Edition: Famous Victories of Henry VFamous Victories of Henry V
Scene 1
Video Sc. 1
Enter the young Prince Henry, Ned, and Tom.
1.Sp7Prince Henry
Four hundred pounds? Bravely spoken, lads! But tell me, sirs, think you not that it was a villainous part of me to rob my father’s receivers?
, sirs, think you not that it was a villainous part of me to rob my father’s receivers?1.Sp11Prince Henry
But, sirs, I marvel that Sir John Oldcastle comes not away. Zounds,
see where he comes!
(Enter Jockey Sir John Oldcastle.)
How now, Jockey, what news with thee?
comes not away. Zounds, see where he comes!
(Enter Jockey Sir John Oldcastle.)
How now, Jockey, what news with thee?1.Sp12Jockey
Faith, my lord, such news as passeth, for the town of Deptford is risen with hue and cry after your man which parted from us the last night and has set upon and hath robbed
a poor carrier.
, for the town of Deptford is risen with hue and cry after your man which parted from us the last night and has set upon and hath robbed
a poor carrier.1.Sp15Prince Henry
Now, base-minded rascal, to rob a poor carrier! Well, it skills not. I’ll save the base villain’s life. Ay, I may. But tell me, Jockey, whereabouts be the receivers?
not. I’ll save the base villain’s life. Ay, I may. But tell me, Jockey, whereabouts be the receivers?1.Sp16Jockey
Faith, my lord, they are hard by, but the best is, we are a-horseback and they be
afoot, so we may escape them.
1.Sp17Prince Henry
Well, if the villains come, let me alone with them. But tell me, Jockey, how much got’st thou from the knaves? For I am sure I got something, for one of the villains so belammed me about the shoulders as I shall feel it this month.
villains come, let me alone with them. But tell me, Jockey, how much got’st thou from the knaves? For I am sure I got something, for one of the villains so belammed me about the shoulders as I shall feel it this month.1.Sp19Prince Henry
They hide the booty.A hundred pound! Now, bravely spoken, Jockey. But come, sirs, lay all your money before me. They place their booty at his feet.
Now, by heaven, here is a brave show! But, as I am true gentleman, I will have the half of this spent tonight. But, sirs, take up your bags. Here come the receivers. Let me alone.
spoken, Jockey. But come, sirs, lay all your money before me. They place their booty at his feet.
Now, by heaven, here is a brave show! But, as I am true gentleman, I will have the half of this spent tonight. But, sirs, take up your bags. Here come the receivers. Let me alone.
Enter two Receivers.
1.Sp201 Receiver
Alas, good fellow, what shall we do? I dare never go home to the court, for I shall
be hanged. But look, here is the young prince. What shall we do?
is the young prince. What shall we do?1.Sp321 Receiver
Marry, sir, there were four of them, and one of them had Sir John Oldcastle’s bay hobby and your black nag.
, sir, there were four of them, and one of them had Sir John Oldcastle’s bay hobby and your black nag.1.Sp33Prince Henry
Gog’s wounds! To Jockey How like you this, Jockey?
To the Receivers Blood, you villains! My father robbed of his money abroad, and we robbed in our stables. But tell me, how many were of them?
wounds! To Jockey How like you this, Jockey?
To the Receivers Blood, you villains! My father robbed of his money abroad, and we robbed in our stables. But tell me, how many were of them?1.Sp341 Receiver
If it please you, there were four of them, and there was one about the bigness of
you, but I am sure I so belammed him about the shoulders that he will feel it this month.
about the shoulders that he will feel it this month.1.Sp35Prince Henry
The Receivers kneel.Gog’s wounds, you lammed them fairly—so that they have carried away your money!
To Ned, Tom, and Jockey But come, sirs, what shall we do with the villains?
!
To Ned, Tom, and Jockey But come, sirs, what shall we do with the villains?
1.Sp38Prince Henry
Exeunt Receivers.
Well, stand up and get you gone. And look that you speak not a word of it, for if there be, zounds, I’ll hang you and all your kin.
I’ll hang you and all your kin.
1.Sp39Prince Henry
Now, sirs, how like you this? Was not this bravely done? For now the villains dare not speak a word of it, I have so feared them with words.
Now, whither shall we go?
For now the villains dare not speak a word of it, I have so feared them with words.
Now, whither shall we go?1.Sp41Prince Henry
Our hostess at Feversham? Blood, what shall we do there? We have a thousand pound about us, and
we shall go to a petty alehouse? No, no. You know the old tavern in Eastcheap? There is good wine. Besides, there is a pretty wench that can talk well, for I delight as much in their tongues as any part about them.
at Feversham? Blood, what shall we do there? We have a thousand pound about us, and
we shall go to a petty alehouse? No, no. You know the old tavern in Eastcheap? There is good wine. Besides, there is a pretty wench that can talk well, for I delight as much in their tongues as any part about them.1.Sp43Prince Henry
Exeunt Prince Henry, Ned, Tom, and Jockey.Gog’s wounds! Wait? We will go all together. We are all fellows, I tell you, sirs. An the king my father were dead, we would be all kings. Therefore, come away.
We are all fellows, I tell you, sirs. An the king my father were dead, we would be all kings. Therefore, come away.
Scene 2 Video Sc. 2
Enter John Cobbler, Robin Pewterer, Lawrence Costermonger.
2.Sp3John
I think it best that my neighbor, Robin Pewterer, went to Pudding Lane end, and we will watch here at Billingsgate Ward. How say you, neighbor Robin, how like you this?
end, and we will watch here at Billingsgate Ward. How say you, neighbor Robin, how like you this?2.Sp4Robin
Exit Robin.
Marry, well, neighbors. I care not much if I go to Pudding Lane’s end. But, neighbors, an you hear any ado about me, make haste. And if I hear any ado about you, I will come
to you.
to Pudding Lane’s end. But, neighbors, an you hear any ado about me, make haste. And if I hear any ado about you, I will come
to you.2.Sp6John
Marry, neighbor, I hear say he is a toward young prince, for if he meet any by the highway, he will not let to talk with him. I dare not call him thief, but sure he is one of these taking fellows.
young prince, for if he meet any by the highway, he will not let to talk with him. I dare not call him thief, but sure he is one of these taking fellows.2.Sp8John
Ay, and I hear say, if he use it long, his father will cut him off from the crown. But, neighbor,
say nothing of that.
and I hear say, if he use it long, his father will cut him off from the crown. But, neighbor,
say nothing of that.2.Sp10John
John and Lawrence lie down and sleep.Neighbor, methinks you begin to sleep. If you will, we will sit down, for I think it is about midnight.
. If you will, we will sit down, for I think it is about midnight.
Enter Derrick roving.
Exit Derrick.
Enter Robin.
Enter Derrick again.
John seizes Derrick.
2.Sp20Derrick
Derrick draws his swordAm I a clown? Zounds, masters, do clowns go in silk apparel? I am sure all we gentlemen clowns in Kent scant go so well. Zounds, you know clowns very well.
To John Hear you, are you Master Constable? An you be, speak, for I will not take it at his Derrick points to Robin hands.
masters, do clowns go in silk apparel? I am sure all we gentlemen clowns in Kent scant go so well. Zounds, you know clowns very well.
To John Hear you, are you Master Constable? An you be, speak, for I will not take it at his Derrick points to Robin hands..
2.Sp27John
Derrick sheathes his sword.Nay, but hear ye, sir. You seem to be an honest fellow, and we are poor men, and now
’tis night, and we would be loth to have anything ado. Therefore, I pray thee, put it up.
2.Sp28Derrick
Enter the Thief Cutbert CutterFirst, thou sayest true, I am an honest fellow—and a proper, handsome fellow too—and you seem to be poor men. Therefore I care not greatly; nay,
I am quickly pacified. But, an you chance to spy the thief, I pray you lay hold on him.
, handsome fellow too—and you seem to be poor men. Therefore I care not greatly; nay,
I am quickly pacified. But, an you chance to spy the thief, I pray you lay hold on him..
2.Sp32Cutbert Cutter
Cutbert draws his sword.Here is a good fellow. I pray you, which is the way to the old tavern in Eastcheap?
. I pray you, which is the way to the old tavern in Eastcheap?
2.Sp37Derrick
John, Robin, and Lawrence seize Cutbert.Masters—villain!—an ye be men, stand to him and take his weapon from him. Let him not pass you.
ye be men, stand to him and take his weapon from him. Let him not pass you.
2.Sp41Cutbert Cutter
Enter the Vintner’sWhy, what do you mean to do with me? Zounds, I am one of the king’s liege people.
I am one of the king’s liege people. Boy.
2.Sp54Boy
Why, this night about two hours ago, there came the young prince and three or four more of his companions and called
for wine good store, and then they sent for a noise of musicians and were very merry for the space of an hour. Then, whether their music
liked them not or whether they had drunk too much wine or no, I cannot tell, but
our pots flew against the walls, and then they drew their swords and went into the street
and fought, and some took one part and some took another, but for the space of half
an hour there was such a bloody fray as passeth, and none could part them until such time as the mayor and sheriff were sent for, and then at the last with much ado they took them, and so the young prince was carried to the Counter.
And then about one hour after, there came a messenger from the court in all haste
from the king for my lord mayor and the sheriff, but for what cause I know not.
, there came the young prince and three or four more of his companions and called
for wine good store, and then they sent for a noise of musicians and were very merry for the space of an hour. Then, whether their music
liked them not or whether they had drunk too much wine or no, I cannot tell, but
our pots flew against the walls, and then they drew their swords and went into the street
and fought, and some took one part and some took another, but for the space of half
an hour there was such a bloody fray as passeth, and none could part them until such time as the mayor and sheriff were sent for, and then at the last with much ado they took them, and so the young prince was carried to the Counter.
And then about one hour after, there came a messenger from the court in all haste
from the king for my lord mayor and the sheriff, but for what cause I know not.2.Sp56Lawrence
Marry, neighbor, this news is strange indeed. I think it best, neighbor, to rid our
hands of this fellow first.
2.Sp62Derrick
Exeunt.Ay, marry will I, I’ll be very charitable to thee, for I will never leave thee ’til
I see thee on the gallows.
marry will I, I’ll be very charitable to thee, for I will never leave thee ’til
I see thee on the gallows.
Scene 3 Video Sc. 3
Enter Henry the Fourth with the Earl of Exeter and the Lord of Oxford.
3.Sp1Oxford
An’t please your majesty, here is my lord mayor and the sheriff of London to speak with
your majesty.
please your majesty, here is my lord mayor and the sheriff of London to speak with
your majesty.3.Sp2Henry IV
Admit them to our presence.
(Enter the Mayor and the Sheriff.)
Now, my good lord mayor of London, the cause of my sending for you at this time is
to tell you of a matter which I have learned of my council. Herein I understand that
you have committed my son to prison without our leave and licence. What, although
he be a rude youth and likely to give occasion, yet you might have considered that
he is a prince, and my son, and not to be haled to prison by every subject.
and the Sheriff.)
Now, my good lord mayor of London, the cause of my sending for you at this time is
to tell you of a matter which I have learned of my council. Herein I understand that
you have committed my son to prison without our leave and licence. What, although
he be a rude youth and likely to give occasion, yet you might have considered that
he is a prince, and my son, and not to be haled to prison by every subject.3.Sp4Henry IV
Or else, God forbid, otherwise you might think me an unequal judge, having more affection to my son than to any rightful judgment.
judge, having more affection to my son than to any rightful judgment.3.Sp5Lord Mayor
Then I do not doubt but we shall rather deserve commendations at your majesty’s hands
than any anger.
any anger.3.Sp7Lord Mayor
Exit MayorThen, if it please your majesty, this night betwixt two and three of the clock in
the morning, my lord the young prince with a very disordered company came to the old
tavern in Eastcheap, and whether it was that their music liked them not or whether they were overcome with wine, I know not, but they drew their swords, and
into the street they went, and some took my lord the young prince’s part and some
took the other, but betwixt them there was such a bloody fray for the space of half an hour that neither watchmen nor any other could stay them ’til my brother the sheriff of London and I were sent for, and at the last with much ado we stayed
them, but it was long first, which was a great disquieting to all your loving subjects
thereabouts. And then, my good lord, we knew not whether your grace had sent them to try us, whether we would do justice, or whether it were of their own voluntary will or
not, we cannot tell. And therefore in such a case we knew not what to do, but for our own safeguard we
sent him to ward, where he wanteth nothing that is fit for his grace and your majesty’s son. And thus most humbly beseeching
your majesty to think of our answer.
or whether they were overcome with wine, I know not, but they drew their swords, and
into the street they went, and some took my lord the young prince’s part and some
took the other, but betwixt them there was such a bloody fray for the space of half an hour that neither watchmen nor any other could stay them ’til my brother the sheriff of London and I were sent for, and at the last with much ado we stayed
them, but it was long first, which was a great disquieting to all your loving subjects
thereabouts. And then, my good lord, we knew not whether your grace had sent them to try us, whether we would do justice, or whether it were of their own voluntary will or
not, we cannot tell. And therefore in such a case we knew not what to do, but for our own safeguard we
sent him to ward, where he wanteth nothing that is fit for his grace and your majesty’s son. And thus most humbly beseeching
your majesty to think of our answer. with Sheriff.
3.Sp9Henry IV
Ah, Harry, Harry, now thrice-accursed Harry, that hath gotten a son which with grief
will end his father’s days. O my son, a prince thou art, ay, a prince indeed—and to deserve imprisonment! And well have they done, and like faithful subjects.
To Exeter and Oxford Discharge them and let them go.
O my son, a prince thou art, ay, a prince indeed—and to deserve imprisonment! And well have they done, and like faithful subjects.
To Exeter and Oxford Discharge them and let them go.3.Sp13Henry IV
Exeunt.No, they have done like faithful subjects. I will go myself to discharge them and let them go.
Scene 4 Video Sc. 4
Enter Lord Chief Justice, Clerk of the Office, Jailor with several Officers, John Cobbler, Derrick, and the Thief Cutbert Cutter.
4.Sp9Derrick
Zounds, an you do but send to the next jail, we are sure to know his name, for this is not the
first prison he hath been in, I’ll warrant you.
an you do but send to the next jail, we are sure to know his name, for this is not the
first prison he hath been in, I’ll warrant you.4.Sp14Clerk
Why then, Cutbert Cutter, I indict thee by the name of Cutbert Cutter for robbing
a poor carrier the twentieth day of May last past, in the fourteenth year of the reign of our sovereign lord King Henry the Fourth, for setting upon a poor carrier upon Gad’s Hill in Kent, and having beaten and wounded
the said carrier, and taken his goods from him.
day of May last past, in the fourteenth year of the reign of our sovereign lord King Henry the Fourth, for setting upon a poor carrier upon Gad’s Hill in Kent, and having beaten and wounded
the said carrier, and taken his goods from him.4.Sp15Derrick
Enter the young PrinceOh, masters, stay there. Nay, let’s never belie the man, for he hath not beaten and wounded me also, but he hath beaten and wounded
my pack and hath taken the great raze of ginger that bouncing Bess with the jolly buttocks should have had. That grieves me most.
the man, for he hath not beaten and wounded me also, but he hath beaten and wounded
my pack and hath taken the great raze of ginger that bouncing Bess with the jolly buttocks should have had. That grieves me most. Henry, with Ned and Tom.
4.Sp20Prince Henry
Come away, my lads. To Cutbert Cutter Gog’s wounds, ye villain, what make you here? I must go about my business myself,
and you must stand loitering here?
Gog’s wounds, ye villain, what make you here? I must go about my business myself,
and you must stand loitering here?4.Sp24Prince Henry
Why, my lord, this is my man. ’Tis marvel you knew him not long before this. I tell you, he is a man of his hands.
. ’Tis marvel you knew him not long before this. I tell you, he is a man of his hands.4.Sp31Derrick
Hear you, sir. Is it your man’s quality to rob folks in jest? In faith, he shall be hanged in earnest.
to rob folks in jest? In faith, he shall be hanged in earnest.4.Sp33Lord Chief Justice
An’t please your grace, the law must pass on him according to justice; then he must be
executed.
please your grace, the law must pass on him according to justice; then he must be
executed.4.Sp34Derrick
Hear you, sir, I pray you. Is it your man’s quality to rob folks in jest? In faith, he shall be
hanged in jest.
, I pray you. Is it your man’s quality to rob folks in jest? In faith, he shall be
hanged in jest.4.Sp36Lord Chief Justice
An’t please your grace, the law must pass on him according to justice; then he must be executed.
please your grace, the law must pass on him according to justice; then he must be executed.4.Sp40Lord Chief Justice
He giveth him a box on the earAn’t please your grace, you are my lord the young prince, our king that shall be after
the decease of our sovereign lord, King Henry the Fourth, whom God grant long to reign.
please your grace, you are my lord the young prince, our king that shall be after
the decease of our sovereign lord, King Henry the Fourth, whom God grant long to reign..
Ned draws his sword.
4.Sp53Prince Henry
Exeunt Ned and TomNo, I charge you, draw not your swords, but get you hence—provide a noise of musicians.
Away, begone!
.
4.Sp58Lord Chief Justice
ExitYour grace hath said truth. Therefore in striking me in this place you greatly abuse
me, and not me only but also your father, whose lively person here in this place I do represent. And therefore, to teach you what prerogatives mean, I commit you to the Fleet until we have spoken with your father.
person here in this place I do represent. And therefore, to teach you what prerogatives mean, I commit you to the Fleet until we have spoken with your father. Prince Henry with the Officers.
Exeunt Lord Chief Justice, Clerk of the Office, John Cobbler, Derrick, and Cutbert Cutter
with Jailor
Scene 5 Video Sc. 5
Enter Derrick and John Cobbler.
5.Sp1Derrick
Zounds, masters, here’s ado, when princes must go to prison! Why, John, didst ever see the like?
masters, here’s ado, when princes must go to prison! Why, John, didst ever see the like?5.Sp3Derrick
Why, John, thou mayest see what princes be in choler. A judge a box on the ear! I’ll tell thee, John, O John, I would not have done it
for twenty shillings.
. A judge a box on the ear! I’ll tell thee, John, O John, I would not have done it
for twenty shillings.5.Sp5Derrick
John sits in the lord chief justice’s chair.Faith, John, I’ll tell thee what. Thou shalt be my lord chief justice, and thou shalt sit in the chair, and I’ll be the young prince and hit thee a box on the ear, and then thou shalt say,
“to teach you what prerogatives mean, I commit you to the Fleet.”
and I’ll be the young prince and hit thee a box on the ear, and then thou shalt say,
“to teach you what prerogatives mean, I commit you to the Fleet.”
5.Sp17Derrick
Why, then, take you that ’til more come. Derrick gives John a box on the ear
Zounds, shall I not have him?
Zounds, shall I not have him?5.Sp25Derrick
Well, I will go, but, i’faith, you grey-beard knave, I’ll course you.
(Exit and straight enters again.)
O John, come, come out of thy chair! Why, what a clown wert thou to let me hit thee a box on the ear, and now thou seest they will not take me to the Fleet! I think that thou art one of these workaday clowns.
you.
(Exit and straight enters again.)
O John, come, come out of thy chair! Why, what a clown wert thou to let me hit thee a box on the ear, and now thou seest they will not take me to the Fleet! I think that thou art one of these workaday clowns.5.Sp31Derrick
O John, no John, I am none of these great slouching fellows that devour these great
pieces of beef and brewis. Alas, a trifle serves me. A woodcock, a chicken, or a capon’s leg, or any such little thing serves me.
. Alas, a trifle serves me. A woodcock, a chicken, or a capon’s leg, or any such little thing serves me.5.Sp32John
A capon! Why, man, I cannot get a capon once a year, except it be at Christmas at
some other man’s house, for we cobblers be glad of a dish of roots.
5.Sp34John
But, Derrick,
Though we be so poor,
Yet will we have in store
A crab in the fire,
in the fire,With nut-brown ale,
That is full stale,
,Which will a man quail,
,And lay in the mire!
5.Sp35Derrick
Exeunt.
A bots on you! An’t be but for your ale, I’ll dwell with you. Come, let’s away as fast as we can.
be but for your ale, I’ll dwell with you. Come, let’s away as fast as we can.Scene 6 Video Sc. 6
Enter the young Prince Henry with Ned and Tom.
6.Sp1Prince Henry
Enter Sir John Oldcastle Jockey.Come away, sirs. Gog’s wounds, Ned, didst thou not see what a box on the ear I took my Lord Chief Justice?
, sirs. Gog’s wounds, Ned, didst thou not see what a box on the ear I took my Lord Chief Justice?
6.Sp5Prince Henry
To visit me! Didst thou not know that I am a prince’s son? Why, ’tis enough for me
to look into a prison, though I come not in myself. But here’s such ado nowadays,
here’s prisoning, here’s hanging, whipping, and the devil and all! But I tell you,
sirs, when I am king we will have no such things. But, my lads, if the old king my father were dead, we would be all kings.
But, my lads, if the old king my father were dead, we would be all kings.6.Sp7Prince Henry
But, Ned, so soon as I am king, the first thing I will do shall be to put my Lord
Chief Justice out of office, and thou shalt be my lord chief justice of England.
of England.6.Sp8Ned
Shall I be lord chief justice? By Gog’s wounds, I’ll be the bravest lord chief justice
that ever was in England!
6.Sp9Prince Henry
Then, Ned, I’ll turn all these prisons into fence schools, and I will endow thee with them, with lands to maintain them withal. Then I will have a bout with my Lord Chief Justice! Thou shalt hang none but pick-purses and horse-stealers,
and such base-minded villains. But that fellow that will stand by the highway side courageously with his sword and buckler and take a purse, that fellow give him commendations; besides that, send him to me
and I will give him an annual pension out of my exchequer to maintain him all the
days of his life.
schools, and I will endow thee with them, with lands to maintain them withal. Then I will have a bout with my Lord Chief Justice! Thou shalt hang none but pick-purses and horse-stealers,
and such base-minded villains. But that fellow that will stand by the highway side courageously with his sword and buckler and take a purse, that fellow give him commendations; besides that, send him to me
and I will give him an annual pension out of my exchequer to maintain him all the
days of his life.6.Sp14Prince Henry
Yet will I go thither, for the breath shall be no sooner out of his mouth but I will clap the crown on my head.
6.Sp16Prince Henry
Cloak, eyelet-holes, needles, and all was of mine own devising, and therefore I will wear it.
, and all was of mine own devising, and therefore I will wear it.6.Sp20Prince Henry
They knock at a gateThou say’st true, Jockey. But there’s some will say, the young prince will be a well-toward
young man, and all this gear, that I had as lief they would break my head with a pot as to say any such thing. But we stand prating here too long. I must needs speak with my father; therefore come away.
, that I had as lief they would break my head with a pot as to say any such thing. But we stand prating here too long. I must needs speak with my father; therefore come away..
Enter Porter.
Ned draws his sword.
6.Sp28Prince Henry
Exit Porter.No, no. Though I would help you in other places, yet I have nothing to do here. What, you
are in my father’s court!
6.Sp29Ned
The trumpet sounds.
Enter the KingI will write him in my tables, for so soon as I am made lord chief justice, I will put him out of his office.
him in my tables, for so soon as I am made lord chief justice, I will put him out of his office. Henry IV with the Lord of Exeter.
6.Sp31Henry IV
He weepeth. EnterAnd is it true, my lord, that my son is already sent to the Fleet? Now truly that
man is more fitter to rule the realm than I, for by no means could I rule my son, and he by one word hath caused him to be ruled. O my son, my son, no sooner out of one prison but into another! I had
thought, once, while I had lived to have seen this noble realm of England flourish
by thee, my son, but now I see it goes to ruin and decay.
I, for by no means could I rule my son, and he by one word hath caused him to be ruled. O my son, my son, no sooner out of one prison but into another! I had
thought, once, while I had lived to have seen this noble realm of England flourish
by thee, my son, but now I see it goes to ruin and decay. the Lord of Oxford.
6.Sp32Oxford
OxfordgoethAn please your grace, here is my lord your son, that cometh to speak with you. He sayeth
he must and will speak with you.
please your grace, here is my lord your son, that cometh to speak with you. He sayeth
he must and will speak with you. across the stage to address Prince Henry.
6.Sp41Prince Henry
Exeunt KnightsWhy, I must needs have them with me. Otherwise I can do my father no countenance. Therefore, come away.
have them with me. Otherwise I can do my father no countenance. Therefore, come away. Ned, Tom, and Jockey.
The Prince crosses the stage to Henry IV with a dagger in his hand.
6.Sp44Henry IV
He weeps.
Come, my son, come on in God’s name! I know wherefore thy coming is. O my son, my son, what cause hath ever been, that
thou shouldst forsake me and follow this vile and reprobate company which abuseth youth so manifestly? O my son, thou knowest that these thy doings will end thy father’s days.
(He weeps.)
Ay, so, so, my son, thou fearest not to approach the presence of thy sick father in
that disguised sort. I tell thee, my son, that there is never a needle in thy cloak
but it is a prick to my heart, and never an eyelet-hole but it is a hole to my soul,
and wherefore thou bringest that dagger in thy hand I know not but by conjecture.
God’s name! I know wherefore thy coming is. O my son, my son, what cause hath ever been, that
thou shouldst forsake me and follow this vile and reprobate company which abuseth youth so manifestly? O my son, thou knowest that these thy doings will end thy father’s days.
(He weeps.)
Ay, so, so, my son, thou fearest not to approach the presence of thy sick father in
that disguised sort. I tell thee, my son, that there is never a needle in thy cloak
but it is a prick to my heart, and never an eyelet-hole but it is a hole to my soul,
and wherefore thou bringest that dagger in thy hand I know not but by conjecture.6.Sp45Prince Henry
Exit Prince Henry.
