imbrue stain (with blood)
174 death…asleep quotation from a song attributed to Anne Boleyn, written as she awaited execution
abridge shorten
176 Untwined unravel, spin out (like the thread of a person’s life, spun by the Fates)
Sisters Three Fates of classical mythology
Atropos one of the Fates, who cut the thread of life after her sisters, Clotho and Lachesis, spun and unwound it
177 toward coming up, imminent
178 rapier lightweight sword
181 forswear reject, give up
keeping house inn-keeping
182 tirrits fits of fear, upsets
183 put…weapons sheathe, or hold back your swords (plays on the sense of “get an erection with your bare penises”)
188 shrewd vicious, dangerous
192 brave challenge, defy
195 chops fat cheeks
196 Hector of Troy leader of the Trojan army, known for his valiant and honorable nature
Agamemnon leader of the Greek army when it opposed the Trojans
197 Nine Worthies historical figures embodying the ideals of chivalry: three Jews (Joshua, David, and Judas Maccabaeus), three pagans (Hector of Troy, Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar), and three Christians (Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon)
198 toss…blanket proverbial punishment for cowards
200 canvass…sheets i.e. have sex with you
canvass toss
204 quicksilver mercury, i.e. rapidly
205 like a church unclear; perhaps “slowly, in a stately manner/not at all”
206 tidy fat, healthy
Bartholomew boar-pig pig roasts were traditional at London’s St. Bartholomew’s fair (24 August)
207 foining thrusting (with a sword; sexual connotations)
209 death’s-head skull used as a memento mori, a reminder of the inevitability of death
211 humour disposition
213 pantler servant in charge of the pantry
chipped bread cut away the hard crusts
216 Tewkesbury mustard creamy mustard blended with horseradish, produced in the West Country town of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire
conceit wit, understanding, imagination
219 legs…bigness i.e. they’re the same type (vain, fashion-conscious); men were judged by the shapeliness of their legs
of a the same
220 quoits game in which a metal ring was thrown at a peg fixed in the ground
conger and fennel conger eel seasoned with fennel, difficult to digest
221 drinks…flap-dragons plays a drinking game in which one must drink liquor with burning objects (in this case candles’ ends) floating in it flap-dragons raisins that had to be plucked from burning brandy and swallowed
rides the wild-mare plays a game similar to leapfrog in which players land on rather than jump over others (mare plays on the sense of “whore”)
222 jumps upon joint-stools i.e. indulges in high spirits
joint-stools low stools made by a joiner
223 smooth close-fitting (to show off his legs)
224 sign of the leg sign over a bootmaker’s shop
breeds no bate causes no dissent, rouses no disagreement
discreet cautious, prudent (i.e. dull)
225 gambol playful
226 admits receives, socializes with
227 such another the same type
228 avoirdupois weight
229 nave of a wheel wheel hub (puns on “knave” and on Falstaff’s rotundity)
230 ears cut off the punishment for slandering royalty
232 elder elder tree/old man
poll…parrot Doll is ruffling his hair
poll head (plays on popular name for a parrot)
237 Saturn and Venus planets thought to govern old age and love respectively
238 in conjunction together in the heavens (plays on the sense of “in sexual union”)
almanac astrological calendar
239 fiery Trigon i.e. red-faced Bardolph; signs of the zodiac were divided into four groups of three (trigons), the fiery set consisting of Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius
240 lisping whispering/talking in a loving voice
tables…counsel-keeper i.e. Mistress Quickly
tables notebook (for recording secret assignations)
242 busses kisses
248 stuff material
kirtle gown
253 handsome smartly, respectably
254 hearken the end judge by the outcome (whether I’m faithful or not), wait and see
256 Anon coming, right away
258 Poins his Poins’
259 continents parts of the world/contents
268 compound composition, piece
269 light loose, immoral (refers to Doll)
272 take…heat do not act now
273 candle-mine source of animal fat for making candles
274 honest chaste
279 knew recognized
284 wilful abuse deliberate slander
299 close unite, agree
wicked mocking the language of Puritan zealots
301 burns…nose another reference to Bardolph’s alcoholically red face
302 dead elm rotten old tree; the elm tree was traditionally used to support vines, and to make coffins
303 pricked marked
304 Lucifer’s privy-kitchen i.e. hell
305 malt-worms drunkards
306 outbids i.e is more influential than
308 hell…burns i.e. has syphilis, with which she infects others
309 owe…that Puritans considered moneylending sinful
312 quit acquitted, forgiven/paid back
314 suffering permitting
flesh…eaten i.e. meat to be eaten during Lent (when it was forbidden)/prostitution to take place
315 howl be punished/be damned
316 victuallers innkeepers
mutton sheep/prostitute
319 grace title for a prince/honor, virtue
