SHAKESPEARE 
 
 SELECT PLAYS 
 
 THE TRAGEDY OF 
 
 KING RICHARD THE THIRD 
 
 EDITED BV 
 
 WILLIAM ALDIS WRIGHT, M.A., LL.D. 
 
 Fellow and Bursar of Trinity College, Cambridge 
 
 
 xforfc 
 
 AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 
 M DCCC LXXXII 
 
 All Rights reserved. 
 

 Hon&on 
 H.ENBY FEOWDE 
 
 OXPOBD T71TIVEKSITT PBESS WABEHOUSE 
 7 PATERNOSTER ROW 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ALTHOUGH printed among the historical plays, as the 
 proper sequel to the three parts of Henry VI, with which 
 it is immediately connected in the opening scene, Richard 
 the Third is in all the early copies described as a tragedy. 
 The title of the play as it appears in the first quarto, printed 
 in 1597 without Shakespeare's name, is as follows: 'The (. 
 Tragedy of King Richard the Third. Containing, His 
 treacherous Plots against his brother Clarence : the pittiefull 
 murther of his innocent nephewes : his tyrannicall vsurpa- 
 tion : with the whole course of his detested life, and most 
 deserued_death. J The same is repeated substantially in all 
 the seven subsequent quarto editions which appeared at 
 intervals from 1598 to 1634. The third quarto, printed in 
 1602, with those that followed, professed to be, but was not, 
 newly augmented. ,- All these have Shakespeare's name on 
 the title-page. In the first folio, printed in 1623, the play 
 is called ' The Tragedy of Richard the Third : with the 
 Landing of Earle Richmond, and the Battell at Bosworth 
 Field.' The quarto of 1597 was entered at Stationers' Hall 
 on October 20. We have thus the inferior limit for the date 
 at which the play was written. How much earlier it was 
 composed is to a great extent matter of conjecture. A line 
 in Weever's Epigrammes (Beloe, Anecdotes of Literature, 
 vi. 159), printed in 1599, but supposed to be written in 1595, 
 mentions Romeo and Richard as two of Shakespeare's well- 
 known characters : 
 
 * Romeo, Richard, more whose names I know not,' 
 and presumably this is Richard the Third and not Richard 
 the Second. If therefore Weever wrote in 1595 there is 
 
 770%*? 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 evidence that Richard had by that time become an esta- 
 blished favourite with the public, and had probably been out 
 for a year or two. This would take us back to the earliest 
 date which has been assigned to it, 1593 or 1594. About 
 the same time there appeared The True Tragedie of Richard 
 the Third, which was entered at Stationers' Hall 19 June, 
 1 594, and published the same year. Possibly it was revived 
 in consequence of the attention which Shakespeare's play 
 attracted to the subject, and in support of such a conjecture 
 may be quoted the parallel instance of the publication of the 
 old play of King Leir in 1605, nearly at the time when 
 Shakespeare was engaged upon his own greater work. A 
 passage from a song which is found in a volume containing 
 Epigrams by Sir John Davies, and Marlowe's translation of 
 Ovid's Elegies (Marlowe, ed. Dyce, p. 366), has been quoted 
 as an imitation of some lines in Richard's first soliloquy : 
 
 ' I am not fashion'd for these amorous times, 
 To court thy beauty with lascivious rhymes, 
 I cannot dally, caper, dance, and sing,' &c. 
 
 But even granting the imitation, this throws no light upon 
 the date of the play ; for the volume in which the lines first 
 occur is undated, and is only supposed to have been printed 
 before 1596. Mr. Stokes (Chronological Order of Shake- 
 speare's Plays, p. 30) gives the following from The Mirror 
 for Magistrates, 1 594, which have some resemblance to lines 
 in Richard's speech : 
 
 * God Mars laid by his lance, and took his lute, 
 And turn'd his rugged frowns to smiling looks/ 
 
 And with 
 
 'Now do I play the touch, 
 To try if thou be current gold indeed,' 
 
 he compares 
 
 'Now is the hour come 
 To put your love unto the touch, to try 
 If it be current, or base counterfeit,' 
 
 from A Warning for Fair Women, 1589. But in all these 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 cases of resemblance it would be unsafe to insist upon 
 imitation where the things compared are such evident 
 poetical commonplaces. Mr. Fleay (Shakespeare Manual, 
 pp. 20, 21) is of opinion that the wooing of Estrild in the old 
 play of Locrine, which appeared in 1595, is imitated from 
 Richard III, i. 2. But if so, this only helps us to some date 
 before 1595. As our play was printed in 1597 it is unneces- 
 sary to refer to the often-quoted passage from Meres 7 
 Palladis Tamia, 1598, in which Richard the Third is enumer- 
 ated among the plays upon which Shakespeare's fame 
 securely rested. The date 1593 or 1594 which may be 
 conjecturally assigned to Richard the Third brings it close 
 to two other historical plays which were written about the 
 same time, Richard the Second and King John. The metrical 
 tests which have been applied to solve the question of the 
 date of composition would place Richard the Third and King 
 John very close together, and would make Richard the 
 Second earlier than either. On such a point I am not care- 
 ful to express a very confident opinion, but nevertheless 
 I cannot read Richard the Third without feeling that in point 
 of literary style, command of language, flexibility of verse, 
 and dramatic skill, it is an earlier composition than Richard 
 the Second and King John, and separated by no long interval 
 from the Third Part of Henry VI, to which it is the sequel 
 and the close. 
 
 The earlier English play on the same subject has been 
 mentioned, and may be dismissed without further consider- 
 ation. Besides this there was a Latin play by Dr. Thomas 
 Legge, Richardus Tertius, which was acted at St. John's 
 College, Cambridge, as early as 1579. A supposed imita- 
 tion of this, also in Latin, by Henry Lacey, of Trinity 
 College, proves to be only a transcript (Cooper's Athenae 
 Cantabrigienses, ii. 41). It is to Legge's play, in all proba- 
 bility, that Sir John Harington, in his Apologie for Poetry 
 (1591), and Nash, in his Have with you to Saffron Walden, 
 (1596), refer as having been acted at Cambridge. 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 For the incidents of the play the dramatist has been in- 
 debted to the historian. It may be said generally that the 
 whole idea of Richard's character is taken from his life by 
 Sir Thomas More, written partly in Latin and partly in 
 English, and incorporated by Hall and Holinshed in their 
 Chronicles. In fact these writers stand in the same relation 
 to Richard the Third as North's Plutarch to Coriolanus and 
 the other Roman plays. The^^js_thejiistorica] [narrative 
 _dramatised T and the only scene of importance for which 
 
 some hint has not been supplied in the history is the second 
 scene of the first Art, |n. which Richard wooes the wid&iy_of 
 . Brjpre Edward. This and the various appearances of the old > 
 Queen Margaret are introduced in defiance ol histof icTrutrTl 
 "and probability for the simple purpose of stage effect. From I 
 this point of view they are undoubtedly successful, and after 
 so decisive a victory in the opening of his campaign we are 
 prepared to accept everything which follows, feeling that the 
 events are in harmony with the principal actor in the drama, 
 and without any nice questionings about fidelity to human 
 nature or to the truth of history. In Richard's world, the 
 world of the stage, there is nothing incongruous, if we once 
 admit the possibility of his being what he describes himself 
 to be. What this is it requires no subtle analysis to dis- 
 coven He takes us into his confidence at every step, and 
 | /tells us not only what he is going to do, but why he intends 
 !| to do it, so that action and motive are obvious to the most un- 
 skilful observer. The Richard of the Third Part of Henry VI 
 is also the Richard of Sir Thomas More, and it is the con- 
 tinuity of his character which supplies the connecting link 
 between the present play and its predecessors. Already in 
 his soliloquy at the end of the second scene of the third Act 
 of 3 Henry VI we have a very explicit confession of his 
 ambitious designs and of the obstacles in his way to the 
 crown, to the removal of which he thenceforth devotes him- 
 self. In Holinshed there is no hint of this ; and in the pages 
 of the chronicler, Richard, during his brother's lifetime, only 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 appears as the gallant soldier and loyal partisan of the House 
 of York. Even when the common rumour is reported that 
 he stabbed Henry the Sixth in the Tower, the deed is attrib- 
 uted to no ambitious designs of his own, but to his desire 
 'that his brother king Edward might reigne in more suertie.' 
 But it can hardly be said with justice that Holinshed is in- 
 consistent in his treatment of Richard's character when he 
 represents him as brave and unscrupulous. 
 
 It was no part of the business of the dramatist to follo^ ? 
 the historian too closely or to observe the unities of plac 
 and time. The play opens in 1471, and before the end oi 
 the first Act we are hurried forward six years to the death 
 of Clarence, which is made to be nearly contemporary with 
 the death of Edward six years later still. In this way how- 
 ever the interval of Edward's reign, uneventful for dramatic 
 purposes, is bridged over, and the catastrophe of the story 
 of the struggle of the rival houses is reached. 
 
 The following extracts from Hall's Chronicle will, it is 
 hoped, together with the quotations in the Notes, supply all 
 the historical materials out of which the play was constructed. 
 For convenience of reference the quotations are made from 
 the reprint of 1809. The portrait of Richard as drawn by 
 More is thus copied by Hall : 
 
 ' Richard duke of Gloucester the third sonne (of whiche I 
 must moste entreate) was in witte and courage egall with the 
 other, but in beautee and liniame^tes of nature far vnderneth 
 both, for he was litle of stature, eiuill featured of limmes, 
 croke backed, the left shulder muche higher than the righte, 
 harde fauoured of visage, such as in estates is called a war- 
 like visage, and emonge commen persones a crabbed face. 
 He was malicious, wrothfull and enuious, and as it is reported, 
 his mother the duches had muche a dooe in her trauaill, that 
 she could not be deliuered of hym vncut, and that he came 
 into the worlde the fete forwarde, as menne bee borne out- 
 warde, and as the fame ranne, not vntothed : whether that 
 menne of hatred reported aboue the truthe, or that nature 
 
Vlll PREFA CE. 
 
 chaunged his course in his beginnynge, whiche in his life 
 many thynges vnnaturally committed, this I leue to God his 
 iudgemente. He was none euill capitain in warre, as to y e 
 whyche, his disposicion was more enclined too, then to peace. 
 Sondry victories he had and some ouerthrowes, but neuer 
 for defaute of his owne persone, either for lacke of hardi- 
 nesse or politique order. Free he was of his dispences and 
 somwhat aboue his power liberall, with large giftes he gatte 
 hym vnstedfaste frendship : for whiche cause he was fain to 
 borowe, pill and extort in other places, whiche gat him sted- 
 faste hatred. He was close and secrete, a depe dissimuler, 
 lowlye of countenaunce, arrogante of herte, outwardely fami- 
 lier where he inwardely hated, not lettynge to kisse whom he 
 thought to kill, despiteous and cruell, not alwaie for eiuill 
 will, but ofter for ambicion and too serue his purpose, frende 
 and fooe were all indifferent, where his auauntage grewe, 
 he spared no mannes deathe whose life withstode his pur- 
 pose. He slewe in the towre kynge Henry the sixte, saiynge 
 now is there no heire male of kynge Edwarde the thirde, but 
 wee of the house of Yorke : whiche murder was doen without 
 kyng Edward his assente, which woulde haue appointed that 
 bocherly office too some other, rather then to his owne 
 brother. Some wise menne also wene, that his drifte lacked 
 not in helpynge furth his owne brother of Clarence to his 
 death, which thyng in all apparaunce he resisted, although 
 he inwardly mynded it. And the cause therof was, as 
 men notyng his doyngs and procedynges did marke (because 
 that he longe in kynge Edwarde his tyme thought to obtaine 
 the crowne in case that the kynge his brother, whose life he 
 loked that eiuil diet woulde sone shorten) shoulde happen to 
 diseace, as he did in dede, his chyldren beynge younge. 
 And then if the duke of Clarence had liued, his pretenced 
 purpose had been far hyndered. For yf the duke of Clarence 
 had kepte hymself trewe to his nephewe the younge king, or 
 would haue taken vpon hym too bee kynge, euery one of 
 these castes had been a troumpe in the duke of Gloucesters 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 waye : but when he was sure that his brother of Clarence 
 was ded, then he knewe that he might worke without that 
 ieoperdy.' (pp. 342, 343.) 
 
 Some hints for the first Act were supplied by the following 
 description of Clarence. 
 
 ' George duke of Clarence was a goodly and well feautured 
 prince, in all thynges fortunate, if either his owne ambicion 
 had not set hym against his brother or thenuy of his enemies 
 had not set his brother againste hym : for were it by the 
 quene or nobles of her blud. whiche highly maligned the 
 kynges kynred (as women comme^ly, not of malice but of 
 nature, hate suche as their husbandes loue) or wer it a 
 proud appetite of the duke hym selfe, entendynge to bee 
 kynge, at the leaste wise, heinous treason was laied to his 
 charge, and finally were he in faulte or wer he faultlesse, 
 attainted was he by parliament and iudged to death, and 
 there vpon hastely drowned in a butte of malmesey within 
 the towre of London. Whose death kynge Edwarde (al- 
 though he commaunded it) when he wiste it was doen pite- 
 ously he bewayled and sorowfully repented it.' (p. 342.) 
 
 The quotation from Holinshed, given in the Notes at 
 the beginning of Act II, supplies the outline for the first 
 scene of that Act. The second scene so far departs from 
 the truth of history that at the death of Edward IV Richard 
 was in the north, and Buckingham, who was in the marches 
 of Wales, joined him at Northampton on his way to London. 
 Lord Rivers was at Ludlow with the young Prince of Wales 
 under his charge. 
 
 'The younge kynge at the deathe of his father kepte 
 houshoulde at Ludlowe, for his father had sente hym 
 thether for lustice to be dooen in the Marches of Wales, 
 to the ende that by the autbritee of his presence, the wilde 
 Welshemenne and eiuell disposed personnes should refrain 
 from their accustomed murthers and outrages. The gouer- 
 nau^ce of this younge Prince was committed too lord Antony 
 Wooduile erle Ryuers and lorde Scales, brother to the 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 quene, a wise, hardy and honourable personage, as valiaunte 
 of handes as pollitique of counsaill and with hym were 
 associate other of the same partie, and in effect euery one 
 as he was nerer of kynne vnto the quene, so was he planted 
 nexte aboute the prince. That drift by the quene semed to 
 be diuised, whereby her bloudde mighte of righte in tender 
 youthe bee so planted in the princes fauoure, that afterwarde 
 it shoulde hardely bee eradicated out of the same. 
 
 1 The duke of Gloucester turned all this to their distruction, 
 and vpon that grounde set the foundacion of his vnhappy 
 buyldyng : For whom soeuer he perceiued too bee at variaunce 
 with theim, or to beare toward hym selfe any fauoure, he 
 brake vnto theim, some by mouthe, some by writynge and 
 secrete messengers, that it was neither reason nor yet to 
 be suffered that the younge kynge their master and kyns- 
 man shoulde bee in the handes and custody of his mothers 
 kynrede, sequestered in maner from their compaignie and 
 attendaunce, of whiche euery one oughte hym as faithefull 
 seruice as they, and many of theim of farre more honorable 
 parte of kynne then his mothers side, whose bloud quod the 
 duke of Gloucester sauyng the kyng his pleasure, was farre 
 vnmete to bee matched with his, which now to bee remoued 
 from the kyng and the leaste noble to bee lefte aboute hym, 
 is quod he neither honourable to his maiestie nor too vs, and 
 also too hym lesse suretie, to haue the nobles and mightiest 
 of his frendes from hym, & to vs all no litle ieopardie to 
 suffre, and specially our well proued euill willers too growe 
 into greate autoritee with the kynge in youthe, namely 
 whiche is lighte of belefe and soone perswaded 
 
 'With these perswasions and writinges, the duke of 
 Gloucester sette a fire theim whiche were easie to kyndle, 
 and in especial twain, Henry duke of Buckyngham, and 
 Willyam lord Hastynges, and lord Chamberlain, bothe 
 menne of honoure and of greate power, the one by longe 
 succession from his aunceters, thother by his offices and 
 the kynge his fauoure. These two not bearynge cache to 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 other so muche loue, as hatred both to y e queues bloud, 
 accorded together with the duke of Gloucester that thei 
 would remoue from the kyng all his mothers frendes, vnder 
 the name of their enemies. 
 
