Part 7

_Shakebag._ The widow Chambly in her husband’s days I kept; And now he’s dead, she is grown so stout She will not know her old companions. I came thither, thinking to have had harbour As I was wont, And she was ready to thrust me out at doors; But whether she would or no, I got me up, And as she followed me, I spurned her down the stairs, And broke her neck, and cut her tapster’s throat, And now I am going to fling them in the Thames. I have the gold; what care I though it be known! I’ll cross the water and take sanctuary.

[_Exit._

SCENE III

_Arden’s House at Feversham._

_Here enters the Mayor, Mosbie, Alice, Franklin, Michael, and Susan._

_Mayor._ See, Mistress Arden, where your husband lies; Confess this foul fault and be penitent.

_Alice._ Arden, sweet husband, what shall I say? The more I sound his name, the more he bleeds; This blood condemns me, and in gushing forth Speaks as it falls, and asks me why I did it. Forgive me, Arden: I repent me now, And, would my death save thine, thou should’st not die. Rise up, sweet Arden, and enjoy thy love, And frown not on me when we meet in heaven: 10 In heaven I’ll love thee, though on earth I did not.

_Mayor._ Say, Mosbie, what made thee murder him?

_Franklin._ Study not for an answer; look not down: His purse and girdle found at thy bed’s head Witness sufficiently thou didst the deed; It bootless is to swear thou didst it not.

_Mosbie._ I hired Black Will and Shakebag, ruffians both, And they and I have done this murderous deed. But wherefore stay we? Come and bear me hence.

_Franklin._ Those ruffians shall not escape; I will up to London, 20 And get the Council’s warrant to apprehend them.

[_Exeunt._

SCENE IV

_The Kentish Coast._

_Here enters Will._

_Will._ Shakebag, I hear, hath taken sanctuary, But I am so pursued with hues and cries For petty robberies that I have done, That I can come unto no sanctuary. Therefore must I in some oyster-boat At last be fain to go on board some hoy, And so to Flushing. There is no staying here. At Sittingburgh the watch was like to take me, And had not I with my buckler covered my head, And run full blank at all adventures, 10 I am sure I had ne’er gone further than that place; For the constable had twenty warrants to apprehend me, Besides that, I robbed him and his man once at Gadshill. Farewell, England; I’ll to Flushing now.

[_Exit Will._

V. iv. 5. Faversham was famous for its oysters.

SCENE V

_Justice-room at Feversham._

_Here enters the Mayor, Mosbie, Alice, Michael, Susan, and Bradshaw._

_Mayor._ Come, make haste and bring away the prisoners.

_Bradshaw._ Mistress Arden, you are now going to God, And I am by the law condemned to die About a letter I brought from Master Greene. I pray you, Mistress Arden, speak the truth: Was I ever privy to your intent or no.

_Alice._ What should I say? You brought me such a letter, But I dare swear thou knewest not the contents. Leave now to trouble me with worldly things, And let me meditate upon my saviour Christ, 10 Whose blood must save me for the blood I shed.

_Mosbie._ How long shall I live in this hell of grief? Convey me from the presence of that strumpet.

_Alice._ Ah, but for thee I had never been a strumpet. What cannot oaths and protestations do, When men have opportunity to woo? I was too young to sound thy villainies, But now I find it and repent too late.

_Susan._ Ah, gentle brother, wherefore should I die? I knew not of it till the deed was done. 20

_Mosbie._ For thee I mourn more than for myself; But let it suffice, I cannot save thee now.

_Michael._ And if your brother and my mistress Had not promised me you in marriage, I had ne’er given consent to this foul deed.

_Mayor._ Leave to accuse each other now, And listen to the sentence I shall give. Bear Mosbie and his sister to London straight, Where they in Smithfield must be executed; Bear Mistress Arden unto Canterbury, 30 Where her sentence is she must be burnt; Michael and Bradshaw in Feversham must suffer death.

_Alice._ Let my death make amends for all my sins.

_Mosbie._ Fie upon women! this shall be my song; But bear me hence, for I have lived too long.

_Susan._ Seeing no hope on earth, in heaven is my hope.

_Michael._ Faith, I care not, seeing I die with Susan.

_Bradshaw._ My blood be on his head that gave the sentence.

