ElizabethanDrama.org

presents

the Annotated Popular Edition of

FRIAR BACON and FRIAR BUNGAY

by Robert Greene

c. 1590

Featuring complete and easy-to-read annotations.

Annotations and notes © Copyright ElizabethanDrama.org, 2018
This annotated play may be freely copied and distributed.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE	INTRODUCTION to the PLAY
King Henry The Third.	Robert Greene's Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay may be
Edward, Prince Of Wales, his Son.	thought of as a companion-play to Christopher Marlowe's
Ralph Simnell, The King’s Fool.	Doctor Faustus: the protagonist in each drama is a sorcerer
Lacy, Earl Of Lincoln.	who conjures devils and impresses audiences with great
Warren, Earl Of Sussex.	feats of magic. Friar Bacon is, however, a superior and
Ermsby, a Gentleman.	much more interesting play, containing as it does the
	secondary plot of Prince Edward and his pursuit of the fair
Friar Bacon.	maiden Margaret. Look out also for the appearance of one
Miles, Friar Bacon’s Poor Scholar.	of Elizabethan drama's most famous stage props, the giant
Friar Bungay.	talking brass head.
Emperor of Germany.	OUR PLAY'S SOURCE
King of Castile.
Princess Elinor, Daughter to the King of Castile.	The text of the play is adapted primarily from the 1876
Jaques Vandermast, A German Magician.	edition of Greene's plays edited by Alexander Dyce, but in
	some cases I reinstated the language of the original 1594
Doctors of Oxford:	quarto which Dyce, generally a very careful editor, changed.
Burden.
Mason.	NOTES ON THE ANNOTATIONS
Clement.
	Mentions made in the annotations of Dyce, Ward,
Lambert, a Gentleman.	Collins, Seltzer and Nimmo refer to the commentary of these
1st Scholar, Lambert's Son.	scholars in their editions of our play. Mention of Sugden
Serlsby, a Gentleman.	refers to the entries in his valuable Topographical
2nd Scholar, Serlsby's Son.	Dictionary.
	The most commonly cited sources are listed in the
Keeper.	footnotes immediately below. The complete list of footnotes
Margaret, the Keeper’s Daughter.	appears at the end of this play.
Thomas, a Clown.	Footnotes in the text correspond as follows:
Richard, a Clown.	1. Oxford English Dictionary (OED) online.
Hostess of The Bell at Henley	2. Crystal, David and Ben. Shakespeare's Words.
Joan, a Country Wench.	London; New York: Penguin, 2002.
	3. Dyce, Alexander. The Works of Christopher Marlowe.
Constable.	London: George Routledge and Sons, 1876.
A Post.	4. Ward, Adolphus William, ed. Old English Dramas,
	Select Plays. Oxford: The Clarendon press, 1892.
Spirit in the shape of Hercules.	5. Collins, J. Churton. The Plays and Poems of Robert
A Devil.	Greene. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1905.
	6. Seltzer, Daniel. Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay.
Lords, Clowns, etc.	Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1963.
	7. Nimmo, William P. The Works of the British
	Dramatists. Edinburgh: Murray and Gibb, 1870.
	8. Dickinson, Thomas H. Robert Greene. London: T.
	Fisher Unwin, 1909?.
	9. Sugden, Edward. A Topographical Dictionary to
	the Works of Shakespeare and His Fellow Dramatists.
	Manchester: The University Press, 1925.
	15. Henke, James T. Courtesans and Cuckolds. New
	York: Garland Publishing, 1979.

A. Greene's Source For the Play.

Greene's source for the Friar Bacon plotline was a storybook written sometime in the late 16th century, The Famous History of the Learned Friar Bacon. This fable includes most of the major elements appearing in our play relating to Bacon's magic and household, including his contest with the German magician Vandermast, his servant Miles, and the famous Brazen (brass) Head.

This source is referred to simply as the History in the annotations.

B. The Real Friar Bacon

Roger Bacon (1214?-1294) was a real English philosopher, cleric and writer. A great student of science and knowledge, Bacon studied at Oxford, then relocated to Paris, where tradition has it that he taught at the university. He returned to England and Oxford as a resident scholar from 1250; at some point he ran into trouble with the monks of the Franciscan order, which he is surmised to have joined somewhere along the line (hence the appellation Friar Bacon), though details are lacking. The Franciscans sent him back to Paris in 1257, and he was kept under restraint for a decade, unable to work or even write. The appointment of Clement IV, who seems to have held in Bacon in favour, as pope in 1265 allowed Bacon to escape his restrictions; he returned to Oxford in 1268.

Bacon went on to write extensively, eventually completing an encyclopedic summary of all the knowledge of the 13th century. From 1278 Bacon once again entered a period of confinement, condemned by the Franciscans for some of his writings which criticized the church, yet the exact length of his imprisonment is unclear. After his release, he returned yet again to Oxford, where he was believed to have died in about 1294.

During his career, Bacon was believed to have dabbled in alchemy, and perhaps even the black arts, and it was in these fields that his reputation grew, unfortunately overshadowing, really occluding completely, his contributions to knowledge and science for several centuries.

A student of Aristotle, Roger Bacon was one of the earliest European proponents of experimental research. His writings are also notable for including detailed descriptions for the production of gunpowder, and fanciful proposals for the development of motorized vehicles and flying machines.³⁸

The information in the first three paragraphs of this article was adapted from the Encyclopedia Britannica of 1911 and the Dictionary of National Biography, published 1885-1900.