 'Where vpon the duke of Gloucester beynge aduertised 
 that the lordes aboute the kynge entended to brynge hym to 
 London to his coronacion,accompaigned with suche a number 
 of their frendes that it shoulde be harde for hym to brynge 
 his purpose to passe without the assemblyng and gatheryng 
 of people in maner of open warre, wherof the ende he 
 wyst was doubtfull, and in the which the kyng beyng on 
 the other syde, his parte shoulde haue the name and face 
 of rebellion. 
 
 6 He secretely therefore by diuerse meanes caused the 
 quene to be perswaded that it was neither nede should 
 also be ieoperdeous for y e kyng to come vp so strong, 
 for as now euery lord loued other and none other thyng 
 studied for, but the triumphe of his coronacion honoure 
 of the kyng. And the lordes about the kyng, should as- 
 semble in the kynges name muche people, thei should geue 
 y e lordes betwixt whom them ther had bene some tyme 
 debate, an occasion to feare and suspecte least they should 
 gather this people, not for the kynges saue guard, whom no 
 man impugned, but for their destruction, hauyng more re- 
 garde to their olde variaunce then to their new attonement, 
 for the which cause they on the other parte might assemble 
 men also for their defence, whose powres she wyst well farre 
 stretched, and thus should all the realme fal in a roare, & of 
 the mischiefe that therof should ensue (whiche was likely to 
 be not a litle) y e moste harme was like to fal where the 
 least woulde, then all the world would put her her 
 kynred in the blame, saiyng that they had vnwysely and 
 vntruely broken the amytie and peace whiche the kynge 
 her husband had so prudently made betwene her kynred 
 and his, whiche amyte his kynne had alwaies obserued. 
 
 'The quene beyng thus perswaded, sent worde to the 
 
Xll PREFACE. 
 
 kyng and to her brother, that there was no cause nor nede 
 to assemble any people, & also the duke of Gloucester and 
 other lordes of his bend, wrote vnto y e kyng so reuerently 
 and to the quenes frendes there so louyngly, that they 
 nothinge yearthly mistrustyng, brought the young kynge 
 towarde London with a sober compaignie in great haste 
 (but not in good spede) til he came to Northampton, and 
 from thence he remoued to Stony Stratford.' (pp. 347-349.) 
 
 The narrative of the arrest of the lords and the seizure 
 of the young king by the dukes of Gloucester and Bucking- 
 ham is set forth in great detail by the chronicler, and the 
 incidents must have been communicated to Sir Thomas 
 More by an eyewitness, but as they are not referred to 
 in the play we are not concerned with them here. 
 
 The third scene was perhaps suggested by a circumstance 
 in More's story which has all the appearance of a personal 
 reminiscence. It is at least an illustration of the thoughts 
 which were passing in men's minds, and follows the account 
 of the death of Edward. 
 
 ' And so this noble prince deceased, as you have hearde 
 in that tyme when his life was moste desired, and when his 
 people moste . desired to kepe hym : Whiche loue of his 
 people and their entiere affection towarde hym, had been 
 to hys noble chyldren (hauynge in theim selues also as many 
 giftes of nature, as many princely vertues, as much good 
 towardenesse as their age coulde receyue) a merueilous 
 fortresse and a sure armoure, yf the diuision and dis- 
 sencion of their frendes had not vnarmed theim and left 
 theim destitute, and the execrable desire of soueraingtie 
 prouoked hym to their destruccion, whiche yf either kynde 
 or kyndnesse had holden place muste nedes haue bene their 
 chiefe defence. For Richard duke of Gloucester, by nature 
 their uncle, by office their protectoure, to their father greately 
 beholden and too theim by othe and allegiaunce bounden, 
 all the bandes broken and violated whiche bynde man and 
 man together, withoute any respecte of God or the worlde, 
 
PREFACE. xilf 
 
 vnnaturally contriued too bereue theim, not onely of their 
 dignitie and preheminence, but also of their naturall Hues 
 and worldely felicitee. 
 
 i And first to shewe you, that by coniecture he pretended 
 this thyng in his brothers life, ye shall vnderstande for a truth 
 that the same nighte that kynge Edwarde died, one called 
 Mistelbrooke, longe ere the daye spro^g, came to y e house 
 of one Pettier dwellyng in Redcrosse strete without Creple ' 
 gate of London, when he was with hasty rappyng quickely 
 let in, the saied Mistelbroke shewed vnto Pettier that kyng 
 Edward was that night deceased : by my truth quod Pettier, 
 then will my master the duke of Gloucester bee kyng and 
 that I warrant thee. What cause he had so too thynke, harde 
 it is to saie, whether he beeyng his seruaunte knewe any 
 such thyng pretensed or otherwise had any ynkelyng therof 
 but of all likelihod he spake it not of naught.' (p. 346.) 
 
 The passages bearing upon the fourth scene of Act II are 
 quoted in the Notes to that scene. 
 
 Act III, Scene 1. * When the kynge approched nere the 
 cytee, Edmonde Shawe Goldesmythe then Mayre of the cytie 
 with the Aldermenne and shreues in skarlet, and fyue hun- 
 dreth commoners in murraye receyued his grace reuerently 
 at Harnesay Parke, and so conueighed him to the cytee, 
 where he entred the fourth day of May, in the fyrst and last 
 yere of his reigne, and was lodged in the bishoppe of Lon- 
 dons Palayce : but y e duke of Gloucester bare him in open 
 sight so reuerently, saying to all men as he rode behold your 
 prince and souereigne lord, and made such sembleaunce of 
 lowlynes to his prince, that from the great obloquy that he 
 was in so late before he was sodenly fallen in so great trust 
 that at the councel next assembled he was made the onely 
 chiefe ruler, and thought most mete to be protectoure of the 
 king and his realme : so that, were it destiny or were it foly, 
 the lambe was betaken to the wolfe to kepe. At whiche 
 councell the Archebishop of Yorke was sore blamed for de- 
 liueryng the great scale to the quene, and the scale taken 
 
XIV PREFA CE. 
 
 from him and deliuered to doctor Ihon Russel bishop of 
 Lyncolne, a wyse ma# and a good and of much experience, 
 and diuerse lordes and knyghtes were appointed to diuerse 
 roumes, the lord Chamberlayne and some other kept the 
 roumes that they wer in before, but not many. 
 
 ' Now were it so that the protectour (which alwayes you 
 must take for the duke of Gloucester) sore thristed for the 
 acheuynge of his pretensed enterpryse and thought euery 
 daye a yere tyll it were perfourmed, yet durste he no further 
 attempt as long as he had but half his pray in his hand, well 
 wittyng that yf he deposed the one brother, all the realme 
 woulde fall to the other, yf he remayned either in sanctuarye 
 or shoulde happely be shortly conueighed to his fathers 
 libertie. Wherfore incontinent at the next metynge of the 
 lordes in councel he purposed to them that it was an heynous 
 thyng of the quene, and procedyng of great malice toward 
 the kynges councelers that she shoulde kepe the kynges 
 brother in sanctuarye from him whose speciall pleasure and 
 comfort were to haue his brother with him, and that to be 
 done by her to none other intent, but to brynge all the lordes 
 in an obloquy and murmoure of the people, as though they 
 were not to be trusted with the kynges brother. 7 (pp. 351, 352.) 
 
 The passages of the Chronicle which illustrate the mission 
 of the Cardinal to Westminster and the discussion which 
 preceded it are quoted in the Notes. 
 
 * When the Cardinall and the other lordes had receyued 
 the younge duke, they brought him into the starre chaumbre, 
 where the protectoure toke him into his armes and kissed 
 hym with these wordes : now welcome my lorde with all my 
 verie herte, & he saied in that of likelihod euen as he in- 
 wardely thought ; and there vpon, furthwith brought him 
 to the kyng his brother into the bishoppes palace at Poules, 
 and from thence through the cytee honorably into the tower, 
 out of which after that daie they neuer came abrode.' 
 (P- 358.) 
 
 The scene opened with the entry of the young king into 
 
PREFACE. XV 
 
 London on Sunday, May 4, 1483, but before the end we find 
 that on the morrow the lords were to be executed at Pom- 
 fret, and this is supposed to have happened on the day of 
 the council meeting at the Tower which was held on Friday, 
 the 1 3th of June. The following passages supplied a hint 
 for the end of this scene and the material for the next. 
 
 6 Thus many thynges cowmyng together, partly by chaunce 
 and partly by purpose, caused at length not common people 
 onely, whiche wauer with the wynde, but wyse men also and 
 some lordes to marke the matter and muse ther vpon : in so 
 much as the lorde Stanley whiche afterwarde was erle of 
 Derby wysely mistrusted it and saied to the lord Hastynges, 
 that he muche misliked these two seuerall coun[s]ailes, for 
 while we q d he talke of one matter at the one place, litle 
 wote we whereof they talke in the other : peace my lorde q d 
 the lorde Hastynges, on my lyfe neuer doubte you, for while 
 one man is there, which is neuer thence, neither can there 
 be any thing once mynded that should sounde amisse to- 
 warde me, but it should be in myne eares or it were well out 
 their mouthes. This ment he by Catesby whiche was nere of 
 his secrete counsail, and whom he familierly vsed in his most 
 waightie matters, puttying no man in so speciall truste as him 
 reco^nyng him selfe to no man so liefe sith he wiste well there 
 was no man to hym so much beholdyng as was this Catesby, 
 which was a man wel learned in the lawes of this lande, and 
 by the speciall fauoure of the lorde Hastynges in good 
 aucthoritie and muche rule bare in the counties of Lecestre 
 & Northampton where the lorde Hastynges power laye. 
 But surely great pitie was it that he had not either more 
 trueth or lesse wit, for hys dissimulacion onely, kept that 
 mischief vp, in whom if the lorde Hastynges had not put so 
 speciall truste, the lorde Stanley and he with diuerse other 
 lordes had departed into their countrees and broken all the 
 daunce, for many euill signes that he sawe, whiche he nowe 
 construed all for the beste, so surely thought he that there 
 could be no harme towarde hym in that counsaill entended 
 
XVI PREFACE. 
 
 where Catesbye was. And of trueth the protectoure and the 
 duke of Bukyngham made very good sembleaunce vnto the 
 lorde Hastynges and kept hym muche in their compaignye. 
 And vndoubtedly, the protectour loued hym well, and lothe 
 was to haue loste him sauyng for feare leste his lyfe should 
 haue quayled their purpose, for the whiche cause he moued 
 Catesby to proue with some wordes cast out a farre of, 
 whether he could thinke it possible to wynne the lorde 
 Hastynges to their parte. But Catesby, whether he as- 
 sayed him or assayed him not, reported vnto hym that he 
 found him so fast, and herde him speake so terrible wordes 
 that he durst no farther breake : and of a truth the lord 
 Hastynges of very truste shewed vnto Catesby the mis- 
 truste that other began to haue in the matter. And there- 
 fore, he fearyng leste their mocio/zs might with the lord 
 Hastynges minishe his credence, where vnto onely all the 
 matter leaned, procured the protectour hastely to ryd hym 
 & much the rather, for he trusted by hys death to obtayne 
 muche of the rule whiche the lord Hastynges bare in hys 
 countree, the onely desyre whereof, was the thyng that en- 
 duced him to be procurer and one of the speciallest con- 
 triuers of all thys horrible treason. Where vpon the lorde 
 protectour caused a counsaill to be set at the tower on the 
 fridaye the thirtene daye of lune, where was muche com- 
 monyng for the honourable solemnitee of the coronacion, 
 of the whiche the tyme appoincted aproched so nere, that 
 the pageauntes were a makyng daye & night at Westminster, 
 and vitaile killed whiche afterwarde was cast awaye.' (p. 359.) 
 4 A merueilous case it is to heare, either the warnynges 
 that he should haue voyded, or the tokens of that he could 
 not voyde. For the next night before his death, the lorde 
 Stanley sent to him a trusty messenger at midnight in all 
 the haste, requiryng hym to ryse and ryde awaye with hym, 
 for he was disposed vtterly no lenger for to abyde, for he 
 had a fearfull dreame in the whiche he thought that a bore 
 with his tuskes so rased them bothe by the heades that 
 
PREFACE. XVli 
 
 the bloud ran aboute bothe their shoulders, and for asmuch 
 as the protectour gaue the bore for his cognisaunce, he 
 ymagined that it should be he. This dreame made suche 
 a fearfull impression in hys harte, that he was throughly 
 determyned no lenger to tary but had his horse redy, yf 
 the lorde Hastynges would go with him. So that they would 
 ryde so farre that night, that they should be out of daunger 
 by the next day. A good lord (q d the lord Hastynges) to 
 the messenger, leaneth my lorde thy maister so much to 
 suche tryfles, and hath suche faithe in dreames, whiche 
 either his awne feare phantasieth, or do ryse in the nightes 
 rest by reason of the dayes thought. Tell him it is playne 
 wichcraft to beleue in such dreames, which if they were 
 tokens of thinges to come, why thynketh he not that we 
 might as likely make theim true by oure goyng yf we were 
 caught and brought backe, (as frendes fayle fliers) for then 
 had the bore a cause lykely to race vs with his tuskes, 
 as folkes that fled for some falshead, wherefore either is 
 there peryll, nor none there is [injdeede, or if any be, it 
 is rather in goyng then abidyng. And if we should nedes 
 fall in peril one way or other, yet had I leauer that me/z 
 should se it were by other mes falshed, then thynke it 
 were either our awne faute or faynte feble hart, and there- 
 fore go to thy maister and cowmende me to him, & saye 
 that I praye him to be mery & haue no feare, for I assure 
 hym, I am assured [Pas sure] of the man he wotteth of, 
 as I am sure of myne awne hand. God send grace (q d the 
 messenger) and so departed. Certeyn it is also that in 
 redyng toward the towre the same mornyng in whiche he 
 was beheaded, hys horsse that he accustomed to ryde on 
 stombled with him twyse or thryse almost to the fallyng, 
 which thyng although it happeth to them dayly to whom 
 no mischautfce is towarde, yet hath it bene as an olde 
 euyll token obserued as a goyng toward mischiefe. Now 
 this that foloweth was no warning but an enuious scorne, 
 the same morning ere he were vp from his bed where Shores 
 
 b 
 
xviii PREFACE. 
 
 wife lay with him all night, there came to him sir Thomas 
 Haward sonne to the lorde Haward (whiche lord was one 
 of the priueyest of the lord protectors courlsaill and dooyng) 
 as it were of curtesye to accompaignie hym to the counsaile, 
 but of truthe sent by the lorde protectour to hast hym 
 thitherward. 
 
 i This sir Thomas, while the lord Hastynges stayed 
 awhile commonyng with a priest whow he met in the 
 Towrstrete, brake the lordes tale, saiyng to him merely, 
 what my lord I pray you come on, wherfore talke you so 
 long with that priest, you haue no nede of a priest yet, 
 laughed vpon hym, as though he would saye, you shall 
 haue nede of one sone : But lytle wyst the other what he 
 ment (but or night these wordes were well reme;;zbred by 
 them that hard them) so the true lord Hastynges litle mis- 
 trusted, & was neuer merier, nor thought his life in more 
 suertie in al hys dayes, which thyng is often a signe of 
 chau^ge : but I shall rather let any thyng passe me then 
 the vayne surety of mans mynde so neare his death, for 
 vpon the very towre wharffe, so neare the place where his 
 head was of, so sone after, as a ma# might wel cast a balle, 
 a pursyuau/zt of his awne called Hastynges mette with hym, 
 & of their metyng in that place he was put in reme^braunce 
 of another tyme, in which it happened them to mete before 
 together in the place, at which tyme the lorde Hastynges 
 had bene accused to kyng Edward by the lord Ryuers the 
 quenes brother, insomuche that he was for a while which 
 lasted not long highly in the kynges indignacion as he now 
 mette the same pursiuaut in the same place, the ieoperdy 
 so well passed, it gaue him great pleasure to talke with 
 him therof, with whom he had talked in the same place 
 of that matter, & therfore he sayed, Ah Hastynges, art 
 thou remewbred when I mette the here once with an heauy 
 hart : Ye my lorde (q d he) that I remembre well, and 
 thanked [Pthankes] be to God they gat no good ner you 
 no harme therby, thou wouldest saye so (q d he) yf thou 
 
PREFACE. XIX 
 
 knewest so muche as I do, whiche few knowe yet, & mo 
 shall shortly, that meant he that therle Ryuers and the lord 
 Richard & sir Thomas Vaughan should that day be be- 
 headed at Pomfrete, as thei were in dede, which acte he 
 wist wel should be done, but nothyng ware that the axe 
 hong so nere his awne head. In faith maw (q d he) I was 
 neuer so sory ner neuer stode in so greate daunger of my 
 lyfe as I dyd when thou and I mette here, and lo the 
 worlde is turned nowe, nowe stand myne enemies in the 
 daunger as thou maist happe to hear more hereafter, and 
 I neuer in my lyfe merier nor neuer in so great surety, 
 I praye God it proue so (q d Hastynges, proue q d he : doubt- 
 est thou that) nay nay I warraunt the, and so in maner 
 displeased he entered into the Towre, where he was not 
 long on lyue as you haue heard.' (pp. 360-362.) 
 
