Proverbial Language in English Drama Exclusive of Shakespeare, 1495–1616 [Reprint 2020 ed.] 9780520318113

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PROVERBIAL LANGUAGE IN ENGLISH DRAMA EXCLUSIVE OF SHAKESPEARE, 1495-1616

An Index

PROVERBIAL L A N G U A G E L\ T ENGLISH D R A M A EXCLUSIVE OI SHAKESPEARE, An 1495-1616 R . W. D E N T

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley Los Angeles London

University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England Copyright © 1984 by T h e Regents of the University of California

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Dent, R. W. (Robert William) Proverbial language in English drama exclusive of Shakespeare, 1495—1616. Companion vol. to: Shakespeare's proverbial language. 1. English drama—Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600—Indexes. 2. Proverbs in literature—Indexes. 3. English drama—17th century—Indexes. 4. Proverbs, English—Indexes. I. Title. PR658.P73D46 1984 882'.3'09 83-17922 ISBN 0-520-05169-6 Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

To my wife

CONTENTS Acknowledgments I n d e x Table Introduction Index Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C Bibliography

ix 1 11 23 171 771 787 791

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my gratitude, once again, for the good humored patience of my wife and children, and for the able and gracious staffs of the Huntington and UCLA Libraries and of the University of California Press.

I N D E X TABLE Unless otherwise indicated within individual indexes, indexes are ord e r e d in accordance with The Annals of English Drama, 975-1700, ed. A l f r e d H a r b a g e a n d S. S c h o e n b a u m (1964, S u p p l e m e n t 1966). T h e chronology is of course f r e q u e n t l y questionable a n d occasionally impossible (e.g., 1592 f o r both versions of Doctor Faustus). Asterisked titles or subtitles are i n d e x e d as proverbial in whole or part. Parenthetical below is the n u m b e r of entries in A p p e n d i x A a n d A p p e n d i x B. See below, p p . 17-18. A b r a h a m ' s Sacrifice, 1575 (17/0) Acolastus, 1540 (144/20) A g a m e m n o n , 1566 (25/5) A l a h a m , 1600 (24/2) A l a r u m f o r L o n d o n , see L a r u m f o r L o n d o n , A, 1599 Albumazar, 1615 (52/15) Alchemist, T h e , 1610 (70/30) A l e x a n d r a e a n Tragedy, T h e , 1607 (52/0) *A11 Fools, 1604 (145/26) *A11 f o r Money, 1577 (65/16) A l p h o n s u s E m p e r o r of Germany, 1594 (47/15) A l p h o n s u s King of A r a g o n , 1587 (52/7) A m e n d s f o r Ladies, 1611 (57/25) A n t o n i o a n d Mellida, 1599 (51/21) Antonio's Revenge, 1600 (44/12) Antony, 1590 (33/7) A p p i u s a n d Virginia, 1564 (41/5) A r d e n of Feversham, 1591 (74/13) A r r a i g n m e n t of Paris, T h e , 1581 (28/4) Atheist's Tragedy, T h e , 1611 (42/12) B a r t h o l o m e w Fair, 1614 (132/37) Battle of Alcazar, T h e , 1589 (30/7) Birth of Hercules, T h e , 1604 (45/35) Birth of Merlin, T h e , 1608 (33/7) Blind B e g g a r of Alexandria, T h e , 1596 (58/16) Blind Beggar of B e d n a l Green, T h e , 1600 (130/36) *Blurt, Master Constable, 1601 (92/15) B o n d u c a , 1613 (64/13) Brazen Age, T h e , 1611 (23/8) Bugbears, T h e , 1564 (147/17) Bussy D'Ambois, 1604 (82/14)

2

Index Table

Caesar and Pompey, 1605 (23/5) Caesar's Revenge (Caesar and Pompey), 1595 (39/10) Calisto and Melebea, 1527 (32/4) Cambises, 1561 (40/18) Campaspe, 1584 (82/8) Captain, T h e , 1612 (45/18) Captain T h o m a s Stukeley, 1596 (57/31) *Case is Altered, T h e , 1597 (99/19) Catiline His Conspiracy, 1611 (57/7) Charlemagne, 1600 (57/11) Chaste Maid in Cheapside, A, 1613 (55/23) Christian T u r n e d Turk, A, 1610 (71/16) Claudius Tiberius Nero, 1607 (56/16) Cleopatra, 1593 (21/2) *Club Law, 1599 (111/38) Clyomon and Clamydes, 1570 (45/22) Cobbler's Prophecy, T h e , 1590 (41/20) C o m m o n Conditions, 1576 (91/28) Conflict of Conscience, T h e , 1572 (96/15) Conspiracy and Tragedy of Charles Duke of Byron, T h e , 1608 (40/7) Contention between Liberality and Prodigality, The, 1601 (54/14) Cornelia, 1594 (38/9) Coxcomb, T h e , 1609 (53/34) Croesus, 1604 (72/10) Cuckqueans and Cuckolds Errants, The, 1601 (62/15) Cupid's Revenge, 1608 (45/19) *Cupid's Whirligig, 1607 (93/22) Cynthia's Revels, 1601 (113/19) Cynthia's Revenge, 1613 (40/10) Damon and Pithias, 1564 (144/27) Darius, 1603 (41/5) Darius, King, 1565 (35/13) David and Bethsabe, see Love of King David and Fair Bethsabe, T h e , 1587 *Devil is an Ass, T h e , 1616 (100/27) Devil's Charter, T h e , 1607 (38/14) Dido Q u e e n of Carthage, 1587 (21/3) Disobedient Child, T h e , 1560 (48/21) Doctor Faustus, 1592 (1604: 33/8; 1616: 44/11) Duchess of Malfi, T h e , 1614 (106/10) D u m b Knight, T h e , 1608 (42/5) Dutch Courtesan, T h e , 1604 (137/23)