	THE HONOURABLE HISTORY
	of FRIAR BACON and FRIAR BUNGAY
	by Robert Greene
	c. 1590
	SCENE I.
	Near Framlingham.	The Scene: the town of Framlingham, located 87 miles north-east of London, is in the county of Suffolk; the original edition of Friar Bacon wrote the name as Fremingham. Note that the earliest editions did not include scene locations; I have adopted those suggested by Ward. Friar Bacon was not divided into Acts; I have kept the traditional division of the play into 16 scenes.
	Enter Prince Edward, malcontented, with Lacy, Warren, Ermsby and Ralph Simnell.	Entering Characters: Prince Edward (c.1239-1307) is the Prince of Wales, the eldest son and heir to Henry III of England. Lacy and Warren are the Earls of Lincoln and Sussex respectively, Ermsby is a gentleman, and Ralph Simnell is the royal family's jester.
1	Lacy. Why looks my lord like to a troubled sky	1ff: the earls, with Ermsby, speak apart, as the clearly unhappy Edward broods alone. like to = like.
2	When Heaven's bright shine is shadowed with a fog?	2: ie. "such as when the brightness of the sky or sun is obscured (shadowed) by fog?"
	Alate we ran the deer, and through the lawnds	3-5: "we just (alate) hunted deer, and across the clearings
4	Stripped with our nags the lofty frolic bucks	(lawnds) outran (stripped) with our horses the proud
	That scudded 'fore the teasers like the wind:	(lofty) and playful (frolic) bucks that ran swiftly (scudded) in front of the hunting hounds (teasers, or teisers) like the wind."^1
6	Ne'er was the deer of merry Fressingfield	6: Ne'er was = "never before were". merry Fressingfield = Fressingfield is a village in the county of Suffolk in the East of England, situated nine miles north of Framlingham and about a dozen miles from the North Sea. The adjective merry means simply "pleasant". Greene uses the phrase merry Fressingfield nine times in our play.
	So lustily pulled down by jolly mates,	7: "so agreeably or vigorously successfully hunted (pulled down) by such high-spirited companions".
8	Nor shared the farmers such fat venison,	8: the royal hunters turned over their game to the local population; the ban on hunting in royal forests by parties not sanctioned by the king was strictly enforced, though penalties for violators tended to be in the nature of fines rather than physical punishment.^37
	So frankly dealt, this hundred years before;	9: "so generously (frankly)^1 bestowed, not for the last hundred years."
10	Nor have
	I seen my lord more frolic in the chase,	= joyful. = a hunt.
12	And now changed to a melancholy dump.	= state of low feelings or depression.
14	Warr. After the prince got to the Keeper's lodge,	= the Keeper refers to the gamekeeper of the royal forest.
	And had been jocund in the house awhile,	= cheerful. = ie. the Keeper's lodge.
16	Tossing off ale and milk in country cans,	= heartily drinking.^1 = from rustic drinking vessels.
	Whether it was the country's sweet content,	17-20: Warren speculates as to the reason for the prince's gloomy mood. country's sweet content = a feeling of pleasing satisfaction from being in the country.
18	Or else the bonny damsel filled us drink	= beautiful.^1 = ie. who poured or served.
	That seemed so stately in her stammel red,	= dignified.^1 = red-dyed clothes; stammel originally referred to a coarse cloth of wool,^1 but came to be synonymous with the colour red, so stammel red is technically redundant.^5
20	Or that a qualm did cross his stomach then,	= nausea.
	But straight he fell into his passiöns.	= immediately. = affliction.^1
22
	Erms. Sirrah Ralph, what say you to your master,	23-24: Ermsby addresses the prince's jester, Ralph; sirrah
24	Shall he thus all amort live malcontent?	was a common term of address towards one's inferiors. Ermsby is a fictional creation: in fact, the name itself seems not to appear anywhere else in early English letters. Our Ermsby is a gentleman, a rank or status situated immediately below that of noble. amort (line 24) = dejected.^3
26	Ralph. Hearest thou, Ned? − Nay, look if he will	26: Ralph addresses Edward, calling him Ned. When the
	speak to me!	prince does not respond, Ralph turns and speaks to the
28		nobles. 26ff: as the king's jester, Ralph has a great deal of license to speak and say things to the prince (and by extension to his companions) that no other individual could get away with, including calling him Ned (a nickname for Edward, formed by the abbreviation of the affectionate appellation "mine Edward"), addressing him with the informal thou and the familiar sirrah, and generally presuming to tease Edward as he pleases. Note that Ralph only speaks in prose; in Elizabethan drama, fools are usually denied the dignity of speaking in iambic pentameter. In the original editions, Ralph was written as Raphe, based on its pronunciation; but later editors generally employ Ralph.
	Pr. Edw. What say'st thou to me, fool?
30
	Ralph. I prithee, tell me, Ned, art thou in love with	= alternate form of "I pray thee", ie. "please".
32	the Keeper's daughter?
34	Pr. Edw. How if I be, what then?
36	Ralph. Why, then, sirrah, I'll teach thee how to
	deceive Love.	= Love is personified; one can conceive of Love as Cupid,
38		the boy-god who causes others to fall in love.
	Pr. Edw. How, Ralph?
40
	Ralph. Marry, Sirrah Ned, thou shall put on my cap	41: Marry = a common oath, used frequently in our play,
42	and my coat and my dagger, and I will put on thy	particularly by Ralph and Friar Bacon's servant Miles.
	clothes and thy sword; and so thou shalt be my fool.	41-42: my cap and my coat = a jester's outfit usually
44		included an outlandish cap (called a fool's-cap), sometimes adorned with bells, and multi-coloured outerwear. my dagger (line 42) = a jester also sometimes carried a wooden sword or dagger.
	Pr. Edw. And what of this?
46
	Ralph. Why, so thou shalt beguile Love; for Love is	= in this way. = deceive.
48	such a proud scab, that he will never meddle with	48: scab = scoundrel.^2
	fools nor children. Is not Ralph's counsel good, Ned?	48-49: he will…children = by dressing as Ralph, Edward can avoid the attention of Love, who never condescends to bother with fools and children.
50
	Pr. Edw. Tell me, Ned Lacy, didst thou mark the maid,	51: Ned Lacy = while the Lacy clan held the earlship of Lincoln during Henry III's reign, none of the earls was named Edward. We many note it was rather unusual for a dramatist to give two principal characters the same first name. mark = observe, notice.
52	How lovely in her country weeds she looked?	52: lovely = originally written as lively, but the editors generally are favourable to Dyce's emendation to lovely. weeds = clothing, apparel.
	A bonnier wench all Suffolk cannot yield: −	= more attractive or splendid gal. = Suffolk county, as
54	All Suffolk! nay, all England holds none such.	we have noted, is the county in which Fressingfield and
		Framlingham are situated.
56	Ralph. Sirrah Will Ermsby, Ned is deceived.
58	Erms. Why, Ralph?
60	Ralph. He says all England hath no such, and I
	say, and I'll stand to it, there is one better in	= ie. "stand by my position".
62	Warwickshire.	= another English county, located in central-England, due
		west of Suffolk.
64	Warren. How provest thou that, Ralph?
66	Ralph. Why, is not the abbot a learned man, and	= ie. the abbot of Warwickshire, but no particular individual has been identified.
	hath read many books, and thinkest thou he hath not	67-68: thinkest…wench = on its face, "do you think the
68	more learning than thou to choose a bonny wench?	abbot, with his education, is not more qualified to identify a beautiful woman?", but this seems a rather lame interpretation. Seltzer persuasively argues the line is ruder, suggesting "don't you think the abbot, being more educated than you, is in proportion therefore more lecherous than you are?"
	Yes, warrant I thee, by his whole grammar.	69: warrant I thee = "I assure you".
70		by his whole grammar = "by his education", ie. "I swear on his education"; Ralph means this as an oath, by having the same generic meaning as "I swear on (something)". In the 14th century, the word grammar applied specifically to Latin grammar; as an educated man and cleric, the abbot would be well versed in Latin. James Henke, in his Courtesans and Cuckolds, sees a bawdy pun in this line between whole and hole (a woman's privates); the rest we leave to you.^15
	Erms. A good reason, Ralph.
72
	Pr. Edw. I tell thee, Lacy, that her sparkling eyes
74	Do lighten forth sweet love's alluring fire;	= emit or flash out, like lightning.^2
	And in her tresses she doth fold the looks	= locks. = hide, envelop.
76	Of such as gaze upon her golden hair:	= the sense is "those who".
	Her bashful white, mixed with the morning's red,	77: Her bashful white = an allusion to Margaret's pale skin, a tone which was considered the epitome of beauty in this era. the morning's red = the ruddy colour of the dawn. The colours red and white were frequently paired in describing a woman's beauty: in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, for example, we find "'Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white / Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on."
78	Luna doth boast upon her lovely cheeks;	= ie. "the moon proudly displays or reflects".
	Her front is beauty's table, where she paints	= face. = canvas.^2 = ie. personified Beauty.
80	The glories of her gorgeous excellence.
	Her teeth are shelves of precious margarites,	= (like) underwater ledges or banks. = pearls.^1
82	Richly enclosed with ruddy coral cleeves.	= cliffs of red coral, ie. her lips.
	Tush, Lacy, she is beauty's over-match,	= she is superior to Beauty in beauty.
84	If thou survey'st her curious imagery.	= inspects or carefully observes. = skilfully wrought form.
86	Lacy. I grant, my lord, the damsel is as fair
	As simple Suffolk's homely towns can yield.	= humble.^2
88	But in the court be quainter dames than she,	= there are. = more elegant or courtly.^1,4
	Whose faces are enriched with honour's taint,	89: "whose faces are made richer with the hue (taint, ie. tint) of noble rank".
90	Whose beauties stand upon the stage of fame,	90: the beauty of these women is known far and wide; a nice metaphor describing these attractive women as appearing on stage, as in a theatre, where they can be seen and appreciated by all.
	And vaunt their trophies in the courts of love.	91: and brag about their amorous conquests. courts of love = legendary tribunals said to have existed in France in the Middle Ages, in which "lords and ladies" decided issues of "love and gallantry" (OED, court, n1, IV.11.e).
92
	Pr. Edw. Ah, Ned, but hadst thou watch'd her as myself,	= "as I did".
94	And seen the secret beauties of the maid,	= Ward suggests Edward is referring simply to Margaret's "domestic charms"; Seltzer suggests a rather more mysterious "less obvious charms".
	Their courtly coyness were but foolery.	95: Edward dismisses the ladies of the court, critically
96		describing the manner in which they feign modesty as foolish behaviour (or more specifically, "empty pretense" (Ward) or "flirtation" (Seltzer), as compared to the elegant shyness of Margaret.
	Erms. Why, how watched you her, my lord?
98
	Pr. Edw. Whenas she swept like Venus through the house,	= when. = moved in a stately manner.^1 = the goddess of beauty.
100	And in her shape fast folded up my thoughts,	100: "and I became absorbed in thinking about her good looks".
	Into the milk-house went I with the maid,	= dairy, store-room for milk.^1
102	And there amongst the cream-bowls she did shine
	As Pallas 'mongst her princely huswifery:	103: Margaret is compared to the goddess Athena or Minerva (Pallas being an alternative epithet), who was credited with the invention of every type of domestic work usually done by women, including the distinctively feminine arts of weaving and spinning.^10 huswifery = household stuffs.^1
104	She turned her smock over her lily arms,	104: smock = a term applied generally to a woman's undergarment, but the sense here seems to be "apron". lily = pale white.
	And dived them into milk to run her cheese;	105: ie. "and plunged her hands into the milk, in order to curdle (run) it into cheese.^1
106	But whiter than the milk her crystal skin,	106: Edward is obsessed with the whiteness of Margaret's skin!
	Checkèd with lines of azure, made her blush	107: Checked with lines of azure = imbued with blue colour
108	That art or nature durst bring for compare.	by her veins. 107-8: made her blush…compare = would make any other woman whom either human skill or nature could come up with blush for shame to be compared to her.^3
	Ermsby,
110	If thou hadst seen, as I did note it well,
	How beauty played the huswife, how this girl,
112	Like Lucrece, laid her fingers to the work,	112: Lucrece, or Lucretia, was a famously virtuous Roman matron; one night, a small group of men, which included Lucretia's husband Lucius Collatinus and the sons of the Roman king Tarquinius, argued about whose wife possessed the most virtue; deciding to settle the question immediately, they rode from their military camp and went to surprise their wives to see what they were doing in the middle of the night; while the king's sons found their wives feasting, Lucius found his wife Lucretia spinning with her maids, thus winning the bet. Edward is therefore comparing Margaret's virtuous domestic qualities with Lucretia's.
	Thou wouldst, with Tarquin, hazard Rome and all	113: Sextus Tarquinius, the son of Tarquinius Superbus
114	To win the lovely maid of Fressingfield.	(the evil seventh king of Rome), was smitten with Lucretia's beauty; later, after the incident described in the note of line 112 above had taken place, Sextus returned to Lucius' home and raped her. Lucretia killed herself rather than live with her shame. Before doing so, however, she informed her husband and father of what happened, and in revenge her relatives precipitated a revolution which overthrew the Roman kings and established the Roman Republic. Edward's point is that even Tarquinius would have risked losing his throne to win Margaret; though likening his beloved with the ill-fated and violated Lucretia might not be the most sensitive of comparisons.
116	Ralph. Sirrah, Ned, wouldst fain have her?	= ie. "you like to".
118	Pr. Edw. Ay, Ralph.
120	Ralph. Why, Ned, I have laid the plot in my head;	= concocted a plan.
	thou shalt have her already.	= at once.^4
122
	Pr. Edw. I'll give thee a new coat, an learn me that.	= "if you teach or instruct me how to accomplish that."
124
	Ralph. Why, Sirrah Ned, we'll ride to Oxford to	= the university at which Friar Bacon lives and teaches.
126	Friar Bacon: O, he is a brave scholar, sirrah; they say	= excellent.
	he is a brave necromancer, that he can make women	= splendid sorcerer; strictly speaking, a necromancer is one who engages in raising spirits. Greene actually wrote negromancy, an alternative spelling used in those days, which was subsequently translated to mean "black arts".^4
128	of devils, and he can juggle cats into costermongers.	= ie. turn, transform. = apple-sellers.
130	Pr. Edw. And how then, Ralph?	130: "what follows?"
132	Ralph. Marry, sirrah, thou shalt go to him: and
	because thy father Harry shall not miss thee, he shall	= ie. so that. = ie. Henry III.
134	turn me into thee; and I'll to the court, and I'll prince	134: I'll to = ie. "I'll go to". 134-5: prince it out = act like a prince, ie. "I'll be you."
	it out; and he shall make thee either a silken purse	= "turn you into".
136	full of gold, or else a fine wrought smock.	= finely made lady's undergarment.
138	Pr. Edw. But how shall I have the maid?	= ie. get.
140	Ralph. Marry, sirrah, if thou be'st a silken purse full
	of gold, then on Sundays she'll hang thee by her	141-2: she'll hang…side = purses of money were tied to one's outer-clothing, which made them tempting targets for pick-pockets; see the description of cutpurse in line 144 below.
142	side, and you must not say a word. Now, sir, when
	she comes into a great prease of people, for fear of	= press, ie. crush or crowd.^1
144	the cutpurse, on a sudden she'll swap thee into her	144: cutpurse = a pick-pocket who subtly snipped the strings attaching a purse to one's outer garments. 144-5: on a sudden…plackerd = "she will suddenly stash (swap) you beneath her underskirt (plackerd, ie. placket).^1 Plackerd could also refer more narrowly to the slit in the front of the garment.
	plackerd; then, sirrah, being there, you may plead for	145-6: you may plead for yourself = "you will have to
146	yourself.	argue or beg for yourself": the sense is suggestive and
		humorous, "you are on your own."
148	Erms. Excellent policy!
150	Pr. Edw. But how if I be a wrought smock?	150: ie. "but what if I am transformed into a smock instead of a purse?"
152	Ralph. Then she'll put thee into her chest and lay	152-3: lay thee in lavender = slang for "put you away for
	thee into lavender, and upon some good day she'll	later use".^1
154	put thee on; and at night when you go to bed, then
	being turned from a smock to a man, you may make	155-6: make up the match = get engaged to be married.^1
156	up the match.
158	Lacy. Wonderfully wisely counselled, Ralph.
160	Pr. Edw. Ralph shall have a new coat.
162	Ralph. God thank you when I have it on my back,	162: wryly, "I'll gladly thank you for it when I see it."
	Ned.
164
	Pr. Edw. Lacy, the fool hath laid a perfect plot,	= has come up with a great scheme.
166	For why our country Margaret is so coy,	166: For why = because. Margaret = when appearing in the middle of a line, Margaret is almost always, as here, pronounced with two syllables: MAR-gret. coy = modest, unresponsive.
	And stands so much upon her honest points,	167: ie. "and insists on remaining chaste" (honest = chaste).
168	That marriage or no market with the maid −	168: ie. "it's either marriage or no deal with her"; Edward of course cannot marry a commoner, but he does want to get her to bed.
	Ermsby, it must be necromantic spells
170	And charms of art that must enchain her love,	= the occult.
	Or else shall Edward never win the girl.
172	Therefore, my wags, we'll horse us in the morn,	= lads. = ie. "mount our horses".
	And post to Oxford to this jolly friar:	= ride speedily.^1 = gay or merry; the phrase jolly friar
174	Bacon shall by his magic do this deed.	appears eight times in our play, and frolic friar is thrown in twice as well to relieve the monotony.
176	Warr. Content, my lord; and that's a speedy way	= "very well".
	To wean these headstrong puppies from the teat.	= a coarse metaphor for teasing women away from their path of resistance.
178
	Pr. Edw. I am unknown, not taken for the prince;	179: there is no one in Fressingfield who would recognize the prince, nor has there been any advertisement that he personally has been hunting in the forest there.
180	They only deem us frolic courtiers,	180-1: the locals would likely assume Edward's party to be
	That revel thus among our liege's game:	an anonymous group of sportive (frolic) members of the king's court out hunting the king's game.
182	Therefore I have devised a policy.	= strategy.
	Lacy, thou know'st next Friday is Saint James',	183: next Friday = this is the earliest appearance in English letters of the word next used with a day of the week.^1 Saint James' = the Feast day of St. James the Greater, 25 July.
184	And then the country flocks to Harleston fair;	= Harleston is a small town located only about 4 miles north-west of Fressingfield, but in Norfolk county across the border with Suffolk; Edward is wrong regarding either the day of the fair or the day of St. James' Feast: Harleston's fair was held on 5 July (there were others on 9 September and 1 December).^9,11
	Then will the Keeper's daughter frolic there,	= enjoy herself; this is already the third time Greene has used the word frolic in the play; it will be spoken an even dozen times in total, with frolicked appearing once as well.
186	And over-shine the troop of all the maids	186: "and outshine (in beauty) all the other young ladies". troop = group or assembly (of people).^1
	That come to see and to be seen that day.
188	Haunt thee disguised among the country-swains,	188: Edward wants Lacy to attend the fair, but in some rustic outfit that will disguise his noble identity. Haunt = keep company. country-swains = local yokels.
	Feign thou'rt a farmer's son, not far from thence,	189: "pretend you are a farmer's son hailing not far from there (ie. Harleston)"; this way Lacy will have a plausible story as to why no one from Fressingfield will know or recognize him.
190	Espy her loves, and who she liketh best;	= "observe her tastes", ie. as to what or who she is attracted to.
	Cote him, and court her to control the clown;	191: Lacy should out-woo any young man Margaret seems to fancy, so as to restrain or prevent (control) such a peasant (clown) from winning her over.^1 Note the intense alliteration in this line. Cote = surpass in some way,^1 or keep alongside of.^3
192	Say that the courtier 'tirèd all in green,	= man of the court. = "who was attired"; pronounced TI-red.
	That helped her handsomely to run her cheese,	= skilfully.^1
194	And filled her father's lodge with venison,
	Commends him, and sends fairings to herself.	= sends his regards. = gifts, especially those purchased at a fair; but also meaning gifts from a suitor or lover.^1
196	Buy something worthy of her parentage,	= meaning "status as the daughter of a mere gamekeeper".
	Not worth her beauty; for, Lacy, then the fair	197: Not worth her beauty = ie. but not too nice.
198	Affords no jewèl fitting for the maid.	197-8: the fair..maid = the sense is, "there is nothing that can be bought at a fair, comparable in value to a jewel, that is good enough for Margaret."
	And when thou talk's of me, note if she blush:
200	O, then she loves; but if her cheeks wax pale,	= "then she loves me." = grow.
	Disdain it is. Lacy, send how she fares,	= ie. "then she scorns me." = "send news", or "let me
202	And spare no time nor cost to win her loves.	know".
204	Lacy. I will, my lord, so execute this charge	= responsibility.
	As if that Lacy were in love with her.	205: an ironic line, in view of later developments.
206
	Pr. Edw. Send letters speedily to Oxford of the news.
208
	Ralph. And, Sirrah Lacy, buy me a thousand
210	thousand million of fine bells.
212	Lacy. What wilt thou do with them, Ralph?
214	Ralph. Marry, every time that Ned sighs for the
	Keeper's daughter, I'll tie a bell about him: and so
216	within three or four days I will send word to his
	father Harry, that his son, and my master Ned, is
218	become Love's morris-dancer.	= one who performs at a morris dance, a traditional English
		dance performed on May Day and during other festivals; the morris dancer was usually dressed as a foolish character, often in a hobby horse (a figure of a horse worn about the waist),^1 and frequently wore bells.^4
220	Pr. Edw. Well, Lacy, look with care unto thy charge,
	And I will haste to Oxford to the friar,
222	That he by art and thou by secret gifts	= skill in witchcraft.
	Mayst make me lord of merry Fressingfield.
224
	Lacy. God send your honour your heart's desire.	225: the line seems short; Dyce posits changing the ending
226		to all your heart's desire, while Ward cites an earlier editor who suggests the second your is disyllabic: you-er; on the other hand, speeches of single lines regularly are in prose, even when spoken by characters who otherwise speak mainly or solely in verse. Christopher Marlowe was particularly noted for employing this tactic.
	[Exeunt.]
	SCENE II.
	Friar Bacon's cell at Brasenose.
	Enter Friar Bacon, and Miles, his poor scholar with books under his arm; Burden, Mason and Clement.	Entering Characters: Friar Bacon is Roger Bacon (1214?-1294), an English scientist and cleric. Some details of his life are provided in the introductory sketch appearing at the beginning of this edition.
		Miles is Bacon's student-servant. According to Seltzer, as a penniless student, Miles receives free tuition and board in return for his services. He plays the role of a joker, or jester, to the serious Bacon.
		Burden, Mason and Clement are scholars and leading administrators at Oxford. As doctors, the three have received the highest degrees granted by the university, qualifying them to be instructors.
		The scene begins with the three scholars visiting Bacon in his study.
1	Bacon. Miles, where are you?
2
	Miles. Hic sum, doctissime et reverendissime	3-4: "Here I am, most learned and most reverend teacher."
4	doctor.	All Latin translations are by Nimmo, unless otherwise indicated. The editors all note how the Latin in these lines is not perfect; but while Bacon can be assumed to be fluent in Latin, Miles will later be chided for his lack of ability in the language.
6	Bacon. Attulisti nos libros meos de necromantia?	6: "Hast thou brought us our books on necromancy?"
8	Miles. Ecce quam bonum et quam jucundum	8-9: "Behold how good and pleasant it is to keep books
	habitare libros in unum!	in one place!" Ward notes the line is a parody of Psalms 133:1, "Behold how good and how pleasant a thing it is, that brethren dwell together in unity" (Bishop's Bible, 1568).
10
	Bacon. Now, masters of our academic state	10-11: in referring to his guests as masters and viceroys,
12	That rule in Oxford, viceroys in your place,	Bacon suggests they are not just leading scholars, but that they are heads of some of the colleges that comprise Oxford University.
	Whose heads contain maps of the liberal arts,	12: ie. "whose brains hold the sum of all knowledge of the liberal arts". maps = summaries, ie. totality of knowledge.^1 liberal arts = the seven classical areas of academic study, which includes grammar, logic and rhetoric (the trivium) and arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music (the quadrium).^1
14	Spending your time in depth of learnèd skill,
	Why flock you thus to Bacon's secret cell,	= secluded room.
16	A friar newly stalled in Brazen-nose?	= installed. = Brazen-nose, or more properly Brasenose, was one of the colleges at Oxford, but as it was not established until 1509, its identity as Bacon's home is anachronistic.^9 Ward, however, notes that there was a Brasen Nose Hall present in the 13th century, called so thanks to the existence of a brass nose fixed on the hall's gate.
	Say what's your mind, that I may make reply.	= in modern parlance, "what's on".
18
	Burd. Bacon, we hear that long we have suspect,	= "which we have long suspected".
20	That thou art read in magic's mystery;	= well-versed.
	In pyromancy, to divine by flames;	21: pyromancy, as the text says, is divination by means of observing fire; forecasts could be made, for example, by observing the direction a fire turns.^13
22	To tell, by hydromatic, ebbs and tides;	22: tell = foretell.^6 hydromatic = likely an error for hydromancy, divination by observation of water. A ring, for example, might be suspended by a thread over a vessel of water, and the vessel being struck, the water or ring observed; or the diviner might, as the Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and Literature (1819) says, examine "the various agitations of the waves of the sea."^13 The OED also suggests, with some cynicism, that hydromancy may involve observing the "pretended appearance of spirits" within the water.^1
	By aeromancy to discover doubts,	23: in aeromancy, the magician foretells events by means of observing atmospheric phenomena, such as unusual winds or storms.^13 Ward quotes from an earlier source, which noted that wind from the east signals good fortune; from the west, evil; from the south, calamity; and from the north, the revelation of a secret; and from all four quarters simultaneously, a violent storm in the offing. It was believed still in the 16th century that there were four elements of which all matter of the universe were comprised, namely fire, water, air and earth; each of these elements, furthermore, could be observed individually for purposes of divination. Greene includes three of these forms of divination here, neglecting only to mention geomancy, divination by means of studying the earth, which particularly involved tossing earth onto the ground and observing the resulting pattern formed.^1 discover doubts = resolve "difficult propositions" (Seltzer, p. 11).
24	To plain out questions, as Apollo did.	24: "to answer questions, as did Apollo through his oracle."
		The reference is to the very famous and frequently mentioned seer of ancient Greece, located in the town of Delphi; for a fee, one could ask a question of the priestess, who would transmit an answer from Apollo. plain out = explain or make plain.
26	Bacon. Well, Master Burden, what of all this?
28	Miles. Marry, sir, he doth but fulfil, by rehearsing	28: Miles' merry banter reveal him to be a jokester, playing
	of these names, the fable of the Fox and the Grapes;	the clown for Bacon as Ralph does for Edward.
30	that which is above us pertains nothing to us.	28-30: Miles refers to that most well-known Aesop's
		fable, in which the fox, unable to reach the grapes which were hanging from a high trestle, went away dejectedly, asserting the grapes were probably sour anyway; the story is not exactly apropos to our situation here, as the Scholars are not complaining or trying (but failing) to learn about the magic performed by Bacon; rather, they are only inquiring as to whether the rumours they have heard about him are true. Note that Miles is punning on above us, as the grapes could be said to be literally above the fox, while Bacon's sorcery is above, ie. beyond the comprehension of, the visitors. Observe also that none of the characters pays any attention to comic Miles' observations.
32	Burd. I tell thee, Bacon, Oxford makes report,
	Nay, England, and the court of Henry says,
34	Thou'rt making of a brazen head by art,	34: "that you are using magic to make a head of brass".
	Which shall unfold strange doubts and aphorisms,	35" "which shall explain or clarify unusual inquiries and speak pithy maxims and truths".
36	And read a lecture in philosophy;	= common phrase meaning "teach a lesson", ie. instruct.^1
	And, by the help of devils and ghastly fiends,	37: devil and devils are always pronounced as a single syllable in Friar Bacon: de'il. ghastly = terrible.^1
38	Thou mean'st, ere many years or days be past,	= before.
	To compass England with a wall of brass.	39: just as many towns in the Middle Ages protected
40		themselves by constructing a defensive wall around their perimeters, Bacon intends to do the same to protect all of England. The History makes it clear that it was only through the agency of the talking brass head that such a wall could be created. A brass wall would be exponentially more difficult to penetrate than one of earth or stone. compass = surround.
	Bacon. And what of this?
42
	Miles. What of this, master! Why, he doth speak
44	mystically; for he knows, if your skill fail to make a	= metaphorically.^1
	brazen head, yet Mother Waters' strong ale will fit	45: Mother Water's strong ale = a 17th century publication
46	his turn to make him have a copper nose.	sheds light on this line, which has long stumped editors: Mother Water is water which has been alkalized, and is a prime ingredient in the making of copper-sulfate (hence the allusion to a copper nose in line 46), also called copperas or vitriol, which was used in dyeing and tanning.^1 An extra layer of wordplay is noted by Collins, who observes (and I have confirmed) that literature of the period makes occasional reference to "Mother Watkin's Ale", so that Miles' use of Mother Waters' strong ale is likely a parody of that as well. 45-46: fit his turn = serve his purpose. a copper nose (line 46) = Miles' jest may not only be playing on the juxtaposition of brass and copper, but with ale also hinting at the changing of a heavy drinker's nose to red, the colour of copper.
48	Clem. Bacon, we come not grieving at thy skill,	= troubled or annoyed by.^1
	But joying that our ácadémy yields	= rejoicing, delighted.^1 = academy, meaning university, is stressed on the first and third syllables wherever it appears in our play.
50	A man supposed the wonder of the world.	= reckoned, regarded.^2 The History confirms that Bacon "grew so excellent" in the arts of magic "that not England onely, but all Christendome, admired him."
	For if thy cunning work these miracles,	= knowledge or skill.
52	England and Europe shall admire thy fame,
	And Oxford shall in characters of brass,	= letters.
54	And statues, such as were built up in Rome,
	Etérnize Friar Bacon for his art.	= immortalize.
56
	Mason. Then, gentle friar, tell us thy intent.	= ie. "what you intend to do."
58
	Bacon. Seeing you come as friends unto the friar,	= Bacon means himself.
60	Resolve you, doctors, Bacon can by books	= "be assured".
	Make storming Boreas thunder from his cave,	61: raise winds; Boreas, who was said to reside in a cave on Mt. Haemus in Thrace, was the god of the north wind.^10
62	And dim fair Luna to a dark eclipse.	= dim is a verb. = the moon, as a goddess.
	The great arch-ruler, potentate of hell,	63: Bacon describes Lucifer, the head-demon of hell.
64	Trembles when Bacon bids him, or his fiends,	= commands.
	Bow to the force of his pentageron.	65: Bow to = "to submit to". pentageron = alternate name for pentagonon, or pentagram, a five-pointed star, drawn with a single continuous line. It was, and is, a figure useful in the casting of spells, offering protection to the sorcerer from evil spirits.
66	What art can work, the frolic friar knows;	66: "what magic (art) can do, the jolly friar knows."
	And therefore will I turn my magic books,
68	And strain out necromancy to the deep.	= ie. "and explore and use necromancy to the greatest extent possible".
	I have contrived and framed a head of brass	= invented and created.^1
70	(I made Belcephon hammer out the stuff),	= a demon in Bacon's service.
	And that by art shall read philosophy.	71: and that by magic will expound on questions of philosophy.
72	And I will strengthen England by my skill,	72: ie. with a wall of brass.
	That if ten Caesars lived and reigned in Rome,	73-75: Bacon alludes to Julius Caesar's two invasions of
74	With all the legions Europe doth contain,	England: the first, in 55 B.C., was but a brief stopover; for
	They should not touch a grass of English ground;	the second landing in 54 B.C., however, Caesar brought 5 legions and 2000 cavalry, and the Romans battled a number of local tribes, even succeeding in crossing the Thames, before returning to Gaul.^12
76	The work that Ninus reared at Babylon,	76-77: According to legend, Ninus was the founder of the
	The brazen walls framed by Semiramis,	ancient city of Nineveh, and Semiramis was his warrior wife. Having been granted by Ninus absolute power to rule as a sovereign on her own for five days, Semiramis ordered her husband killed, thus becoming sole monarch of Nineveh. She went on to conquer much of Asia, founding the Assyrian Empire. Many legends surround her name, including ascribing to her responsibility for the completion of numerous construction projects, such as building the walls of Babylon.^12 brazen (line 77) = brass; Collins notes that the idea that Babylon's walls were made of brass was invented by Greene.
78	Carved out like to the portal of the sun,	= to resemble. = gateway of the sun.^2 Ward notes the image may be borrowed from the opening lines of Book II of Ovid's Metamorphoses, in which the Roman poet describes the radiant "folding doors" of the "palace of the sun".^16
	Shall not be such as rings the English strand	= shore.^2
80	From Dover to the market-place of Rye.	80: Dover = major port city along the English Channel,
		famous for its white cliffs. Rye = formerly important port city, situated about 30 miles south-west of Dover. Also the birth-place of dramatist John Fletcher. Both Dover and Rye were part of a chain of port cities known as the Cinque Ports (Five Ports), whose original members included Hastings, Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich, and to which were later added Rye and Winchelsea. The towns were exempt from paying taxes to the crown in return for their service in furnishing the majority of the English navy.^9
82	Burd. Is this possible?
84	Miles. I'll bring ye two or three witnesses.
86	Burd. What be those?	= who; for the first time, Miles is addressed by one of the
		scholars.
88	Miles. Marry, sir, three or four as honest devils and
	good companions as any be in hell.
90
	Mason. No doubt but magic may do much in this;
92	For he that reads but mathematic rules	= studies. = Collins notes that the word mathematics was often used to mean astrology or astronomy.
	Shall find conclusions that avail to work	= tenets or precepts.^1
94	Wonders that pass the common sense of men.	= surpass. = ordinary understanding or comprehension.^1
96	Burd. But Bacon roves a bow beyond his reach,	= "is using a bow that is too long for the reach of his arms";^7 rove is a term from archery, meaning "to fire an arrow at an arbitrarily selected target",^1 or "to shoot at a distant target with an elevation";^5 Burden, who is cynical regarding Bacon's ability to perform genuine sorcery, is suggesting that Bacon claims to do more than he is really capable of.
	And tells of more than magic can perform,
98	Thinking to get a fame by fooleries.	= ie. "such foolishness."
	Have I not passed as far in state of schools,	99: "have I not received the same honours or degrees (as Bacon has)".^4
100	And read of many secrets ? Yet to think	= ie. "studied as many".
	That heads of brass can utter any voice,
102	Or more, to tell of deep philosophy,
	This is a fable Æsop had forgot.	103: Burden sarcastically refers back to Miles' allusion to one of Aesop's fables back in line 29.
104
	Bacon. Burden, thou wrong'st me in detracting thus;	= "disparaging me".
106	Bacon loves not to stuff himself with lies.
	But tell me 'fore these doctors, if thou dare,	= ie. answer. = in front of.
108	Of certain questions I shall move to thee.	= put.
110	Burd. I will: ask what thou can.
112	Miles. Marry, sir, he'll straight be on your pick-pack	= ie. on your back; pick-pack was a 16th century phrase that eventually morphed during the 19th century into our modern piggy-back.^1
	to know whether the feminine or the masculine	113-4: reference to the grammatical distinctions of Latin,
114	gender be most worthy.	and more specifically a spoof of an assertion put forth
		by the grammarian William Lily (c.1468-1522) that the masculine gender was more worthy than the feminine, and both more worthy than the neuter (Seltzer, p.14).
116	Bacon. Were you not yesterday, Master Burden, at
	Henley upon the Thames?	117: Henley is a town in Oxfordshire, located about 22 miles
118		from Oxford and resting along the Thames.
	Burd. I was: what then?
120
	Bacon. What book studied you thereon all night?
122
	Burd. I! None at all; I read not there a line.
124
	Bacon. Then, doctors, Friar Bacon's art knows naught.	125: ie. "if what Burden says is true, then my magic (art)
126		doesn’t work". naught = nothing.
	Clem. What say you to this, Master Burden? Doth
128	he not touch you?	= ie. strike a nerve in.
130	Burd. I pass not of his frivolous speeches.	= care. = about.
132	Miles. Nay, Master Burden, my master, ere he hath	= before.
	done with you, will turn you from a doctor to a
134	dunce, and shake you so small that he will leave no	134: dunce = block-head, dullard, as dunce is still used today. shake you so small = "shake or shatter your belief", or "cause you to shake or shiver from terror",^4 due to the impressiveness of the magic Bacon will show Burden.
	more learning in you than is in Balaam's ass.	= that is, not much: Balak, king of Moab, had sent for the prophet Balaam to come to his land and curse the Israelites; as Balaam began his journey, an invisible angel of the lord blocked his path, causing the donkey Balaam was riding to first turn off the road, then crush his foot along a wall, and finally fall to the ground, each incident after which Balaam savagely beat the beast; the angel then gave the donkey the gift of speech, and the donkey asked the stunned prophet why he was beating him; after which the angel revealed himself to the repentant Balaam (Numbers 22).
136
	Bacon. Masters, for that learnèd Burden's skill is deep,	= because, being that.
138	And sore he doubts of Bacon's cabalism,	= intensely.^1 = skills in the occult.^1 Caballah refers to the mystical Jewish method of interpreting the hidden meaning of the Scripture.^7
	I'll show you why he haunts to Henley oft.	= visits. = frequently.
140	Not, doctors, for to taste the fragrant air,	= in order. = smell.^1
	But there to spend the night in alchemy,
142	To multiply with secret spells of art;	= a term of art from alchemy, referring to the transmuting of base metals into gold or silver; but Bacon is being droll, as he is also using multiply in its sense of breeding or increasing the population.
	Thus private steals he learning from us all.	= secretly.
144	To prove my sayings true, I'll show you straight	= right now.
	The book he keeps at Henley for himself.
146
	Miles. Nay, now my master goes to conjuration,
148	take heed.
150	Bacon. Masters,
	Stand still, fear not, I'll show you but his book.	151: Stand still = Seltzer suggests these words indicate
152		that the Scholars are clearly agitated. show you but his book = Bacon continues to be slyly ironic.
	[Conjures.]
154
	Per omnes deos infernales, Belcephon!	155: "by all the infernal deities, Belcephon!"
156
	Enter Hostess with a shoulder of mutton on a spit,	157: Entering Character: the Hostess keeps an inn in
158	and a devil.	Henley. The symbolism of the mutton would be clear to an
		Elizabethan audience: mutton was common slang for a harlot or prostitute, so Bacon is revealing that the real reason Burden has been sneaking off to Henley is to carry on an affair with the Hostess, whom he has been wryly referring to as Burden's book. The devil is Belcephon, the demon Bacon controls, and whom he sent to retrieve the Hostess.
160	Miles. Oh, master, cease your conjuration, or you
	spoil all; for here’s a she-devil come with a shoulder
162	of mutton on a spit. You have marred the devil's
	supper; but no doubt he thinks our college fare is	= food.
164	slender, and so hath sent you his cook with a	= meager.
	shoulder of mutton, to make it exceed.	= increase the fare's amount or quality.
166
	Host. O, where am I, or what's become of me?
168
	Bacon. What art thou?
170
	Host. Hostess at Henley, mistress of the Bell.	= an inn at Henley, whose sign was a bell; Sugden notes
172		there was a Bell Inn at Hurley, three miles east of Henley, but not one at Henley, where the local inn was called the Red Lion.
	Bacon. How cam'st thou here?
174
	Woman. As I was in the kitchen 'mongst the maids,
176	Spitting the meat 'gainst supper for my guess,	= in preparation for. = early variant for guests.
	A motion moved me to look forth of door:	= impulse. = out of the.
178	No sooner had I pried into the yard,	= peered.