 ' Now was it deuised by the protectoure & his counsaile, 
 that the same day y fc the lord Chamberlayne was headed 
 in the towre of London and about the same houre should 
 be beheaded at Poumfrete the earle Ryuers and the lorde 
 Richarde the quenes sonne, syr Thomas Vaughan and sir 
 Richard Haute, whiche as you heard were taken at North- 
 ampton and Stony Stratford by the consent of the lord 
 Hastynges, whiche execution was done by the ordre & in 
 the presence of sir Richard Ratclif knight, whose seruice 
 the protectoure specially vsed in the counsail, and in the 
 execution of suche lawlesse enterprises, as a man that had 
 bene longe secrete with hym, hauyng experience df the 
 world & shrewed wytte, shorte and rude in speche, rough 
 and boysterous of behauour, bold in mischiefe, as farre from 
 pytie as from all feare of God. 
 
 6 This knight brought these foure persons to the scaffolde 
 at'the daye apoincted, & shewed to all the people that they 
 were traitours, not sufferyng the lordes to speake, & to 
 declare their innocency, least their wordes might haue 
 enclined men to pytie them and to hate the protectour & 
 his part so without Judgment processe of the lawe 
 b 2 
 
XX PREFACE. 
 
 caused them to be beheaded without other yearthly gylt, 
 but onely y* they were good me and true to the kyng & 
 to nye to the quene, insomuch as sir Thomas Vaughan 
 goyng to his death sayed, A wo worthe them y* toke the 
 prophesie that G. should destroy kyng Edwardes children, 
 meanyng y* by the duke of Clarence lord George which 
 for y* suspicion is now dead, but now remaineth Richard G. 
 duke of Gloucester, which now I se is he y* shall and will 
 accowplishe the prophesie & destroye kynge Edwardes 
 children & all their alyes & fre^des, as it appereth by vs 
 this day, whom I appele to the high tribunal of God for 
 his wrongful murther & our true innocencye. And then 
 Ratcliffe sayed, you haue well apeled, lay doune youre head, 
 ye q d syr Thomas, I dye in right, beware you dye not in 
 wrong, and so that good knight was beheaded and the 
 other three, and buryed naked in the monastery at Poumfret.' 
 
 (P- 364.) 
 
 The next extract follows immediately after the account of 
 4he summoning of the council to arrange for the corona- 
 tion (p. xviii). 
 
 ' These lordes thus sittyng co^monyng of this matter, the 
 protectour came in emong theim about nyne of the clocke 
 salutyng theim curteously, excusyng him self that he had been 
 from theim so long saiyng merely that he had been a sleper 
 that daye. And after a litle talkyng with them he sayed to 
 the bishopp of Ely, my lorde you haue verye good straw- 
 beries in youre garden at Holborne, I require you let vs 
 haue a messe of theim. Gladly (my lord q d he) I would I had 
 some better thing as redy to your pleasure as that, and 
 with that in all hast he sente his seruaunt for a dishe of 
 strawberies. The protectour set the lordes faste in com- 
 monyng and there vpon prayed theim to spare him alifrle, 
 and so he departed and came agayn betwene .x. and eleuen 
 of the clocke into the chambre all chaunged with a sowre 
 angry countenaunce knittyng the browes, frownyng and 
 fretyng and gnawyng on his lips and so set hym doune 
 
PREFACE. XXI 
 
 in his place. All the lordes were dismaied and sore mar- 
 ueyled of this maner and sodeyne chaunge and what thyng 
 should hym ayle. When he had sitten a whyle, thus he 
 began : What were they worthy to haue that cowpasse and 
 ymagine the destruccion of me beyng so neare of bloud to 
 the kyng & protectoure of this his royall realme : At which 
 question, all the lordes sate sore astonyed, musyng muche by 
 whom the question should be ment, of which euery man 
 knew him self clere. 
 
 ' Then the lorde Hastynges as he that for the familiaritie 
 that was betwene theim, thought he might be boldest with 
 him, aunswered and sayd that they were worthy to be pun- 
 ished as heynous traytours what soeuer they were, and all 
 the other affirmed the same, that is (q d he) yonder sorceres 
 my brothers wife and other with her, menyng the quene, at 
 these wordes many of the lordes were sore abashed whiche 
 fauoured her, but the lorde Hastynges was better content in 
 hys mynde that it was moued by her then by any other that 
 he loued better, albeit hys hart grudged that he was not 
 afore made of counsail of this matter as well as he was of 
 the takyng of her kynred and of their puttyng to death, 
 whiche were by hys assent before deuysed to be beheaded 
 at Pomfrete, this selfe same daye, in the whiche he was 
 not ware that it was by other deuised that he hym selfe 
 should the same daye be beheaded at London : then 
 sayed the protectour in what wyse that sorceresse and 
 other of her counsayle, as Shores wyfe with her affinitie 
 haue by their sorcery and witchecrafte this wasted my 
 body, and therwith plucked vp his doublet sleue to 
 his elbowe on hys lefte arme, where he shewed a weryshe 
 wythered arme & small as it was neuer other. And ther- 
 upon, euery mannes mynde mysgaue theim, well perceyuyng 
 that this matter was but a quarell, for well they wist that 
 the quene was both to wyse to go about any such folye, 
 & also if she would, yet would she of all folke make 
 Shores wyfe least of her counsaile whom of all women she 
 
XX 11 PREFACE. 
 
 most hated as that concubine whom the kyng her husband 
 most loued. 
 
 ' Alas, there was no manne there but knewe that hys arme 
 was euer such sith the day of his birth. Neuerthelesse the 
 lorde Hastynges, which from the death of kyng Edward 
 kept Shores wife, whom he somwhat doted in the kynges 
 lyfe, sauyng it is sayed that he forbare her for reuerence 
 towarde his kyng, or els of a certayne kynde of fidelitie 
 towarde his frend. Yet nowe his hart somewhat grudged 
 to haue her whom he loued so highly accused, and that as he 
 knewe well vntruely, therefore he aunswered and sayed, cer- 
 taynly my lorde, yf they haue so done, they be worthy of hey- 
 nous punishement, what q d the protectour, thou seruest me 
 I wene with yf and with and, I tell the they haue done it, 
 and that wyll I make good on thy bodye traytour. And 
 therewith (as in a great anger) he clapped his fyste on the 
 borde a great rappe, at which token geue#, one cried treason 
 without the chamber, and therwith a doore clapped, and in 
 came rushyng men in harneyes as many as the chamber 
 could hold. And anone the protectoure sayed to the lorde 
 Hastynges, I arrest the traytoure, what me my lord q d he : 
 yea the traytoure q d the protectour. And one let flye at the 
 lorde Stanley, which shroncke at the stroacke and fell vnder 
 the table, or els hys head had bene cleft to the teth, for as 
 shortly as he shrancke, yet ranne the blood aboute his eares. 
 Then was the Archebishop of Yorke and doctour Morton 
 bishopp of Ely & the lorde Stanley taken and diuers other 
 whiche were bestowed in dyuers chambers, saue the lorde 
 Hastynges (whom the protectour cowmaunded to spede and 
 shryue him apace) for by sainct Poule (q d he) I wyll not 
 dyne tyll I se thy head of, it boted hym not to aske why, 
 but heuily he toke a priest at auenture and made a shorte 
 sbrift, for a lenger woulde not be suffered, the protectour 
 made so much hast to his dyner, which might not go to it 
 tyll this murther were done, for sauyng of hys vngracious 
 othe. So was he brought furthe into the grene besyde the 
 
PREFACE. XXlii 
 
 chapel within the towre, and his head layed doune on a 
 logge of tymber that lay there for buildyng of the chapel, & 
 there tyrannously striken of, and after his body and head 
 wer enterred at Wyndesore by his maister kyng Edward the 
 forth, whose soules lesu pardon. Amen.' (pp. 359, 360.) 
 
 ' Nowe flewe the fame of thys lordes death through the 
 cytie and farther about, lyke a wynde in euery mans eare, 
 but the Protectoure immediatly after dyner (entending to 
 set some colour vpon the matter) sent in all the haste for 
 many substancial men out of the cytie into the Towre, and 
 at their co;#myng him selfe with the duke of Buckyngham 
 stode, harnessed in olde euill fauored briganders, such as no 
 man would wene that they would haue vouchesafed to haue 
 put on their backes, excepte some sodeyne necessitie had 
 constraigned them. Then the lord protector shewed them, 
 that the lord Hastynges & other of his conspiracy had con- 
 triued to haue sodeynly destroyed hym and the duke of 
 Buckyngham there the same daie in counsail, and what they 
 entended farther, was not yet well knowen, of whiche their 
 treason he had neuer' knowledge before .x. of the clocke the 
 same forenone, which sodeyn feare draue them to put on 
 suche harnesse as came nexte to their handes for their 
 defence, and so God holpe them, that the mischiefe turned 
 vpon them that woulde haue done it, & thus he required 
 them to report. Euery man answered fayre, as though no 
 man mistrusted the matter, which of trueth no man beleued. 
 Yet for the further appeasyng of the peoples myndes, he 
 sent immediatly after dynner an Heralde of armes with a 
 proclamacion through the cytie of London which was pro- 
 claymed in the kynges name, that the lord Hastynges with 
 diuers other of his trayterous purpose had before conspired, 
 the same daye to haue slayne the protectour and the duke 
 of Buckyngham sittyng in counsaill, & after to haue taken 
 vpon them the rule of the kyng and the realme at their 
 pleasure, and thereby to pill and spoyle whom they lyst 
 vncomptrolled, & muche matter was deuised in the same 
 
XXIV PREFACE. 
 
 proclamacion to the slaunder of the lord Hastynges, as that 
 he was an euyll counsailoure to the kynges father, entisyng 
 hym to many thynges highly redoundyng to the diminishyng 
 of his honoure and to the vniuersall hurte of his realme 
 by his euyll compaignie and sinister procuryng and vngracious 
 example, aswell in many other thynges as in vicious liuyng 
 and inordinate abusyon of his body, bothe with many other 
 and especiall with Shores wyfe whiche was one of his secrete 
 counsaill of this heynous treason, with whom he laye nightly, 
 and namely the night passed next before his death, so that 
 it was the lesse marueill yf vngracious liuynge brought hym 
 to an vnhappy ende, whiche he was now put to by the 
 co;/zmaundeme#t of the kyng his highnes and of his honor- 
 able and faithfull counsaile, bothe for his demerites beynge 
 so openly taken in his false co^triued treason, and also least 
 the delaiyng of his execucion might haue encoraged other 
 mischieuous persons parteners of hys conspiracye, to gather 
 and assemble them selues together in makyng so great com- 
 mocion for hys deliueraunce, whose hope nowe beyng by 
 his well deserued death pollytickely repressed, all the realme 
 shall by Goddes grace rest in good quyet and peace. Nowe 
 was thys proclamacion made within twoo houres after he 
 was beheaded, and it was so curiously endyted and so fayre 
 writen in Parchement in a fayre sette hande, and therewith 
 of it selfe so long a processe, that euery chyld might perceyue 
 that it was prepared and studyed before (and as some men 
 thought, by Catesby) for all the tyme betwene hys death and 
 the proclamacion proclaimyng, coulde skant haue suffyced 
 vnto the bare wrytyng alone, albeit that it had bene in 
 paper and scribeled furthe in haste at aduenture. So that 
 vpon the proclaimyng thereof, one that was scolemayster 
 at Paules standyng by and comparyng the shortenesse of 
 the tyme with the length of the matter sayed to theim that 
 stoode aboute hym, here is a gaye goodly cast, foule cast 
 awaye for hast.' (pp. 362, 363.) 
 
 'When the lord Hastynges and these other lordes and 
 
PREFACE. XXV 
 
 knightes were thus beheaded and ryd out of the waye, then 
 the protectour caused it to be proclaymed that the coronacion 
 for diuers great and vrgent causes should be deferred till 
 the seconde daye of Nouember, for then thought he, that 
 whyle men mused what the matter meant, and while the 
 lordes of the realme were about him, out of their awne 
 strengthes, and whyle no man wyste what to thynke nor 
 whom to truste, or euer they should haue tyme and space to 
 digest the matter, and make partes, it were best hastely to 
 pursue his purpose and put hym self in possession of the 
 croune, or menne could haue tyme to deuyse any wyse to 
 resyste. But nowe was all the study, this matter beyng of 
 it selfe so heynous might be first broken to the people in 
 suche wyse as it might well be taken. To this counsaile 
 they toke diuerse such as they thought mete to be trusted 
 and likely to be enduced to that parte and hable to stand 
 theim in steade, eyther by powre or by polycye. Emong 
 whom, they made a counsaile, Edmond Shaa then Mayre 
 of London, whiche vpon truste of hys awne auauncement, 
 where he was of a proude harte highly desirous, toke on 
 him to frame the cytie to their appetite. Of spirituall men 
 they toke suche as had wytte, and were in aucthority 
 emongest the people for opinion of their learnyng, and had 
 no scrupulous conscience. Emongest these had, they toke 
 Raffe Shaa clearke brother to the Mayre, & Freer, Pynkie 1 
 prouinciall of the Augustine Freers, bothe doctours in 
 diuinitie, bothe great preachers, bothe of more learnyng 
 than vertue, of more fame then learnyng, & yet of more 
 learnyng then trueth. For they were before greatly esteemed 
 emong the people, but after that, neuer none of these two 
 were regarded. Shaa made a sermonde in prayse of the 
 Protectour before the coronacion, and Pynkye made one 
 after the coronacion, bothe so full of tedious flattery, that 
 no good mans eares coulde abyde them, Pynkye in his 
 sermonde so loste his voyce that he was fayne to leaue 
 1 * frier Penker ' in Holinshed. 
 