Enter Prince Henry.
Aside My conscience accuseth me. To Henry IV Most sovereign lord and well-beloved father, to answer first to the last point. That
is, whereas you conjecture that this hand and this
dagger shall be armed against your life, no, know, my beloved father, far be the thoughts of your son—“son,” said I? An unworthy
son for so good a father—but far be the thoughts of any such pretended mischief, and I most humbly render it to your majesty’s hand. Prince Henry gives Henry IV the dagger. And live, my lord and sovereign, forever and with your dagger arm show like vengeance
upon the body of that “your son,” I was about to say and dare not, ah woe is me!—therefore, that your wild slave. ’Tis not the crown that
I come for, sweet father, because I am unworthy, and those vile and reprobate companions I abandon and utterly abolish their company forever. Pardon, sweet father, pardon: the least thing and most desired. And this ruffianly cloak I here tear from my back and sacrifice it to the devil, which is master of all mischief. Pardon me, sweet father, pardon me. Good my lord of Exeter, speak for me. Pardon
me, pardon, good father. Not a word? Ah, he will not speak one word. Ah, Harry, now thrice unhappy Harry! But what shall
I do? I will go take me into some solitary place and there lament my sinful life, and when I have done I will lay me down and die.
My conscience accuseth me. To Henry IV Most sovereign lord and well-beloved father, to answer first to the last point. That
is, whereas you conjecture that this hand and this
dagger shall be armed against your life, no, know, my beloved father, far be the thoughts of your son—“son,” said I? An unworthy
son for so good a father—but far be the thoughts of any such pretended mischief, and I most humbly render it to your majesty’s hand. Prince Henry gives Henry IV the dagger. And live, my lord and sovereign, forever and with your dagger arm show like vengeance
upon the body of that “your son,” I was about to say and dare not, ah woe is me!—therefore, that your wild slave. ’Tis not the crown that
I come for, sweet father, because I am unworthy, and those vile and reprobate companions I abandon and utterly abolish their company forever. Pardon, sweet father, pardon: the least thing and most desired. And this ruffianly cloak I here tear from my back and sacrifice it to the devil, which is master of all mischief. Pardon me, sweet father, pardon me. Good my lord of Exeter, speak for me. Pardon
me, pardon, good father. Not a word? Ah, he will not speak one word. Ah, Harry, now thrice unhappy Harry! But what shall
I do? I will go take me into some solitary place and there lament my sinful life, and when I have done I will lay me down and die.
6.Sp47Prince Henry
Prince Henry kneels.And doth my father call me again? Now, Harry, happy be the time that thy father calleth
thee again.
6.Sp48Henry IV
Prince Henry rises.Stand up, my son, and do not think thy father but at the request of thee, my son,
I will pardon thee. And God bless thee and make thee his servant.
6.Sp49Prince Henry
Exeunt omnes.
Thanks, good my lord, and no doubt but this day, even this day, I am born new again.
.Scene 7 Video Sc.7
Enter Derrick.
7.Sp1Derrick
Enter John Cobbler running
Shouts to offstage Thou art a stinking whore, and a whoreson stinking whore! Dost think I’ll take it at thy hands?
Thou art a stinking whore, and a whoreson stinking whore! Dost think I’ll take it at thy hands?.
7.Sp2John
Derrick, Derrick, Derrick! Hearest a? Do, Derrick, never while thou livest use that! Why, what will my neighbors say an thou go away so?
Do, Derrick, never while thou livest use that! Why, what will my neighbors say an thou go away so?7.Sp7Derrick
That she called me in to dinner—John, mark the tale well, John—and, when I was set,
she brought me a dish of roots and a piece of barrel butter therein. And she is a very knave, and thou a drab if thou take her part.
therein. And she is a very knave, and thou a drab if thou take her part.7.Sp8John
Hearest a, Derrick, is this the matter? Nay, an it be no worse, we will go home again, and all shall be amended.
Derrick, is this the matter? Nay, an it be no worse, we will go home again, and all shall be amended.Scene 8; Video Sc. 8
Enter the King with his Lords Exeter and Oxford.
8.Sp1Henry IV
Come, my lords, I see it boots me not to take any physic, for all the physicians in the world cannot cure me, no not one. But good my lords,
remember my last will and testament concerning my son, for truly, my lords, I do not think but he will prove as valiant
and victorious a king as ever reigned in England.
me not to take any physic, for all the physicians in the world cannot cure me, no not one. But good my lords,
remember my last will and testament concerning my son, for truly, my lords, I do not think but he will prove as valiant
and victorious a king as ever reigned in England.8.Sp2Exeter, and Oxford
Let heaven and earth be witness between us, if we accomplish not thy will to the uttermost.
8.Sp3Henry IV
Exeunt Lords Exeter and Oxford.
Music playsI give you most unfeigned thanks, good my lords. Draw the curtains and depart my chamber awhile and cause some music to rock me asleep.
thanks, good my lords. Draw the curtains and depart my chamber awhile and cause some music to rock me asleep., and he sleepeth. Enter the Prince.
8.Sp4Prince Henry
Exit Prince Henry, with Henry IV’s crown.Ah Harry, thrice-unhappy, that hath neglect so long from visiting of thy sick father.
I will go. Nay, but why do I not go to the chamber of my sick father to comfort the melancholy
soul of his body? “His soul,” said I? Here is his body indeed, but his soul is whereas it needs no body. Now thrice-accursed Harry, that hath offended thy father so much,
and could not I crave pardon for all! O my dying father, cursed be the day wherein I was born, and accursed be the hour wherein I was begotten! But what shall I do? If weeping tears which come too late may suffice the negligence neglected to some, I will weep day and night until the fountain be
dry with weeping.
. Nay, but why do I not go to the chamber of my sick father to comfort the melancholy
soul of his body? “His soul,” said I? Here is his body indeed, but his soul is whereas it needs no body. Now thrice-accursed Harry, that hath offended thy father so much,
and could not I crave pardon for all! O my dying father, cursed be the day wherein I was born, and accursed be the hour wherein I was begotten! But what shall I do? If weeping tears which come too late may suffice the negligence neglected to some, I will weep day and night until the fountain be
dry with weeping.
Enter Lords of Exeter and Oxford.
8.Sp8Henry IV
Somewhat better after my sleep. But, good my lords, take off my crown, remove my chair a little back, and set me right.
a little back, and set me right.8.Sp10Henry IV
Enter Lord of Oxford with the Prince holding the crown.The crown taken away! Good my lord of Oxford, go see who hath done this deed. Exit Oxford
No doubt ’tis some vile traitor that hath done it to deprive my son. They that would
do it now would seek to scrape and scrawl for it after my death.
No doubt ’tis some vile traitor that hath done it to deprive my son. They that would
do it now would seek to scrape and scrawl for it after my death.
8.Sp12Henry IV
Why, how now, my son? I had thought the last time I had you in schooling I had given
you a lesson for all, and do you now begin again? Why tell me, my son, dost thou think
the time so long that thou wouldst have it before the breath be out of my mouth?
8.Sp13Prince Henry
Prince Henry gives Henry IV the crown and kneels before him.Most sovereign lord and well-beloved father, I came into your chamber to comfort the melancholy soul of your body, and finding
you at that time past all recovery and dead, to my thinking, God is my witness, and
what should I do but with weeping tears lament the death of you, my father? And after
that, seeing the crown, I took it. And tell me, my father, who might better take it
than I after your death? But, seeing you live, I most humbly render it into your majesty’s
hands, and the happiest man alive that my father live. And live, my lord and father,
forever.
, I came into your chamber to comfort the melancholy soul of your body, and finding
you at that time past all recovery and dead, to my thinking, God is my witness, and
what should I do but with weeping tears lament the death of you, my father? And after
that, seeing the crown, I took it. And tell me, my father, who might better take it
than I after your death? But, seeing you live, I most humbly render it into your majesty’s
hands, and the happiest man alive that my father live. And live, my lord and father,
forever.
8.Sp14Henry IV
Stand up, my son. Thine answer hath sounded well in mine ears, for I must needs confess that I was in a very sound sleep and altogether unmindful of thy coming. But come near, my son, and let me put thee in possession whilst I
live, that none deprive thee of it after my death.
confess that I was in a very sound sleep and altogether unmindful of thy coming. But come near, my son, and let me put thee in possession whilst I
live, that none deprive thee of it after my death.8.Sp15Prince Henry
He Prince Henry taketh the crown.
Well may I take it at your majesty’s hands, but it shall never touch my head so long
as my father lives.
8.Sp16Henry IV
God give thee joy, my son. God bless thee and make thee His servant and send thee
a prosperous reign, for God knows, my son, how hardly I came by it and how hardly I have maintained it.
.8.Sp17Prince Henry
Howsoever you came by it, I know not, but now I have it from you, and from you I will keep it. And he that seeks to take the crown from my head, let him look that his armor be
thicker than mine, or I will pierce him to the heart, were it harder than brass or bullion.
, but now I have it from you, and from you I will keep it. And he that seeks to take the crown from my head, let him look that his armor be
thicker than mine, or I will pierce him to the heart, were it harder than brass or bullion.8.Sp18Henry IV
Nobly spoken, and like a king. Now trust me, my lords, I fear not but my son will be as warlike and victorious
a prince as ever reigned in England.
8.Sp20Henry IV
Exeter, Oxford, and Prince Henry draw the curtains.Well, my lords, I know not whether it be for sleep or drawing near of drowsy summer
of death, but I am very much given to sleep. Therefore, good my lords and my son,
draw the curtains, depart my chamber, and cause some music to rock me asleep.
Music plays.
Exeunt omnes Exeter, Oxford, and Prince Henry.
The King dieth.
Scene 9 Video Sc. 9
Enter the Thief Cutbert Cutter.
9.Sp1Cutbert Cutter
Enter Knights Tom, Jockey, and Ned rangingAh God, I am now much like to a bird which hath escaped out of the cage, for so soon as
my Lord Chief Justice heard that the old king was dead, he was glad to let me go, for fear of my lord the
young prince. But here comes some of his companions. I will see an I can get anything of them, for old acquaintance.
, I am now much like to a bird which hath escaped out of the cage, for so soon as
my Lord Chief Justice heard that the old king was dead, he was glad to let me go, for fear of my lord the
young prince. But here comes some of his companions. I will see an I can get anything of them, for old acquaintance..
9.Sp9Tom
Gog’s blood, dost think that he will have any such scabbed knave as thou art? What, man, he is a king now.
knave as thou art? What, man, he is a king now.9.Sp10Ned
Exit Thief Cutbert Cutter.
Hold thee, here’s a couple of angels for thee, and get thee gone, for the king will not be long before he come this way.
And hereafter I will tell the king of thee.
for thee, and get thee gone, for the king will not be long before he come this way.
And hereafter I will tell the king of thee.9.Sp11Jockey
Oh, how it did me good to see the king when he was crowned! Methought his seat was like the figure of heaven and his person like unto a god.
! Methought his seat was like the figure of heaven and his person like unto a god.9.Sp13Jockey
Did you not see with what grace he sent his embassage into France to tell the French king that Harry of England hath sent for the crown and Harry of England will have it?
into France to tell the French king that Harry of England hath sent for the crown and Harry of England will have it?9.Sp14Tom
The trumpet sounds.
Enter the King Henry V with the Archbishop of CanterburyBut ’twas but a little to make the people believe that he was sorry for his father’s
death.
, and the Lord of Oxford.
9.Sp17Ned
How now, Harry? Tut, my lord, put away these dumps. You are a king, and all the realm is yours. What, man, do you not remember the old
sayings? You know I must be lord chief justice of England. Trust me, my lord, methinks
you are very much changed, and ’tis but with a little sorrowing to make folks believe
the death of your father grieves you, and ’tis nothing so.
. You are a king, and all the realm is yours. What, man, do you not remember the old
sayings? You know I must be lord chief justice of England. Trust me, my lord, methinks
you are very much changed, and ’tis but with a little sorrowing to make folks believe
the death of your father grieves you, and ’tis nothing so.9.Sp18Henry V
I prithee, Ned, mend thy manners and be more modester in thy terms, for my unfeigned grief is not to be ruled by thy flattering and dissembling talk. Thou say’st I am changed. So I am indeed, and so must thou be, and that quickly,
or else I must cause thee to be changed.
, Ned, mend thy manners and be more modester in thy terms, for my unfeigned grief is not to be ruled by thy flattering and dissembling talk. Thou say’st I am changed. So I am indeed, and so must thou be, and that quickly,
or else I must cause thee to be changed.9.Sp21Henry V
Ah, Tom, your former life grieves me and makes me to abandon and abolish your company
forever, and therefore not upon pain of death to approach my presence by ten miles’ space.
Then, if I hear well of you, it may be I will do somewhat for you; otherwise, look
for no more favor at my hands than at any other man’s. And therefore be gone. We have other matters to talk on.
(Exeunt Knights Tom, Ned, and Jockey.)
Now, my good lord archbishop of Canterbury, what say you to our embassage into France?
and therefore not upon pain of death to approach my presence by ten miles’ space.
Then, if I hear well of you, it may be I will do somewhat for you; otherwise, look
for no more favor at my hands than at any other man’s. And therefore be gone. We have other matters to talk on.
(Exeunt Knights Tom, Ned, and Jockey.)
Now, my good lord archbishop of Canterbury, what say you to our embassage into France?9.Sp22Canterbury
Your right to the French crown of France came by your great-grandmother Isabel, wife to King Edward the Third and sister to Charles the French king. Now, if the French king deny it, as likely enough he will, then must you take your sword in hand and conquer the right. Let the usurped Frenchman know, although your predecessors have let it pass, you will not, for your countrymen
are willing with purse and men to aid you. Then, my good lord, as it hath been always
known that Scotland hath been in league with France by a sort of pensions which yearly come from thence, I think it therefore best to conquer Scotland, and
then I think that you may go more easily into France. And this is all that I can say,
my good lord.
came by your great-grandmother Isabel, wife to King Edward the Third and sister to Charles the French king. Now, if the French king deny it, as likely enough he will, then must you take your sword in hand and conquer the right. Let the usurped Frenchman know, although your predecessors have let it pass, you will not, for your countrymen
are willing with purse and men to aid you. Then, my good lord, as it hath been always
known that Scotland hath been in league with France by a sort of pensions which yearly come from thence, I think it therefore best to conquer Scotland, and
then I think that you may go more easily into France. And this is all that I can say,
my good lord.9.Sp23Henry V
I thank you, my good lord archbishop of Canterbury. What say you, my good lord of Oxford?
, my good lord archbishop of Canterbury. What say you, my good lord of Oxford?9.Sp24Oxford
Enter Lord of Exeter.
An please your majesty, I agree to my lord archbishop, saving in this: he that will Scotland win must first with France begin, according to the old saying. Therefore, my good lord, I think it best first to invade France, for in conquering
Scotland you conquer but one; an conquer France and conquer both.
please your majesty, I agree to my lord archbishop, saving in this: he that will Scotland win must first with France begin, according to the old saying. Therefore, my good lord, I think it best first to invade France, for in conquering
Scotland you conquer but one; an conquer France and conquer both.9.Sp26Henry V
Enter Duke of YorkNow trust me, my lord, he was the last man that we talked of. I am glad that he is
come to resolve us of our answer. Commit him to our presence.
him to our presence..
9.Sp29York
An please your majesty, I delivered him my embassage, whereof I took some deliberation.
But for the answer, he hath sent my lord ambassador of Bruges, the duke of Burgundy, Monsieur le Cole, with two hundred and fifty horsemen, to bring the embassage.
please your majesty, I delivered him my embassage, whereof I took some deliberation.
But for the answer, he hath sent my lord ambassador of Bruges, the duke of Burgundy, Monsieur le Cole, with two hundred and fifty horsemen, to bring the embassage.9.Sp30Henry V
Commit my lord archbishop of Bruges into our presence.
(Enter Archbishop of Bruges.)
Now, my lord archbishop of Bruges, we do learn by our lord ambassador that you have our message to do from our brother
the French king. Here, my good lord, according to our accustomed order, we give you
free liberty and licence to speak with good audience.
into our presence.
(Enter Archbishop of Bruges.)
Now, my lord archbishop of Bruges, we do learn by our lord ambassador that you have our message to do from our brother
the French king. Here, my good lord, according to our accustomed order, we give you
free liberty and licence to speak with good audience.9.Sp31Bruges
God save the mighty king of England. My lord and master, the most Christian king,
Charles the Sixth, the great and mighty king of France, as a most noble and Christian king, not minding to shed innocent blood, is rather content to yield somewhat to your unreasonable
demands, that if fifty thousand crowns a year with his daughter, the said Lady Katherine, in marriage, and some crowns which he may well spare, not hurting of his kingdom, he is content to yield so far to your unreasonable desire.
, the great and mighty king of France, as a most noble and Christian king, not minding to shed innocent blood, is rather content to yield somewhat to your unreasonable
demands, that if fifty thousand crowns a year with his daughter, the said Lady Katherine, in marriage, and some crowns which he may well spare, not hurting of his kingdom, he is content to yield so far to your unreasonable desire.9.Sp32Henry V
He delivereth a tunWhy, then, belike your lord and master thinks to puff me up with fifty thousand crowns a year. No, tell thy lord and master that all the crowns
in France shall not serve me, except the crown and kingdom itself—and perchance hereafter I will have his daughter.
with fifty thousand crowns a year. No, tell thy lord and master that all the crowns
in France shall not serve me, except the crown and kingdom itself—and perchance hereafter I will have his daughter. of tennis balls.
9.Sp36Henry V
A tun of tennis balls? I pray you, good my lord archbishop, what might the meaning
thereof be?
9.Sp37Bruges
An it please you, my lord, a messenger, you know, ought to keep close his message, and specially an ambassador.
it please you, my lord, a messenger, you know, ought to keep close his message, and specially an ambassador.9.Sp38Henry V
But I know that you may declare your message to a king. The law of arms allows no less.
allows no less.9.Sp39Bruges
My lord, hearing of your wildness before your father’s death, sent you this, my good
lord, meaning that you are more fitter for a tennis court than a field and more fitter for a carpet than the camp.
a field and more fitter for a carpet than the camp.9.Sp40Henry V
My lord Prince Dauphin is very pleasant with me. But tell him that instead of balls of leather we will toss him balls of brass and
iron, yea, such balls as never were tossed in France. The proudest tennis court shall rue it; ay, and thou, prince of Bruges, shall rue it. Therefore get thee hence and tell him
thy message quickly, lest I be there before thee. Away, priest, be gone.
with me. But tell him that instead of balls of leather we will toss him balls of brass and
iron, yea, such balls as never were tossed in France. The proudest tennis court shall rue it; ay, and thou, prince of Bruges, shall rue it. Therefore get thee hence and tell him
thy message quickly, lest I be there before thee. Away, priest, be gone.9.Sp42Henry V
EnterPriest of Bruges, know that the hand and seal of a king, and his word is all one, and instead of my hand and seal I will bring him my hand and sword. And tell thy
lord and master that I, Harry of England, said it and I, Harry of England, will perform it. My lord of York, deliver him our
safe conduct under our broad seal manual.
(Exeunt Archbishop of Bruges, and the Duke of York.)
Now, my lords, to arms, to arms, for I vow by heaven and earth that the proudest Frenchman
in all France shall rue the time that ever these tennis balls were sent into England.
To Exeter My lord, I will that there be provided a great navy of ships with all speed at Southampton, for there I mean to ship my men, for I would be there before him, if it were possible. Therefore come—but stay, I had almost forgot the chiefest thing of all, with chafing with this French ambassador. Call in my Lord Chief Justice of England.
, and instead of my hand and seal I will bring him my hand and sword. And tell thy
lord and master that I, Harry of England, said it and I, Harry of England, will perform it. My lord of York, deliver him our
safe conduct under our broad seal manual.
(Exeunt Archbishop of Bruges, and the Duke of York.)
Now, my lords, to arms, to arms, for I vow by heaven and earth that the proudest Frenchman
in all France shall rue the time that ever these tennis balls were sent into England.
To Exeter My lord, I will that there be provided a great navy of ships with all speed at Southampton, for there I mean to ship my men, for I would be there before him, if it were possible. Therefore come—but stay, I had almost forgot the chiefest thing of all, with chafing with this French ambassador. Call in my Lord Chief Justice of England. Lord Chief Justice of England.
9.Sp51Henry V
Ay, truly my lord, and for revengement I have chosen you to be my protector over my realm until it shall please God to give
me speedy return out of France.
truly my lord, and for revengement I have chosen you to be my protector over my realm until it shall please God to give
me speedy return out of France.9.Sp53Henry V
Exeunt omnes.Tut, my lord, you are not unworthy, because I think you worthy. For you that would
not spare me, I think, will not spare another. It must needs be so, and, therefore,
come, let us be gone and get our men in a readiness.
.
Scene 10; Video Sc. 10
Enter a Captain, John Cobbler, and his Wife.
10.Sp10John
He weepeth. EnterOh, wife, an you had been a loving wife to me, this had not been, for I have said many times that
I would go away, and now I must go against my will.
, an you had been a loving wife to me, this had not been, for I have said many times that
I would go away, and now I must go against my will. Derrick with a pot lid for a shield.
10.Sp11Derrick
How now! Ho, basillus manus, for an old codpiece! Master Captain, shall we away? Zounds, how now, John, what, a-crying? What make you and my dame there?
To Wife I marvel whose head you will throw the stools at now we are gone.
, for an old codpiece! Master Captain, shall we away? Zounds, how now, John, what, a-crying? What make you and my dame there?
To Wife I marvel whose head you will throw the stools at now we are gone.10.Sp12Wife
She beateth himI’ll tell you! Come, ye cloghead, what do you with my pot lid? Hear you, will you have it rapped about your pate?
! Come, ye cloghead, what do you with my pot lid? Hear you, will you have it rapped about your pate? with her pot lid.
10.Sp13Derrick
She beateth him.
Oh, good dame!(Here he shakes her.)
An I had my dagger here, I would worry you all to pieces, that I would.
)
An I had my dagger here, I would worry you all to pieces, that I would.10.Sp15Derrick
Master Captain, will ye suffer her? Go to, dame! I will go back as far as I can, but,
an you come again, I’ll clap the law on your back, that’s flat. I’ll tell you, Master
Captain, what you shall do. Press her for a soldier. I warrant you, she will do as much good as her husband and I too.
(Enter the Thief Cutbert Cutter.)
Zounds, who comes yonder?
you come again, I’ll clap the law on your back, that’s flat. I’ll tell you, Master
Captain, what you shall do. Press her for a soldier. I warrant you, she will do as much good as her husband and I too.
(Enter the Thief Cutbert Cutter.)
Zounds, who comes yonder?10.Sp25Derrick
They embrace tearfullyMarry, I have brought two shirts with me, and I would carry one of them home again,
for I am sure he’ll steal it from me, he is such a filching fellow.
.
10.Sp30Derrick
Exeunt omnesFie, what a kissing and crying is here!
To Wife Zounds, do ye think he will never come again?
To John Why, John, come away! Dost think that we are so base-minded to die among Frenchmen?
Zounds, we know not whether they will lay us in their church or no. Come, Master Captain, let’s away.
is here!
To Wife Zounds, do ye think he will never come again?
To John Why, John, come away! Dost think that we are so base-minded to die among Frenchmen?
Zounds, we know not whether they will lay us in their church or no. Come, Master Captain, let’s away..
Scene 11 Video Sc. 11
Enter the King Charles VI of France, Prince Dauphin, and Lord High Constable of France.
11.Sp2Constable
An it please your majesty, I can say nothing until my lords ambassadors be come home,
but yet methinks your grace hath done well to get your men in so good a readiness
for fear of the worst.
it please your majesty, I can say nothing until my lords ambassadors be come home,
but yet methinks your grace hath done well to get your men in so good a readiness
for fear of the worst.11.Sp3Charles VI
Ay, my lord, we have some in a readiness, but if the king of England make against us
we must have thrice so many more.
my lord, we have some in a readiness, but if the king of England make against us
we must have thrice so many more.11.Sp4Dauphin
Tut, my lord, although the king of England be young and wild-headed, yet never think
he will be so unwise to make battle against the mighty king of France.
11.Sp5Charles VI
Enter Archbishop of Bruges.Oh, my son, although the king of England be young and wild-headed, yet never think
but he is ruled by his wise counselors.
11.Sp7Charles VI
Now, my good lord archbishop of Bruges, what news from our brother the English king?
what news from our brother the English king?11.Sp8Bruges
An please your majesty, he is so far from your expectation that nothing will serve him
but the crown and kingdom itself. Besides, he bade me haste quickly, lest he be there
before me, and, so far as I hear, he hath kept promise, for they say he is already
landed at Kidcocks in Normandy, upon the river of Seine, and laid his siege to the garrison town of Harfleur.
please your majesty, he is so far from your expectation that nothing will serve him
but the crown and kingdom itself. Besides, he bade me haste quickly, lest he be there
before me, and, so far as I hear, he hath kept promise, for they say he is already
landed at Kidcocks in Normandy, upon the river of Seine, and laid his siege to the garrison town of Harfleur.11.Sp11Bruges
EnterTruly, my lord, in very ill part. For these your balls of leather, he will toss you balls of brass and iron. Trust
me, my lord, I was very afraid of him. He is such a haughty and high-minded prince, he is as fierce as a lion.
. For these your balls of leather, he will toss you balls of brass and iron. Trust
me, my lord, I was very afraid of him. He is such a haughty and high-minded prince, he is as fierce as a lion. a Messenger.
11.Sp15Messenger
An it please your majesty, I come from your poor distressed town of Harfleur, which
is so beset on every side, if your majesty do not send present aid the town will be
yielded to the English king.
it please your majesty, I come from your poor distressed town of Harfleur, which
is so beset on every side, if your majesty do not send present aid the town will be
yielded to the English king.11.Sp16Charles VI
Come, my lords, come, shall we stand still ’til our country be spoiled under our noses?
