Say to the King the knowledge of the broil, Cap. Doubtful long it ftood, As two spent swimmers that do cling together, Do fwarm upon him, from the western isles Like Valour's Minion carved out his paffage, Who ne'er fhook hands nor bid farewel to him, 'Till he unfeam'd him from the nave to th' chops, And fix'd his head upon our battlements. 3 from the western ifles Of Kernes and Gallow-glaffes was Supply'd; ] Whether Supplied of, for Supplied from or with, was a kind of Grecism of Shakespear's expreffion; or whe. ther of be a corruption of the editors, who took Kernes and Gallow- laffes, which were only light and heavy armed Foot, to be the names of two of the weftern iflands, I don't know. Hinc conjecture rigorem etiam adjiciunt arma quædam Hibernica, Gallicis antiquis fimilia, jacula nimirùm peditum levis armature quos Kernos vocant, nec non fecures & lorice ferrea peditum illorum gravioris armaturæ, quos Galloglaffios appellant. Warai Antiq. Hiber. cap. 6. WARBURTON. 1 4 In former editions: King: And fortune on his damned quarry Smiling. ] Quarrel was formerly used for caufe, or for the occafion of a quarrel, and is to be found in that fenfe in Holling fhead's account of the story of Macbeth, who, upon the creation of the prince of Camberland, thought, fays the hiftorian, that he had a juft quarrel to endeavour after the Crown. The fenfe therefore is, Fortune Smiling on his execrable cause, &c. This is followed by Dr. Warburton. she unfeam'd him from the nave to th' chops,] We feldom hear of fuch terrible cross blows given and received but by giants and mifcreants in Amadis de Gaule. Befides it must be a Bb 3 ftrange King, Oh, valiant Coufin! worthy Gentleman! Cap. As whence the fun 'gins his reflection, Shipwrecking ftorms and direful thunders break; So from that Spring, whence Comfort feem'd to come, ftrange aukward ftroke that could unrip him upwards from the navel to the chops. But Shak Spear certainly wrote, -be unfeam'a bim from the nape to th' chops, i. e. cut his fkull in two; which might be done by a Highlander's fword. This was a reasonable blow, and very naturally expreffed, on fuppofing it given when the head of the wearied combatant was reclining downwards at the latter end of a long duel. For the nape is the hinder part of the neck, where the vertebra join to the bone of the fkull. So in Coriclanus, O! that you could turn your eyes towards the napes of your necks. The word un amed, likewife, becomes very proper; and alludes to the future which goes crofs the crown of the head in that direction called the futura fagittalis; and which, confequently, muit be opened by fuch a ftroke. It is remarkable, that Milton, who in his youth read and imitated our poet much, particularly in his Comus, was miled by this corrupt reading. For in the manufcript of that poem, in Trinity-College Library, the following lines are read thus, Or drag him by the curles, and cleave his fcalpe Down to the hippes.An evident imitation of this cor Dif rupted paffage. But he alter'd it with better judgment, to to a foul darb Curs'd as his life. WARBURTON. 6 As whence the fun 'GINS bis reflection] Here are two readings in the copies, gives, and 'gins, i. e. begins. But the lat ter I think is the right, as founded on obfervation, that forms generally come from the eaft. As from the place (fays he) whence the fun begins bis courfe, (viz. the east) shipwrecking ftorms proceed, J, &c. For the natural and conftant motion of the ocean is from east to west; and the wind has the fame general direction. Præcipua generalis [ventorum] caufa eft ipfe Sol qui aërem rarefacit atenuat. Aer enim rarefacius multo majorem locum poftulat. Inde fit ut Aër à jole impufus alium vicinum aërem magn impetu protrudat; cumque Sol ab Oriente in occidentem circumrotetur, præcipuus ab eo aëris impul fus fiet verfus occidentem. Va reni Geogr. l. 1. c. 14. prop. 10. See also Doctor Halley's Account of the Tr de Winds of the Monfons. This being fo, it is no wonder that ftorms should come molt frequently from that quarter, or that they should be moft violent, because there is a concurrence of the natural motions of wind and wave. This proves the > Discomforts well'd. Mark, King of Scotland, mark; King. Difmay'd not this Our Captains, Macbeth and Banquo? As fparrows, eagles; or the hare, the lion. 8 As cannons overcharg'd with double cracks, the true reading is 'gins; the other reading not fixing it to that quarter. For the Sun may give its reflection in any part of its courfe above the horizon; but it can begin it only in one. The Oxford Editor, however, flicks to the other reading, gives: and fays, that, by the Sun's giving his reflexion, is meant the