENS.

-a wild Kate to a Kate·· Conformable,] Thus the folio, and the quarto

1631. The second folio reads―

-a wild Kat to a Kate, &c.

STEEVENS.

-a second Grissel; &c.] So, in the

299.

Fair Maid of Bristow, 1605, bl. let.

"I will become as mild and dutiful

"As ever Grissel was unto her lord,

"And for my constancy as Lucrece was.'

There is a play entered at Stationers-Hall, May 28, 1599, called, "The plaie of Patient Grissel." Bocaccio was the inventor of the story, and Chaucer copied in it his Clerke of Oxenforde's Tale. STEEVENS. 312. -kiss on kiss

She vy'd so fast] Vie and revye were terms at cards, now superseded by the more modern word, brag, Our author has in another place, “ time revyes us," which has been unnecessarily altered.

The