4. cousin. Olivia is Sir Toby's niece; but the word 'cousin' was used generally to cover any relationship except that of parents and children among themselves, e.g. As You Like It, i. 3. 44— "Ros. Me, uncle? You, cousin." 6. except before excepted. Sir Toby is always more or less drunk, hence his witticisms are sometimes very much beside the mark. This phrase appears to be wholly irrelevant, and merely the outcome of a hazy recollection of a legal phrase, suggested by the word 'exceptions'. Except before excepted' means 'with the exceptions before named', corresponding to the Latin form exceptis excipiendis. If we are to extract à meaning here, it would be ‘let her take exceptions, as before'. II. an, 'if'. See Glossary. 13. quaff, drink deep. See Glossary. 18. tall, 'valiant', a very common use. E.g. 1 Henry IV., i. 3. 62, "which many a good tall fellow had destroyed"; but it is generally used sarcastically. 20. ducat, a coin of Italian origin, the name coming from the 'duchies' where they were coined. 23. viol-de-gamboys, violoncello. So called because it was held between the legs. 24. speaks three or four languages. Cf. line 96. 26. natural. Maria plays upon Sir Toby's concluding words, and the use of 'natural''idiot'. 28. gust, taste. 31. substractors, a vinous malaprop for 'detractors . 33. coystrill, 'knave'. Used in the sixteenth century of the lowest class of camp-followers. It is connected with couteau, and means 'knife-man', and appears to be a degradation of coustillier, the groom who carried a poniard. Certain French banditti, however, went by the name of costeraux, and the two words may be associated in the later meaning of 'coystrill'. 38. parish top. "A large top was formerly kept in every village, to be whipped in frosty weather, that the peasants may be kept warm by exercise and out of mischief while they could not work' (Steevens). 39. Castiliano vulgo. We do not know whether this means anything or not- -probably not. Warburton, however, suggested that we should read volto='look grave like a Castilian'. 43. shrew, a woman with a sharp tongue. See Glossary. 45. accost, approach', 'draw alongside', as a preliminary to 'boarding' (line 60). The word occurs again at iii. 2. 23. 52. board: in continuation of the metaphor of an engagement between two ships. 63. Marry, 'by Mary'. 64. thought is free: an old proverbial expression, I can think what I like'. Which is as much as to say, 'Now I have you by the hand, I do think I have fools in hand'. 65. buttery-bar, the 'buttery' or provision room was so called not because of the butter stored there, but because of the bottles of ale and wine; being a corruption of botelerie. 67. dry: three senses of the word came into play, (1) dull, (2) thirsty, (3) literally, the reverse of moist. A damp hand was regarded as a sign of an amorous disposition, and Maria implies that Sir Andrew is not in love, since his hand is not a lover's hand. For (1) cf. i. 5. 45, "Go to, you're a dry fool". The clown then proceeds to play on the two senses again, 'give the dry fool drink, then is the fool not dry". 66 73. barren, barren-witted', since the jests are no longer at her fingers' ends. Cf. 5. 80, "I marvel your ladyship takes delight in such a barren rascal". Cf. the opposite use of 'pregnant', at ii. 2. 29. 74. canary, a kind of wine or 'sack' brewed in the Canary Islands: described in 2 Henry IV., ii. 4. 29, “a marvellous searching wine, and it perfumes the blood ere one can say, 'What's this?'" 79. eater of beef. The belief that character was materially affected by diet was generally prevalent. So in The Taming of the Shrew, iv. 3, Grumio discovers choleric' properties in one dish after another. For beef as a wit-destroyer, cf. Troilus, ii. I. 14, where Thersites calls Ajax a "mongrel beef-witted lord". 86. the arts include letters and polite studies generally. 87. The point of Sir Toby's jest lies in 'tongues' and 'tongs' being pronounced in the same way. By 'passing his time in the tongs' Sir Andrew would have made his hair curl. The foolish knight of course misses the point. 90. nature. Sir Toby is now carrying on his jest to the word arts', increasing Sir Andrew's confusion of mind. curl by nature is Theobald's emendation for the Ff. coole my nature. 93. I'll home. For the omission of the verb of motion cf. Julius Caesar, i. I. 74- "I'll about, And drive away the vulgar from the streets". 95. she'll none of me, 'She will have nothing to do with me'. Cf. 5. 321, and ii. 2. 13, "I'll none of it". 95. the count: Orsino appears as the 'Count' or the 'Duke', without distinction, throughout the play. There are other similar small slips and discrepancies, showing that Shakespeare did not revise with great care. 98. there's life in 't, i.e. it is too soon to despair. 102. kickshawses, 'trifles'. Kickshaws is properly the singular, the word being a corruption of quelque chose. Cf. 2 Henry IV., v. I. 29, Any pretty little tiny kickshaws". 105. an old man. Probably Sir Andrew did not know what he meant himself, but had a vague feeling that the qualification was creditable to his courtesy, and freed him from the charge of boasting. Its inanity is much more in character than Warburton's elaborate explanation that it is a satire on the way in which old men uphold the merits of the past generation. Theobald wished to substitute a nobleman. 106. galliard, a dance involving agility. Fr. gaillard, described by Sir John Davies as being danced with lofty turnes and caprioles in the air". 107. caper in the sense of a jump is from Lat. caper, ‘a goat'. 109. backtrick, no doubt the technical name for a particular caper'. 