Let him depar:; his passport shall be made, We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; 1 "The feast of Crispian." The battle of Agincourt was fought upon the 25th of October, 1415. 2 i. e. shall advance him to the rank of a gentleman. King Henry V. inhibited any person, but such as had a right by inheritance or grant, from bearing coats of arms, except those who fought with him at the battle of Agincourt; and these last were allowed the chief seats at all feasts and public meetings. Enter SALISBURY. Sal. My sovereign lord, bestow yourself with speed; The French are bravely in their battles set, And will with all expedience charge on us. K. Hen. All things are ready, if our minds be so. West. Perish the man whose mind is backward now! K. Hen. Thou dost not wish more help from England, cousin ? West. God's will, my liege, 'would you and I alone, Without more help, might fight this battle out! K. Hen. Why, now thou hast unwished five thousand men ; 1 Which likes me better, than to wish us one.- Tucket. Enter MONTJOY. Mont. Once more I come to know of thee, king Harry, If for thy ransom thou wilt now compound, For, certainly, thou art so near the gulf, Thou needs must be englutted. Besides, in mercy The constable desires thee-thou wilt mind 2 Thy followers of repentance; that their souls May make a peaceful and a sweet retire From off these fields, where (wretches) their poor bodies Must lie and fester. K. Hen. Who hath sent thee now ? Mont. The constable of France. K. Hen. I pray thee, bear my former answer back; 1 "- thou hast unwished five thousand men." By wishing only thyself and me, thou hast wished five thousand men away. The Poet, inattentive to numbers, puts five thousand; but in the last scene the French are said to be full threescore thousand, which Exeter declares to be five to one; the numbers of the English are variously stated; Holinshed makes them fifteen thousand, others but nine thousand. 2 i. e. remind. Bid them achieve me, and then sell my bones. While the beast lived, was killed with hunting him. them, And draw their honors reeking up to heaven; Let me speak proudly.-Tell the constable, Mont. I shall, king Harry. And so fare thee well; Thou never shalt hear herald any more. [Exit. K. Hen. I fear thou'lt once more come again for ransom. Enter the Duke of York.1 York. My lord, most humbly on my knee I beg The leading of the vaward.2 K. Hen. Take it, brave York. Now, soldiers, march away ; And how thou pleasest, God, dispose the day! [Exeunt. SCENE IV. The Field of Battle. Alarums: Excursions. Enter French Soldier, PISTOL, and Boy. Pist. Yield, cur. Fr. Sol. Je pense, que vous estes le gentilhomme de bonne qualité. Pist. Quality? Callino, castore me! Art thou a gentleman? What is thy name? discuss. Fr. Sol. O seigneur Dieu! Pist. O, seignior Dew should be a gentleman.— Perpend my words, O seignior Dew, and mark ;O seignior Dew, thou diest on point of fox, Except, O seignior, thou do give to me Egregious ransom. Fr. Sol. O, prennez misericorde! ayez pitié de moy! 1 "The duke of York." This Edward duke of York has already appeared in King Richard II. under the title of duke of Aumerle. He was the son of Edmond Langley, the duke of York of the same play, who was the fifth son of king Edward III. Richard earl of Cambridge, who appears in the second act of this play, was younger brother to this Edward duke of York. 2 The vaward is the vanguard. 3 "Callino, castore me!" The jargon of the old copies, where these words are printed Qualitie calmie custure me, was changed by former editors into "Quality, call you me? construe me." Malone found Calen o custure me, mentioned as the burden of a song in "A Handful of Plesant Delites," 1584. And Mr. Boswell discovered that it was an old Irish song, which is printed in Playford's Musical Companion, 1667 or 1673: "Callino, Callino, Callino, castore me, The words are said to mean "Little girl of my heart forever and ever." Pist. Moy shall not serve; I will have forty moys; For I will fetch thy rim1 out at thy throat, In drops of crimson blood. Fr. Sol. Est-il impossible d'eschapper la force de ton bras? Pist. Brass, cur!. Thou damned and luxurious mountain goat, Fr. Sol. O pardonnez moy! Pist. Say'st thou me so? Is that a ton of moys? 2 Come hither, boy. Ask me this slave, in French, What is his name. Boy. Escoutez. Comment estes-vous appellé ? Boy. He says his name is-master Fer. Pist. Master Fer! I'll fer him, and firk 3 him, and ferret him:-discuss the same in French unto him. Boy. I do not know the French for fer, and ferret, and firk. Pist. Bid him prepare, for I will cut his throat. Boy. П те соmmande de vous dire que vous faites vous prest; car ce soldat icy est disposé tout à cette heure de couper vostre gorge. Pist. Ouy, couper gorge, par ma foy, pesant, Fr. Sol. O, je vous supplie pour l'amour de Dieu, me pardonner! Je suis gentilhomme de bonne maison; gardez ma vie, et je vous donneray deux cents escus. Pist. What are his words? Boy. He prays you to save his life; he is a gentle 1 "For I will fetch thy rim out at thy throat." Pistol is not very scrupulous in the nicety of his language; he uses rim (rymme) for the intestines generally. It is not very clear what our ancestors meant by it; bishop Wilkins defines it "the membrane of the belly;" Florio makes it the omentum, "a fat pannicle, caule, sewet, rim, or kell, wherein the bowels are lapt." Holmes, in his Acad. of Armory, calls the peritonœum "the paunch or rim of the belly;" which is defined by others to be the "inner rine of the belly." 2 Pistol's moy is, perhaps, a vulgar corruption of moydore. 3 To firk is to beat or scourge. |