XX VI PREFA CE. 
 
 of and come doune in the middest, Doctoure Shaa by his 
 sermonde loste his honesty, and sone after his lyfe, for very 
 shame of the worlde, into the whiche he durst neuer after so 
 muche come abroade, but the Freer forced l for no shame, 
 and so it harmed hym the lesse. Howbeit, some doubt and 
 many thynke that Pynkey was not of counsaill before the 
 coronacion, but after the common maner fell to flattery 
 after, namely because his sermond was not incontinent 
 vpon it, but at sainct Mary Spittle the Easter after. But 
 certayne it is that doctour Shaa was of cou^sail in the 
 beginnyng, in so much that they determyned that he should 
 fyrst breake the matter in a sermond at Poules crosse, in 
 whiche he should by the aucthoritie of hys preachyng 
 induce the people to encline to y e protectours ghostly 
 purpose. But now was all the laboure and study in the 
 deuise of some conuenient pretexte, for which the people 
 should be content to depose the prince & accept the pro- 
 tectour for kyng. In which diuerse thinges they deuised, 
 but the chief thyng, & the weight of all that inuencion rested 
 in this, that they shoulde allege bastardy in kyng Edwarde 
 hym selfe, or in his chyldren, or bothe, so that he should 
 seme disabled to enherite the croune by the duke of Yorke 
 and the prince by him. To lay bastardy in kyng Edward 
 sounded openly to the rebuke of the protectours awne 
 mother, whiche was mother to them bothe. For in that 
 poinct could be none other coloure, but to pretende that his 
 awne mother was an auoutresse 2 , but neuerthelesse he would 
 that poinct should be lesse and more fynely closely 
 handled, not euen fully playne and directely, but touched 
 a slope craftely, as though men spared in that poinct to 
 speake all the trueth. for feare of his displeasure. But that 
 other poincte concernyng the basterdy they deuised to 
 surmysse in kyng Edward his chyldren, that would he should 
 be openly declared and enforced to the vttermost.' (pp. 
 364, 3650 
 
 1 c^red. 3 adulteress. 
 
PREFACE', xxvil 
 
 'After kyng Edwarde the fourthe had deposed kyng Henry 
 the sixte and was in peaceable possession of the realme, 
 determinyng him selfe to mary (as was requisite) bothe for 
 hym selfe and for the realme, he sente therle of Warwike 
 & diuerse other noble men in ambassade to the Frenche 
 kyng to entreate a mariage betwene the kyng and Bona 
 sister to the Frenche quene, then beyng in Fraunce. In 
 which thyng therle of Warwike founde the parties so 
 towarde and willyng, that he spedely without any difficultie 
 accordyng to his instruccions brought the matter to a good 
 conclusion.' (p. 365.) 
 
 The Chronicler then relates the story of the marriage 
 of Edward with the lady Elizabeth Grey, and his narrative 
 is the groundwork of the scene in 3 Henry VI. iii. 2. 
 
 * Nowe to returne where I left, as I beganne to shewe 
 you, it was by the protector and his counsaill concluded 
 that this doctor Shaa should in a sermon at Paules crosse 
 signifie to the people that neither king Edwarde hym selfe 
 nor the duke of Clarence were lawefully begotten, nor wer 
 the very children of the duke of Yorke, but begotten 
 vnlawefully by other persones by aduoutry of the duches 
 their mother. And that dame Elizabeth Lucy was the 
 very wife of king Edward, and so prince Edward and all 
 the children begotten on the quene wer bastardes. And 
 accordyng to this deuise, doctor Sha the sondaie after 
 at Paules crosse in a greate audience (as alwaie a great 
 numbre assembled to his preaching) came into the pulpit 
 takyng for his Theme, Spuria vitulamina no# dabunt 
 radices altos, Sapien. iiii. that is to saie bastarde slippes 
 shall neuer take depe rootes : wherupon when he had 
 shewed the great grace that God geueth & secretely in- 
 foundeth in right generacion after y e lawes of matrimony, 
 then declared he that those children co/;zmenly lacked 
 y e grace ( for the punishment of their parentes) were 
 for y e most part vnhappy which wer gotten in baste, and 
 especially in aduoutry, of which (though some by the 
 
XXV111 PREFACE. 
 
 ignorauncie of the worlde and the truthe hid from know- 
 lege) haue enherited for a season other mennes landes, 
 yet God alwaie so prouideth that it continueth not in 
 their bloude longe, but the truethe commynge to lighte 
 the rightefull enheritoures be restored, and the bastard 
 slippes plucked vp or it can be rooted depe. And when 
 he had laied for the proofe and confirmacion of this sentence, 
 examples taken out of the olde testamente and other 
 aunciente histories, then began he to discend to the praise 
 of the lord Richard duke of Yorke, callyng him father to 
 the protectour and declared his title to the croune bi in- 
 heritaunce and also by entaile authorised by parliament after 
 y e death of kynge Henry the sixte. Then shewed he that 
 the lorde protector, was onely the righte heire, of his body 
 lawfully begotten. Then declared he that kyng Edward 
 was neuer lawfully maried to y e quene, but his wife before 
 God was dame Elizabeth Lucy, and so his children wer 
 bastardes. And beside that, neither kyng Edward hym 
 selfe nor the duke of Clarence (emongest them that wer 
 secrete in the duke of Yorkes houshoulde) were neuer 
 reconed surely to be the children of the noble duke as those 
 that by their fauoures more resembled other knowen menne 
 then hym, from whose verteous condicions he saied also, 
 that king Edwarde was far of. But the lord protector (quod 
 he) that veraye noble prince, the speciall patrone of 
 knightly prowes, aswell in all princely behaueour as in 
 the liniamentes and fauour of his visage representeth the 
 very face of y e noble duke his father. This is (quod he) 
 the fathers awne figure, this is his awne countenaunce, the 
 verie print of his visage, the sure vndoubted ymage, the 
 playne expresse likenesse of that noble duke. Now was 
 it before deuised that in the speakynge of these wordes, 
 the protector shoulde haue come in emongest the people 
 to y e sermond ward, to thende that these wordes so metyng 
 with his presence, might haue been taken emongest the 
 hererSj as though the holy ghost had put theim in the 
 
PREFA CE. XXIX 
 
 preachers mouthe, and shoulde haue moued the people 
 euen there to haue cried, kynge Richard, that it might 
 haue been after sayed that he was specially chosen by 
 God, and in maner by miracle : but this deuise quayled, 
 either by the protectoures negligence or the preachers oure 
 hasty diligence. For while the protectoure, founde by the 
 waye tariynge, leaste he shoulde haue preuented these 
 woordes, the doctour fearynge that he shoulde come or his 
 sermon could come to those woordes hastynge his matter 
 thereto, he was come to theim and paste theim, and entred 
 into other matters or the protectour came, whom when he 
 beheld commynge, he sodainly lefte the matter whiche he 
 had in hand, and without any deduccyon thereunto out 
 of all ordre, and out of all frame began to repete those 
 woordes agayne. This is the very noble prince the especiall 
 patrone of knightely prowes, whiche aswell in all princely 
 behaueoure as in the liniamentes and fauour of his visage 
 representeth the veraye face of the noble duke of Yorke 
 his father. This is the fathers awne figure, this is his owne 
 countenaunce, the very print of his visage the sure vn- 
 doubted image, the plain expresse likenesse of that noble 
 duke, whose remembraunce can neuer die while he liueth. 
 While these wordes were in speakynge, the protectour 
 accompaignied with the duke of Buckyngham, went through 
 the people vp into the place where the doctors stand where 
 they harde oute the sermond : but the people were so far. 
 from criynge kynge Richard that they stoode as they had 
 been turned into stoones for wonder of this shamefull 
 sermonde : after whiche once ended y e precher gat hym 
 home and neuer after durst loke out for shame but kept him 
 out of sighte as an owle and when he asked any of his old 
 frendes, what the people talked of him, although that his 
 awne conscience well shewed hym that they talked no good, 
 yet when the other answered hym, that there was in euery 
 mannes mouthe of hym muche shame spoken it so strake him 
 too the harte that in fewe dayes after he withered awaie. 
 
XXX PREFACE. 
 
 'Then on the tuesday after next foloyng this sermond, 
 beyng the .xvii. day of June, there came to the Guyld hall 
 of London the duke of Buckyngham and diuerse lordes and 
 knightes mo then happely knewe the message that they 
 brought. And at the east ende of the hal where the 
 hoystynges be kepte, the duke and the maire and the other 
 lordes sat downe, and the aldermen also, all the commons 
 of the citee beeynge assembled and standynge before theim. 
 After scilence commaunded vpon a greate paine in the pro- 
 tectoures name : The duke stode vp and as he was well 
 learned and of nature merueilously well spoken, he sayed 
 to the people with a cleare and a lowde voyce : Frendes, 
 for the zeale and hertie fauoure that we beare you we be 
 come to breke of a matter righte greate and weightie, and 
 no lesse weightie then pleasyng to God and profitable to 
 all the realme, nor to no parte of the realme, more profitable, 
 then to you the citezens of this noble citee. For why, the 
 thynge that you haue long lacked and as we well know sore 
 longed for that you woulde haue geuen greate good for, 
 that you would haue gone farre to fetche : that thynge be 
 we come hether to bryng you, without your labour pain, 
 coste, auenture or ieoperdye. What thynge is that ? Certes 
 the surety of your awne bodies, the quiete of your wiues 
 and daughters and the sauegarde of your goodes. Of all 
 whiche thynges in tyme passed you stoode in doubte. For 
 who was he of you all that could recon hym selfe lorde of 
 his awne good emongest so many gynnes and trappes wer 
 set therfore emong so much pyllyng and pollynge, emonge 
 so many taxes and talliages, of the which there was neuer 
 ende, and oftymes no nede, or yf any were, it grew rather 
 of riote or of vnreasonable waste, then any necessary 
 honourable charge, so that there was daily plucked and 
 pilled from good and honeste menne greate substaunce of 
 goodes, to be lashed out emong vnthriftes, so far furthe that 
 fiftenes suffised not, nor any vsuall termes of knowen taxes, 
 but vnder an easy name of beneuolence and good will, the 
 
PREFACE. XXXI 
 
 commissioners so much of euery manne toke, as no manne 
 woulde with his good will haue geuen. As though the name 
 of beneuolence had signified that euery manne shoulde paie, 
 not what he of hym selfe of his good will lust to graunte, 
 but what the king of his good wil lust to take, who neuer 
 asked litle, but euery thing was haunsed aboue the measure, 
 amerciamentes turned into fines, fines into raunsomes, small 
 trespaces into mesprision, mesprision into treason, where of 
 I thynke that no manne looketh that we shall remembre 
 you of examples by name, as though Burdet were forgotten 
 whiche was for a worde spoken, in hast cruelly behedded. 
 (This Burdet was a marchauwt dwellyng in Chepesyd at y e 
 signe of y e croune which now is y e signe of y e fiowre de luse 
 ouer against soper lane : This man merely in y e rufHyng 
 tyme of kyng Edwarde y e .iiij. his rage, saied to his awne 
 sonne that he would make hym in heritor of y e croune, 
 meanyng his awne house : but these wordes king Edward 
 made to be mysconstrued, & interpreted that Burdet meant 
 the croune of the realme : wherfore within lesse space then 
 .iiij. houres, he was apprehended, iudged, drawen and 
 quartered in Chepesyde) .... And in that poinct whiche in 
 good faithe I am sory to speake of, sauynge that it is vain 
 to kepe in counsaill that thynge that all men knoweth, y e 
 kyng his gredy appetite was insaciable, and euery where 
 ouer all the realme intolerable. For no women was there 
 any where, young or old, poore or riche, whom he sette his 
 yie vpo#, whom he any thynge liked either for persone or 
 beautie, speche, pace or countenaunce, but without any 
 feare of God, or respecte of his honour, murmure, or grudgyng 
 of the world, he woulde importunately pursue his appetite 
 and haue her, to the distruction of many a good woman, 
 and great dolour to their husbandes and frendes, whiche 
 beynge honest people of theim selues, so moche regarded 
 the clemiesse of their houses, the chastitle of their wiues 
 and children, that theim wer leuer to lose all that thei haue 
 beside, then to haue suche a vilanie done to theim .... It 
 
XXX11 PREFACE. 
 
 shall not, I wote well nede, that I reherse vnto you again 
 that you al redy haue hearde of hym that can better 
 tell it, and of whom I am sure ye will better beleue it.' 
 [Buckingham here repeats the arguments brought forward 
 by Dr. Shaw to prove the illegitimacy of Edward and his 
 children.] 
 
 'The children of kynge Edward the fourth wer neuer 
 laufully begotten, for as muche as the kynge (liuynge his 
 verie wife dame Elizabeth Lucy) was neuer laufully maried 
 to the quene their mother. . . . For lacke of which lawefull 
 copulacion and also of other thynges whiche the saied worship- 
 full doctor rather signified then fully explaned, and whiche 
 thyng shall not be spoken for me, as the thyng that euery 
 manne forbeareth to saie that he knoweth, in auoidyng the 
 displeasure that my noble lorde protector bearyng as nature 
 requireth a filial reuerence to the duches his mother. For 
 these causes before remembred I saie, that for lake of issue 
 lawfully commynge of the late noble prince Richard duke of 
 Yorke, to whose royall bloud the crounes of England and of 
 Fraunce, are by the high aucthorite of a parliament entailed, 
 the right and title of the same is by iuste course of enherit- 
 aunce according to the common lawe of this lande, deuoluted 
 and come vnto the moste excellent prince the lord pro- 
 tectoure, as to the very lawfull begotten sonne of the fore 
 remembred noble duke of Yorke. Whiche thynge well 
 considred and the knightely prowesse with many vertues 
 whiche in his noble persone singulerely dooe habounde : 
 The nobles and commons of this realme, and specially of 
 the North partes, not willing any bastard bloud to haue the 
 rule of the land, nor the abusions in the same before vsed 
 and exercised any longer too continue, haue fully con- 
 discended and vtterly determined too make humble peticion 
 vnto the puisaunte prince the lorde protectour, that it may 
 like his grace at our humble request, to take vpon hym the 
 guydyng and gouernaunce of this realme .... When the 
 duke had saied and loked that the people whom he hoped 
 
PREFACE. xxxiii 
 
 that the Maire had framed before, shoulde after this 
 flatterynge preposicion made, haue cried kynge Richarde, 
 kynge Richarde, all was still and mute and not one woorde 
 answered to : wherwith the duke was maruelously abashed, 
 and takynge y e Maire nere to hym, with other that wer 
 aboute hym priuy to the matter, saied vnto theim softely. 
 What meaneth this, that the people be so still ? Sir quod 
 the Maire, percase they perceiue you not well, that shall 
 we amend quod he, if he that wil helpe, and therwith some- 
 what lowder rehersed the same matter again, in other ordre 
 and other woordes so well and ornately, and neuerthelesse 
 so euidently and plaine with voice, gesture, & countenaunce 
 so comely and so conuenient, that euery man much mar- 
 ueiled that hard him and thought that they neuer harde 
 in their Hues so euill a tale so well told. But wer it for 
 wonder or feare, or that eche loked that other should speake 
 firste, not one word was there answered of all the people 
 that stoode before, but all were as still as the midnight 
 not so much as rounyng ' emong them, by which they might 
 seme once to common 11 what was best to do. When the 
 Maire sawe this, he with other parteners of the counsaill, drew 
 about the duke and saied that y e people had not been accus- 
 tomed there to be spoken to, but by the Recorder, which is 
 the mouthe of the citee, and happely to hym they will an- 
 swere. With that the Recorder called Thomas Fitz Wyllya;;/, 
 a sadde manne and an honeste, which was but newly come 
 to the office, and neuer had spoken to the people before, 
 and loth was with that matter to begyn, notwithstanding, 
 there vnto commaunded by the Maire, made rehersall to 
 the commons of that which the duke had twise purposed 
 hym self, but the recorder so tempered his tale that he 
 shewed euery thyng as the duke his woordes were and no 
 parte of his owne, but all this no chaunge made in the 
 people, whiche alway after one stoode as they had been 
 amased. Where vpon, the duke rouned with the Maire and. 
 1 whispering. a converse about, discuss. 
 