My lords, let the Normans, Brabants, Pickardies, and Danes be sent for with all speed. And you, my lord high constable, I make general over
all my whole army, Monsieur le Cole, Master of the Bows, Signor Devens, and all the rest, at your appointment.
be sent for with all speed. And you, my lord high constable, I make general over
all my whole army, Monsieur le Cole, Master of the Bows, Signor Devens, and all the rest, at your appointment.11.Sp17Dauphin
I trust your majesty will bestow some part of the battle on me. I hope not to present
any otherwise than well.
well.11.Sp18Charles VI
I tell thee, my son, although I should get the victory, an thou lose thy life, I should think myself quite conquered and the Englishmen to have
the victory.
thou lose thy life, I should think myself quite conquered and the Englishmen to have
the victory.11.Sp19Dauphin
Exeunt omnes.
Why, my lord and father, I would have the petty king of England to know that I dare
encounter him in any ground of the world.
Scene 12 Video Sc. 12
Enter Henry the Fifth, with his Lords.
12.Sp1Henry V
Exit a Lord.Come, my lords of England, no doubt this good luck of winning this town is a sign of an honorable victory to come. But, good my lord,
go and speak to the captains with all speed to number the host of the Frenchmen, and by that means we may the better know how to appoint the battle.
of winning this town is a sign of an honorable victory to come. But, good my lord,
go and speak to the captains with all speed to number the host of the Frenchmen, and by that means we may the better know how to appoint the battle.
12.Sp2York
An it please your majesty, there are many of your men sick and diseased, and many of
them die for want of victuals.
it please your majesty, there are many of your men sick and diseased, and many of
them die for want of victuals.12.Sp3Henry V
And why did you not tell me of it before? If we cannot have it for money, we will have it by dint of sword. The laws of arms allow no less.
, we will have it by dint of sword. The laws of arms allow no less.12.Sp7Henry V
EnterTrust me, my lord of Oxford, I cannot, for I have already given it to my uncle the
duke of York. Yet I thank you for your good will.
(A trumpet sounds.)
How now, what is that?
a Herald.
12.Sp9Herald
King of England, my lord high constable and others of the noblemen of France sends
me to defy thee as open enemy to God, our country, and us, and hereupon they presently
bid thee battle.
12.Sp10Henry V
Herald, tell them that I defy them as open enemies to God, my country, and me, and
as wrongful usurpers of my right. And whereas thou say’st they presently bid me battle,
tell them that I think they know how to please me. But, I pray thee, what place hath my lord Prince Dauphin here in battle?
thee, what place hath my lord Prince Dauphin here in battle?12.Sp11Herald
An it please your grace, my lord and king his father will not let him come into the
field.
it please your grace, my lord and king his father will not let him come into the
field.12.Sp12Henry V
A drum strikes.Why, then, he doth me great injury. I thought that he and I should have played at tennis together. Therefore I have brought tennis balls for him, but other manner of ones than he sent me. And, herald, tell my lord Prince Dauphin that I have inured my hands with other kind of weapons than tennis balls ere this time o’ day and that he shall find it ere it be long. And so
adieu, my friend, and tell my lord that I am ready when he will.
(Exit Herald.)
Come, my lords, I care not an I go to our captains, and I’ll see the number of the French army myself. Strike up
the drum.
together. Therefore I have brought tennis balls for him, but other manner of ones than he sent me. And, herald, tell my lord Prince Dauphin that I have inured my hands with other kind of weapons than tennis balls ere this time o’ day and that he shall find it ere it be long. And so
adieu, my friend, and tell my lord that I am ready when he will.
(Exit Herald.)
Come, my lords, I care not an I go to our captains, and I’ll see the number of the French army myself. Strike up
the drum.
Exeunt omnes.
Scene 13 Video Sc. 13
Enter French Soldiers.
13.Sp11 French Soldier
Enter DrummerCome away, Jack Drummer, come away all, and me will tell you what me will do. Me will tro one chance on the dice, who shall have the king of England and his lords.
, who shall have the king of England and his lords..
13.Sp3Drummer
Oh, the brave apparel that the Englishmans hay broth over! I will tell you what me ha’ done, me ha’ provided a hundreth trunks, and all to
put the fine ’parel of the Englishmans in.
! I will tell you what me ha’ done, me ha’ provided a hundreth trunks, and all to
put the fine ’parel of the Englishmans in.13.Sp61 French Soldier
Awee, awee, awee. Me will tell you what, me ha’ put five shildren out of my house, and
all too little to put the fine apparel of the Englishmans in.
, awee, awee. Me will tell you what, me ha’ put five shildren out of my house, and
all too little to put the fine apparel of the Englishmans in.13.Sp7Drummer
Oh, the brave, the brave apparel that we shall have anon. But come, and you shall
see what me will tro at the king’s Drummer and Fife.
He throws dice.
Ha, me ha’ no good luck! Tro you.
.
He throws dice.
Ha, me ha’ no good luck! Tro you.13.Sp83 French Soldier
He throws dice.Faith, me will tro at the earl of Northumberland and my lord of Willoughby, with his great horse, snorting, farting - “oh, brave horse”!
and my lord of Willoughby, with his great horse, snorting, farting - “oh, brave horse”!
13.Sp91 French Soldier
EnterHa, by’r Lady you ha’ reasonable good luck. Now I will tro at the king himself.
He throws dice.
Ha, me have no good luck.
you ha’ reasonable good luck. Now I will tro at the king himself.
He throws dice.
Ha, me have no good luck. a Captain.
Exeunt Drummer, and one Soldier.
13.Sp132 French Soldier
I will tell you what we have done. We have been troing our shance on the dice, but none can win the king.
shance on the dice, but none can win the king.13.Sp14Captain
I think so. Why, he is left behind for me, and I have set three or four chair-makers a-work to make a
new disguised chair to set that womanly king of England in, that all the people may laugh and scoff at
him.
to set that womanly king of England in, that all the people may laugh and scoff at
him.13.Sp16Captain
Exit Captain.I am glad, and yet with a kind of pity, to see the poor king. Why, whoever saw a more flourishing army in France in one day than here is? Are not here all the peers of France? Are not here the Normans with their fiery handguns and slaunching curtle-axes? Are not here the Barbarians with their bard horses and launching spears? Are not here Pickards with their cross-bows and piercing darts? The Hainuyers with their cutting glaives and sharp carbuncles? Are not here the lance-knights of Burgundy? And on the other side, a sight of poor English scabs? Why, take an Englishman out of his warm bed and his stale drink but one month and,
alas, what will become of him? But give the Frenchman a radish root and he will live with it all the days of his life.
saw a more flourishing army in France in one day than here is? Are not here all the peers of France? Are not here the Normans with their fiery handguns and slaunching curtle-axes? Are not here the Barbarians with their bard horses and launching spears? Are not here Pickards with their cross-bows and piercing darts? The Hainuyers with their cutting glaives and sharp carbuncles? Are not here the lance-knights of Burgundy? And on the other side, a sight of poor English scabs? Why, take an Englishman out of his warm bed and his stale drink but one month and,
alas, what will become of him? But give the Frenchman a radish root and he will live with it all the days of his life.
Exit 2 Soldier.
Scene 14 Video Sc. 14
Enter the King of England and his Lords.
14.Sp2Oxford
An it please your majesty, our captains have numbered them, and, so near as they can
judge, they are about threescore thousand horsemen and forty thousand footmen.
it please your majesty, our captains have numbered them, and, so near as they can
judge, they are about threescore thousand horsemen and forty thousand footmen.14.Sp3Henry V
They threescore thousand, and we but two thousand. They forty thousand footmen, and we twelve thousand. They are a hundred thousand, and we fourteen thousand: ten to one. My lords and loving countrymen, though we be few and they many, fear not. Your quarrel is good, and God will defend
you. Pluck up your hearts, for this day we shall either have a valiant victory or
an honorable death. Now, my lords, I will that my uncle the duke of York have the vanguard in the battle. The earl of Derby, the earl of Oxford, the earl of Kent, the earl of Nottingham, the earl of Huntington, I will have beside the army, that they may come fresh upon them. And I myself with
the duke of Bedford, the duke of Clarence, and the duke of Gloucester will be in the midst of the battle. Furthermore, I will that my lord of Willoughby
and the earl of Northumberland with their troops of horsemen be continually running
like wings on both sides of the army, my lord of Northumberland on the left wing.
Then I will that every archer provide him a stake of a tree and sharp it at both ends and, at the first encounter of the horsemen,
to pitch their stakes down into the ground before them, that they may gore themselves
upon them, and then to recoil back and shoot wholly altogether and so discomfit them.
and we but two thousand. They forty thousand footmen, and we twelve thousand. They are a hundred thousand, and we fourteen thousand: ten to one. My lords and loving countrymen, though we be few and they many, fear not. Your quarrel is good, and God will defend
you. Pluck up your hearts, for this day we shall either have a valiant victory or
an honorable death. Now, my lords, I will that my uncle the duke of York have the vanguard in the battle. The earl of Derby, the earl of Oxford, the earl of Kent, the earl of Nottingham, the earl of Huntington, I will have beside the army, that they may come fresh upon them. And I myself with
the duke of Bedford, the duke of Clarence, and the duke of Gloucester will be in the midst of the battle. Furthermore, I will that my lord of Willoughby
and the earl of Northumberland with their troops of horsemen be continually running
like wings on both sides of the army, my lord of Northumberland on the left wing.
Then I will that every archer provide him a stake of a tree and sharp it at both ends and, at the first encounter of the horsemen,
to pitch their stakes down into the ground before them, that they may gore themselves
upon them, and then to recoil back and shoot wholly altogether and so discomfit them.14.Sp4Oxford
Exit Oxford.
An it please your majesty, I will take that in charge, if your grace be therewith content.
it please your majesty, I will take that in charge, if your grace be therewith content.14.Sp7Henry V
EnterWell, my lords, our battles are ordained, and the French making of bonfires and at their banquets. But let them look, for I mean to set upon them.
(The trumpet sounds.)
Soft, here comes some other French message.
are ordained, and the French making of bonfires and at their banquets. But let them look, for I mean to set upon them.
(The trumpet sounds.)
Soft, here comes some other French message. Herald.
14.Sp8Herald
King of England, my lord high constable and other of my lords, considering the poor
estate of thee and thy poor countrymen, send me to know what thou wilt give for thy ransom. Perhaps thou mayst agree better cheap now than when thou art conquered.
me to know what thou wilt give for thy ransom. Perhaps thou mayst agree better cheap now than when thou art conquered.14.Sp9Henry V
Why, then belike your high constable sends to know what I will give for my ransom? Now, trust
me, herald, not so much as a tun of tennis balls. No, not so much as one poor tennis ball. Rather shall my body lie dead in the field to feed crows than ever England shall pay one penny ransom for my body.
belike your high constable sends to know what I will give for my ransom? Now, trust
me, herald, not so much as a tun of tennis balls. No, not so much as one poor tennis ball. Rather shall my body lie dead in the field to feed crows than ever England shall pay one penny ransom for my body.14.Sp11Henry V
No, herald, ’tis a kingly resolution and the resolution of a king. Here, take this for thy pains.
Henry V gives the Herald coins.
(Exit Herald.)
But stay, my lords. What time is it?
.
(Exit Herald.)
But stay, my lords. What time is it?14.Sp13Henry V
Strike Drummer.Then is it good time, no doubt, for all England prayeth for us. What, my lords, methinks you look cheerfully upon me? Why, then, with one voice and like true English hearts, with me throw up your caps and for England cry “Saint George”!—and God and Saint George help us!
. What, my lords, methinks you look cheerfully upon me? Why, then, with one voice and like true English hearts, with me throw up your caps and for England cry “Saint George”!—and God and Saint George help us! Exeunt omnes.
Scene 15 Video Sc. 15
The Frenchmen cry within, Saint DenisThe Battle.
Scene 16 Video Sc. 16
Enter King of England, and his Lords.
16.Sp1Henry V
Come, my lords, come. By this time our swords are almost drunk with French blood.
But, my lords, which of you can tell me how many of our army be slain in the battle?
16.Sp2Oxford
An it please your majesty, there are of the French army slain above ten thousand twenty-six hundred, whereof are princes and nobles bearing banners. Besides, all the nobility of France are taken prisoners. Of your majesty’s army are slain none but the good duke of York and not above five or six and twenty common soldiers.
it please your majesty, there are of the French army slain above ten thousand twenty-six hundred, whereof are princes and nobles bearing banners. Besides, all the nobility of France are taken prisoners. Of your majesty’s army are slain none but the good duke of York and not above five or six and twenty common soldiers.16.Sp3Henry V
Sound trumpet. EnterFor the good duke of York my uncle I am heartily sorry and greatly lament his misfortune,
yet the honorable victory which the Lord hath given us doth make me much rejoice. But stay, here comes another French message.
doth make me much rejoice. But stay, here comes another French message. a Herald and kneeleth.
16.Sp5Henry V
Now, herald, methinks the world is changed with you now. What, I am sure it is a great disgrace for a herald to kneel to the king of England. What is thy message?
What is thy message?16.Sp6Herald
My lord and master, the conquered king of France, sends thee long health with hearty
greeting.
16.Sp7Henry V
Herald, his greetings are welcome, but I thank God for my health. Well, herald, say
on.
16.Sp8Herald
He hath sent me to desire your majesty to give him leave to go into the field to view
his poor countrymen, that they may all be honorably buried.
16.Sp9Henry V
Why, herald, doth thy lord and master send to me to bury the dead? Let him bury them,
in God’s name. But I pray thee, herald, where is my lord high constable and those
that would have had my ransom?
16.Sp11Henry V
Why, you may see, you will make yourselves sure before the victory be won. But, herald, what castle is this so near adjoining to our camp?
may see, you will make yourselves sure before the victory be won. But, herald, what castle is this so near adjoining to our camp?16.Sp13Henry V
Well then, my lords of England, for the more honor of our Englishmen, I will that
this be forever called the Battle of Agincourt.
.16.Sp17Henry V
With a good will, so some of my nobles view the place, for fear of treachery and treason.
16.Sp19Henry V
Exeunt omnes.
Well, tell him then, I will come.
(Exit Herald.)
Now, my lords, I will go into the field myself to view my countrymen and to have them
honorably buried, for the French king shall never surpass me in courtesy while I am Harry king of England. Come on, my lords.
)
Now, my lords, I will go into the field myself to view my countrymen and to have them
honorably buried, for the French king shall never surpass me in courtesy while I am Harry king of England. Come on, my lords.Scene 17 Video Sc. 17
Enter John Cobbler, and Robin Pewterer.
17.Sp2John
EnterBut, Robin, didst thou see what a policy the king had? To see how the Frenchmen were
killed with the stakes of the trees!
an English Soldier, roaming.
17.Sp6English Soldier
Exit Soldier.Are you Englishmen? Then change your language, for the king’s tents are set afire, and all they that speak English will be killed.
? Then change your language, for the king’s tents are set afire, and all they that speak English will be killed.
Drum and trumpet sound.
Exit John and Robin.
Scene 18 Video Sc. 18
Enter Derrick roaming. After him a Frenchman, and takes him Derrick prisoner.
18.Sp7Derrick
Nay, sir, I will give you more. I will give you as many crowns as will lie on your
sword.
18.Sp9Derrick
Here the FrenchmanAy, marry will I. Ay, but you must lay down your sword, or else they will not lie on your sword.
will I. Ay, but you must lay down your sword, or else they will not lie on your sword. lays down his sword, and the clown Derrick takes it up and hurls him down.
18.Sp12Derrick
Here whileO you villain, now you lie at my mercy, dost thou remember since thou lammst me in thy short ell? O villain, now I will strike off thy head.
me in thy short ell? O villain, now I will strike off thy head. he Derrick turns his back the Frenchman runs his ways.
18.Sp13Derrick
Exit Derrick.What, is he gone? Mass, I am glad of it, for if he had stayed I was afraid he would have stirred again,
and then I should have been spilt. But I will away to kill more Frenchmen.
, I am glad of it, for if he had stayed I was afraid he would have stirred again,
and then I should have been spilt. But I will away to kill more Frenchmen.
Scene 19 Video Sc. 19
Enter King of France, King of England, Secretary, and attendants.
19.Sp1Henry V
Now, my good brother of France, my coming into this land was not to shed blood but
for the right of my country, which, if you can deny, I am content peaceably to leave my siege and to depart out of your land.
, I am content peaceably to leave my siege and to depart out of your land.19.Sp8Secretary
Item, that after the death of the said Henry, the crown remain to him and his heirs
forever.
19.Sp10Henry V
Why, my good brother of France, you have had it long enough, and, as for Prince Dauphin,
it skills not though he sit beside the saddle. Thus I have set it down, and thus it shall be.
. Thus I have set it down, and thus it shall be.19.Sp17Charles VI
Well, my brother of England, if you will give me a copy we will meet you again tomorrow.
.19.Sp18Henry V
Exeunt Lords.
Speaks to himself.
With a good will, my good brother of France. Secretary, deliver him a copy.
(Exit King of France, and all their attendants.)
My lords of England, go before, and I will follow you.
and all their attendants.)
My lords of England, go before, and I will follow you.19.Sp19Henry V
Ah Harry, thrice-unhappy Harry! Hast thou now conquered the French king and begin’st a fresh supply with his daughter? But with what face canst thou seek to gain her love, which hath sought to win her father’s crown? “Her
father’s crown,” said I? No, it is mine own. Ay, but I love her and must crave her. Nay, I love her and will have her.
(Enter Lady Katherine and her Ladies.)
But here she comes. How now, fair Lady Katherine of France, what news?
a fresh supply with his daughter? But with what face canst thou seek to gain her love, which hath sought to win her father’s crown? “Her
father’s crown,” said I? No, it is mine own. Ay, but I love her and must crave her. Nay, I love her and will have her.
(Enter Lady Katherine and her Ladies.)
But here she comes. How now, fair Lady Katherine of France, what news?19.Sp20Katherine
An it please your majesty, my father sent me to know if you will debate any of these unreasonable demands which you require.
it please your majesty, my father sent me to know if you will debate any of these unreasonable demands which you require.19.Sp21Henry V
Now trust me, Kate, I commend thy father’s wit greatly in this, for none in the world
could sooner have made me debate it if it were possible. But tell me, sweet Kate,
canst thou tell how to love?
19.Sp23Henry V
Tush, Kate. But tell me in plain terms, canst thou love the king of England? I cannot do as these countries do that spend half their time in wooing. Tush, wench, I am none such. But wilt thou go over to England?
, canst thou love the king of England? I cannot do as these countries do that spend half their time in wooing. Tush, wench, I am none such. But wilt thou go over to England?19.Sp24Katherine
I would to God that I had your majesty as fast in love as you have my father in wars.
I would not vouchsafe so much as one look until you had debated all these unreasonable demands.
all these unreasonable demands.19.Sp25Henry V
Tush, Kate, I know thou wouldst not use me so hardly. But tell me, canst thou love
the king of England?
?19.Sp27Henry V
But I’ll deal as easily with thee as thy heart can imagine or tongue can require. How say’st thou? What will it be?
require. How say’st thou? What will it be?19.Sp28Katherine
If I were of my own direction, I could give you answer. But seeing I stand at my father’s direction, I must first know his will.
.19.Sp30Katherine
She goes aside, and speaks as followeth.
Whereas I can put your grace in no assurance, I would be loath to put you in any despair.
I can put your grace in no assurance, I would be loath to put you in any despair.19.Sp32Katherine
I may think myself the happiest in the world, that is beloved of the mighty king of England.
19.Sp33Henry V
Exit Katherine of France and her Ladies.Well, Kate, are you at host with me? Sweet Kate, tell thy father from me that none in the world could sooner
have persuaded me to it than thou, and so tell thy father from me.
with me? Sweet Kate, tell thy father from me that none in the world could sooner
have persuaded me to it than thou, and so tell thy father from me.
19.Sp35Henry V
Exit King.
Farewell, sweet Kate! In faith, it is a sweet wench, but, if I knew I could not have
her father’s good will, I would so rouse the towers over his ears that I would make him be glad to bring her me upon his hands
and knees.
the towers over his ears that I would make him be glad to bring her me upon his hands
and knees.Scene 20 Video Sc. 20
Enter Derrick, with his girdle full of shoes.
Enter John Cobbler roving, with a pack full of apparel.
20.Sp4John
I promise thee, Derrick, I scaped hardly, for I was within half a mile when one was killed.
hardly, for I was within half a mile when one was killed.20.Sp11Derrick
Why, I will tell thee, John. Every day when I went into the field I would take a straw and thrust
it into my nose and make my nose bleed, and then I would go into the field, and when
the captain saw me he would say, “Peace, a bloody soldier,” and bid me stand aside, whereof I was glad. But mark the chance, John. I went and stood behind a tree—but
mark then, John. I thought I had been safe, but on a sudden there steps to me a lusty
tall Frenchman. Now he drew, and I drew. Now I lay here, and he lay there. Now I set
this leg before, and turned this backward, and skipped quite over a hedge, and he
saw me no more there that day. And was not this well done, John?
thee, John. Every day when I went into the field I would take a straw and thrust
it into my nose and make my nose bleed, and then I would go into the field, and when
the captain saw me he would say, “Peace, a bloody soldier,” and bid me stand aside, whereof I was glad. But mark the chance, John. I went and stood behind a tree—but
mark then, John. I thought I had been safe, but on a sudden there steps to me a lusty
tall Frenchman. Now he drew, and I drew. Now I lay here, and he lay there. Now I set
this leg before, and turned this backward, and skipped quite over a hedge, and he
saw me no more there that day. And was not this well done, John?20.Sp13Derrick
Ay, John, thou mayst see, if thou hadst taken my counsel—but what hast thou there? I
think thou hast been robbing the Frenchmen.
John, thou mayst see, if thou hadst taken my counsel—but what hast thou there? I
think thou hast been robbing the Frenchmen.20.Sp15Derrick
And I have got some shoes, for I’ll tell thee what I did. When they were dead, I would go take off all their shoes.
, for I’ll tell thee what I did. When they were dead, I would go take off all their shoes.20.Sp17Derrick
Nay, zounds, an they take thee they will hang thee. O John, never do so. If it be thy fortune to
be hanged, be hanged in thy own language whatsoever thou dost.
an they take thee they will hang thee. O John, never do so. If it be thy fortune to
be hanged, be hanged in thy own language whatsoever thou dost.20.Sp19Derrick
Ay, but you may not go before you ask the king leave. But I know a way to go home and
ask the king no leave.
but you may not go before you ask the king leave. But I know a way to go home and
ask the king no leave.20.Sp21Derrick
Why, John, thou knowest the duke of York’s funeral must be carried into England, dost thou not?
20.Sp25Derrick
Zounds, if I make not shift to meet them, hang me. Sirrah, thou know’st that in every town there will be ringing and there will be cakes and
drink. Now, I will go to the clerk and sexton and keep a-talking, and say, “Oh, this fellow rings well,” and thou shalt go and
take a piece of cake. Then I’ll ring, and thou shalt say, “Oh, this fellow keeps a
good stint,” and then I will go drink to thee all the way. But I marvel what my dame will say
when we come home, because we have not a French word to cast at a dog by the way.
if I make not shift to meet them, hang me. Sirrah, thou know’st that in every town there will be ringing and there will be cakes and
drink. Now, I will go to the clerk and sexton and keep a-talking, and say, “Oh, this fellow rings well,” and thou shalt go and
take a piece of cake. Then I’ll ring, and thou shalt say, “Oh, this fellow keeps a
good stint,” and then I will go drink to thee all the way. But I marvel what my dame will say
when we come home, because we have not a French word to cast at a dog by the way.20.Sp27Derrick
The trumpets sound.
Exeunt Derrick and John.Why, John, I’ll go before and call my dame whore, and thou shalt come after and set
fire on the house. We may do it, John, for I’ll prove it, because we be soldiers.
.
Scene 21 Video Sc. 21
Enter King of England, Lords of Oxford and Exeter, then the King of France, Prince Dauphin,
and the duke of Burgundy, Katherine, Secretary, and attendants.
21.Sp1Henry V
Now, my good brother of France, I hope by this time you have deliberated of your answer?
21.Sp2Charles VI
Ay, my well-beloved brother of England, we have viewed it over with our learned counsel
but cannot find that you should be crowned king of France.
my well-beloved brother of England, we have viewed it over with our learned counsel
but cannot find that you should be crowned king of France.21.Sp3Henry V
What, not king of France? Then nothing. I must be king. But, my loving brother of
France, I can hardly forget the late injuries offered me when I came last to parley.
The Frenchmen had better ha’ raked the bowels out of their fathers’ carcasses than to have fired my tents, and, if I knew thy son Prince Dauphin for one, I would so
rouse him as he was never so roused.
raked the bowels out of their fathers’ carcasses than to have fired my tents, and, if I knew thy son Prince Dauphin for one, I would so
rouse him as he was never so roused.21.Sp4Charles VI
I dare swear for my son’s innocency in this matter. But, if this please you, that
immediately you be proclaimed and crowned Heir and Regent of France, not king, because I myself was once crowned king.
, not king, because I myself was once crowned king.21.Sp7Secretary
Item, that Henry king of England be crowned Heir and Regent of France during the life
of King Charles and, after his death, the crown, with all rights, to remain to King
Henry of England and to his heirs forever.
21.Sp11Charles VI
Whereas they have not stuck with greater matters, I know they will not stick with
such a trifle. Begin you, my lord duke of Burgundy.
21.Sp13Burgundy
He kisseth the sword.