_Mayor._ To speedy execution with them all! [_Exeunt._

V. v. 30. ‘For the charges of brenning Mistress Arden and execution of George Bradshaw, XLIII S.’--_Canterbury Records._

SCENE VI

_Here enters Franklin._

_Franklin._ Thus have you seen the truth of Arden’s death. As for the ruffians, Shakebag and Black Will, The one took sanctuary, and, being sent for out, Was murdered in Southwark as he passed To Greenwich, where the Lord Protector lay. Black Will was burned in Flushing on a stage; Greene was hanged at Osbridge in Kent; The painter fled and how he died we know not. But this above the rest is to be noted: Arden lay murdered in that plot of ground 10 Which he by force and violence held from Reede; And in the grass his body’s print was seen Two years and more after the deed was done. Gentlemen, we hope you’ll pardon this naked tragedy, Wherein no filèd points are foisted in To make it gracious to the ear or eye; For simple truth is gracious enough, And needs no other points of glosing stuff. [_Exit._

V. vi. 2. By the _Wardmote Book_, ‘George Loosebagg, _i.e._ Shakebag, escaped at that time.’ John Green, who like Mosbie was a tailor, was taken in July in Cornwall and brought to Faversham and hanged in chains within the liberties. Susan, in the play, combines the characters of Cecily Pounder, Mosbie’s sister, and of Elizabeth Stafford, the maid-servant. Morsby and his sister were hanged in Smithfield; Michael Saunderson was ‘drawn and hanged in chains’ in Faversham, where Elizabeth was burnt. By the _Wardmote Book_ Alice Arden did not stab her husband.

GLOSSARY

ABHORS FROM, differs entirely from; I. 54; an uncommon use. Dr. Murray quotes _Fox, A. and M._; II. 357, ‘It did nothing at all abhor from nature.’

ANGEL, the coin of that name; II. i. 89, etc.

ARMING SWORD, a large two-handed sword, V. i. 72.

BASILISK, a fabulous serpent supposed to kill by its look, a cockatrice; I. 215. Cf. ‘Would they were basilisks to strike thee dead.’--_Richard III._, III. ii. 151.

BEDEEM, forbode, ‘doom me to’; III. iii. 31; not quoted by Dr. Murray.

BEDESMAN, one who says prayers for another, ‘humble servant’; III. vi. 120.

BERAYED, befouled; IV. iii. 58. Cf. ‘Was ever man so rayed.’--_Shrew_, IV. i. 3.

BEWRAYED, betrayed; III. ii. 27.

BLAB, talk; I. 135. Used both as a noun and a verb.

BLOCK, obstacle; I. 137.

BODKIN, a tailor’s awl; I. 313.

BOLSTERED, matted with blood; III. i. 73. Cf. ‘Blood-bolstered Banquo.’--_Macbeth_, IV. i. 123.

BOTCHER, a jobbing tailor; I. 25, 316. Cf. Huloet, ‘A tailor, bodger, botcher, mender or patcher of old garments.’

BRABLE, quarrel; IV. i. 77.

BROKAGE, petty dealing; here especially dealing in old clothes; I. 26.

BUGS, hobgoblins: III. ii. 19.

CAUSELESS, adv., without cause, I. 358.

CHOPS ME IN, interrupts suddenly; III. vi. 130; ‘me’ is a dative; chop is used in the sense of doing quickly. Cf. _Richard III._, I. iv. 160, ‘Then we will chop him in the malmsey butt.’

COIL, trouble; III. vi. 5.

COISTRIL, a paltry young fellow; III. ii. 41, 58. Cf. _Twelfth Night_, I. iii. 43, ‘A coward and a coistril.’

COPESMATE, market-mate, companion; III. v. 104. Cf. _Lucrece_, 925, ‘Misshapen Time, copesmate of ugly Night.’

COLTSTAFF, a staff used by two persons for carrying ‘cowls,’ _i.e._ tubs; V. i. 22. Cf. _Merry Wives_, III. iii. 156, ‘Where’s the cowlstaff?’

COSTARD, head; V. i. 63; literally a large ribbed apple. Frequent in Shakespeare.

CROWN, crown-piece; III. vi. 132.

CURST, shrewish; IV. ii. 12.

CUTTER, bully, cutthroat; I. 522; IV. iii. 74, etc. Cf. Harrison’s _England_, II. 16, ‘Some desperate cutters we have.’

DAG, pistol; III. vi. 9, 131. The derivation is not known.

DALLYING, delaying, trifling; I. 397.

DISPOSE, disposal; I. 606. Common in Shakespeare.

DISTRESSFUL, miserable: III. v. 56; IV. iv. 51. Cf. _Henry V._, IV. i. 287, ‘Crammed with distressful bread.’

DRIFTS, plots; I. 178, 450, etc.

EAR, plough; III. v. 24.

ESCHEW, avoid; I. 347.

FLAW, gust of wind; IV. iv. 44.

FORSLOWED, delayed; III. v. 85. Cf. 3 _Henry VI._, II. iii. 56, ‘Forslow no longer.’