 c 
 
XXXIV PREFACE. 
 
 said, this is a marueilous obstinate scilence, and there with 
 turned too the people again, with these woordes. Deare 
 frendes, we come to moue you to that thyng whiche para- 
 uenture we so greately neded not, but that the lordes of 
 this realme and commons of other partes might haue suffised, 
 sauying suche loue we beare you, and so muche set by you, 
 that we would not gladly do without you, that thyng in 
 whiche to be parteners is youre weele and honoure, whiche 
 as to vs semeth you se not or waye not : Wherfore we require 
 you to giue vs an answere, one or other, whether ye be 
 mynded as all the nobles of the realme be, to haue this 
 noble prince now protector to be your kyng ? And at these 
 wordes the people began to whisper emong them selfes 
 secretly, that the voyce was neither loud nor base, but like 
 a swarme of bees, till at the last, at the nether ende of the 
 hal a bushement of the dukes seruauntes and one Nashfeelde 
 and other belongynge to the protectoure with some prentices 
 and laddes that thrusted into the hall emongest the preace, 
 began sodainly at mennes backes to crye out as lowde 
 as they could, kynge Richard, king Richard, and there 
 threwe vp their cappes in token of ioye, and they that stoode 
 before cast backe their heddes merueilynge therat, but 
 nothing the saied. And when the duke and the Maire saw 
 this maner, they wisely turned it to their purpose, and said 
 it was a goodly crie and a ioyfull to here euery man with 
 one voyce and no man saiyng nay. Wherefore frendes (quod 
 the duke), sith we perceiue that it is all your whole mindes 
 to haue this noble man for your king, wherof we shall make 
 his grace so effectuall reporte that we doubt not but that 
 it shall redounde to your great wealth and commodite. We 
 therefore require you that to morowe ye go with vs and 
 we with you to his noble grace to make our humble petition 
 and request to him in maner before remembred. And ther- 
 with the lordes came doune and the compaignie dissolued 
 and departed the more part all sad, some with glad sem- 
 blaunce that were not very merie and some of them that 
 
PREFACE. XXXV 
 
 came with the duke not hable to dissemble their sorowe, 
 were fain euen at his backe to turne their face to the wall, 
 while the doloure of their hartes braste out of their yies. 
 
 * Then on the morowe the Maire and aldremen and chief 
 commoners of the citie in their best maner appareled, 
 assemblyng them together at Paules, resorted to Baynardes 
 castle where the protectour laie, to which place also ac- 
 cordyng too the appoinctment repaired the duke of Buck- 
 yngham, and diuerse nobles with hym, besides many 
 knyghtes and gentlemen. And there vpon the duke sent 
 woorde to the lord protectoure of the beyng there of 
 a greate honourable compaignie to moue a greate matter 
 to his grace. Where vpon the protectoure made greate 
 difficultie to come doune to theim, except he knewe some 
 parte of their errande, as though he doubted and partely 
 mistrusted the commynge of such a numbre to hym so 
 sodainely, without any warnyng or knowlege, whether they 
 came for good or harme. Then when the duke had shewed 
 this too the Mayre and other, that they might thereby 
 se how litle the protectour loked for this matter, they 
 sente again by the messenger suche louynge message, and 
 there with so humbly besought hym to vouchsafe that the 
 might resort to his presence to purpose their entent of which 
 they would to none other persone any part disclose. At 
 the last he came out of his chambre, and yet not doune 
 to theim, but in a galary over them with a bishop on euery 
 hand of him, where they beneth might se him and speke 
 to him, as though he would not yet come nere them til 
 he wist what they meant. And there vpon, the duke of 
 Buckingham first made humble peticion to him on the 
 behalfe of theim all, that his grace would pardon theim 
 and licence them to purpose vnto his grace the entent of 
 their commyng without his displeasure, without which par- 
 don obteined, they durst not be so bold to moue him of that 
 matter. In which, albeit they meant as muche honour to 
 his grace as wealth to all y e realm beside, yet were they 
 
 C 2 
 
XXXVI PREFACE. 
 
 not sure how his grace would take it, whom they would 
 in no wise offend. Then the protectour, as he was very 
 gentle of hym self and also longed sore apparantly to know 
 what they meant, gaue him leaue to purpose what him 
 liked, verely trustynge for the good mind that he bare them 
 all none of theim any thyng woulde entende to hym warde, 
 wherewith he thought to be greued. When the duke had 
 this leaue and pardon to speake, then wexed he bold to 
 shew hym their entente and purpose, with all the causes 
 mouyng theim thereto, as ye before haue heard. And 
 finally, to beseche his grace that it would like him of his 
 accustomed goodnesse and zeale vnto the realm now with 
 his yie of pitie to behold the long continued distresse and 
 decaie of the same, & to set his gracious hand to the 
 redresse and amendemente thereof by takynge vpon hym 
 the croune and gouernaunce of the realme accordyng to 
 his right and title laufully discended vnto him, & to the 
 laud of God, profite and surety of the land, and vnto his 
 grace so muche the more honor and lesse pain, in that 
 y* neuer prince reigned vpon any people that wer so glad 
 to Hue vnder his obeisau^ce as the people of this realme 
 vnder his. 
 
 'When the protector had heard the proposicion, he 
 loked very strangely therat and made answer, that albeit 
 he knewe partely the thynges by theim alleged to be true, 
 yet such entiere loue he bare to kynge Edward and his 
 children, and so much more regarded his honour in other 
 realmes about, then the croune of any one, of which he 
 was neuer desyrous, so that he could not find in his harte 
 in this poinct to incline to their desire, for in al other 
 nacions where the truth were not wel knowe, it shoulde 
 parauenture be thought that it were his awne ambicious 
 mynde and deuise to depose the prince and to take 
 hym selfe the croune, with which infamy he would in no 
 wise haue his honour steined for any croune, in which he 
 had euer perchaunce perceyued much more labour and 
 
PREFACE. XXX vii 
 
 pein, then pleasure to him that so would vse it as he that 
 would not and were not worthy to haue it. Notwithstand- 
 ing, he not onely pardoned them of the mocion that they 
 made him, but also thanked them for the loue and harty 
 fauour they bare hym, praying them for his sake to beare 
 the same to the prince vnder whom he was and would be 
 content to Hue and with his labour & counsaill as far 
 as it should like the king to vse it, he woulde doo his 
 vttermoste deuoier to sette the realme in good estate which 
 was all redye in the litle tyme of his protectourship (lauded 
 be God,) wel begon, in that the malice of such as wer before 
 y e occasion of the contrary and of new entended to be, wer 
 now partely by good policy, partely more by God his 
 speciall prouidence, then mannes prouision, repressed and 
 put vnder. 
 
 'Vpon this answer geuen, the duke of Buckyngham by 
 the protector his licence a litle rounded l , as well with other 
 noble men about him as with the maire and recorder of 
 London. And after that (vpon like perdo# desired and 
 obteined) he shewed aloude vnto the protectour, for a 
 finall conclusion that the realme was appointed 2 that kynge 
 Edward his line should no longer reigne vpon them, both 
 that they had so far gone that it was now no suretee to 
 retreate (as for that thei thought it for y e weale vniuersal to 
 take y fc way, although thei had not yet begon it.) Wher- 
 fore if it would like his grace to take the croune vpon him, 
 they would humbly beseche him therunto, and yf he would 
 geue theim a resolute answere to the contrary (which the 
 would be loth to here) then must they seke and shoulde 
 not faill to find some other noble man that would. These 
 wordes much moued the protector, which as euery man 
 of small intelligence may wit would neuer haue enclined 
 thereto : but when he sawe there was none other way but 
 that he must take it, or els he and his both to go from it, 
 he saied to the lordes and commons, sithe it is wee per- 
 1 whispered. 2 determined. 
 
xxxviii PREFACE. 
 
 ceiue well that all the realme is so set (wherof we bee 
 very sory) that they will not suffre in any wise kynge 
 Edward his line to gouerne theim, whom no man earthely 
 can gouerne against their willes : And we also perceiue 
 that no manne is there to whome the crowne can by so 
 iuste title appertaine as to oure selfe as very righte heire 
 laufully begotten of the body of our most dread and dere 
 father Richard late duke of Yorke to which title is now 
 ioyned your election, the nobles and commons of the 
 realme, which we of all titles possible take for mooste 
 effectual, we be content and agree fauourably to encline 
 to your peticion & request, and accordynge to the same, 
 here we take vpon vs the royall estate of preheminence 
 and kyngdome of the twoo noble realmes, Englande and 
 Fraunce, the one from this day forwarde by vs and our 
 heires to rule, gouerne and defende, the other by God his 
 grace and your good helpe to get again, subdue and es- 
 tablishe for euer in dewe obedience vnto this realme of 
 Englande, the auauncement whereof we neuer aske of God 
 longer to liue then we entende to procure and sette furthe. 
 With this there was a greate cry and shoute, criyng kyng 
 Richard and so the lordes wente vp to the kynge, and so 
 he was after that daie called.' (pp. 367-374.) 
 
 The coronation of Richard and his queen, which took 
 place on Sunday, 6 July, 1483, in Westminster Abbey, is 
 described both by Hall and Holinshed. 
 
 'The duke of Buckingham with the rod of the high 
 stuarde of Englande bare the kyng his train.' (Hall, p. 375.) 
 
 6 Kyng Richard after his coronacion, takyng his waie to 
 Gloucester, to visite in his newe honour the towne, of whiche 
 he bare the name of old, deuised as he roade to fulfill that 
 thyng which he before had intended. And forasmuch as his 
 mynd gaue him that his nephewes liuynge, men woulde not 
 recon that he coulde haue righte to the realme, he thoughte 
 therefore without delaie to rid them, as though the killynge 
 of his kynsmen mighte ende his cause, and make hym 
 
PREFACE. XXXIX 
 
 kyndely kyng. Where vpon he sent Ihon Grene, whom he 
 specially trusted, vnto sir Robert Brake^bury constable of 
 the tower, with a letter and credence also, that the same sir 
 Roberte in any wyse should put the two children to death. 
 This Ihon Grene dyd his errand to Brakenbury, knelynge 
 before cure lady in the Towre, who plainly answered that 
 he woulde neuer put them to deathe to dye therefore. With 
 the which answere Grene returned, recomptyng the same to 
 kynge Richard at Warwyke yet on his iourney, wherwith he 
 toke suche displeasure and thoughte that the same night 
 he sayde to a secrete page of his : Ah, whom shall a man 
 truste : they that I haue brought vp my selfe, they that 
 I went 1 woulde haue moost surely serued me, euen those 
 fayle me, and at my commaundemente wyll do nothynge for 
 me. Syr quod the page, there lieth one in the palet chambre 
 with out that I dare wel say, to do your grace pleasure the 
 thing were right hard that he would refuse, meanyng this by 
 lames Tirel, which was a man of goodly personage, and 
 for the giftes of nature worthy to haue serued a muche better 
 prince, yf he had well serued God, and by grace obteyned 
 to haue as muche trueth and good wyll, as he had strength 
 and wytt. The man had an high harte and sore longed 
 vpwarde, not risyng yet so fast as he had hoped, beynge 
 hindered and kepte vnder by sir Richarde Ratcliffe and sir 
 Willyam Catesbye, which longyng for no more parteners 
 of the Princes fauour, namely not for him, whose pride thei 
 knewe woulde beare no pere, kept him by secrete driftes out 
 of al secrete trust : which thynge this page had well marked 
 and knowen : wherefore this occasion offered of very speciall 
 frendship spied his tyme to set him forwarde, and suche wyse 
 to do him good, that all the enemies that he had (except the 
 deuil) could neuer haue done him so much hurte and shame, 
 for vpon the pages woordes, kyng Richard arose (for this 
 communicacion had he sittyng on a drafte 2 , a conuenient 
 carpet for suche a counsail) and came out into the palet 
 * weened, thought. 2 a privy. 
 
xl PREFACE. 
 
 chambre, where he dyd fynde in bed the sayd lames Tyrell 
 and sir Thomas Tyrell of persone like and brethren of 
 bloude, but nothyng of kynne in condicions. Then sayd the 
 kyng merely to them, what syrs, be you in bed so sone : 
 and called vp lames Tyrell, & brake to him secretely his 
 mynd in this mischeuous matter, in the which he found him 
 nothing straunge. Wherfore on the morowe he sent him to 
 Brakynbury with a letter by the which he was commaunded 
 to delyuer to the sayd lames all the keyes of the Towre for 
 a night, to thende that he might there accomplish the kynges 
 pleasure in suche thynges as he there had geuen him in 
 commaundement. After which lettre deliuered & the keyes 
 receyued, lames appoincted y e next night ensuyng to destroye 
 them, deuisyng before and preparyng the meanes. 
 
 * The prince assone as the Protectour toke vpon hym to 
 be kynge, and left the name of protectoure, was thereof 
 aduertised and shewed that he should not reigne, but his 
 vncle should haue the croune. At which word the prince 
 sore abashed beganne to sighe and sayd : Alas I would 
 myne vncle would let me haue my life although I lese 1 
 my kyngedome. Then he that tolde hym the tale vsed him 
 with good woordes and put hym in the best conforte that he 
 coulde, but furthewith he and his brother were bothe shut 
 vp, and all other remoued from them, one called blacke Wyl, 
 or Willyam Slaughter onely except, which were set to serue 
 them, and iiij. other to see them sure. After whiche tyme, 
 the prince neuer tyed his pointes, nor any thyng roughte 2 of 
 hym selfe, but with that young babe his brother lyngered 
 in thoughte and heuines, tyll this trayterous dede deliuered 
 them of that wretchednes. 
 
 ' For lames Tirrel deuised that they shoulde be murthered 
 in their beddes, and no bloud shed : to the execution wher- 
 of, he appoincted Myles Forest one of the foure that before 
 kepte them, a felowe fleshe bred in murther before tyme : 
 and to him he ioyned one Ihon Dighton his awne horse- 
 1 lose. 3 recked, cared. 
 
PREFACE. xli 
 
 keper a bygge broade square and strong knaue. Then al 
 the other beyng remoued from them, this Miles Forest and 
 Ihon Dighton aboute mydnight, the sely children liyng in 
 their beddes, came into y 6 chauwbre and sodenli lapped 1 
 them vp amongest the clothes and so bewrapped them and 
 entangled them, kepyng doune by force the fetherbed and 
 pillowes harde vnto their mouthes, that within a while they 
 smored 2 & styfled them, and their breathes failyng, they 
 gaue vp to God their innocent soules into the ioyes of heauen, 
 leauyng to the tourmetours their bodies dead in the bed, 
 which after the wretches perceyued, firste by the strugglyng, 
 with the panges of death, and after long liyng styl to be 
 throughly dead, they layd the bodies out vpon the bed, and 
 fetched lames Tirrell to see them, which when he sawe them 
 perfightly dead, he caused the murtherers to burye them 
 at the stayre foote, metely depe in the grou^de vnder a great 
 heape of stones. 
 
 ' Then rode lames Tirrel in great hast to kyng Richard, 
 and shewed him all the maner of the murther, who gaue him 
 great thankes, and as men saye, there made hym knighte, 
 but he allowed not their buriall in so vile a corner, saiyng, 
 that he would haue them buried in a better place because 
 they were a kynges sonnes.' (pp. 377, 378.) 
 