He the Prince Dauphin kisseth the sword.
I, Philip duke of Burgundy, swear to Henry king of England to be true to him and to
become his liege man, and that if I, Philip, hear of any foreign power coming to invade the said Henry
or his heirs, then I the said Philip to send him word and aid him with all the power
I can make. And thereunto I take my oath.
and that if I, Philip, hear of any foreign power coming to invade the said Henry
or his heirs, then I the said Philip to send him word and aid him with all the power
I can make. And thereunto I take my oath.21.Sp17Henry V
A trifle, my good brother of France. I mean to make your daughter queen of England, if she be willing and you therewith content. How say’st thou, Kate? Canst thou love
the king of England?
she be willing and you therewith content. How say’st thou, Kate? Canst thou love
the king of England?21.Sp19Henry V
Tut, stand not upon these points. ’Tis you must make us friends. I know, Kate, thou
art not a little proud that I love thee. What, wench, the king of England?
, the king of England?21.Sp21Katherine
Sound trumpets.
Exeunt omnes.
Aside I had best whilst he is willing, lest when I would, he will not. I rest at your majesty’s command.
I had best whilst he is willing, lest when I would, he will not. I rest at your majesty’s command.Annotations
Scene 1
Now sirs, how like you this? Was this not bravely done?(Sc1 Sp39). In performance, the character’s demand for affirmation of his deeds worked on the audience as well as the other characters on the stage. As the original Queen’s Men were formed in part to promote English nationalism, our interpretation of the prince was designed to make this prodigal son an engaging and sympathetic English hero. In this scene, Hopkins worked with the younger actors to generate a manly camaraderie that came to define the spirit of the SQM performance as a whole. To that end, the poor victims of his crime, his father’s Receivers, were played for comedy rather than sympathy. As with all of our performance choices, other options were possible.
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Enter
Come away(Sc1 Sp1). Why would he say
Come awayif his friends are already on stage? We began the show with the ominous beating of a drum to build suspense and then the prince dashed on as if arriving directly from the scene of the crime. After finding a safe spot and looking around to check all was clear, he called on his companions.
Prince Henry
As Henry is not yet king and undergoes considerable character transformation when
he does become king, the quarto’s
Henry 5has been emended to Prince Henry in speech prefixes until he is crowned.
five hundred pound
Early modern collective nouns did not always make a difference between singular and
plural, as in pound and pounds.
But tell me
rob
The robbing of the receivers (tax and rent collectors) was a well-known element of
numerous 16th-century English accounts of Prince Henry’s youth.
Stow relates that Prince Henry
wold waite in disguised araye for his owne receyuers, and distresse them of theyre money: and sometimes at suche enterprices both he and his company wer surely beaten: and when his receiuers made to him their complaints, how they were robbed in their coming vnto him, he wold giue them discharge of so much mony as they had lost, and besides that, they should not depart from him without great rewards for their trouble and vexation, especially they should be rewarded that best hadde resisted hym and his company, and of whom he had receyued the greatest and most strokes(Stow 583). Shakespeare dramatizes the robbing of the receivers and other travellers in Henry IV, Part 1 2.2, turning it into an opportunity for Prince Harry to demonstrate Falstaff’s cowardice.
trick
Witty bit of tomfoolery, not a criminal act.
Sir John Oldcastle
Historically, although he was Prince Henry’s companion before Henry became king, Sir
John Oldcastle (1378–1417) was executed in 1417 after having been found guilty of
heresy in 1413 and having been implicated in various revolts against Henry between
1413 and 1417 (Dockray 53, 105–110).
Sir John became Lord Cobham in 1408 when he married Joan Cobham, heiress of the third
Lord Cobham. Oldcastle’s heretical beliefs derived from those of the proto-Protestant
fourteenth-century Oxford scholar John Wycliffe, and sixteenth-century Protestant
reformers like John Foxe considered Oldcastle to be a martyr (Corbin and Sedge 2). Famous Victories, however, indicates the existence of another view of Oldcastle
by its drawing together of the traditions of riot and misrule associated with Oldcastle and Prince Henry,as does Shakespeare in the construction of his character Falstaff, who was, evidence suggests, initially called Oldcastle in Henry IV, Part 1. Scholars have speculated that Shakespeare was forced to change the name because of complaints from the Cobham family (Corbin and Sedge 1–10).
Zounds
God’s wounds!(oath).
This exclamation also alerts the audience to Jockey’s entrance as a comic double-take.
Enter Jockey
away(Sc1 Sp11), since the prince’s next sentence suggests he can now see Jockey. Play texts from the period, however, often mark an entrance after a character’s arrival has already been announced. The original actors would have been comfortable with the convention that they could
seecharacters approaching from back stage, but this seems unnatural to modern actors and we often create business to make the entrance obey the logic of naturalism. In this instance, David Kynaston (Jockey) took the word
awayas his cue to make noise off-stage. The Prince, Ned and Tom drew their swords, as if fearing they had been followed, and then reacted with relief when they saw it was their friend at Sc1 Sp11. The suggestion that the moment could be an opportunity for a comic double-take is a viable alternative. See note at Sc1 Sp11. See also
Here come the receivers(Sc1 Sp19).
passeth
Is current; is noteworthy.
hue and cry
Outcry calling for the pursuit of a felon(OED hue and cry, n. 1.a).
Any man hearing the hue and cry was legally obliged to join the pursuit, which a contemporary
source describes thus:
The maner of their hue and cry […] is that if a robberie be done, a horne is blowne, and an out crie made: after which, if the partie flie away, and not yeeld himselfe to the Kings Bayliffe, he may be lawfully slaine, and hanged vp vpon the next gallows(Cowell).
carrier
Someone who carries things, bearer (of goods).
Carriers conveyed letters and goods and escorted travellers between London and provincial
towns. They constituted an informal but important communications and transportation
network that connected the capital and the provinces in the early modern period. Carriers
were legally liable for the goods entrusted to them (Stewart 437, 457), so by robbing the
poor carrier(Derrick), Prince Henry’s man (Cutbert Cutter) has inflicted a serious financial as well as physical blow upon the carrier.
booties
Targets for plunder, to be shared by the thieves.
skills
Makes a difference, matters.
Ay, I may
poor carrier(Sc1 Sp15); then he boastfully announced that he would save him from the law anyway. To help motivate the final sentence, Hopkins asked the other actors to react to this announcement with surprise, so he could then respond defiantly with:
Ay, I may.
belammed
Beat, thrashed.
bravely
Splendidly, finely, excellently.
They place
Now, by heaven, here’s a brave show!(Sc1 Sp19), they all drew their swords and at the end of the line thrust them over the bags with a cry of
Ha!It worked well to enhance the sense of manly camaraderie that the actors generated in this scene.
I will … tonight
Contrast this to Prince Hal’s resolution in Henry IV, Part 1 that
the money shall be paid back again, with advantage(1H4 2.4.453).
two Receivers
villains
Low-born vulgar rustics (an insult based on social class); not a charge of evil-doing.
Speak … him
Forsooth
Truly.
cut … heads
Robbed?
Marry
Emphatic expression of surprise or indignation. Variant of Mary, mother of Christ
(OED marry, int. 1).
hobby
Small light-footed horse bred in Ireland.
nag
Small riding-horse, bred for a comfortable walking pace, usually for ladies.
Gog’s
God’s.
Blood
God’s blood!(oath).
belammed him
away your money
stand up(Sc1 Sp38), and so it made sense that they should kneel. As is typical of early modern work, there is no stage direction in the original text. The exact moment where they should kneel is a matter of interpretation. If they kneel following their next line (Sc1 Sp36), where they beg for mercy, as suggested in this edition, the movement would also make sense.
Was not … done
Now, whither
Feversham
A town in Kent on a creek of the East Swale, 47 m. East of London and 8 m. West of Canterbury(Sugden 190).
old tavern
Public house, or pub, serving food and alcohol and often with some rooms for travellers.
Bullough identifies the tavern as the Boar’s Head, noting that in Henry IV, Part 2, Bardolph calls it
the old place […] in Eastcheap(2H4 6.19). Stow, however, writes that
the Garland in Little East Cheape, sometime a brewhouse, with a garden on the back side, adjoining to the garden of Sir John Philpot, was the chief house in this East Cheape(Stow 189).
Eastcheap
London market (or
cheap) street, containing mainly butchers’ stalls.
Eastcheap ran
East from the junction of Cannon Street and Gracechurch Street to Great Tower Street. The famous Boar’s Head Tavern was at the West end(Sugden 165). Stow writes,
this Eastcheape is now a flesh market of butchers there dwelling on both sides of the street(Stow 194).
pretty wench
in their tongues
We … fellows
An
If.
we would … kings
Bullough points to Falstaff’s dreams of what he and his companions will do
when thou Prince Hal art a kingin Henry IV, Part 1 (1H4 1.2.13–14).
Scene 2
Enter John
Costermonger
Fruit vendor.
All is well
Pudding Lane end(Sc2 Sp3), that is, go elsewhere. Nashman cleverly integrated this business with the text even though it was not built on textual evidence.
Robin
In production the director assigned Sc2 Sp2 to Lawrence Costermonger. In Q all the lines are assigned to Robin, which is clearly
incorrect as Robin refers to himself in the third person at Sc2 Sp3 and is given another speech immediately following the conclusion of this one. Rather
than reassigning the lines to Lawrence, the play-editor supposed that Q’s compositor
had made the common error of missing a speech prefix. He consequently reassigned Sc2 Sp3 to John. Given that Robin addresses him at Sc2 Sp2, logically John would be the one to reply in 107, and his hearty but condescending
my neighbor, Robin Pewtereris not at all odd. John might even give Robin a slap on the shoulder when addressing him and then give him a bit of a push off down the lane.
weto refer to himself and Lawrence, as suggested in this edition. The SQM company resolved the issue differently by giving both lines to Lawrence Costermonger. We also motivated Lawrence’s suggestion to send Robin to Pudding’s Lane End by making Robin an unappealing partner in the watch: Peter Higginson (Robin) belched prior to Lawrence’s line and Julian DeZotti (Lawrence) nearly swooned at the strength of his bad breath. It worked well in performance but I think this is an instance in which the intentions of the text are obscure and the crux cannot be resolved definitively. As director, I made a theatrical decision, whereas the play editor made the editorial decision; both have sound logic, neither is definitive.
Pudding Lane
Lane in Billingsgate Ward.
Pudding Lane ran
South from the West end of Eastcheap to Lower Thames Street(Sugden 422). According to Stow, the lane acquired its name
because the butchers of Eastcheap have their scalding house for hogs there,where they make
their puddings blood puddings, i.e. sausages made with pork blood and fat,adding that the
other filth of beasts, are voided down that way from their dung boats on the Thames(Stow 189).
Billingsgate Ward
One of the twenty-six wards or administrative units into which the City of London
was divided (Stow 109).
Billingsgate,
The principal of the old water-gates of London, on the North side of the Thames, East of London Bridge(Sugden 60),was famous for its fish market, and the coarse, abusive language of its fishwives had by the middle of the 17th century at the latest given rise to the generic term Billingsgate-Rhetorick (Culpeper).
toward
Promising, forward.
let to talk
Refrain from talking.
taking
Stealing, thieving.
begin to sleep
Methinks you begin to sleep(Sc2 Sp10) became funny because Lawrence was clearly fast asleep at this point.
Enter Derrick roving
no horses
Whoa!In the SQM production this did not read very clearly because the sound of Alon Nashman’s delivery resembled a cry of fear and panic rather than an instruction to a horse.
clown
Peasant, rural individual; comic actor.
silk apparel
English law forbade anyone below the rank of knight or with less than 20 pounds annual
income or 200 pounds worth of goods to wear silk (Bailey 28). Such laws were frequently ignored, however.
silk apparel,would have been an interesting juxtaposition. In our production, however, we felt that it would have made it difficult for the audience to process the character’s social status. Instead Alon Nashman patted his hempen jerkin as if the line were an ironic reference. It never really worked but I still cannot think of an adequate solution to this costuming problem for a modern production.
Kent
County in South East England, bordering Greater London to the North West,
notorious for highway robberies(Sugden 292).
To John
From Sc2 Sp21 it is clear that this line is addressed to John, who has just seized Derrick. Derrick
is questioning John’s authority by asking him if he is Master Constable and refusing
to accept the authority of Robin, who was the one who commanded John to seize him
at Sc2 Sp18.
take the lawfrom and why. The original text is inconclusive in this regard. Since John had seized Derrick at 2, Nashman felt that Derrick was not happy about “taking the law” from John. He therefore addressed this line to Lawrence not to John, telling the person he thought was the master constable that he refused to take the law from John’s hands. Since he was literally in John’s hands at this point, the actors’ choice made sense. The suggestion that he is objecting to the character making the command also makes sense.
Master Constable
Head constable.
Unpaid local constables were elected annually by their parishes and were under the
control of a High Constable, who reported to the justices of the peace at quarters
sessions (Sharpe 33–34). According to Stow, Billingsgate Ward had eleven constables (Stow 189).
bade
Appointed, proclaimed. Past participle of bid, to announce, proclaim, command, enjoin
(OED bid, v.1 3.10).
Pronounced like
bad(which is how it is spelled in Q1), creating humorous punning possibilities that Derrick exploits when he calls John one of the Master Constable’s
beastly officers(Sc2 Sp24).
draws his sword
put it up(Sc2 Sp27), i.e. put away his weapon. Alon Nashman (Derrick) was given a wooden dagger for use as a weapon for his clown characters in all three plays. The Elizabethan clown character was the theatrical descendent of the stage Vice, a character we know carried a wooden dagger. Shakespeare’s Feste famously refers to it as a
dagger of lath(TN 4.2.104).
the law … hands
If
hisrefers to the Master Constable, then Derrick follows up his refusal to take the law at Robin’s hands by insisting that he will take the law from no one other than the highest authority, i.e. the Master Constable (see Sc2 Sp20). If
hisrefers to Robin, then Derrick conceivably is threatening to take the law into his own hands against Robin, which would be consonant with Derrick drawing his sword and John’s imprecation in the following line that Derrick
not take the law of us.
We failed to decipher this line in the SQM production and Nashman kept the reference for
hisvague in his delivery. In retrospect it would have developed the logic of our choice if he had directed his attentions to John who physically subdued him (see 2). He would then have been threatening to take the law into his own hands against John. This section of text is open to other dramaturgical interpretations.
him
Robin, implying that Derrick considers Robin’s attempt to seize him illegal.
proper
Attractive, fair, handsome(OED proper, adj. 3.7.b).
Aside
In the following line, Derrick refers to John or Robin in the third person, suggesting
that the line is an aside addressed more or less directly to the audience.
Among the many choices for stage directions, an editor has to choose one stage direction,
because the line makes no sense if the reader thinks it is addressed to the constables.
The character may mutter to himself, he may speak directly to the audience, he may
speak to one other person who may not listen or comprehend.
Cutbert Cutter
Cutbert Cutter is named at Sc24 Sp54 but in his speech prefixes and the stage directions always called simply
Theefor
Theefe.I have emended to “Cutbert Cutter” throughout.
good fellow
Boon companion, merry lad, drinking companion (Cotgrave).
The reference is probably to Derrick, who has been spotted by Cutbert Cutter as a
fellow thief. The others may accept that he means
boon companionbut Derrick does not, and hence the Gadshill reference, as the next note indicates. The thief’s comment has a clear context for Derrick’s subsequent name-calling. An alternative reading might be that the thief addresses John or one of the other officials onstage, but Derrick’s reaction to hearing the words and the voice is what makes the scene work.
Gadshill
Derrick nicknames Cutbert Cutter after the notorious place for holdups, a hill on the Rochester highway, 20 miles SE of London(Corbin and Sedge).
Corbin and Sedge note that the analogous character in Henry IV, Part 1 is known only by this nickname. As Prince Harry and his companions plan their robbery,
Ned Poins tells them that
tomorrow morning by four o’clock early, at Gads Hill, there are pilgrims going to Canterbury with rich offerings, and traders riding to London with fat purses. I have visors for you all; you have horses for yourselves. Gadshill lies tonight in Rochester(1H4 1.2.97–100).
liege people
Vassals, feudal retainers, loyal subjects.
him
Derrick.
Vintner’s
Keeper of an inn serving wine.
Goodman
Title of respect applied to respectable householders and others under the rank of
gentleman (OED goodman, n. 4.a).
Robert
Robin is a diminutive form of Robert (cf. Heywood and Brome D2r).
John calls the boy Robert (Sc2 Sp51); this edition has adopted this later naming for the boy to avoid confusion with
Robin Pewterer.
Counter
A prison for debtors connected with the City court in London(Sugden 133) and
under the control of the London sheriffs(Howard 75).
There were two main Counters in Elizabethan London: the Poultry Counter and the Wood
Street Counter (Sugden 133). Howard states that
The Counters were open all night, and anyone caught by the watch for any crimes or disturbances would be brought to them and held there until morning(Howard 76).
this night … ago
In Stow the incident takes place
Upon the euen of Saint Iohn Baptist(Stow 573), 23 June 1410.
Stow narrates that
the kings sonne being in Eastcheap at supper, after midnight, betwixt two and three of the clocke, a great debate hapned betweene his men and men of the Courte, lasting an houre, til the Maior and Sherifes with other Citizens ceased the same: for the which afterward the sayde Maior, Sherifes, and Aldermen, were sent for to appeare before the kyng, to answeare(Stow 573).
noise
Group, band, consort.
pots
Drinking mugs or cups.
fray
Brawl, riot, breach of the peace. From Anglo-Norman legal term affray, breach of the
peace (OED fray, n.1 3.a).
mayor
Sir Richard Marlow, ironmonger (Stow 572). The context clearly indicates that Q1’s Maior is Mayor not Major. Q1 retains this
spelling of mayor throughout, and in this edition subsequent occurences have been
silently modernized.
sheriff
Along with a mayor, London was governed by two sheriffs elected annually (Stow 442–444). The two sheriffs elected on 28 September 1409 were John Lawe and William Chicheley
(Stow 572). The play may be referring to either one of them here or may be referring to no
specific historical individual, compressing the two sheriffs into one for the sake
of dramatic economy.
sessions day
Days on which prisoners were formally indicted.
There were between ten and twelve indictment sessions annually at Newgate (Archer 218).
country
Local (Thomas). Alternatively, country may refer to the point of origin of the offender:
The Counter was used for London offenders, Newgate for those brought in from the country(Sugden 364).
Newgate
London’s main criminal prison in the medieval and early modern periods.
Founded in the thirteenth century and rebuilt in the fifteenth century, Newgate was
used principally to house felons, many of whom were facing the death penalty (Bassett 233–235).
Scene 3
Earl of Exeter
The first duke of Exeter, John Holland (1352–1400), Henry IV’s brother-in-law and
Prince Henry’s uncle (Hall, Henry IV Fol. 10v; Hall, Henry V Fol. 7v), was executed in 1400. Thomas Beaufort became the second duke of Exeter in 1416,
much to the disappointment of the first duke’s son John, the earl of Huntington (ODNB).
Henry IV
The play drops
Kingor
Kfrom its speech prefixes for Henry IV. This speech prefix and others have been standardized accordingly.
subject
Anyone under a particular sovereign’s rule.
unequal
Prejudiced, biased.
or whether … them
fray(Sc2 Sp54) from the previous scene word for word. The repetition of Robert’s lines in the mouth of the mayor encouraged us to give the mayor some of the naive quality the clowning gave to the Boy and the town watch. Philip Borg thus experimented with clowning the mayor, emphasizing his fear of the king’s wrath and struggling to maintain his dignity. In the end, we decided he should play it straight and support Don’s work to establish the gravity of the situation in contrast to the comedy of the previous scenes.
liked them not
Displeased or annoyed them.
try
Test.
whether … tell
Whether you had sent them to test our impartiality in office or whether they were
acting on their own.
ward
Custody, imprisonment, prison.
wanteth
Lacks.
our answer
Stow records that the mayor and sheriffs
aunswered, they had not offended the Kyng nor his sonnes, but according to law stanched the debates: then the King seeing it woulde be none otherwyse, forgaue altogither, and they departed(Stow 573).
Exit Mayor
Stand aside(Sc3 Sp8), which conventionally implies they should move to the edge of the stage, but the stage direction in the quarto text that indicates an exit here worked well in practice. The Mayor and Sheriff exited to be followed by the king when he says
I will go myself(Sc3 Sp13). As in the later court scenes, the text invites the audience to imagine other chambers just off stage (6).
Ah, Harry … days
The king’s lament is a variation on the biblical King David’s, learning of the death
of his badly behaved son:
O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!(2 Samuel 18:33). The verse was a popular drinking round-song in the Elizabethan period and thus an important popular echo in this play.
Bullough points to Henry IV’s lament in Henry IV, Part 1 that Prince Harry is
the hot vengeance and the rod of heaven / To punish my mistreadings(1H4 3.2.10–11).
precise
Scrupulous, strict, officious.
Scene 4
Lord Chief Justice
William Gascoigne (Stow 573), the lawyer who was famous for his idealistic view of law as superior even to kings.
Clerk … Office
Officer in charge of court records; clerk of Assizes or Sessions.
bar
The barrier or wooden rail marking off the immediate precinct of the judge’s seat, at which prisoners are stationed for arraignment, trial, or sentence(OED bar, n.1 3.22.a).
barwhich implies that something on stage might represent a
barand this question led us to debate the creation of a physical set piece for this scene. Such a set piece, a
portable railing or barrier at which a prisoner is placed in trial/courtroom scenes,was a common property in Elizabethan theatre (Dessen and Thomson 20). I felt that having such a set piece on stage would create an opportunity for more physical humor and make sense of Derrick’s next line:
Hear you, my lord, I pray you bring the bar to the prisoner(Sc4 Sp2). I imagined that on this line the clown might pick up the
barand move it over to where Cuthbert Cutter was standing. We decided in the end that the gag did not justify the expense involved in building a set piece for this scene. There were no other trial scenes in the SQM repertoire of Queen’s Men plays. To make sense of the line without the set piece, Alon Nashman (Derrick) made a striking motion with his hand to indicate he hoped the judge would hit the prisoner with an iron bar.
bring the bar
Derrick’s comic inversion of the Lord Chief Justice’s previous line plays on several
senses of bar. Derrick may be expressing his desire that the Lord Chief Justice punish Cutbert immediately
and harshly (by beating him with a bar or rod or by bringing him swiftly to the crossbar
of the gallows). Alternatively, Derrick may be mocking Cutbert’s impending imprisonment
by insinuating that if he wishes in the future to get a drink, the bar, i.e. the pub,
will have to be brought to him.
At this moment Alon Nashman (Derrick) made a striking motion with his fist to make sense of this otherwise obscure
line. See previous note (see note at Sc4 Sp1).
an have … writing
If you already have it in writing?
Why then … him
fourteenth … sovereign
Henry IV began his reign on 30 September 1399; he died in the fourteenth year of his
reign, on 20 March 1413.
belie
Slander, speak falsehoods about, misrepresent.
pack
Bag or sack for transporting goods.
Skins wherein clothes were packed in carriage;
A pack, a burden, a loade, a weight: also a charge giuen to one, or that one taketh on him;
a thing to pack marchandise in: paper or other stuffe, wherein occupiers wrap their seuerall wares(Thomas). Carriers were legally liable for the goods they were transporting (Stewart 457), so even though it is comical it is perhaps also understandable that Derrick here should express as much concern for the damage done to his pack as for the damage done to his body.
raze
Root, cutting.
bouncing Bess
Well, what sayest
whether
Whichever of the two.
young Prince
bound
Laid under charge, arrested.
villain?
man
Follower, employee, feudal servant.
man … hands
A man of valor, skill, or practical ability(OED hand, n. P1.g.a), with obvious ironic reference to Cutbert’s thievery.
Of my word
I swear, I’m telling you.
quality
Attribute, characteristic, habit.
Hear you, sir
Modern editors of the play have considered Sc4 Sp34 to be a mistaken repetition of Sc4 Sp31 Adams, Pitcher, and Corbin and Sedge excise them. In production, however, the repetition
is the basis of comedy, accentuated by the increase in comic outrage registered by
Derrick’s shift from earnest at the end of the first iteration to jest at the end of the second.
Strangely enough this was the one line we cut from the production. Although repetition
can be comic, we could see no way to make this line work. It is simply too odd for
Derrick to repeat the entire line, word for word, especially since the other characters
still take no notice of him. Our intention was to perform the text as it has survived
without editing but in this one instance we could not make it work.
must needs
Am obliged to.
Tell me
box … ear
A blow to the side of the head.
According to Hall,
for the imprisonmente of one of his wanton mates and vnthriftie plaisaiers he Prince Henry strake the chiefe Justice with his fiste on the face. For which offence he was not onely committed to streyght prison, but also of his father put out of the preuy counsaill and banished the courte(Hall, Henry V Fol. 1r). An earlier account of the incident can be found in Thomas Elyot’s The Governour (Book II, Chapter VI), in which the Prince does not strike the Lord Chief Justice. An anecdote from Tarlton’s Jests (1638) reveals the comic potential of the stage action:
At the Bull at Bishophs-gate, was a play of Henry the fift, wherein the judge was to take a box on the eare; & because he was absent that should take the blowe, Tarlton himselfe, ever forward to please, tooke upon him to play the same judge, beside his owne part of the clowne: and Knel then playing Henry the fift, hit Tarlton a sounde boxe indeed, which made the people laugh the more, because it was he(Bullough 289–290).
laugh the more(suggesting that boxing the Justice’s ear was considered amusing anyway) supports our choice to make the scene both serious and funny. Like many in the Queen’s Men repertoire, this scene challenges lingering twenty-first century assumptions about the division between comedy and tragedy.
