Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 3.djvu/71

 9- S. IIL JAN. 28, '99.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

65

in ' Macbeth ' he uses the words " mortified man " in the sense of corpse, as I once before remarked in * N. & Q.' I do not get any help from Johnson's 'Dictionary' in my inter- pretation of the word damn. But the word is used, and may be used, with the meaning " to hurt irreparably."

On the impossibility of making the ' Merry Wives of Windsor' agree with the other plays in which Falstaff or his companions appear, the following may be said. In '2 Henry IV.,' III. ii., Shallow and Bar- dolph do not know one another when they first meet. Therefore the time of the ' Merry Wives of Windsor ' is after this scene. In the ' Merry Wives of Windsor ' Prince Hal has not become Henry V., and Falstaff has not fallen into disgrace. This is clear from two remarks in the play, besides that on which comment has been made lately at 9 th S. ii. 523. In ' 2 Henry IV.,' V., the prince has become king, and Falstaff is disgraced. The 'Merry Wives of Windsor' then could be placed only between the third and fifth acts of ' 2 Henry IV.' But this is impossible from the continuity of action in that part of the play. It would be also impossible that Mistress Quickly should be transformed for a short time from a dissolute hostess into a respectable housekeeper, and then should become a dissolute hostess again. In several plays I remember passages in which Shak- speare shows forgetfulness of what he has previously written. But probably these passages have been observed by others.

E. YARDLEY.

May I remind DR. SPENCE that the proof of the pudding is in the eating 1 I call his line harsh-sounding because my ear tells me it is so. If to his ear it is as euphonious as Shake- speare's, how can I prove to him that it is not? To mine the lengthening of damn by the addi- tion of 'd greatly improves the sound of the line, making the next accent fall more natur- ally on "fair"; and "a fair wife" has a pleasant sound, whereas "affairs wise" is a horrible sibilation. DR. SPENCE, however, hears dif- ferently, and so far as he is concerned there is an end of the matter. But the question remains, What sort of an ear had Shakespeare 1 ? For my part, I cannot think he would invert the phrase " wise in affairs " except for some strong reason, since the inversion both ob- scures the meaning and throws the sibilants together at the end of the verse. What reason could he have 1 ? DR. SPENCE has not faced this question. C. C. B.

MARBLES. With reference to the remarks of MR. THOMAS KATCLIFFE and others under

the heading of ' Pickwickian Manners and Customs ' (see 9 th S. ii. 315, &c.), perhaps the "recollections" of an Irish schoolboy about marbles and their games (locale and date, Belfast, 1854-8) may be worth recording in 'N.&Q.'

Like tops, kites, &c., marbles had their recognized seasons. I forget the exact period of the year, but it commenced in the spring, somewnere about Easter, after the winter cold had disappeared and the ground was fairly dry, and lasted until the summer vaca- tion, which then began in June.

There were various kinds of marbles in vogue, principally (1) " Stoneys," apparently made of a composition like a hard fine cement, and painted over with different colours, but one colour only to a marble ; (2) " Crockeries," of crockery ware, slightly

glazed, one side being generally of a dark rown (the burnt glaze) and the other the yellow colour of the material ; (3) "Clayeys," made of red brick clay, commonly unpainted ;

(4) " Marble marbles," out of white marble ;

(5) "China alleys," of china ware, with a white glaze, and painted rings of different colours, parallel or at different angles equa- torially ; (6) "Glass marbles," of various sizes and descriptions.

The principal games were two : " ring and taw " and " hole and taw," both of which are so widely known that they do not require description here. The former was the greater favourite, and was nearly always played against a wall,* the ring being placed at a sufficient distance from it, and the stand accordingly as agreed the better players using a "longer stand." The last to play usually had the privilege of settling the stakes in the ring. One particular spot of the playground, where some raised flagging formed a "side stand" in addition to the "front stand," was the favoured place, and there was always a rush after school for possession of it. There was a counterpart on the opposite side of the flags, but not much resorted to as the ground was inferior. The other game, "hole and taw," was played on an open space, the holes (three in a line) being from about six to twelve feet apart. Three times up and down concluded the game, which was often played with partners. Sometimes the " winners " (those who had completed the course) became " rovers " (like croquet) with killing powers. I observe that this game is

space, the circumference forming the boundary as well as the stand, the ring being in the centre. To win a stake, the marble had to be driven outside of the boundary.
 * Sometimes a large circle was made in an open