	But straight a whirlwind hoisted me from thence,	= immediately. = from there.
180	And mounted me aloft unto the clouds.
	As in a trance I thought nor fearèd naught,	= nothing; note the line's double negative, which were still common and acceptable in this era.
182	Nor know I where or whither I was ta'en,	= to where.
	Nor where I am nor what these persons be.	= who.
184
	Bacon. No? Know you not Master Burden?
186
	Woman. O, yes, good sir, he is my daily guest. −
188	What, Master Burden! 'twas but yesternight
	That you and I at Henley played at cards.	= no doubt a euphemism for what she and Burden really did every night.
190
	Burd. I know not what we did. − A pox of all	= a pox on; according to the OED, Greene here introduces
192	conjuring friars!	to English literature the quintessential Elizabethan curse;
		pox could refer to smallpox or venereal disease; however, the phrase also appears in the History, on which Greene no doubt based our play, and there is evidence that it also appeared in a 1590 book, which would have been published before the earliest extant copy of Friar Bacon, which was printed in 1594.
194	Clem. Now, jolly friar, tell us, is this the book
	That Burden is so careful to look on?
196
	Bacon. It is. − But, Burden, tell me now,
198	Think'st thou that Bacon's necromantic skill	= ie. "do you (still) believe".
	Cannot perform his head and wall of brass,	= build, construct.^1
200	When he can fetch thine hostess in such post!	= so quickly.
202	Miles. I'll warrant you, master, if Master Burden	= assure.
	could conjure as well as you, he would have his	203-4: his book = still meaning "his mistress".
204	book every night from Henley to study on at Oxford.	204: this would save Burden the trouble of travelling down
		to Henley every day!
206	Mason. Burden,
	What, are you mated by this frolic friar? −	= checkmated, ie. confounded.
208	Look how he droops; his guilty consciënce
	Drives him to bash, and makes his hostess blush.	= shame, humiliation.^1
210
	Bacon. Well, mistress, for I will not have you missed,	= because. = missed puns with mist-ress.
212	You shall to Henley to cheer up your guests	= ie. return to.
	Fore supper gin. − Burden, bid her adieu;	= begins.
214	Say farewell to your hostess 'fore she goes. −
	Sirrah, away, and set her safe at home.	= common term of address for a servant, here referring to
216		Belcephon.
	Host. Master Burden, when shall we see you at
218	Henley?
220	Burd. The devil take thee and Henley too.	= common curse of the period.
222	[Exeunt Hostess and Devil.]
224	Miles. Master, shall I make a good motion?	= proposal, suggestion.
226	Bacon. What's that?
228	Miles. Marry, sir, now that my hostess is gone to
	provide supper, conjure up another spirit, and send
230	Doctor Burden flying after.
232	Bacon. Thus, rulers of our academic state,	232: Bacon does not deign to respond to Miles.
	You have seen the friar frame his art by proof;	= ie. "demonstrate, and thus prove, his skill in magic." frame = produce.^1
234	And as the college callèd Brazen-nose
	Is under him, and he the master there,
236	So surely shall this head of brass be framed,	= constructed.
	And yield forth strange and uncouth aphorisms;	= ie. proclaim, state. = marvelous or uncommon truths.^1
238	And hell and Hecatë shall fail the friar,	238: the sense is, "even if hell and Hecate should fail to
	But I will circle England round with brass.	help me", ie. no matter what happens. Hecate = a mysterious and powerful yet poorly understood goddess, who was considered a deity of the underworld.^10
240
	Miles. So be it et nunc et semper; amen.	= Latin: "both now and forever"; the phrase is borrowed
242		from a longer utterance used in the Ordinary Form of the Latin Catholic office: Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper, et in sǽcula sæculórum (As it was in the beginning, and now, and always, and in the ages of the ages).^14
	[Exeunt.]
	SCENE III.
	The Harleston Fair.
	Enter Margaret and Joan;	Entering Characters: Margaret is our Keeper's daughter,
	Thomas, Richard and other Clowns;	the lass with whom Prince Edward is smitten, and Joan
	and Lacy disguised in country apparel.	is her friend. Thomas and Richard are local rustics (Clowns).
1	Thom. By my troth, Margaret, here's a weather is	1-4: Thomas notes that the good weather has led to a successful planting season, which will likely depress prices. A subsistence economy like England's led to the serious problem of hoarding by farmers, in which a farmer might stash away some portion of his crops to sell during times of scarcity, when he would then be able to price-gouge his hungry customers. By my troth = "I swear". is = that is.
2	able to make a man call his father “whoreson”: if
	this weather hold, we shall have hay good cheap,	= common phrase for "at low prices".^1
4	and butter and cheese at Harleston will bear no price.	= common phrase for "have no monetary value".
6	Marg. Thomas, maids when they come to see the fair	6-7: the sense is, "young ladies don't come to the fair in
	Count not to make a cope for dearth of hay:	order to get a bargain (cope)^17 for expensive hay." count = reckon.^1 dearth = high price.^1
8	When we have turned our butter to the salt,	8-9: ie. "once we have finished preparing butter and cheese
	And set our cheese safely upon the racks,	for sale, etc."
10	Then let our fathers prize it as they please.	= assign a value or price to.^1
	We country sluts of merry Fressingfield	= the word slut has always carried the meaning of "a woman of loose character", but it could also be used, as here, in a playful and harmless way, similarly to "wench".^1
12	Come to buy needless naughts to make us fine,	= useless or unnecessary items of no value. = attractive.
	And look that young men should be frank this day,	= generous, ie. ready to spend money on the girls.^2
14	And court us with such fairings as they can.	= gifts bought at the fair. = ie. can afford.
	Phoebus is blithe, and frolic looks from Heaven,	15: "the sun is clement (blithe),^1 and joyfully shines down from the heavens"; Phoebus refers to the deity Apollo in his guise as the sun-god.
16	As when he courted lovely Semele,	16: Semele was a maiden beloved by Jupiter, the king of the gods; given that when the deity revealed himself to Semele in all his fiery splendor, it killed her, the simile is not exactly apropos, never mind the fact that Margaret is mistaken in assigning the story to Apollo.
	Swearing the pedlars shall have empty packs,	= ie. because the fair weather guarantees the vendors will be able to sell off all their wares to the fair's attenders, who will be in a buying mood.
18	If that fair weather may make chapmen buy.	= merchants, dealers.^2
20	Lacy. But, lovely Peggy, Semele is dead,	20-23: the educated Lacy picks up on, without correcting, Margaret's mythological allusion: since Semele is dead, Apollo turns his attention to the lovely Margaret.
	And therefore Phoebus from his palace pries,	= ie. looks down.
22	And, seeing such a sweet and seemly saint,	22: note the intense alliteration in this line.
	Shows all his glories for to court yourself.	= in order; Lacy has laid on the compliments pretty thickly; Margaret will notice that the disguised nobleman's speech is too refined for him to be the simple peasant he claims to be. Notice also that the polished Lacy's speech is in verse, as is that of the ladies, while the male rustics all speak in broad prose.
24
	Marg. This is a fairing, gentle sir, indeed,	= gift.
26	To soothe me up with such smooth flattery;	26: soothe me up = ie. "humour me completely".^4 Margaret assumes Lacy is teasing her. smooth = seemingly genial;^1 note the wordplay of soothe and smooth.
	But learn of me, your scoff's too broad before. −	= be instructed by. = the sense is, "your teasing is too obvious or explicit."
28	Well, Joan, our beauties must abide their jests;	= put up with.
	We serve the turn in jolly Fressingfield.	= this purpose, ie. it is our duty.
30
	Joan. Margaret,
32	A farmer's daughter for a farmer's son:
	I warrant you, the meanest of us both	= assure. = more inferior, perhaps meaning "the least beautiful".
34	Shall have a mate to lead us from the church.	34: Joan is focused on finding a husband today,
36	[Lucy whispers Margaret in the ear.]
38	But, Thomas, what's the news? What, in a dump?	= ie. "are you depressed?"
	Give me your hand, we are near a pedlar's shop;	= probably pronounced as "we're" for the meter's sake.
40	Out with your purse, we must have fairings now.
42	Thom. Faith, Joan, and shall. I'll bestow a fairing on
	you, and then we will to the tavern, and snap off a	= ie. "we will go to"; note the common Elizabethan
44	pint of wine or two.	grammatical construction of this phrase: in the presence of a word of intent (will), the word of movement (go) may be omitted. 43-44: snap off...or two = the sense is, "grab a quick drink or two."
46	Marg. Whence are you, sir! Of Suffolk? For your terms	= from where. = words, language.
	Are finer than the common sort of men.
48
	Lacy. Faith, lovely girl, I am of Beccles by,	= "from near Beccles", a town located about 10 miles east-north-east of Fressingfield, far away enough that Lacy should not raise suspicion just because nobody from the latter town knows him.
50	Your neighbour, not above six miles from hence,
	A farmer's son, that never was so quaint	= Ward suggests "shy".
52	But that he could do courtesy to such dames.	= bow to, pay obeisance to.^1
	But trust me, Margaret, I am sent in charge	= ie. with a specific responsibility.
54	From him that revelled in your father's house,	= who.
	And filled his lodge with cheer and venison,
56	'Tirèd in green: he sent you this rich purse,	= dressed; presumably Lacy hands or offers to Margaret a purse of money as he speaks this line.
	His token that he helped you run your cheese,	= sign or evidence (to be recognized by Margaret as having
58	And in the milkhouse chatted with yourself.	come from Edward).
60	Marg. To me?
62	Lacy. You forget yourself:	62: "you have forgotten."
	Women are often weak in memory.
64
	Marg. O, pardon, sir, I call to mind the man:
66	'Twere little manners to refuse his gift,	= "it would be unmannerly".
	And yet I hope he sends it not for love;
68	For we have little leisure to debate of that.
70	Joan. What, Margaret! blush not; maids must have their loves.
72	Thom. Nay, by the mass, she looks pale as if she	= an oath.
	were angry.
74
	Rich. Sirrah, are you of Beccles? I pray, how doth	75: Sirrah = a term of address usually used contemptuously, but here simply meaning "sir". I pray = please. how doth = ie. how is.
76	Goodman Cob? My father bought a horse of him. –	76: Goodman = common title for farmers or other men of status lower than gentleman.^4 of = from.
	I'll tell you, Margaret, ‘a were good to be a	77-79: 'a were…dung-cart = ie. "this worthless nag (jade) would be better off in the service of a gentleman, because, unbelievably, it can't endure to pull a cart of dung (a service which would be required from it when it is employed by a farmer).
78	gentleman's jade, for of all things the foul hilding	78: hilding refers to a worthless animal (especially used
	could not abide a dung-cart.	of a horse).^1
80		Note how pointedly prosaic the language and topics of conversation are of Thomas and Richard, compared to those of Lacy and Margaret.
	Marg. [Aside]
82	How different is this farmer from the rest	= ie. Lacy.
	That erst as yet hath pleased my wandering sight!	= till now. = ie. he is also physically attractive.
84	His words are witty, quickened with a smile,	=enlivened.
	His courtesy gentle, smelling of the court;	= ie. no doubt in contrast to the more earthy fragrance of the locals.
86	Facile and debonair in all his deeds;	= genial (facile) and polished in all his movements.
	Proportioned as was Paris, when, in grey,	87-88: as attractively built (proportioned) as was Paris
88	He courted Œnon in the vale by Troy.	(famous prince of ancient Troy) when, dressed in the outfit of a shepherd (in grey),^7 he courted Oenone (the daughter of the river god Cebron), who lived in the river valley (vale) near Troy. Paris married Oenone, but later left her to elope with the Spartan queen Helen; more on that later.
	Great lords have come and pleaded for my love:
90	Who but the Keeper's lass of Fressingfield?	= "who else would be admired or sought after but" (Ward).
	And yet methinks this farmer's jolly son
92	Passeth the proudest that hath pleased mine eye.	= surpasses. = most attractive or splendid (ones).^1
	But, Peg, disclose not that thou art in love,
94	And show as yet no sign of love to him,
	Although thou well wouldst wish him for thy love:
96	Keep that to thee till time doth serve thy turn,	= "keep it private", ie. a secret. = purpose, ie. till the right time comes along.
	To show the grief wherein thy heart doth burn. −	= pain of love (Seltzer).
98	Come, Joan and Thomas, shall we to the fair? −
	You, Beccles man, will not forsake us now?	= leave, abandon.
100
	Lacy. Not whilst I may have such quaint girls as you.	= pretty.^1
102
	Marg. Well, if you chance to come by Fressingfield,
104	Make but a step into the Keeper's lodge,
	And such poor fare as woodmen can afford,	= food.
106	Butter and cheese, cream and fat venison,
	You shall have store, and welcome therewithal.	= plenty.^1 = besides.^1
108
	Lacy. Gramercies, Peggy; look for me ere long.	= thanks; from the French grande merci.^7 = before.
110
	[Exeunt.]
	SCENE IV.
	The Court at Hampton-House.	The Setting: Hampton Palace, but see the note at line 39.
	Enter King Henry the Third, the Emperor,	Entering Characters: Henry the Third (1207-1272,
	the King of Castile, Elinor, and Vandermast.	reigned 1216-1272) assumed the throne of England at the
		age of 9 upon the death of his father, King John. He married Eleanor of Province in 1236, and their first son Edward - our Prince Edward - was born in June 1239. The Emperor is Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (1194-1250, crowned emperor in Rome in 1220). Frederick led the Fifth Crusade (1228-9), regaining Jerusalem for Christianity. In 1235 he married Isabella, daughter of England's King John, which made Frederick the brother-in-law of Henry III. Frederick never actually visited England.
		The King of Castile is Ferdinand III (1199-1252). Though the marriage of his parents, who were second cousins, was dissolved by the pope because of the couple's close consanguinity, Ferdinand was declared legitimate. Ferdinand succeeded to the crown of Castile when his mother Berengia, who had assumed the regency on the death of her brother, King Henry I, renounced the crown in favour of Ferdinand. Successful in driving the Moors out from large portions of Spain, Ferdinand is remembered as one of the greatest of Spanish kings.
		Ferdinand's daughter Eleanor (our Elinor) was born from the king's second wife Joan in 1241. In 1254, aged only 13, she would be married to Edward, Prince of Wales (himself only 15), at Burgos, the capitol of Castile.^12 Vandermast, a German magician, is a fictitious character.
1	K. Hen. Great men of Europe, monarchs of the west,
2	Ringed with the walls of old Oceänus,	2: Henry describes Europe as being surrounded by the Greek god Oceanus, who, in ancient geography, was conceived of as a river which surrounded the entire known world, which at the time consisted only of Europe, Asia and Africa. As our play takes place in a pre-Columbian time, our characters had no knowledge of the Western Hemisphere.
	Whose lofty surges like the battlements	3-4: "whose enormous waves (surges) are like the walls
4	That compassed high-built Babel in with towers,	(battlements = parapets)^1 that surrounded (compassed) Babylon"; surges likely should be surge is.^8 This is the second reference in the play to the walls of Babylon.
	Welcome, my lords, welcome, brave western kings,	= splendid.
6	To England's shore, whose promontory-cleeves	= shore-hugging cliffs.^1
	Show Albion is another little world;	= this early name for Britain, frequently used to mean
8	Welcome says English Henry to you all;	England, is generally, as here, disyllabic: AL-byon.
	Chiefly unto the lovely Elinor,
10	Who dared for Edward's sake cut through the seas,
	And venture as Agenor's damsel through the deep,	= "as did". = Agenor was the king of Phoenicia; his
12	To get the love of Henry's wanton son.	daughter (damsel) was Europa, a beautiful maiden beloved by Jupiter. The god appeared before Europa as a bull, and convinced her to jump on his back, at which point he jumped into the Mediterranean, swam to Crete, and raped her. Henry's simile is not exactly flattering. wanton (line 12) = amorous.^4
14	K. of Cast. England's rich monarch, brave Plantagenet,	= the Plantagenet line ruled England for over three centuries, beginning with Henry II in 1154, and ending with Richard III in 1485.
	The Pyren Mounts, swelling above the clouds,	= Pyrenees Mountains.
16	That ward the wealthy Castile in with walls,	= enclose.^1 Castile, in north-central Spain, does not actually
	Could not detain the beauteous Elinor;	border the Pyrenees. Note also that Castile will almost always be stressed on its first syllable.
18	But hearing of the fame of Edward's youth,
	She dared to brook Neptunus' haughty pride,	19: "she dared to endure crossing the sea". The Spanish party would have to have sailed across the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel to reach the shores of England. Neptune was the Roman god of the sea, so of course his haughty pride is a metaphor for the oceans over which he rules.
20	And bide the brunt of froward Æolus:	20: "and face (bide)^2 the blows or onslaught (brunt) of the
	Then may fair England welcome her the more.	(ocean's) ungovernable or adverse (froward)^2,6 winds;" Aeolus, as the lord or controller of the winds, represents the winds themselves.
22
	Elin. After that English Henry by his lords	= ie. "after".
24	Had sent Prince Edward's lovely counterfeit,	= picture or portrait.
	A present to the Castile Elinor,
26	The comely portrait of so brave a man,	= attractive.
	The virtuous fame discoursèd of his deeds,	27: the widely discussed reports of his deeds of valour (virtue).^4
28	Edward's courageous resolutiön,	= steadfast determination.^1
	Done at the Holy Land 'fore Damas' walls,	29: Edward took part in the Ninth Crusade of 1271-2; despite some active campaigning he failed to accomplish much to help the dying Christian kingdom, and he was forced to hurry home on hearing of the illness of his father Henry III; Edward had only reached Sicily when he learned of the king's death. Needless to say, Edward's participation in the Crusade took place almost two decades after he married Eleanor. We may also mention that Edward never came close to Damascus (Damas), his fighting restricted to the coastal city of Acre and its surrounding countryside.
30	Led both mine eye and thoughts in equal links,
	To like so of the English monarch's son,	= take a liking to.^4
32	That I attempted perils for his ease.	= braved great dangers. = comfort or gratification.^1
34	Emp. Where is the prince, my lord?
36	K. Hen. He posted down, not long since, from the court,	= travelled (by horse). = ie. ago.
	To Suffolk side, to merry Fremingham,	37: Suffolk side = the border of Suffolk.^1 Fremingham = ie. Framlingham, a town 9 miles south of Fressingfield, where Edward actually went hunting. Early editors note that the name of the town was pronounced "Fromingham" (hence Greene's original spelling), but a perusal of videos on the internet indicates that Framlingham is now pronounced the way it is presently written.
38	To sport himself amongst my fallow deer:	= brownish, or red-yellowish.^1
	From thence, by packets sent to Hampton house,	= from there. = ie. letters. = assuming Henry is referring to Hampton Court Palace, we are faced with another blatant anachronism, as Hampton was not built until the 16th century by Cardinal Thomas Woolsey.
40	We hear the prince is ridden, with his lords,
	To Oxford, in the ácadémy there	= to.
42	To hear dispute amongst the learnèd men.	= debates.
	But we will send forth letters for my son,
44	To will him come from Oxford to the court.	= direct.
46	Emp. Nay, rather, Henry, let us, as we be,
	Ride for to visit Oxford with our train.	= ie. ride. = ie. whole retinue.
48	Fain would I see your universities,	= "I would like to".
	And what learn’d men your ácadémy yields.
50	From Hapsburg have I brought a learnèd clerk	50: Hapsburg = a castle in Switzerland, but the Emperor no doubt means Germany^9 or Austria.^4 The use of the name is anachronistic, as Frederick II was of the House of Hohenstaufen; the Hapsburgs did not attain the emperorship until the 15th century. clerk = scholar.
	To hold dispute with English orators −
52	This doctor, surnamed Jaques Vandermast,	52: surnamed = this interesting use of surname as a verb was common in the 16th and 17th centuries. Jaques = the magician's name is pronounced as a disyllable throughout the play: JA-ques.
	A German born, passed into Padua,	= ie. has travelled to.
54	To Florence and to fair Bolognia,	= ie. Bologna, written in a way to indicate it should be pronounced with four syllables.^4
	To Paris, Rheims, and stately Orleans,	53-55: Ward notes these are all university towns.
56	And, talking there with men of art, put down	= (other) sorcerers and magicians. = defeated (in contests).
	The chiefest of them all in aphorisms,	57-58: "the best of them all in knowledge of magic,
58	In magic, and the mathematic rules:	demonstrations of conjuring, and debates about astrology and astronomy (mathematic rules).
	Now let us, Henry, try him in your schools.	= test. = ie. by having him go up against England's scholars and magicians.
60
	K. Hen. He shall, my lord; this motion likes me well.	= proposal. = pleases.
62	We'll progress straight to Oxford with our trains,	62: progress = basically meaning "go", but with the sense of travelling as an official caravan of royalty. straight = without delay.
	And see what men our ácadémy brings. −
64	And, wonder Vandermast, welcome to me;	= the OED cites this line as the last known use of wonder as an adjective.
	In Oxford shall thou find a jolly friar,
66	Called Friar Bacon, England's only flower:	= pre-eminent.^2 = ie. choice individual, ie. "our best man."
	Set him but nonplus in his magic spells,	67: "if you can stymie Bacon in a contest of magic".
68	And make him yield in mathematic rules,	= ie. "concede you are the better man in a debate over".
	And for thy glory I will bind thy brows,	= encircle.
70	Not with a poet's garland made of bays,	= leaves of the bay or laurel tree, used to make a crown awarded to victors.^1
	But with a coronet of choicest gold.	= crown.
72	Whilst then we fit to Oxford with our troops,	72: Whilst then = "until that time when". fit = prepare (to go); but most editions change fit to set, with a similar meaning. troops = parties, trains.
	Let's in and banquet in our English court.	73: note that Henry just contradicted his own declaration
74		that they should leave immediately for Oxford (see line 62). in = ie. go in.
	[Exeunt.]
	SCENE V.
	Oxford.
	Enter Ralph Simnell in Prince Edward’s apparel;	Entering Characters: Edward and his party have just
	and Prince Edward, Warren, and Ermsby,	arrived at Oxford. Ralph is dressed as the prince, and
	disguised.	Edward has put on Ralph's jester outfit; Warren and Ermsby are dressed as Ralph's servants.
1	Ralph. Where be these vagabond knaves, that they	= rascally.^1
2	attend no better on their master?
4	Pr. Edw. If it please your honour, we are all ready
	at an inch.	= (to act) in an instant.^2
6
	Ralph. Sirrah Ned, I'll have no more post-horse to	7-8: "Sirrah Ned, I shall no longer ride on a courier, or
8	ride on: I'll have another fetch.	fast-horse (post-horse): I prefer another contrivance
		(fetch)."^1
10	Erms. I pray you, how is that, my lord?
12	Ralph. Marry, sir, I'll send to the Isle of Ely for four	= an elevated area of land in Cambridgeshire, comprising a hill of 7 miles by 4 miles; the area was once completely surrounded by fens, or marshes, hence the appellation Isle. The city of Ely, which sits on the Isle of Ely, is about 67 miles north-east of London.^9,18
	or five dozen of geese, and I'll have them tied six
14	and six together with whip cord: now upon their	= a tough hempen cord, from which lashes or whips are made.^1
	backs will I have a fair field-bed with a canopy; and	= set, place. = a simple folding bed, as used by a soldier.
16	so, when it is my pleasure, I'll flee into what place I	= ie. to wherever.
	please. This will be easy.
18
	Warren. Your honour hath said well; but shall we to	= ie. go to.
20	Brazen-nose College before we pull off our boots?
22	Erms. Warren, well motioned; we will to the friar
	Before we revel it within the town. –	= make merry, carouse.
24	Ralph, see you keep your countenance like a prince.	= expression or manner.
26	Ralph. Wherefore have I such a company of cutting	= why. = swaggering or bullying.^3
	knaves to wait upon me, but to keep and defend my
28	countenance against all mine enemies; have you not	= Ralph humorously reuses the word countenance to mean "person".^6
	good swords and bucklers?	= shields.
30
	Erms. Stay, who comes here?	= "hold on".
32
	Warren. Some scholar; and we'll ask him where
34	Friar Bacon is.
36	Enter Friar Bacon and Miles.
38	Bacon. Why, thou arrant dunce, shall I never make	= absolute, unmitigated;^2 Bacon is berating his servant.
	thee a good scholar? doth not all the town cry out
40	and say, Friar Bacon's subsizer is the greatest	= a subsidized student, ie. one who receives financial assistance from a university in return for providing domestic services.^1
	blockhead in all Oxford? Why, thou canst not speak	= this delightful insult appeared first in print in the mid-16th
42	one word of true Latin.	century.^1
		Miles the Blockhead: according to the History, Bacon kept only one servant, Miles, "and he was none of the wisest, for he (Bacon) kept him in charity, more than for any service he had of him"; in other words, Miles was useless both as a servant and a scholar.
44	Miles. No, sir? Yet, what is this else? Ego sum tuus
	homo, “I am your man”: I warrant you, sir, as good	= assure.
46	Tully's phrase as any is in Oxford.	45-46: as good…Oxford = ie. "I can turn a Ciceronian Latin phrase as well as anyone else in Oxford." Tully is the usual nickname applied to describe the famous Roman lawyer and orator Cicero, whose Latin was considered in later ages to be the purest and best.
48	Bacon. Come on, sirrah; what part of speech is	= common term of address for a servant.
	Ego?
50
	Miles. Ego, that is “I”; marry, nomen substantivo.	= noun substantive,^7 a grammatical term referring to the
52		simple name of a noun or person.^19
	Bacon. How prove you that?
54
	Miles. Why, sir, let him prove himself an 'a will; I	= "let it prove itself if it wants to;" an 'a = if it.
56	can be heard, felt, and understood.
58	Bacon. O gross dunce!	= obvious, evident, huge.^1
60	[Beats him.]	60: the comedic possibilities of a master beating his servants were recognized even by the ancient Roman playwrights.
62	Pr. Edw. Come, let us break off this dispute	= ie. break up. = quarrel.
	between these two. − Sirrah, where is Brazen-nose
64	College?
66	Miles. Not far from Coppersmith's Hall.	66: Miles is making a joke, playing on the name of Brazen-nose (brazen means bronze), while simultaneously parodying the name of Goldsmith's Hall. There was no Coppersmith's Hall at Oxford, nor was there even a guild for coppersmiths in London; the name Coppersmith Hall was used as a humorous term for a tavern, thanks to the red nose a heavy imbiber would acquire.^9
68	Pr. Edw. What, dost thou mock me?	68: the prince is not accustomed to being addressed this way.
70	Miles. Not I, sir: but what would you at Brazen-	= ie. "do you want".
	nose?
72
	Erms. Marry, we would speak with Friar Bacon.	= ie. "desire to".
74
	Miles. Whose men be you?	75: "who do you work for?"
76
	Erms. Marry, scholar, here's our master.	77: Ermsby indicates Ralph; Ermsby, relishing his role, has
78		taken on Ralph's much-favoured habit of using the oath marry.
	Ralph. Sirrah, I am the master of these good
80	fellows; mayst thou not know me to be a lord by my
	reparrel?	= a malapropism for apparel; Ralph has used a long- obsolete verb meaning "to mend", as in clothing.
82
	Miles. Then here's good game for the hawk; for	= ie. prey.
84	here's the master-fool and a covey of coxcombs: one	84: here's the master-fool = Bacon likely points to Edward
	wise man, I think, would spring you all.	as he says this; we remember that Edward has switched outfits with Ralph. covey of coxcombs = group or party of fools;^1 the coxcomb is a fool's cap, which Edward would be wearing.^6 spring (line 85) = rouse or flush out, like birds or game.^21
86
	Pr. Edw. Gog's wounds! Warren, kill him.	= an oath, and euphemism for God's wounds; this odd
88		exclamation will be used several times by the prince in this play. Edward does not take kindly to anyone other than Ralph making jokes at his expense; having been instructed to slay Miles, Warren and Ermsby attempt, but are unable, to remove the daggers from their sheaths.
	Warr. Why, Ned, I think the devil be in my sheath;
90	I cannot get out my dagger.
92	Erms. Nor I mine! 'Swones, Ned, I think I am	= another variation on God's wounds.
	bewitched.
94
	Miles. A company of scabs! The proudest of you all	= group or band.^2 = scoundrels.
96	draw your weapon, if he can. − [Aside] See how
	boldly I speak, now my master is by.	= "because Friar Bacon (who can protect me with his magic)
98		is here."
	Pr. Edw. I strive in vain; but if my sword be shut
100	And conjured fast by magic in my sheath,	= stuck, immovable.
	Villain, here is my fist.
102
	[Strikes Miles a box on the ear.]
104
	Miles. Oh, I beseech you conjure his hands too,	= Miles addresses Bacon.
106	that he may not lift his arms to his head, for he is
	light-fingered!	= pugnacious, eager to fight,^1 though all the editors note the phrase is typically used to describe pickpockets.
108
	Ralph. Ned, strike him; I'll warrant thee by mine	= ie. "back you up".
110	honour.
112	Bacon. What means the English prince to wrong my man?	= injure, harm, insult.
114	Pr. Edw. To whom speak'st thou?
116	Bacon. To thee.	116: the arrogant Bacon, knowing Edward for who he is,
		addresses the prince with the daringly condescending and highly improper thee.
118	Pr. Edw. Who art thou?
120	Bacon. Could you not judge when all your swords grew fast,	120: fast = stuck, fixed.
	That Friar Bacon was not far from hence?	= from here; Bacon's inclination to speak of himself in the third person gets tiresome quickly.
122	Edward, King Henry's son and Prince of Wales,
	Thy fool disguised cannot conceal thyself.	123: "you cannot conceal your true identity in the disguise of a fool," or "your fool disguised as you cannot hide your identify."
124	I know both Ermsby and the Sussex Earl,	= ie. Warren.
	Else Friar Bacon had but little skill.	= ie. "or else".
126	Thou com'st in post from merry Fressingfield,	= in haste.^1
	Fast-fancied to the Keeper's bonny lass,	= tied by love or attraction.^3
128	To crave some succour of the jolly friar: −	= ask for help from.
	And Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, hast thou left	= ie. "you have left behind".
130	To treat fair Margaret to allow thy loves;	= entreat, ask. = "receive or accept your suit".
	But friends are men, and love can baffle lords;	131: the broader sense is, "but even those who are your honest friends (and thus intend to work on your behalf) are only human (ie. they have weaknesses), and nobles are as vulnerable to falling in love as anybody else." baffle = fool, cheat.^1
132	The earl both woos and courts her for himself.	= ie. Lacy.
134	Warren. Ned, this is strange; the friar knoweth all.
136	Erms. Apollo could not utter more than this.	136: another reference to Apollo as the god who makes predictions through his oracle at Delphi; see the note at Scene II.24.
138	Pr. Edw. I stand amazed to hear this jolly friar	= stunned.
	Tell even the very secrets of my thoughts. −	= precisely and correctly; even is almost always pronounced as a one-syllable word: e'en.
140	But, learnèd Bacon, since thou know'st the cause
	Why I did post so fast from Fressingfield,
142	Help, friar, at a pinch, that I may have	= "at this critical moment"; this still familiar phrase (usually stated today as in a pinch) appeared as early as the 15th century.^1
	The love of lovely Margaret to myself,
144	And, as I am true Prince of Wales, I'll give	144-5: I'll give…college-state = "I'll give Brasen-nose an
	Living and lands to strength thy college-state.	endowment (Living)^1 and property (from which it can derive
146		further income from rent) to increase its status and wealth (college-state).^3 strength = strengthen.
	War. Good friar, help the prince in this.
148		148: based on Ralph's next line, it seems that a pause in the dialogue occurs here, as the royal party waits futilely for Bacon to answer Edward; perhaps he turns away, or shakes his head, or gives some other indication of hesitation.
	Ralph. Why, servant Ned, will not the friar do it?
150	Were not my sword glued to my scabbard by
	conjuration, I would cut off his head, and make him	= ie. "force of his magic".
152	do it by force.
154	Miles. In faith, my lord, your manhood and your	= manliness, courage;^1 Miles addresses Ralph.
	sword is all alike; they are so fast conjured that we	Despite the apparently suggestive comparison between
156	shall never see them.	Ralph's manhood and his sword, the modern slang use of manhood with its sexual connotations did not appear until the mid-17th century, according to the OED.
158	Erms. What, doctor, in a dump! tush, help the prince,	= struck dumb: Ermsby wonders why Bacon has not yet responded to Edward's generous offer of lines 144-5.
	And thou shalt see how liberal he will prove.	= generous.
160
	Bacon. Crave not such actions greater dumps than these?	161: "do not such developments demand even greater stupefaction (dumps)^1 than what I am expressing?" While the line is not exactly clear, Bacon, who will prove himself to be a man with a strong moral compass, may be unhappy to use his magic for such a morally suspect purpose. Despite his faltering, Bacon will give in now to the prince's wishes.
162	I will, my lord, strain out my magic spells;	= the sense seems to be "work to the maximum effect possible".
	For this day comes the earl to Fressingfield,	= today.
164	And 'fore that night shuts in the day with dark,
	They'll be betrothèd each to other fast.	= firmly to each other.
166	But come with me; we'll to my study straight,	= go to. = right now.
	And in a glass prospective I will show	= a magical mirror within which one may view distant
168	What's done this day in merry Fressingfield.	objects or occurrences, similar to a crystal ball.^20 The History, we may note, asserts that only those events occurring within a 50-mile radius can be seen in the prospective. Ward imagines the prospective to be an instrument combining elements of a telescope, a burning glass (a lens used to concentrate the rays of the sun) and a camera obscura (a box with a pinhole, used for projecting images).^1,4
170	Pr. Edw. Gramercies, Bacon; I will quite thy pain.	= thanks. = repay, reward. = efforts.
172	Bacon. But send your train, my lord, into the town:	= "your attendants", or "those who accompany you".
	My scholar shall go bring them to their inn;
174	Meanwhile we'll see the knavery of the earl.
176	Pr. Edw. Warren, leave me; − and, Ermsby, take the fool:
	Let him be master, and go revel it,	= ie. "continue to let Ralph be in charge of your activities".
178	Till I and Friar Bacon talk awhile.
180	Warren. We will, my lord.
182	Ralph. Faith, Ned, and I'll lord it out till thou comest:
	I'll be Prince of Wales over all the black-pots in	= beer mugs, and by extension "drinkers".^17
184	Oxford.
186	[Exeunt Warren, Ermsby, Ralph Simnell and Miles.]
188	[Friar Bacon and Prince Edward go into the study.]	188: the friar and prince move perhaps to the back of or to one side of the stage, where the audience is to understand they have entered Bacon's study or cell.^3
	SCENE VI.
	Bacon's Study.	Scene VI: Bacon and Edward presumably approach the
		magic mirror.
1	Bacon. Now, frolic Edward, welcome to my cell;	= merry. = cell was used to describe the small single-room dwelling of a monk or the like.
2	Here tempers Friar Bacon many toys,	= mixes.^1 = trivial things, ie. solutions, etc.; though the line has a secondary meaning of "here I manage my many trivial affairs".^5
	And holds this place his cónsistory-court,	3: "and uses this room as a place to hold his consistory court", a consistory court being a bishop's court where ecclesiastical matters were tried.^22 Bacon's use of this phrase is obviously ironic.
4	Wherein the devils plead homage to his words.	= acknowledge the superior position of;^1 homage was originally a feudal term describing the formal allegiance offered by an individual to a lord or king.
	Within this glass prospective thou shalt see
6	This day what's done in merry Fressingfield
	'Twixt lovely Peggy and the Lincoln Earl.	= between.
8
	Pr. Edw. Friar, thou glad'st me: now shall Edward try	9: glad'st = the use of glad as a verb goes back to Old English. try = find out.
10	How Lacy meaneth to his sovereign Lord.	= ie. what Lacy intends to do with respect to.^1
12	Bacon. Stand there and look directly in the glass.
14	Enter Margaret and Friar Bungay.	Entering Characters: Margaret is consulting another
		sorcerer and friar, named Bungay.
16	What sees my lord?	We may imagine Bacon and Edward on one side of the
		stage, intently studying the magic mirror in which they see the scene being played out many miles away between Margaret and Bungay, which is acted out on the other side of the stage. There existed a real friar Thomas Bungay (born in the town of Bungay, located about 15 miles north-east of Fressingfield) in the late 13th century; educated in Paris and Oxford, and holding positions at Oxford and Cambridge, the Franciscan friar Bungay lectured in theology and philosophy, but became so proficient in astrology and astronomy that he, like his friend Bacon, was believed to have powers of sorcery.^24
18	Pr. Edw. I see the Keeper's lovely lass appear,
	As brightsome as the paramour of Mars,	19: brightsome = a strange word, which the OED suggests means "demonstrating brightness", but in a vague way. paramour of Mars = ie. Venus, the goddess of love, who, though married to Vulcan, the crippled smith god, famously carried on an affair with Mars, the god of war.
20	Only attended by a jolly friar.	20: Margaret is accompanied only by the friar.
22	Bacon. Sit still, and keep the crystal in your eye.
24	Marg. But tell me, Friar Bungay, is it true
	That this fair courteous country swain,	= handsome. = rustic.
26	Who says his father is a farmer nigh,	= near, not far from here.
	Can be Lord Lacy, Earl of Lincolnshire?
28
	Bung. Peggy, 'tis true, 'tis Lacy for my life,	= the sense is "I assure you at the cost or risk of my life".
30	Or else mine art and cunning both do fail,	= magic. = skill.
	Left by Prince Edward to procure his loves;	= ie. left behind. = "to win over or plead for (your) love on his behalf."
32	For he in green, that holp you run your cheese,	= archaic word for helped.
	Is son to Henry and the Prince of Wales.
34
	Marg. Be what he will, his lure is but for lust.	= the sense is that Edward means only to try to attract her to satisfy his lust, as opposed to wanting to marry her; lure and lust were frequently linked in the period's literature.
36	But did Lord Lacy like poor Margaret,	= "were Lord Lacy to". = when Margaret appears at the end of a line, as here, it should be considered a trisyllabic word: MAR-ga-ret.
	Or would he deign to wed a country lass,	= "if he would".
38	Friar, I would his humble handmaid be,
	And for great wealth quite him with courtesy.	39: "and I would give a great deal to be able to repay (quite)
40		him with kindness or benevolence."
	Bung. Why, Margaret, dost thou love him?
42
	Marg. His personage, like the pride of vaunting Troy,	43: "his appearance (personage), which is like that of the pride of boasting (vaunting) Troy", ie. Lacy's good looks are as attractive as those of Paris (a prince of, and the pride of, Troy).
44	Might well avouch to shadow Helen's rape:	44: the sense is, suggests Collins, "would justify (avouch) our anticipating the abduction (rape) of Helen," or per Ward, "would excuse concealing the abduction of Helen." The meaning turns on whether shadow should be interpreted to mean "foreshadow" or "conceal". Helen, more familiarly known as Helen of Troy, was the wife of the Spartan King Menelaus; when the handsome Paris visited Sparta, the pair fell in love, and eloped (or, alternately, Paris kidnapped Helen), precipitating the Trojan War.
	His wit is quick and ready in conceit,	45: "his intelligence is lively (quick) and quick in understanding (conceit)".
46	As Greece afforded in her chiefest prime:	46: "like the type of men produced by Greece when that country was in its greatest glory." Margaret likely has the great ancient Greek philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, in mind.
	Courteous, ah friar, full of pleasing smiles!
48	Trust me, I love too much to tell thee more;
	Suffice to me he's England's paramour.	= the sense seems to "darling", but Ward believes paragon was the intended word here.
50
	Bung. Hath not each eye that viewed thy pleasing face	= ie. every man.
52	Surnamèd thee Fair Maid of Fressingfield?	= ie. "given you the title of".
54	Marg. Yes, Bungay; and would God the lovely earl	= "I wish to".
	Had that in esse that so many sought.	55: ie. "has possession of that thing (ie. me) that so many have sought." in esse = in actuality (Seltzer).
56
	Bung. Fear not, the friar will not be behind	57-58: "do not worry, I will not be slow (behind) to demon-
58	To show his cunning to entangle love.	strate my skill (in magic) to tie the two of you together in love." Bungay, like Bacon, has the proud penchant for speaking of himself in the third person.
60	Pr. Edw. I think the friar courts the bonny wench:	60-61: to Edward, it seems that the friar is wooing Margaret for himself.
	Bacon, methinks he is a lusty churl.	= villain or rude fellow.^1
62
	Bacon. Now look, my lord.
64
	Enter Lacy disguised as before.	= ie. as a local farmer.
66
	Pr. Edw. Gog's wounds, Bacon, here comes Lacy!
68
	Bacon. Sit still, my lord, and mark the comedy.	= watch. = comedy was used to describe a story with a happy ending, and not necessarily a farce.^1
70
	Bung. Here's Lacy, Margaret; step aside awhile.	= "let's hide from him for a bit."
72
	[Retires with Margaret.]
74
	Lacy. Daphne, the damsel that caught Phoebus fast,	75f: a convention of Elizabethan drama was that characters,