Exeunt … Tom
Because the lord chief justice orders the convicted thief returned to prison, Cutbert
must remain on stage until this decision is given.
Well … hands
The Lord Chief Justice’s restraint shows up the prince’s immaturity and thoughtlessness.
In Henry IV, Part 2 Falstaff taunts the Lord Chief Justice about his mild reception of Prince Hal’s physical
assault:
For the box of th’ear that the Prince gave you, he gave it like a rude prince, and you took it like a sensible lord(2H4 3.163–165).
Your grace … father
lively
Living.
prerogatives
Legal rights or privileges.
By hitting the Lord Chief Justice, Prince Henry presumed upon his privileges as the
king’s son. By committing Prince Henry to prison, the Lord Chief Justice teaches him
that his prerogatives do not overrule the law of his father the king, whose still
livelyperson the Lord Chief Justice represents. Although Shakespeare does not dramatize the incident, in Henry IV, Part 2 the Lord Chief Justice presents a similar argument when confronted by the newly crowned Henry V in 5.2:
Your highness pleasèd to forget my place, / The majesty and power of law and justice, / The image of the King whom I presented(2H4 15.76–78), he tells Henry, and for that reason,
as an offender to your father, / I gave bold way to my authority / And did commit you(2H4 15.80–82).
Fleet
A prison
on the East side of the Fleet Ditch, London, a little North of the junction of Ludgate Hill and Fleet Street(Sudgen 194).
Debtors and those held for contempt of court(Kinney 51) were committed to the Fleet.
’ssizes
Assizes, days on which court held sessions or hearings. From Law-French, meaning a
sitting (OED assize, n. 1.1).
England was divided into six assize circuits, which two judges rode twice a year.
The judges were authorized to investigate and judge all offences in their circuit
and to try the suspected felons in the county prisons (Sharpe 23).
Exeunt
The quarto provides no exit stage direction for any of these characters. Obviously
all characters other than John and Derrick must exit at this point, as the immediately
following action features John and Derrick clowning by themselves.
The textual editor has chosen to preserve the entry stage direction at 5 rather than emend it to a possibility indicating that John and Derrick remain on
stage after the others have left. The logic of this stage direction is to get everyone
officially out of the “courtroom” we have imagined on-stage, and allow the clowns
to re-enter and re-play the box on the ear. We need not assume that the place is still
the courtroom. Clowns, in any case, have special privileges: see, eg, Derrick’s roving
(2) in which he enters, exits, and enters again. See also Simplicity in The Three Ladies of London: he re-enters immediately after he exits to run away from Fraud, who wants to punch
him. The scene doesn’t change:
Let Fraud run at him, and let Simplicity run in and / come out again straight(). This freedom from convention is clown work. Of course, John and Derrick must exit at some point so that they can re-enter, either here at the end of the scene (which permits them to see all the action that they parody in the next scene, including their own exits and re-entrances) or earlier on, which would conform to the common Elizabethan dramatic practice of not having characters re-enter the stage to begin a new scene immediately after they have exited the previous scene. If the new scene returns to the space of the previous scene, what generates the comedy of John and Derrick’s immediate re-entrance could be their knowing violation of this common practice. They have sneaked back into a space they are not supposed to be in, the empty courtroom represented by the stage, or simply the stage itself.
Scene 5
Enter … John
masters
mastersmust be directed at the audience. Derrick is about to put on a show for the audience in which he tricks John into receiving a box on the ear. The SQM actors were all encouraged to speak to the audience whenever possible, but the clown characters used direct address more frequently, especially the leading clown characters, like Derrick, who we believe were played by Tarlton.
choler
Anger.
shillings
Twelve pence made a shilling; twenty shillings made a pound.
Slack states that
the minimum necessary income for an average poor familybetween 1590 and 1630 was two shillings a week or five pounds four shillings annually (Slack 81). The basic price of admission to a play in an open-air playhouse like the Theatre, the Curtain, or the Rose was one penny (Gurr 122).
Thou shalt … chair,
The play-acting offers an extempory clowning that echoes or comments on the significant
event, and reveals the character of the players as well.
In Henry IV, Part 1, Falstaff and Prince Hal take turns playing the role of Prince Harry’s father in
chiding the prince.
No, no
No, marry
my man.In rehearsal, Gray repeatedly came in too early and the two developed this interruption into comic business as Derrick kept repeating the line and miscuing John on purpose. Palfrey and Stern have established that repeated cues were a common feature of the parts system and were used to create a variety of theatrical effects (Palfrey 157–305). The effect of the cueing here actually trapped the actors in one moment of action, repeating the same lines over and over. The actors tried to work this as a metatheatrical joke in which Alon Nashman/Derrick kept cueing Jason Gray/John’s previous line but I don’t believe it made sense in performance. The actors’ parts used in the SQM productions are accessible on the Performing the Queen’s Men website.
John
Much of the humor in the exchange between Derrick and John is generated by the way
in which the two clowns slip in and out of their assumed names and roles. The confusion
of play-acting and reality indicated in this and the following line by the two clowns’
reversion to their real names, for example, is followed by a very different sort of
confusion of the two when Derrick hits John.
what a clown wert thou to let me hit thee a box on the ear(Sc5 Sp25).
mass
By the mass (oath).
straight
Immediately.
keep
Supply with bed and board.
trifle
Something small or of little value, but in this context possibly also a dessert made
of sponge cake, custard, fruit, and whipped cream (OED trifle, 3; 6.b), although the OED’s first recorded use of the word to mean a type of dessert is from 1598.
woodcock
Game-bird, about the size of a small chicken, considered food for gentry, like pheasant
or grouse.
capon’s
Castrated rooster’s. A capon has more meat than a chicken, and its leg is larger,
though not so large as a turkey’s.
rooting
Snuffling in the earth, like a pig; having sexual intercourse.
ringed
I.e., castrated. Pigs’ snouts are ringed to prevent them from rooting.
crab
Crab apple.
Scene 6
born new(Sc6 Sp49). Hopkins played the prince as playfully sinful and I wonder, in retrospect, if he might have been played more darkly. Would the original audience have been more likely to disapprove of the Prince’s sinful behavior? The stage directions in the scene also provide great interpretive challenges for the director and editor. This scene is an excellent example of the fluid economy of space both real and imaginary that characterized the Elizabethan stage. In the SQM productions we tried to create staging that satisfied the majority of the stage directions in the text. The evidence of the stage directions however is confusing and inconclusive. The textual editor arrived at different solutions from those of the SQM company.
Come away
when I … things
In 1.2 of Henry IV, Part 1, Shakespeare echoes this phrase five times.
When thou art a king, as God save thy grace—‘majestyʼ I should say, for grace thou wilt have none— […] when thou art king let not us that are squires of the night’s body be called thieves of the day’s beauty(1H4 1.2.13–21), Falstaff jokingly implores Prince Hal.
Shall there be gallows standing in England when thou art king(1H4 1.2.46–47), he then asks, urging him,
Do not thou when thou art king hang a thief(1H4 1.2.48–49). Prince Hal replies by threatening to make Falstaff a hangman (1H4 1.2.53). Later in the scene Falstaff declares,
I’ll be a traitor then, when thou art king(1H4 1.2.115).
would be all kings
merry world(Sc6 Sp10) he proposes attractive. Although later in the scene he deeply repents this behavior, I insisted there should be no sign of his coming remorse at this point. We wanted the moment of his conversion to be sudden, like Saul’s light at Damascus. The play draws on a Christian understanding of human nature.
thou shalt … justice
Prince Henry’s promise to Ned gives specificity to his previous meditation on the
carnivalesque world he imagines his reign inaugurating. See note at Sc6 Sp5.
fence
Fencing.
Many of the Queen’s Men actors were also Master Fencers, and an audience would expect
at least one lengthy fencing scene in every play. Even their great clown Richard Tarlton
was a Master of Fence (Thomson), their leading man Edward Knell was killed in swordfight (Eccles 82–83), and the company was famously involved in an affray at the Red Lion in Norwich where
members of the company leapt off the stage, swords in hand, to pursue an innyard thief
through the town (Roberts-Smith 110–111).
fellow … courageously
The status of a thief-hierarchy is commented on in Jonson’s The Alchemist, and earlier in the several prose works on thieves’ cant, e.g. Thomas Harman’s A Caveat for Common Cursetors, or Greene’s cony-catching pamphlets, where the urban thief is the
heroand others his laughable dupes. Prince Henry’s valorization of the highwayman over other, less noble types of criminal anticipates such later literary figures as Ainsworth’s Dick Turpin and Macheath in John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera (1728). Prince Henry’s characterization of the highwayman recalls the popular figure of Robin Hood, but its combination of the criminal and chivalric may also be satirical.
doubt
Suspect.
Yet will … head
I will go to court immediately because as soon as my father dies I will put the crown
on my head.
Bullough compares Prince Henry’s attitude here to Prince Harry’s attitude in Henry IV, Part 2: Prince Hal concedes that although
it is not meet that I should be sad now my father is sick(2H4 6.31–32),
I could be sad; and sad indeed too(2H4 6.33–34).
the breath … head
Cloak … needles
“
According to Stow, when Prince Henry learns that his father
suspected that he would presume to vsurpe the crown, he being aliue,he
disguised himself in a gown of blew satten, made full of small Oylet holes, and at euery Oylet the needle wherwith it was made hanging still by a threede of silke. And about his arme he ware a dogges coller set ful of SS of golde, and the Tirets of the same also of fine gold. Thus apparelled, with a great companye of Lordes and other noble men of his Court, he came to the king his father(Stow 576). Tracing the gown’s symbolism back to a medieval Oxford tradition of handing out needles and thread to students at Christmas so that they could mend their gowns (Romotsky 157), Romotsky observes that sixteenth-century historical accounts of Prince Henry’s gown (changed into a cloak in Famous Victories) consider it to be a sign of his sincere contrition for his unruliness and his desire for reconciliation with his father (Romotsky 157). In contrast, in Famous Victories the cloak
symbolizes callous ambition(Romotsky 158) and aggression:
’tis a sign that I stand upon thorns ’til the crown be on my head(Sc6 Sp18), according to Prince Henry, to which Jockey adds
Or that every needle might be a prick to their hearts that repine at your doings(Sc6 Sp19). Later in the scene Prince Henry’s sudden repentance before his father is dramatically represented when he throws off
this ruffianly cloak(Sc6 Sp45) and asks for his father’s pardon. See Romotsky’s article on the history of the cloak of needles.
I stand … head
A playful and slightly blasphemous allusion to Christ’s crown of thorns. Christ’s
crown is his suffering; Prince Henry suffers until he is crowned.
repine
Complain.
gear
Business, matter.
had as lief
Would rather.
prating
Chattering.
gate
This editorial stage direction is necessitated by Prince Henry’s indication of motion
at Sc6 Sp20 and the Porter (or gate-keeper)’s question at Sc6 Sp21. In an early modern London amphitheatre playhouse like the Theatre or the Curtain,
a gate could have been represented by either of the two doors in the stage’s tiring-house
faĉade or by the central discovery space. It need not have been a movable stage property.
The Queen’s Men’s plays, however, were performed in a variety of London and provincial
venues, from inn yards to town halls, and exactly how the company represented the
gate in this scene would depend on the concrete conditions of the particular performance
venue and on the effect the actors were trying to achieve, as the director’s performance
note on the gate in the SQM production of the play fully illustrates. The location
of this gate may be at the abbott’s house of Westminster Abbey, where the king was
historically supposed to be attending a convocation of parliament; or it may have
been assumed that the king was at his own residence in the Palace of Westminster.
What a rapping keep you at the king’s court gate?suggests that somehow there is a gate on stage and someone is rapping on it. Adding to the confusion, the quarto text does not mark an entrance for the Porter. Because we were looking for simple efficient solutions, we decided that we could not bring on a gate as might be inferred from MM’s added stage direction. Bringing on a structure to represent the gate either at this point or earlier in the scene would have interrupted the flow of the action unnecessarily. In keeping with the conventions of Elizabethan theatre, we decided to rely instead on the audience’s imagination. Ned simply went over to the tiring house and knocked on the frame. Once the Porter refers to the specifics of the portal implied by the rapping, the new location is firmly established in the minds of the audience. In rehearsal the Porter (Philip Borg), rather than entering the stage, poked his head through the curtains, which nicely referenced the small windows porters used in large castle gates and enabled a very sudden entrance. This had the added advantage that the Porter did not enter the stage—a possible explanation for the lack of a stage direction for his entrance.
Though … court!
Prince Henry is telling Ned that because they are at the court of his father, the
king, they both must restrain the violence they could elsewhere exercise freely.
him
Porter.
tables
Writing tablet.
stand aside
The prince enters with a dagger in his hand.In the SQM production, the prince and his companions exited after saying stand aside which was consistent with our interpretation of the same phrase in Sc3 (Sc3 Sp8). This solution allowed the king to enter and bemoan his sinful son without having the son standing beside him on the stage pretending not to hear. Since simultaneous staging was an accepted part of Elizabethan stagecraft, it could have been staged without the prince’s exit as MM’s editing implies; but the fact a later entrance is marked for the prince suggested to us he should exit and return.
Enter the King
he
The Lord Chief Justice.
him
Prince Henry.
wherefore
Why.
ill rule
Rowdy or unruly behavior, such as drinking, gambling, and whoring, that would convert
the king’s castle into a house of ill repute (Hollyband).
Oxford goeth
He goeth.We can pretty safely construe the pronoun is referring to Oxford but we have no indication of where he
goeth.In the SQM production, Oxford crossed to the upstage left curtain used for entrances in our staging, where he met the prince and his companions arriving at the king’s chambers. The logic of the imagined space was confusing at this point since they were arriving at a space from which they had merely stood aside earlier, and through a different entrance.
must needs
Must.
I can … countenance
I cannot show my father the proper respect.
Prince Henry clearly feels his followers give him dignity and presence as a royal
heir, having to face his father’s disapproval. But his desperation to have them with
him suggests he is afraid to see his father alone. The complex situation allows the
actor to create a strong emotional impact on the audience. The Prince’s comment is
likely ironic given the rowdiness of his companions.
Exeunt Knights
Oxford had blocked the Prince’s entrance to the stage, and the audience could only
see his companions peering in through the curtains. Having commanded
three noise of musicians(Sc6 Sp43), Paul Hopkins (Prince Henry) briefly stepped off stage and joined in a brief stanza of a song with his friends. This brief exit allowed us to satisfy the next stage direction:
The Prince crosses the stage to Henry IV with a dagger in his hand(6).
The Prince … hand
Prince Henry has not left the stage. He withdraws or stands aside, which is where
Oxford presumably
goethto fetch him.
Come, my … name!
That is, if you are going to flout or kill me, then do it now. The king clearly desires
the situation to end definitively: is he recognizing his son’s contempt for him, or
his own readiness to die at his son’s hands, if he cannot win him over? This is an
important theatrical opportunity to impress the audience with complex emotional response.
The analogous scene in Henry IV, Part 1 is 3.2, although, as Bullough remarks,
the treatment is very different(Bullough). Prince Hal is less concerned with renewing his soul than with refurbishing his reputation. He does not confront his father with a dagger in his hand, and, rather than claiming to be reborn at the end of the confrontation, he promises his father that
I shall hereafter, my thrice-gracious lord, / Be more myself.(2H4 3.292–93). Only after his coronation in Henry IV, Part 2, however, does he banish Falstaff and declare that
I have turned away my former self(2H4 18.53).
reprobate
Sinful, unredeemed, damned.
youth
Henry IV may be alluding here to the allegorical character of Youth found in earlier
morality plays.
In Tudor morality plays such as The Interlude of Youth (c. 1515), an allegorical character (such as Youth) is seduced into evil ways by
bad company, comprising allegorical characters such as Riot, Pride, and Lechery, and
often including the character of the Vice (Happé). Shakespeare may be picking up on this allusion to dramatic tradition when in Henry IV, Part 1 Prince Hal calls Falstaff
that reverent Vice, that grey iniquity, that father Ruffian, that Vanity-in-Years(1H4 2.4.372–373). In Youth, Youth ultimately rejects Riot and Pride and embraces Charity and Humility.
manifestly
Openly.
My conscience … die
whereas you … life
Although you think that I will try to murder you.
In Henry IV, Part 2, after Prince Harry has returned to his father’s chamber with the crown, Henry IV
tells his son that
thou hid’st a thousand daggers in thy thoughts(1H4 13.236).
pretended
Intended, premeditated.
I most … hand
According to Stow, Prince Henry declares to his father
how muche rather oughte I to suffer death to bring your grace from the feare that ye haue of me that am your naturall sonne, and your liegeman(Stow 577); then, giving his father his dagger,
I beseeche you in the honour of God, for the easing of youre harte, heretofore your knees to slea me with this dagger(Stow 577).
abolish
Abandon.
I will … life
Becoming a hermit was a conventional indication of true penitence, and here the statement
acts particularly as a type of Christian protestant conversion frequent in the Queen’s
Men’s plays. Other dramatists also used such scenes. At the end of Shakespeare’s As You Like It, for example, the evil Duke Frederick is suddenly converted, abandons his usurped
crown, and becomes a hermit (AYL 5.4.143–145).
born new again
The phrase echoes John 3:7, in which Jesus tells Nicodemus that
Ye must be borne againe,and indicates the culmination of a process of spiritual transformation that begins when Prince Henry declares,
My conscience accuseth me(Sc6 Sp45).
Hall asserts that upon coronation Prince Henry
determined with himself to put on the shape of a new man(Hall, Henry V Fol. 1r).
Come … lords
The king demonstrates his forgiveness of his son by asking for his help, a confidence
in or desire for his son’s affection, instead of only relying on his attendant lords.
The stage business here can have a strong visual and emotional impact.
Scene 7
glad of a dish of roots(Sc5 Sp32). Once again Derrick is the trickster clown and John, the dupe. Derrick charges onto the stage calling John’s wife a whore, and the hapless John follows behind trying to quiet him for the sake of his public reputation and find the cause of Derrick’s anger. Making this joke work for a contemporary audience was difficult on two levels. First of all due to the obscurity of the reference to
roots,or root vegetables whose edible part is below ground (carrots, beets, radishes, parsnips, turnips, and other tubers), which were lower class fare for the table. It was unclear to many in our modern audience that the rustic clown Derrick is assuming airs and graces by suggesting it is insulting to his dignity to be offered a
dish of roots.This class-based comedy is also enhanced in the original social context by the common vein of humor arising from cuckoldry, activated by the public insults Derrick directs at John’s wife.
running
whorein the streets. John Cobbler’s fear of being thought a cuckold would have been immediately understandable to an Elizabethan audience but the impact of the humor was less immediate for our audience.
Hearest a?
Do you hear?
use that
Behave like that.
a narrant
Comic mispronunciation of an arrant; arrant: shameless, notorious, complete.
what … done
prove it
prove itbefore he had indicated the offense. We decided that Derrick is still enamoured of his experience in the court (Sc4). Alon Nashman (Derrick) adopted a tone of the law court as he presented his evidence while simultaneously clowning the presentation of evidence. He tucked one leg under his other knee and bent that knee, creating the comic impression he was sitting at table. The little mock trial comically reflected the exploration of law and justice earlier in the play. It is a good example of the creativity the company clowns brought to the staging of the play.
barrel butter
Old salt butter(Bullough); butter salted and stored in a barrel for longer life.
dish of roots(Sc5 Sp32) and
barrel butter(Sc7 Sp7) are lowly fare for the table and that the rustic trickster Derrick is deliberately assuming airs and graces by expecting a more elaborate meat-based dinner. These reference points were largely lost on our audience. The joke still worked to a degree because Derrick’s anger was clearly out of proportion with its cause, and Gray’s naive distress was the comical reaction.
drab
A harlot, a common strumpet(Thomas). Having called John’s wife knave, Derrick completes his comic reversal of gender roles by calling John drab, implying that John is a hen-pecked husband bullied by his wife.
is all well?
break all the glass windows(Sc7 Sp11). This creative choice effected another comic turnaround as the hapless dupe, John, was pulled back from happiness into a new fear. Derrick and John form the classic clowning partnership of the trickster and the dupe.
glass windows
Given that glass windows were rare in ordinary homes until the late 16th century (Louw 9), Derrick’s threat may be empty bombast. Windows made up of panes of flattened animal
horn were used as early as the 14th century.
woodcock, a chicken, or a capon’s legthere (Sc5 Sp31).
Scene 8
boots
Profits.
physic
Medicine.
remember … testament
Making one’s last will and testament was an act of death-bed piety. See the morality
play Everyman, in which the penitent character Everyman makes his last will and testament before
receiving the last sacraments.
unfeigned
Sincere.
Draw the curtains
Music plays
I will go
whereas
Where.
dying
That is, dead.
wherein
When.
begotten
Conceived, engendered, procreated.
suffice
Satisfy.
Exit … crown
Corbin and Sedge note that Prince Hal exits the analogous scene in Henry IV, Part 2 wearing the crown (2H4 18.173–176).
easily
Softly.
remove my chair
removed […] a little backwith the king still in it because it had wheels. The historical evidence to support this choice and an extended exploration of the decision-making behind the staging of this scene can be found on the Performing the Queen’s Men website.
Enter Lord … crown
The appearance of the prince with the crown is an important visual leading up to the
reconciliation of father and son, king and heir.
Shakespeare expands upon the ensuing dialogue between Prince Henry and Henry IV in
Henry IV, Part 2 (2H4 13.222).
Why, how … mouth?
Most sovereign … father
In Hall Prince Henry answers his father,
sir to myne and all menes iudgementes you semed deade in this worlde, wherefore I as your next and aparant heyre toke that as mine owne and not as yours(Hall, Henry IV Fol. 32v).
unmindful
Unaware.
how hardly … it
Henry IV usurped the English crown from his cousin Richard II in 1399 and throughout
his reign faced attack and rebellion from the Scots, the Welsh, and the northern English
nobles by whose support he initially gained the crown.
Howsoever … not
Prince Henry’s assertion is historically inaccurate. He may be feigning ignorance
here to avoid acknowledging the shaky legitimacy of his status as heir to the English
crown.
Having been a hostage in Richard II’s camp during his father’s rebellion (Seward 8–9), Prince Henry would have been well aware of the dubious means by which his father
came by the English crown. He would also have been aware that in 1398, before embarking
for Ireland to put down a rebellion, the childless Richard II recognized not his father
but the earl of March, another cousin, as the heir presumptive (Seward 9). Historically, the earl of March’s son, Edmund Mortimer, was the focus of a number
of rebellions during the reigns of Henry IV and Henry V, including the rebellion of
the northern nobles that led to the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 (Seward 19) and the Southampton Plot, whose conspirators intended to assassinate Henry V on
the eve of his invasion of France in 1415 and place Mortimer on the throne (Seward 47–49). Shakespeare dramatizes the Battle of Shrewsbury in Henry IV, Part 1, where it is the culminating moment in Hal’s efforts to redeem himself in his father’s
eyes, and the Southampton Plot in Henry V, where its detection and defeat become the signs of God’s providential approval of
Henry V’s status as king. After sending the conspirators off to execution, Henry exclaims,
God so graciously hath brought to light / This dangerous treason lurking in our way(H5 2.3.180–181).
I will … it
In Hall, Prince Henry declares,
I will haue the garland and trust too kepe it with the swerde against all mine enemies as you haue done(Hall, Henry IV Fol. 32v). See Prince Harry’s analogous declaration in Henry IV, Part 2 (2H4 13.349–352).
bullion
Solid gold or silver.
His former … less
We may read Exeter and Oxford’s statement as something other than either blatant hypocrisy
or sharp irony if we consider that the two might be alluding to events not dramatized
by the play, such as Prince Henry’s performance at Shrewsbury and in his father’s
military campaigns against the Welsh, and that they have consistently supported Prince
Henry, even when he was in disgrace with his father for his riotous behavior.
The King dieth
Henry IV died 20 March 1413 (Dockray 93).
The King dieth,we followed our theatrical instincts. The death of the king ends one stage of the action and begins the next, and we felt that this transition and shift of rhythm should be marked theatrically. Other solutions are possible, but any production would have to deal with this issue in some concrete manner. The sick chair made the removal of the dead king’s body relatively easy which is another argument in its favor.
Scene 9
Ah God
Gog’s wounds … dead!
In Henry IV, Part 2, Henry IV’s death is first announced by Warwick to the Lord Chief Justice in Scene 15; Prince Hal makes his first appearance as Henry V (2H4 15.43) to Warwick, the Lord Chief Justice, and his brothers in the same scene before he
later confronts and rejects his erstwhile companions, including Falstaff, in Scene 18.
I shall be
stinks
Conditions in medieval and early modern English prisons were generally bad, but Newgate,
the prison from which Cutbert Cutter has just been released, was notorious for its
poor conditions, especially its smell. Bassett states that
a ‘fetid and corruptʼ atmosphere hung about the prison(Bassett 244) and records the testimony of a 16th-century inmate who was nearly killed by the prison’s
nauseating odor(Bassett 244).
Prisoners in Newgate, as in all other prisons of the time, were required to pay for
their own food, bed-clothes, and lodgings, often at the extortionate prices set by
the jailer. Prisons had three wards: knights’ ward (1 groat a night with bed, private
room, another groat for sheets); the twopenny ward (twopence a day, reduced to one
penny if shared bed); the pit or hell with shelves for beds, no mattress, blanket, chamberpots, or food beyond charity.
Prisoners had to pay for their upkeep or rely on friends/ relatives. Poor prisoners
either starved or relied on charity (often mouldy leftovers from taverns) for their
maintenance (Bassett 245).
angels
An angel was
a gold coin issued in England between 1465 and c1642, bearing the figure of the archangel Michael killing a dragon(OED angel, n. 3.10). First minted by Edward IV, when it was worth 6s. 8d., by the middle of the sixteenth century it was worth 10s.
changed his countenance
Altered his demeanor, reversed his usual behavior; transformed himself.