Index

Table

3

Eastward Ho, 1605 (150/26) Edmond Ironside, 1595 (62/14) Edward I, 1591 (111/28) Edward II, 1592 (61/10) Edward III, 1590 (64/9) Edward IV, Part One, 1599 (79/33) Edward IV, Part Two, 1599 (51/24) Endymion, the Man in the Moon, 1588 (113/10) *Englishmen for My Money, or *A Woman Will Have Her Will, 1598 (161/30) •Enough is as Good as a Feast, 1560 (75/24) Epicoene, 1609 (84/27) Everyman, 1519 (19/4) *Every Man in His Humour, 1598 (ed. 1601: 152/36; rev. 1609: 150/ 35) Every Man out of His Humour, 1599 (133/40) Every Woman in Her Humour, 1607 (99/20) Fair Em, 1590 (30/11) Fair Maid of Bristow, The, 1604 (19/8) Fair Maid of the Exchange, The, 1602 (74/24) Fair Maid of the West, The, or *A Girl Worth Gold, Part One, 1610 (42/15) Fairy Pastoral, The, 1603 (53/12) Faithful Friends, The, 1614 (62/15) Faithful Shepherdess, The, 1608 (24/3) Family of Love, The, 1602 (167/35) Fatal Marriage, The, 1600 (62/15) Fawn, The, see Parasitaster, 1605 Fidele and Fortunio, 1584 (140/28) Fleer, The, 1606 (60/15) •Fortune by Land and Sea, 1609 (72/17) Four Elements, The Nature of the, 1517 (21/9) Four P's, The, 1520 (30/14) Four Plays, or Moral Representations, in One, 1612 (44/10) Four Prentices of London, The, 1600 (47/16) Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay, 1588 (38/7) Fulgens and Lucrece, 1497 (40/10) Gallathea, 1585 (60/10) Gammer Gurton's Needle, 1553 (69/18) Gentleman Usher, The, 1602 (62/32) Gentleness and Nobility, 1527 (21/5)

4

Index Table

George a Greene, the Pinner of Wakefield, 1590 (42/9) Gismond of Salerne, 1566 (25/6) Glass of Government, The, 1575 (97/21) God's Promises, 1538 (7/5) Godly Queen Hester, 1527 (17/12) Golden Age, The, 1610 (36/4) Gorboduc, 1562 (37/3) Greene's Tu Quoque, 1611 (76/27) Grim the Collier of Croydon, or *The Devil and His Dame, 1600 (71/ 22) Hector of Germany, The, 1614 (32/14) Henry V, The Famous Victories of, 1586 (36/10) Hercules Furens, 1561 (7/1) Hercules Oetaeus, 1566 (16/3) Hick Scorner, 1513 (26/3) Hippolytus, 1567 (23/8) Histriomastix, 1599 (70/11) Hoffman, 1602 (61/20) Hog Hath Lost His Pearl, The, 1613 (32/15) Honest Lawyer, The, 1613 (61/12) Honest Man's Fortune, The, 1613 (46/15) Honest Whore, The, Part One, 1604 (151/25) Honest Whore, The, Part Two, 1605 (139/28) Horestes, 1567 (66/9) How a Man May Choose a Good Wife from a Bad, 1602 (78/23) Humorous Day's Mirth, An, 1597 (72/27) •Humour out of Breath, 1608 (79/12) Hymen's Triumph, 1614 (16/6) * I f This Be Not a Good Play, the Devil Is in It, 1611 (63/10) * I f You Know Not Me You Know Nobody, Part One, 1604 (34/7) * I f You Know Not Me You Know Nobody, Part Two, 1605 (112/20) Impatient Poverty, 1547 (39/15) Insatiate Countess, The, 1610 (112/12) Iron Age, The, Part One, 1612 (18/6) Iron Age, The, Part Two, 1612 (23/8) Isle of Gulls, The, 1606 (124/25) *Jack Drum's Entertainment, 1600 (72/17) Jack Juggler, 1555 (60/17) Jack Straw, 1591 (45/11)

Index

Table

Jacob and Esau, 1554 (71/19) James IV, T h e Scottish History of, 1590 (94/13) I Jeronimo, 1604 (17/7) Jew of Malta, The, 1589 (93/33) Jocasta, 1566 (50/11) John John the Husband, 1520 (30/8) John the Evangelist, 1520 (4/0) John, King, 1538 (81/22) John, The Troublesome Reign of King, 1588 (71/23) John a Kent and John a Cumber, 1589 (38/15) J o h n Baptist's Preaching in the Wilderness, 1538 (4/0) J o h n of Bordeaux, 1592 (26/8) Juli and Julian, 1570 (43/14) Julius Caesar (Alexander), 1607 (55/2) King and No King, A, 1611 (37/17) *Knack to Know a Knave, A, 1592 (61/26) Knack to Know an Honest Man, A, 1594 (32/12) Knight of the Burning Pestle, The, 1607 (104/25) Larum for London, A, 1599 (33/14) *Law Tricks, or *Who Would Have Thought It, 1604 (78/23) Leir, King, 1590 (98/26) *Like Will to Like quoth the Devil to the Collier, 1568 (75/17) Lingua, 1607 (98/28) Locrine, 1591 (45/11) London Prodigal, The, 1604 (75/24) ?*Longer Thou Livest the More Fool Thou Art, The, 1559 (70/20) *Look About You, 1599 (83/30) Looking Glass for London and England, A, 1590 (72/16) Love, A Play of, 1533 (42/7) Love of King David and Fair Bethsabe, The, 1587 (21/7) Love's Metamorphosis, 1590 (77/4) Love's Pilgrimage, 1616 (43/18) Lust's Dominion, 1600 (53/17) *Lusty Juventus, 1550 (40/14) *Mad World My Masters, A, 1606 (50/26) Magnificence, 1516 (158/14) Maid's Metamorphosis, The, 1600 (40/14) Maid's Tragedy, The, 1610 (37/15) Malcontent, The, 1604 (113/10)