76	And locked him in the brightness of her looks,	even when apparently alone, sometimes spoke their feelings out loud, for the benefit of both the audience and any characters who were eavesdropping. 75-76: the reference is to the nymph Daphne, whom the god Apollo (aka Phoebus) fell in love with. With Apollo chasing her, the alarmed Daphne escaped his clutches by being turned into a laurel tree. caught Phoebus fast = caused Phoebus to fall inseparably in love with her. locked (line 76) = like fast in the previous line, locked carries a suggestion of firm attachment, ie. captivation.
	Was not so beauteous in Apollo's eyes	77: "was not as beautiful to Apollo".
78	As is fair Margaret to the Lincoln Earl. −
	Recant thee, Lacy, thou art put in trust:	= "take these words back"; Lacy realizes he is violating his prince's trust.
80	Edward, thy sovereign's son, hath chosen thee,
	A secret friend, to court her for himself,	= friend in confidence, ie. confidant.
82	And dar'st thou wrong thy prince with treachery?
	Lacy, love makes no exception of a friend,	83-84: love acts on all people equally, and does not take into account that you may be acting on behalf of a friend or are a prince.
84	Nor deems it of a prince but as a man.	84: ie. love doesn't see you as a prince, thus giving you special treatment, but views you as just a man, vulnerable to involuntarily falling in love like anyone else. deems it of = distinguishes between.^1
	Honour bids thee control him in his lust;	85-87: Lacy, wrestling with his thoughts, changes tact again: the honourable thing to do, for Margaret's own protection, is to prevent the prince from taking advantage of Margaret just to satisfy his lechery. control = restrain.
86	His wooing is not for to wed the girl,	= "does not serve the purpose (for him to)".
	But to entrap her and beguile the lass.	= deceive, trick.
88	Lacy, thou lov'st, then brook not such abuse,	= tolerate.
	But wed her, and abide thy prince's frown;	= endure. = ie. disapproval.
90	For better die than see her live disgraced.	= it would be better. = ie. have to live with the irreversible stigma of having been deflowered yet unmarried.
92	Marg. Come, friar, I will shake him from his dumps. −	= "cheer him up."
	How cheer you, sir? A penny for your thought:	= this still common proverbial sentiment dates back at least to 1535.^1
94	You 're early up, pray God it be the near.	= an allusion to the proverb "early up and never the nearer",^3
	What, come from Beccles in the morn so soon?	meaning, "get an early start on something but never get any closer to finishing"; the unimportant point of Margaret's mild jest is that she hopes, given that Lacy would of necessity had to have arisen early to have arrived in Fressingfield already, that he is closer to completing the end of his journey or project than when he started. near = nearer.
96
	Lacy. Thus watchful are such men as live in love,	= wakeful, ie. without sleep.
98	Whose eyes brook broken slumbers for their sleep.	= endure. = ie. periods of wakefulness, in place of uninterrupted sleep; note the wordplay of brook and broken, which would have sounded more alike in the 16th century than they do today.
	I tell thee, Peggy, since last Harleston fair
100	My mind hath felt a heap of passiöns.	= multitude of emotions.
102	Marg. A trusty man, that court it for your friend;	= trustable, faithful.^1
	Woo you still for the courtier all in green?
104	I marvel that he sues not for himself.	= "does not do his own courting."
106	Lacy. Peggy,
	I pleaded first to get your grace for him;	= "obtain your favour on his behalf."
108	But when mine eyes surveyed your beauteous looks,
	Love, like a wag, straight dived into my heart,	= mischievous fellow; the indirect allusion is to personified Love as Cupid, the rascally boy-god who with his arrows famously and arbitrarily caused people to fall into love.
110	And there did shrine th' idea of yourself.	= enshrine. = image.^6
	Pity me, though I be a farmer's son,
112	And measure not my riches, but my love.	112: "don't judge me by my lack of wealth, but rather by the level of my love for you."
114	Marg. You are very hasty; for to garden well,	114-7: Margaret uses a delightful gardening metaphor to describe the wisdom of not rushing love.
	Seeds must have time to sprout before they spring:	= fully emerge.
116	Love ought to creep as doth the dial's shade,	= like the shadow on a sun-dial, ie. slowly and deliberately.
	For timely ripe is rotten too-too soon.	117: fruit that ripens too quickly will soon rot too. timely = early, too soon.^1
118
	Bung. [Coming forward]
120	Deus hic; room for a merry friar!	120: Deus hic = "God is here," or "God is surely in this
	What, youth of Beccles, with the Keeper's lass?	place" (Ward).
122	'Tis well; but tell me, hear you any news?	room = "make room".
124	Marg. No, friar: what news?
126	Bung. Hear you not how the pursuivants do post	= royal messengers.^2 = travel hurriedly.
	With proclamations through each country-town?
128
	Lacy. For what, gentle friar? Tell the news.
130
	Bung. Dwell'st thou in Beccles, and hear'st not of these news?	= note the common treatment of news as a plural noun both here and in line 153 below.
132	Lacy, the Earl of Lincoln, is late fled	= has recently.
	From Windsor court, disguisèd like a swain,	133: Windsor court = the castle at Windsor, on the Thames 21 miles south-west of London, has been the primary residence of England's sovereigns since the time of Henry I.^9 swain = peasant, rustic.
134	And lurks about the country here unknown.
	Henry suspects him of some treachery,
136	And therefore doth proclaim in every way
	That who can take the Lincoln Earl shall have,	= capture.
138	Paid in th' Exchequer, twenty thousand crowns.	138: the Exchequer = the department responsible for the
		collection and dispersing of the crown's revenue. twenty thousand crowns = a crown was a gold coin worth 5 shillings, or a fourth of a pound; according to the Bank of England's inflation calculator, £5,000 in 1250 is worth around seven million pounds today!^23
140	Lacy. The Earl of Lincoln! Friar, thou art mad:
	It was some other; thou mistak'st the man.
142	The Earl of Lincoln! Why, it cannot be.
144	Marg. Yes, very well, my lord, for you are he:
	The Keeper's daughter took you prisoner.
146	Lord Lacy, yield, I'll be your gaoler once.	= jailer. = on this occasion (Ward).
148	Pr. Edw. How familiar they be, Bacon!
150	Bacon. Sit still, and mark the sequel of their loves.	= ie. what follows; Bacon already knows what will happen, and is prepared to apply his sorcery to the situation.
152	Lacy. Then am I double prisoner to thyself:	= ie. her prisoner in law and her prisoner in love.
	Peggy, I yield. But are these news in jest?
154
	Marg. In jest with you, but earnest unto me;
156	For why these wrongs do wring me at the heart.	156: "because (for why) these dishonourable actions of Edward and yourself do press down (wring) on my heart." Note the alliteration of the line.
	Ah, how these earls and noblemen of birth
158	Flatter and feign to forge poor women's ill!	= dissemble. = work misfortune on women; note the strong
		alliteration of this line too.
160	Lacy. Believe me, lass, I am the Lincoln Earl:
	I not deny but, 'tirèd thus in rags,	= dressed this way.
162	I lived disguised to win fair Peggy's love.
164	Marg. What love is there where wedding ends not love?	164: "what kind of love is it that does not lead to marriage?"
166	Lacy. I mean, fair girl, to make thee Lacy's wife.
168	Marg. I little think that earls will stoop so low.	= "marry so far beneath their stations."
170	Lacy. Say shall I make thee countess ere I sleep?	170: ie. by marrying her before the day is through; in England the wife of an earl is called a countess.^1
172	Marg. Handmaid unto the earl, so please himself:	172-3: Margaret claims to worry that even if Lacy marries
	A wife in name, but servant in obedience.	her, making her a countess in name, that as a practical
174		matter she will be no better than a servant (handmaid) to him, due to the differences in their social rank.
	Lacy. The Lincoln Countess, for it shall be so;
176	I'll plight the bands, and seal it with a kiss.	= make a formal pledge of engagement; to plight is to
		pledge one's faithfulness, either in betrothal or marriage.
178	Pr. Edw. Gog's wounds, Bacon, they kiss! I'll stab them.
180	Bacon. O, hold your hands, my lord, it is the glass!	= "restrain yourself"; Edward, outraged, tries to attack Lacy through the mirror, leading Bacon to remind him that what the prince sees is only an image.
182	Pr. Edw. Choler to see the traitors gree so well	182-3: "my rage (choler) in seeing the two traitors match
	Made me [to] think the shadows substances.	(gree) so well made me think the pictures or images (shadows) I was seeing were the real thing (substances)."
184
	Bacon. 'Twere a long poniard, my lord, to reach between	= "it would have to be a long dagger".
186	Oxford and Fressingfield; but sit still and see more.	= ie. "here where we are and there where they are." Collins suggests these long lines 185-6 are deliberately written as alexandrines, or lines of 6 iambs, and thus 12 syllables, instead of the usual 5 iambs. There are several of these in our play.
188	Bung. Well, Lord of Lincoln, if your loves be knit,	= united.
	And that your tongues and thoughts do both agree,	= ie. words.
190	To avoid ensuing jars, I'll hamper up the match.	= future disagreements or misunderstandings. = fasten up the marriage.^1
	I'll take my portace forth and wed you here;	= Catholic book of offices or prayers, or breviary.^1,3
192	Then go to bed and seal up your desires.
194	Lacy. Friar, content. − Peggy, how like you this?	= "that is fine." = "does this please you?"
196	Marg. What likes my lord is pleasing unto me.	= pleases.
198	Bung. Then hand-fast hand, and I will to my book.	= "join hands".
200	Bacon. What sees my lord now?
202	Pr. Edw. Bacon, I see the lovers hand in hand,
	The friar ready with his portace there
204	To wed them both: then am I quite undone.	= ruined.
	Bacon, help now, if e'er thy magic served;	= rendered a service.
206	Help, Bacon; stop the marriage now,
	If devils or necromancy may suffice,	= be sufficient (to do so).
208	And I will give thee forty thousand crowns.	= worth 14 million pounds today.^23
210	Bacon. Fear not, my lord, I'll stop the jolly friar
	For mumbling up his orisons this day.	= humorous for "speaking". = prayers.
212
	[Bungay is mute, crying “Hud, hud.]	213: Bungay suddenly cannot speak, other than to stutter
214		some nonsense syllables.
	Lacy. Why speak'st not, Bungay? Friar, to thy book.
216
	Marg. How look'st thou, friar, as a man distraught?
218	Reft of thy senses, Bungay? Show by signs,	= bereft, ie. robbed.
	If thou be dumb, what passions holdeth thee.	= "what ailment or affliction has seized you."^1
220
	Lacy. He's dumb indeed. Bacon hath with his devils
222	Enchanted him, or else some strange disease
	Or apoplexy hath possessed his lungs:	= generic medical term applied to any loss of power over the senses or muscles.
224	But, Peggy, what he cannot with his book,	= ie. "cannot do or say".
	We'll 'twixt us both unite it up in heart.	225: in Elizabethan times, a couple could privately make vows to wed which would be legally binding.
226
	Marg. Else let me die, my lord, a miscreant.	= or else. = wretch.^2
228
	Pr. Edw. Why stands Friar Bungay so amazed?	= dumbfounded, stunned.
230
	Bacon. I have struck him dumb, my lord; and if your honour please,
232	I'll fetch this Bungay straightway from Fressingfield,	232: straight is preferable here for the meter's sake.
	And he shall dine with us in Oxford here.
234
	Pr. Edw. Bacon, do that, and thou contentest me.	= pleases.
236
	Lacy. Of courtesy, Margaret, let us lead the friar	= the sense of this phrase is, "because it is the right thing to
238	Unto thy father's lodge, to comfort him	do", or "as a good deed".
	With broths to bring him from this hapless trance.	= unfortunate.
240
	Marg. Or else, my lord, we were passing unkind	= "(to do) otherwise". = would be. = exceedingly.
242	To leave this friar so in his distress.
244	Enter a Devil, who carries off Bungay on his back.	= presumably Bacon's slave-demon Belcephon.
246	O, help, my lord! A devil, a devil, my lord!
	Look how he carries Bungay on his back!
248	Let's hence, for Bacon's spirits be abroad.	= "get out of here". = out and about.
250	[Exit with Lacy.]
252	Pr. Edw. Bacon, I laugh to see the jolly friar
	Mounted upon the devil, and how the earl
254	Flees with his bonny lass for fear.
	As soon as Bungay is at Brazen-nose,
256	And I have chatted with the merry friar,
	I will in post hie me to Fressingfield,	= "quickly hurry over".
258	And quite these wrongs on Lacy ere't be long.	= repay.
260	Bacon. So be it my lord: but let us to our dinner;
	For ere we have taken our repast awhile,	261: "because before we have been long at our meal".
262	We shall have Bungay brought to Brazen-nose.	262: the scene ends with a nice touch of alliteration.
264	[Exeunt.]
	SCENE VII.
	The Regent House at Oxford.
	Enter Burden, Mason and Clement.	Entering Characters: our resident doctors and administrators are meeting to prepare the university for the royal party's visit.
1	Mason. Now that we are gathered in the Regent-house,	= the house in which met all "Doctors and Masters of Arts for two years after their degrees; and all Professors, Heads of Houses and Resident Doctors" (Sugden), known collectively as Regents; the building, which dated back to the 12th century, was also called the Congregation House, .^9
2	It fits us talk about the king's repair,	= "is appropriate for us to". = (impending) arrival.^2
	For he, troopèd with all the western kings,	= accompanied by or gathered together with.^1,2
4	That lie alongst the Dantzic seas by east,	4: Dantzic seas = Danzig seas, ie. the Baltic Sea, which separates northern Europe and the Scandinavian countries.^9 by = to the.
	North by the clime of frosty Germany,	= region.
6	The Almain monarch, and the Scocun duke,	= German emperor (ie. Frederick). = meaning the duke of Saxony, who accompanies and appears on stage with the emperor, but has no lines to speak.^3
	Castile and lovely Elinor with him,
8	Have in their jests resolved for Oxford town.	8: jests = probably meaning gests, or stages of a royal progression;^7 but Seltzer suggests "revels". resolved for = decided to visit.
10	Burd. We must lay plots of stately tragedies,	= make plans for (the presentation of) dignified plays.^4
	Strange comic shows, such as proud Roscius	11: Strange comic shows = singular and amusing
12	Vaunted before the Roman emperors,	entertainments.
	To welcome all the western potentates.	Roscius = famous 2nd century B.C. ancient Roman actor.^2 Ward notes that Roscius died long before Rome had emperors. vaunted (line 12) = the sense is "proudly presented".^2
14
	Clem. But more; the king by letters hath foretold	= ie. given notice, ie. "let us know (to expect)".
16	That Frederick, the Almain emperor,
	Hath brought with him a German of esteem,	= great repute.^4
18	Whose surname is Don Jaques Vandermast,
	Skilful in magic and those secret arts.
20
	Mason. Then must we all make suit unto the friar,	= entreat.
22	To Friar Bacon, that he vouch this task,	= take on.^1
	And undertake to countervail in skill	= match up against or defeat in (a contest of) magic.
24	The German; else there's none in Oxford can
	Match and dispute with learnèd Vandermast.
26
	Burd. Bacon, if he will hold the German play,	= ie. engage Vandermast.^1
28	Will teach him what an English friar can do:
	The devil, I think, dare not dispute with him.	= ie. Bacon.
30
	Clem. Indeed, Mas Doctor, he [dis]pleasured you,	= a title of respect, an abbreviation of "Master".^20
32	In that he brought your hostess with her spit,
	From Henley, posting unto Brazen-nose.
34
	Burd. A vengeance on the friar for his pains!	= efforts.
36	But leaving that, let's hie to Bacon straight,	= hurry.
	To see if he will take this task in hand.	36-37: to his credit, Burden does not seem to hold a grudge against Bacon for his earlier humiliation, honourably concerning himself more with upholding Oxford's and England's good name against the German magician.
38
	Clem. Stay, what rumour is this? The town is up in	= "hold on a moment". = clamour;^1 there is a disturbance going on, as a number of characters noisily enter the stage.
40	a mutiny: what hurly-burly is this?	= uproar, tumult.^1 = commotion.^1
42	Enter a Constable, with Ralph Simnell, Warren,	42-43: the entering nobles and Ralph are still dressed as
	Ermsby, all three disguised as before, and Miles.	servants and the prince respectively.
44
	Const. Nay, masters, if you were ne'er so good,	45-47: the Constable addresses the drunken contingent.
46	you shall before the doctors to answer your	46-47: "you shall appear before the Regents to answer for
	misdemeanour.	your mischief or bad behaviour (misdemeanour)^1"; the
48		doctors seem to have judicial authority over the college.
	Burd. What's the matter, fellow?
50
	Const. Marry, sir, here's a company of rufflers,	= rogues, bullies.^5,25
52	that, drinking in the tavern, have made a great brawl
	and almost killed the vintner.	= wine-seller and inn-keeper.^1
54
	Miles. Salve, Doctor Burden!	= "hail!"^7 or "save you!"^6 The poetry adopted by Miles in this scene, comprised of very short and silly lines with lots of word-play and rhyming, was in the style of the poet John Skelton (c.1460-1529), who, though skilled enough to have been appointed the tutor of a young prince who would go on to become King Henry VIII, was primarily known for his sharply biting satirical verse, which was largely made up of very brief but pithy rhyming lines.
56	This lubberly lurden	56: "this loutish (lubberly), heavy and lazy fellow (lurden)", referring to the Constable^1,7
	Ill-shaped and ill-faced,	57: deformed and ugly.
58	Disdained and disgraced,
	What he tells unto vobis,	59-60: "what he tells you concerning us is false."
60	Mentitur de nobis.
62	Burd. Who is the master and chief of this crew?
64	Miles. Ecce asinum mundi,	64-65: "behold the ass with the figure of the world" (Nimmo)
	Figura rotundi,	or "behold the ass of the round-shaped world" (Seltzer).
66	Neat, sheat, and fine,	= undiluted, straight.^1 = trim and neat, or lively;^1,5 this is the only appearance of sheat in English literature.
	As brisk as a cup of wine.	= (1) smartly dressed or lively (when applied to a person, here Ralph), and (2) pleasantly sharp to the taste (when applied to a drink).^1
68
	Burd. What are you?	= who.
70
	Ralph. I am, father doctor, as a man would say, the
72	bell-wether of this company: these are my lords, and	72: leader; the appellation bell-weather was applied to the
	I the Prince of Wales.	leading sheep of a flock, which wore a bell.
74
	Clem. Are you Edward, the king's son?
76
	Ralph. Sirrah Miles, bring hither the tapster that	77: Sirrah = term of address for one's inferiors. hither = to here. tapster = tavern-keeper or innkeeper.^1
78	drew the wine, and, I warrant, when they see how	= "assure you".
	soundly I have broke his head, they'll say 'twas done
80	by no less man than a prince.
82	Mason. I cannot believe that this is the Prince of
	Wales.
84
	War. And why so, sir?
86
	Mason. For they say the prince is a brave and a	= because.
88	wise gentleman.
90	War. Why, and think'st thou, doctor, that he is not so?
	Dar'st thou detract and derogate from him,	= detract and derogate are synonyms; the sense of the phrase is "disparage his authority or eminence".^1
92	Being so lovely and so brave a youth?	= finely dressed.
94	Erms. Whose face, shining with many a sugared smile,	= sweet.^1
	Bewrays that he is bred of princely race.	= betrays, ie. demonstrates.
96
	Miles. And yet, master doctor,
98	To speak like a proctor,	= a university official with disciplinary and administrative duties;^1 Miles is saying he speaks with the authority of such an executive officer.^4
	And tell unto you
100	What is veriment and true;	= veriment means "true".
	To cease of this quarrel,	101: "to put an end to this complaint (quarrel, a legal term)".
102	Look but on his apparel;
	Then mark but my talis,	= pay attention. = tales.^4
104	He is great Prince of Walis,	104: Ward observes that Skelton employed a similarly and humorously strained rhyme with Calais and Walys in Ware the Hauke.
	The chief of our gregis,	= flock.
106	And filius regis:	= son of the king.
	Then ‘ware what is done,	= beware, ie. "be careful (regarding what you do to him)".
108	For he is Henry's white son.	= a term of endearment.^7
110	Ralph. Doctors, whose doting night-caps are not	= foolish. = perhaps referring to the soft caps worn by holders of doctorates.^4
	capable of my ingenious dignity, know that I am	111: capable of = ie. "with the capacity to contain or understand".^1,4 ingenious = intellectual.^4
112	Edward Plantagenet, whom if you displease, will
	make a ship that shall hold all your colleges, and so	113: Ralph may be alluding to a "ship of fools", a phrase borrowed from the title of a 1509 book, said book possibly referred to by Miles below at line 134.
114	carry away the niniversity with a fair wind to the	= humorous malapropism for university: ninny was a new English word in the 1590's, but used even then to refer to a fool.
	Bankside in Southwark. − How sayest thou, Ned	115: the south shore of the Thames, across from London;
116	Warren, shall I not do it?	this neighbourhood was the home of London's early
		theatres, and also the notorious haunt of fallen women, or as Nimmo so delicately puts it, "frail women". 115-6: Ned Warren = is it possible that Warren is also named Edward?
118	War. Yes, my good lord; and, if it please your
	lordship, I will gather up all your old pantofles, and	= slippers or soft shoes, often tall and cork-soled.^5
120	with the cork make you a pinnace of five-hundred	= small two-masted boat; Warren's proscribed weight of
	ton, that shall serve the turn marvelous well, my	500 tons is clearly a silly exaggeration: a World War II
122	lord.	destroyer displaced in the neighbourhood of 1000 tons. turn (line 121) = purpose.
124	Erms. And I, my lord, will have pioners to	= ie. pioneers, an army's labourers, used to dig mines, trenches, etc.
	undermine the town, that the very gardens and	= ie. dig tunnels which would extend underneath a town, and which, with perhaps the assistance of explosives, would cause the areas above the tunnels to collapse.
126	orchards be carried away for your summer-walks.	= to prevent , put an end to.
128	Miles. And I, with scientia,	= science.
	And great diligentia,	= diligence.
130	Will conjure and charm,
	To keep you from harm;
132	That utrum horum mavis,	= "whichever of these you choose or prefer".
	Your very great navis,	= ship.^7
134	Like Bartlett's ship,	134: the reference is to a 1509 publication, The Shyp of Folys of the Worlde, by Alexander Barclay; either the play's printer mistakenly wrote Bartlett for Barclay, or the inebriated Miles has simply misspoken.
	From Oxford do skip	= move hurriedly along.^1
136	With colleges and schools,
	Full-loaden with fools.	= laden.
138	Quid dicis ad hoc,	138: "what say you to that".
	Worshipful Domine Dawcock?	= "Lord Dawcock", a dawcock being a male jackdaw; as was the case with many bird names, dawcock is used as a metaphor for "fool". The expression Domine Dawcock was borrowed from John Skelton's poem Ware the Hawk: "whereto should I rehearse / The sentence of my verse / In them be no schools / For brayinsick frantic fools / Construas hoc / domine dawcock / Ware the hawk."
140
	Clem. Why, hare-brained courtiers, are you drunk or mad,	141: hare-brained = this still popular adjective dates back at least to 1548.^1 courtiers = attenders or members of the king's court.
142	To taunt us up with such scurrility?
	Deem you us men of base and light esteem,	143: "do you judge us to be men of such low and little worth".
144	To bring us such a fop for Henry's son? −	= buffoon, fool.
	Call out the beadles and convey them hence	145: beadles = beadle usually referred to a minor parish officer with disciplinary responsibilities, but here it is used to describe an officer of the university.^19 hence = from here.
146	Straight to Bocardo: let the roisters lie	146: Bocardo = the name of Oxford's prison, located in the north gate of the same name.^9 Editors have noted that bocardo is an academic word used in the language of syllogism. roisters = boisterous revellers.^1 The earliest extent English comic play, dating from about 1550, is titled Ralph Roister Doister.
	Close clapt in bolts, until their wits be tame.	147: ie. "concealed, imprisoned, and fettered, until they
148		calm down."^1
	Erms. Why, shall we to prison, my lord?
150
	Ralph. What sayest, Miles, shall I honour the prison
152	with my presence?
154	Miles. No, no; out with your blades,	= "take out your swords".
	And hamper these jades;	= beat.^1 = name for worthless, broken-down horses.
156	Have a flurt and a crash,	= sudden movement or attack.^1 = smashing of bodies.^1
	Now play revel-dash,	= the joyful application of blows.^1
158	And teach these sacerdos	= Latin for priest, used here for "priests".^1
	That the Bocardos,
160	Like peasants and elves,	160: the sense is, "for peasants and poor fellows (elves)^1 such as the doctors are".^6
	Are meet for themselves.	161: ie. the Bacardos prison is a fitting (meet) place for men
162		like them.
	Mason. To the prison with them, constable.
164
	War. Well, doctors, seeing I have sported me	= enjoyed myself.
166	With laughing at these mad and merry-wags,	= wags were jokers or fellows; merry-wags may be a play on the phrase merry-men, as was used to describe the followers of Robin Hood.
	Know that Prince Edward is at Brazen-nose,
168	And this, attirèd like the Prince of Wales,	= "this person", indicating Ralph.
	Is Ralph, King Henry's only lovèd fool;	= especially.^4
170	I, Earl of Sussex, and this Ermsby,	= editors note Ermsby's name is trisyllabic here: ER-mis-by.
	One of the privy-chamber to the king;	171: one who has admittance to the king's private apart-
172	Who, while the prince with Friar Bacon stays,	ments, ie. a chamberlain.^1,4
	Have revelled it in Oxford as you see.
174
	Mason. My lord, pardon us, we knew not what you were:
176	But courtiers may make greater scapes than these.	176: "but members of the king's court are licensed to
	Wilt please your honour dine with me to-day?	engage in more thoughtless transgressions or escapades (scapes)^1 than these.
178
	War. I will, Master Doctor, and satisfy the vintner	= recompense.^2
180	for his hurt; only I must desire you to imagine him	180-1: I must…Wales = Warren requests Mason to
	all this forenoon the Prince of Wales.	continue to treat Ralph (him) as if he were the prince
182		for the remainder of the morning; Warren presumably points to Ralph as he speaks this line.
	Mason. I will, sir.
184
	Ralph. And upon that I will lead the way; only I	= on that condition.
186	will have Miles go before me, because I have heard
	Henry say that wisdom must go before majesty.
188
	[Exeunt.]
190
192	SCENE VIII.
	Fressingfield.
	Enter Prince Edward with his poniard in his hand,	= dagger.
	Lacy, and Margaret.
1	Pr. Edw. Lacy, thou canst not shroud thy traitorous thoughts,	= conceal.
2	Nor cover, as did Cassius, all thy wiles;	2: "nor hide your schemes (from me), as did Cassius", the latter being a Roman soldier and statesman, and primary instigator in the conspiracy to assassinate Julius Caesar.^12
	For Edward hath an eye that looks as far	= sees.
4	As Lynceus from the shores of Græcia.	4: Lynceus, steersman of the Argonauts, and a participator in the hunt for the Calydonian boar, was famous for his keen vision.^4,10
	Did not I sit in Oxford by the friar,
6	And see thee court the maid of Fressingfield,
	Sealing thy flattering fancies with a kiss?	= loves.
8	Did not proud Bungay draw his portace forth,	= book of offices.
	And joining hand in hand had married you,	= would have.
10	If Friar Bacon had not stroke him dumb,	= struck.
	And mounted him upon a spirit's back,
12	That we might chat at Oxford with the friar?
	Traitor, what answer'st! Is not all this true?
14
	Lacy. Truth all, my lord; and thus I make reply.
16	At Harleston Fair, there courting for your grace,	= on behalf of.
	Whenas mine eye surveyed her curious shape,	= when. = exquisite form.
18	And drew the beauteous glory of her looks
	To dive into the centre of my heart,
20	Love taught me that your honour did but jest,	= "you were not serious about her".
	That princes were in fancy but as men;	= love.
22	How that the lovely maid of Fressingfield
	Was fitter to be Lacy's wedded wife
24	Than concubine unto the Prince of Wales.	= paramour.
26	Pr. Edw. Injurious Lacy, did I love thee more
	Than Alexander his Hephæstiön?	27: Hephaestion was Alexander the Great's favourite general and best friend from childhood.
28	Did I unfold the passions of my love,	= reveal.
	And lock them in the closet of thy thoughts?
30	Wert thou to Edward second to himself,	= meaning Lacy was Edward's closest friend.
	Sole friend, and partner of his secret loves?	= ie. partaker in knowledge, ie. confidant.
32	And could a glance of fading beauty break	= Ward suggests "beauty which will eventually fade", which Edward asserts is a poor reason to violate the bonds of what should be everlasting friendship.
	Th' enchainèd fetters of such private friends?	= linked chains, ie. close ties.
34	Base coward, false, and too effeminate	= in the sense that Lacy, like a woman, has weakly let himself be ruled by his emotions.
	To be corrival with a prince in thoughts!	= partner or companion.^1
36	From Oxford have I posted since I dined,
	To quite a traitor 'fore that Edward sleep.	= repay, ie. kill. = ie. "before I go to sleep tonight."
38
	Marg. 'Twas I, my lord, not Lacy, stept awry.	= "who misstepped", ie. erred.
40	For oft he sued and courted for yourself,	= frequently.
	And still wooed for the courtier all in green;
42	But I, whom fancy made but over-fond,	= "love caused to behave too foolishly (over-fond)".
	Pleaded myself with looks as if I loved.	43: "wooed for myself by sending meaningful glances (to Lacy) which showed him I was in love with him."
44	I fed mine eye with gazing on his face,
	And still bewitched loved Lacy with my looks;	= continuously attempted to enchant.
46	My heart with sighs, mine eyes pleaded with tears,
	My face held pity and content at once,	= ie. "had a look that demanded pity but also appeared happy".
48	And more I could not cipher-out by signs,	= express, signal.^1 = gestures and facial expressions, ie. non-verbal means.
	But that I loved Lord Lacy with my heart.
50	Then, worthy Edward, measure with thy mind	50-51: measure…fall = "judge fairly or honestly if a
	If women's favours will not force men fall;	woman's charms or closely attentive behaviour (favours) cannot compel a man to fall in love with her."
52	If beauty, and if darts of piercing love,	= arrows, a metaphor with piercing.
	Are not offered to bury thoughts of friends.	53: ie. "cannot act to cause a man to forget (that he is supposed to be working on behalf of) his friends."
54
	Pr. Edw. I tell thee, Peggy, I will have thy loves;	55f: in this speech, Edward tries to tempt Margaret by presenting her with images of the wealth and honour she will have as his paramour.
56	Edward or none shall conquer Margaret.
	In frigates bottomed with rich Sethin planks,	57-60: Edward describes the ships Margaret will ride on, and then in 61-66 paints a fairy-tale image of sea-creatures, both real and imagined, courting her. 57: "in light sailing-vessels (frigates) whose bottoms are comprised of planks made from the shittim (Sethin), or acacia, tree"; this is the wood of which Noah's ark was believed to have been constructed.^5
58	Topt with the lofty firs of Lebanon,	58: "with masts made from the cedar trees of Lebanon". The mountains of northern Syria, known as Lebanon, were famous since ancient times for their pines and cedar trees.^9
	Stemmed and incased with burnished ivory,	59: the stem of a ship referred to its prow; hence, Edward is saying the ships will have prows made of, and the ship will be overlaid (incased) with, polished (burnished) ivory".
60	And over-laid with plates of Persian wealth,	= gold or silver leaf.^1
	Like Thetis shall thou wanton on the waves,	61: Thetis = famous and oft referred-to sea-nymph of mythology, and mother to Achilles. wanton = frolic.
62	And draw the dolphins to thy lovely eyes,
	To dance lavoltas in the purple streams:	63: lavoltas = oft-mentioned lively dances, with leaping. purple streams = interestingly, this phrase was normally used to describe the flowing of blood, as from a wound, rather than rivers or bodies of water.
64	Sirens, with harps and silver psalteries,	64: Sirens = famous sea-monsters of myth, who lured sailors to their deaths by their enchanted singing; often described as having the upper bodies of women and lower bodies of fish. psalteries = ancient harp-like instruments.^1
	Shall wait with music at thy frigate's stem,	= ie. "attend on you". = prow.
66	And entertain fair Margaret with their lays.	= songs.
	England and England's wealth shall wait on thee;
68	Britain shall bend unto her prince's love,	= ie. bend its collective knee to.
	And do due homage to thine excellence,
70	If thou wilt be but Edward's Margaret.
72	Marg. Pardon, my lord; if Jove's great royalty	72-73: if Jove's…Danae = "even if Jove (the king of the
	Sent me such presents as to Danaë;	gods) were to give me such gifts as he gave to Danae;" a reference to another famous story from myth: Acrisius, the king of Argos, received an oracle that the future son of his daughter Danae would grow up to kill him. To prevent this event, Acrisius kept Danae locked away in a bronze (brazen) tower or underground apartment. Jupiter visited her in the form of a shower of gold, which impregnated her, resulting in the birth of the Greek hero Perseus, who went on to slay Acrisius, fulfilling the oracle By such presents, then, Margaret means gold.
74	If Phœbus, 'tirèd in Latona's webs,	74: "if the god Apollo (here yet again identified by his alternate name of Phoebus), figuratively dressed ('tired, ie. attired) in the rays of the sun fashioned by his mother Latona (the beautiful goddess of dark nights, known in Greek as Leto)".^4,27 webs = garments of woven fabric.^1
	Came courting from the beauty of his lodge;	= where the sun goes at night; Collins notes a line from Romeo and Juliet in which the sun was commanded to gallop "Toward Phoebus' lodging."
76	The dulcet tunes of frolic Mercury,	76: The = read the beginning of the line as "Not the". dulcet = sweet, appealing. Mercury = the messenger god; Mercury was the inventor of the lyre, and described as a beautiful flautist in the famous myth of the maiden Io: Io, beloved by Jupiter, was turned into a cow by the king of the gods to hide and protect her from the rage of his jealous wife Juno; but Juno, seeing through the deception, set the hundred-eyed giant Argus to guard her; Mercury, called by Jupiter to rescue Io, lulled Argus to sleep with his flute playing, then killed him.
	Nor all the wealth Heaven's treasury affords,	= ie. can provide.
78	Should make me leave Lord Lacy or his love.
80	Pr. Edw. I have learned at Oxford, then, this point of schools −	= "important argument used in disputation in the schools" (Ward).
	Abata causa, tollitur effectus:	81: "the cause being removed, the effect will fall." A common maxim from logic.^5
82	Lacy, the cause that Margaret cannot love	82-83: Lacy is the agency which has caused Margaret to not love Edward.
	Nor fix her liking on the English prince,
84	Take him away, and then th' effects will fail. −	84: "so if Lacy is removed from the scene, the thing he
	Villain, prepare thyself; for I will bathe	caused - Margaret's failure to love the prince - will also
86	My poniard in the bosom of an earl.	be removed, or reversed."
88	Lacy. Rather than live, and miss fair Margaret's love,	= lose.^4
	Prince Edward, stop not at the fatal doom,	= "don't stop at only having rendered my sentence to me"; fatal doom = deadly judgment.
90	But stab it home: end both my loves and life.	= the use of home, as in the modern expression "bring it
		home", suggesting the completion or full expression of an act, goes back to at least 1532.
92	Marg. Brave Prince of Wales, honoured for royal deeds,
	'Twere sin to stain fair Venus' courts with blood;	= common metaphor for settings of love; see Scene I.91.
94	Love's conquests ends, my lord, in courtesy:	95: when love is victorious, the response should be gracious.
	Spare Lacy, gentle Edward; let me die,
96	For so both you and he do cease your loves.	96: ie. "so that neither you nor Lacy will love me anymore."
98	Pr. Edw. Lacy shall die as a traitor to his lord.
100	Lacy. I have deserved it, Edward; act it well.	= "carry out the sentence thoroughly."^4
102	Marg. What hopes the prince to gain by Lacy's death?
104	Pr. Edw. To end the loves 'twixt him and Margaret.
106	Marg. Why, thinks King Henry's son that Margaret's love
	Hangs in th' uncertain balance of proud time?	107: ie. "is so fickle that the passing of time alone will cause it to cease?"
108	That death shall make a discord of our thoughts!	= ie. "cause a disruption in our mutual feelings of love!"
	No, slay the earl, and, 'fore the morning sun	109-110: 'fore the…east = ie. before three more days have passed.
110	Shall vaunt him thrice over the lofty east,	= proudly show itself.^7
	Margaret will meet her Lacy in the heavens.	111: Margaret asserts she will kill herself.
112
	Lacy. If aught betides to lovely Margaret	= anything happens.^2
114	That wrongs or wrings her honour from content,	114: that causes her honour to be harmed or deprived of its desired satisfactory condition.
	Europe's rich wealth nor England's monarchy	115-6: "then neither all the money in Europe, nor the
116	Should not allure Lacy to over-live.	possession of England's throne itself, would tempt me to live any longer than necessary."
	Then, Edward, short my life, and end her loves.	= shorten.
118
	Marg. Rid me, and keep a friend worth many loves.	= get rid of, ie. kill.
120
	Lacy. Nay, Edward, keep a love worth many friends.	121: note how neatly Lacy inverts Margaret's words.
122
	Marg. And if thy mind be such as fame hath blazed,	123: "and if your character or disposition (mind) is really such as it is reputed to be". fame hath blazed = personified Fame has proclaimed.
124	Then, princely Edward, let us both abide	124-5: let us both…rage = "let us both face the death- bringing firmness of purpose your rage has produced."
	The fatal resolution of thy rage.
126	Banish thou fancy, and embrace revenge,	= "forget about your love, and embrace revenge instead".
	And in one tomb knit both our carcases,	= unite. = commonly used at the time for "dead bodies".
128	Whose hearts were linkèd in one perfect love.
130	Pr. Edw. [Aside]
	Edward, art thou that famous Prince of Wales,
132	Who at Damasco beat the Saracens,	= Damascus. = common word describing Arabs or Muslims, especially during the Crusades; Edward refers to his role in the Ninth Crusade, previously mentioned at Scene IV.29.
	And brought'st home triumph on thy lance's point?
134	And shall thy plumes be pulled by Venus down?	= feathers in his helmet, symbolic of his greatness of character and virtue.
	Is't princely to dissever lovers' leagues,	= "is it the behaviour of a prince or king to tear asunder the bonds of love".
136	To part such friends as glory in their loves?	= separate. = exult.
	Leave, Ned, and make a virtue of this fault,	= "cease (your present course of behaviour)".
138	And further Peg and Lacy in their loves:	= ie. assist.
	So in subduing fancy's passiön,	139-140: Edward decides to conquer his emotions, which till now, he allows, have gotten the better of him.
140	Conquering thyself, thou gett'st the richest spoil. −	140: in this neat military metaphor, Edward compares himself to a victorious army, which in conquering the enemy (which in this case represents his emotions) gets the greatest amount of booty (spoils); which in Edward's case, is the moral victory of having done the noble, and self-sacrificial, thing.
	Lacy, rise up. Fair Peggy, here 's my hand:
142	The Prince of Wales hath conquered all his thoughts,
	And all his loves he yields unto the earl.
144	Lacy, enjoy the maid of Fressingfield;
	Make her thy Lincoln Countess at the church,
146	And Ned, as he is true Plantagenet,
	Will give her to thee frankly for thy wife.	= without reservation, unconditionally.^2
148
	Lacy. Humbly I take her of my sovereign,	= from.
150	As if that Edward gave me England's right,	150: As if that = ie. "this to me is of the same value as if". right = ie. throne, the second time in this scene Lacy has used the idea of his own being crowned king as a point of comparison: see line 115 above.
	And riched me with the Albion diadem.	= enriched. = English crown; Albion was the ancient name
152		for England.
	Marg. And doth the English prince mean true?
154	Will he vouchsafe to cease his former loves,	= willingly or graciouisly.^1
	And yield the title of a country maid	= "claim to"; title is a legal term.
156	Unto Lord Lacy?
158	Pr. Edw. I will, fair Peggy, as I am true lord.
160	Marg. Then, lordly sir, whose conquest is as great,
	In conquering love, as Caesar's victories,
162	Margaret, as mild and humble in her thoughts
	As was Aspasia unto Cyrus self,	163: Cyrus is Cyrus the Younger (424-401 B.C.), son of the Persian emperor Darius II; Aspasia was his favourite wife, thanks to her superiority of intellect and wisdom, and Cyrus never failed to take her advice. They lived together with mutual affection until his death in battle at Cunaxa. He was only 23.^12
164	Yields thanks, and, next Lord Lacy, doth enshrine	= after.
	Edward the second secret in her heart.	= ie. second only to Lacy in closeness.^6
166
	Pr. Edw. Gramercy, Peggy: − Now that vows are past,	= thanks. = Seltzer prefers passed here, meaning "exchanged".
168	And that your loves are not to be revolt,	= withdrawn or overturned.^8
	Once, Lacy, friends again. Come, we will post
170	To Oxford; for this day the king is there,
	And brings for Edward Castile Elinor. −	171: in hindsight, it seems it would have been rather thoughtless, tragically pointless really, for Edward to have killed Lacy to get Margaret for himself, when he is perfectly aware that he is only hours away from receiving the Spanish princess as his betrothed.
172	Peggy, I must go see and view my wife:
	I pray God I like her as I loved thee.
174	Beside, Lord Lincoln, we shall hear dispute
	'Twixt Friar Bacan and learned Vandermast. −
176	Peggy, we’ll leave you for a week or two.
178	Marg. As it please Lord Lacy; but love's foolish looks	178-9: the sense seems to be, "when one is in love, one's
	Think footsteps miles and minutes to be hours.	sweetheart's distance and time away seem much further
180		and longer than they really are.
	Lacy. I'll hasten, Peggy, to make short return. −
182	But please your honour go unto the lodge,	= spoken to Edward.
	We shall have butter, cheese, and venison;
184	And yesterday I brought for Margaret
	A lusty bottle of neat claret-wine:	= flavourful or robust.^2 = tasty or pure.^2,4 = a light-red wine.
186	Thus we can feast and entertain your grace.