113. Mrs. Mall's picture. The point of this allusion has been lost. There was a certain Mary Frith, known as 'Mall Cutpurse', who became very notorious a few years after this play was written, and who was the heroine of The Roaring Girl, a play by Middleton and Dekker; but she can hardly have become famous by this time, though no doubt there were pictures of her made later, which the owners would not have displayed to the public eye. It must be remembered, however, that though the play was written in 1601, the earliest edition known is that of 1623; and a topical allusion may easily have been inserted in the interval. Hanging a curtain before a picture seems to have been a common custom. So Olivia, at 5. 251: "We will draw the curtain and show you the picture". 114. coranto, another dance requiring great activity. 117. under the star of a galliard, ‘a star favourable to dancing'. It was a common belief that the conjunction of planets under which a man was born influenced his physical and mental constitution as well as his character and his destiny. So he who is born under Jupiter is of a 'jovial' temperament, he who is born under Mercury is mercurial'. Astrological references are common throughout Shakespeare, and abound in this play. Cf. 4. 35, ii. 1. 3, &c. 118. indifferent well, fairly well. indifferent red". So 5. 265, "item, two lips, 119. flame-coloured: Ff. dam'd coloured. The emendation is Pope's, but the only thing that we can be sure of is that some striking colour was meant. Phelps proposed damson-coloured, which is perhaps the likeliest correction. 119. stock, stocking'. Cf. Taming of the Shrew, iii. 2. 67, "With a linen stock on one leg, and a kersey boot hose on the other", 121. Taurus. See note, supra, 117. Chaucer agrees with neither Sir Toby nor Sir Andrew, but attributes the neck and throat to the 'governance' of Taurus. Scene 4. Viola has carried out her intention of taking service with Orsino as a page, and has assumed the name of Cesario. 4. humour; either (1) 'disposition' generally or (2) 'fickleness '. For (1) cf. 2 Henry IV., ii. 4. 256, "What humour is the prince of?" For (2) cf. Merchant, iv. I. 43— You'll ask me why I rather choose to have The bodily health and disposition were supposed to be dependent on the proper admixture of the four 'humours', viz. blood, phlegm, choler, and melancholy, which corresponded to the four elements'. A humorous' person was one in whom the admixture did not consist of the right proportions. 6. that'seeing that'. 12. but 'than'. Cf. See note on i. I. 10. Midsummer Night's Dream, i. 2. 83, They would have no more discretion but to hang us". 13. unclasp'd...the book. Steevens quotes 1 Henry IV., i. 3. 188, "And now I will unclasp a secret book ". 15. access. Observe that the accent is on the second syllable. So always in Shakespeare, except Hamlet, ii. 1. 110, "I did repel his letters, and denied his access to me". Many words were accented differently in Shakespeare's day and at the present time. See Appendix B, § 6. I. 19. as it is spoke, as it is said '. Cf. Macbeth, iv. 3. 154– "And 't is spoken, To the succeeding royalty he leaves 19. spoke. When the past participle terminated in -en (as in 'taken', 'spoken', 'shaken'), the general tendency to dropping inflexional terminations often led to the substitution of the form of the past tense (‘took', ‘spoke', 'shook'). Cf. 5. 120, “Thou hast spoke for us, madonna"; 282, "He might have took his answer long ago", &c. So also we have 'writ' and 'forgot'. Sh. Gr. § 343. 20. civil bounds, 'bounds of civility'. See Glossary, 'bound'. 27. aspect: accented on the second syllable. Cf. Merchant, ii. I. 8 "I tell thee, lady, this aspect of mine Hath feared the valiant". Cf. note on access, line 15, and Appendix B, § 6 (i.). 29. yet, for some time to come'. 31. rubious, 'ruby-red'. 31. pipe, 'voice'. The word does not occur elsewhere. 32. sound, i.e. 'not yet cracked'. 33. semblative, 'resembling': not found elsewhere. 33. a woman's part, i.e. like that of one who acts a woman's part in a play. At this time the women's parts were always taken by boys. There is a story of a delay occurring during the performance of Romeo and Juliet, because the heroine was being shaved. 34. thy constellation. 34. apt, 'well-fitted'. Cf. note on 3. 142. ་ 38, 39. 'And thou shalt live as free to call thy lord's fortunes thine as he to call them his', i.e. Thou shalt share thy lord's fortunes'. 40. barful, 'full of impediments'. Scene 5. The clown, or jester, in attendance in great houses, is a familiar figure, taking a leading part in As You Like It, and in Lear. Here, however, he has neither the philosophy of Touchstone nor the pathos of the fool in Lear. 2. so wide as a bristle may; 'that' after 'as' is omitted; so frequently, just as the converse omission of 'so', &c., before 'that' is common. See Sh. Gr. 307. 5. fear no colours. Feste we learn from ii. 4. II, that this was his name is playing upon 'colours' and 'collars', as 'dolours' and 'dollars' are played upon in the Tempest, ii. 1. 18. To fear no colours' is a soldier's expression for 'fear no one, under whatever colours he fights', while he who has worn a hempen cravat need fear no collar. 8. lenten, 'lean', 'dry' (Johnson); 'short', like the 'short commons' of the season of fasting (Steevens). 15. absent; or, to be turned away, is. The construction, if this punctuation be adopted, is simple. The Ff. read absent, or to be turned away: is. If this be retained, I suppose that 'will be' is again supplied = 'you will be to be turned away'. 17. Many a good hanging, &c. Montaigne has two stories of a Picard and a Dane, who were going to be executed, and were each offered a reprieve on condition of marrying a girl who in one case was lame and in the other plain. In each case the offer was declined. The stories may have been common property, but Florio's translation of Montaigne was not published till after this play was produced. A somewhat similar tale is told in Browning's "Muckle-mouthed Meg", |