320 says…against i.e. the polite title gentlewoman is one that the prince (or his sexual impulse) knows instinctively to be misapplied to a loose woman like Doll
325 Westminster location of the royal court in London
326 posts messengers
329 Bare-headed a sign of haste; it was customary to cover the head
333 commotion insurrection
south south wind, thought to carry disease and storms
334 Borne…vapour carried along with dark clouds
337 morsel part/sexual tidbit
338 unpicked untasted
340 presently at once
341 stay wait
346 post posthaste, immediately
350 known perhaps with sexual connotations
351 peascod-time the time when peas ripen in the pod (plays on sense of “testicle time”)
9 cribs hovels
10 pallets straw mattresses
13 state splendor
15 vile mean, wretched, lowborn
17 watch-case ticking watch in a case/sentry box
common ’larum-bell public alarm bell, rung by a night watchman in an emergency
20 rude imperious surge rough, overwhelming swell of the sea
21 visitation violent, destructive force
22 ruffian billows rough waves
24 slipp’ry rapidly passing/unable to be grasped
25 That so that
hurly tumult, uproar
26 partial unfair, biased/sympathetic
27 rude rough, dangerous
29 to boot besides
30 happy low fortunate humble men
32 morrows mornings
39 foul diseased, polluted
rank festering, gross, abundant
41 distempered out of sorts
43 little a little
44 cooled calm down, regain equilibrium
46 revolution change, movement
47 continent dry land
50 beach
y…ocean i.e. seashore, imaged as a belt
51 Neptune Roman god of the sea
chance’s mocks mockeries of fortune
53 divers various/unfavorable
54 Richard Richard II
57 This Percy i.e. Northumberland
59 under my foot at my service
60 eyes i.e. face
62 Neville in fact, Warwick’s name is Richard de Beauchamp, although the Earl of Warwick in 3 Henry VI is Richard Neville
64 rated berated
66 ‘Northumberland…throne’ for these and the other lines the king recalls, see Richard II, Act 5 Scene 1
72 head to a head (of a boil, with play on the sense of “insurrection/army”)
73 corruption pus (plays on the sense of “sin, destruction”)
74 same current
77 Figuring reproducing, depicting
deceased past, gone by
79 near aim accurate guess
main chance likely outcome
81 intreasurèd safely stored
82 hatch and brood outcome and offspring
83 necessary form inevitable pattern
85 false disloyal
91 cries out on denounces/calls for attention from
101 A certain instance secure evidence
Glendower leader of the Welsh rebels
103 unseasoned late, unseasonable
perforce of necessity
106 inward civil
out of hand over and done with
107 would wish to go
3.2 Location: Gloucestershire, west England (the home of Shallow—though Falstaff is supposed to be going from London to York and this would not be on his way) Shallow and Silence both Justices of the Peace (magistrates); Silence (from Lincolnshire?) appears to be visiting his kinsman Mouldy…Bullcalf army recruits (Folio groups their entrance at the beginning of the scene, but they could come on individually when their names are called from the roll)
2 rood (Christ’s) cross
5 bedfellow i.e. wife
7 black of dark hair and/or complexion (considered less attractive than fair hair and skin)
ouzel blackbird
8 By…nay a mild oath
9 Oxford Oxford University, sixty miles northwest of London
11 Inns of Court in London where young men trained for the legal profession
12 Clement’s Inn one of the Inns of Chancery, a step below the Inns of Court
14 lusty lively/lustful
16 roundly to the full
17 Doit an appropriate name for a
little man; a doit is a small coin of little value
18 Pickbone a name suggestive of greed
Squele suggests an excitable man, or one with a shrill, high-pitched voice
Cotswold the Cotswolds are a range of hills in Gloucestershire
19 swinge-bucklers swashbucklers, swaggerers
20 bona-robas attractive whores
27 Scoggin’s John Scoggin was court jester to Edward IV
court-gate palace gates
crack lively lad (picks up on the language of breaking)
Sampson Stockfish ironic combination of names: Sampson is a biblical hero and stockfish is dried cod (used to suggest physical weakness and an impotent penis)
Gray’s Inn one of the Inns of Court
34 How what price is
yoke of bullocks pair of young bulls
35 Stamford town in Lincolnshire famous for horse and cattle fairs; some editors suspect that this scene is in fact located near Stamford, a more logical stopping place for Falstaff as he travels from London to York, but Shakespeare was often careless of geographical realism
40 drew…bow was a good archer
41 John of Gaunt Henry IV’s father; he dies in Richard II
43 clapped … clout hit the target
clout square of cloth marking the center
43 twelvescore i.e. 240 yards (twelve times twenty)
forehand shaft arrow shot directly, without the usual curved trajectory employed when shooting at distance
44 fourteen…half i.e. 280–90 yards
45 score twenty
ewes female sheep
46 Thereafter…be depending on their quality
51 beseech seek to know
52 esquire one ranking just below a knight
53 justices of the peace local magistrates
56 tall brave
57 backsword fencing weapon with a protective basketwork hilt