rainbow, the frongest and most remarkable reflection of any the Sun gives. He appears by this to have as good a hand at reforming our phyfics as our poetry. This is a difcovery, that shipwrecking torms proceed from the rainbow. But he was mifled by his want of fill in Shakespear's phrafeology, who, by the fan's reflection, means only the Sun's light. But while he is intent on making his author speak correctly, he flips himself. The rainbow is no more a reflection of the Sun than a tune is a fiddle. And, tho' it be the most remarkable effect of reflected light, yet it is not the frongest. WARBURTON. There are not two readings: both the old folios have 'gins. So So they redoubled ftrokes upon the foc] Mr. Theobald has endeavoured to improve the sense of this paffage by altering the punctuation thus: —they were As can ons overcharg'd, with double cracks So they redoubled ftrokes He declares, with fome degree of exultation, that he has no idea of a cannon charged with double cracks; but furely the great authour will not gain much by an alteration which makes him fay of a hero, that he redoubles Stokes with double cracks, an exBb 4 preffion 1 So they redoubled ftrokes upon the foe. Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds, 9 Or memorize another Golgotha, I cannot tell But I am faint, my gashes cry for help. King. So well thy words become thee, as thy wounds; They fmack of honour both. Go, get him furgeons, Enter Roffe and Angus. But who comes here? Mal. The worthy Thane of Roffe. Len. What hafte looks through his eyes? So fhould he look, that feems to speak things ftrange. preffion not more loudly to be applauded, or more easily pardoned than that which is rejected in its favour. That a cannon is charged with thunder or with double thunders may be written, not only without nonfenfe, but with elegance, and nothing else is here meant by cracks, which in the time of this writer was a word of fuch emphasis and dignity, that in this play he terms the general diffolution of nature the crack of doom. The old copy reads, As cannons overcharg'd with double cracks.] Double is here used for great, and not for two. He uies double in this fense in other places, as in Love's Labour Left, I underfood you not, my griefs are double. See note on the word in Othello, Act 1. Scene 4. WARBURTON, 9 Or memorize another Gol gotha,] Memorize, for make memorable. WARBURTON. • So should he look, that seems to fpeak things firange.] The meaning of this paffage, as it now ftands, is, fo fhould be look, that looks as if he told things Strange. But Roffe neither yet told ftrange things, nor could look as if he told them; Lenex only conjectured from his air that he had ftrange things to tell, and therefore undoubtedly faid, What hafte looks thro' bis eyes? So fhould be look, that teems to Speak things ftrange. He looks like one that is big with fomething of importance; a metaphor fo natural that it is every day ufed in common difcourfe. So fhould be look, that feems to Speak things ftrange.] i. e. that feems as if he would fpeak. WARBURTON. Roffe. Roffe. God fave the King! King. Whence cam'ft thou, worthy Thane ? Where the Norweyan banners 2 flout the sky, Norway, himfelf, with numbers terrible, The Thane of Cawdor, 'gan a difmal conflict. Roje. Now Sweno, Norway's King, craves composition; Nor would we deign him burial of his men, 'Till he difburfed, at Saint Colmes-kill-isle, Ten thousand dollars, to our genʼral use. King. No more that Thane of Cawdor fhall deceive Our bofom-int'reft. Go, pronounce his death; And with his former Title greet Macbeth. Roffe. I'll fee it done. King. What he hath loft, noble Macbeth hath won. flout the fky.] To flout is to dafh any thing in another's face. WARBURTON. 3 Confronted HIM with felfcompar fors,] The disloyal Cawdor, fays Mr. Theobald. Then comes another, and fays, a ftrange forgetfulness in Shakespear, when Macbeth had taken this Thane of Casudor prifoner, not to know that he was fallen into the King's difpleafure for rebellion. But this is only blunder upon blunder. The truth is, by him, in this verfe, is meant Norway: as the plain confruction of the English requires. And the affiftance the Thane of [Exeunt. Cawdor had given Norway was underhand; which Rofs and Angus, indeed, had difcovered; but was unknown to Macbeth. Cawdor being in the court all this while, as appears from Angui's fpeech to Macbeth, when he meets him to falute him with the title, and infinuates his crime to be lining the rebel with hidden help and 'vantage. WARBURTON. The fecond blunderer was the prefent editor. 4-with felf-comparisons, ] i. e. gave him as good as he brought, fhew'd he was his equal. WARBURTON. |