188	Pr. Edw. 'Tis cheer, Lord Lacy, for an emperor,	= a meal. = ie. fit for.
	If he respect the person and the place.	= takes into account;^4 Edward's point is a generous one, allowing that, considering where he is dining - the Keeper's lodge - his fare (wine and the foods listed in line 183) will be as good as a royal feast.
190	Come, let us in; for I will all this night	= throughout.
	Ride post until I come to Bacon's cell.
192
	[Exeunt.]
	SCENE IX.
	Oxford.
	Enter King Henry, the Emperor, the King of Castile,
	Elinor, Vandermast, and Bungay.	Entering Characters: Vandermast is Jaques Vandermast,
		the previously mentioned German magician.
1	Emp. Trust me, Plantagenet, the Oxford schools
2	Are richly seated near the river-side:	= splendidly situated. = Oxford is located at the confluence of the Rivers Thames and Cherwell.
	The mountains full of fat and fallow deer,	3: mountains = as Ward notes, there are not really any mountains near Oxford, maybe just "hills shaded with wood." fallow = of a brown or yellow-red colour.
4	The battling pastures lade with kine and flocks,	4: the fattening or nourishing (battling) pastures laden with cows (kine) and flocks of sheep.
	The town gorgeous with high-built colleges,	5: Ward notes that this description fits the Oxford of Greene's time, and not that of the 13th century.
6	And scholars seemly in their grave attire,
	Learnèd in searching principles of art. −	= seeking out.^6 =the foundations of the liberal arts.^4
8	What is thy judgment, Jaques Vandermast?	= "what do you think?" = Jaques, we remember, is pronounced as a two-syllable word throughout the play: JA-ques.
10	Vand. That lordly are the buildings of the town,	= noble.^1
	Spacious the rooms, and full of pleasant walks;	1-11: such self-congratulatory praising of England and its features, placed in the mouths of foreign characters, was common in Elizabethan drama. rooms = open areas.^6
12	But for the doctors, how that they be learnèd,	= ie. to what degree.
	It may be meanly, for aught I can hear.	= ie. poorly. = anything.
14
	Bung. I tell thee, German, Hapsburg holds none such,
16	None read so deep as Oxenford contains;	= so highly skilled or well-versed.^1 = ancient spelling of Oxford.
	There are within our academic state
18	Men that may lecture it in Germany	= the sense is, "who are good enough to lecture".
	To all the doctors of your Belgic schools.	= schools of the Low Countries, which were part of the Holy Roman Empire; with the name Vandermast, our foreign magician may be specifically from the Nether- lands.^4
20
	K. Hen. Stand to him, Bungay, charm this Vandermast,	21: Stand to him = ie. "stand up to him", or "maintain your position against him". charm this Vandermast = "subdue Vandermast with magic spells".
22	And I will use thee as a royal king.	22: "and I will treat or reward you as would be expected of a king."
24	Vand. Wherein dar'st thou dispute with me?	27: the dispute, or formal debate, between the two magicians begins. Wherein = in what areas or topics.^2
26	Bung. In what a doctor and a friar can.	26: "in whatever areas a scholar and cleric are skilled in."^6
28	Vand. Before rich Europe's worthies put thou forth	28-29: "here in front of Europe's greatest men, why don't you put your first question to me."
	The doubtful question unto Vandermast.	= the sense is "unsettled" or "debatable".
30
	Bung. Let it be this, − Whether the spirits of	31-33: the first topic of debate is, which spirits are superior,
32	pyromancy or geomancy be most predominant in	those which can be summoned from the earth (Bungay's
	magic?	position) or fire (Vandermast's position).
34		All matter was thought to be composed of four elements - air, earth, fire and water. Sorcerers were able to engage in divination through the observation and manipulation of each of these elements - arts known as aeromancy, geomancy, pyromancy, and hydromancy, respectively. See the notes at Scene II.21-23. It appears that certain spirits were attached to each of the elements, and could be summoned like any demons to serve the skilled sorcerer.
	Vand. I say, of pyromancy.
36
	Bung. And I, of geomancy.
38
	Vand. The cabalists that write of magic spells,	= those skilled in magic.^1
40	As Hermes, Melchie, and Pythagoras,	40: Hermes = Hermes Trismegistus, perhaps an author from ancient Egypt or Greece, who was said to have written compendiums containing all human knowledge; also ascribed to him were neo-Platonic writings on astrology and magic.^10 Melchie = some of the editors suggest this may refer to the Greek scholar and philosopher, originally named Malchus, later called Porphyrius (233-c.304 A.D.). Malchus wrote extensively on philosophy, and was known as a stringent anti-Christian.^12 Pythagoras = famous 6th century B.C. Greek philosopher, Pythagoras was often cited for his theory on the transmigration of the souls, or metempsychosis, in which the souls of living things are said to pass on to other, different bodies at the moment of death.^12 Seltzer notes that the philosopher was included in this list because magic and mathematics were closely related through the "mystical significance of numbers" (p. 54).
	Affirm that, 'mongst the quadruplicity	41-42: 'mongst…essence = ie. regarding the four elements; Vandermast is trying to overwhelm his opponent with bombastic language.
42	Of elemental essence, terra is but thought	= earth.
	To be a punctum squarèd to the rest;	43: "to be a mere point or atom (punctum) compared (squared) to the rest (of the elements)";^4,8 Vandermast is denigrating the power of the earth as an element.
44	And that the compass of ascending elements	44-47: Vandermast is referring to and describing the
	Exceed in bigness as they do in height;	cosmological belief that the four elements inhabited their own spheres or regions around the planet earth; the element earth comprised the smallest and innermost sphere; immediately surrounding it was the sphere of water, then around that air, and finally fire. Hence, in lines 44-45, the German asserts the compass, or circumference (ie. size)^5 of the higher (ascending) elements (ie. air and fire), like their altitude (height), exceeds that of earth. A nice discussion of this speech and the astrology of this scene can be found in an article by Elizabethan scholar and 19th century philologist Walter W. Skeat, in Transactions of the Philological Society, Part One for 1911-1914, pp. 34-35.
46	Judging the concave circle of the sun	46-47: the sphere (concave circle) of fire (for which Greene
	To hold the rest in his circumference,	has written sun) thus contains within it the spheres of the other elements.
48	If, then, as Hermes says, the fire be greatest,	48-51: briefly, since fire is the highest element, its spirits must be the most powerful.
	Purest, and only giveth shape to spirits,	= is the preeminent (only)^1 element that produces spirits.
50	Then must these demonès that haunt that place	50: demones = spirits; the word is pronounced with three
	Be every way superior to the rest.	syllables. haunt = frequent or occupy. that place = ie. fire.
52
	Bung. I reason not of elemental shapes,	53-55: Bungay is not intimidated by the profusion of erudite
54	Nor tell I of the concave latitudes,	knowledge spouted by Vandermast: "I'm not going to talk
	Noting their essence nor their quality,	about the forms or spheres of the elements (elemental shapes), nor of their spherical volumes (concave latitudes),^1 nor waste time discussing their characteristics"; his point is that these are irrelevant side-issues.
56	But of the spirits that pyromancy calls,	56: spirits = spirits here, and in lines 63, 72 and 81 below, is monosyllabic: spir'ts. Otherwise, spirits is generally pronounced with its normal two syllables. calls = summons.
	And of the vigour of the geomantic fiends.	= power.^2 = spirits of the earth.
58	I tell thee, German, magic haunts the grounds,	= ie. is present in. = types of soil or earth,^6 or perhaps it should just read ground.
	And those strange necromantic spells,
60	That work such shows and wondering in the world,	= sights.^6
	Are acted by those geomantic spirits	= performed (solely) by.
62	That Hermes calleth terræ filii.	= literally "sons of the earth"; filias was the name assigned to the spirits raised from the earth.^4
	The fiery spirits are but transparent shades,	= shadows.
64	That lightly pass as heralds to bear news;	64: ie. spirits of the fire are as inconsequential or lacking in gravitas as messengers carrying news or messages.
	But earthly fiends, closed in the lowest deep,	= enclosed, contained. = deepest earth.
66	Dissever mountains, if they be but charged,	= "can split". = commanded (to do so).
	Being more gross and massy in their power.	= greater.^2 = substantial.^1
68
	Vand. Rather these earthly geomantic spirits
70	Are dull and like the place where they remain;
	For when proud Lucifer fell from the heavens,	71-72: Lucifer, who had been the most beautiful and favoured of all angels, rebelled against God, who tossed him, along with his co-conspirators, into hell.
72	The spirits and angels that did sin with him,
	Retained their local essence as their faults,	= defining characteristics. = ie. "just as they did"
74	All subject under Luna's continent.	74-78: the sphere of the moon (Luna's continent) - which was considered a planet in Ptolemaic astrology - surrounded the spheres of the elements. Vandermast creatively describes how the fallen angels occupy different spheres, depending on the degree of sin they possessed in their rebellion against God; all are below the moon's sphere, but those of the least and second-lease error occupied the spheres of fire and air respectively; the greatest offenders, which of course included Lucifer, were banished to the center of the earth. See Skeat's article, cited at line 44 above.
	They which offended less hung in the fire,
76	And second faults did rest within the air;	= "those of second greater".
	But Lucifer and his proud-hearted fiends
78	Were thrown into the centre of the earth,
	Having less understanding than the rest,	= Seltzer suggests "reason".
80	As having greater sin and lesser grace.	= ie. God's favour.
	Therefore such gross and earthly spirits do serve	= dull, clumsy.^1
82	For jugglers, witches, and vild sorcerers;	= magicians. = vile.
	Whereas the pyromantic genii	= spirits of the fire.
84	Are mighty, swift, and of far-reaching power.
	But grant that geomancy hath most force;	= ie. "let's say", or "let us accept for argument's sake".
86	Bungay, to please these mighty potentates,	= ie. the kings who are present.
	Prove by some instance what thy art can do.	= "provide an example". = magic.
88
	Bung. I will.
90
	Emp. Now, English Harry, here begins the game;
92	We shall see sport between these learnèd men.	= ie. "some good fun".
94	Vand. What wilt thou do?
96	Bung. Show thee the tree, leaved with refinèd gold,	= summon; Collins notes that the conjuring of plants and gardens was a common feat of Medieval sorcerers.
	Whereon the fearful dragon held his seat,	= fearful was commonly used, as here, to mean "causing fear".
98	That watched the garden called Hesperidès,	= guarded.
	Subdued and won by conquering Hercules.	96-99: Hercules' 11th labour was to bring back to Eurystheus (the king who was in charge of giving Hercules his impossible tasks) several golden apples from an orchard protected by both three or four nymphs known as the Hesperides and a dragon Ladon. In one version of the myth, Hercules slew the dragon and was able to retrieve the apples.^10 In line 98, Greene applies the name Hesperides to the garden itself, as opposed to the nymphs guarding it.
100
	Here Bungay conjures, and the tree appears	101-2: Seltzer observes the tree would likely arise through
102	with the dragon shooting fire.	a trap door on the stage.
104	Vand. Well done!	104: as we shall see, the German is humouring Bungay.
106	K. Hen. What say you, royal lordings, to my friar?	= lords.
	Hath he not done a point of cunning skill?	= the sense seems to be "fine example"; the phrase the point of was used to refer to the "epitome" or "greatest instance of" something.
108
	Vand. Each scholar in the necromantic spells	= every or any student; Vandermast is dismissive in this speech.
110	Can do as much as Bungay hath performed!
	But as Alcmena's bastard razed this tree,	111: Alcmena's bastard = contemptuous reference to Hercules, who was the son of Alcmene of Thebes and Jupiter. razed = tore down; in the myth, Hercules only took some golden apples, but did not destroy the tree.
112	So will I raise him up as when he lived,	112: note Vandermast's pun of raise with raze.
	And cause him pull the dragon from his seat,	= ie. to pull down.
114	And tear the branches piecemeal from the root. −	= one piece at a time, or into pieces.
	Hercules! Prodi, prodi, Hercules!	= "come forth".
116
	Hercules appears in his lion’s skin.	117: Hercules was frequently portrayed wearing the skin of a lion he had killed when he was a young man, still employed in guarding his father's oxen.^10
118
	Herc. Quis me vult?	119: "who wants me?"
120
	Vand. Jove's bastard son, thou Libyan Hercules,	= various heroes named Heracles (the earlier form of the
122	Pull off the sprigs from off th' Hesperian tree,	Latinized Hercules) appeared in different parts of the
	As once thou didst to win the golden fruit.	ancient world, including one from Egypt, or Libya, and their identities and stories were often conflated.^10,12
124
	Herc. Fiat.	125: "let it be done."
126
	[Begins to break down the branches.]
128
	Vand. Now, Bungay, if thou canst by magic charm	= dissuade, though charm was also used at the time in the sense of "cast a spell".^1
130	The fiend, appearing like great Hercules,	= spirit; it is not really Hercules they are watching, but a spirit who has taken the hero's form.
	From pulling down the branches of the tree,
132	Then art thou worthy to be counted learnèd.	= recognized as, accounted, called.
134	Bung. I cannot.
136	Vand. Cease, Hercules, until I give thee charge. −	= a (new) command.
	Mighty commander of this English isle,
138	Henry, come from the stout Plantagenets,	= descended. = valiant.^2
	Bungay is learned enough to be a friar;	= educated.
140	But to compare with Jaques Vandermast,
	Oxford and Cambridge must go seek their cells	= ie. "will have to search the quarters of all their scholars".
142	To find a man to match him in his art.	= magic.
	I have given non-plus to the Paduans,	= baffled; Vandermast goes on to list the towns whose scholars and sorcerers he has bested in such competitions.
144	To them of Sien, Florence, and Bologna,	= Sienna; all the towns listed here contained universities in the 13th century.
	Rheïms, Louvain, and fair Rotterdam,	145: Rheims and fair (FAY-er) may be disyllabic. Louvain = a university town in Belgium.^9
146	Frankfort, Lutrech, and Orleans:	= Lutrech could be Utrecht, a town in Holland,^9 or, as Dickinson suggests, Lutetia (the old Latin name for Paris), since Utrecht was not yet a university town in the 13th century.
	And now must Henry, if he do me right,
148	Crown me with laurel, as they all have done.	= the traditional wreath of laurel leaves presented to the
		victor.
150	Enter Bacon.
152	Bacon. All hail to this royal company,	= hail may be disyllabic: HAY-al; or else a syllable dropped out, e.g. to might be unto (Ward).
	That sit to hear and see this strange dispute! −
154	Bungay, how stands't thou as a man amazed.	= stunned.
	What, hath the German acted more than thou?	= performed.
156
	Vand. What art thou that questions thus?	= who.
158
	Bacon. Men call me Bacon.
160
	Vand. Lordly thou look'st, as if that thou wert learned;
162	Thy countenance as if science held her seat	= face, expression. = ie. sat or occupied a position of
	Between the circled arches of thy brows.	authority.
164
	K. Hen. Now, monarchs, hath the German found his match.
166
	Emp. Bestir thee, Jaques, take not now the foil,	= the sense of the line seems to be, "give it your full effort, Jaques, and avoid or don't risk defeat"; to take the foil means "to lose".^1
168	Lest thou dost lose what foretime thou didst gain.	= previously;^1 the Emperor doesn’t want his countryman
		to lose the title of champion to the Englishman.
170	Vand. Bacon, wilt thou dispute?
172	Bacon. No,
	Unless he were more learned than Vandermast:	= ie. "such a person as I might dispute".
174	For yet, tell me, what hast thou done?	= ie. but.
176	Vand. Raised Hercules to ruinate that tree	= tear down.
	That Bungay mounted by his magic spells.	= raised, ie. caused to appear.
178
	Bacon. Set Hercules to work.
180
	Vand. Now, Hercules, I charge thee to thy task;	= order.
182	Pull off the golden branches from the root.
184	Herc. I dare not. See'st thou not great Bacon here,	184-5: note that Hercules suddenly can speak English!
	Whose frown doth act more than thy magic can?
186
	Vand. By all the thrones, and dominatiöns,	187-8: Vandermast's evocation uses terms derived from the
188	Virtues, powers, and mighty hierarchies,	classification system for angels, as described by the 5th-
	I charge thee to obey to Vandermast.	6th century Christian philosopher Dionysius (also known as pseudo-Dionysius). According to Dionysius, angels existed in three groups, or hierarchies: (1) the highest hierarchy was the counsellors, which consisted of three sub-groups, or choirs, the seraphim, cherubim and thrones; (2) the second hierarchy, governors of the stars and the elements, was comprised of the choirs dominions (or dominations), virtues and powers; (3) and the messengers, made up of the principalities (or princedoms), archangels, and angels.^28
190
	Herc. Bacon, that bridles headstrong Belcephon,	= ie. "who controls".
192	And rules Asmenoth, guider of the north,	192: Asmenoth is another demon who apparently serves Bacon; he is likely an invention of Greene's. Asmenoth is referred to as Astmeroth in Scene 11 at line 151. It is worth mentioning that the government of hell is described in The Historie of the damnable life of Doctor John Faustus, which was published anonymously around 1590 in England, and served as Christopher Marlowe's primary source for his play about Faustus. Hell, says the Historie, is divided into 10 kingdoms, governed by five devil-kings, but Beelzebub, not Asmenoth, is identified as the ruler of the northern kingdoms.
	Binds me from yielding unto Vandermast.	= ie. prevents.
194
	K. Hen. How now, Vandermast, have you met with
196	your match?
198	Vand. Never before was't known to Vandermast
	That men held devils in such obedient awe.
200	Bacon doth more than art, or else I fail.	200: "Bacon practices something more than ordinary
		sorcery, or else I am mistaken."^4
202	Emp. Why, Vandermast, art thou overcome? −
	Bacon, dispute with him, and try his skill.	203: with the German having been defeated by Bacon in a contest of magic, the Emperor encourages the sorcerers to engage in a theological debate.
204
	Bacon. I come not, monarchs, for to hold dispute	= ie. in order.
206	With such a novice as is Vandermast;	= ouch!
	I come to have your royalties to dine	= majesties.
208	With Friar Bacon here in Brazen-nose.
	And, for this German troubles but the place,	= because.
210	And holds this audience with a long suspense,
	I'll send him to his ácadémy hence. −
212	Thou Hercules, whom Vandermast did raise,
	Transport the German unto Hapsburg straight,
214	That he may learn by travail, 'gainst the spring,	214: travail = hard work, though there may be a secondary meaning of "travel". 'gainst = in preparation for, or in anticipation of.
	More secret dooms and aphorisms of art. −	= concealed decrees.^4 = maxims or principles of magic.
216	Vanish the tree, and thou away with him!	216: an imperative: "remove the tree (spoken to Hercules), and thou (to Vandermast) go with him!" This interesting transitive use of vanish, meaning "to remove from sight", was common in the 17th century.^1
218	[Exit Hercules with Vandermast and the tree.]	218: Hercules presumably drags the tree and Vandermast with him.
220	Emp. Why, Bacon, whither dost thou send him?	= to where.
222	Bacon. To Hapsburg: there your highness at return	= ie. "at your".
	Shall find the German in his study safe.
224
	K. Hen. Bacon, thou hast honoured England with thy skill,
226	And made fair Oxford famous by thine art.
	I will be English Henry to thyself.	227: "I will reward you as an English king should reward
228	But tell me, shall we dine with thee to-day?	one who has served England so well" (Ward).
230	Bacon. With me, my lord; and while I fit my cheer,	= "prepare the food and drink (cheer)".
	See where Prince Edward comes to welcome you,
232	Gracious as is the morning-star of Heaven.	232: Edward is compared to Venus (the morning-star),
		which is visible in the early dawn.^1
234	Enter Prince Edward, Lacy, Warren, Ermsby.
236	Emp. Is this Prince Edward, Henry's royal son?
	How martial is the figure of his face!
238	Yet lovely and beset with amorets.	= love-kindling or -causing looks (Dyce).
240	K. Hen. Ned, where hast thou been?
242	Pr. Edw. At Framingham, my lord, to try your bucks	= test out. Note that the name for Framlingham was sometimes written in the original edition as Framingham, as here, and sometimes Fremingham.
	If they could scape the teasers or the toil.	243: "to see if they could escape the hunting-dogs (teasers) or the net (toil) into which game would be driven.
244	But hearing of these lordly potentates,
	Landed, and progressed up to Oxford town,	= ie. travelled in a royal formal manner.
246	I posted to give entertain to them:
	Chief to the Almain monarch; next to him,	= foremostly. = German emperor.
248	And joint with him, Castile and Saxony	= joined, together. = the duke of Saxony, who we remember accompanies the monarchs, but has no lines in our play.
	Are welcome as they may be to the English court.	249: this line, as well as line 251 below, are examples of alexandrines.
250	Thus for the men: but see, Venus appears,	= so much for. = Edward, who has himself just been compared to the morning star, ie. Venus, now compares Elinor in her beauty to the other Venus, the goddess of beauty.
	Or one that overmatcheth Venus in her shape!	= surpasses. = form, ie. beauty.
252	Sweet Elinor, beauty's high-swelling pride,	252: personified Beauty is swollen with pride over Elinor.
	Rich nature's glory and her wealth at once,	= in one.
254	Fair of all fairs, welcome to Albion;	= beauty. = beautiful women. = England.
	Welcome to me, and welcome to thine own,
256	If that thou deign'st the welcome from myself.	= ie. "will condescend to accept".
258	Elin. Martial Plantagenet, Henry's high-minded son,
	The mark that Elinor did count her aim,	259: Elinor employs an archery metaphor: Edward is the target (mark) she was aiming for; count = regard.^2
260	I liked thee 'fore I saw thee; now I love,
	And so as in so short a time I may;	261: ie. "or at least as is possible in so brief a period of time."
262	Yet so as time shall never break that so,	262: "but yet, the passage of time won't change what I feel".
	And therefore so accept of Elinor.
264
	K. of Cast. Fear not, my lord, this couple will agree,
266	If love may creep into their wanton eyes. −	= playful.
	And therefore, Edward, I accept thee here,
268	Without suspence, as my adopted son.	= so as to prevent any doubt or uncertainty.
270	K. Hen. Let me that joy in these consorting greets,	= take joy in. = harmonious (consorting)^4 greetings or
	And glory in these honours done to Ned,	expressions of good will.^1
272	Yield thanks for all these favours to my son,
	And rest a true Plantagenet to all.	= remain.
274
	Enter Miles with a cloth and trenchers and salt.	275: cloth = table-cloth. trenchers = wooden dinner-plates, clearly not the type of dinner-ware from which monarchs would expect to eat. salt = salt cellar.
276
	Miles. Salvete, omnes reges,	277: "hail, all kings"; Miles resumes speaking in his John Skelton-inspired verse.
278	That govern your greges	= flocks.
	In Saxony and Spain,
280	In England and in Almain!
	For all this frolic rabble	= merry mob.
282	Must I cover the table
	With trenchers, salt, and cloth;
284	And then look for your broth.	= ie. "you may expect".
286	Emp. What pleasant fellow is this?	= merry, droll.
288	K. Hen. 'Tis, my lord, Doctor Bacon's poor scholar.
290	Miles. [Aside] My master hath made me sewer of	= ancient name for the attendant in charge of arrangements or who set the dishes for a meal or feast.^1,5,7
	these great lords; and, God knows, I am as
292	serviceable at a table as a sow is under an apple-tree:	= "capable of working as a server". = ie. not at all.
	tis no matter; their cheer shall not be great, and	= fare.
294	therefore what skills where the salt stand, before or	= "what does it matter".
	behind?	294-5: where…behind = the placement of the salt-
296		cellar, which was usually of considerable size, on the table acted as an indicator of status; those who sat above it were more distinguished, those below, less so.^5,7
	[Exit.]
298
	K. of Cast. These scholars know more skill in axioms,
300	How to use quips and sleights of sophistry,	= equivocation.^1 = deceit or trickery. = bandying of words, parsing arguments with intent to mislead.
	Than for to cover courtly for a king.	301: than how to set a table in a royal manner fit to serve a king.
302
	Re-enter Miles with a mess of pottage and broth;	= serving or course. = stew or porridge; very poor fare
304	And, after him, Bacon.	indeed for a king!
306	Miles. Spill, sir? Why, do you think I never carried	306f: Bacon has apparently been berating Miles off-stage for his clumsiness.
	twopenny chop before in my life? −	= cheap broth with chopped meat, or hash.^4
308	By your leave, nobile decus,	= "noble ornament or dignity" (Nimmo), or "your worshipful honour" (Seltzer).
	For here comes Doctor Bacon's pecus,	= beast or single head of cattle,^7 meaning himself.
310	Being in his full age	310: "being in his majority", ie. old enough now.
	To carry a mess of pottage.
312
	Bacon. Lordings, admire not if your cheer be this,	= wonder. = meal.
314	For we must keep our academic fare;	314: "for we here at Oxford must not vary from our usual meager fare."
	No riot where philosophy doth reign:	315: "there can be no extravagance (riot) in a place where philosophy is king."
316	And therefore, Henry, place these potentates,	= seat; Bacon, notes Ward, leaves it to Henry to decide on the seating arrangements, which will be ordered according to the relative statuses of the guests.
	And bid them fall unto their frugal cates.	317: likely meaning simply "sparing food"; but if cates has its usual meaning of the period of "choice foods" or "delicacies", then frugal cates is oxymoronic, and the line is ironic: "and ask them to dig in to their economical delicacies."
318
	Emp. Presumptuous friar! What, scoff 'st thou at a king?	= arrogant, improperly bold.
320	What, dost thou taunt us with thy peasants' fare,
	And give us cates fit for country swains? −	= ie. rustics; the line seems to have lost a syllable.
322	Henry, proceeds this jest of thy consent,	= with, by.
	To twit us with a pittance of such price?	= (little) worth or value.
324	Tell me, and Frederick will not grieve thee long.	= "trouble you"; the Emperor doesn’t plan to stay around if
		Henry has sanctioned this meal.
326	K. Hen. By Henry's honour, and the royal faith
	The English monarch beareth to his friend,
328	I knew not of the friar's feeble fare,	328: note the nice alliteration in this line.
	Nor am I pleased he entertains you thus.
330
	Bacon. Content thee, Frederick, for I showed these cates	= "don't worry", or "take it easy". = the original quarto has thee here, but all the editors accept these.
332	To let thee see how scholars use to feed;	= "usually eat."
	How little meat refines our English wits. −	333: "how a sparing diet improves (refines)^1 our mental capacities or intelligence."
334	Miles, take away, and let it be thy dinner.	= ie. "take it".
336	Miles. Marry, sir, I will.
	This day shall be a festival-day with me;
338	For I shall exceed in the highest degree.	= a university term for "eating more than one is accustomed to eating", as would be served at a festival.^1
340	[Exit.]	340: presumably Miles enthusiastically takes the food with him.
342	Bacon. I tell thee, monarch, all the German peers	= nobles.
	Could not afford thy entertainment such,	= "to entertain you in such a way".
344	So royal and so full of majesty,
	As Bacon will present to Frederick.
346	The basest waiter that attends thy cups	= "will wait on your goblets".
	Shall be in honours greater than thyself; −	= "in outward show" (Ward).
348	And for thy cates, rich Alexandria drugs,	348: Seltzer notes that Bacon turns to Henry here. Alexandria drugs = spices shipped from Alexandria.^9
	Fetched by carvels from Egypt's richest streights,	349: carvels = ie. caravels, light round ships, often with square-rigged sails; Columbus' Nina and Pinta were caravels.^26 streights = straits.
350	Found in the wealthy strand of Africa,	= regions.^1
	Shall royalize the table of my king.	= give royal character to.^4
352	Wines richer than th' Egyptian courtesan	= ie. Cleopatra, described unflatteringly as a whore.
	Quaffed to Augustus' kingly countermatch,	353: ie. "drank to Augustus' rival (countermatch)", ie. Mark Antony. Collins notes the line refers to a bet Cleopatra made with Antony, described by Pliny in his Natural Histories, that they could consume a meal worth 10 million sesterces. She won the bet by dissolving the world's largest pearl, which she owned, into a cup of vinegar, which dissolved the pearl, and which she drank. Antony's loss of the bet was considered a bad omen whose forecast was fulfilled when Antony was defeated in the civil wars by Julius Caesar's great-nephew, Octavian. Octavian, after Caesar's assassination, had taken part in a civil war for control of Rome; in the final stage of the war, having defeated his rival Mark Antony in a sea battle at Actium, Octavian chased Antony to the Egyptian capital, where Antony went into hiding with his paramour, the queen of Egypt, Cleopatra; the royal couple committed suicide before they were forced to face Octavian. The young victor was granted the name Augustus after the death of Antony.
354	Shall be caroused in English Henry's feast;
	Candy shall yield the richest of her canes;	355: Candy = ie. Candia, meaning the island of Crete, of which Candia was the capital. canes = sugar, which appears to have been exported from Crete.^9 At first glance there appears to be a pun in the line on candy cane, but the name for the cane-shaped sweet did not appear until the 18th century.^1
356	Persia, down her Volga by canoes,	356: needless to say, the Volga River is a Russian stream, emptying into the Caspian Sea, and does not flow in Persia; but Greene made a similar error in his later work Greene's Orpharion, in which he wrote of "the swift-running Volga that leadeth into Persia."^9
	Send down the secrets of her spicery;	= ie. complete collection of spices.^4
358	The Afric dates, mirabolans of Spain,	= dates were grown in North Africa. = dried plums.^2
	Conserves and suckets from Tiberias,	359: conserves = fruit preserved in sugar. suckets = sweetmeat, candied fruits, for sucking.^7 Tiberias = the main town in Galilee, located on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee; it was famous for its "beauty and fruitfulness" (Sugden).
360	Cates from Judaea, choicer than the lamp	= delicacies from Judea; but the editors have noted that the
	That firèd Rome with sparks of gluttony,	only product exported from Judea in the 16th century was balm (an aromatic oil or resin used for medicinal purposes); thus, given the frequent use of cates already since 317 - four times prior to this line - cates indeed could be a printer's error, and the line should perhaps read "Balm from Judea" instead; but ultimately this is an unsatisfactory solution, since balm is not a food, and would hardly fit with the rest of the dainties mentioned in 358-9, and would certainly not lead to the gluttony of line 361. Another interpretation suggests lamp is short for lampreys, a popular delicacy since the days of ancient Rome. As a result, Dyce concludes that lines 360-1 are so mutilated that the original sense has been irretrievably lost.
362	Shall beautify the board for Frederick:	= table.
	And therefore grudge not at a friar's feast.	= "do not complain about".^1
364
	[Exeunt.]
	SCENE X.
	Fressingfield.
	Enter Lambert and Serlsby with the Keeper.	Entering Characters: Lambert and Serlsby are two local rustics; they are visiting the Keeper as rivals for Margaret's hand in marriage.
1	Lamb. Come, frolic Keeper of our liege's game,	= merry. = ie. the king's. Note how smoothly Lambert speaks, dressing his language with flowery language, romantic figures of speech and allusions; Serlsby, on the other hand, is self-consciously blunt and unpoetic.
2	Whose table spread hath ever venison	= always has.
	And jacks of wine to welcome passengers,	3: jacks = pitchers;^4 possibly black-jacks, ie. large leather jugs.^1 passengers = travellers, passers-by.
4	Know I'm in love with jolly Margaret,
	That overshines our damsels as the moon	= who outshines. 5-6: as the moon…night = just as the bright moon causes the stars of the sky to go dark in comparison to it.
6	Darkeneth the brightest sparkles of the night.
	In Laxfield here my land and living lies:	7: Laxfield = a village in Suffolk, about 6 miles north of Framlingham.^9 living = income.
8	I'll make thy daughter jointer of it all,	= jointress; Lambert intends to legally pass ownership of his property to Margaret should he predecease her, a settlement known as "jointure".^2,4
	So thou consent to give her to my wife;	= provided that.
10	And I can spend five-hundred marks a year.	= in England, a mark was a unit of money worth 2/3 of a pound sterling;^1 Lambert is pointing out his very decent income, about 334 pounds per year.
12	Serl. I am the lands-lord, Keeper, of thy holds,	12-13: Serlsby is explaining, more for the benefit of the
	By copy all thy living lies in me;	audience than the Keeper, that he is the owner, or landlord, of the Keeper's home and farms; the rights of the Keeper are in the form of a copyhold (by copy), a property interest sort of like a lease, in which the lord retained the right to the timber and minerals on the land; however, unlike in a lease, the copyholder could transfer his interest in the copyhold, by inheritance or sale, and the lord was obliged to accept the copyholder's nominee.^12 holds = property. all thy living lies in me = the Keeper gets his income, in a sense, from land granted him, and therefore thanks to, Serlsby.
14	Laxfield did never see me raise my due:	14: as a property owner, Serlsby notes, he has never raised the rent on any of his tenants and fellow citizens in Laxfeld.
	I will enfeoff fair Margaret in all,	15: "give a heritable interest (full ownership) to";^29 enfeoff is an ancient legal term. Ward notes that Serlsby's offer, of immediate complete ownership granted to Margaret, is more generous than Lambert's. This is the first of only three cases in which Margaret is trisyllabic when it appears in the middle of a line. A second occurrence is in line 55 below.
16	So she will take her to a lusty squire.	16: "if she will hand herself over to a healthy or vigorous country land-owner or proprietor (squire)," meaning himself.^1
18	Keep. Now, courteous gentles, if the Keeper's girl	= gentlemen, of the gentle class.
	Hath pleased the liking fancy of you both,
20	And with her beauty hath subdued your thoughts,	= taken possession of.
	'Tis doubtful to decide the question.	21: "it is unclear how to solve this conundrum."
22	It joys me that such men of great esteem	= "gives me joy". = worth.
	Should lay their liking on this base estate,	= regard or preference.^1 = ie. "us who are of such low rank or fortune".
24	And that her state should grow so fortunate	24-25: these lines don't really make sense, and have thus
	To be a wife to meaner men than you:	been marked as corrupt (ie. printed incorrectly), but the intended meaning seems to be "and that Margaret's status or fortune would rise even if she were to marry a man of lower position than yourselves possess."
26	But sith such squires will stoop to keeper's fee,	= since. = deign to, or lower themselves, so as to marry into the rank of a mere gamekeeper"; note the alliteration in this line.
	I will, t' avoid displeasure of you both,	= "displeasing either of you".
28	Call Margaret forth, and she shall make her choice.
30	Lamb. Content, Keeper; send her unto us.	= "very well".
32	[Exit Keeper.]
34	Why, Serlsby, is thy wife so lately dead,	34-36: "Serlsby, with your wife having died so recently,
	Are all thy loves so lightly passèd over,	is your love for her so easily forgotten (passed over)^1
36	As thou canst wed before the year be out?	that you can think of marrying already when she has not been dead yet a year?" With the Keeper out of the room, Lambert quickly and nastily verbally assaults his rival.
38	Serl. I live not, Lambert, to content the dead,	= please, satisfy.
	Nor was I wedded but for life to her:	= ie. "for any other period of time other than her lifetime"
40	The grave ends and begins a married state.
42	Enter Margaret.
44	Lamb. Peggy, the lovely flower of all towns,
	Suffolk's fair Helen, and rich England's star,	= ie. Helen of Troy, the most beautiful woman in the world.
46	Whose beauty, tempered with her huswifery,	= mixed. = ability to keep house.
	Makes England talk of merry Fressingfield!	= ie. "all of England".
48
	Serl. I cannot trick it up with poësies,	= "dress up or adorn (my speech)". = poetic language.
50	Nor paint my passions with comparisons;	= "nor ornament descriptions of my emotional state (ie. love) with metaphors and similes (comparisons)."
	Nor tell a tale of Phoebus and his loves.	51: "nor tell stories about the god Apollo (whose alternate name, in his guise as the sun god, is Phoebus) and his paramours". The male gods, especially Jupiter and Apollo, chased many a human maiden. Suitors of a lady's hand often compared their love to those of gods. We may note that Lacy has spoken of Apollo earlier, but not Lambert.
52	But this believe me, − Laxfield here is mine,
	Of ancient rent seven-hundred pounds a-year,	= ie. long-standing.^6 = seven is always monosyllabic in our play, the medial v omitted: se'en; note that Serlsby's income is double Lambert's.
54	And if thou canst but love a country squire,
	I will enfeoff thee, Margaret, in all.	= grant possession to; Serlsby repeats to Margaret his generous offer of line 15.
56	I cannot flatter; try me, if thou please.
58	Marg. Brave neighbouring squires, the stay of Suffolk's clime,	58: Brave = excellent. the stay…clime = the supports or foundation (stay) of the county; clime means region.
	A keeper's daughter is too base in gree	= low in degree, ie. social rank.
60	To match with men accompted of such worth.	= marry. = accounted.
	But might I not displease, I would reply.	61: "if only I could avoid hurting the feelings of one of you, I would give you an answer." Margaret has given the same excuse for not replying as her father did in line 27 above.
62
	Lamb. Say, Peggy; naught shall make us discontent.	= ie. "give us your answer". = "nothing (you say)".
64
	Marg. Then, gentles, note that love hath little stay,	= gentlemen. = love has little steadiness, ie. is unstable or fickle.^4
66	Nor can the flames that Venus sets on fire
	Be kindled but by fancy's motiön.	67: kindled = ignited, a metaphor with flames and fire; but kindle is also frequently used to mean "arouse" when applied to an emotion. fancy's motion = stirring of emotion.^1
68	Then pardon, gentles, if a maid's reply
	Be doubtful, while I have debated with myself,	= uncertain. = until.^4
70	Who, or of whom, love shall constrain me like.	= the sense seems to be "direct me to favour."
72	Serl. Let it be me; and trust me, Margaret,
	The meads environed with the silver streams,	= meadows surrounded; note that Serlsby tries very hard to match Lambert in flights of romantic language, but quickly his speech devolves into an unintentionally and humorously prosaic accounting of his farm animals.
74	Whose battling pastures fatneth all my flocks,	= nourishing; this is the second time Greene has used this unusual word in this play.
	Yielding forth fleeces stapled with such wool	75: an adjective referring to the length and fineness of wool;^5 but stapled could also refer to the receiving and preparation of wool for sale or export at a prescribed and privileged location called a staple.^1
76	As Lemnster cannot yield more finer stuff,	= today's Leominster, a town in far western England on the border with Wales, which was famous for the quality of its wool.^9
	And forty kine with fair and burnished heads,	= cows. = glossy or gleaming horns.
78	With strouting dugs that paggle to the ground,	= swollen udders.^5 = bulge, reach or hang; a paggle is
	Shall serve thy dairy, if thou wed with me.	a flower more commonly known as the oxlip, whose drooping flowers may have inspired this word;^1 it is also the "official" flower of Suffolk county. This is the only appearance of paggle as a verb in literature.
80
	Lamb. Let pass the country wealth, as flocks and kine,	= the sense is "forget about".
82	And lands that wave with Ceres' golden sheaves,	82: ie. "and lands covered with waving crops of corn". Ceres is the Roman version of the Greek goddess Demeter, who was responsible for earth's production of grains, fruits and vegetables; her name gives us the word cereal. sheaves = plural of sheaf, which technically refers to bundles of corn stalks which have been tied together and allowed to dry.^21
	Filling my barns with plenty of the fields;	= great quantity, a noun.
84	But, Peggy, if thou wed thyself to me,
	Thou shalt have garments of embroidered silk,
86	Lawns, and rich net-works for thy head-attire:	= fine linen.^1 = interlaced fabrics.^1
	Costly shall be thy fair habiliments,	= gorgeous clothing.
88	If thou wilt be but Lambert's loving wife.
90	Marg. Content you, gentles, you have proffered fair,	= "be satisfied", ie. "that's enough". = offered.
	And more than fits a country maid's degree:	= is appropriate for. = rank or social status. The repeated references to class are a constant in Elizabethan drama, as it was in English society in general.
92	But give me leave to counsel me a time,	= permission. = ie. take this under advisement.
	For fancy blooms not at the first assault;	= love = a metaphor for the initial instance of wooing.^1
94	Give me but ten days' respite, and I will reply,	= extension, ie. "time to think about it"; the line is another alexandrine.
	Which or to whom myself affectionates.	= has affection for, ie. loves; an unusual, but not uncommon, use of affectionate as a verb. Margaret's oddly phrased which or to whom parallels her oddly phrased who, or of whom of line 70.
96
	Serl. Lambert, I tell thee, thou'rt importunate;	= irritatingly persistent.
98	Such beauty fits not such a base esquire:	= is not appropriate for. = "lowly country gentleman (such
	It is for Serlsby to have Margaret.	as you)."