 ( But when these newes wer first brought to the infortunate 
 mother of the dead children yet being in sanctuary, no 
 doubte but it strake her to her harte, like the sharpe darte 
 of death : for when she was first enformed of the murther 
 of her ,ii. sonnes, she was so sodainly amasyd with the 
 greatnes of y e crueltie that for feare she sounded 3 and fell 
 doune to the ground, and there lay in a great agonye like 
 to a deade corps. And after that she came to her memory 
 and was reuyued agayne, she wept and sobbyd and with 
 pitefull scriches she replenished the hole mancion, her breste 
 she puncted, her fayre here she tare and pulled in peces & 
 being ouercome with sorowe & pensiuenes rather desyred 
 1 wrapped. a smothered. 3 swooned. 
 
xlii PREFACE. 
 
 death then life, calling by name diuers times her swete 
 babes, accomptyng her self more then madde that she 
 deluded by wyle and fraudulente promises delyuered her 
 yonger sonne out of the sanctuarie to hys enemye to be 
 put to death, thinkynge that next the othe made to God 
 broken, & the dewtie of allegiaunce toward her children 
 violated, she of all creatures in that poyncte was most 
 seduced and disceaued : After longe lamentacion, when she 
 sawe no hope of reuengynge otherwyse, she knelyd downe 
 and cried on God to take vengeaunce for the disceaytfull 
 periurie, as who saide she nothyng mistrusted but once he 
 would remember it.' (pp. 379, 380.) 
 
 After endeavouring in vain to induce the duke of Brittany 
 to surrender Richmond, Richard had recourse to another 
 device. 
 
 1 In the meane ceason kyng Richard was crediblye aduer- 
 tised what promyses and othes the erle and his confederates 
 had made and sworne together at Renes, and how by the 
 erles meanes all thenglishmen were passed oute of Britayne 
 into Fraunce. Wherfore beynge sore dysmaied and in 
 maner desperate, because his craftie cheuesaunce 1 tooke 
 none effect in Brytayne ymagened and deuysed how to 
 infringe and disturbe the erles purpose by another meane, 
 so that by the mariage of lady Elizabeth his nece he shoulde 
 pretende no clayme nor tytle to the croune. For he thought 
 if that mariage fayled, the erles chiefe combe had bene 
 
 clerly cut There came into his vngracious mynde a 
 
 thinge not onely detestable to be spoken of in the remem- 
 braunce of man, but much more cruel and abhominable to 
 be put in execucion .... He clerely determined to reconcile 
 to his fauoure his brothers wife quene Elizabeth either by 
 faire woordes or liberall promises, firmely beleuynge her 
 fauoure once obteined that she would not sticke to commite 
 and louyngly credite to him the rule and gouernaunce both 
 of her and her daughters, and so by that meanes the erle 
 1 negotiation. 
 
PREFACE. Xliil 
 
 of Richemonde of the affinite of his nece should be vtterly 
 defrauded and beguyled. And yf no ingenyous remedye 
 coulde be otherwise inuented to saue the innumerable mis- 
 chiefes whiche were euen at hand and like to falle, yf it 
 shoulde happen quene Anne his wife to departe oute of 
 this presente worlde, then he him selfe woulde rather take 
 to wife his cousyn and nece the lady Elizabeth, then for 
 lack of that affinite the whole realme shoulde runne to ruyne, 
 as who said, that yf he once fell from his estate and dignite, 
 the ruyne of the realme must nedes shortely ensue & folowe. 
 Wherfore he sent to the quene beynge in sanctuarye diuerse 
 and often messengers, whiche firste shoulde excuse and 
 purge him of all thinges before againste her attempted or 
 procured, and after should so largely promes promocions 
 innumerable and benefites, not onely to her but also to 
 her sonne lord Thomas Marques Dorcett, that they should 
 brynge her yf it were possible into some wanhope 1 , or as 
 some men saie into a fooles paradise. The messengers 
 beynge men bothe of wit and grauitie so persuaded the 
 quene with great & pregnaunte reasons, then with fayre 
 & large promises, that she began somewhat to relent & 
 to geue to theim no deffe eare, in somuche that she faithfully 
 promised to submyt & yelde her selfe fully and frankely to 
 the kinges will and pleasure. . . . After that kynge Rycharde 
 had thus with glorious promyses and flatterynge woordes 
 pleased and appeased the mutable mynde of quene Elizabeth 
 which knewe nothing lesse then that he moost entended, 
 he caused all his brothers daughters to be conueighed into 
 his paleys with solempne receauyng, as though with his 
 newe familier and louyng entreteinement they should forget, 
 and in their myndes obliterate the olde committed iniurie 
 and late perpetrate tyrannye. Nowe nothinge was con- 
 trariant and obstacle to his pernicious purpose, but that 
 his mancion was not voide of his wife, which thinge he in 
 anywise adiudged necessary to be done. But there was 
 1 despair. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 one thing that so muche feared and dragged him from 
 commyttynge this abhominable murther, because as you 
 have hearde before he beganne to countrefaycte the ymage 
 of a good and well disposed person, and therefore he was 
 afeard least y e sodeine and immature death of his wife once 
 openly knowen, he should lese the good and credible opinion 
 which the people had of him, without deserte conceaued 
 and reported. But in conclusion, euyll councell preuailed 
 in a witt lately mynded to mischiefe, and tourned from all 
 goodnes. So that his vngracious desyre ouercame his 
 honest feare. And first to entre into the gates of his ym- 
 agened entreprise, he abstayned bothe from the bed and 
 companye of his wife. After, he compleyned to dyuerse 
 noble men of the realme, of the infortunate sterilite and 
 barennes of his wife, because she brought foorth no fruyte 
 and generacion of her bodye. And in especiall he accompted 
 to Thomas Rotheram archebishop of Yorke (whome lately 
 he had delyuered oute of warde and captiuite) these im- 
 pedymentes of his quene and dyuerse other, thinkyng that 
 he woulde enucleate and open to her all these thinges, 
 trustynge the sequele herof to take his effecte, that she 
 herynge this grudge of her husband, and takyng therefore 
 an inwarde thought, woulde not longe lyue in this worlde. 
 Of this the bishoppe gathered (whiche well knewe the 
 complexion and vsage of the kyng) that the quenes dayes 
 were short, and that he declared to certeine of his secrete 
 frendes. After this he procured a common rumour (but he 
 woulde not haue the author knowen) to be published and 
 spred abroade emonge the common people that the quene 
 was ded, to thentent that she takyng some co^ceipte of 
 this straung fame, should fall into some sodayne sicknes 
 or greuous maladye, & to proue if afterward she should 
 fortune by y* or any other waies to lese her life, whyther 
 y e people would impute her death to the thought or sicknes, 
 or therof would laie y e blame to him. Whe y e quene 
 heard tell that so horrible a rumour of her death was sprong 
 
PREFACE. xlv 
 
 emongest the comminaltie, she sore suspected and iuged 
 y e world to be almost at an ende with her, and in that 
 sorofull agony, she with lamentable countenaunce and 
 sorofull chere, repaired to the presence of the kyng her 
 husband, demaundynge of hym, what it should meane that 
 he had Judged her worthy to dye. The kyng aunswered her 
 with fare woordes, and with dissimulynge blandimentes and 
 flatteryng lesynges comforted her, biddynge her to be of 
 good comforte, for to his knowledge she should haue none 
 other cause. But howsoeuer y* it fortuned, either by inward 
 thought and pensyuenes of hearte, or by intoxicacion of 
 poyson (which is affirmed to be most likely) within a few 
 daies after, the quene departed oute of this transitorie lyfe, 
 and was with dewe solempnite buried in the churche of 
 seint Peter at Westminster.' (pp. 406, 407.) 
 
 The collapse of Buckingham's rebellion, which is only 
 briefly referred to in the play, is told at length by Hall. 
 
 'The king was scace .ii. daies iourney from Salsburie 
 when the duke of Buckyngham accompanyed with a greate 
 power of wilde Weleshmen, whome he beynge a man of 
 that courage and sharpe speche in maner agaynste their 
 willes had rather therto enforced and compelled by lordely 
 and streite commaundemente then by liberall wayges and 
 gentle reteynoure, whiche thinge was the verie occasion why 
 they lefte hym desolate and cowardely forsoke hym. The 
 duke with all his power mershed through the forest 
 of deane entendyng to haue passed the riuer of Seuerne 
 at Gloucester, and ther to haue ioyned in army with the 
 courtneys and other Westernmen of his confideracy and 
 affinite, which if he had done no doubt but kyng Richard 
 had bene in greate ieopardie either of priuacion of his 
 realme or losse of his life or both. But se the chau^ce, 
 before he could attayne to Seuerne side, by force of con- 
 tinuall rayne and moysture, the ryuer rose so high that 
 yt ouerflowed all the countrey adioynyng, in somuch that 
 men were drowned in their beddes, howses with the extreme 
 
xlvi PREFACE. 
 
 violence were ouerturned, children were caried aboute the 
 feldes, swimming in cradelles, beastes were drowned on 
 hilles, whiche rage of water lasted continually .x. dayes, in- 
 somuch that in the countrey adioynyng they call yt to this 
 daie, the greate water, or the duke of Buckynghams 
 greate water. By this inundacion the passages were so 
 closed that neither the duke could come ouer Seuerne to 
 his complices, nor they to hym, duryng the whiche tyme, 
 the Welshemen lyngerynge ydely and without money, 
 vitayle, or wages, sodaynely scaled * and departed : and 
 for all the dukes fayre promyses, manaces and enforce- 
 mentes, they woulde in no wise neither goo farther nor 
 abide. The duke thus abandoned and left almost post 
 alone was of necessite compelled to flye, and in his flight 
 was with this sodeyne of fortune maruelousely dismayed : 
 and beinge vnpurueyed, what councell he shoulde take and 
 what waie he shoulde folowe, like a man in despeire not 
 knowynge what to do, of verie truste and confidence con- 
 ueyghed him selfe into the house of Homfrey Banaster his 
 seruaunt beside Shrewsburie .... But when yt was knowen 
 to his adherentes whiche were readye to geue battayle, that 
 his hoste was scaled * and had lefte hym almoost alone, and 
 was fled and could not be founde, they were sodaynely 
 amased and striken with a soden feare, that euery man 
 like persones desperate shifted for hym selfe and fled, some 
 wente to sanctuarye and to solitarie places, some fled by 
 see, whereof the mooste parte within a fewe dayes after 
 aryued sauely in the duchye of Britayne.' (p. 394.) 
 
 'While these thynges were thus ha^deled and ordred 
 in England, Henry Earle of Richemond prepared an army 
 of fyue thousande manly Brytons, and fortie wele furnyshed 
 shippes. When all thinges were prepared in aredynes and 
 the daye of departynge and settynge forwarde was appoynted, 
 whiche was the .xii. daye of the moneth of October in the 
 yere of the incarnacion of oure redemer .M. CCCC. XLVili. 
 1 dispersed. 
 
PREFACE. xlvil 
 
 [MCCCCLXXXIII] and in the seconde yere of kynge 
 Richardes reigne, the whole armye wente on shipboorde 
 and halsed vp their sailes, and with a prosperous wynde 
 tooke the sea : but towarde night the wynde chaunged 
 and the wether tourned, and so houge and terrible a tempest 
 sodaynely roase, that with the verie power and strength 
 of the storme, the shippes were disparcled *, seuered and 
 separate a sondre : some by force were dryuen into Nor- 
 mandye, some were compelled to retourne agayne into 
 Britayne. The shippe wherein the Earle of Rychemonde 
 was, associate onely with one other barcke was all nyghte 
 tossed and turmoyled. In the mornynge after when the 
 rage of the furious tempest was assuaged, and the Ire of 
 the blusterynge wynde was some deale appeased, aboute 
 the houre of none thesame daye, the erle approched to 
 the southe parte of the realme of England even at the 
 mouthe of the hauen of pole in the countie of dorcet, 
 where he mighte playnely perceaue all the se bankes and 
 shores garnished and furnished with men of warre and 
 souldiouers appoynted and deputed there to defende his 
 arryuall and landynge as before is mencioned. Wherefore 
 he gaue streyghte charge and sore commaundemente, that 
 no person should once presume to take land and goo to 
 the shore, vntill suche tyme as the whole nauye were as- 
 sembled and congregate. And while he expected and 
 lyngered tariyenge for that purpose, he sente oute a shippe 
 bote towarde the lande side to knowe, whyther they whiche 
 stoode there in suche a nombre and so well furnysshed in 
 apparell defensiue were hys capitall foes and enemyes or 
 elles his frendes fautoures and comforters. They that were 
 sente in exploracion and message were instantely desyred 
 of the men of warre kepynge the coast (whiche thereof 
 were before instructed and admonished) to dissende andv 
 take lande, affirmynge that they were appoyncted by the 
 duke of Buckyngham there to awayte and tarie for the 
 1 scattered. 
 
xlvill PREFACE. 
 
 arryuall and landyng of the erle of Richemond, and to 
 conduicte sauely to the campe where the duke not far of 
 laye encamped with a populous army and an host of great 
 strength and vigor, to thentent that the duke and therle 
 ioynynge in puyssaunces and forces together, mighte pro- 
 secute and chace king Richard beyng destitute of men, 
 and in maner desperate and fugityue, and so by that 
 meanes and their awne laboures and Industrie to obteine 
 the ende of their enterprise which they had before be- 
 gonne. 
 
 'The erle of Richemonde suspectynge their flaterynge 
 requeste to be but a fraud (as yt was in dede) after that 
 he perceaued none of his shippes to apere in sight, he 
 weied vp his ancors and halsed vp his sayles hauynge a 
 prosperous and strenable wynde and a freshe gale sente 
 euen by God to delyuer hym from that perell and ieopardie, 
 arryued safe and in securitie in the duchy of Normandy, 
 where he to refreshe and solace his souldyours and people, 
 tooke his recreacion by the space of .in. dayes, and clerely 
 determyned with parte.of his companye to passe all by lande 
 agayne into Britayne,' (pp. 395, 396.) 
 
 The battle of Bosworth field, Richard's dream, and the 
 speeches of Richmond and Richard to their soldiers, are 
 all described in Hall. 
 
 'In the mean ceason kyng Richard (whiche was ap- 
 poynted nowe to finyshe his last laboure by the very deuyne 
 iustice and prouidence of God, which called him to condigne 
 punyshemente for his scelerate merites and myscheueous 
 desertes) marshed to a place mete for twoo battayles to 
 encountre by a village called Bosworth, not farre from 
 Leycester, and there he pitched his felde, refreshed his 
 souldioures and toke his rest. The fame went that he 
 had the same night a dreadful & a terrible dreame, for 
 it semed to hym beynge a slepe y* he sawe diuerse ymages 
 lyke terrible deuelles whiche pulled and haled hym, not 
 sufferynge hym to take any quyet or rest. The whiche 
 
PREFACE. xlix 
 
 straunge vision not so sodeinly strake his heart with a 
 sodeyne feare, but it stuffed his hed and troubled his 
 mynde with many dreadfull and busy Imaginacions. For 
 incontynent after, his heart beynge almost damped, he 
 prognosticated before the doubtfull chaunce of the battaile 
 to come, not vsynge the alacrite and myrth of mynde and 
 of countenaunce as he was accustomed to do before 
 he came toward the battaile. And least that it might 
 be suspected that he was abasshed for feare of his enemyes, 
 and for that cause looked so piteously, he recyted and 
 declared to hys famylyer frendes in the morenynge hys 
 wonderfull visyon and terrible dreame. But I thynke this 
 was no dreame, but a punccion and pricke of his synfull 
 conscience .... Now to retorne againe to oure purpose, y* 
 next daie after, kyng Richard beyng furnished w* men & 
 all abilimetftes of warr, bringyng all his men out of there 
 camp into y e plaine, ordered his forward in a marueylous 
 length, in which he appointed both horsemen & footmen 
 to thente^t to emprynte in y e hartes of them y* loked a farre 
 of, a sodeine terror & deadlie feare, for y e great multitude 
 of y e armed souldiours : & in the fore Frount he placed y e 
 archers like a strong fortified trench or bulwarke : ouer this 
 battaile was captain Ihon duke of Norfolke with whom was 
 Thomas erle of Surrey his sonne. After this long va^tgard 
 folowed king Richard him self, w* a strong cowpaigny of 
 chosen approued men of warr, hauyng horsmen for wynges 
 on both y e sides of his battail. 
 