5

6

Index Table

Mariam, 1604 (29/7) Marriage between Wit and Wisdom, The, 1579 (97/15) Marriage of Wit and Science, The, 1569 (93/29) Mary Magdalene, The Life and Repentance of, 1558 (44/25) Massacre at Paris, The, 1593 (20/5) Match Me in London, 1611 (93/24) May-Day, 1602 (156/46) Medea, 1566 (27/9) Menaechmi, 1592 (28/19) Merry Devil of Edmonton, The, 1602 (50/18) Michaelmas Term, 1606 (58/19) Midas, 1589 (103/15) Miseries of Enforced Marriage, The, 1606 (89/20) Misfortunes of Arthur, The, 1588 (80/14) Misogonus, 1570 (230/50) Monsieur D'Olive, 1604 (110/36) Monsieur Thomas *(Father's Own Son), 1615 (78/24) More Dissemblers Besides Women, 1615 (62/16) Mother Bombie, 1589 (243/26) Mucedorus, 1590 (42/9) Mustapha, 1596 (26/2) Nature, 1495 (69/10) New Custom, 1571 (41/10) Nice Valour, The, 1616 (22/17) Nice Wanton, 1550 (30/9) Night Walker, The, 1611 (57/16) No Wit No Help Like a Woman's, 1612 (73/26) Nobody and Somebody, 1605 (50/17) Northward Ho, 1605 (87/29) Octavia, 1566 (7/9) Oedipus, 1563 (16/4) Old Fortunatus, 1599 (125/22) *01d Wives Tale, The, 1590 (77/17) Orlando Furioso, 1591 (26/5) Parasitaster, or The Fawn, 1605 (138/15) Pardoner and the Friar, The, 1519 (18/8) Pastor Fido, II, 1601 (50/12) Patient Grissell, 1559 (54/19) Patient Grissil, 1600 (110/22)

Index Table

Pedlar's Prophecy, The, 1561 (59/24) Philaster, or *Love Lies a-Bleeding, 1609 (50/20) Philotas, 1604 (25/8) Philotus, 1603 (21/10) Phoenix, The, 1604 (50/15) Pilgrimage to Parnassus, The, 1599 (30/5) Poetaster, 1601 (68/31) Promos and Cassandra, 1578 (148/40) Puritan, The, 1606 (80/22) Queen's Arcadia, The, 1605 (29/9) Ralph Roister Doister, see Roister Doister, 1552 Ram Alley, 1608 (102/30) Rape of Lucrece, The, 1607 (26/15) Rare Triumphs of Love and Fortune, The, 1582 (50/14) Respublica, 1553 (143/29) Return from Parnassus, The, Part One, 1600 (71/7) Return from Parnassus, The, Part Two, 1603 (79/16) Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois, The, 1610 (28/9) Revenger's Tragedy, The, 1606 (72/19) Richard III, The True Tragedy of, 1591 (60/23) Roaring Girl, The, 1611 (107/29) Robert Earl of Huntingdon, The Death of, 1598 (53/30) Robert Earl of Huntingdon, The Downfall of, 1598 (31/27) Roister Doister, 1552 (137/29) Royal King and the Loyal Subject, The, 1602 (52/7) Sappho and Phao, 1584 (90/6) Satiromastix, 1601 (136/32) Scornful Lady, The, 1613 (103/27) Second Maiden's Tragedy, The, 1611 (66/13) Sejanus His Fall, 1603 (52/9) Selimus, 1592 (68/11) Shoemaker a Gentleman, A, 1608 (76/18) Shoemakers' Holiday, The, 1599 (120/33) Silver Age, The, 1611 (23/4) *Sir Giles Goosecap, 1602 (79/26) Sir John Oldcastle, Part One, 1599 (55/26) Sir Thomas More, 1595 (65/24) Sir Thomas Wyatt, 1604 (40/7) Soliman and Perseda, 1592 (72/16)

7

8

Index

Table

Sophonisba, 1605 (42/2) Spanish Tragedy, The, 1587 (101/19) Summer's Last Will and Testament, 1592 (111/20) Supposes, 1566 (68/27) Susanna, The Most Virtuous and Godly, 1569 (48/17) *Tale of a Tub, A, 1596 (229/36) Tamburlaine, Part One, 1587 (34/7) Tamburlaine, Part Two, 1588 (30/10) Tancred and Gismund, 1591 (37/4) Temptation of our Lord, The, 1538 (5/3) Thebais, 1581 (35/13) Thersites, 1537 (44/13) Thomas Lord Cromwell, 1600 (43/22) Thomas of Woodstock, see Woodstock, 1592 Thracian Wonder, The, 1599 (33/12) Three Estates, A Pleasant Satire of the, 1552 (58/9) Three Ladies of London, The, 1581 (76/30) Three Laws, 1538 (39/12) Three Lords and Three Ladies of London, The, 1588 (44/17) Thyestes, 1560 (7/1) *Tide Tarrieth No Man, The, 1576 (63/17) Timon, 1603 (93/15) Tom Tyler and his Wife, 1560 (50/12) Travels of the Three English Brothers, The, 1607 (23/6) Trial of Chivalry, The, 1601 (43/19) Trial of Treasure, The, 1567 (36/14) * Trick to Catch the Old One, A, 1605 (69/20) Troas, 1559 (7/2) Turk, The, 1607 (25/4) Two Angry Women of Abingdon, The, 1588 (268/46) Two Italian Gentlemen, see Fidele and Fortunio, 1584 Two Lamentable Tragedies, 1594 (50/20) Two Maids of More-Clacke, The, 1608 (58/24) Valentinian, 1614 (46/16) Valiant Welshman, The, 1612 (74/7) Virtuous Octavia, The, 1598 (29/8) Virtuous and Godly Susanna, The Most, see Susanna, 1569 Volpone, 1606 (142/16) Warning for Fair Women, A, 1599 (47/25) Wars of Cyrus, The, 1588 (16/4)