100
	Lamb. Think'st thou with wealth to overreach me?	101: "do you think you can prevail over (overreach) me with your wealth?" Serlsby, we remember, has twice as much disposable income as does his rival.
102	Serlsby, I scorn to brook thy country braves.	= put up with. = peasant-like boasts or threats.
	I dare thee, coward, to maintain this wrong,	103-4: Lambert challenges Serlsby to a duel.
104	At dint of rapier, single in the field.	dint of rapier = force of arms or swords. A rapier is a light, sharp-pointed sword.^2 single in the field = one-on-one, single combat.
106	Serl. I'll answer, Lambert, what I have avouched. −	106: Serlsby seems to be saying that he accepts Lambert's challenge, and in doing so will back up what he said.
	Margaret, farewell; another time shall serve.	= ie. "serve the purpose (for which I have come here)."
108
	[Exit.]
110
	Lamb. I'll follow. − Peggy, farewell to thyself;
112	Listen how well I'll answer for thy love.	= "fight on your behalf"; in Shakespeare's Troilus and
		Cressida, the Trojan warrior Hector has offered to meet any Greek in single combat, each fighting on behalf of or to protect the honour of his wife or mistress; old Nestor expresses his hope that someone will volunteer, and in doing so "answer for his love".
114	[Exit.]
116	Marg. How fortune tempers lucky haps with frowns,	116: "personified Fortune moderates (tempers) a person's fortuitous occurrences (haps) with frowns", ie. the goddess generally does not permit one to enjoy unallayed good fortune without causing some ill to attend his or her successes.
	And wrongs me with the sweets of my delight!	117: Fortune ironically harms Margaret with exactly that which brings her happiness, to wit, love.
118	Love is my bliss, and love is now my bale.	= torment, woe.^1
	Shall I be Helen in my froward fates,	119-121: dense lines packed with allusion: Margaret
120	As I am Helen in my matchless hue,	compares herself to Helen of Troy, whom she resembles in
	And set rich Suffolk with my face afire?	possession of unmatched beauty (matchless hue), but perhaps more unfavourably in having an adverse destiny (froward fates), also like Helen; Helen, as we have previously mentioned, proximately caused the Trojan War by eloping with Paris, a prince of Troy; the ten-year-long struggle finally ended when the Greeks, having surreptitiously entered Troy in the famous wooden horse, destroyed the city by slaughtering its citizens and burning it to the ground. Similarly, and more metaphorically, Margaret, because of the jealous rivalries her beauty is causing, may set Suffolk county afire, ie. bring it to destruction as well.
122	If lovely Lacy were but with his Peggy,
	The cloudy darkness of his bitter frown	123: ie. "a stern look from Lacy (to the rival country suitors)".
124	Would check the pride of these aspiring squires.	= put a stop to.
	Before the term of ten days be expired,
126	Whenas they look for answer of their loves,	= when. = ie. a reply.
	My lord will come to merry Fressingfield,	= ie. Lacy.
128	And end their fancies and their follies both:	= love. = foolishness.
	Till when, Peggy, be blithe and of good cheer.	= remain merry.^2
130
	Enter a Post with a letter and a bag of gold.	Entering Character: the Post is a special messenger or
132		courier; ours is an employee of Lord Lacy.
	Post. Fair lovely damsel, which way leads this path?
134	How might I post me unto Fressingfield?	= most quickly travel; note the use of the grammatical
	Which footpath leadeth to the Keeper's lodge?	construction known as the ethical dative, in which the superfluous me of I post me adds emphasis (and also helps fill out the meter).
136
	Marg. Your way is ready, and this path is right.	= near-by.^6
138	Myself do dwell hereby in Fressingfield;
	And if the Keeper be the man you seek,
140	I am his daughter: may I know the cause?
142	Post. Lovely, and once belovèd of my lord;	142-4: these lines are likely spoken as an aside.
	No marvel if his eye was lodged so low,	= ie. fixed on this earthly target.
144	When brighter beauty is not in the heavens. −	= ie. exists.
	The Lincoln Earl hath sent you letters here,
146	And, with them, just an hundred pounds in gold.	= exactly, precisely.^4
148	[Gives letter and bag.]
150	Sweet, bonny wench, read them, and make reply.	= "give me an answer to return with."
152	Marg. The scrolls that Jove sent Danaë,	152-3: Margaret's mythology is slightly off: Jupiter
	Wrapt in rich closures of fine burnished gold,	visited Danae in the form of a shower of gold, which impregnated her. See the note back at Scene VIII.72-73 to review the whole story. Margaret is wrong to suggest Jupiter sent her letters (scrolls) wrapped in fine and shining (burnished) gold, if indeed that is what she meant; if she is referring to scrolls in some metaphoric way, then her choice of analogy is just plain odd, given Danae's immediate fate: Acrisius had Danae, with her baby, tossed into the sea inside a wooden crate to drown her (she survived, but that is another story).
154	Were not more welcome than these lines to me,
	Tell me, whilst that I do unrip the seals,	= open.^1 = a letter might be sealed with wax to keep it shut.
156	Lives Lacy well? How fares my lovely lord?
158	Post. Well, if that wealth may make men to live well.	= ie. "yes, he lives well".
160	Marg. [Reads] The blooms of the almond-tree grow	160-4: Lacy's letter opens with some allusions to living things with very brief life-spans, which he will compare to short-lived infatuation such as was his with Margaret. blooms = blossoms.^4 The source for Lacy's assertion about almond blossoms is unknown.
	in a night, and vanish in a morn; the flies hemera,	161-3: the flies…dew = the letter refers to the may-fly, or day-fly (a member of the Ephemeridae family), some species of which live for only one day before dying; hemera means "ephemera".
162	fair Peggy, take life with the sun, and die with the
	dew; fancy that slippeth in with a gaze, goeth out	163-4: fancy…wink = love that begins with a look ends quickly; the phrase with a wink meant "in a trice",^1 with an obvious pun here with gaze.
164	with a wink; and too timely loves have ever the	= "love that comes on too early, ie. quickly, always has".
	shortest length. I write this as thy grief, and my	= ie. Lacy describes himself as a cause of Margaret's impending grief.
166	folly, who at Fressingfeld loved that which time hath	= her.
	taught me to be but mean dainties: eyes are	167: but mean dainties = nothing but vulgar delights. 167-8: eyes are dissemblers = eyes are deceivers, in that they lead one, when one sees something beautiful, to think and feel things one doesn't actually think and feel, and to do things one shouldn't actually do".
168	dissemblers, and fancy is but queasy; therefore	= love is tricky or uncertain,^1 ie. fickle; though Nimmo suggests "squeamish" and Ward "fastidious" for queasy.
	know, Margaret, I have chosen a Spanish lady to be
170	my wife, chief waiting-woman to the Princess	= head female attendant, who would be the daughter of a leading noble Spanish family.
	Elinor; a lady fair, and no less fair than thyself,	= beautiful lady.
172	honourable and wealthy. In that I forsake thee, I	= of noble status or high rank.
	leave thee to thine own liking; and for thy dowry I	173: to thine own liking = Lacy means Margaret is free to
174	have sent thee an hundred pounds; and ever assure	marry another man of her own choice. 173-4: for thy dowry...pounds = a gift of money Margaret can bring with her into a marriage; a great sum of one hundred pounds would add further attractiveness to our already desirable maiden.^1
	thee of my favour, which shall avail thee and thine
176	much.
	Farewell.	Lacy's Letter (160-176): Lacy has written his letter in the unusual style, made popular by the dramatist John Lyly, known as euphuism. Euphuistic writing consists of (1) a continuous use of short, pithy parallel phrases and sentences; (2) allusions to many fantastic facts, some real and some fictional, taken from natural history and mythology; and (3) the frequent use of alliteration. Though not of Lyly's own invention, euphuism became the rage in English educated circles for a brief period of time after its appearance in Lyly's novel Euphues; all of Lyly's plays also incorporate the style; but like all fads that come on too quickly, euphuism disappeared, as Lacy might say, with a wink.
178
	Not thine, nor his own,	179: ie. "I belong neither to you nor to myself (as I now
180	Edward Lacy.	belong to another)".
182	Fond Atè, doomer of bad-boding fates,	182: "playful or capricious (fond) Ate, who sentences people to ill destinies". Ate, the ancient Greek goddess of mischief or revenge, travelled the world leading gods and humans to commit rash and foolish actions.^10
	That wrapp'st proud fortune in thy snaky locks,	183: generally, "who controls the destinies of men"; Margaret - or Greene - has confused Ate, however, with Medusa, the famous monster with serpentine hair.
184	Didst thou enchant my birth-day with such stars	184-5: our heroine refers to the belief that the position of the stars at one's birth determined one's fortunes in life; Margaret suggests her destiny was a doomed one from the start.
	As lightened mischief from their infancy?	= flashed out, ie. emitted, like lightning. = the birth of the stars, ie. since the beginning of time.
186	If heavens had vowed, if stars had made decree,
	To show on me their froward influence,	= shower. = adverse. = an astrological term, describing an imagined ethereal fluid which flowed from the stars and affected one's fortunes in life.^1
188	If Lacy had but loved, heavens, hell, and all,	188-9: "if Lacy had only truly loved me, then nothing above
	Could not have wronged the patience of my mind.	the earth (heavens) or below it (hell) could have inflicted
190		any misfortune on me which could upset me."
	Post. It grieves me, damsel; but the earl is forced
192	To love the lady by the king's command.
194	Marg. The wealth combined within the English shelves,	= read as "not the". = sandbanks, ie. shores.
	Europe's commander, nor the English king,	= ie. "not the Holy Roman Emperor".
196	Should not have moved the love of Peggy from her lord.	196: "could have caused Peggy (me) to alter my feelings
		of love towards Lacy;" the negatives of the sentence are not exactly consistent, but Greene is more concerned with achieving smooth meter, and besides the sense of the line is clear enough. The line is yet another alexandrine.
198	Post. What answer shall I return to my lord?
200	Marg. First, for thou cam'st from Lacy whom I loved, −	= because.
	Ah, give me leave to sigh at very thought! −	= permission. = ie. the very thought (of Lacy).
202	Take thou, my friend, the hundred pounds he sent;
	For Margaret's resolution craves no dower:	203: Margaret's resolution = ie. "the decision I have made (regarding what I will now do)". craves = demands, requires.
204	The world shall be to her as vanity;	204: from now on, Margaret will view all earthly pleasures as worthless or trivial (vanity).
	Wealth, trash; love, hate; pleasure, despair:	205: ie. "wealth is trash, love is hate, pleasure is despair." trash = contemptuous term for "mere" money or wealth.
206	For I will straight to stately Fremingham,	= go immediately.
	And in the abbey there be shorn a nun,	= initiated into a covent;^1 shorn, the past tense of shear, as used in this phrase, derives from the tonsure (the shaving of the hair in the center of the scalp) usually given to monks.
208	And yield my loves and liberty to God.
	Fellow, I give thee this, not for the news,
210	For those be hateful unto Margaret,	= ie. "the news you brought me"; note how news again is treated as a plural subject.
	But for thou'rt Lacy's man, once Margaret's love.	= ie. "because you work for Lacy".
212
	Post. What I have heard, what passions I have seen,	= expressions of emotion.
214	I'll make report of them unto the earl.
216	Marg. Say that she joys his fancies be at rest,	= is happy. = that Lacy has finally settled his love on one person.
	And prays that his misfortune may be hers.	217: Margaret ends the scene with a subtly wicked line:
218		she hopes that what happened to Lacy - forsaking his betrothed for another - happens to his intended bride as well, ie. that she in turn will leave Lacy!
	[Exeunt.]
	SCENE XI.
	Friar Bacon's cell.
	Friar Bacon draws the curtains	= ie. opens.
	and is discovered in his cell, lying on a bed,	= revealed.
	with a white stick in one hand,	= magic wand.
	a book in the other, and a lamp lighted beside him;
	and the Brazen Head,
	and Miles with weapons by him.	The Brazen Head: the Brazen Head is exactly what it sounds like it is, a statue of a large head, made of brass, which Bacon, through his magic, has been researching and constructing for seven years; it is the culmination of his career as a sorcerer, and his hope is that the Head will speak and reveal to him the secrets of the universe; he also expects, we remember, with the Head's assistance, to build a protective wall of brass around England.
		The idea of a magic talking Head first appeared in English literature in a work entitled Gesta regum (c.1120), known in English as the Chronicle of English Kings, written by the early English historian William of Malmesbury; he tells the story of one of Europe's greatest scholars, a man named Gebert, who "cast, for his own purposes, the head of a statue...which spake not unless spoken to, but then pronounced the truth, either in the affirmative or negative. For instance, when Gebert would say, 'Shall I be pope?' the statue would reply 'Yes.' 'Am I to die, ere I sing mass at Jerusalem?' 'No.'"^30 Gebert went on to become Pope Silvester II (c.945-1003, pope from 999), the first Frenchman appointed to the pontificate. Legends of his sorcery, including a pact with the devil, arose after his passing in Jerusalem in 1003.^12
		Miles' Weapons: the nervous Miles, being called by Bacon to keep watch alone on the Brazen Head, arms himself with pistols and an ancient English pole-arm known as a brown bill.
1	Bacon. Miles, where are you?	Scene XI: Bacon and Bungay have been taking turns for
2		two months watching the Brazen Head, waiting for it to speak; exhausted, and unable to keep from falling asleep, Bacon had, just before the scene opens, told his assistant Miles he must watch the Head for a while so that he could catch up on some shut-eye. Miles left the room in order to prepare himself for this duty, and Bacon is wondering where he has disappeared to.
	Miles. Here, sir.
4
	Bacon. How chance you tarry so long?	5: "why did you take so long to come back?"
6
	Miles. Think you that the watching of the Brazen
8	Head craves no furniture? I warrant you, sir, I have	= "demands or requires no equipment or weapons?" ie. "do you think it is wise to watch the Head without being properly prepared for anything that might happen?"
	so armed myself that if all your devils come, I will	= as mentioned above, Miles has come equipped with pistols and pole-arm.
10	not fear them an inch.	= ie. the tiniest bit.
12	Bacon. Miles,
	Thou know’st that I have divèd into hell,
14	And sought the darkest palaces of fiends;
	That with my magic spells great Belcephon
16	Hath left his lodge and kneelèd at my cell;	= residence, dwelling, ie. hell. = ie. in submission.
	The rafters of the earth rent from the poles,	17: the heavens ripped from their supporting beams, or something hyperbolical like that.
18	And three-formed Luna hid her silver looks,	18-19: Bacon describes the moon (personified as the
	Trembling upon her concave continent,	goddess Luna) hiding in fear within the sphere (concave continent) in which it is embedded. Greene conflates Luna with Hecate (see line 22 below), a mysterious goddess who was said to have control over birth, life and death, and had command "of all the powers of Nature" (Murray, p. 70).^31 Hecate was often portrayed as having three bodies, standing in a sort-of triangle with their backs to each other, hence Greene's description of Luna as three-formed. silver looks = ie. rays. Ward has noted that it was a common feat of sorcerers to make the moon disappear.
20	When Bacon read upon his magic book.
	With seven years' tossing necromantic charms,	21: Bacon has invested seven years of work to reach the point when the Head may be ready to speak.
22	Poring upon dark Hecat's principles,	= studying.^1
	I have framed out a monstrous head of brass,	= constructed.
24	That, by th' enchanting forces of the devil,
	Shall tell out strange and uncouth aphorisms,	= speak. = "(previously) unknown or strange (uncouth)^2 principles of science".
26	And girt fair England with a wall of brass.	= surround.
	Bungay and I have watched these threescore days,	= kept watch for sixty days; Bacon and Bungay have been taking turns continuously for two months watching the Head, in 12 hour shifts, Bacon at night, and Bungay during the day.
28	And now our vital spirits crave some rest.	= Bacon metaphorically refers to the refined life-sustaining liquids which were supposed to saturate the blood and internal organs.^1
	If Argus lived, and had his hundred eyes,	29-30: "even Argus, the hundred-eyed giant (who had
30	They could not over-watch Phobetor's night.	been assigned by Juno to watch over Jupiter's beloved Io, who had been turned into a cow - see the note at Scene VII.76), would not be able to remain awake to keep watch this night (if he were as exhausted as Bacon is);" the analogy is a powerful one: Argus could keep watch with 50 of his eyes while the other 50 slept. they (line 30) = Argus' eyes. over-watch Phobetor's night = keep watch through the night.^1 Phobetor was the son of Somnus (the god of sleep, who in turn was the son of Night) and brother to Morpheus; the siblings were both shapers of dreams.^10
	Now, Miles, in thee rests Friar Bacon's weal:	= prosperity, success.
32	The honour and renown of all his life	= fame, reputation. = Bacon, as usual, speaks of himself in the third person.
	Hangs in the watching of this Brazen Head;
34	Therefore I charge thee by th' immortal God,	= command.
	That holds the souls of men within His fist,	= Ward sees an allusion to Isaiah 40:12, though he should have quoted the 1568 Bishop's Bible instead of the 1611 King James Bible, the former reading "who hath measured the waters in his fist".
36	This night thou watch; for ere the morning-star	= stay awake and keep watch. = before. = ie. Venus.
	Sends out his glorious glister on the north,	= brilliance, gleaming.
38	The head will speak: then, Miles, upon thy life,	38: Bacon seems certain that this is the night the Head will finally speak, so it is odd, despite his exhaustion, that after a continuous vigil of two months' duration, he cannot pull out one more night in order to witness the big moment; should he not be able to use his sorcery in some way to help himself?
	Wake me; for then by magic art I'll work
40	To end my seven years' task with excellence.
	If that a wink but shut thy watchful eye,	41: "but if you should fall asleep for even a second (so as to miss the moment the Head comes alive)".
42	Then farewell Bacon's glory and his fame!
	Draw close the curtains, Miles: now, for thy life,	= on.
44	Be watchful, and −
46	[Falls asleep.]
48	Miles. So; I thought you would talk yourself asleep	= ie. very well, a word of acquiesance.^4
	anon; and 'tis no marvel, for Bungay on the days,	= quickly. = wonder. = during.
50	and he on the nights, have watched just these ten and
	fifty days: now this is the night, and 'tis my task, and
52	no more. Now, Jesus bless me, what a goodly Head
	it is! and a nose! you talk of nos autem glorificare;	= "forsooth to glorify us," punning of course on nose.
54	but here’s a nose that I warrant may be called nos	= "guarantee". 54-55: nos autem populare = "a popular or common nose".
	autem populare for the people of the parish. Well, I
56	am furnished with weapons; now, sir, I will set me	56-58: I will set…slumber = Miles settles himself into such a position that if he should fall asleep, his head will crash onto a wooden beam and wake him; Seltzer suggests Miles will use one of the beams that was used to hold up the roof over the stage.
	down by a post, and make it as good as a watchman
58	to wake me, if I chance to slumber. I thought,
	Goodman Head, I would call you out of your	= a generic title of respect, usually between equals.^1
60	memento.	= daydream or condition of being pleasantly lost in his thoughts.
62	[Miles drifts off; his head hits the post, waking him.]	62: the stage direction is the editor's.
64	Passion o' God, I have almost broke my pate!	= head.
66	[A great noise.]	66: some loud supernatural noise, emanating from either the Head or the surrounding environment, sounds.
68	Up, Miles, to your task; take your brown-bill in your	68: the bill was the quintessential English pole-arm, used by foot-soldiers and watchmen; it was comprised of a pole with a combination of spear, blade, and hook (for pulling down cavalry) attached at one end. It was often painted brown.^7,32
	hand; here's some of your master's hobgoblins	= dreaded spirits.^1
70	abroad.	= out and about.
72	The Head. Time is.
74	Miles. Time is! Why, Master Brazen-head, have
	you such a capital nose, and answer you with
76	syllables, “Time is”? Is this all my master's cunning,	= ie. "is this all my master's skill and knowledge can do".
	to spend seven years' study about “Time is”? Well,	77: Miles is humorously disappointed that after all the years Bacon has put into this project, the result is that the Head can utter but two enigmatic syllables.
78	sir, it may be we shall have some better orations of it	= from.
	anon: well, I'll watch you as narrowly as ever you	= soon.
80	were watched, and I'll play with you as the	80-82: I'll play…my breast = Miles combines two ideas
	nightingale with the slow-worm; I'll set a prick	in these lines: (1) the nightingale has been imagined in
82	against my breast. Now rest there, Miles.	literature to rest among thorns to protect itself from snakes (slow-worms); (2) Miles once again tries to get comfortable while preparing a defense against falling asleep: this time he sets a pin or dagger (prick) against his chest, which should wake him should he sag against it while drifting away.
84	[Miles falls asleep, but is wakened by the prick.]	84: this stage direction is added by the editor.
86	Lord have mercy upon me, I have almost killed myself!
88	[A great noise.]
90	Up, Miles; list how they rumble.	= "listen to".
92	The Head. Time was.
94	Miles. Well, Friar Bacon, you have spent your
	seven years' study well, that can make your head
96	speak but two words at once, “Time was.” Yea,
	marry, time was when my master was a wise man,	= "there once was a time".
98	but that was before he began to make the Brazen
	Head. You shall lie while your arse ache an your	99-100: you shall…better = "you can lie there till your buttocks are sore, if (an) your Head doesn't say anymore than this."
100	Head speak no better. Well, I will watch, and
	walk up and down, and be a peripatetian and	= one who walks around; by strolling around the room, Miles can keep from falling asleep without injuring himself in the process.
102	a philosopher of Aristotle's stamp.	102: Peripatetic was also the name for the student-
		followers of Aristotle,^1 or to his school of philosophy, so-called because of the great man's habit of walking while teaching.^7
104	[A great noise.]
106	What, a fresh noise? Take thy pistols in hand, Miles.
108	The Head. Time is past.
110	[A lightning flashes forth, and a hand appears	110-1: an obvious opportunity for a clever director to come
	that breaks down the Head with a hammer.]	up with some entertaining and spectacular special effects;
112		though I cannot help imagining a Monty Pythonesque Terry Gilliam-style hand and hammer dropping from the sky.
	Miles. Master, master, up! Hell's broken loose; your
114	Head speaks; and there's such a thunder and
	lightning, that I warrant all Oxford is up in arms.
116	Out of your bed, and take a brown-bill in your hand;
	the latter day is come.	= Judgment Day.^2
118
	[Bacon rises and comes forward.]	= this stage direction was added by Dyce.
120
	Bacon. Miles, I come. O, passing warily watched!	= exceedingly carefully; Bacon, unaware yet that the Head has spoken multiple times, is pleased that Miles has woken him, believing the supernatural event has only just begun.
122	Bacon will make thee next himself in love.	122: "from now on I will love you more than anyone else."
	When spake the Head?	= ancient variation of spoke.
124
	Miles. When spake the Head! did not you say that
126	he should tell strange principles of philosophy?
	Why, sir, it speaks but two words at a time.
128
	Bacon. Why, villain, hath it spoken oft?	= often, ie. more than once.
130
	Miles. Oft! Ay, marry, hath it, thrice; but in all
132	those three times it hath uttered but seven words.
134	Bacon. As how!
136	Miles. Marry, sir, the first time he said “Time is”, as
	if Fabius Commentator should have pronounced a	= Miles, humorously misspeaking, means Fabius Cunctator, or Delayer; when Hannibal, the great Carthaginian leader, invaded Italy with his armies in the 210's B.C., the Romans sent various aggressive generals to face him, but most were defeated, and often annihilated, by the superior African; Fabius, however, famously dealt with Hannibal by harassing him and delaying him, but refusing to meet him in open battle, his theory being that the Carthaginian army would lose steam, run out of supplies, and dissolve or return on its own free will, if just given time. For this very un-Roman - but ultimately successful - approach, Fabius was mocked by being given his nickname of Cunctator.^33 Fabius (full name Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, born c.280 B.C.) was also known for having a learning disability, and a painfully slow talker;^33 hence Miles is making fun of the Head by comparing its speech to Fabius'.
138	sentence; [the second time] he said “Time was”; and	= these words were appropriately added by Dyce.
	the third time, with thunder and lightning, as in great	= ie. "as if he were".
140	choler, he said, “Time is past.”	= rage.
142	Bacon. 'Tis past indeed. Ah, villain! time is past:
	My life, my fame, my glory, all are past. −	143: ie. "it's all over for me!"
144	Bacon,
	The turrets of thy hope are ruined down,	145: Bacon compares the crashing down of his hopes and reputation to the collapse of towers (turrets); the image is arresting.
146	Thy seven years' study lieth in the dust:
	Thy Brazen Head lies broken through a slave,	= ie. because of.
148	That watched, and would not when the Head did will. −	= who. = elliptically, "did not wake me when the Head
	What said the Head first?	spoke."
150
	Miles. Even, sir, “Time is.”
152
	Bacon. Villain, if thou hadst called to Bacon then,
154	If thou hadst watched, and waked the sleepy friar,
	The Brazen Head had uttered aphorisms,	= here and in the next line, had means "would have".
156	And England had been circled round with brass.
	But proud Astmeroth, ruler of the north,	157-162: Bacon recognizes that the space in time during which the Head repeatedly spoke, which he was unable to take advantage of because he was sleeping, has provided an opportunity for hell's demons, who begrudge the magical powers that Bacon, a mere mortal, is able to perform, and the control he has over them, to destroy the Head. Astmeroth = mistaken or alternate spelling of Asmenoth, one of the demons controlled by Bacon; see Scene IX.192.
158	And Demogorgon, master of the fates,	= one of the most powerful of evil spirits.
	Grudge that a mortal man should work so much.	= begrudge, resent. = be able to do so much, ie. have such great power.
160	Hell trembled at my deep-commanding spells,
	Fiends frowned to see a man their over-match;	= superior.^2
162	Bacon might boast more than a man might boast!
	But now the braves of Bacon have an end,	= boasts.
164	Europe's conceit of Bacon hath an end,	164: ie. Europe will cease to have a favourable opinion (conceit)^1,6 of Bacon.
	His seven years' practice sorteth to ill end: −	= has fallen out to a bad ending.
166	And, villain, sith my glory hath an end,	= since; Bacon returns to addressing Miles directly.
	I will appoint thee to some fatal end.	= arrange for, assign. = a doomed destiny.
168	Villain, avoid! Get thee from Bacon's sight!	= "get out of here!" Bacon borrows the language of Matthew 4:10, in which Jesus exclaimed "Avoid, Satan" (1568 Bishop's Bible) at the end of His period of temptation.
	Vagrant, go roam and range about the world,	= wander, synonym for roam.
170	And perish as a vagabond on earth!
172	Miles. Why, then, sir, you forbid me your service?	= "from continuing in your".
174	Bacon. My service, villain! with a fatal curse,
	That direful plagues and mischief fall on thee.	= terrible.^1
176
	Miles. 'Tis no matter, I am against you with the old	= ahead of.^1
178	proverb, − the more the fox is cursed, the better he	178-9: the more…fares = indeed an old and commonly
	fares. God be with you, sir: I'll take but a book in my	referred-to proverb; a couple of the editors think Miles may be punning with cursed and coursed, the latter meaning "pursued".
180	hand, a wide-sleeved gown on my back, and a
	crowned cap on my head, and see if I can want	181: crowned cap = college cap, more properly called a
182	promotion.	corner cap, a cap with three or four corners, worn by
		members of a university;^1,7Miles is describing his scholar's outfit. 181-2: see if…promotion = the sense is "see if I won't advance in the world." want = lack.
184	Bacon. Some fiend or ghost haunt on thy weary steps,
	Until they do transport thee quick to hell:	= alive; Bacon's curse is prescient, as we shall see.
186	For Bacon shall have never merry day,
	To lose the fame and honour of his Head.
188
	[Exeunt.]
	SCENE XII.
	At Court.
	Enter the Emperor, the King of Castile, King Henry, Elinor, Prince Edward, Lacy, and Ralph Simnell.
1	Emp. Now, lovely prince, the prime of Albion's wealth,	= most attractive example or epitome.^1 It should be noted, though, that the quartos all have prince here instead, and prime is the accepted emendation of the early editors.
2	How fare the Lady Elinor and you?
	What, have you courted and found Castile fit	= qualified.^1
4	To answer England in equivalence?	= Ward suggests "to be a match for England".
	Will't be a match 'twixt bonny Nell and thee?	= marriage. = while a certain amount of license is certainly permitted with respect to the Englishisms a dramatist may put into the mouth of a foreigner, it seems to stretch credulity a bit too obviously to have the Holy Roman Emperor refer to the Castilian princess Elinor as bonny Nell.
6
	Pr. Edw. Should Paris enter in the courts of Greece,	7-12: Edward uses a pair of analogies to emphasize the
8	And not lie fettered in fair Helen's looks?	degree to which he finds Elinor irresistible. 7-8: "was it possible for the Trojan prince Paris to enter the court of King Menelaus of Sparta and not be captured or overcome by the beauty of Helen (soon to be Helen of Troy)?"
	Or Phœbus scape those piercing amorets	9-10: "or Apollo (aka Phoebus) escape the intensely
10	That Daphne glancèd at his deity?	affecting love-inducing looks (amorets) the beautiful nymph Daphne gave to the god?" As is often the case in Elizabethan drama, the analogies used in this case by Edward, while superficially apt, are, on second glance, of dubious merit; after all, Helen was already the wife of another man, and her elopement with Paris led directly to the Trojan War; and Daphne actually wanted nothing to do with Apollo, and had to be turned into a laurel tree to escape his aggressive advances, and likely rape.
	Can Edward, then, sit by a flame and freeze,
12	Whose heat puts Helen and fair Daphne down?	12: Elinor's heat, metaphorically representing her beauty and overall attractiveness, surpasses (puts down)^1 that of the aforementioned females.
	Now, monarchs, ask the lady if we gree.	= are in agreement.
14
	K. Hen. What, madam, hath my son found grace or no?	= "favour (with you)".
16
	Elin. Seeing, my lord, his lovely counterfeit,	= ie. "having previously seen". = portrait.
18	And hearing how his mind and shape agreed,	18: "and having now heard him, and observing that his intellect matches his physical form in exquisiteness".
	I came not, trooped with all this warlike train,	= "travelling in the company of this great procession", which she calls warlike, perhaps because of its size, or because it is like a great army containing corps of soldiers from different countries, as were frequently seen in the wars on the continent, where nations fought in great alliances.
20	Doubting of love, but so affectionate,	= uncertain. = ie. "but rather I came to England already".
	As Edward hath in England what he won in Spain.	21: ie. "that Edward already can physically possess that (ie. me) what he won, thanks to his portrait, in Spain"; another alexandrine.
22
	K. of Cast. A match, my lord; these wantons needs must love!	23: "it's a marriage (match), my lord; these kids are irresistibly or unavoidably in love!" wantons = a term of endearment. needs must = a common expression for "it is necessary".
24	Men must have wives, and women will be wed:
	Let's haste the day to honour up the rites.	= hurry, ie. push forward. = honour to the utmost.^4
26		The decisively unfeminine and giddy aggressiveness of Elinor, as well as the unseemly enthusiasm of Castile's king, is almost embarrassing.
	Ralph. Sirrah Harry, shall Ned marry Nell?
28
	K. Hen. Ay, Ralph: how then?	= ie. "what then?"
30
	Ralph. Marry, Harry, follow my counsel: send for	= the first and only use in the play of this silly, and perhaps obvious, rhyme.
32	Friar Bacon to marry them, for he'll so conjure him	32-34: he'll so conjure…they live = ie. Ralph suggests
	and her with his necromancy, that they shall love	that magic will be needed in order for Edward and Elinor
34	together like pig and lamb whilst they live.	to be able to live and love together in harmony.^6
36	K. of Cast. But hearest thou, Ralph, art thou content	= satisfied.
	to have Elinor to thy lady?	= "to be thy mistress?"
38
	Ralph. Ay, so she will promise me two things.	= provided that.
40
	K. of Cast. What's that, Ralph?
42
	Ralph. That she will never scold with Ned, nor	= ie. scold.
44	fight with me. − Sirrah Harry, I have put her down	= ie. beat. = subdued Elinor; to put someone down carries the sense of lowering another's dignity and reducing that person's pride.^1
	with a thing unpossible.	45: ie. "by giving her an impossible task."
46
	K. Hen. What's that, Ralph?
48
	Ralph. Why, Harry, didst thou ever see that a
50	woman could both hold her tongue and her hands?	= restrain both.
	no: but when egg-pies grow on apple-trees, then will	= ie. which is never.
52	thy grey mare prove a bag-piper.	52: "your wife will be able to play the bag-pipes" - also an impossibility. Ralph alludes to the proverb, "the grey mare is the better horse", which meant that the wife always dominates her husband;^1 hence, grey mare refers to a dominant wife.
54	Emp. What says the Lord of Castile and the Earl of	54-55: while Ralph has been explaining his most recent gag,
	Lincoln, that they are in such earnest and secret talk?	the King of Castile (who apparently was not all that
56		interested after all to hear what Ralph had to say, despite his inquiry of line 41) has turned to speak quietly with Lacy. secret (line 55) = private.
	K. of Cast. I stand, my lord, amazèd at his talk,
58	How he discourseth of the constancy	= speaks at length on the topic. = faithfulness.
	Of one surnamed, for beauty's excellence,	= ie. "for the excellence of her beauty".
60	The Fair Maid of merry Fressingfield.	= here Fair is disyllabic: FAI-er.
62	K. Hen. 'Tis true, my lord, 'tis wondrous for to hear;
	Her beauty passing Mars's paramour,	= surpassing. = "that of Venus", who, though married to the crippled god Vulcan, famously carried on an affair with Mars, the god of war.
64	Her virgin's right as rich as Vesta's was.	64: previous editors have acknowledged the difficulty in assigning any clear meaning to this line; Ward, noting that rich was a favourite adjective of Greene's, which he used as a general term of praise, suggests, "Elinor's right to the name of Virgin is as strong as that belonging to Vesta (or to her priestesses)." Vesta's = Vesta was one of Ancient Rome's most important deities; as goddess of the hearth, she represented the family, and through her, the hearth of every home was a symbol of unity. Vesta was also pure and chaste, and so in her temple in Rome an eternal fire, which represented the goddess, was permanently attended by a team of young maidens known as the Vestal virgins.^10
	Lacy and Ned hath told me miracles.	= ie. regarding the incredible beauty of Margaret.
66
	K. of Cast. What says Lord Lacy? Shall she be his wife?	67: surprisingly, the King of Castile seems completely
68		unconcerned with the fact that Lacy was supposed to marry one of his subjects, the Spanish noblewoman.
	Lacy. Or else Lord Lacy is unfit to live. −
70	May it please your highness give me leave to post
	To Fressingfield; I'll fetch the bonny girl,
72	And prove, in true appearance at the court,
	What I have vouchèd often with my tongue.	= assured or declared to be true.
74
	K. Hen. Lacy, go to the 'querry of my stable,	= ie. equerry, the officer in charge of the king's horses.
76	And take such coursers as shall fit thy turn:	= fast horses. = "serve your purpose."
	Hie thee to Fressingfield, and bring home the lass;	= "hurry yourself".
78	And, for her fame flies through the English coast,	= because. = reputation.
	If it may please the lady Elinor,	79-80: "if it is alright by you, Elinor, let's have Lacy marry
80	One day shall match your excellence and her.	Margaret the same time you marry Edward." Though Elinor shows herself an agreeably good sport, one wonders whether deep down she is really so well- inclined to share her big day with a commoner. match (line 80) = see married.
82	Elin. We Castile ladies are not very coy;	= disdainful.
	Your highness may command a greater boon:	83: the sense is, "your highness could certainly have asked for a greater favour than this."
84	And glad were I to grace the Lincoln Earl
	With being partner of his marriage-day.	85: ie. "by being married at the same time as he."
86
	Pr. Edw. Gramercy, Nell, for I do love the lord,	= thanks. = ie. Lacy.
88	As he that's second to thyself in love.	87-88: I do love…in love = "I love Lacy much, second only
		to yourself", or "I love Lacy much, because he is in love with Margaret almost as much as I am in love with you;" the latter interpretation is from Seltzer.
90	Ralph. You love her? − Madam Nell, never believe
	him you, though he swears he loves you.
92
	Elin. Why, Ralph?
94
	Ralph. Why, his love is like unto a tapper's glass	= ie. like. = tavern-keeper's mirror, ie. it is fragile or fickle; tapper is a variation of tapster.
96	that is broken with every touch; for he loved the fair
	maid of Fressingfield once out of all ho. − Nay, Ned,	= beyond moderation, out of all bounds;^7 even with all the license permitted Ralph to joke about any topic he pleases, does not Ralph's mentioning to Elinor that the prince was in love with England's most beautiful maiden seem a bit dangerous?
98	never wink upon me; I care not, I.	= the sense is, "don't bother glaring at me". wink upon = direct a significant look towards.^1
100	K. Hen. Ralph tells all; you shall have a good	100-1: whatever wrath Edward may feel at the embarras- ment Ralph has caused him, his father the king, full of merriment, implicitly and immediately sanctions the jester's risky humour.
	secretary of him. −	= person to be entrusted with secrets.^4
102	But, Lacy, haste thee post to Fressingfield;	= ie. hurry yourself quickly.
	For ere thou hast fitted all things for her state,	103: "because before you have a chance to prepare
104	The solemn marriage-day will be at hand.	everything for Margaret's promotion to the condition
		of your wife and countess".
106	Lacy. I go, my lord.
108	[Exit.]
110	Emp. How shall we pass this day, my lord?
112	K. Hen. To horse, my lord; the day is passing fair,	= exceedingly.
	We'll fly the partridge, or go rouse the deer.	= the OED suggests "attack (ie. hunt) partridges with hawks;^1 but fly is likely to mean nothing more than "start", to parallel rouse, as Ward suggests.
114	Follow, my lords; you shall not want for sport.	= lack.
116	[Exeunt.]
	SCENE XIII.
	Friar Bacon's Cell.
	Enter, to Friar Bacon in his cell, Friar Bungay.
1	Bung. What means the friar that frolicked it of late,	= friar here is one-syllable; note the alliteration with frolicked.
2	To sit as melancholy in his cell
	As if he had neither lost nor won to-day?	3: Seltzer suggests this is a description of confusion of apathy.
4
	Bacon. Ah, Bungay, my Brazen Head is spoiled,	5: this, and line 48 below, are short lines.
6	My glory gone, my seven years' study lost!
	The fame of Bacon, bruited through the world,	= proclaimed.
8	Shall end and perish with this deep disgrace.
10	Bung. Bacon hath built foundation of his fame	10-13: Bungay points out that this one failure cannot
	So surely on the wings of true report,	destroy Bacon's good name, given the successes and
12	With acting strange and uncouth miracles,	fame he has established over many years throughout
	As this cannot infringe what he deserves.	the world thanks to his genuine and repeatedly demonstrated skill in magic. uncouth (line 12) = marvelous or unaccustomed.
14
	Bacon. Bungay, sit down, for by prospective skill	= "by my ability to see into the future".^1
16	I find this day shall fall out ominous:
	Some deadly act shall 'tide me ere I sleep;	= betide, ie. befall, happen to.
18	But what and wherein little can I guess.
20	Bung. My mind is heavy, whatsoe'er shall hap.	= distressed, troubled.^1 = happen.
22	Enter two Scholars, sons to Lambert and Serlsby.	Entering Characters: the 1st Scholar is Lambert, Jr., and the 2nd Scholar is Serlsby, Jr.; the sons of Margaret's suitors of Scene X, both boys are students at Oxford.
	Knock.	22-23: the boys enter the stage and knock against something
24		- a pole perhaps - to suggest knocking on an exterior door; Bungay goes over to "answer" and "admit" them.
	Bacon. Who's that knocks?
26
	Bung. Two scholars that desire to speak with you.
28
	Bacon. Bid them come in.
30	Now, my youths, what would you have?
32	1st Sch. Sir, we are Suffolk-men and neighbouring friends;
	Our fathers in their countries lusty squires;
34	Their lands adjoin: in Crackfield mine doth dwell,	= Cratfield is a village in Suffolk shire, about 9 miles north of Framlingham.^9 Note that in Scene X, Lambert mentioned that his "land and living" lie in Laxfield, three miles south of Cratfield.
	And his in Laxfield. We are college-mates,	= possibly meaning roommates^.4
36	Sworn brothers, as our fathers live as friends.
38	Bacon. To what end is all this?	38: "so what is the purpose of your telling me so?"
40	2nd Sch. Hearing your worship kept within your cell