 6 After y* therle of Richmond was departed from y e com- 
 municacioTZ of his frendes as you haue harde before, he 
 began to be of a better stomake & of a more valiant courage, 
 & w* all diligens pitchid his feld iuste by y e camp of his 
 enemies, & there he lodged y* night. In the morning be 
 time he caused his men to put on there armure & appareyl 
 them selfes redy to fight & geue battail, sent to y e lord 
 Stanley (which was now come w* his ba^de in a place 
 indifferently betwene both y e armies) requiryng him w* his 
 
 d 
 
1 PREFACE. 
 
 me to approche nere to his army to help to set y e 
 souldiours in array, he answered y fc therle should set his 
 awne men in a good order of battaile, while he would array 
 his co?;zpaigny, & cosine to him in time conuenient. Which 
 answere made otherwise then therle thought or would haue 
 Judged, considering y e oportunite of the time the waite 
 of y e busines, although he was there w'all, a litle vexed, 
 began somewhat to hang y e hedde, yet he w*out any time 
 delaiyng compelled by necessite, after this maner instructed 
 ordred his men. He made his forward somewhat single 
 and slender, accordyng to y e small no;/zber of his people. 
 In y e Frount he placed the archers, of whome he made 
 captain Iho erle of Oxford : to the right wyng of y e battaill 
 he appoynted, sir Gylbert Talbott to be y e leder : to y e 
 left wing he assigned sir Ihon Sauage, he w* y e aide 
 of y e lord Stanley accompaignied with therle of Penbroke 
 hauyng a good compaignie of horsmen and a small nomber 
 of footmen : For all his hole no^ber exceded not .v. thousaide 
 men beside the powr of the Stanleys, wherof .iij. thousande 
 were in the felde vnder the standard of sir William Stanley : 
 The kynges nomber was doble as muche more.' (pp. 413, 
 414.) 
 
 Of Richard's speech the play only gives us the peroration, 
 the material for which was supplied by the chronicler. 
 
 ' You se also, what a no^ber of beggerly Britons faynte 
 harted Frenchmen be with hym arriued to distroy vs our 
 wyfes and children. Which Imminent mischifes ap- 
 paraunt incouenientes, if we wil withstond refel, we must 
 liue to gether like brethern, fight together like lions, feare 
 not to dye together lyke men. And obseruyng and kepyng 
 this rule and precept, beleue me, the fearefull hare neuer 
 fled faster before the gredy greyhound, nor y e sylye larke 
 before y e sparow hauke, nor the symple shepe before the 
 rauenous wolfe, then your proud bragging aduersaries as- 
 to;med & amased with y e only sight of your manly visages, 
 will flee, ronne skyr out of the felde. For yf you consider 
 
PREFACE, H 
 
 and wisely ponder al things in your minde, you shall per- 
 ceyue that we haue manifeste causes, and apparant tokens 
 of triumph and victorie. And to begyn with the earle of 
 Richmond Captaine of this rebellion, he is a Welsh mylke- 
 soppe, a maw of small courage and lesse experience in 
 marcyall actes and feates of war, brought vp by my brothers l 
 meanes and myne like a captiue in a close cage in the 
 court of Fraunces duke of Britaine, and neuer saw armie, 
 nor was exercised in marcial affaires, by reason whereof 
 he neither can nor is able on his awne will or experience 
 to guyde or rule an hoste. For in the wyt and pollicie of 
 the capitaine, consisteth the chefe adeption of the victory 
 and ouerture 2 of the enemyes. Secondarely feare not and 
 put a way all doubtes, for when y e traitors & runagates of 
 our realme, shall see vs w* banner displaied come against 
 them, remewbryng there oth promise & fidelitie made vnto 
 vs, as to ther souereigne lord anoynted kyng, they shal 
 be so pricked & stimulate in y e botome of there scrupulous 
 consciences y* they for very remorce & dread of y e diuine 
 plage will either shamefully flye, or humbly submitte them 
 selfes to our grace and marcie. And as for the Frenshmen 
 & Brytons, there valia^tnes ys suche, y* our noble pro- 
 genitors & your valiaunt pare^tes, haue them oftener 
 vanquished ouercome in one moneth, then they in y e 
 beginnyng imagened possible to co;;zpasse & fynishe in a 
 hole yere. What wil you make of the;/z, braggers w*out 
 audacite, dronkards w*out discrescion, rybaudes 3 w f out 
 reason, cowardes w*out resistyng in conclusion y e most 
 effeminate lasciuious people, y* euer shewed them selfes 
 in Frunt of battaile, ten tymes more coragious to fly 
 escape then ons to assaut y e brest of our stronge populous 
 army. Wherfore, consideryng al these auauntages, expell 
 out of your thoughts all doutes & avoide out of your mindes 
 al feare, like valiaunt cha/;zpions auaimce furth your 
 
 1 'mothers' in Holinshed's second edition. 2 overthrow. 
 
 3 profligates. 
 
 d 2 
 
1H PREFACE. 
 
 standards, assaye whither your enemies can decide & trie 
 y e title of battaile by dent of swerde, auaunce (I say againe) 
 forward my captains, in whom lacketh neither pollicie 
 wisdome nor puissaunce. Euery one gyue but one suer 
 stripe, suerly y e iorney is ours. What preuayleth a hand- 
 full to a hole realme : desiryng you for y e loue y* you beare 
 to me, y e affeccion y* you haue to your natiue ami natural 
 couTztrey, to y e sauegard of your prince & your self 
 y* you wyll this day take to you your accustumed corage, 
 couragious spirites for y e defence sauegard of vs all. 
 And as for me, I assure you, this day I wil triuwphe by 
 glorious victorie, or suffer death for immortal fame. For 
 thei be maihmeed out of y e palice of fame disgraded, diewg 
 w t out renoune, which do not as much preferre exalte y e 
 perpetual honor of their natiue cou^trey, as ther awne 
 mortal transitorie life. Now sent George to borowe, let 
 vs set forward, remember well y* I am he which shall 
 w* high auauncementes, rewarde preferre ye valiaunt 
 hardy champions, punishe and turment the shameful 
 cowardes dreadfull dastardes.' (pp. 415, 416.) 
 
 In Richmond's speech there is less resemblance to the 
 chronicle, but the latter was no doubt in the mind of the 
 writer as the following extracts will shew. 
 
 4 Our cause is so iuste that no enterprice can be of more 
 vertue, bothe by the lawes diuine and ciuile, for what can 
 be a more honest, goodly or Godly quarell then to fight 
 agaynste a Capitayne, beynge an homicide and murderer 
 of hys awne bloude and progenye ? An extreme destroyer 
 of hys nobylytie, and to hys and oure countrey and the 
 poore subiectes of the same, a deadly malle, a fyrye brande 
 and a burden vntollerable ? besyde hym, consyder who be 
 of his bande and compaignye, suche as by murther and 
 vntreuthe committed agaynste there awne kynne and lynage, 
 ye agaynste theyr Prynce and souereygne Lorde haue 
 disheryted me and you and wrongefully deteyne and vsurpe 
 ouer lawefull patrymonye and lyneall inherytaunce 
 
PREFACE. llll 
 
 Besyde this I assure you that there be yonder in that 
 great battaill, men brought thither for feare and not for 
 loue, souldiours by force compelled and not w* good will 
 assembled : persons which desyer rather the destruccion 
 then saluacion of ther master and Captayn : And fynally 
 a multitude : wherof the most part will be our frendes and 
 the lest part our enemies. . . . And this one thyng I assure 
 you, that in so iuste and good a cause, and so notable a 
 quarell, you shall fynde me this daye, rather a dead carion 
 vppon the coolde grounde, then a fre prisoner on a carpet 
 in a laydes chamber.' (pp. 417, 418.) 
 
 ' He had scantly finyshed his saienge, but the one armye 
 espyed the other, lord how hastely the souldioures buckled 
 their healmes, how quikly the archers bent their bowes 
 and frushed theire feathers, how redely y e byllmen shoke 
 there bylles and proued there staues, redy to approche 
 ioyne when the terrible trompet should sownde the bluddy 
 blast to victorie or death. Betwene both armies ther was 
 a great marrysse which therle of Richemond left on his 
 right hand, for this entent that it should be on that syde 
 a defence for his part, and in so doyng he had the sonne 
 at his backe and in the faces of his enemies. When kynge 
 Richard saw the earles compaignie was passed the mar- 
 resse, he commaunded with al hast to sett vpon them, then 
 the trompettes blew & the souldiours showted and the 
 kyngs archers couragiously let fly there arrowes, the erles 
 bowmen stode not still but paied them home againe. The 
 terrible shot ons passed, the armies ioyned, & came to 
 hande strokes, where nother swerde nor byll was spared 
 at whiche encounter the lord Stanley ioyned with therle. 
 The erle of Oxforde in the meane season feryng lest while 
 his compaignie was fightyng, they should be compassed & 
 circumuented w* y e multitude of his enemies, gaue com- 
 maudeme/2t in euery ranke y* no man should be so hardy 
 as go aboue .x. fote from y e standard, whiche commaunde- 
 ment ons knowen, they knit the;;* selfes together, & ceased 
 
llV PREFACE. 
 
 a littel from fightyng : the aduersaries sodainly abashed at 
 the matter and mystrustynge some fraude or deceate, began 
 also to pause and left strikyng, and not against the wylles 
 of many whiche had leuer had the kyng destroyed then 
 saued, and therfore they fought very faintlye or stode stil. 
 Therle of Oxforde bringing all his bend together on the 
 one part, set on his ennemies freshly, agayne, the aduersaries 
 perceiuyng that, placed ther men slender and thyne before 
 and thicke and brode behynde, begynnynge againe hardely 
 the battaill. While the two forwardes thus mortallye fought, 
 eche entendyng to vanquishe conuince y e other, kyng 
 Richard was admonished by his explorators and espialles, 
 y* therle of Richmond accompaignied with a small nomber 1 
 of men of armes was not farre of, & as he approched and 
 marched toward him, he perfitely knew his personage by 
 certaine demonstracions tokens whiche he had learned 
 and knowen of other. And being inflamed with ire and 
 vexed w* outragious malice, he put his spurres to his horse 
 & rode out of the syde of y e range of his battaile, leuyng the 
 auantgardes fightyng, & like a hungery lion ran with spere 
 in rest toward him. Therle of Richemond perceyued wel 
 the king furiusly commyng toward him, and by cause the 
 hole hope of his welth and purpose was to be determined 
 by battaill, he gladly preferred to encountre with him body 
 to body and man to man. Kyng Richard set on so sharpely 
 at the first Brou^t y* he ouerthrew therles standarde, and 
 slew Sir William Brandon his standarde bearer (whiche was 
 father to sir Charles Brandon by kynge Henry y 9 vm. 
 created duke of Suffolke) and matched hand to hand w* 
 sir Ihon Cheinye, a man of great force & strength which 
 would haue resisted him, & the saied Ihon was by him 
 manfully ouerthrowen, and so he making open passage by 
 dent of swerde as he went forward, therle of Richmond 
 with stode his violence and kept him at the swerdes poincte 
 without auantage longer then his compaignons other thought 
 or iudged, which beyng almost in dispaire of victorie, were 
 
PREFACE. "lv 
 
 sodainly recomforted by Sir William Stanley, whiche came 
 to succours with .iii. thousand tall men, at whiche very 
 instant kynge Richardes men were dryuen backe and fledde, 
 and he him selfe manfully fyghtynge in the mydell of his 
 enemies was slayne and brought to his death as he worthely 
 had deserued. 
 
 'In the meane season therle of Oxforde with the aide 
 of the Lord Stanley, after no long fight disconfited the 
 forward of king Rychard, whereof a greate nomber were 
 slayne in the chace and flight, but the greatest nomber 
 whiche (compelled by feare of the kyng and not of there 
 mere voluntarie mocion) came to the feld, gaue neuer a 
 stroke, and hauing no harme nor damage sauely departed, 
 whiche came not thyther in hope to se the kynge prosper 
 and preuaile, but to here that he shoulde be shamefully 
 confounded and brought to ruyne. 
 
 1 In this battaile died fewe aboue the nomber of a thou- 
 sande persons : And of the nobilitie were slayne Ihon Duke 
 of Norfolke, whiche was warned by dyuers to refrayne from 
 the felde, in so much that the nyghte before he shoulde 
 set forwarde towarde the kynge, one wrote on his gate. 
 
 lack of Norffolke be not to bolde 
 
 For Dykon thy maister is bought and solde. 
 
 c Yet all this notwithstandynge he regarded more his 
 othe his honour and promyse made to king Richard, lyke 
 a gentleman and a faythefull subiecte to his prince absented 
 not him selfe from his mayster, but as he faythefully lyued 
 vnder hym, so he manfully dyed with hym to hys greate 
 fame and lawde.' (pp. 418, 419.) 
 
 'When therle had thus obteigned victorie and slain his 
 mortal enemie, he kneled doune and rendred to almightie 
 God his harty thawkes w* deuoute & Godly orisons, be- 
 sechyng his goodnes to sende hym grace to auaunce & de- 
 fende the catholike fayth to mayntaine iustice & co/zcorde 
 amo;zgest his subiectes & people, by God now to his 
 
1V1 PREFACE. 
 
 gouernautfce committed & assigned : Which praier finyshed, 
 he replenyshed w* incomperable gladnes, ascended vp to 
 the top of a litell mountaine, where he not only praysed 
 & lawded his valiaunt souldiours, but also gaue vnto theim 
 his harty thankes, w* promyse of co^digne recompence 
 for their fidelite & valiaunt factes, willing & commaundyng 
 al the hurt & wounded persones to be cured, and the 
 dead carcases to be deliuered to y e sepulture. Then y e 
 people reioysed & clapped ha^des criyng vp to heauen, 
 kyng Henry, kyng Henry. When the lord Stanley sawe 
 the good will and gratuite of the people he toke the crowne 
 of kynge Richard which was founde amongest the spoyle 
 in the felde, and set it on therles hed, as though he had 
 byne elected king by the voyce of the people as in auncient 
 tymes past in diuers realmes it hath been accustomed, and 
 this was the first signe and token of his good lucke and 
 felicite. I must put you here in remembraunce how that 
 kynge Richarde puttynge some diffidence in the lord 
 Stanley, which had w* hym as an hostage, the lorde straunge 
 his eldest sonne, which lord Stanley as you haue hearde 
 before ioyned not at the firste with his sonne in lawes 
 armye, for feare that kynge Richarde would haue slayne 
 the Lorde Straunge his heyre. When kynge Richarde was 
 come to Boswoorth, he sent a purseuau^t to the lord 
 Stanley, commaundyng hym to auaunce forward with hys 
 compaignie and to come to his presence, whiche thynge 
 yf he refused to do, he sware by Christes passion that he 
 woulde stryke of his sonnes hedde before he dined. The 
 lorde Stanley aunswered the pursiuaunt that yf the kynge 
 dyd so, he had more sonnes a lyue, and as to come to hym 
 he was not then so determined : when kynge Richarde 
 harde this aunswere he commaunded the lorde Straunge 
 incontinent to be behedded, whiche was at that very same 
 season when both the armyes had sight eche of other. The 
 counsaillers of kyng Richard pondering the time and the 
 cause, knowynge also the Lorde Straunge to be innocente 
 
PREFACE. Ivii 
 
 of his fathers offence, perswaded the kynge that it was 
 now time to fight and not time to execucion, aduisynge 
 him to kepe the Lorde Straunge as a prisoner till the 
 battayll were ended, and then at Leyser his pleasure might 
 be accomplished. So as God woulde kyng Rycharde en- 
 frynged hys holy othe, and the Lorde was deliuered to the 
 kepers of the kynges tentes to be kept as a prisoner, whyche 
 when the felde was done and their master slayne and 
 proclamacion made to knowe were the childe was, they 
 submitted them selfes as prysoners to the Lord Straunge, 
 and he gently receyued them and brought them to the 
 newe proclamed king, where of him and of his Father he 
 was receyued with greate ioye and gladnes. After this 
 the hole campe remoued with bagg and baggage and 
 thesame nyght in the euenyng kynge Henry with great 
 Pompe came to the towne of Leycester.' (pp. 420, 421.) 
 