Index Table

* Weakest Goeth to the Wall, The, 1600 (42/19) Wealth and Health, 1554 (27/7) Weather, The Play of the, 1528 (27/14) Westward Ho, 1604 (151/38) *What You Will, 1601 (90/15) When You See Me You Know Me, 1604 (53/19) * White Devil, The, 1612 (146/8) Whore of Babylon, The, 1606 (39/8) Widow, The, 1616 (63/21) Widow's Tears, The, 1605 (169/24) *Wily Beguiled, 1602 (116/42) *Wisdom of Doctor Dodypoll, The, 1599 (23/19) Wise Woman of Hogsdon, The, 1604 (88/25) Wit and Science, 1539 (17/12) Wit at Several Weapons, 1609 (99/39) Wit of a Woman, The, 1604 (84/24) Wit without Money, 1614 (80/23) Witch, The, 1615 (26/18) Witty and Witless, 1533 (9/1) Woman Hater, The, 1606 (52/12) Woman in the Moon, The, 1593 (44/12) »Woman is a Weathercock, A, 1609 (64/16) * Woman Killed with Kindness, A, 1603 (76/14) Woman's Prize, The, 1611 (90/28) Woodstock, 1592 (62/13) World and the Child, The, 1508 (19/4) Wounds of Civil War, The, 1588 (31/8) Yorkshire Tragedy, A, 1606 (15/11) Your Five Gallants, 1605 (53/26) Youth, 1520 (25/1)

9

INTRODUCTION As its title implies, this volume is intended to serve as a companion to my Shakespeare's Proverbial Language: An Index (SPL below). 1 Except for masques and for play fragments in the Malone Society Collections (which are nevertheless cited in individual entries when appropriate), it indexes all extant English drama from Medwall to the year o f Shakespeare's death. As in SPL, the first o f three appendixes allows the play indexes to be used without recourse to the proverb dictionaries o f M. P Tilley, B . J . Whiting, and E P Wilson which are its principal sources (see below, pp. 2 3 - 2 4 ) . T h i s introduction attempts only to supplement that for SPL. O n the question o f what can legitimately be called "proverbial" I can add nothing but postscripts. J o h n Ray, perhaps the most conscientious o f seventeenthcentury paroemiologists, well expressed his own uncertainties and mine: If any one shall find fault, that I have inserted many English phrases that are not properly proverbs . . . & object that I might as well have admitted all the idioms of the English tongue; I answer, that, to say the truth, I cannot warrant all those Phrases to be genuine Proverbs to which I have allowed room in this collection: for indeed I did not satisfie my self in many: but because they were sent me for such by learned and intelligent persons, and who I ought to presume understand the nature of a Proverb better then my self, and because I find the like in Collections of forreign Proverbs both French and Italian, I chose rather to submit them to the censure of the Reader, then my self pass sentence of rejection on them.2 My "learned and intelligent persons" are principally Tilley, Whiting, and Wilson; occasionally, despite great respect for all three, I presume to "pass sentence o f rejection" myself.

Principles o f Inclusion In general, principles o f inclusion and exclusion are those stated for SPL (see especially pp. xxvi—xxviii). Procedures necessarily differ, however. SPL explicitly indicates exclusions from Tilley's "Shakespeare Ind e x " and includes an Appendix C identifying the entries and briefly explaining the reasons for their exclusion: 1. (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1981). 2. A Collection of English Proverbs, 2d ed. (1678), sigs. A2 v f. Unlike Ray, some seventeenthcentury collections appear so totally derivative and mechanical as to be worthless as evidence. F532 (FOOLS bite one another but wise men agree together), for example, is supported by 1640 Herbert, 1659 N.R., and 1664 Codrington; Herbert alone would be equally strong evidence.

12

Introduction

(1) Not a proverb; see SPL Introduction, especially pp. xii—xvi. (lb) A proverb only when figurative; see SPL Introduction, p. xxii and fnn. 13, 22. (2) Too little evidence to warrant calling a proverb, at least in Shakespeare's day. (3) Too little verbal similarity to warrant citing; see SPL Introduction, fn. 33. (4) Irrelevant, or insufficiently relevant, to the cited passage. (5) Less worth citing than the entry cited, (p. 276, slighty amended) Play passages cited by Tilley but excluded from the present volume receive no such explicit attention, although a list of Tilley entries entirely and intentionally omitted appears on p. 24. Only by consulting Tilley can one discover that the first of these (A4) is intentionally omitted from the White Devil index, and infer the obvious reason for exclusion: although A4 is in part a legitimate entry (OW792a retains only "To swear like a lord"), we have no reason whatever to think "swearing like a falconer" was proverbial. B207, however, is simply an illegitimate entry, consisting merely of a passage in one prologue (The Knight of the Burning Pestle) borrowing from another (Sappho andPhao). So is S 1003a, another Burning Pestle exclusion. Mistress Merrythought's "Let thy Father . . . stay at home and sing for his supper" is supported only by "See APP, p. 452"; the Apperson, centuries away and in an entirely different sense, is "No song, no supper" in Robert Louis Stevenson. Enough for such examples. In a work of Tilley's scope, sporadic slips are inevitable; discussing them is embarrassing. 3 Like SPL, while excluding extreme instances of "not a proverb," this index continues to include with a question mark some Tilley entries that are really more topoi than proverbs (e.g., P50 [PARDON makes offenders]; see SPL, p. xv f., on Tilley's third principle of inclusion). As (lb) above implies, it also excludes literal references to actions proverbial only when alluded to figuratively: seeing the lions (L322), sending one to Cuckold's Haven (C886), gilding a pill (P325), drinking mandragora (J 101), or having a hare cross one's way (H5I0; in Erasmus' Adagia, like J101). Nonfiguratively, having a hare cross one's way is of course simply a superstition of the sort SPL and the present index exclude (see SPL, 3. SPL did not attempt to record the few exclusions of Shakespeare passages in OW of which it was aware; the present indexes are similarly silent in omitting, for example, two Medwall passages (OW888a f. [W369, 356]) and two Tamburlaine passages (OW890a [cf. W391.10]). I may well have missed, however, some unquestionably legitimate citations in both Tilley and OW.

