Edition: MucedorusMucedorus: Annotations

love, with faith, them guide
The king’s council is guided by love and faith.
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Why so?
Why do I appear in this way?
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Bellona
The Roman goddess of war.
C. F. Tucker Brooke notes that Bellona was likely alluded to in error (Tucker Brooke 424). The author perhaps confused her with one of the muses.
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cur
An unfriendly, aggressive dog, particularly a mixed-breed.
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spite of thee
In spite of thee.
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Danish
J. P. Collier emended this reading from Danish to dankish, setting a precedent which has since been followed by many editors. As noted by Arvin Jupin, however, the original reading of Danish is not necessarily nonsensical, but may simply represent a connection between Danes and caves not now readily recognizable (Jupin 77). Following Jupin’s suggestion, this edition has chosen to retain the original Danish rather than adopt Collier’s emendation.
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sap
Milk.
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tender the suit
Agree to the request.
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cross
Thwart.
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maugre
In spite of.
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bosom
To take to the bosom; embrace. Figuratively, to receive into intimate companionship (OED bosom, v.3.a).
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choice
Admirable; of special excellence.
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misconster
Misconstrue.
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Thou… have
Thou know’st that I have often imparted to you.
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each where
Everywhere.
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miss
Absence.
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front
Forehead; in this case, a metonymic phrase referring to the King of Valencia’s sovereignty.
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mountebank
A person who deceives others; a charlatan.
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an humbler
Spoken early modern English often neglected to pronounce the letter h when it appears before a vowel at the beginning of a word.
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bottle
Bundle.
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pursues
Pursuits.
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usury
Money-lending, typically illegal, with high rates of interest.
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bill
An archaic weapon with a long wooden handle most often used by infantry (OED bill, n.2.a).
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and
If.
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without welt or guard
Both welt and guard can refer to an ornamental trimming placed on the edge of a garment. Mouse is using this phrase to reinforce the lack of embellishments to his name (OED welt, n.2.b).
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I care not
I don’t mind.
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tofore
Heretofore; before the present.
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grutch
Complain.
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whatso
Whatsoever.
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by Lady
An oath referring to the Virgin Mary; its most common forms are the expanded by our Lady and the slightly modified by’r Lady. Mouse has created his own iteration of the phrase by clipping the word our.
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a
He.
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brewis
Fat-soaked bread.
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jack
A leather jug chiefly used to carry liquor.
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vild
Vile.
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merciless
Pronounced with two syllables.
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Hold… law!
Although this passage is clearly written in verse, it does not easily divide into pentameter lines. To remedy this, the retention of iambs within the same line has been prioritized over creating an even number of syllables per line.
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flain
An archaic past participle of flay.
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use to
Make a habit out of.
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sung “looby”
Sung a lullaby.
Mouse’s phrasing plays on the word looby, which refers to a large, hulking fellow.
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passengers
Travellers.
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Master King
Mouse seems to believe that Master King is the King of Aragon’s official title, much like how he believes the churchwarden’s official title is Goodman King.
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sovereign
Pronounced with three syllables.
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forwhy
Because.
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shipsticks
Mouse is likely attempting to say sheep’s ticks, although the spelling of shipsticks appears closer to the way he would have pronounced it. Alternatively, he may be seeking to diminish the value of Amadine’s words, which is expressed through the comparison of mere sticks to the large planks of wood used to build a ship.
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Sisters
The three fates of Greek mythology who were believed to play a role in weaving the future of humanity.
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sith
Since.
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lousy
Afflicted with or covered in lice.
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take law-legs
To run away quickly, often from law enforcement.
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Phaethon’s tale
In Greek mythology, Phaethon was the son of Helios, the sun god. After nearly crashing his father’s sun chariot into Earth, Phaethon was executed by Zeus. By alluding to this story, Mucedorus is lamenting that an opportunity has been lost due to what he perceives to be his own foolish actions.
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bale
Physical torment or mental suffering; evil.
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Grecian queen
Helen of Troy.
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arrant
Notorious.
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panch
A large or protruding belly (OED panch, n.1.b).
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Go to
An expression of annoyance or disbelief. In other words, “Get lost.”
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curtal
An animal, typically a horse or dog, with its tail cut short or docked (OED curtal, n.I.1).
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adamant
Figuratively, the quality of not being easily destroyed, overcome, or affected. Originally a strong rock or mineral (OED adamant, n.1.b).
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doubtful
Suspicious.
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emmet
Ant.
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hip
The fruit of a rose.
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haw
The fruit of a hawthorn.
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recreate
Entertain.
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rout
A disorderly or disreputable group of people; a mob (OED rout, n.3.a).
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Orpheus
A figure in Greek mythology known for his exceptional talents in music and poetry.
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A bots on you
Curse you.
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’parel
Apparel.
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sancted
Sainted.
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rochet
A robe worn chiefly by Roman Catholic or Anglican bishops.
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ball
The Earth.
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chawing
Chewing.
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David
According to the Hebrew bible, David was the third king of Israel. Comedy is noting James I to be the offspring of David.
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stroken
Stricken.
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Prosopography