The use of this idiomatic expression suggests a suspicion of hypocrisy, or merely
outward change. Only Jockey feels the king inspires spiritual change in himself.
This is another theatrical opportunity: Jockey is the only follower who feels changed
and uplifted when Henry is crowned. Ned and Tom are untouched, as shown in the harsh
reprimands to those two later in the scene, but nothing is said directly to Jockey,
although he seems to be included. The question is: when does the prince include Jockey?
Why does the prince fail to distinguish between Jockey and the other two? See Sc9 Sp18 and note.
countenance(Sc9 Sp12) and his
seat(Sc9 Sp11). He adopted a more upright stance and a new stillness accompanied by a determined yet calm facial expression. Only when dealing with the Lord Chief Justice did he allow elements of his portrayal of the young prince to re-emerge.
embassage
Diplomatic mission, embassy.
into France
In August 1414 Henry V sent an embassy to Charles VI to demand the French crown, French
territories previously possessed by English monarchs (including Normandy and Aquitaine),
and Charles’s daughter Katherine as wife (Dockray 136).
French king
Charles VI.
Charles was a child-king like Richard II, and was overruled by four uncles in the
same way until he was 21. Charles selected better advisors to improve the French economy,
leading his people to call him Charles the Beloved, but soon enough he became Charles
the Mad. He became murderously insane, and the country ended up in the same kind of
civil war as the War of the Roses in England, the civil war that followed the death
of Henry V, whom Charles made his heir in the Treaty of Troyes in 1420. Charles died
in 1422.
Archbishop of Canterbury
Henry Chicheley (Hall, Henry V Fol. 3v).
Chicheley had been active in several political arenas during his lifetime: civic (lawyer,
mayor), academic (Oxford degree), and priestly duties until he retired at age 80.
Clearly he was a good political head to have behind the king.
dumps
Sour or depressed manners.
I prithee
I pray thee, I beg you, please.
mend thy manners
Reform your behavior (as I have reformed mine).
Henry demonstrates his own reformation of character by urging a similar reformation
upon his erstwhile companions and casting off their company until they do indeed convert
to protestant piety. The cue for protestantism is the word
reform.Compare Henry V’s rejection of Ned here and Tom (Sc9 Sp21) at to Henry V’s rejection of Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 2 (2H4 18.42–66).
terms
Choice of language.
dissembling
Hypocritical, deceiving.
Ah, Tom … forever,
Henry is cutting himself off from his playboy past to achieve his next goal of becoming
the pious self-righteous king.
Hall relates that Henry V
banished and separated from hym all his old flatterers and familiar compaignions, (not vnrewarded nor yet vnpreferred) inhibityng them vpon a greate payn not once to approche ether to his speche or presence, nor yet to lodge or soiourne within ten miles of hys courte or mansion(Hall, Henry V Fol. 1r). Stow narrates that after his coronation Prince Henry
called vnto hym all those young Lords and Gentlemen that were the folowers of his yong actes, to euerye one of whome he gaue rich and bounteous giftes, and then commanded that as many as would change their maners as he intended to doe, should abide with him in his Courte, and to all that woulde perseuer in theyr former light conuersation, he gaue expresse commaundemente vpon paine of their heades, neuer after that day to come in his presence(Stow 584).
Your right … France
In Henry V Shakespeare expands Canterbury’s sentence-length justification of Henry V’s claim
to the French throne into an extended disquisition upon the invalidity of the Salic
Law (H5 1.2.33–95), which barred the inheritance of the French crown through descent from female lines
of royalty, in Henry’s case through Isabella, daughter of Philip IV of France, wife
of Edward II, and mother of Edward III.
Isabel
Daughter of Philip IV of France, wife of Edward II, and mother of Edward III.
King … Third
Edward III (r. 1327–1377) was Isabella’s son; Edward II (r. 1307–1327) was her husband.
Charles … king
Charles IV (r. 1322–28).
usurped Frenchman
Charles VI, who according to Canterbury has usurped the French crown from its rightful
owner, Henry V. Canterbury, of course, fails to mention that Henry V is himself the
son of a usurping Englishman, Henry IV.
Scotland … France
In Hall, the archbishop of Canterbury discourses upon
the old league and amitie betwene the realmes of Fraunce and Scotland(Hall, Henry V Fol. 7r) in an effort to persuade Henry to invade Scotland before France. Dockray states that
The security of the Anglo-Scottish border, always a matter of great concern to medieval English kings, became even more crucial when England and France were at war since the long-standing and frequently renewed alliance between Scotland and France was all too liable in such circumstances to trigger Scottish invasion of northern England(Dockray 228–229).
pensions
The duke of Exeter in Hall mentions
French pencionsas
the sustenainers of the Scottishe Nobilitee(Hall, Henry V Fol. 7v).
I thank you
he … old saying.
In Hall, the archbishop of Canterbury concludes his address to Henry with
the old auncient prouerbe vsed by our forfathers, whiche saieth, he that will Fraunce wynne, must with Scotland first beginne(Hall, Henry V Fol. 7v). The duke of Exeter immediately counters with
he that wyll Scotland wynne, let hym with Fraunce first begin(Hall, Henry V Fol. 7v), which Ely in Shakespeare’s Henry V repeats:
But there’s a saying very old and true: / ‘If that you will France win, / Then with Scotland first beginʼ(H5 1.2.166–168). Tilley cites Hall, Famous Victories, and Henry V in his entry (Tilley F663).
lord ambassador
The duke of York.
the embassage
The French rejected the claims of Henry’s first embassy to France in August 1414.
Henry resumed negotiations with the French in March 1415, and a French embassy conveyed
another dismissive reply to Henry at Southampton in June 1415 (Dockray 137).
Archbishop of Bruges
The duke of Burgundy’s court was in Bruges; the archbishop’s role as ambassador reflects
the importance of the duke of Burgundy in the ongoing negotiations between Henry V
and Charles VI.
with good audience
That is, knowing that we will pay attention.
Charles the Sixth
King of France from 1380 to 1422.
not minding … demands,
Not having in mind, or wishing for further slaughter, (but willing) to give in to
your pitiless requirements.
In Hall the archbishop claims that Charles VI’s offer is motivated by
pitie, as a louer of peace, to the extent that innocent bloud should not be dispersed abrode(Hall, Henry V Fol. 10v). Hall describes Charles VI’s offer as
a great some of money with diuerse base and pore coutries with the Lady Katherine in mariage(Hall, Henry V Fol. 10v).
not … kingdom
Not adversely affecting the French national treasury.
puff me up
Make me feel important and privileged.
perchance
Perhaps, maybe. The word suggests an offhand dismissal of marriage to the French princess,
although in fact the marriage was politically vital.
Prince Dauphin
Heir presumptive, or crown prince.
Louis, Charles VI’s third son, was dauphin from 1401 until his death in December 1415
(after Agincourt). After Louis, Charles’s fourth son John became dauphin until his
death in 1417, whereupon Charles’s fifth son Charles, later Charles VII, became dauphin.
Charles is the dauphin of Scene 21.
tennis balls
The tennis balls, and the insult they imply, become visible to Prince Henry and the
audience only after York has opened the barrel.
According to Hall,
some writers saye that the Dolphyn thynking kyng Henry to be geuen still to suche plaies and lyght folyes as he exercised and vsed before the tyme that he was exalted to the croune sent to hym a tunne of tennis balles to playe with, as who saied that he could better skill of tennis then of warre, and was more expert in lyght games then martiall policie(Hall, Henry V Fol. 9v).
carpet
Bruges explains that the dauphin intends the carpet to mean that Henry V is
more fitter for a carpet than a camp(Bruges 41); i.e. is better suited to the carpeted, indoor spaces of the court than the outdoor spaces of the military camp. Cotgrave defines a
carpet knightas
An effeminate fondling […] one that spends his whole time in the intertaining, or courting, of women(Cotgrave).
close
Secret, confidential. That is, the messenger is not responsible for the content of
the message, only for delivering it.
law of arms
Chivalric code of conduct in the use of weapons as well as gentlemanly behavior.
My lord … camp.
The dauphin is insulting Henry by implying that, while Henry may be accomplished at
such courtly activities as sports and dancing (on ballroom carpets), he is unfit for
martial activities (the field of war and the military camp).
The Constable in Hall tells his troops before Agincourt that Henry V is
a yong striplyng (more mete for a tenice playe then a warlike campe)(Hall, Henry V Fol. 16r). Although in Henry V the dauphin’s present includes only the tennis balls, the message of Shakespeare’s French ambassador is roughly the same:
the Prince our master / Says that you savour too much of your youth, / And bids you be advised there’s naught in France / That can be with a nimble galliard won: / You cannot revel into dukedoms there(H5 1.2.249–253).
pleasant
Humorous, witty, jocular.
Shakespeare’s Henry V responds almost identically:
We are glad the Dauphin is so pleasant with us(H5 1.2.259).
But tell … iron
Tennis balls were made of leather stuffed with wool or hair. Cannonballs were solid,
non-explosive projectiles made from stone, iron, lead, or brass.
Shakespeare takes this metaphor over in Henry V:
When we have matched our rackets to these balls, / We will in France, by God’s grace, play a set / Shall strike his father’s crown into the hazard(H5 1.2.261–263), Henry V tells the French ambassador, later adding that
this mock of his / Hath turned his balls to gunstones(H5 1.2.281–282).
rue
Regret, be sorry for.
broad seal manual
The Great Seal of England (OED seal, n.2)
The monarch authorized state documents by impressing the seal on wax and stamping
with his royal hand (theoretically); the wax stamp was attached to the document by
a ribbon.
In Hall, the archbishop asks for Henry’s safe-conduct under his
seale and signe manuell(Hall, Henry V Fol. 10v).
the hand … one
Echoing Henry IV’s words to the Scottish herald in Hall,
the worde of a prince ought to bee kepte and his wryting and seale ought to bee inuiolate(Hall, Henry IV Fol. 17r), and, more immediately, Henry V’s reply to the archbishop:
I would not speak that sentence the whiche I would not wryte and subscribe, nor subscrybe that lyne to the which I would refuse to put my seale(Hall, Henry V Fol. 10v).
I … England
Exeter
Although Henry could be addressing either Oxford or Exeter, Exeter was Lord High Admiral
from 1413 to 1426 and therefore in charge of organizing Henry’s navy.
Southampton
Port city on England’s south coast, in the county of Hampshire and 75 miles from London.
Therefore come
chafing
Arguing.
Call in … England
Bullough notes that this
incident occurs before the Coronationin Henry IV, Part 2 (Bullough) and that Shakespeare’s Henry V merely
confirmsthe Lord Chief Justice
in his office(Bullough).
Why, how now
Oh, my lord
for revengement
Giving the trajectory of the scene a little twist, Paul Hopkins (Henry V) delivered this climactic line in a matter of fact tone and immediately
began to leave the stage. The moment was playful but also businesslike. In this way
I felt Hopkins cleverly combined the old prince and the new king.
let us … readiness
Henry V declared war on France on 6 July 1415 (Dockray 137) and embarked from Southampton for Normandy on 11 August 1415 (Dockray 115).
Scene 10
She beateth him(10) implies the original company would have created a slapstick fight at this moment. The SQM company, lead by Alon Nashman, used their imaginations and training in order to exploit this opportunity for comedy while still remaining true to the story being told. The result depicted a poor man leaving his wife to go to war, a scene both touching and extremely funny, creating a working class counterpoint to the historical narrative driven by Henry V. From this point on, it becomes clearer how Derrick is clerverly designed to be the comic foil for the English king. The premise of the humor in the scene is that John is terrified of going to war and that his dominating wife might make a better soldier than he would. A lot of the comedy arises from this inversion of early modern gender expectations. The hen-pecking wife is a popular image of misrule and comic pleasure in the play’s original context and Matthew Krist’s broad characterization of the Cobbler’s Wife played fully into the patriarchal stereotype. The impact of all-male companies on the reception of gender in performance is much disputed (Howard). I felt that the SQM company’s all-male cast worked at times to affirm patriarchal attitudes and at others to reveal them as social constructions. In this instance, the effect was conservative as the comedy swept the audience along with the idea that it is funny for a woman to be dominant, but you may watch the video and judge for yourselves. The production notes for this scene will document the specific choices that were made in the creation of the physical comedy and how they relate to the evidence of the text.
Enter … Wife
Bullough suggests that this scene inspired the recruiting scene in Henry IV, Part 2 (2H4 3.2), featuring Justice Shallow and Justice Silence.
let me go(Sc10 Sp2), which imply he is being held by the captain.
too bad
The idea that John will make a terrible soldier is central to the humour of the scene.
John is acknowledging as much here and Derrick has fun with the idea at Sc10 Sp11.
Oh, wife
He weepeth10), and his childish manner was both ridiculous and endearing.
Enter Derrick
basillus manus
Besa las manos.Kiss hands; goodbye! (Spanish) (Bullough), with the probable bad joke “kiss my arse” (Besa m’ anus).
codpiece
A (padded) pouch attached to the front of a man's close-fitting hose or breeches to cover the genitals, commonly worn in the 15th and 16th century […] often conspicuous and ornamented(OED codpiece, n. 1.a). That is, it is an early modern jock-strap, protecting and enhancing at the same time.
Zounds, how now
I’ll tell you
cloghead
Blockhead, from clog (OED clog, n. C2);
A block or heavy piece of wood, or the like, attached to the […] neck of a man or beast, to impede motion or prevent escape(OED clog, n. 2.a).
pate
Head.
She beateth him
press her for a soldier(Sc10 Sp15). The specific details of the fight have no further textual justification but we may safely imagine the original Queen’s Men would also have enjoyed exploiting the comic potential of this moment.
try
Test.
Press
Impress, legally compel to enlist for military service.
dost know’s
Do you know us.
Come
Come(Sc10 Sp26) is clearly directed to the Captain, but Alon Nashman (Derrick) then moved himself upstage to address his second
Cometo John and his wife who were still embracing upstage center. He patted John on the backside with the pot lid and then began a comical march around the apron of the stage, expecting his friend to follow.
embrace tearfully
Fie, what a kissing and crying is here!(Sc10 Sp30). The SQM company developed this moment into an extended sequence of stage action. Our musical director Scott Maynard sang the song
Will He Not Come Again?off stage, and the Cobbler and his wife performed a tearful but comic farewell scene, finishing with a passionate if blubbery embrace before Derrick delivered his line. While we were clearly taking a degree of creative liberty here, Derrick’s exclamation does suggest the kissing and crying should be excessive.
come away
let’s awayand the Captain immediately says that he
cannot stay no longer.To make sense of the repetition of Derrick’s line the SQM company created more comic stage action. Here Derrick again began a silly march off-stage. This time John half-heartedly followed him, but at the last minute turned to grasp at his wife’s hand. The action motivated the Captain’s final line. He grabbed John’s hand an pulled him out of his wife’s grasp as he said
come away.
Exeunt omnes
kisskiss different parts of her body. The company started up a new song here,
The King commands and I must to the war,that begins plaintively and then turns into a hearty drinking song. The music effectively punctuated the development of the play’s action, shifting from this tearfully comic domestic farewell into the more martial action that follows. On the page the action of the play flies by without clearly signalling changes of direction with obvious shifts in syntax and tone. The SQM company became adept identifying such moments and shifting the tone as needed.
Scene 11
Enter the King
The analogous scene in Henry V is 2.4, which also opens with Charles VI expressing concerns about Henry’s invasion
that the Dauphin attempts to dismiss. Bullough notes that in Henry V Exeter rather than the archbishop presents Henry’s demands and that the siege of
Harfleur, reported in this scene by a messenger, is staged in 3.1 and 3.3 of Henry V.
Prince Dauphin
boys,in this role. Derek’s slight build worked in juxtaposition with the character’s faith in French might and in his own prowess in battle.
Charles VI
Throughout this scene Charles VI is called King in the speech prefixes, all further
instances of which have been silently emended.
Charles VI
Kidcocks
Chef de Caux, or Chef-en-Caux, port of modern La Havre, located at the mouth of the
Seine on the river’s right bank.
Hall calls the site of Henry V’s landing
Caux, comonly called Kyd Caux (where the ryuer of Seine runneth into the sea)(Hall, Henry V Fol. 12v). I have retained Q’s spelling because no adequate modernization, such as Quay de Caux, currently exists. Kyd Caux and Kedecaux appear in Stow but, although they might look more authentically French, they are not modernizations. What does exist in Le Havre is Pointe de Caux, one of the many names (St Denis, Chef de Caux; Sainte-Adresse) since the port town was incorporated into the greater city of Le Havre.
Normandy
French dukedom in northern France.
William the Conqueror was duke of Normandy, whence he launched his invasion of England
in 1066, and subsequent medieval English monarchs claimed possession of the dukedom,
although in 1204 King John lost it to Philip II (Dockray 125).
Harfleur
City in Normandy at the mouth of the river Seine and
the main French base for hostile operations in the Channel(Dockray 140).
Henry V besieged Harfleur 19 August-23 September (Dockray 140). Stow calls Harfleur
the key of the see of all Normandy(Stow 589).
I pray you
very ill part
haughty
Proud.
Normans … Danes
Soldiers from Normandy, the duchy of Brabant (in the Low Countries), Picardy, and
Denmark, northern European regions on the coasts of the English Channel and the North
Sea, which separated England from continental Europe.
In Hall, the Constable presents a similar list of
Britons,
Pickardes,
Brabanders,and
Almaines(Hall, Henry V Fol. 15v).
Master … Bows
Hall lists
the Lorde Ramburesas
Master of the Crossebowes(Hall, Henry V Fol. xv, recto). Here Charles VI could be appointing Monsieur le Cole Master of the Bows, or the two could be separate individuals who, along with Signor Devens and the others, are to be appointed to their positions by the lord high constable.
Signor Devens
Unidentified. Bullough suggests Nevers, from Holinshed.
I … thus
Historically, Louis was not at Agincourt.
Hall writes that
The Dolphyn sore desired to bee at that battaile, but he was prohibited by the king hys father(Hall, Henry V Fol. 14v). Bullough notes that although at the end of 3.5 Charles VI tells the Dauphin that
you shall remain with us(H5 3.5.66), in Henry V the
Dauphin is present at Agincourt.This is true only of the Folio version of the play, however, which substitutes the Dauphin for Bourbon in 3.7 and 4.2 and adds the Dauphin to 4.5.
Scene 12
good luck
Hall describes Henry’s successful siege of Harfleur as
good lucke and fortunate successe in the beginnyng of his pretended conquest(Hall, Henry V Fol. 13v).
host
Army.
victuals
Food, provisions.
If … money
Hall writes that
in this greate necessitee the pore folkes wer not spoyled nor any thyng without paiment was of them extorted(Hall, Henry V Fol. 14v). In Henry V Henry V commands Fluellen that
there be nothing compelled from the villages, nothing taken but paid for(H5 3.6.89–90). Arguably, Famous Victories’s Henry V is a realist, acknowledging that recourse to violent conduct (robbery) might be necessary even while attempting to engage in the first place in fair conduct towards civilians (paying for food). Henry’s willingness to condone his soldiers’ robbery, however, links his behavior as military leader to his behavior early in the play as leader of a gang of thieves.
dint
Force.
boon
Gift, favour.
vanguard
Forward position.
herald of arms
An officer having the special duty of making royal or state proclamations, and of bearing ceremonial messages between princes or sovereign powers(OED herald, n. 1.a).
But, I pray
played at tennis
other manner(Sc12 Sp12). At this point Paul Hopkins shifted his attitude back towards kingly authority and resumed a martial demeanor as he delivered his threat to his rival through the Herald.
inured
Toughened.
I care not
Scene 13
Me will … dice
I will throw my fortune at dice.
Hall records that before Agincourt French
souldiors plaied the Englishemen at dice(Hall, Henry V Fol. 17v).
Drummer
A regiment’s drummer was used not only on parade but also during battle as an important
means of communication and a form of encouragement.
In his military manual Stratioticos (1590), Leonard Digges writes that
The duetie of a good Dromme doth not so much consiste in knowledge of all variety of Marches foreine, videlicet, Almaine, French, Italian, Spanishe, &c. as to be able readily to sounde our owne, swift or slow as he shalbe directed by the Dromme Maior of the Regiment. And also to know how to sounde a Retreit, or a Stand, with such other varieties as in seruice are necessarie. […] For it falleth many times out (in great encounters) that the voice of the chief commanding officers cannot be heard, and then must all directions be giuen by the Dromme or Trompet among both footemen and horsemen(Digges 85–86).
A drum strikes(12). The drumming helped build the excited atmosphere of this scene in which the French soldiers eagerly anticipate victory. 1 Soldier’s repeated lines
Come away, Jack Drummer(Sc13 Sp1 and Sc13 Sp2) were used to call the Drummer onto the stage. He entered still banging his drum but then finished with a flourish and placed the drum on the ground while he threw the dice.
hay broth over
Have brought over.
Awee
“Ah, oui”
(French) = Oh, yes.
all too little
I.e., even though it was able to contain five children, my house is too small for
all the English clothing I expect I will take as booty in this war.
Fife
A small shrill-toned instrument of the flute kind, used chiefly to accompany the drum in military music(OED fife, n. 1.a).
He throws dice
at the king himself(Sc13 Sp9) and is another example proud of Frenchmen being disappointed in the play.
earl of Northumberland
At the time of Agincourt, there was no earl of Northumberland. The first earl of Northumberland,
Henry Percy, was executed as a traitor in 1408; his son, Henry
HotspurPercy, died on the battlefield in 1403 at Shrewsbury. Only in 1416 was Hotspur’s son, Henry, restored to his grandfather’s title (Keen 353).
snortingand
fartingEnglish horse before throwing his dice (Sc13 Sp8).
lord of Willoughby
Robert, sixth Baron Willoughby (1385–1425), was one of the Lancastrian peers who tried
Cambridge and Scrope in the Southampton plot (detailed in H5 2.2) and accompanied Henry to Harfleur and Agincourt (ODNB).
by’r Lady
By our Lady Mary (oath).
at … himself
king himselfwas significant and the soldiers became more intent when watching the dice roll this time. Part of the pleasure of the play for the original audience must surely have been in the anticipation of English victory over the French and these soldiers’ arrogance and foolish anticipation of their own victory serves to whet the appetite for the reversal of fortunes they will soon face in the actual battle.
Enter a Captain
so far from the camp(Sc13 Sp10), so upon his entrance, the SQM French soldiers guiltily assembled into a line, shuffling their feet and trying to avoide the Captain’s eyes.
Exeunt Drummer
Awee! Awee!he and one of his compatriots took a step backwards and as soon as he had finished his line, they dashed off stage as if to escape the attentions of the Captain.
new disguised chair
Newly decorated cart or chariot.
Hall records that
the French noble men deuised a chariot howe they might triumphantly conueigh kyng Henry beyng captiue to the cytie of Paris(Hall, Henry V Fol. 17v).
Why, whoever … France
The Captain’s speech echoes the Constable’s speech to the French army in Hall:
who saw euer so florisshyng an armie within any christian region, or suche a multitude of valiant persones in one compaignie. Is not here the flower of the Frenche nacion on barded horsses with sharpe speares and dedly weapons? Are not here the bold Britons with fiery handgones and sharpe swerdes? See you not present the practiced Pickardes with strong and weightie Crossebowes? Beside these, we haue the fierce Brabanders and strong Almaines wyth long pykes and cutting slaughmesses(Hall, Henry V Fol. 15v). In Henry V, the Constable (H5 4.2.15–37) and Grandpré (H54.2.38–55) similarly praise the French forces and express contempt for the English.
peers
High-ranking hereditary nobility.
slaunching
Slicing? OED and LEME contain no entry for the word. Hall describes Germans with
cutting slaughmesses(Hall, Henry V Fol. xv, verso) or knives. Urban Dictionary suggests a Gaelic transfer from sláinte, so that
slaunchingmeans forcibly inserting something into something (or someone) else as a violent
down the hatchcheer.
Slaunchingmay be a misread of the following line’s
launching.
curtle-axes
Cutlasses.
Hainuyers
Men from the province of Hainaut, now in modern Belgium. Thanks to Garrett Epp (University
of Alberta) for supplying this information.
glaives
Lances, halberds.
carbuncles
A kinde of carbuncle stone of a fierie rednes(Thomas).
Adams observes that carbuncles could be part of the heraldic design on a shield but
speculates that the reference here is to
the pointed spike in the center of the shield.
the other side
poor English scabswas directed at the audience members who in the original performance would have been English.
Why, take … him?
In Hall, the Constable declares,
kepe an Englishman one moneth from hys warme bed, fat befe and stale drynke, and let him that season tast colde and suffre hunger, you then shall se his courage bated, hys bodye waxe leane and bare, and euer desirous to returne into hys own countrey(Hall, Henry V Fol. xv, verso-Fol. xvi, recto).
radish root
Radishes were thought to provoke
thinness and increase sexual virility and fertility(Fitzpatrick 19, 26).
