[216] "The salt-cellar, generally a very large and massive one, stood in the middle of the table; guests of superior rank always sat above it towards the upper part of the table, those of inferior rank below it towards the bottom."--COLLINS. [217] Spices. [218] Dried plums. [219] Sugar plums. [220] Protuberant. [221] Cliffs. [222] The stage direction is, "_Enter Friar Bacon drawing the curtains, with a white stick, a book in his hand,_" etc. [223] Greene uses the same pun in _A Looking Glass_, Act I. scene 2. [224] A watchman's pike or halbert. [225] Miles' blundering reminiscences of "Cunctator." [226] Miles is here punning on "coursed." [227] Beyond all measure. [228] These are discovered in the upper stage just as Margaret and Friar Bungay were discovered in Act. II. scene 3. [229] Venture. [230] A bout. [231] Dyce suggests that Greene here meant "scholars." Gayley suggests that Bacon may have taken the glass. [232] Britons. [233] _Mutton_ is a cant term for a prostitute. [234] _Welt_ and _guard_ are synonymous: without facing or ornament, as these are against the statute. [235] A pack. [236] "The 'curtana' or 'pointless sword' of mercy; the 'pointed sword' of justice; the 'golden rod' of equity."--GAYLEY. [237] Here begins a compliment to Queen Elizabeth. [238] The complete title of the 1598 edition was, "The Scottish History of James the Fourth, Slain at Flodden. Intermixed with a pleasant comedy, presented by Oberon King of Fairies." [239] "A technical term for the burlesque dance of an anti-masque, and there being several performers takes a plural verb."--W. W. Greg, _Modern Language Review_, I., p. 248. [240] Collins defines this, after Skeat, as a stableman, a stable-cleaner. [241] My quiet. [242] I'll make. [243] Erewhile. Greene's Scottish dialect is not very accurate. [244] Advise. [245] Contradict. [246] Sword, dagger. [247] Never the nearer: a favourite phrase with old writers. [248] Some words are wanting here. [249] Hold you your chattering. [250] Decoys. [251] Hold back. [252] "To" is here used in the sense of "compared with." [253] Tablets, memorandum books. [254] My soul. [255] Dwelt. [256] Greene probably intended a Scotch dialect form of "lovely." [257] The player was expected to extemporise until off the stage. [258] The scene between Bohan and Oberon may properly be entitled "Chorus," as such scenes appear at the end of each act with the exception of the fifth. The relationship of the three dumb shows with the play as a whole and with each other has not been explained. In many places the text is hopelessly corrupt. [259] The entire passage is so corrupt as to be unintelligible. [260] Manly's readjustment of a corrupt passage, based upon a suggestion by Kittredge, has been accepted. [261] The song is not inserted. It was not necessarily composed by the author of the play. [262] Frown. [263] Words that describe you. [264] Cozener's terms. [265] Prepared, ready.