Introduction

13

p. xvi f.). T h e b o u n d a r i e s of that "sort," however, are sometimes less easy to d e f i n e t h a n SPL implies. "Dreams go by contraries (or 'are contrary')," f o r e x a m p l e , a p p e a r s to be a simply expressed, nonfigurative superstition that gained currency as a p r o v e r b (D588). But what of the following, equally literal b u t not equally simple: " W h o was killed by a c a n n o n bullet was cursed in his mother's belly" (C57)? It appears, variously expressed, in such collections as Howell, Ray, a n d Swift, a n d in A p p e n d i x A is nevertheless p r e c e d e d by a question mark. T h e same question m a r k p r e c e d e s a final example: "To cast an old shoe a f t e r o n e (for luck)" (S372). T h e earliest instance in Tilley, Wh, or OW is f r o m Heywood's Dialogue of Proverbs, b u t in a context w h e r e o n e cannot tell w h e t h e r it is m e a n t literally or figuratively o r w h e t h e r Heywood t h o u g h t it proverbial (the p r e c e d i n g eleven lines are packed with proverbial expressions; the succeeding eleven lines have only a single A p p e n d i x B type phrase). I n The Two Angry Women of Abingdon, Elizabethan drama's most e m i n e n t p r o v e r b expert, Nicholas Proverbes, a p p e a r s not to r e g a r d t h e expression as proverbial: Phil. Nich. Phil. Nich.

Shall I fling an olde shooe after ye. No, you should say God send faire weather after me [W217], I meane for good lucke. Exit. A good lucke on ye.

Both Howell a n d Ray, p e r h a p s influenced by Heywood, include the p h r a s e . It is t e m p t i n g , nevertheless, to trust Nicholas Proverbes instead. SPL w a r n e d that Tilley entries based principally on the collections of 1659 Howell a n d 1732 Fuller sometimes n e e d to be r e g a r d e d with caution (p. xix). As has j u s t been noted, a n d as Ray himself conceded, the same must be said even with Ray. With two J o n s o n plays this is especially evident, b u t it may well be p e r t i n e n t f o r many o t h e r plays as well. T h e p r o l o g u e to A Tale of a Tub explicitly promises an a b u n d a n c e of "antick proverbs," a n d t h e revised Every Man in his Humour promises that Downright will speak not merely the "all iron" of the original but "all old iron, a n d rustie proverbes" (1.5.96 f.). Several Ray entries suggest that either h e or one of his correspondents employed the two Jonson plays as sources. T h u s w h e r e entries consist only of J o n s o n and Ray, o f t e n followed by Fuller, t h e r e is sometimes excellent reason to d o u b t that J o n s o n r e g a r d e d the Ray f o r m u l a t i o n as proverbial. In the Tale of a Tub index, accordingly, passages s u p p o r t e d by n o evidence prior to 1678 Ray are included but asterisked; in the Every Man in his Humour index C680, H80, a n d M1085 should all probably have b e e n excluded. Instead, they are cross-refere n c e d to this I n t r o d u c t i o n .

14

Introduction

Ironically, Ray does not include o n e Downright passage (retained a n d slightly e x p a n d e d f r o m its 1601 version, along with K120) f o r which I almost m a d e a n entry despite the lack of s u p p o r t i n g evidence: "lie sit in a b a r n e , with Madge-howlet, a n d catch mice first" (2.2.22 f.). Because the context did n o t m a k e the expression unambiguously proverbial, I m a d e n o entry. Nicholas Proverbes, however, does provide a few u n i q u e entries (see Two Angry Women index, f n . 1), a n d Silena of Mother Bombie one. Like C a p t a i n Crackstone in Fidele and Fortunio, who m u d d l e s proverbs m o r e habitually t h a n any o t h e r character in Elizabethan d r a m a , cliche-mouthed Silena makes t h e following combination of M66 a n d what is now F 5 5 9 . l l : "I have as fayre a face as ever t r o d e on shoo sole, a n d as f r e e a foote as ever lookt with two eyes" (2.3.19 f.). Despite a few lapses in self-discipline, this index has generally been stricter t h a n was SPL in m a k i n g new entries. SPL included T 2 4 8 . 1 (A T H O U S A N D P O U N D [hyperbolically]) a n d P516.1 (I would not f o r twenty P O U N D ) ; this index avoids such analogous entries as "not f o r forty p o u n d (or shillings, or pence)" a n d "twenty p o u n d to an x." SPL included in A p p e n d i x A occasional phrases m o r e a p p r o p r i a t e f o r App e n d i x B, d o i n g so to d o c u m e n t evidence of currency w h e n OED began either with S h a k e s p e a r e (e.g., C704.1, H218.1, M754.1) or later (e.g., E113.1, 0 6 4 . 1 , P37.1). K i n d r e d phrases now generally a p p e a r in App e n d i x B, with t h e evidence s u p p l e m e n t i n g OED t h e r e summarized (e.g., AA0.1, BB1.1, 16.2). W h e r e possible, o t h e r phrases have m o r e consistently b e e n relegated to A p p e n d i x B even w h e n they a p p e a r in Whiting a n d / o r Heywood's Dialogue. For n o reason m o r e valid t h a n an imaginary consistency with SPL, however, A p p e n d i x A r a t h e r t h a n B continues to receive proverbial similes a n d "not worth an x" entries, despite the fact that most of these (like most of those in Tilley, Wh, or OW) can be f o u n d in OED. A few additional oaths have also crept in (see SPL, p. xxv f.), e n o u g h that I r a t h e r r e g r e t having omitted "By God's blue h o o d , " a fairly colorful substitute f o r the eternal "By heaven."