Janelle Jenstad

Janelle Jenstad is a Professor of English at the University of Victoria, Director of The Map of Early Modern London, and Director of Linked Early Modern Drama Online. With Jennifer Roberts-Smith and Mark Beatrice Kaethler, she co-edited Shakespeare’s Language in Digital Media: Old Words, New Tools (Routledge). She has edited John Stow’s A Survey of London (1598 text) for MoEML and is currently editing The Merchant of Venice (with Stephen Wittek) and Heywood’s 2 If You Know Not Me You Know Nobody for DRE. Her articles have appeared in Digital Humanities Quarterly, Elizabethan Theatre, Early Modern Literary Studies, Shakespeare Bulletin, Renaissance and Reformation, and The Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. She contributed chapters to Approaches to Teaching Othello (MLA); Teaching Early Modern Literature from the Archives (MLA); Institutional Culture in Early Modern England (Brill); Shakespeare, Language, and the Stage (Arden); Performing Maternity in Early Modern England (Ashgate); New Directions in the Geohumanities (Routledge); Early Modern Studies and the Digital Turn (Iter); Placing Names: Enriching and Integrating Gazetteers (Indiana); Making Things and Drawing Boundaries (Minnesota); Rethinking Shakespeare Source Study: Audiences, Authors, and Digital Technologies (Routledge); and Civic Performance: Pageantry and Entertainments in Early Modern London (Routledge). For more details, see janellejenstad.com.

Sofia Spiteri

Sofia Spiteri is currently completing her Bachelor of Arts in History at the University of Victoria. During the summer of 2023, she had the opportunity to work with LEMDO as a recipient of the Valerie Kuehne Undergraduate Research Award (VKURA). Her work with LEMDO primarily includes semi-diplomatic transcriptions for The Winter’s Tale and Mucedorus.

Bibliography

Jupin, Arvin H. A Contextual Study and Modern-Spelling Edition of Mucedorus . New York: Garland, 1987. The Renaissance Imagination 29.
OED: The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Tucker Brooke, C.F. Mucedorus. The Shakespeare Apocrypha. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908; rpt. 1929. 103–126.

Orgography

LEMDO Team (LEMD1)

The LEMDO Team is based at the University of Victoria and normally comprises the project director, the lead developer, project manager, junior developers(s), remediators, encoders, and remediating editors.

University of Victoria (UVIC1)

https://www.uvic.ca/

Metadata

Authority title Mucedorus: Annotations
Type of text Annotation
Publisher University of Victoria on the Linked Early Modern Drama Online Platform
Series Digital Renaissance Editions
Source
Annotations prepared by Sofia Spiteri and Janelle Jenstad.
Editorial declaration Edited according to the DRE Editorial Guidelines
Edition
Sponsor(s)

Digital Renaissance Editions

Anthology Leads and Co-Coordinating Editors: Brett Greatley-Hirsch, Janelle Jenstad, James Mardock, and Sarah Neville.
Encoding description Encoded in TEI P5 according to the LEMDO Customization and Encoding Guidelines
Document status TEI_INP
Funder(s) Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Valerie Kuehne Undergraduate Research Awards, University of Victoria
License/availability
Intellectual copyright in this edition is held by the editors, Sofia Spiteri and Janelle Jenstad. The critical paratexts, including this Annotation, are licensed under a CC BY-NC_ND 4.0 license, which means that they are freely downloadable without permission under the following conditions: (1) credit must be given to the editors, DRE, and LEMDO in any subsequent use of the files and/or data; (2) the content cannot be adapted or repurposed (except for quotations for the purposes of academic review and citation); and (3) commercial uses are not permitted without the knowledge and consent of DRE, the editors, and LEMDO. This license allows for pedagogical use of the critical paratexts in the classroom.