Page:Henry IV Part 2 (1921) Yale.djvu/136



 Rumour, painted full of tongues. Vergil (Æneid iv. 174) describes Fame, or Rumour, as covered with ears, eyes, and tongues. Cf. also Chaucer, Hous of Fame, 1389-90.

 Shrewsbury. The last act of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part I, is devoted to the battle of Shrewsbury, in which the King and his armies overcome the rebel forces under young Harry Percy (Hotspur); his uncle, the Earl of Worcester; and the Scottish Earl of Douglas.

 Harry Monmouth. Henry, Prince of Wales, who, according to Shakespeare, killed Hotspur in single combat at the battle of Shrewsbury. Monmouth was the place of his birth.

 hole. Shakespeare is obviously playing on the words hole and hold. Most modern editors have spoiled the rather poor pun by substituting the word hold for hole.

 'By his spirit was his party inspired, i.e., made keen and sharp as steel; but, when once his spirit was brought down (technically, reduced to a lower temper) all his followers became dull and heavy as lead.'

 In 1 Henry IV, V. iii., Douglas kills Sir Walter Blunt, who was dressed to resemble the King, and tells us that he has already killed the Lord of Stafford in the king's 'likeness.' When, later, Prince Hal challenges Douglas to single combat, he says:

'the spirits

Of valiant Shirley, Stafford, Blunt, are in my arms.'

 These lines are the first of a series of passages omitted in the Quarto texts of the play