Appendix A As in Shakespeare's Proverbial Language (SPL), A p p e n d i x A lists all entries cited in t h e indexes. Necessarily, most of these entries are considerably l o n g e r t h a n those in SPL based u p o n Tilley, Wh, or OW. To keep t h e m f r o m b e i n g excessively so, the a p p e n d i x employs t h r e e policies. (1) Except w h e r e an e n t r y requires additional evidence to establish its currency o r that of a relevant phrasing, entries record only examples f r o m the plays in this index. (2) T h e most c o m m o n entries are r e p r e s e n t e d merely

Introduction

15

by a sampling (prefaced by E.g.). (3) Many passages p e r t i n e n t e n o u g h to a p p e a r in the index (frequently with a question mark) a r e excluded here. This third policy requires some elaboration, and with i n d e x e d examples that n e e d e d n o question mark. Tilley's Dictionary, being a species of dictionary r a t h e r t h a n an index, quotes f o r all but the most p o p u l a r entries every passage Tilley r e g a r d e d as relevant, even if somewhat remotely. T h u s u n d e r B377 (It is a foul B I R D that defiles his own nest), h e rightly included the following f r o m Jack Straw: " N o r can it sink into my w o m a n s h e a d , T h a t were it not f o r f e a r e or pollicie So t r u e a bird would file so faire a nest." T h e allusion is unmistakable and is duly i n d e x e d ; b u t t h e passage is not an e x a m p l e and is not q u o t e d in the p r e s e n t a p p e n d i x . In Wily Beguiled, similarly, " W h e n most you did expect a s u n n e s h i n e day, My f a t h e r s will would m a r your hop't f o r hay" obviously alludes to "Make hay while the sun shines" (H235), although the passage h a p p e n s not to be in Tilley. O n c e again the index includes but the e n t r y excludes. In J o n s o n ' s Alchemist, p e r h a p s not o n e indexed passage in ten a p p e a r s in this a p p e n d i x (of those that do, many a r e of the A p p e n d i x B variety discussed below—for example, H454, M1003, T10). Yet the passages d o need indexing. When, for example, Face warns Dapper to "Deale plainely, sir, a n d s h a m e t h e Faeries," we must recognize the witty adaptation of "Tell t r u t h a n d s h a m e the devil" (T566). As a consequence of this policy, occasionally an entry lacks any supp o r t i n g examples, at least f r o m the d r a m a (e.g., F360). 4 Users can safely assume, on o n e h a n d , that any such entry does a p p e a r in at least o n e index, b u t f o r an allusion, o f t e n a questionable o n e as well, or f o r a d u b i o u s e x a m p l e . O n the o t h e r h a n d , questionable passages are sometimes included. T h e W h e t s t o n e quoted in G349, f o r example, a p p e a r s too relevant to the evolution of the expression in question (or possibly to t h e text in question) to be omitted. M o r e marginally, "Your heels were b e t t e r t h a n y o u r h a n d s " is not really even an allusion to P34 (One PAIR of heels is worth two pair of hands), but it has e n o u g h in c o m m o n with that entry not only to be worth indexing but also to a p p e a r visibly within t h e entry, on the good possibility that it may prove to be proverbial itself. Utility r a t h e r t h a n consistency has been the aim. A few t h o r o u g h l y legitimate proverbs, of course, allow equally legitimate examples which have little verbally in c o m m o n with the version r e p r e s e n t e d by the entry f o r m (see SPL, p. xviii a n d f n . 17). T h u s The Misfortunes of Arthur, which f r e q u e n t l y a p p e a r s anxious to avoid custom4. See fn. 5.

16

Introduction

ary formulations of sententious proverbs, is as verbally close as most in its version of L495 (LOVE and lordship like no fellowship): "Nor love, nor soveraignetie can beare a peere." In turn, rather than create needlessly overlapping additional entries, I have occasionally expanded SPL entry forms, even ones originating in Tilley. For example, S262.1 (To flee like a SHADOW) now reads "To flee (glide away, pass, vanish) like a SHADOW," supported by f o u r separate entries in Whiting; L558 (It is impossible to LOVE and be wise) is now "It is impossible (even for the gods) to LOVE and be wise," but with some of Tilley's examples f r o m the d r a m a t r a n s f e r r e d to a new entry, G275.01 (The GODS themselves cannot resist love). Many entries are labeled "(fig.)", sometimes questionably. "After night comes the day" (N164) obviously can only be proverbial when figurative. More debatable are such proverbs as "After black clouds clear weather" (C442), "After rain (showers) comes fair weather (the sun)" (R8), or "After a storm comes a calm (fair weather)" (S908), all of which this appendix, unlike SPL's, marks "(fig.)". All examples cited are metaphorical (as are those in SPL, actually). Perhaps M l 175 (A red MORNI N G foretells a stormy day) should also be so marked, although one of SPL's three Shakespeare citations is literal. Contexts can rarely be quoted adequately enough to avoid any possibility of misinterpretation, but I have tried to avoid allowing quotations to be actually misleading. OW499a provides a good example of what I mean; supplementing Tilley's M26 it has the following: 1591 True History of Civil Wars of France 4 0 3 This Lady is o f such holynes, that she is neither a maide, nor wife, nor widow.

In context, Protestant Antony Colynet is satirically describing how Friar J a m e s Clement was p r e p a r e d to assassinate Henry III: Afterward he was brought to . . . the holy Virgin the Ladie Saint Beufue, who as a speciall favour had bestowed the pockes of late upon the Duke de Mayne, and beside divers o f the principall leaguers in the time of her Virginitie. This Lady is o f such holynes, that shee is neither a maide, nor wife, nor widow: in this c o m p a n y were Thais, Lais and Bacchis of Corinthus, all holy Catholike women.