FOSTER, forester; III. iii. 13.

FROLIC, used as an exclamation = ‘cheer up’; I. 512. Cf. Kyd’s _Jeronimo_, I. i. 1.

GIGLOT, a wanton woman, III. v. 87; connected with ‘giggle.’

GLAIVES, swords; V. i. 348.

GLOSING, wordy; V. vi. 18.

HANDSEL, confirm, seal; II. i. 117.

HARBOROUGH, old form of harbour; V. i. 251.

HORNSBY, cuckold; IV. iii. 76.

HOUGHT, hocked or hamstrung; IV. iii. 38.

IMPETRATE, get by asking; II. ii. 16.

JETS, struts; I. 30. Cf. _Cymbeline_, III. iii. 4, ‘Giants may jet through.’

LAY IT ON, fall to work; V. i. 50. Cf. _Winter’s Tale_, IV. iii. 43, ‘My father hath made her mistress of the feast and she lays it on.’

LEAVE, cease; III. vi. 72, etc.

LORDAINE, clown, IV. i. 58.

MISEVENT, mishap; IV. iv. 49.

MISTAKING, misunderstanding; IV. i. 27.

MITHRIDATE, antidote; I. 383. Called after the famous King of Pontus, who made himself poison-proof. Greene uses the word.

MUSCADO, musket; III. vi. 20.

MUTCHADO, moustache; II. i. 54.

PANTOFLES, slippers; II. ii. 9.

PASSIONATE, sorrowful; III. v. 45. Cf. _John II._, 544, ‘She is sad and passionate.’

PLANCHERS, planks; I. 42. ‘Planched’ is found in _Measure for Measure_, IV. i. 3.

PLATFORM, scheme; II. i. 100. Cf. 1 _Henry VI._, II. i. 77.

PRECISIAN, puritan; III. ii. 18.

_Prick-eared_, III. ii. 62; cf. _Henry V._, II. i. 44, ‘Prick-eared cur of Iceland.’

QUALM, fit of nausea; III. vi. 67; V. i. 309.

QUARTERAGE, quarterly payment; II. ii. 98.

RACE, raze down; I. 47, 118.

RELIGIOUS, devout; I. 587.

SCONCE, small fort; V. i. 70.

SECURELY, without misgiving; I. 50.

SLIPSHOE, slipper; V. i. 406.

STANDINGS, place of vantage, ambush; III. vi. 38.

STOUT, proud, overbearing; V. i. 206, ii. 2. Cf. ‘I will be strange, stout, in yellow stockings.’--_Twelfth Night_, II. v. 185, and 2 _Henry VI._, I. i. 187.

SULLENS, moroseness; IV. iv. 108. Cf. _Richard II._, II. i. 139: ‘Let them die that age and sullens have.’

SURE, betrothed; I. 151. Cf. _Merry Wives_, V. v. 237.

SUSPECT, suspicion; I. i. 130. Cf. Sonnet LXX. ‘The ornament of beauty is suspect.’

TICING, enticing; I. 197.

TRUG, a drab; I. 499. Greene uses the word.

TRULL, worthless woman; I. 498.

TRUSS, tie up for hanging; III. vi. 125; here = ‘get yourself trussed.’

WATCHET, pale blue; II. i. 56.

WAGER, give a wage to; I. 523. Shakespeare uses ‘wage’ in this sense, _Coriolanus_, V. vi. 40.

WHISTLY, silently; III. iii. 9.

YEOMANRY, homespun wit; IV. ii. 37.

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Transcriber's Note

The following apparent printing errors have been corrected:

p. 4 "the field." changed to "the field,"

p. 6 "of men." changed to "of men,"

p. 10 "it me" changed to "it me."

p. 19 "true or no" changed to "true or no?"

p. 23 "neighhour" changed to "neighbour"

p. 30 line-number 90 changed to 93

p. 36 "heat." changed to "heat,"

p. 49 "dream" changed to "dream."

p. 69 "is death" changed to "is death."

p. 75 "my state," changed to "my state."

p. 97 "bills" changed to "bills."

p. 99 "knew now" changed to "knew not"

p. 102 "did not" changed to "did not."

p. 104 "a a letter" changed to "a letter"

p. 107 "_Merry Wives_, iII" changed to "_Merry Wives_, III"

p. 110 "adevrbially" changed to "adverbially"

p. 111 (note to II. i. 58) "‘Seam rent fellows," changed to "‘Seam rent fellows,’"

p. 111 (note to III. i. 5) "sense" changed to "sense?"

Other inconsistent punctuation has been retained as printed, as have inconsistent spellings.