	A glass prospective, wherein men might see
42	Whatso their thoughts or hearts' desire could wish,
	We come to know how that our fathers fare.	= "our fathers are doing."
44
	Bacon. My glass is free for every honest man.
46	Sit down, and you shall see ere long,	= before.
	How or in what state your friendly fathers live.
48	Meanwhile, tell me your names.
50	1st Sch. Mine Lambert.
52	2nd Sch. And mine, Serlsby.
54	Bacon. Bungay, I smell there will be a tragedy.
56	Enter Lambert and Serlsby	Entering Characters: the scholars' fathers of course are
	with rapiers and daggers.	meeting miles away from Oxford; their sons are seeing their images in the mirror. The fathers have come together to fight the duel to which Lambert père challenged Serlsby back at Scene X.103-4. The two will scrap in the manner of a late 16th century fight: each will hold his rapier (a short pointed sword), which he will use for thrusting at his opponent, in his right hand, and his dagger in his left, which he will use to parry any such attack.^34
58
	Lamb. Serlsby, thou hast kept thine hour like a man:	59-61: Lambert compliments Serlsby for proving his manhood by actually showing up for the duel. kept thine hour = appeared at the appointed time; hour is disyllabic: HOU-er.
60	Thou'rt worthy of the title of a squire,
	That durst, for proof of thy affectiön	61-62: "who dares, to demonstrate (prove) your love and
62	And for thy mistress' favour, prize thy blood.	desire for Margaret's favour, to risk your life (prize thy blood)."
	Thou know'st what words did pass at Fressingfield,	= ie. "pass between us".
64	Such shameless braves as manhood cannot brook.	= threats or boasts. = ie. "which no real man could tolerate (without responding)."
	Ay, for I scorn to bear such piercing taunts,	= acute, sharply distressing.^1
66	Prepare thee, Serlsby; one of us will die.	= yourself.
68	Serl. Thou see'st I single [meet] thee [in] the field,	= ie. "have appeared to meet you in the field of battle for a one-on-one fight"; the bracketed words are Dyce's emendations. Seltzer prefers the original short line, which would read Thou see'st I single thee the field; the phrase single (something) the field, he continues, is a hunting term which describes the separating of a deer from the herd for purposes of the chase.
	And what I spake, I'll maintain with my sword.	= said. = back up.
70	Stand on thy guard, I cannot scold it out.	= basically, "argue about it forever."^1 Serlsby implicitly, as he expressly did earlier in the play, acknowledges his inability to match Lambert in rhetorical ability.
	An if thou kill me, think I have a son,	= if. = remember.
72	That lives in Oxford in the Broadgates-hall,	= a college for law students at Oxford, founded in the 12th
	Who will revenge his father's blood with blood.	century; Broadgates has since been absorbed into
74		Pembroke College.^9
	Lamb. And, Serlsby, I have there a lusty boy,
76	That dares at weapon buckle with thy son,	= "with weapons to fight".
	And lives in Broadgates too, as well as thine.
78	But draw thy rapier, for we'll have a bout.	= round of fighting.
80	Bacon. Now, lusty younkers, look within the glass,	= youngsters. = into the magic mirror.
	And tell me if you can discern your sires.	81: Bacon likely sits or stands to the side; given his own troubles, he is not particularly interested in, or perhaps, with his sense of foreboding, does not wish to watch, the outcome of what the boys will see in the mirror.
82
	1st Sch. Serlsby, 'tis hard; thy father offers wrong,	= ie. acts or is in the wrong.
84	To combat with my father in the field.
86	2nd Sch. Lambert, thou liest, my father's is th' abuse,	= ie. abused or wronged party.^4
	And thou shall find it, if my father harm.	87: ie. "as you will find out, if my father is harmed."
88
	Bung. How goes it, sirs?	= according to the OED, this is the first appearance of this still-used but antiquated-sounding phrase in English writing.
90
	1st Sch. Our fathers are in combat hard by Fressingfield.	= near to.
92
	Bacon. Sit still, my friends, and see the event.	= outcome.
94
	Lamb. Why stand'st thou, Serlsby? doubt'st thou of thy life?	95: "why are you just standing there, Serlsby? Do you fear for your life?"
96	A veney, man! fair Margaret craves so much.	= the sense is, "let's to it, man!"; a veney is a term from fencing, meaning a bout or round of a fight.^1
98	Serl. Then this for her.	98: at this point, the fathers finally stop yakking and begin to fight.
100	1st Sch. Ah, well thrust!	100: young Lambert compliments his father's lunge.
102	2nd Sch. But mark the ward.	102: "but notice how well my father parried your father's
		attack."
104	[They fight and kill each other.]
106	Lamb. O, I am slain!
108	[Dies.]	108: Dyce adds this direction, as well as the one in 114.
110	Serl. And I, − Lord have mercy on me!
112	[Dies.]
114	1st Sch. My father slain! − Serlsby, ward that.	= defend.
116	2nd Sch. And so is mine! − Lambert, I'll quite thee well.	= repay.
118	[The two Scholars stab each other, and die.]
120	Bung. O strange stratagem!	= violent act.^1
122	Bacon. See, friar, where the fathers both lie dead! −	= Dyce logically wonders if this should say scholars instead.
	Bacon, thy magic doth effect this massacre:	= has caused.
124	This glass prospective worketh many woes;	= perpetrates.
	And therefore seeing these brave lusty brutes,	= gallants or brave fellows.^1
126	These friendly youths, did perish by thine art,	= ie. "these youths who were friends".
	End all thy magic and thine art at once.
128	The poniard that did end the[ir] fatal lives,	= dagger. = doomed.
	Shall break the cause efficiat of their woes.	= the efficient cause, a term from philosophy, meaning "the agent or instrument used to produce a thing or result"; Aristotle identified four causes, the other three being the formal cause (the thing produced), the material cause (the material from which the thing is produced) and the final cause (the purpose for which the thing is produced).^1
130	So fade the glass, and end with it the shows	= vanishes.^1 = moving images.
	That necromancy did infuse the crystal with.
132
	[He breaks the glass.]	133: Bacon has picked up one of the boys' daggers and uses
134		it to smash the mirror.
	Bung. What means learned Bacon thus to break his glass?
136
	Bacon. I tell thee, Bungay, it repents me sore	= "I strongly (sore) regret or feel contrition".^1
138	That ever Bacon meddled in this art.
	The hours I have spent in pyromantic spells,	= ie. the magic of pyromancy, ie. fire; if hours is disyllabic, then we have another alexandrine.
140	The fearful tossing in the latent night	= leafing through.^1 = concealing.^1
	Of papers full of necromantic charms,
142	Conjuring and abjuring devils and fiends,	= banishing.
	With stole and alb and strange pentaganon;	143: stole and alb = Bacon describes the clerical vestments he wore while engaging in sorcery. A stole is a long strip of linen or silk, worn around the shoulders, and hanging down below the chest; an alb is a long white robe or surplice, also worn by clergy.^1 Ward notes that demons cannot abide these articles of sacred clothing, which would thus be worn by sorcerers in order to protect themselves from harm. pentageron = the pentagram, or five-pointed star, used in conjuring; see the note at Scene II.65.
144	The wresting of the holy name of God,	= perverting.^2
	As Sother, Eloïm, and Adonai,	145-6: with one possible exception, Bacon lists some of
146	Alpha, Manoth, and Tetragrammaton,	the oft referred to "100 names of God"; Tetragammaton is the name given to the name of God represented by the four letters JHVH, usually written out in English as Jehovah. Manoth is unexplainable, unless, as Ward points out, it is a variation on Melach or Maniah.
	With praying to the five-fold powers of Heaven,	147: this reference is unclear; Ward wonders whether Greene should have said three-fold or four-fold (referring to the three - though sometimes containing four - hierarchies of angels: see Scene IX.187); or he could be referring to the five points on the pentagram, on which names of God could be written. The editor's exercise is pointless, continues Ward, as Greene's explanations with respect to the tenets of magic and scripture were never intended to be precisely accurate - it simply was not on his mind to concern himself with such issues.
148	Are instances that Bacon must be damned	= reasons.^2
	For using devils to countervail his God. −	= match up with, balance against.
150	Yet, Bacon, cheer thee, drown not in despair:
	Sins have their salves, repentance can do much:	= healing balms.
152	Think Mercy sits where Justice holds her seat,	= remember.
	And from those wounds those bloody Jews did pierce,	153: a reference to the wounds of Jesus, whose death has historically been blamed on "the Jews".
154	Which by thy magic oft did bleed afresh,	154: Bacon acknowledges he has metaphorically caused Christ's wounds to bleed again by the wrong he has done Him.
	From thence for thee the dew of mercy drops,	= from there.
156	To wash the wrath of high Jehovah's ire,	= cleanse, ie. purify (from sin). = God's.
	And make thee as a new-born babe from sin. −	= like. = ie. free from.
158	Bungay, I'll spend the remnant of my life
	In pure devotion, praying to my God
160	That He would save what Bacon vainly lost.	= ie. his soul; vainly = foolishly.
162	[Exeunt.]
164
	SCENE XIV.
	Fressingfield.
	Enter Margaret in Nun’s apparel, the Keeper,	Scene XIV: Margaret is prepared to enter the convent and
	and their Friend.	take her vows.
1	Keep. Margaret, be not so headstrong in these vows:
2	O, bury not such beauty in a cell,
	That England hath held famous for the hue!	= its beauty.^4
4	Thy father's hair, like to the silver blooms	= like.
	That beautify the shrubs of Africa,
6	Shall fall before the dated time of death,	= fall out (prematurely). = ie. "my appointed".
	Thus to forgo his lovely Margaret.	= lose.^2
8
	Marg. Ah, father, when the harmony of Heaven	= perhaps a reference to the philosophical idea of the Harmony (or Music) of the Spheres, an abstract mathematical conception of the heavenly spheres as existing, relative to each other, in the same whole number proportions as into which the musical scale can be divided, which results in the universe producing inaudible musical harmony.
10	Soundeth the measures of a lively faith,	10: "emits the graceful music (measures)^2 of a living or life- giving faith".
	The vain illusions of this flattering world	11: ie. "the trivial or worthless (vain) and deceptive pleasures of earthly life"; flattering suggests a false or delusive pleasure.^1
12	Seem odious to the thoughts of Margaret.
	I lovèd once, − Lord Lacy was my love;	13: note the intense alliteration in this line.
14	And now I hate myself for that I loved,	= having loved.
	And doted more on him than on my God, −
16	For this I scourge myself with sharp repents.	16: Margaret compares her self-remonstrations to the self- punishment inflicted by the Medieval religious fanatics known as flagellants, who in public acts of repentance whipped (scourged) themselves and each other. repents = acts of repentance, penances.^1,4
	But now the touch of such aspiring sins	= harm or taint. = ambitious or longing.^1
18	Tells me all love is lust but love of heavens;	18: except for the love of God, all love is nothing better than lust.
	That beauty used for love is vanity.	19: beauty used in the cause of earthly love is foolish or worthless.
20	The world contains naught but alluring baits,	= nothing. = attractive temptations.
	Pride, flattery, and inconstant thoughts.	= fickle.^1 Dyce suggests the line is "mutilated", ie. not correctly printed, because it is short; sometimes editors declare a line to be "corrupted" or incorrect, because it clearly makes no sense, but later editors may note that the meaning of the line is perfectly clear, explicitly disagreeing with such a previous editor. Seeing how previous commentators have argued over interpretation indicates the difficulty that can exist in attempting to definitively interpret a line of Elizabethan stage verse.
22	To shun the pricks of death, I leave the world,	= avoid.^1 = stings. = in the sense of its worldly consider- ations.
	And vow to meditate on heavenly bliss,
24	To live in Framingham a holy nun,	24: Sugden notes there was no abbey in Framlingham.
	Holy and pure in conscience and in deed;
26	And for to wish all maids to learn of me	= ie. "I desire". = from.
	To seek Heaven's joy before earth's vanity.	26-27: Margaret's sermon ends with a rhyming couplet, typically comprising a pithy moral lesson.
28
	Friend. And will you, then, Margaret, be shorn a nun,	= initiated into an abbey.
30	and so leave us all?
32	Marg. Now farewell world, the engine of all woe!	= means, ie. cause.
	Farewell to friends and father! Welcome Christ!
34	Adieu to dainty robes! This base attire	= exquisite clothing. = mean or simple outfit or habit; a nun's habit would be black or grey, as opposed to the very colourful clothing Margaret would have been used to wearing in civilian life.
	Better befits an humble mind to God	= ie. "a mind that is humble before, or has submitted to, God".
36	Than all the show of rich habiliments.	= clothing; this is the second appearance of this unusual word in our play.
	Farewell, O love! and, with fond love, farewell	= foolish.
38	Sweet Lacy, whom I lovèd once so dear!
	Ever be well, but never in my thoughts,	= always, forever. = ie. "never (again) be". Note that ever and never are unusually both disyllabic in this line, pronounced in their modern manner; but in line 41 below, even is monosyllabic: e'en.
40	Lest I offend to think on Lacy's love:	= ie. offend God, by meditating on her love for something
	But even to that, as to the rest, farewell!	other than Himself.
42
	Enter Lacy, Warren and Ermsby,
44	booted and spurred.	44: wearing riding boots and spurs, to signal the nobles' hurry to find Margaret; they have not even taken a moment to remove their spurs after having alighted from their horses.
46	Lacy. Come on, my wags, we're near the Keeper's lodge.	= lads.
	Here have I oft walked in the watery meads,	= meadows.
48	And chatted with my lovely Margaret.
50	War. Sirrah Ned, is not this the Keeper?	= Warren familiarly addresses his friend Lacy; he may be
		playfully recalling Ralph's usual term of address for the prince.
52	Lacy. 'Tis the same.
54	Erms. The old lecher hath gotten holy mutton to	54-55: Ermsby mistakes what he sees: he thinks the Keeper
	him: a nun, my lord.	has taken a nun as a paramour (mutton is slang for prostitute). Such a seemingly blasphemous, or at least strongly disrespectful, sentiment regarding one of God's disciples was really a barb at the Catholic Church of Greene's own era; such attacks were encouraged by a decidedly Protestant Elizabethan regime.
56
	Lacy. Keeper, how far'st thou? holla, man, what cheer?	= hello
58	How doth Peggy, thy daughter and my love?	= ie. "is Peggy doing".
60	Keep. Ah, good my lord! O, woe is me for Peggy!	= very common and stylized form of address to a noble.
	See where she stands clad in her nun's attire,
62	Ready for to be shorn in Framingham.	= to be initiated (into a religious life).
	She leaves the world because she left your love.
64	O, good my lord, persuade her if you can!	= ie. dissuade.
66	Lacy. Why, how now, Margaret! What, a malcontent?	= ie. one who is disaffected with the world and its conven-
	A nun! What holy father taught you this,	tional lifestyle.
68	To task yourself to such a tedious life
	As die a maid! 'Twere injury to me,	= ie. unmarried woman. = "it would be an".
70	To smother up such beauty in a cell.	66-70: Lacy's flippant attitude is not really fair to Margaret here.
72	Marg. Lord Lacy, thinking of my former miss,	72: "Lord Lacy, I am thinking about my previous wrongdoing or sin (miss)".^1 Dyce and other editors believe miss is short for amiss, which, as a noun, also means "fault" or "error", and hence print the word as 'miss; but the OED cites many more examples of miss being used this way than amiss. On the other hand, Greene did use amiss in this manner as a noun in another of his works. In the original quartos, thy was written instead of my. This is conceivably correct too, and the speech's opening lines can be read as an admonition of Lacy by Margaret; but as the tenor of her speeches in this part of the play focus on her own mistakes, the emendation to my is accepted.
	How fond the prime of wanton years were spent	73: "how foolishly the best of my light-hearted (wanton) years were spent".
74	In love (O, fie upon that fond conceit,	= an exclamation expressing disgust. = foolish notion, referring to love.
	Whose hap and essence hangeth in the eye!)	75: whose occurrence (hap) and foundation (essence) are dependent on what the eye sees, ie. is superficial.
76	I leave both love and love's content at once,	= ie. the pleasure one derives from being in or experiencing worldly love.
	Betaking me to Him that is true love,	= "committing myself".^2
78	And leaving all the world for love of Him.
80	Lacy. Whence, Peggy, comes this metamorphosis?	= from where.
	What, shorn a nun, and I have from the court
82	Posted with coursers to convey thee hence	82: "hurried here on fast horses to take you from here".
	To Windsor, where our marriage shall be kept!
84	Thy wedding-robes are in the tailor's hands.
	Come, Peggy, leave these péremptory vows.	= ie. "vows which you resolved upon."
86
	Marg. Did not my lord resign his interest,	= ie. "forego his claim (to me)"; Margaret uses a legal metaphor for her abandonment.
88	And make divorce 'twixt Margaret and him?	88: divorce = separation, though seeing that and Lacy had made private and somewhat binding vows to each other, divorce could carry its legal connotation here as well. This is the final time Margaret is trisyllabic when appearing in the middle of a line.
90	Lacy. 'Twas but to try sweet Peggy's constancy.	= test. = "faithfulness (to me);" Lacy's casual attitude to
	But will fair Margaret leave her love and lord?	the events that have transpired is distressing; can he really expect Margaret to instantly reverse herself after he had so unceremoniously dumped her, especially after he offers such a lame excuse for having done so? In the male-dominated world of the Elizabethan theatre, the answer is "yes". It is worth noting that Elizabethan characters frequently resort to the excuse of "I was just testing you" to explain mistreatment of others.
92
	Marg. Is not Heaven's joy before earth's fading bliss,	= ie. superior to, more important than. = corrupting.^2
94	And life above sweeter than life in love?	= ie. with God.
96	Lacy. Why, then, Margaret, will be shorn a nun?	96: compare Lacy's question here to the similarly-worded
		one asked of Margaret by the Friend at lines 29-30 above.
98	Marg. Margaret
	Hath made a vow which may not be revoked.
100
	War. We cannot stay, my lord; an if she be so strict,	= if. = unrelenting.^2 Dyce notes the oddity of Warren addressing Lacy by the stiffly formal my lord when he most recently called him Sirrah Ned; Dyce considers it a transcriber's error, an accidental inclusion, observing, for further evidence, how the two words add a superfluous pair of syllables to the line.
102	Our leisure grants us not to woo afresh.	102: the nobles don't have time for Lacy to start courting Margaret all over again - they have to hurry back to London for the prince's wedding to Elinor.
104	Erms. Choose you, fair damsel, yet the choice is yours: −	= "decide".
	Either a solemn nunnery or the court,
106	God or Lord Lacy: which contents you best,
	To be a nun or else Lord Lacy's wife?
108
	Lacy. A good motion. − Peggy, your answer must	= suggestion or proposal, ie. "well put!"
110	be short.
112	Marg. The flesh is frail: My lord doth know it well,	= cf. Matthew 26:41: "the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak;" ie. the spirit, which fully knows what is the proper course to take, cannot help but fall subordinate to the physical desires of the body.
	That when he comes with his enchanting face,
114	Whate'er betide, I cannot say him nay.	= happens.
	Off goes the habit of a maiden's heart,	115: habit refers to the "customary reserve" which Margaret, as a maiden, would normally possess (Ward), but also of course in a punning way to the nun's outfit she is wearing.
116	And, seeing fortune will, fair Fremingham,	= "seeing what personified Fortune wants for me".
	And all the show of holy nuns, farewell!
118	Lacy for me, if he will be my lord.
120	Lacy. Peggy, thy lord, thy love, thy husband.
	Trust me, by truth of knighthood, that the king	= an oath, ie. Lacy swears on his very knighthood.
122	Stays for to marry matchless Elinor,	= is waiting.
	Until I bring thee richly to the court,
124	That one day may both marry her and thee. −
	How say'st thou, Keeper? Art thou glad of this?
126
	Keep. As if the English king had given	127: a short line; As = ie. "as glad as".
128	The park and deer of Fressingfield to me.
130	Erms. I pray thee, my Lord of Sussex, why art thou	= "please tell me".
	in a brown study?	= ie. in an (obviously) funky mood, in dark meditation.
132
	War. To see the nature of women; that be they	133-4: that they…God = "that no matter how close a woman has come to God".
134	never so near God, yet they love to die in a man's	= die has a secondary - or here perhaps primary - meaning
	arms.	of "orgasm"; Warren's lament, ruing the fickleness of women, was a common one in Elizabethan drama; men generally escaped such condemnation.
136
	Lacy. What have you fit for breakfast? We have hied	= prepared.^2
138	And posted all this night to Fressingfield.	137-8: didn't Warren just mention the need to hurry back to London, and now Lacy wants to stay for breakfast?
140	Marg. Butter and cheese, and umbles of a deer,	= hunting term for the innards or organs of a deer.^20
	Such as poor keepers have within their lodge.
142
	Lacy. And not a bottle of wine?	143: Lacy really likes his wine; he made sure to have wine
144		available when he visited Margaret in Scene VIII.158.
	Marg. We'll find one for my lord.
146
	Lacy. Come, Sussex, let us in: we shall have more,	= go inside.
148	For she speaks least, to hold her promise sure.	148: she promises little, in order to make sure she can keep
		any promise she makes.^4
150	[Exeunt.]
	SCENE XV.
	Somewhere in Europe.	The scene location is the editor's.
	Enter a Devil seeking Miles.
1	Devil. How restless are the ghosts of hellish sprites,	= spirits.
2	When every charmer with his magic spells	= sorcerer.
	Calls us from nine-fold-trenchèd Phlegethon,	= summons. = Phlegethon was one of the rivers of Hades, but it was a river of fire rather than of water; in ancient literature, the underworld's primary river, the Styx (and not Phlegethon) was described as encircling or looping around hell nine times.
4	To scud and over-scour the earth in post	= synonyms for "moving hurriedly across".^1 = in haste.
	Upon the speedy wings of swiftest winds!
6	Now Bacon hath raised me from the darkest deep,
	To search about the world for Miles his man,
8	For Miles, and to torment his lazy bones	= body;^1,4 the use here of lazy bones is not quite the same as the still-current epithet, lazy-bones, which just happened to make its first appearance in literature in 1593, a year before our play was first published.^1
	For careless watching of his Brazen Head.	= negligent.^1
10	See where he comes: O, he is mine.
12	Enter Miles in a gown and a corner-cap.	12: Miles is dressed in his scholar's outfit; he has been searching, without success, for a job. corner-cap = a cap with three or four corners, worn by members of a university.
14	Miles. A scholar, quoth you! marry, sir, I would I	= "say you!" = wish.
	had been made a bottle-maker when I was made a	= a man in the business of producing bottles, which in that era might have been made of leather, wood or metal.^1
16	scholar; for I can get neither to be a deacon, reader,	= ie. "not get a job as either". deacon = basically an assistant to a priest or pastor. reader = one who reads sermons in a church service, or a lecturer in a school.
	nor schoolmaster, no, not the clerk of a parish. Some	= an administrative officer of a parish church, basically a low-level job assisting the clergyman.^1
18	call me a dunce; another saith my head is as full of
	Latin as an egg's full of oatmeal: thus I am	= that is, not at all: Miles' poor Latin skills (for which Bacon criticized him in Scene V.41-42) have caused him to be unemployable in academic and religious circles. Miles actually is employing a silly variation of a common simile, "as an egg is as full of meat (ie. edible matter)", which describes a great amount of something - the opposite meaning of Miles' metaphor.
20	tormented, that the devil and Friar Bacon haunt me.
	− Good Lord, here's one of my master's devils! I'll
22	go speak to him. − What, Master Plutus, how cheer	22: Master Plutus = Miles has once again misspoken: he
	you?	should have addressed the Devil as Pluto (the name of the
24		god of the underworld), rather than Plutus (the name of the god of wealth). 22-23: how cheer you = "how are you", a greeting.
	Devil. Dost thou know me?
26
	Miles. Know you, sir! why, are not you one of my
28	master's devils, that were wont to come to my	= used to, were accustomed to.
	master, Doctor Bacon, at Brazen-nose?
30
	Devil. Yes, marry, am I.
32
	Miles. Good Lord, Master Plutus, I have seen you a
34	thousand times at my master's, and yet I had never
	the manners to make you drink. But, sir, I am glad	= ie. offer.
36	to see how conformable you are to the statute. −	36: the Devil is dressed modestly, conforming to Elizabethan England's sumptuary laws, which restricted the level of finery the common folk were permitted to wear. Miles turns and addresses the audience between the dashes.
	I warrant you, he's as yeomanly a man as you shall	= like a yeoman, ie. a small landholder, vaguely referring to the class of citizens below that of gentleman.
38	see: mark you, masters, here's a plain honest man,	= "observe, gentlemen".
	without welt or guard. − But I pray you, sir, do you	39: without welt or guard = Greene here introduces to English letters what will become a commonly used phrase meaning "unadorned" or "without ornamenta- tion".^1 The words welt and guard were both used to describe a bit of trim or a frill.^1 do = have.
40	come lately from hell?	= recently.
42	Devil. Ay, marry: how then?	= "what about it?"
44	Miles. Faith, 'tis a place I have desired long to see:
	have you not good tippling-houses there? May not a	= taverns.
46	man have a lusty fire there, a pot of good ale, a pair	= strong.^1 = common word for a drinking vessel. = pack.^7
	of cards, a swingeing piece of chalk, and a brown	= a large (swingeing)^1 piece of chalk, for keeping track of
48	toast that will clap a white waistcoat on a cup of	customers' tabs on a slate.
	good drink?	47-49: a brown toast…drink = Miles refers to the
50		custom of topping a warmed drink of wine or spiced ale with toast to act as a sop; the white waistcoat refers to the foam or head of the cup of ale.^4,6 clap = slap.
	Devil. All this you may have there.
52
	Miles. You are for me, friend, and I am for you.	= "we are well-suited for each other" (Ward).
54	But I pray you, may I not have an office there!	= a position or job; Miles remembers he is unemployed!
56	Devil. Yes, a thousand: what wouldst thou be?
58	Miles. By my troth, sir, in a place where I may	= "truly", "by my faith".
	profit myself. I know hell is a hot place, and men are	= advance.
60	marvellous dry, and much drink is spent there; I
	would be a tapster.
62
	Devil. Thou shall.
64
	Miles. There's nothing lets me from going with you,	= obstructing, keeping.
66	but that 'tis a long journey, and I have never a horse.
68	Devil. Thou shalt ride on my back.
70	Miles. Now surely here's a courteous devil, that, for	70: in order.
	to pleasure his friend, will not stick to make a jade of	= hesitate. = contemptuous term for a worn-out horse.
72	himself. − But I pray you, goodman friend, let me	= title for one of status below gentleman; Miles, we remember, just compared the Devil to a yeoman.
	move a question to you.	= put.
74
	Devil. What's that?
76
	Miles. I pray you, whether is your pace a trot or an	= a trot is gait somewhere between a walk and a run;^1 it
78	amble?	is a two-beat gait, in which the diagonally-opposed legs
		move together.^35 amble = walk.^1
80	Devil. An amble.
82	Miles. 'Tis well; but take heed it be not a trot: but 'tis	= "that's fine." = "take care", "be warned": it is unclear whether Miles actually wants the devil to run fast or not; but his inconsistent entreaties may be meant to tease the demon.
	no matter, I'll prevent it.	= anticipate.
84
	[Puts on spurs.]
86
	Devil. What dost?	87: "what are you doing?"
88
	Miles. Marry, friend, I put on my spurs; for if I find
90	your pace either a trot or else uneasy, I'll put you to a
	false gallop; I'll make you feel the benefit of my	= a canter, or easy gallop;^1 this gait is faster than a trot,
92	spurs.	basically the familiar three-beat pace of western movies
		and music. In a canter, the horse's four legs will simultaneously be off the ground; (the last and fastest gait, of course, is the gallop).^35
94	Devil. Get up upon my back.
96	[Miles mounts on the devil's back.]
98	Miles. O Lord, here's even a goodly marvel, when a
	man rides to hell on the devil's back!
100
	[Exeunt, the Devil roaring.]	101: Miles digs his spurs into the flanks of Devil, who bellows as they exit the stage.
	SCENE XVI.
	At Court.	Scene XVI: the double-wedding having been concluded, the scene opens with a formal procession entering the stage, presumably directly from the church or chapel.
	Enter in a Procession:
	1. first the Emperor with a pointless sword;	= the sword without a point represents mercy.^8 The reference is to an actual blunted sword once carried by Edward the Confessor (ruled 1042-1066) the penultimate Saxon king of England.
	2. next the King of Castile carrying a sword	2-3: the pointed sword represents justice.^8
	with a point;
	3. Lacy carrying the globe;	= the golden orb, a symbol of sovereignty.^1
	4. Prince Edward;
	5. Warren carrying a rod of gold with a dove on it;	= the gold rod represents equity;^8 the dove signifies the
	6. Ermsby with a crown and scepter;	"sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost" (Ward).
	7. Princess Elinor, with…
	8. Margaret Countess of Lincoln on her left hand;
	9. King Henry;
	10. Bacon;
	11. and Lords attending.
1	Pr. Edw. Great potentates, earth's miracles for state,	= with respect to power or authority.^4
2	Think that Prince Edward humbles at your feet,	= realize, understand.^2 = "prostrates himself".^4
	And, for these favours, on his martial sword
4	He vows perpetual homage to yourselves,
	Yielding these honours unto Elinor.
6
	K. Hen. Gramercies, lordings; old Plantagenet,	= thanks. = meaning himself; Henry was 47 when Edward was married.
8	That rules and sways the Albion diadem,	= rules and sways are synonyms. = English crown.
	With tears discovers these conceivèd joys,	= displays.^1 = "joys conceived by him".^4
10	And vows requital, if his men-at-arms,	= to repay or reward. = soldiers.
	The wealth of England, or due honours done
12	To Elinor, may quite his favourites. −	= can possibly repay. = Dyce wonders if this should read "favourers".
	But all this while what say you to the dames	13-14: Henry now addresses the Emperor. all this while = meanwhile. dames = ladies, referring to Elinor and Margaret.
14	That shine like to the crystal lamps of Heaven?	= the stars in the sky.
16	Emp. If but a third were added to these two,	= ie. a third woman of comparable beauty.
	They did surpass those gorgeous images	= would.
18	That gloried Ida with rich beauty's wealth.	17-18: the Emperor alludes to the myth known as "The
		Judgment of Paris": our most frequently referred-to Trojan prince was selected by the three goddesses Juno (queen of the gods), Venus (the goddess of beauty) and Minerva (the goddess of warfare and wisdom) to decide which of them was the most beautiful. To influence his decision, Juno offered Paris the throne of Asia; Venus, the most beautiful woman on earth; and Minerva (Athena in Greek), immortal fame in war. Paris decided on Venus, was rewarded with possession of the Spartan queen Helen, and the rest, as is they say, was history. The story took place on Mt. Ida in Asia Minor, where Paris was a shepherd. The Emperor's point is that, with the addition of one more beautiful woman, the present threesome would surpass in beauty that of the three goddesses.
20	Marg. 'Tis I, my lords, who humbly on my knee
	Must yield her orisons to mighty Jove	= prayers. = God.
22	For lifting up his handmaid to this state;	= raising (in rank).
	Brought from her homely cottage to the court,	= humble.
24	And graced with kings, princes, and emperors,	= honoured by.^4
	To whom (next to the noble Lincoln Earl)	= after only.
26	I vow obedience, and such humble love
	As may a handmaid to such mighty men.
28
	Elin. Thou martial man that wears the Almain crown,	29: in this line, Elinor specifically addresses Frederick, the Holy Roman Emperor; Almain = German.
30	And you the western potentates of might,
	The Albion princess, English Edward's wife,	31: Elinor refers to herself.
32	Proud that the lovely star of Fressingfield,	= ie. is proud.
	Fair Margaret, Countess to the Lincoln Earl,
34	Attends on Elinor, − gramercies, lord, for her, −	33-34: Elinor is announcing that Margaret will serve as one of her ladies-in-waiting; it was the custom of the royal family to be attended by the sons and daughters of the highest-ranking nobles of the land; as the wife of Lacy, the Earl of Lincoln, Margaret would consider it a great honour to serve the princess and future queen of England.
	'Tis I give thanks for Margaret to you all,
36	And rest for her due bounden to yourselves.	36: "and remain obliged to you all for the favour of
		bestowing Margaret on me."
38	K. Hen. Seeing the marriage is solémnizèd,
	Let's march in triumph to the royal feast, −
40	But why stands Friar Bacon here so mute?
42	Bacon. Repentant for the follies of my youth,
	That magic's secret mysteries misled,	43: another line of interesting alliteration.
44	And joyful that this royal marriäge
	Portends such bliss unto this matchless realm.	= signifies, is an omen of. = unsurpassed, unparalleled.
46
	K. Hen. Why, Bacon,
48	What strange event shall happen to this land?
	Or what shall grow from Edward and his queen?
50
	Bacon. I find by deep prescíënce of mine art,	51: "I can see, thanks to my magic, (that) in the future". In this his last speech, Friar Bacon predicts the rise of Queen Elizabeth, whom he praises effusively, primarily through comparing her to a glorious flower that surpasses all other plants in beauty and magnificence; prescience, trisyllabic, is stressed on the second syllable: pre-SCI-ence.
52	Which once I tempered in my secret cell,	= honed, worked.^2
	That here where Brute did build his Troynovant,	53: ie. "that here in England where Brute founded London". Brute was the legendary first king of Britain. According to the writings of the 12th century English historian Geoffrey of Monmouth, Brute was the great-grandson of Aeneas, the Trojan hero and prince who, after the sack of Troy by the Greeks, escaped and settled in Italy to found Rome. Brute, along with other descendants of survivors of the Trojan War, settled in Britain, named the island after himself, and founded the city of New Troy (Troynovant), which later became known as London; see the note at line 63 below for additional details.
54	From forth the royal garden of a king
	Shall flourish out so rich and fair a bud,	55: Bacon begins his panegyric to Elizabeth; for the record, she was a direct descendant of Henry III, appearing exactly 10 generations later.
56	Whose brightness shall deface proud Phœbus' flower,	= obliterate, ie. outshine (in beauty).^1 = ie. the hyacinth; the god Apollo (aka Phoebus) loved the youth Hyacinthus; but the wind god Zephrus, who also loved the boy, and jealous of Apollo's attention, caused a discus that Hyacinthus and Apollo were throwing to veer and kill Hyacinthus; from the youth's blood sprang the flower.
	And over-shadow Albion with her leaves.	= cast a protective shadow over.^1 = England.
58	Till then Mars shall be master of the field,	58-59: ie. "there will be many wars, peace only returning
	But then the stormy threats of wars shall cease:	to the realm on the ascension of Elizabeth." Mars, of course, is the god of war.
60	The horse shall stamp as careless of the pike,	60: ie. war horses will be able to roam unconcerned about having to fight; the pike was the quintessential Medieval pole-arm, basically a long thrusting spear.^32 Lines 60-61 are reminiscent of the opening speech of Shakespeare's Richard III, in which the Duke of Gloucester bemoans the "benefits" of peace: Our bruisèd arms hung up for monuments, Our stern alurums changed to merry meetings, Our dreadful marches to delightful measures;
	Drums shall be turned to timbrels of delight;	61: war drums shall be used as tambourines (timbrels).
62	With wealthy favours plenty shall enrich	= ie. "she shall".
	The strand that gladded wandering Brute to see,	63: "the shores that filled the wandering Brute with joy (when he finally landed on them)". wandering Brute = England's first king was born in Italy, the great-grandson of Aeneas; when older, Brute traveled to Greece, where he settled with the descendants of Trojans; it required his fighting in many wars, and the Trojans travelling for many years and enduring many adventures, before they finally found sanctuary on Britain.
64	And peace from Heaven shall harbour in these leaves
	That gorgeous beautify this matchless flower:	65: "(the leaves) which gorgeously make the peerless flower even more beautiful ."
66	Apollo's heliotropion then shall stoop,	66: Apollo's heliotropion = a reference to the story of the maiden Clytie, whose love for the sun-god was unreciprocated; desperate, she laid out in the open naked for nine consecutive days, her face always following the sun, until she was turned into a heliotrope, which is the name for any flower, like a sunflower, which turns continuously to follow the sun. The god Apollo is often conflated with the sun-god Helios, as here. stoop = bow down before.
	And Venus' hyacinth shall vail her top;	67: Venus' hyacinth = ie. the lily, a symbol of Venus; or, an allusion to the story of Adonis, the beautiful young man beloved by Venus; while hunting, Adonis was killed by a boar, and Venus, distraught, dripped nectar onto his flowing blood, from which sprung beautiful purple flowers (perhaps the first anemone, or the hyacinth). Greene is particularly careless in these lines in his disregard for accuracy with respect to the gods, goddesses, and various flowers associated with them; but as Collins points out, his point is to rhetorically praise the queen, and so the details are just not important. vail her top = a nautical term, used to describe a ship lowering its top sail as a sign of submission to another ship; hence, "acknowledge the superiority of the flower representing Elizabeth".
68	Juno shall shut her gilliflowers up,	68: Juno was associated with flowers generally, but she has no particular connection to the gilliflower, a term applied to the clove-pink, a type of carnation, mentioned in line 70.^1
	And Pallas' bay shall bash her brightest green;	69: Pallas' bay = the bay, or laurel, tree was more associated with Apollo than with Athena (Pallas), whose sacred tree was the olive tree. bash = the sense possibly is related to being abashed or ashamed (Ward), but Seltzer's suggestion of "doff", like a hat, may be correct.
70	Ceres' carnation, in consort with those,	70: Ceres' carnation = Ceres is the goddess of the earth in its capacity to grow grain, fruits, vegetables, etc., but there is no clear myth associating her with the carnation; perhaps, as Collins suggests, Bacon means the poppy, or even the reddish hue of ripened corn (a grain Ceres was particularly associated with). consort = company.
	Shall stoop and wonder at Diana's rose.	= Diana was one of the Olympian deities, and was known as the goddess of hunting and chastity; she was also associated with the goddess of the moon, and as such was often referred to as Cynthia; Ward points out that in literature of the time, Queen Elizabeth was often referred to as Diana and Cynthia. Of course the description of Elizabeth as a rose - the Tudor rose specifically - completes the long metaphor of the queen as the greatest flower of England's garden.
72
	K. Hen. This prophecy is mystical. −	= allegorical, has a deep meaning.^4
74	But, glorious commanders of Europa's love,	74: as Dyce notes, this line (another alexandrine) does not make particular sense; Europa's love was Jupiter: the reference is to the beautiful maiden (Europa) so beloved by Jupiter that he turned himself into a bull, persuaded Europa to climb on top of him, then carried her away over the sea to the island of Crete, where he raped her; but if we assume the line is correct, then Henry is perhaps suggesting that the monarchs before him are somehow commanders of God (Jupiter), or perhaps beloved by God, or perhaps Europa's love simply means "Europe".
	That make fair England like that wealthy isle	= ie. the garden of Eden.
76	Circled with Gihon and swift Euphrates,	76: Circled = encircled. Gihon and Euphrates = two of the four rivers described in Genesis 2 as flowing through Eden; Henry is implying that England is a paradise.
	In royalizing Henry's Albion
78	With presence of your princely mightiness: −
	Let 's march: the tables all are spread,
80	And viands, such as England's wealth affords,	= ie. food. = provides.
	Are ready set to furnish out the boards.	81: are ready to be set on the tables (boards).
82	You shall have welcome, mighty potentates:
	It rests to furnish up this royal feast,	= remains only.
84	Only your hearts be frolic; for the time	= so long as, provided that.
	Craves that we taste of naught but jouissance.	= requires. = nothing. = enjoyment, pleasure.^7
86	Thus glories England over all the west.
88	[Exeunt omnes.]	88: all exit.
90	Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci.	90: from the Ars Poetica by Horace, the 1st century B.C. Roman poet: "He who can blend usefulness and sweetness wins every / Vote, at once delighting and teaching the reader."^36
		Postscript: the Eleanor Crosses: Princess Eleanor (our Elinor) and Edward, the Prince of Wales, were married in 1254, the couple not succeeding to the throne of England until Henry's death in 1272. Eleanor passed away in November 1290 in Nottinghamshire. After her embalmment, her corpse was returned to London in a procession which began in Lincoln. Edward later caused to be erected in each of a dozen cities along the route the queen's cortège had taken an elaborate stone or marble monument;^24 three of the original famous Eleanor crosses still stand today, at Geddington, Hardingstone, and Waltham Cross.

