The Tragedy of Arthur_ A Novel - Arthur Phillips [169]
46. writing hand … secretary’s “Secretary hand” was one of several different styles of handwriting in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, more difficult to forge and therefore more suitable for confidential correspondence. [RV]
47. callis-sand sand of Calais, used for blotting. [RV]
48. cistern … water “can your leaky memory remember my message?”
49. Ostensibly “bruised,” but I hear my father’s fondness for Crockett Johnson’s children’s classic Harold and the Purple Crayon, the story of a lonely boy who creates the world around him with his art.
50. shamed to rose embarrassed and blushing, but here bruising from the blows.
51. ice their stones cool off their testicles.
52. candied frozen.
53. Extraught descended.
54. basilisk a monster lizard reputed to paralyze anyone it looked upon. [RV]
55. mickle great.
56. Desert … to ash Sodom and Gomorrah [from the Book of Genesis. —RV]
57. unlock perhaps a pun on “loch”? [RV]
58. upscale climb over.
59. roweled spiked.
60. jauncing prancing.
61. Gall’way nag a particularly small Scottish breed of horse. Mentioned by Shakespeare again in Henry IV, Part Two. This also marks the second reference to Mordred as small in stature. [RV]
62. carry coals to bear indignities uncomplainingly.
63. lese-majesty treason.
64. hanging letters-patent literally, a written commission conferring Alexander his special status; in this case, Somerset is also threatening to cut off his ears. [RV]
65. froward evil or ungovernable person.
66. Arthur Rex “Arthur is the king.” The only Latin I know by heart. [Note: the meter comes to a halt on this line, leaving time for the action. —RV]
67. lazy drone a parasite. [Interestingly, Shakespeare uses “drone” in four other plays, twice with the epithet “lazy.” —RV]
68. weasel implying ferocity, blood-thirstiness, and deceit.
69. intemprature hasty, ill-considered mood. [Also, “intemperance” in other Shakespearean usage. —RV]
70. gear matter, affair.
71. palfrey a gentle horse.
72. jarring discordant, fighting.
Act I, Scene V
1. gamesters gamblers.
2. mark at ten on one lay the odds at ten to one.
3. And finger … seat “And try on my crown and sit in my throne.”
4. vaulting ween high ambition.
5. stripe my back flog himself as penance over his father’s murder of the Earl of Cornwall.
6. churl contemptible fellow.
7. glistering glittering.
8. in some sort somehow.
9. us Note that Arthur begins using the royal “we” here, accepting his kingship, reflecting that acceptance even in his diction. [RV]
Act II, Scene I
1. trans-substanced The Master of the Hounds commits a few malapropisms. Here, he means “transubstantiated,” the Catholic dogma of the communion transformation. Considering the religious strife of Protestant England in the 1590s, a level of Catholic mockery here is possible. [RV]
2. excommasticate again, a malapropism; here, for excommunicate. [RV]
3. flesh rile up a hunting dog with meat.
4. crisple to ripple, ruffle.
5. pleasure-jack or apple-squire hedonist or pimp.
6. tib a common woman’s name or a strumpet.
7. have his will double entendre: Have his way or have an erection. [RV]
8. slop tunic or trousers.
9. wot not don’t know.
10. puttock of a wren The wren is small and gentle; a puttock is a bird of prey. [RV]
11. commodated arranged.
12. tarry delay.
ACT II, SCENE II
1. porpentine porcupine.
2. fell fierce, deadly.
3. Humber’s tide The Saxons have invaded England along the Humber River, disembarked, and invaded York by land.
4. conjoined met up, joined forces.
5. portcullised fortified behind a portcullis, a castle gate.
6. shiv’ring splintering.
7. con learn, memorize.
8. Absit omen “May the omen be absent” (Latin). [“May this not come to pass” or “Heaven forbid.” —RV]
9. Decline and conjugate in Latin, reciting or listing the various endings to nouns and verbs, respectively.
10. hard probably cruel, harsh, rather than “difficult,” although the double meaning of difficult conjugation and declension may be present. [RV]
11. Chambers sound of cannons.
Act II, Scene