60 accommodated equipped (a fashionable word unfamiliar to the provincial Shallow)
65 accommodo Shallow considers the word’s Latin origin
66 phrase the term could refer to a single word
74 just true
79 Surecard the name means “one certain of success”
80 in commission authorized to act as a magistrate
83 of the peace a magistrate/silent
86 sufficient competent
95 friends family
102 Prick mark down on the list
103 pricked vexed/sour, moldy (plays on the sense of “equipped with a penis”)
104 dame wife (possibly mother, but the sexual punning makes a wife seem more likely)
undone at a loss
105 do her husbandry undertake agricultural or household work/perform the sexual role of a husband
drudgery domestic/sexual labor
108 spent used up, consumed (plays on the sense of “sexually exhausted after orgasm”)
111 other others, rest
114 cold cool (like shade)/cowardly
117 son puns on “sun”
120 shadow reflection, image
65 accommodo Shallow considers the word’s Latin origin
123 serve do, suffice/perform military service
124 shadows names of dead or imaginary men, a ruse to enable the captain of the regiment to claim their pay
muster military recruitment
130 ragged rough/tattered (may pun on “ragwort,” a plant thought to be an aphrodisiac)
132apparel…pins suggesting his clothes are held together by pins, or that his physical frame is poorly put together
(pins plays on the sense of “legs”)
139 tailor the profession had a reputation for effeminacy as well as for lechery (“tail” plays on the sense of “sexual organs,” thus leading to renewed sexual play on prick in the following lines)
142 pricked clothed/stabbed with a pin/penetrated sexually
143 battle army
144 good will best (will plays on the sense of “penis”)
148 well…deep i.e. firmly (with continued sexual play)
151 go plays on the sense of “have sex”
put him to enlist him as
152 thousands i.e. vermin/lice
157 green i.e. village green
160 likely promising
161 again in response
167 ringing…affairs church bell ringing on behalf of the king
coronation day i.e. anniversary of the coronation
168 gown dressing gown/nightgown
169 take such order issue instructions, arrange
170 ring for thee ring the bells instead of you/for your funeral
171 two…four Shallow counts six but we see only five
174 tarry stay for
177 Windmill probably the name of a brothel, perhaps a tavern
St George’s Field area between Southwark and Lambeth, south of the River Thames; known for prostitution
180 Nightwork her surname suggests her occupation as a prostitute
183 away with endure, get on with
186 bona-roba whore
198 watch-word code word, password/drinking cry
201 Corporate malapropism for “Corporal”
stand act as
202 Harry ten shillings shillings from the reign of Henry VII, subsequently worth only half their original value
203 lief willingly
206 friends family
208 Go to i.e. very well, off you go
212 forty i.e. shillings
215 so so be it
217 quit free
229 service military/domestic/sexual service
230 come unto it reach manhood
232 likeliest ablest
234 thews physique, strength
235 assemblance appearance, frame, composition
237 charge…you load and fire
238 pewterer’s hammer pewter was hammered out with rapid actions
come off and on advance and retreat/lower and raise (the gun)/stay still and act
239 gibbets…bucket slightly unclear meaning; perhaps hangs on, carries, balances the beam (bucket) from which the brewer’s buckets are suspended
half-faced thin
240 mark target
241 aim chance of hitting the target
level aim
243 spare men thin/surplus to requirement
244 caliver light musket
246 traverse march/take aim
247 manage me handle skillfully
249 chopped chapped, i.e. dried up
shot marksman (possible play on sense of “animal left over after the best of the herd have been selected”)
said done
250 scab rascal (plays on his name)
tester sixpence
252 Mile-End Green East London drill ground for citizen soldiers; now Stepney Green
253 Sir…show refers to a display of archery on Mile-End Green in which participants took the names of King Arthur’s knights of the Round Table; Shallow played Arthur’s fool
254 quiver nimble (plays on sense of “case for arrows”)
manage ’ he come i.e. was quick and skillful at firing, then retreating to the rear rank of musketeers in order to reload before advancing to fire once more; “
Ra, ta, ta” is the noise of reloading and “
Bounce” that of the shot
261 must i.e. must go
265 Peradventure perhaps
267 would wish
268 have…word meant what I said
269 gentle noble
271 fetch off trick, get the better of
273 prate chatter
275 Turnbull Street in Clerkenwell, London; known haunt of thieves and prostitutes
duer more punctually
276 Turk’s tribute regular tribute money due the sultan; failure to pay was punishable by death
277 man…cheese-paring figure of a man carved idly out of the rind of cheese
280 forlorn pitiful, meager
281 thick dull, weak
invincible impossible to make out; some editors emend to “invisible”
genius spirit
282 rearward rear
283 Vice’s dagger thin, insubstantial wooden dagger used by the Vice character in morality plays