O n e final suggestion. As their italicized index entries can tell one at a glance, for a good many proverbial expressions o u r earliest example is either Bugbears (cl564) or Misogonus (cl570). Neither play was ever published, and there is no evidence that either was influential. We can

Introduction

17

safely i n f e r that these expressions did not originate with these plays, a n d that r e c u r r e n c e s are not borrowings. To a lesser degree, analogous arg u m e n t s can be m a d e f o r a good m a n y o t h e r plays—Respublica, Damon and Pithias, a n d The Conflict of Conscience, to n a m e but three. O n the o t h e r h a n d , if o u r earliest instance is f r o m Euphues, f o r example, o r even f r o m o n e of Lyly's early published plays, n o such i n f e r e n c e is possible.

Appendix B As in SPL, m a n y A p p e n d i x A entry f o r m s a r e followed by "(Cf. A p p e n d i x B)." ( T h e same notation should p e r h a p s accompany a good many more.) T h e s e entries are mainly colloquial words o r phrases which Tilley inc l u d e d in his Dictionary because h e f o u n d t h e m in Heywood's Dialogue or in later p r o v e r b collections. Partly to d r a w attention to such entries as p r o v e r b s in only a limited sense, partly to avoid e x p a n d i n g A p p e n d i x A with analogous phrases, SPL created A p p e n d i x B. T h e p r e s e n t volume modestly e x p a n d s the latter, occasionally with entries which a p p e a r in Heywood's Dialogue a n d / o r in Whiting (e.g., BB11.1, 13.01; see p. 14). A few passages can illustrate the hybrid consequences: The Spanish Tragedy 3.3.29: Now, Pedringano, or never (N351) play the man (PP13). The Jew of Malta 1.2.389: I must and will (Ml330.1), sir; there's no remedy (RR3). Caesar's Revenge 2.1 654: Send him packing (PP1) to his longest home (H533). May Day 4.5.70-74: The flagons go off, thicke and threefold (T100), and many a tall man (TT3; cf. M163) goes halting off, some quite overthrowne both horse and foote (H655). / O my heart bleeds (BB12). / That is, thy teeth water (T430).

Obviously, in e x a m i n i n g the proverbial language of a particular play o n e c a n n o t a f f o r d to ignore A p p e n d i x B entries unless o n e has already resolved to i g n o r e analogous entries in A p p e n d i x A. Even then, App e n d i x B may be n e e d e d . May Day again provides an illustration: Why then, what say to Signior Collatine? ther's a dainty peece of Venzon (cf. F360) for you, and a fervent lover indeed. (2.1.21 f.)

O n e n e e d s to recognize, I believe, the currency of "a piece of flesh" (PP8), c o m m o n l y with j u s t such modifiers as "dainty," a n d then the point

18

Introduction

of substituting "venison." If u n a w a r e of PP8, the index citation of F360 (All F L E S H is not venison) a p p e a r s indefensible. 0 (Actually, to avoid m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g , the index includes a bracketed cross r e f e r e n c e to PP8.) T h e Table b e g i n n i n g this volume indicates parenthetically f o r each play the n u m b e r of entries in A p p e n d i x e s A a n d B respectively. Marlowe well illustrates what the Table can tell us. It cannot tell that in Dido (21/ 3) seventeen of the twenty-one A p p e n d i x A entries are of the "Cf. App e n d i x B" variety, a n d t h e r e m a i n i n g f o u r scarcely m u c h more. It cannot tell that in Tamburlaine, Part One (34/7) "milk-white" accounts f o r f o u r of the thirty-four, while t h r e e instances of "coal-black" count as but o n e of the seven. It can tell that The Jew of Malta (93/33) has f a r m o r e entries in each a p p e n d i x t h a n Edward II (61/10) o r either version of Doctor Faustus (33/8, 44/11), b u t not that nine entries in a row beginning with 3.4.88, or eleven o u t of twelve f r o m 4.4.23, are "Cf. A p p e n d i x B," a notation f a r less f r e q u e n t in entries f o r the first half of the play. For a few plays stylistic implications are obvious. Given the Table's (52/ 0) f o r Sir William Alexander's Alexandraean Tragedy, that the index italicizes well over half the citations as sententious is predictable. A p p r o a c h ing an opposite e x t r e m e in its ratio of A to B, B e a u m o n t a n d Fletcher's Coxcomb (53/34) actually cites o n e m o r e passage f o r A p p e n d i x B t h a n f o r A p p e n d i x A; no w o n d e r that only t h r e e A p p e n d i x A passages are italicized. Most e x t r e m e of all is the a n o n y m o u s Birth of Hercules (45/35), with only two sententious citations in A p p e n d i x A but fifty-seven passages in A p p e n d i x B. Unlike those in A p p e n d i x A, t h e r e is n o distinction between singlea n d double-decimaled entries in A p p e n d i x B. T h e y result f r o m a compilation that simply grew like Topsy. Inevitably, too late to do a n y t h i n g a b o u t it (unless I were to begin r e r e a d i n g f r o m Medwall on), I encount e r e d r e c u r r e n t p h r a s e s which A p p e n d i x B should have included. A few of t h e most obvious follow: between h o p e a n d fear, f r o m time to time, I t h o u g h t as m u c h , o n dale a n d hill, to be (go) out of this world, to d o g at the heels, to have a fling at, to know (learn, teach) one's leripoop, to pill a n d poll, to save o n e a labor, to stand u p o n terms, to stink f o r fear. N o n e of these phrases, so f a r as I know, a p p e a r s in any p r o v e r b collections of the T u d o r a n d Stuart periods. But they are as proverbial as m a n y that do. 5. T h e allusion to F 3 6 0 s e e m e d clear e n o u g h to r e q u i r e no a c c o m p a n y i n g q u e s t i o n m a r k . B e c a u s e t h e May Day passage is m e r e l y an allusion, however, r a t h e r t h a n an e x a m p l e of t h e p r o v e r b , it d o e s n o t a p p e a r u n d e r F 3 6 0 in A p p e n d i x A. See p. 15.