Scene 14
threescore
Sixty.
fourteen
Adams’s previous emendment of the number of French footmen from Q’s sixty thousand
to forty thousand and, here, the total number of the English forces from Q’s forty
thousand to fourteen thousand straighten out the numbers to comply roughly with Henry’s
following assessment of the odds against the English as ten to one.
ten to one
Although he gives much smaller numbers, Hall states that the French army
wer estemed to be in numbre sixe times as many or more then was the whole compaigny of the Englishmen(Hall, Henry V Fol. xv, verso). In Henry V Exeter gives the odds as
five to one(H5 4.3.4), which sets the stage for Henry V’s famous St. Crispian Day speech, in which Henry addresses
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers(H5 4.3.60). As Bullough notes,
Shakespeare substitutes rhetoric for […] the orders of battlein Famous Victories.
loving countrymen
earl of Derby
The earldom of Derby belonged to Henry V (ODNB), and therefore historically there would have been no separate earl of Derby.
earl of Kent
Edmund Holland was the seventh earl of Kent between 1403 and his death in 1408; the
earldom lapsed until William Neville was created earl of Kent in 1461 (ODNB).
earl of Nottingham
John Mowbray (1392–1432), whose status as the earl of Nottingham was confirmed in
1413. John’s older brother Thomas had been executed in 1405 for treason (ODNB).
duke of Bedford
John, Henry IV’s third son (Hall, Henry IV Fol. xxx). He later acted as regent after Henry V’s death, during the minority of Henry VI.
duke of Clarence
Thomas, Henry IV’s second son (Hall, Henry IV Fol. xxx).
When Henry V returned to England after the Treaty of Troyes, Thomas was placed in
charge of military operations, fought at Rouen, and died in the Battle of Baugé on
21 March 1421.
duke of Gloucester
Humphrey, Henry IV’s fourth son (Hall, Henry IV Fol. xxx), was lord protector of England while his brother, the regent (the duke of Bedford)
continued the war with France.
every archer … stake
Henry’s battle plans are similar to those recounted in Hall, which also concludes
with details of Henry’s plan to provide his archers with stakes (Hall, Henry V Fol. 16r-v).
discomfit
Defeat.
ordained
Ordered.
the French … banquets
Hall recounts that
the Frenchemen made greate fires aboute their banners […] and all that night made greate chere and were very mery. The Englishmen that night sounded their trompettes and diuerse instruments Musicall with greate melody, and yet they were bothe hungery, wery, sore traueiled and muche vexed with colde deseases: Howbeit they made peace with God in confessyng their synnes, requiring hym of help and receiuing the holy sacramente, euery man encouraging and determinyng clerely rather to die then either to yelde or flie(Hall, Henry V Fol. 15). Contemporary historian Seward, however, asserts that
the king ordered them his soldiers to keep silent during the night, under pain of forfeiture of horse and armour for a gentleman, and of the right ear for a yeoman and anyone of inferior rank(Seward 75). The Chorus to act 4 of Henry V emphasizes the contrast between the two camps: while
The confident and over-lusty French / Do the low-rated English play at dice(H5 3.7.18–19), the
poor condemnèd English, / Like sacrifices, by their watchful fires / Sit patiently(H5 3.7.22–24) and contemplate
the morning’s danger(H5 3.7.25) with
gesture sad(H5 3.7.25). Amidst this bleak situation, Shakespeare’s Henry V visits his common soldiers to cheer them up by giving them
A little touch of Harry in the night(H5 4.1.47). Even though the choruses were not included in the quarto editions of Henry V, the play dramatizes the depressed state of the English camp in 4.1 and the optimistic state of the French camp in 4.2.
Enter Herald
agree better cheap
Strike a better bargain.
Why, then
tennis balls(Sc14 Sp9) into a solemn
resolution(Sc14 Sp11) to do battle.
Rather shall … body.
In Hall, Henry tells the herald that
hys dead carion should rather be their pray, then hys liuyng body should pay any raunsome(Hall, Henry V Fol xvii, verso). Earlier, Henry tells his troops that
England for my person shal neuer paye raunsome(Hall, Henry V Fol. 17r). In Henry V Henry V tells Montjoy to
tell thy master here I am. / My ransom is this frail and worthless trunk(H5 3.6.128–129). Bullough also points to 4.3 (H5 4.3.123), where Henry V makes a similar protest.
gives … coins
Paul Hopkins (Henry V) tossed a bag of coins disdainfully at the Herald, who caught them, and
left the stage, humbled.
Prime
Six o’clock in the morning, the first morning hour of prayer in the Church’s daily
liturgical schedule.
In the anonymous The Battle of Agincourt (c. 1530), Henry asks his lords,
syrs what tyme of the day(Battle of Agincourt B1v), to which they reply,
nye pryme(Battle of Agincourt B1v).
It is good tyme(Battle of Agincourt B1v), Henry then declares,
For sayntes that lye in theyr shryne / To god for vs they be prayenge / All the relygyouse of Englande in this tyme / Ora pro nobis for vs they synge(Battle of Agincourt B1v).
for … us
In Hall, Henry concludes his oration to his troops by telling them that
at thys very tyme all the realme of Englande prayeth for our lucke and prosperous success(Hall, Henry V Fol. 17r).
with one voice
Saint George!(Sc14 Sp13). At our more lively performances, where beer was also served, the cast’s cries of
Saint George!were met with echoes from the audience.
cry
In Henry V, at the siege of Harfleur, Henry V tells his soldiers to
God for Harry! England and Saint George!(H5 3.1.34).
Saint George
Patron saint of England.
Scene 15
The Battlemight have been added by the print compositors for the sake of future readers. It does seem unlikely, however, that the Queen’s Men would have missed this opportunity for spectacle. Even the clown Tarlton was an avid swordsman, reaching the rank of Master of Fence (Thomson). The SQM company working with fight director Daniel Levinson developed a battle sequence that displayed our English king’s valor in fighting three French soldiers single-handedly and armed at one point only with a small shield. We also depicted the death of the Duke of York and re-introduced Derrick, who reappears soon after (having been absent from the play for several scenes). When performing in a bar setting, Paul Hopkins (Henry V) developed a piece of business where he paused in battle to take a drink of beer from what appeared to be an audience member’s glass. (It had in fact been planted by the actor.) Audiences loved this moment, enhancing what I felt was the egalitarian relationship between actors and audience in the SQM productions.
Saint Denis
Patron saint of France.
Montjoy
Name of the French herald in Hall and Shakespeare’s Henry V (but not used in Famous Victories). See note at 12. The Order of Mountjoy was a twelfth-century Spanish crusading order that
took its name from a hill near Jerusalem which, according to mediaeval descriptions of the Holy Land, was called Mountjoy because from there pilgrims gained their first sight of the city of Jerusalem(Forey 253).
Scene 16
above ten … banners.
Hall states that
there wer slain on the Frenche parte aboue ten thousande persones, wherof wer princes and nobles bearyng banners Cxxvi. and all the remnant sauying xvi C. wer knightes, esquiers and gentelmen(Hall, Henry V Fol. 20r). Stow gives roughly the same numbers:
aboue tenne thousand of all estates, whereof scarcely fifteene hundred were Souldiers or labourers, the rest were of cote armour(Stow 596). In Henry V there are
ten thousand French / That in the field lie slain. Of princes in this number / And nobles bearing banners, there lie dead / One hundred twenty-six(H5 4.8.70–73).
all the … prisoners
In Henry V the key figures of the French nobility, including the High Constable, die on the
field (H5 4.8).
none but … York
Hall lists
Edward duke of Yorke, therle of Suffolk, sir Richard Kikeley, and Dauy gamme esquire(Hall, Henry V Fol. 20r). Shakespeare also lists
the Earl of Suffolk, / Sir Richard Keightley, Davy Gam Esquire(H5 4.8.94) along with the duke of York.
not above … soldiers
Hall remarks,
not aboue xxv. if you will geue credite to suche as write miracles: but other writers whom I soner beleue affirme that there was slayne aboue v. or vi. C, persons(Hall, Henry V Fol. 20r). Stow states that
of all estates on the English partie, were not found dead aboue vi. C in the field(Stow 596). Shakespeare preferred miracles:
But five-and-twenty(H5 4.8.96) common soldiers die in the battle in Henry V.
the honorable … us
In Hall, Henry declares that the
victorye hathe not been obteined by vs nor our power, but onely bi the sufferaunce of GOD(Hall, Henry V Fol.19r).
great disgrace … England
In neither Scene 12 nor Scene 14 does the Herald kneel when he approaches Henry, his standing upright being an assertion
of the equality of the French sovereign whom he represents with the English sovereign
he confronts. His kneeling here signifies the great disgrace of the French defeat,
an act of submission echoed in the play’s final scene when the duke of Burgundy and
the dauphin kiss Henry’s sword.
you
I.e., the French.
will make … won
Referring to the overconfident French’s demands for ransom before the battle.
what castle … camp?
Henry asks the same question in Hall,
desiryng you the French heralds too know the name of thee castle nere adioning. When they had answered that it was called Agyncourt, he said that this conflict should be called the battaill of Agyncourt(Hall, Henry V Fol. 19r).
Battle of Agincourt
Agincourt is between Harfleur and Calais, whither Henry V’s depleted army was marching
after successfully besieging Harfleur (Dockray 144–145). The Battle of Agincourt was fought 25 October 1415, St. Crispin’s Day (Dockray 148).
parley
Speak, negotiate.
doubt
Fear.
courtesy
Noble or chivalric conduct.
Scene 17
broken French(Sc17 Sp7). It is a simple gag but one which works to further valorize the play’s hero-king.
roaming
Ranging, roving up and down, wandering (Florio). Cf. Derrick’s entrance (18) and the knights’ entrance (17).
Englishmen
king’s tents … afire
Hall relates that 600 French horsemen,
hearyng that the Englyshe tentes and pauilions were farre from the army wythout any great nombre of kepers or persons mete and conuenient, for defence […] entred into the kynges campe beyng voide of men and fortified with varlettes and lackeys, and ther spoyled hales, robbed tentes, brake vp chestes and caried awaie casketes and slewe suche seruantes as they could find,in response to which Henry commands
that euery man vpon paine of death should incontinently sley his prisoner(Hall, Henry V Fol. 18r-v). In Henry V the French also
Kill the poys and the luggage(H5 4.7.1), in retaliation for which, according to Gower,
the King most worthily hath caused every soldier to cut his prisoner’s throat(H5 4.7.7). At the conclusion of the previous scene, however, Henry commands that
every soldier kill his prisoners(H5 4.6.37) merely upon hearing that
the French have reinforced their scattered men(H5 4.6.36).
shift
Change (thieves’ cant), manage, make do, or improvise in light of the circumstances.
See John Baret, An Alveary or Triple Dictionary, in English, Latin, and French (Baret):
to seeke a Shifte to cloke periurie,
To seeke shiftes to scape,
I will make shift for that well inough, or I will easily auoyde it,
a Pollicy or witty shift in warres.In light of John and Derrick’s subsequent activities, John Florio’s definition of carpire may be relevant:
to snatch, to filch, to prowle, to pilfer, to shift for, to get by hooke or crooke, to clime or grapple for(Florio).
Commodevales, Monsieur
Adams suggests comment-allez-vous, which means
how are you?
Scene 18
Enter Derrick
Mounser
Monsieur, i.e., sir, mister.
Here the Frenchman
comparteve
Compatez-vous, i.e. have compassion! (Bullough).
lammst
Beat, thrashed.
ell
A measure of length varying in different countries(OED ell, n.1 1.a).
Adams glosses: “
“To measure with a short ell” was a proverbial phrase meaning to deal unfairly. Derrick
refers to the Frenchman’s sword as a short ell measuring rod.” Corbin and Sedge suggest
that Derrick is humorously mocking the size of the Frenchman’s sword, with obvious
sexual innuendo.
short ellwas made to refer to Derrick’s own member. At Sc18, he was initially caught by the Frenchman when he turned and found the Frenchman’s sword between his legs. At this point he pulled at his crotch, remembering what the Frenchman of had done to him.
Here while
Mass
By the mass(oath).
Once his opponent disappeared, Alon Nashman (Derrick) immediately dropped the performance of martial triumphalism and reverted
to the clown’s conventional cowardice. The emotions of clowns are sincere and deep,
but also quick and transitive. Here Nashman shifted from a performance of vengefulness to fear.
spilt
Destroyed.
Scene 19
mighty king of England(Sc19 Sp32). Julian DeZotti’s Katherine also grew over the course of the performances as following the inclination of the audience he built on the textual evidence that Katherine, for all her stated diplomatic intents, found the English king utterly irresistible. Our modern audience laughed ironically at the representation of the English king’s sexual bravura but one can imagine it might have been enjoyed in different kind by Elizabethan audiences. Similarly, in the SQM production Katherine became a stereotypically sexy French maiden, an interpretation that undermined the fact that she is engaged in political negotiation on behalf of her father. A more flattering interpretation of the character is clearly possible, but any actor playing the role would still have to deal with her aside:
I may think myself the happiest in the world, that is beloved of the mighty king of England(Sc19 Sp32). The joke in the SQM production was that while she was trying to represent her father’s interests she struggled to suppress the desire she was feeling for the English king. This struggle led to the climactic and highly comic moment where she articulated this desire to the audience.
deny
Conclusively prove to be false.
I am … land.
Bullough asserts that
The ‘siegeʼ is probably that of Rouen (1418–1419),which was part of Henry V’s second campaign in France. Famous Victories elides Henry’s second campaign and moves directly from his victory at Agincourt to dramatize the negotiating process culminating in the Treaty of Troyes. Historically, Henry V returned to England soon after Agincourt, on 15 November 1415 (Dockray 159). He invaded France again 1 August 1417 (Dockray 170) and began the siege of Rouen 30 July 1418 (Dockray 175). Rouen surrendered 19 January 1419 (Dockray 178). The ensuing negotiations led to the ratification of the Treaty of Troyes on 21 May 1420, whose terms were that Henry be regent of France during Charles VI’s lifetime, that Katherine be given to Henry in marriage, and that their heirs be recognized as the legitimate French monarchs (Dockray 188–189). Henry and Katherine’s son, Henry VI, was crowned king of France in Paris on 16 December 1431 (Dockray 208).
My secretary
No more … right
very peremptory,as Charles VI puts it (Sc19 Sp11). The dominating performance of the English king better served the SQM interpretation of the play, although our modern audience found the nationalistic spirit of the performance funny rather than inspiring.
it skills … saddle
It does not matter that he is displaced from or
lacking in power(OED saddle, n.1 P3.a). Proverbial (Tilley S18).
peremptory
Commanding, unyielding, admitting of no debate.
we will … tomorrow
Bullough notes that in Henry V,
Shakespeare omits the details of the terms, but includes the deferment(Bullough). Charles VI is much less recalcitrant in Henry V than in Famous Victories, pleading as his reason for deferment only that
I have but with a cursitory eye / O’er-glanced the articles(H5 5.2.78–79) and promising to
Pass our accept and peremptory answer(H5 5.2.82) once he has had the opportunity to
re-survey them(H5 5.2.81). Charles’s seemingly negligent approach to the negotiations in Henry V may be a bargaining ploy or may reflect the weakness of the historical Charles VI, whose intermittent insanity caused him to be dominated by other powerful figures at court, specifically the duke of Burgundy and Queen Isabella, who in Henry V takes over from Charles in the negotiations at this point. In contrast, in Famous Victories Charles’s daughter Katherine continues the negotiations.
supply
Assault.
with his daughter
Famous Victories here recalls the chronicles, which suggest that the French attempted to use Henry’s
infatuation with Katherine as a political tool. Hall notes that during the negotiations
the French part brought with them the lady Katherin, only to thentent that the king of England seying and beholdyng so faire a lady and so minion a damosel, should so be inflamed and rapte in loue, that he to obtayne so beautifull an espouse, shoulde the soner agre to a gentle peace, and louing composicion(Hall, Henry V Fol. 34r).
face
Impudence.
will have her
Lady Katherine
Daughter of Charles VI and Queen Isabella.
In Henry V Catherine is onstage during the preceding negotiations and remains onstage with Henry
V at Henry’s request after the other characters have exited (H5 5.2.95). The Famous Victories Katherine is not the angry victim that Shakespeare portrays.
Katherine
For the rest of the play, Katherine’s speech prefixes are
Kateor
Kat,both of which I am treating as abbreviations rather than nicknames (much as I treat
Henas an abbreviation of, not a nickname for, Henry) and have therefore silently expanded.
An … majesty
Bullough notes that
Shakespeare’s Katharine cannot speak English(Bullough). More precisely, in Henry V Catherine speaks a broken English that is played upon extensively for (bawdy) comic effect during which Catherine is given English lessons (H5 3.4 and 5.2). Famous Victories confines the comedy of broken language to scenes involving the comic characters, such as Scene 13 and Scene 18. Consequently, linguistic barriers do not prevent Famous Victories’s Katherine from engaging erotically and politically with Henry V on equal footing. Certainly the Queen’s Men’s patron Elizabeth I might appreciate the political acuteness in a young future queen of England.
my father … require
By suggesting that Henry’s demands are debatable, Katherine implies that Henry and
her father are still on equal negotiating terms despite the French defeat.
debate
To contende with wordes, to chide, to wrangle, to brawle(Thomas). Also relevant is the second sense OED gives for the verb: abate, reduce (OED debate, v.2 a).
tell me … terms
Henry’s ineffectual demand that Katherine speak in
plain termssuggests that he knows that he is linguistically outmatched by Katherine, as the subsequent dialogue between the two arguably indicates. In Henry V Henry V declares to Catherine that he is a
plain king(H5 5.2.120–121) and
speaks to thee plain soldier(H5 5.2.140), which, in contrast to Henry’s demand that Katherine speak plainly in Famous Victories, may be a clever rhetorical strategy to disguise the peremptoriness of his demands and Catherine’s relative powerlessness in the wooing situation. Or perhaps Catherine’s strategy of finding various ways of saying
Nois annoying the king.
I would … demands
In her verbal repartee with Henry, Katherine here demonstrates her skill as a negotiator
and her awareness of her status as erotic bargaining tool. In contrast, in Henry V, Catherine is not sent to Henry V to continue her father’s negotiations and makes
no political demands of Henry (H5 5.2).
king of England
How should … father?
In Henry V Catherine asks,
Is it possible dat I sould love de ennemi of France?(H5 5.2.155), later declaring that she will accept Henry’s proposal
Dat is as it shall please de roi mon père(H5 5.2.216), thus acquiescing to her role as a spoil of war. In contrast, here and in the subsequent dialogue, Famous Victories’s Katherine uses her father’s consent much more deliberately for political ends (to pressure Henry to debate his demands) while explicitly stating her own desire to accept Henry’s proposal (Sc19 Sp32).
But seeing … will
In Henry V Catherine similarly demurs:
Dat is as it shall please de roi mon père(H5 5.2.216), she tells Henry.
Whereas
While (OED whereas, conj. 3).
it is
I may … England.
Although in her dialogue with Henry she subordinates it to her political purposes,
Katherine here actively voices her own desire, in contrast to Henry V’s Catherine, who shows no desire for Henry. See her later expression of her willingness
to accept Henry’s proposal (Sc21 Sp21).
at host
Figurative to be on familiar terms or at home with(OED host, n.3 b).
Henry has just conquered, or made himself at home in, France. His choice of this phrase,
then, is (perhaps unwittingly) ironic and might be construed as a veiled threat.
persuaded … it
Henry is possibly alluding here to the concession he makes to Charles VI in Scene 21 that he be declared Heir and Regent of France, not King, while Charles VI is still
alive. That is, Henry has conceded to the princess’s powerful demands.
Scene 20
pack full of apparel(20) was more valuable than his
girdle full of shoes(20). Working with Jason Gray (John Cobbler), Alon Nashman developed physical business in which he took John’s pack and left him to collect the shoes. The idea had textual justification since John’s final line indicates that at the end of the scene he is left with the
shoes and boots(Sc20 Sp28) Their creative work was ingenious but was hard for the audience to follow. It was also driven by the twenty-first century concept that drama should depict action proceeding ina causal manner, in which one character is doing something to another. The scene in its original performance context could easily have worked simply as a series of jokes, a comic double act.
girdle
Belt.
full of shoes
scaped
Escaped.
I was within
five times slain!
I will tell
stand aside
Not to enter active battle.
Frenchmen
reparel
Apparel.
John’s malapropism is an instance of the linguistic play that was a standard part
of the comic routines of the Queen’s Men, a troupe with many experienced clowns.
shoes
take off … shoes
Derrick, not John Cobbler, thinks of this money-making scheme, perhaps a basis for
double-takes between the two.
Zounds, if I
Sirrah
Boy (familiar form of address).
clerk
Cleric, priest.
sexton
An officer of a parish church whose responsibilities have traditionally included bell-ringing and grave-digging(OED sexton, n. 1.a).
stint
“A period of time spent on a particular job; a turn (at doing something)” (OED stint, n.1 7.a);
a course, a perfect sentence falling in ful compasse and measure: that terme of time wherein any thing is finished, an ende(Florio).
we be soldiers
my shoes … boots
John claims to have stolen some
reparelfor his wife, while Derrick claims to have stolen shoes from dead soldiers. Here, however, John claims to be carrying boots and shoes, so either his
reparelincluded these items or he and Derrick swapped stolen goods at some point in the scene. Derrick may want John to carry the shoes and boots in case they are caught: John Cobbler would immediately seem to be the guilty party (and hanged). The clothing in Derrick’s pack may seem less an offence punishable by death, if it is even recognized as stolen.
Scene 21
duke of Burgundy
Philip, son of John the Fearless and duke of Burgundy after John’s assassination on
10 September 1419.
Heir … France
In Hall, Henry is
named and proclaimed heire and Regent of Fraunce(Hall, Henry V Fol. 37r); the articles of the Treaty of Troyes stipulate that Clarles VI call Henry
Nostre tres chier filz Henry Roy Dengleterre heretere de France, and in Latin in this maner.
Preclarissimus filius noster Henricus Rex Anglia et haeres Francia(Hall, Henry V Fol. 60v). See also Stow 610. In Henry V, Henry is pronounced
Notre très cher fils Henri, Roi d’Angleterre, Héritier de France(H5 5.2.294–295),
Our very dear son Henry, King of England and Heir of France.
take your … sword
By compelling the duke of Burgundy and the Dauphin to swear their oaths upon his sword,
an obvious phallic symbol, Henry makes their expressions of subordination acts of
humiliation.
thereunto … oath
In September 1435 at Arras Philip renounced his oath of fealty to Henry V and acknowledged
Charles VII as his king (Keen 389–390).
Come, Prince … too
Historically, the Dauphin Charles was not at the Treaty of Troyes, rejected it (Dockray 198), continued to resist English forces from the south of France (Dockray 240), and, with the help of Joan of Arc’s army, was crowned Charles VII on 17 July, 1429
(Keen 387).
king of England
How should … enemy?
What, wench
wenchto refer to the princess is a sign of his brash self-confidence and brings the king down to the level of a common soldier, a man of the people. Responding to moments like this in the text resulted in the egalitarian feel of this play in performance.
king of England
I had … willing
Katherine’s expression of desire here is consistent with her earlier aside (Sc19 Sp32) and suggests Famous Victories’s attempt to add a romantic element to the primarily political marriage between Henry
and Katherine. Arguably, the absence of any explicit expression of desire on Catherine’s
part in Henry V indicates Shakespeare’s refusal to romanticize the relationship.
first … month
2 June 1420 (Dockray 188).
Hall (Hall, Henry V Fol. 37r) and Stow (Stow 609) say 3 June. Bullough notes that
Shakespeare delays the oaths of fealty till then,in keeping with Hall (Hall, Henry V Fol. 37).
Collations
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ned and Tom
Adopted reading (This edition):
Prince Henry
Henr. 5.
As Henry is not yet king and undergoes
considerable character transformation when he does become king, the quarto’s
Henry 5 has been emended to Prince Henry in speech prefixes until he is
crowned.
Adopted reading (This edition):
Zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
Sir John Oldcastle
Adopted reading (This edition):
Zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (Adams):
if the
Adopted reading (This edition):
They place their booty at his
feet.
Adopted reading (This edition):
They hide the
booty.
Adopted reading (This edition):
1 Receiver
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
But look, here
Adopted reading (This edition):
Aside to 2
Receiver
Adopted reading (This edition):
2 Receiver
Adopted reading (This edition):
Replying aside
Adopted reading (This edition):
Aside to 2
Receiver
Adopted reading (This edition):
Zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
To Prince Henry
Adopted reading (This edition):
than
Adopted reading (This edition):
To Jockey
Adopted reading (This edition):
To the Receivers
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
we robbed in
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
were of them
Adopted reading (This edition):
1 Receiver and 2 Receiver
Adopted reading (This edition):
The Receivers
kneel.
Adopted reading (This edition):
Prince Henry
Q1 attributes the following three lines to Ned.
Adopted reading (This edition):
zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exeunt Receivers.
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ned, Tom, and Jockey
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ned, Tom, and Jockey
Adopted reading (Corbin and Sedge):
all together
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
all
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exeunt Prince Henry, Ned, Tom, and
Jockey.
Adopted reading (This edition):
John
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
Robin
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
if I go
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (Second Quarto):
meet
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
John and Lawrence lie down and
sleep.
Adopted reading (Pitcher):
Whoa! whoa there! whoa there!
Who, who there, who there?
Adopted reading (This edition):
John and Lawrence
Adopted reading (Pitcher):
Whoa there! whoa there! whoa there!
Who there, who there, who there?
Adopted reading (This edition):
John
Adopted reading (Pitcher):
Whoa there, whoa there!
Who there, who there?
Adopted reading (This edition):
John seizes
Derrick.
Adopted reading (This edition):
Why
Adopted reading (This edition):
Zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
Zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
To John
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
Derrick points to
Robin
Adopted reading (This edition):
bade
Adopted reading (This edition):
Derrick draws his
sword.
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
Well, you
Adopted reading (This edition):
bade
Adopted reading (This edition):
John
Adopted reading (This edition):
Derrick sheathes his
sword.
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (This edition):
Aside
Adopted reading (This edition):
To Lawrence and
Robin
Adopted reading (This edition):
Cutbert Cutter
Not in Q1. Cutbert Cutter is named at 4.12 but in his speech prefixes and
the stage directions always called simply
Theefor
Theefe.I have emended to
Cutbert Cutterthroughout.
