Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 8.djvu/431

 ii s. vii. MAY 3i,i9i3.j NOTES AND QUERIES.

423

This joke occurs again in Heywood's play, and in exactly the same form : Wincott. This fellow's my best clock, He still strikes true to dinner. Clown. And to supper too, sir ; I know not how the day goes with you, but my stomach hath struck twelve, I can assure you that.


 * The English Traveller,' I. i.

Hey wood was evidently pleased with it, for it appears again, with a slight differ- ence, in ' The Late Lancashire Witches ' (1634), I. i. :

Whetstone. I know not how the day (joes with you, but for mine own part, my stomach is now much upon H. You know what hour my Uncle keeps, and I love ever to be set before the first grace, &c.

Heywood's ' Dramatic Works,' ed. 1874, iv. 175.

In ' The English Traveller ' the joke is carefully "led up to " ; in ' Appius and Vir- ginia ' it is introduced abruptly, and not particularly appropriately. The inference, therefore, is that Webster is borrowing from Heywood, rather than Heywood from Web- ster. * The English Traveller ' was printed in 1633, though possibly it may have been acted some few years previously.

I now 1 come to the uncommon words for which, I submit. Webster was indebted to Heywood. These are confine, obdure, novel, palpcd, thrill, comrague, infallid. and strage. None but the first of these words occurs elsewhere in Webster. Redeem a base life with a noble death,

And through your lust-burnt veins confy breath. ' A. and V.,' V. iii. (Hazlitt.

confine your iii. 221).

Or if the general's heart be so obdure To an old begging soldier.

IV. ii. (205).

Marshal yourselves, and entertain this novel Within a ring of steel. IV. ii. (204).

his smooth crest hath cast &palped film

Over Rome's eyes. III. i. (167).

Let him come thrill his partisan Against this breast. IV. ii. (205).

Comrague, I fear Appius will doom us to Action's death.

IV. ii. (202). upon my infallid evidence

You may pronounce the sentence on my side.

II. iii. (164). I have not dreaded famine, fire, nor strage.

V. iii. (221).

The first four words are of no use so far as evidence as to date is concerned. I merely draw attention to them here because it is "practically certain that Webster got them from Heywood.

Confine, v., in the sense of "to banish " or " expel." This is extremely rare outside Heywood's works. Dyce, indeed, believed it to be peculiar to Heywood. It occurs,

however, once in Shakespeare, and in Holinshed, and possibly occasional examples may be found elsewhere. Heywood uses it repeatedly ; but it occurs in his earlier works from 1608 onwards, and Webster had also previously made use of it in 1. 254 of ' A Monumental Column,' 1613.

Obdure, adj. = " obdurate." Heywood uses this adjective four or five times, from 1608 onwards. He has also the verb " to obdure." used transitively ( = "to harden") and in- transitively ( = " to become hard "), as well as the substantive obdureness. No other authorities are given in the ' New English Dictionary,' except G. Daniel, 1639.

Novel, sb. = " novelty." Several times in Heywood. Very rarely elsewhere.

Palpcd, adj. = "that can be felt or per- ceived." Heywood twice uses the expres- sion " palped darkness " in ' Great Bri- tain's Troy ' (1609) and ' The Brazen Age ' (1613). No other examples in * New English Dictionary.'

For none of the four remaining words can I find any authority earlier than 1630 ; for the last two, none earlier than 1635.

Thrill, v. = "hurl." This occurs twice in Heywood's 'Iron Age,' Part I. (1632), and once in ' Pelopcea and Alope ' (1637); see ' Dramatic Works,' 1874. iii. 299, 316 and vi. 301.

Comrague, variant of comrade. In his note on this word in his edition of Webster's plays, Dyce says that he had noticed several instances of its use, but had mislaid all references except one from Heywood and Brome's 'Lancashire Witches' (1634); no other reference, however, appears in ' New English Dictionary,' where it is merely cited as a variant of comrogue i.e., " fellow-rogue," a meaning here scarcely supported by the context.

Infallid, ad j. = " infallible," "conclusive." Appears in Heywood's ' Hierarchie of the Blessed Angels' (1635), bk. v. SOS : "Infallid testimonies of the wisedome and power of the Almighty." No other authority in ' New English Dictionary,' except G. Daniel, 1639

Ktrage, sb. = " destruction," "slaughter.' Also in ' Hierarchie of the Blessed Angels, p. 230 : " He presaged the great strage anc messacre which after hapned in Sicilia.'" Heyvvood again uses it in ' Earth and Age (1637) :

What broiles ? what btrage ? what slaughter to

d stroy

Did this loath'd carkasse breed 'twixt Greece and Troy?

'Pleasant Dialogues and Drammas' (Dial. 3; 'Dramatic Works,' 1874, vi. 143).