Introduction

19

Problems of Completeness Anyone reading the indexed plays will encounter unindexed passages that sound proverbial. Some are omissions on my part, blind spots; most are not. Of the latter, the needed evidence for identification may in many cases be lost forever, and the passages must remain what they now are, "possibly" or "probably" proverbial. It needs to be remembered, however, that many sententious expressions of commonplace ideas were never genuinely proverbial, although some of them have entries in Tilley (see above, p. 12, and SPL, p. xv f.). Timon provides an excellent example of a dialogue in which a few sententious passages were surely never regarded as proverbial, while others may well have been. Only a few, italicized, are at present identifiable enough to be indexed even with a "cf." The speakers are "Two lying Philosophers": Herm. Speu: Stil:

Speu: Stil: Speu: Stil: Speu: Stil: Stil: Stil: Speu: Stil: Speu: Tim: Stil: Speu: Stil.:

Stilpo S p e u s i p p u s v e n t y o u r S e n t e n c e s A p p e a s e his f u r y it d o t h r a g e t o m u c h . M a n ' s like unto the Sea that ebbes & flowes (cf. S I 8 2 . 1 ) A n d all t h i n g s in this w o r l d u n s t a b l e a r e . (cf. T 1 7 7 [ e x c l u d e d ] ) There's nothing on the earth that's permanent. (cf. N 3 0 9 . 1 ) As cloudes disperse the force of Boreas S o e all t h i n g s i n t o n o t h i n g d o e r e t u r n e A d v e r s i t y c a n n o t d a u n t e a wise m a n A r t t h o u o p p r e s t with griefe? be patient A h e a v y b u r t h e n p a t i e n c e m a k e s light H a t h fortune l e f t t h e e n a k e d & f o r l o r n e ? T h e n clothe thyselfe with vertue. Vertue alone beatifies the m i n d e : S h e e is n o t blinde. Speus: S h e e c a n n o t b e e d e c e a v ' d (cf. F 6 0 4 ) S h e e d o t h d e s p i s e n o e m a n : Speu: S h e e n o n e f o r s a k e s S h e e is n o t a n g r y . Speu: D o t h n o t c h a n g e . Stil: N o r r a g e W i t h c o m f o r t s h e e relieves t h e g r i e v e d s o u l e Shees fairer every day t h a n other. T h e n e a r e r shee the fairer doth a p p e a r e T h i s g r i e v e s m e e w o r s e t h a n all m y p o v e r t y H e n c e h e n c e y e e Varletts. T h e c h i e f e s t g o o d in v e r t u e d o t h consiste W h o s e r a g e is m o d e r a t e t h a t m a n is wise Hee that is wise is rich. Speu. W h o m f o r t u n e q u a i l e s (W528) Is p o o r e & base. T i m o n beates them. (4.3 1 8 6 6 - 9 0 )

Although some evidence is surely lost forever, we do have far more than the present volume may suggest. Appendix A is necessarily limited

20

Introduction

in scope to proverbial expressions in plays from Medwall to 1616. It can usefully supplement proverb dictionaries in studying nondramatic literature of the period, or drama later than 1616, but it must not be mistaken for a dictionary. Hundreds of expressions not found in Tilley, Wh, or OW are also not found here, at least as entries, simply because they do not appear in the plays indexed. A few illustrations must suffice. By quoting Richard Carew in context, SPL's M328 shows that it and R168 were two of a dozen phrases useful "When we would be rid of one." This Appendix A now identifies three more (B14.11, C528.11, and D552.ll), but still leaves more than half Carew's phrases without entries. Similarly, a Bugbears passage cited in context shows that B8, B527.ll, S373, and a variant of 062.1 are four of eight proverbial expressions for being illegitimately pregnant; the play had earlier used an equally colorful ninth (T648). SPL mentions my surprise on discovering "how frequently pertinent passages in Heywood's Dialogue, or in such compilations as I did examine with care (1530 Palsgrave, cl580 Conybeare, 1616 Draxe, 1639 Clarke), appeared in neither Tilley nor OW" (p. xxiv). The same is true for the Fergusson collection (both the manuscript version of c 1628 [John Crow's revision of Tilley's cl598] and the published version of 1641).6 Since Tilley has many entries supported by Fergusson alone (e.g., A104 f., 215 f.), his frequent omissions are puzzling. Had he included 164 l's nos. 386 f., indexing "He is weill staikit thereben, that will neither borrow nor len" to Polonius' "Neither a borrower nor a lender be," and "Hea will gar a deaf man hear" to Miranda's "Your tale, sir, would cure deafness," SPL would have included both (with question marks), although the latter did not seem by itself worth adding in the present volume. Of the Fergusson manuscript's two dozen entries "Of good persones" (nos. 619-42), none appears in OW and only half (as indicated) in Tilley: as as as as as as as as

bears h y d o n his f a c e (in M 1 6 5 ; u n i q u e ) any m a n taks be t h e h a n d ever picked t h e e a r t h bears ( M 1 6 9 ; t w o a n a l o g u e s [no. 6 3 1 a n d G 4 6 0 . 1 ] ) e v e r lived a lyf (in M 1 6 8 ; u n i q u e ) p u t s his finger u n d e r a h e n taill b r e a t h s (in M 1 6 8 ; u n i q u e ) lives this d a y (in M 1 6 8 ; o n e a n a l o g u e )

6. Another Scottish collection of c 1628, with many entries not found in Fergusson, was published too late for Tilley to use. OW cites occasionally, but a great many sententious expressions there recorded cannot be found in either OW or Tilley. See The James Carmichaell Collection of Proverbs in Scots, ed. M. L. Anderson (Edinburgh: T h e University Press, 1957).

Introduction

. H e is als good a man

21

as sets his c r o u n to the lift as belts him in a belt (M166; o n e a n a l o g u e [ M 6 6 . l l ; unique]) a s e v e r suc ]