Adopted reading (Corbin and Sedge):
Gadshill
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
ye
Adopted reading (This edition):
Cutbert draws his
sword.
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (This edition):
John, Robin, and Lawrence seize
Cutbert.
Adopted reading (This edition):
Zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
John
Adopted reading (This edition):
John
Adopted reading (This edition):
Robert
Robin
Robin is a diminutive form of Robert (cf.
The Lancashire Witches D2r). John calls
the boy Robert in line 55; this edition has adopted this later naming for the
boy to avoid confusion with Robin Pewterer.
Adopted reading (This edition):
John
Adopted reading (This edition):
Robert
Adopted reading (This edition):
mayor
Maior
The context clearly indicates that Maior
is Mayor not Major. Q1 retains this spelling of mayor throughout, and in this
edition subsequent occurences have been silently modernized.
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
at the last
Adopted reading (This edition):
John
Adopted reading (This edition):
John
Adopted reading (This edition):
John
Adopted reading (This edition):
To Derrick
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exeunt.
Adopted reading (This edition):
An’t
Adopted reading (This edition):
Henry IV
K.Hen.4.
After line 7 the play drops King or K. from
its speech prefixes for Henry IV. This speech prefix and the ones at line 5 and
7 have been standardized accordingly.
Adopted reading (This edition):
Henry IV
Adopted reading (This edition):
than
Adopted reading (This edition):
than
Adopted reading (This edition):
Henry IV
Adopted reading (This edition):
them
Adopted reading (This edition):
with Sheriff
Adopted reading (This edition):
ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
To Exeter and
Oxford
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exeter
Adopted reading (This edition):
Oxford
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exeunt
Adopted reading (This edition):
with several Officers
Adopted reading (This edition):
Lord Chief Justice
Iudge.
All further instances of
Iudgeand its abbreviations have silently been emended to
Lord Chief Justice.
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (Pitcher):
twentieth
Adopted reading (Pitcher):
fourteenth
Adopted reading (This edition):
Henry
Adopted reading (This edition):
To Cutbert Cutter
Adopted reading (This edition):
To Lord Chief
Justice
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
Derrick
Adopted reading (This edition):
An’t
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
what mean you
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
with my man?
Adopted reading (This edition):
An’t
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
the law must pass on him according to justice;
then he must be executed.
Adopted reading (This edition):
An’t
Adopted reading (This edition):
man?
Adopted reading (This edition):
An’t
Adopted reading (This edition):
answered!
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ned draws his
sword.
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exeunt Ned and Tom
Exeunt the Theefe
Because the lord chief
justice orders the convicted thief returned to prison, Cutbert must remain on
stage until this decision is given.
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exit
Adopted reading (This edition):
’ssizes
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exeunt Lord Chief Justice, Clerk of
the Office, John Cobbler, Derrick, and Cutbert Cutter with
Jailor
Adopted reading (This edition):
Zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
John sits in the lord chief
justice’s chair
John Cobler takes his place in the Judge’s
seat.
John Cobbler takes the Judge’s seat.
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (This edition):
Derrick gives John a box on the
ear
Adopted reading (This edition):
Zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
Zounds
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
do, then
Adopted reading (This edition):
Though we be so poor
But Dericke, though we be so poore, Yet
willfire, Withstale, Whichmire.
Adopted reading (This edition):
An’t
Adopted reading (This edition):
Jockey
Adopted reading (This edition):
Jockey
Adopted reading (This edition):
Jockey
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
a bout
Adopted reading (This edition):
Jockey
Adopted reading (This edition):
They knock at a
gate.
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter Porter
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ned draws his
sword.
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exit Porter.
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
write
Adopted reading (This edition):
Henry IV
Adopted reading (This edition):
than
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Oxford
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
The Prince crosses the stage to Henry IV with a dagger in his hand.
Enters the Prince with a dagger in his
hand.
Prince Henry has not left the stage. He withdraws or stands aside at
line 30, which is where Oxford presumably
goethto fetch him.
Adopted reading (This edition):
on in
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Aside
Adopted reading (This edition):
To Henry IV
Adopted reading (Pitcher):
to say
Adopted reading (This edition):
word?
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter Prince Henry
Adopted reading (This edition):
Prince Henry
kneels.
Adopted reading (This edition):
Prince Henry
rises.
Adopted reading (This edition):
Shouts to offstage
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (Hazlitt):
if
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Music plays
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exit Oxford
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (This edition):
than
Adopted reading (This edition):
Prince Henry gives Henry IV the
crown and kneels before him.
Adopted reading (Second Quarto):
needs
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
but
Adopted reading (This edition):
than
Adopted reading (This edition):
than
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exeter, Oxford, and Prince Henry
draw the curtains.
Adopted reading (This edition):
Music plays.
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (This edition):
To Cutbert Cutter
Adopted reading (This edition):
Zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
than
Adopted reading (This edition):
Canterbury
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
likely enough he
likely inough he
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
my lord ambassador is come out of
France.
My Lord Embassador is come out of France.
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
Bruges
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
into
Adopted reading (This edition):
Bruges
Adopted reading (This edition):
Bruges
Adopted reading (This edition):
Bruges
Adopted reading (Corbin and Sedge):
Sixth
Adopted reading (This edition):
Bruges
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
He delivereth a tun of tennis balls.
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
Bruges
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
Bruges
Adopted reading (This edition):
than
Adopted reading (Second Quarto):
pleasant
Adopted reading (This edition):
ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Bruges
Adopted reading (Bullough):
manual
Adopted reading (Bullough):
manual
Adopted reading (This edition):
of Bruges
Adopted reading (This edition):
To Exeter
Adopted reading (Second Quarto):
if
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (This edition):
Lord Chief Justice
Adopted reading (This edition):
Lord Chief Justice
Adopted reading (This edition):
Lord Chief Justice
Adopted reading (This edition):
Lord Chief Justice
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Lord Chief Justice
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
Exeunt omnes.
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
there’s
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
to
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (Adams):
with a pot lid for a
shield
Adopted reading (This edition):
Zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
To Wife
Adopted reading (This edition):
Here he shakes her
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (This edition):
do.
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (This edition):
Zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (Corbin and Sedge):
dost know’s
doest knowes
doest, knowest,
know us [gloss]
doest know us
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
They embrace
tearfully
Adopted reading (This edition):
Zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
To Wife
Adopted reading (This edition):
To John
Adopted reading (This edition):
Zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI of
France
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI
King.
Throughout this scene Charles VI is
called King in the speech prefixes, all further instances of which have been
silently emended.
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Bruges
Adopted reading (This edition):
Bruges
Adopted reading (This edition):
Bruges
Adopted reading (This edition):
Bruges
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
Bruges
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (Pitcher):
Bows
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
and all the
Adopted reading (This edition):
than
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exit a Lord
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
laws
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
than
Adopted reading (This edition):
than
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (This edition):
A drum strikes
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
do thou
Adopted reading (This edition):
trunk, eh
trunkea
Adopted reading (This edition):
He throws dice
Adopted reading (This edition):
He throws dice
Adopted reading (This edition):
He throws dice
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
our
Adopted reading (This edition):
than
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
slaunching
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
Barbarians
Adopted reading (This edition):
launching
Adopted reading (This edition):
Hainuyers
Adopted reading (Pitcher):
carbuncles
Adopted reading (Pitcher):
radish
Adopted reading (This edition):
Captain
Adopted reading (This edition):
2 Soldier
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
threescore thousand
Adopted reading (This edition):
fourteen
fortie
forteen
This and Adams’s previous emendment
straighten out the numbers to comply roughly with Henry’s following assessment
of the odds against the English as ten to one.
Adopted reading (Pitcher):
vanguard
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
Henry V
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
making of bonfires
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (Pitcher):
send
Adopted reading (This edition):
than
Adopted reading (This edition):
than
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
resolution
Adopted reading (This edition):
Henry V gives the Herald
coins
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
Drummer
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
Exeunt omnes
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
The Battle
The Battell
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exit Herald
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exit Soldier
Adopted reading (This edition):
Drum and trumpet sound
Drum and Trumpet sounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exit John and
Robin
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (This edition):
vigliacco
Adopted reading (This edition):
Frenchman
Adopted reading (This edition):
Frenchman
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay, marry
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay, but
Adopted reading (This edition):
Frenchman
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exit Derrick
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (This edition):
Secretary,
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI
Adopted reading (This edition):
To Secretary
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI
Adopted reading (This edition):
Henry V
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI
Q1, 2 place this stage direction immediately after Charles’
we will meet you again tomorrow.
move this stage direction to follow after Henry’s
With a good will, my good brother of France.
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
Ay, but I love herwill have her.
I but Iher, | Nay Ihaue her.
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (This edition):
fair Lady Katherine
faire Ladie, Katheren
Adopted reading (This edition):
Katherine
Kathren.
For the rest of the play, Katherine’s
speech prefixes are
Kateor
Kat,both of which I am treating as abbreviations rather than nicknames (much as I treat
Henas an abbreviation of, not a nickname for, Henry) and have therefore silently expanded.
Adopted reading (This edition):
An
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
tongue can
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
you
Adopted reading (This edition):
than
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exit Katherine of France and her
Ladies
Adopted reading (This edition):
Zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (Hazlitt):
is
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
an
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
Zounds
Adopted reading (This edition):
Exeunt Derrick and
John
Adopted reading (This edition):
Enter
Adopted reading (This edition):
Katherine,
Secretary,
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI
Adopted reading (This edition):
Ay
Adopted reading (This edition):
than
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI
Adopted reading (Pitcher):
liege man
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
if
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI
Adopted reading (This edition):
Aside
Adopted reading (First Quarto):
Kate
Adopted reading (This edition):
Charles VI
Characters
Prince Henry, Henry IV’s son and later Henry V
Ned, Prince Henry’s companion
Tom, Prince Henry’s companion
Jockey (Sir John Oldcastle), Prince Henry’s companion
Two Receivers, Henry IV’s tax and rent collectors
John Cobbler, a cobbler and member of the parish watch
Robin Pewterer, a pewterer and member of the parish watch
Lawrence Costermonger, a fruit-seller and member of the parish watch
Derrick, a carrier and later John Cobbler’s apprentice
Cutbert Cutter, a thief
Vintner’s Boy
Earl of Oxford, one of Henry IV’s lords
Henry IV, king of England
Mayor of London
Earl of Exeter, one of Henry IV’s lords
Lord Chief Justice of England
Clerk of the Office
Jailor
Porter
Archbishop of Canterbury
Duke of York, Henry V’s uncle
Archbishop of Bruges, the French ambassador
English Captain
John Cobbler’s Wife
Charles VI, king of France
Lord High Constable of France
Prince Dauphin, Charles VI’s son
Messenger
French Herald
French Soldiers
French Drummer
English Soldier
English Secretary
Lady Katherine, Charles VI’s daughter
Duke of Burgundy, Charles VI’s most powerful noble
Other English Lords
Sheriff of London
French Captain
Attendants
Lady Katherine’s Ladies
French Secretary
Prosopography
Alon Nashman
Alon Nashman was an actor and musical director with Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men
Project. He played
Keeperand
Milesin Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (2006) and
Derrickin Famous Victories (2006).
Andrew Griffin
Andrew Griffin is an associate professor in the department of English and an affiliate
professor in the department of Theater and Dance at the University of California,
Santa Barbara. He is general editor (text) of Queen’s Men Editions. He studies early
modern drama and early modern historiography while serving as the lead editor at the
EMC Imprint. He has co-edited with Helen Ostovich and Holger Schott Syme Locating the Queen’s Men (2009) and has co-edited The Making of a Broadside Ballad (2016) with Patricia Fumerton and Carl Stahmer. His monograph, Untimely Deaths in Renaissance Drama: Biography, History, Catastrophe, was published with the University of Toronto Press in 2019. He is editor of the
anonymous The Chronicle History of King Leir (Queen’s Men Editions, 2011). He can be contacted at griffin@english.ucsb.edu.
Anonymous
Daniel Levinson
Daniel Levinson was a fight director with Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men Project.
He worked on Famous Victories (2006).
David Kynaston
David Kynaston was an actor with Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men Project. He played
Jaques Vandermast,
Burden,and
Serlsbyin Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (2006) and
Jockey,
Lord Chief Justice,
Constable,
Burgundyin Famous Victories (2006).
Derek Genova
Derek Genova was an actor with Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men Project. He played
Eleanor,
1 Scholar,
Hostess,and
Postin Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (2006) and
Tom,
Boy,
Dauphin,
Second French Soldierin Famous Victories (2006).
Don Allison
Don Allison was an actor with Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men Project. He played
King Henryand
Voice of the Brazen Headin Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (2006) and
King Henryand
Charles VIin Famous Victories (2006).
Helen Ostovich
Helen Ostovich, professor emerita of English at McMaster University, is the founder
and general editor of Queen’s Men Editions. She is a general editor of The Revels Plays (Manchester University Press); Series
Editor of Studies in Performance and Early Modern Drama (Ashgate, now Routledge),
and series co-editor of Late Tudor and Stuart Drama (MIP); play-editor of several
works by Ben Jonson, in Four Comedies: Ben Jonson (1997); Every Man Out of his Humour (Revels 2001); and The Magnetic Lady (Cambridge 2012). She has also edited the Norton Shakespeare 3 The Merry Wives of Windsor Q1602 and F1623 (2015); The Late Lancashire Witches and A Jovial Crew for Richard Brome Online, revised for a 4-volume set from OUP 2021; The Ball, for the Oxford Complete Works of James Shirley (2021); The Merry Wives of Windsor for Internet Shakespeare Editions, and The Dutch Courtesan (with Erin Julian) for the Complete Works of John Marston, OUP 2022. She has published
many articles and book chapters on Jonson, Shakespeare, and others, and several book
collections, most recently Magical Transformations of the Early Modern English Stage with Lisa Hopkins (2014), and the equivalent to book website, Performance as Research in Early English Theatre Studies: The Three Ladies of London in Context containing scripts, glossary, almost fifty conference papers edited and updated to
essays; video; link to Queen’s Mens Ediitons and YouTube: http://threeladiesoflondon.mcmaster.ca/contexts/index.htm, 2015. Recently, she was guest editor of Strangers and Aliens in London ca 1605,
Special Issue on Marston, Early Theatre 23.1 (June 2020). She can be contacted at ostovich@mcmaster.ca.
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.
Jason Gray
Jason Gray was an actor with Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men Project. He played
Friar Baconin Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (2006) and
John Cobbler,
Bruges,and
Captainin Famous Victories (2006).
Joey Takeda
Joey Takeda is LEMDO’s Consulting Programmer and Designer, a role he assumed in 2020
after three years as the Lead Developer on LEMDO.
Julian DeZotti
Julian DeZotti was an actor with Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men Project. He played
Margaretin Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (2006) and
Lawrence Costermonger,
Clerk,
First French Soldier,and
Katherine of Francein Famous Victories (2006).
Karen Sawyer Marsalek
Karen Sawyer Marsalek (Famous Victories of Henry V, early modern text) is an associate professor of English at St. Olaf College. She
has edited, directed and performed in several early English plays. Her publications
include essays on
trueresurrections in medieval drama and The Winter’s Tale,
falseresurrections in the Chester Antichrist and 1 Henry IV, and theatrical properties of skulls and severed heads. Her current research is on remains and revenants in the King’s Men’s repertory. She can be contacted at marsalek@stolaf.edu.
Kate LeBere
Project Manager, 2020–2021. Assistant Project Manager, 2019–2020. Textual Remediator
and Encoder, 2019–2021. Kate LeBere completed her BA (Hons.) in History and English
at the University of Victoria in 2020. During her degree she published papers in The Corvette (2018), The Albatross (2019), and PLVS VLTRA (2020) and presented at the English Undergraduate Conference (2019), Qualicum History
Conference (2020), and the Digital Humanities Summer Institute’s Project Management
in the Humanities Conference (2021). While her primary research focus was sixteenth
and seventeenth century England, she completed her honours thesis on Soviet ballet
during the Russian Cultural Revolution. She is currently a student at the University
of British Columbia’s iSchool, working on her masters in library and information science.
Linda Phillips
Linda Phillips was a costume designer with Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men Project.
She worked on Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (2006).
Mahayla Galliford
Project Manager, 2025-present; Assistant Project Manager, 2024-2025; Research Assistant,
2021-present. Mahayla Galliford (she/her) graduated from the University of Victoria
with a BA (honours with distinction) in 2024, and an MA English in 2026. Mahayla’s
undergraduate research explored early modern stage directions and civic water pageantry.
Her SSHRC-funded MA thesis project focuses on transcribing, editing, and encoding
early modern girls’ manuscripts, specifically Lady Rachel Fane’s May Masque in collaboration with LEMDO.
Martin Holmes
Martin Holmes has worked as a developer in the UVic’s Humanities Computing and Media
Centre for over two decades, and has been involved with dozens of Digital Humanities
projects. He has served on the TEI Technical Council and as Managing Editor of the
Journal of the TEI. He took over from Joey Takeda as lead developer on LEMDO in 2020.
He is a collaborator on the SSHRC Partnership Grant led by Janelle Jenstad.
Mathew Martin
Dr. Mathew R. Martin is Full Professor at Brock University, Canada. He is the author
of Between Theatre and Philosophy (2001), Tragedy and Trauma in the Plays of Christopher Marlowe (2015) and Psychoanalysis and Literary Theory (2023), and co-editor, with his colleague James Allard, of Staging Pain, 1500–1800: Violence and Trauma in British Theatre (2009). For Broadview Press he has edited Christopher Marlowe’s Edward the Second (2010), Jew of Malta (2012), Doctor Faustus: The B-Text (2013) and Tamburlaine the Great Part One and Part Two (2014), and Robert Greene’s Selimus (2022). For Revels Editions he has edited George Peele’s David and Bathsheba (2018) and Marlowe’s The Massacre at Paris (2021). For Queen’s Men Editions he has edited The Famous Victories of Henry V (2016). He has published two articles of textual criticism on the printed texts of
Marlowe’s plays:
Inferior Readings: The Transmigration of Material in Tamburlaine the Great(Early Theatre 17.2 [December 2014]), and (on the political inflections of the shifts in punctuation in the early editions of the play)
Accidents Happen: Roger Barnes’s 1612 Edition of Marlowe’s Edward the Second(Early Theatre 16.1 [June 2013]). His latest editing projects are a double-play Revels edition of Robert Greene’s Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay and John of Bordeaux and a Digital Renaissance Editions edition of Dido, Queen of Carthage.
Matthew Krist
Matthew Krist was an actor with Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men Project. He played
Rafe Simnell,
Richard,
Friar Bungay,and
Devilin Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (2006) and
Ned,
Cobbler’s Wife,and
Drummerin Famous Victories (2006).
Navarra Houldin
Training and Documentation Lead 2025–present. LEMDO project manager 2022–2025. Textual
remediator 2021–present. Navarra Houldin (they/them) completed their BA with a major
in history and minor in Spanish at the University of Victoria in 2022. Their primary
research was on gender and sexuality in early modern Europe and Latin America. They
are continuing their education through an MA program in Gender and Social Justice
Studies at the University of Alberta where they will specialize in Digital Humanities.
Paul Hopkins
Paul Hopkins was an actor with Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men Project. He played
Prince Edwardand
Other Clownsin Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (2006) and
Prince Henryin Famous Victories (2006).
Peter Cockett
Peter Cockett is an associate professor in the iArts (Integrated Arts) program at
McMaster University. He is the co-editor, with Melinda Gough, of Engendering the Stage in the Age of Shakespeare and Beyond (University of Toronto Press, 2025) which publishes the findings of their 2018 Performance
as Research (PaR) workshop at the Stratford Festival Lab. He is the general editor
(performance), and technical co-ordinating editor of Queen’s Men Editions. His PaR directing credits include King Leir, The Famous Victories of Henry V, and Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (2006), Clyomon and Clamydes (2010), and Three Ladies of London (2015) for the Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men project (SQM). The process behind
the 2006 productions is documented in depth on the project website Performing the Queen’s Men. For the PLS, the University of Toronto’s Medieval and Renaissance Players, he has
directed the Digby Mary Magdalene (2003) and the double bill of George Peele’s The Old Wives Tale and the Chester Antichrist (2004). He also directed An Experiment in Elizabethan Comedy (2005) for the SQM project and Inside Out: The Persistence of Allegory (2008) in collaboration with Alan Dessen. Peter is a professional actor and director
with numerous stage and screen credits. He can be contacted at cockett@mcmaster.ca.
Peter Higginson
Peter Higginson was an actor with Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men Project. He played
Mason,
King of Castile,and
Friendin Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (2006) and
Robin Pewtererand
Yorkin Famous Victories (2006).
Phillip Borg
Phillip Borg was an actor with Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men Project. He played
Thomas,
Lambert,
Constable,and
Spiritin Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (2006) and
Lord Mayor,
Porter,
Captain,
Third French Soldier,
English Soldier,and
French Secretaryin Famous Victories (2006).
Scott Clarkson
Scott Clarkson was an actor with Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men Project. He played
Edward Lacyin Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (2006) and
First Receiver,
Cutbert Cutter,
Canterbury,
Herald,and
Frenchmanin Famous Victories (2006).
Scott Matthews
Scott Maynard
Scott Maynard was an actor and musical director with Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men
Project. He played
Clementand
Emperor of Germanyin Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (2006) and
Exeterin Famous Victories (2006).
Tracey El Hajj
Junior Programmer 2019–2020. Research Associate 2020–2021. Tracey received her PhD
from the Department of English at the University of Victoria in the field of Science
and Technology Studies. Her research focuses on the algorhythmics of networked communications. She was a 2019–2020 President’s Fellow in Research-Enriched
Teaching at UVic, where she taught an advanced course on
Artificial Intelligence and Everyday Life.Tracey was also a member of the Map of Early Modern London team, between 2018 and 2021. Between 2020 and 2021, she was a fellow in residence at the Praxis Studio for Comparative Media Studies, where she investigated the relationships between artificial intelligence, creativity, health, and justice. As of July 2021, Tracey has moved into the alt-ac world for a term position, while also teaching in the English Department at the University of Victoria.
Bibliography
Adams, Joseph Quincy. Chief
Pre-Shakespearean Dramas: A Selection of Plays Illustrating the History of the English
Drama from its Origin Down to Shakespeare. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 1924.
Archer, I.W.
The Pursuit of Stability: Social Relations in Elizabethan London. Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Bailey, Amanda. Flaunting: Style and the Subversive Male Body in Renaissance England. University of Toronto Press, 2007. WSB aau227.
Baret, John. An Alveary or Triple Dictionary, in English, Latin, and French. London: Henry Denham, 1574. STC 1410. LEME 127.
Bassett, Margaret.
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The LEMDO Team is based at the University of Victoria and normally comprises the project
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University of Victoria (UVIC1)
https://www.uvic.ca/Witnesses
Adams, Joseph Quincy. Chief
Pre-Shakespearean Dramas: A Selection of Plays Illustrating the History of the English
Drama from its Origin Down to Shakespeare. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 1924.
Bullough, Geoffrey, ed. The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth. Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare. Vol. 4. Routledge and Kegan Paul; rpt. Columbia University Press, 1962. 299–343.
Corbin, Peter and Douglas Sedge,
eds. The Oldcastle Controversy: Sir John Oldcastle, Part
I and The Famous Victories of Henry V.
Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1991. WSB ad162.
Edited by
Mathew Martin.
Hazlitt, William Carew, ed. The
Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth, Conteining the Honorable Battell of
Agincourt. Vol. 5. Shakespeare’s Library: A Collection of the
Plays Romances Novels Poems and Histories Employed by Shakespeare in the Composition
of
His Works. London: Reeves and Turner, 1875.
Pitcher, Seymour M. The Case for
Shakespeare’s Authorship of The Famous Victories, with the Complete Text of the Anonymous
Play.. New York:
SUNY Press, 1961. WSB aav291.
The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth: Containing the Honourable Battell of Agin-Court.
As it was Acted by the Kinges Maiesties Servants. London: Barnard Alsop, 1617. STC 13073. ESTC S4698. DEEP 253.
The Famous Victories of Henry the fifth: Containing the Honourable Battell of Agin-court:
As it was plaide by the Queenes Maiesties Players. London: Thomas Creed, 1598. STC 13072. ESTC S106379.
The Famous Victories of Henry V. Six Old Plays On Which Shakspeare Founded His Measure for
Measure. Comedy of Errors. Taming the
Shrew. K Henry IV and K. Henry
V. King Lear. 2 vols. London: J. Nichols, T.
Evans and H. Payne, 1779. ESTC T4012.
Metadata
| Authority title | Famous Victories of Henry V |
| Type of text | Primary Source Text |
| Publisher | University of Victoria on the Linked Early Modern Drama Online Platform |
| Series | Queen’s Men Editions |
| Source |
This modern text was prepared by Mathew Martin. First published in the QME 1.0 anthology on the ISE platform. Converted to TEI-XML
and remediated by the LEMDO Team for republication in the QME 2.0 anthology on the LEMDO platform
|
| Editorial declaration | Edited according to the ISE Editorial Guidelines |
| Edition | Released with Queen’s Men Editions 2.0 |
| Sponsor(s) |
Queen’s Men EditionsThe Queen’s Men Editions anthology is led by Helen Ostovich, General Editor; Peter
Cockett, General Editor (Performance); Andrew Griffin, General Editor (Text; until
2026); and Janelle Jenstad, General Editor (Text; 2026–)
|
| Encoding description | Encoded in TEI P5 according to the LEMDO Customization and Encoding Guidelines |
| Document status | published, peer-reviewed |
| Funder(s) | Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada McMaster University Poculi Ludique Societas University of Waterloo University of Toronto Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies University of Victoria Friends of the ISE |
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