Greene's Invented Words

Like all of the writers of the era, Robert Greene made up words when he felt like it, usually by adding prefixes and suffixes to known words, combining words, or using a word in a way not yet used before. The following is a list of words from Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay that are indicated by the OED as being either the first or only use of a given word, or, as noted, the first use with a given meaning:

amort

bad-boding

baffle (meaning to cheat or fool)

cabbalism

charm (with from, meaning to dissuade)

twopenny chop

college-mate

consorting (as an adjective)

corrival (meaning companion, without the sense of competition)

countermatch (meaning rival)

covey (meaning set or group)

crowned (as part of a compound, referring to a hat or cap)

Danzig

deep-commanding

deface (meaning outshine)

dive (with into, meaning to plunge one's hand into)

efficiat

egg pie

exceed (meaning to have more than usual at a meal)

excellence (as a title, as in your excellence)

fast-fancied

geomantic

how goes it? (the phrase)

greet (as a noun, meaning greeting)

hamper (meaning to fasten)

hemera

Hesperides

high-built

hydromantic

imagery (meaning physical form)

juggle (meaning to transform)

latest (meaning most advanced in time)

lecture (as a verb)

next (used with a day of the week)

ninneversity / niniversity

over-scour

overwatch (meaning to keep watch througout the night)

Paduan (referring to a native of Padua)

paggle

stand upon points (the phrase)

a pox on etc. (used as a curse)

prince (used as a verb)

prize (meaning to risk)

punctum

pyromantic

quip (meaning equivocation)

ringed (meaning encircled by)

sacerdos

scold it out (phrase)

sheat

shelves of (applied to margarites or oysters)

smother (meaning to cover in a suffocating manner)

snap off (meaning to drink quickly)

stapled (as an adjective)

subsizer

suspense (meaning delay)

swingeing (meaning large)

terrae filius

toss off (meaning to drink energetically)

vagabond (meaning rascally)

veny (meaning a bout in fencing)

veriment (as an adjective)

without welt or guard (phrase)

FOOTNOTES

Footnotes in the text correspond as follows:

1. Oxford English Dictionary (OED) online.

2. Crystal, David and Ben. Shakespeare's Words. London; New York: Penguin, 2002.

3. Dyce, Alexander. The Works of Christopher Marlowe. London: George Routledge and Sons, 1876.

4. Ward, Adolphus William, ed. Old English Dramas, Select Plays. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1892.

5. Collins, J. Churton. The Plays and Poems of Robert Greene. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1905.

6. Seltzer, Daniel. Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1963.

7. Nimmo, William P. The Works of the British Dramatists. Edinburgh: Murray and Gibb, 1870.

8. Dickinson, Thomas H. Robert Greene. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1909?

9. Sugden, Edward. A Topographical Dictionary to the Works of Shakespeare and His Fellow Dramatists. Manchester: The University Press, 1925.

10. Smith, W., ed. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: John Murray, 1849.

11. Wilson, John M. The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales. London: A. Fullarton & Co., 1870.

12. The Encyclopedia Britannica. 11th edition. New York: 1911.

13. Rees, Abraham. The Cyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and Literature. London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, etc., 1819.

14. Latin Office Website. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Retrieved 4/29/2018: https://latinoffice.org/2014/11/16/sicut-erat-in-princi

pio-et-nunc-et-semper-et-in-saecula-saeculorum-amen/.

15. Henke, James T. Courtesans and Cuckolds. New York: Garland Publishing, 1979.

16. Humphries, Rolfe, trans. Ovid. Metamorphoses. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983.

17. Skeat, Walter W. A Glossary of Tudor and Stuart Words. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1914.

18. Encyclopӕdia Britannica Website. Isle of Ely. Retrieved 4/04/2018: www.britannica.com/place/Isle-of-Ely.

19. Bailey, N. et al. Dictionarium Britannicum. London: the Lamb, 1730.

20. Nares, Robert et al. A Glossary, etc. London: Reeves and Turner, 1888.

21. Johnson, Samuel. A Dictionary of the English Language, 6th Ed. London: Printed for J.F. and C. Rivington, etc., 1785.

22. Rawle, Francis, ed. Bouvier's Law Dictionary, 8th ed. Kansas City: Vernon Law Book Company, 1914.

23. Bank of England Website. Inflation Calculator. Retrieved 5/08/2018: www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation.

24. Stephen, Leslie, and Lee, Sydney, eds. Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1885-1900.

25. Gent, E.B. A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew. London: Printed for W. Hawes, etc., 1696.

26. The Pirate King Website. Complete List of Sailing Vessels. Retrieved 5/09/2018: www.thepirateking.com/ships/ship_types.htm

27. Bechtel, John H. A Dictionary of Mythology. Philadelphia: The Penn Publishing Company, 1899.

28. Metford, J.C.J. Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1983.

29. Blackstone, William. Commentaries of English Law, 7th Edition. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1775.

30. Sharpe, John, trans. William Malmesbury's Chronicle of the History of England. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1867.

31. Murray, Alexander. Who's Who in Ancient Mythology. New York: Crescent Books, 1988.

32. Weapons Universe Website. Medieval Polearms. Retrieved 5/20/2018: www.weapons-universe.com/Swords/Medieval_ Polearms.shtml.

33. War History Online Website. The Shield of Rome: Fabius Cunctator. Retrieved 5/20/2018: www.warhistoryonline.com/ancient-history/shield-rome-fabius-cunctator-

m.html

34. Hosley, Richard, ed. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1917.

35. Horses and Horse Information website. Horse Gaits. Retrieved 5/25/2018: www.horses-and-horse-information.com/articles/horse-gaits.shtml.

36. Poetry in Translation website. Horace: Ars Poetica. Retrieved 5/28/2018. www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/HoraceArsPoetica.php#anchor_Toc98156250.

37. Early English Laws Website. Forest Law. Retrieved 5/25/2018: www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/reference/essays/forest-law/.

38. Encyclopӕdia Britannica Website. Roger Bacon. Retrieved 6/09/2018: www.britannica.com/biography/Roger-Bacon.