 Although these extracts are taken from Hall only, it is 
 evident that the dramatist must have consulted also the 
 second edition of Holinshed, which was published in 1586-7. 
 To this source we owe the name of Friar Penker (iii. 5. 104), 
 which in Hall is Pynkie ; the story of Richard's visit to 
 Exeter (iv. 2. 107-111), and his alarm at the ominous re- 
 semblance of Rougemont to Richmond ; and the statement 
 in Richard's address to his army that Richmond had been 
 maintained in Brittany 'at our mother's cost,' an error 
 which occurs in the second edition ot Holinshed only. 
 On the other hand, Hall alone mentions Burdet's case, to 
 which reference is made in iii. 5. 76 ; in his narrative alone 
 Richard presents himself to the Lord Mayor in the gallery 
 at Baynard's Castle with a Bishop on either side ; and in 
 Hall the scene of Buckingham's execution is the market- 
 place at Salisbury, while in Holinshed it was at Shrews- 
 bury. 
 
 It will be seen in the course of the Notes to this play 
 that the text of the folios differs from that of the quarto 
 editions very considerably. It has been no part of my 
 
Iviil PREFACE. 
 
 plan to record all these variations, and I have only men- 
 tioned those which seemed more important. In what way 
 they are to be accounted for is still a matter of dispute, 
 and without attempting to invent a new theory to explain 
 the inexplicable, I shall content myself with giving the 
 views of others and leave the further investigation of the 
 question to the speculation of the curious. Premising that 
 the first edition of the quarto text appeared in 1597, and 
 the first edition of the folio in 1623, the following is the 
 statement of the case given by the Cambridge editors, for 
 which, however, I have no wish to avoid my share of 
 responsibility. 
 
 1 The respective origin and authority of the first Quarto 
 and first Folio texts of Richard III. is perhaps the most 
 difficult question which presents itself to an editor of Shake- 
 speare. In the case of most of the plays a brief survey 
 leads him to form a definite judgement ; in this, the most 
 attentive examination scarcely enables him to propose with 
 confidence a hypothetical conclusion. 
 
 4 The Quarto, Qi, contains passages not found in the 
 Folio, FI, which are essential to the understanding of the 
 context : the Folio, on the other hand, contains passages 
 equally essential, which are not found in the Quarto. 
 
 f Again, passages which in the Quarto are complete and 
 consecutive, are amplified in the Folio, the expanded text 
 being quite in the manner of Shakespeare. The Folio, 
 too, contains passages not in the Quartos, which though 
 not necessary to the sense, yet harmonize so well, in sense 
 and tone, with the context that we can have no hesitation 
 in attributing them to the author himself. 
 
 t On the other hand, we find in the Folios some insertions 
 and many alterations which we may with equal certainty 
 affirm not to be due to Shakespeare. Sometimes the altera- 
 tions seem merely arbitrary, but more frequently they 
 appear to have been made in order to avoid the recurrence 
 of the same word, even where the recurrence adds to the 
 
PREFACE. llX 
 
 force of the passage, or to correct a supposed defect of 
 metre, although the metre cannot be amended except by 
 spoiling the sense. 
 
 1 Occasionally we seem to find indications that certain 
 turns of phrase, uses of words or metrical licenses, familiar 
 enough to Shakespeare and his earlier contemporaries, had 
 become obsolete in the time of the corrector, and the 
 passages modified accordingly. In short, Richard III. 
 seems even before the publication of the Folio to have 
 been tampered with by a nameless transcriber who worked 
 in the spirit, though not with the audacity, of Colley 
 Gibber.' 
 
 The editors then give their view of the pedigree of the 
 two texts, which is briefly this. That the quarto was printed 
 from a transcript of the author's original manuscript. That 
 this original manuscript was revised, corrected and enlarged 
 by the author, and that from a transcript of the play so 
 revised, the text of the Folio was printed, with occasional 
 reference to the third quarto which appeared in 1602. The 
 conclusion at which the editors arrive is that, on the whole, 
 the text of the Quartos is superior to that of the Folios. 
 
 This theory has been submitted to an elaborate examin- 
 ation by Mr. Spedding in the Transactions of the New 
 Shakspere Society, 1875-6, and his conclusion is 'that where 
 express reason cannot be shown to the contrary, the read- 
 ings of the Folio ought always to be preferred.' 
 
 Professor Delius (Jahrbuch d. Deutschen Shakespeare 
 Gesellschaft, vii.), on entirely different grounds, also 
 maintains the superior authority of the Folio readings. 
 He believes that the Folios contain the original text of 
 Shakespeare, and that the text of the Quartos was made 
 from it by an anonymous editor, who for various reasons, 
 audaciously tampered both with language and metre. For 
 instance, he holds that the smooth lines of the Folio were 
 purposely made rugged by the anonymous editor of the 
 Quarto, the alternative supposition being that Shakespeare 
 
IX PREFACE. 
 
 originally wrote these irregular lines which were made smooth 
 at a later time when he himself indulged in a freer metre. 
 Indeed Professor Delius lays it down as a principle, and 
 not at all as a paradox, that the more correct versification 
 of the Folio, as compared with the frequently incorrect 
 versification of the Quarto, is an evidence of the priority 
 of the former. 
 
 To shew how differently the same fact may present itself 
 to different investigators, I will quote the line, ii. 4. 65, which 
 stands in the Quartos 
 
 ' Or let me die, to look on death no more.' 
 and in the Folios 
 
 'Or let me die, to look on earth no more.' 
 
 'Mr. Spedding calls the change of ( death' to 'earth' an 
 injudicious correction, due in all probability to the printing- 
 office. Professor Delius defends 'earth' as the original 
 reading, which was altered by the anonymous corrector in 
 order to give point to the line by a play on the words ' die ' 
 and l death.' 
 
 In conclusion, after reading very carefully what has been 
 advanced on the other side, I see no reason for materially 
 changing the opinion which was put forward in the Cam- 
 bridge Shakespeare ; and with regard to the opposite 
 view of Professor Delius and Mr. Spedding, I would say, 
 that while Mr. Spedding may be justified in his inference, 
 the reasons given by Professor Delius must be wrong. 
 
 Richard the Third, although not a play for the closet, has 
 always been a favourite upon the stage, and the character 
 of Richard has possessed a strong attraction for our greatest 
 actors. To this fact Steevens, with great probability, attri- 
 butes much of the success of the tragedy. 'The part of 
 Richard is,' he observes, 'perhaps, beyond all others, varie- 
 gated, and consequently favourable to a judicious performer. 
 It comprehends, indeed, a trait of almost every species of 
 
PREFACE. Ixi 
 
 character on the stage. The hero, the lover, the statesmarL^j 
 the buffoon, the hypocrite, the hardened and repenting^ 
 sinner, &c., are to be found within its compass. No wonder, 
 therefore, that the discriminating powers of a Burbage, a 
 Garrick, and a Henderson, should at different periods have 
 given it a popularity beyond other dramas of the same 
 author.' But it must be remembered that the acting play is 
 not Shakespeare's Richard the Third but Colley Gibber's. 
 It may be that this is an improvement upon the original, but 
 it gave occasion to Charles Lamb to say, in his Essay on the 
 Tragedies of Shakspeare, ' I am almost disposed to deny to 
 Garrick the merit of being an admirer of Shakspeare. A 
 true lover of his excellencies he certainly was not ; for would 
 any true lover of them have admitted into his matchless 
 scenes such ribald trash as Tate and Gibber, and the rest of 
 them, that 
 
 "With their darkness durst affront his light," 
 
 have foisted into the acting plays of Shakspeare ? I believe 
 it impossible that he could have had a proper reverence for 
 Shakspeare, and have condescended to go through that in- 
 terpolated scene in Richard the Third, in which Richard 
 tries to break his wife's heart by telling her he loves another 
 woman, and says, "if she survives this she is immortal." 
 Yet I doubt not he delivered this vulgar stuff with as much 
 anxiety of emphasis as any of the genuine parts : and for 
 acting, it is as well calculated as any. ; 
 
 Archdeacon Hare in his Guesses at Truth, has some 
 remarks on what he calls the self-reflective character of 
 Shakespeare's villains, and on the difference between his 
 earlier and later work, with which this Preface may worthily 
 close. 
 
 ' If the Will gives itself up to work evil, the Conscience 
 ever and anon lifts up its reproachful voice, and smites with 
 its avenging sting ; whereupon the Will commands the 
 Understanding to lull or stifle the Conscience with its 
 
Ixii PREFACE. 
 
 sophistries, and to prove that our moral nature is a mere 
 delusion. Hence Shakespeare has made his worst charac- 
 ters, Edmund, lago, Richard, more or less self reflective. 
 .... Yet in nothing have the writers of spurious tragedies 
 oftener gone wrong, than in their way of making their 
 villains proclaim and boast of their villainy. Even poets 
 of considerable dramatic genius have at times erred griev- 
 ously in this respect, especially during the immaturity of 
 their genius : witness the soliloquies of Francis Moor in 
 Schiller's Titanic first-birth. Slow too and reluctant as I 
 am to think that anything can be erroneous in Shakespeare, 
 whom Nature had wedded, so to say, for better, for worse, 
 and whom she admitted into all the hidden recesses of 
 her heart, still I cannot help thinking that even 
 withstanding the firm grasp with which he is 
 the reins of 'his solar chariot, as it circles the worta,behold- 
 ing and bringing out every form of life in it, has somewhat 
 exaggerated the diabolic element in the soliloquies of Richard 
 the Third.' 
 
 He then compares the lines after the death of Henry the 
 Sixth and those in the opening scene of the present play 
 with the self-justification of Edmund in Lear, and of lago in 
 Othello, and proceeds : 
 
 'If we compare these speeches with Richard's, and in 
 like manner if we compare the way in which lago's plot 
 is first sown, and springs up and gradually grows and ripens 
 in his brain, with Richard's downright enunciation of his 
 projected series of crimes from the first, we may discern 
 the contrast between the youth and the mature manhood 
 of the mightiest intellect that ever lived upon earth, a 
 contrast almost equally observable in the difference between 
 the diction and metre of the two plays, and not unlike 
 that between a great river rushing along turbidly in spring, 
 bearing the freshly melted snows from Alpine mountains, 
 with flakes of light scattered here and there over its surface, 
 and the same river, when its waters have subsided into their 
 
PREFACE. Ixiii 
 
 autumnal tranquillity, and compose a vast mirror for the 
 whole landscape around them, and for the sun and stars 
 and sky and clouds overhead. 
 
 ' It is true, Shakespeare's youth was Herculean, was the 
 youth of one who might have strangled the serpents in 
 his cradle. There are several things in Richard's position, 
 which justify a great difference in the representation of his 
 inward being. His rank and station pampered a more 
 audacious will. The civil wars had familiarized him with 
 crimes of lawless violence, and with the wildest revolutions 
 of fortune. Above all, his deformity, which Shakespeare 
 received from a tradition he did not think of questioning, 
 and which he purposely brings forward in both the speeches 
 above, seemed to separate and cut him off from 
 and communion with his kind, and to be a plea 
 for thimottg that, as ..he was a monster in body, he might 
 also be a monster in heart and conduct. In fact it is a 
 common result of a natural malformation to awaken and 
 irritate a morbid self-consciousness, by making a person 
 continually and painfully sensible of his inferiority to his 
 fellows : and this was doubtless a main agent in perverting 
 Lord Byron's character. Still I cannot but think that Shake- 
 speare would have made a somewhat different use even of 
 this motive, if he had re-written the play, like King John, 
 in the maturity of his intellect. Would not Richard then, 
 like Edmund and lago, have palliated and excused his 
 crimes to himself, and sophisticated and- played tricks with 
 his conscience? Would he not have denied and avowed 
 his wickedness, almost with the same breath ? and made 
 the ever-waxing darkness of his purposes, like that of night, 
 at once conceal and betray their hideous enormity? At 
 all events, since the justifications that may be alleged for 
 Richard's bolder avowals of his wickedness, result from the 
 peculiar idiosyncrasy of his position taken along with his 
 physical frame, he is a most unsafe model for other poets 
 to follow, though a very tempting one, especially to young 
 
Ixiv PREFACE. 
 
 poets, many of whom are glad to vent their feelings of the 
 discord between their ardent fancies and the actual state 
 of the world, in railing at human nature, and embodying its 
 evils in some incarnate fiend. Besides the main difficulties 
 of dramatic poetry are smoothed down, when a writer can 
 make his characters tell us how good and how bad he 
 designs them to be.' 
 
 WILLIAM ALDIS WRIGHT. 
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, 
 July 15, 1880. 
 
ft \f\ 
 
 THE TRAGEDY OF 
 
 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 DRAMATIS PERSONS. 
 
 }sons to 
 the 
 King. 
 
 * brothers 
 to the 
 
 King. 
 
 KING EDWARD the Fourth. 
 Ai. EDWARD, Prince of Wales, 
 TkU~afterwards K. Edward V, 
 RICHARD, Duke of York,. . 
 p3koRGE, Duke of Clarence, 
 [RICHARD, Duke of Glpu- 
 I cester, afterwards King 
 IT Richard III, 
 A young son of Clarence. 
 _ HENRY. Earl of Richmond, afterwards 
 
 King Henry VI I. 
 CARDINAL BOURCHIER, Archbishop of 
 
 Canterbury. 
 THOMAS ROTHERHAM, Archbishop of 
 
 York. 
 
 JOHN MORTON, Bishop- of Ely. 
 DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM. 
 DUKE OF NORFOLI. 
 EARL OF SugRjSY/his son. 
 v EARL RiVERS,brbther to Elizabeth. ^^ 
 MARQUIS OF^BORSET and LORD GREY, 
 
 -sons to Elizabeth. 
 EARL OF OXFORD. 
 v LORD HASTINGS. 
 LORD STANLEY/ called also EARL OF 
 
 DERBY. 
 LORD LOVEL. 
 
 SIR. THOMAS VAUGHAN. ' 
 SIR RICHARD RATCLIFP. 
 
 \ 
 
 SIR WILLIAM CATESBY. **" 
 
 SIR JAMES TYRREL. 
 
 SIR JAMES BLOUNT. 
 
 SIR WALTER HERBERT. 
 
 SIR ROBERT BRAKENBURY, Lieutenant 
 of the Tower. 
 
 CHRISTOPHER URSWICK, a priest. An- 
 other Priest. 
 
 TRESSEL and BERKELEY, gentlemen at- 
 tending on the Lady Anne. 
 
 Lord Mayor of London. Sheriff of 
 Wiltshire. 
 
 ELIZABETH, queen to King Edward IV. <p/A>yj 
 MARGARET^jvidow of King Henry~Vl. ' 
 DUCHESS OF YORK, mother to KingO/*/ 
 
 Edward IV. 
 
 LADY ANNE, widow of Edward Prince 
 of Wales, son to King Henry VI ; 
 afterwards married to Richard. 
 A young daughter of Clarence (MAR- 
 GARET PLANTAGENET). 
 
 Ghosts of those murdered by Richard 
 III, Lords and other Attendants ; a 
 Pursuivant, Scrivener, Citizens, Mur- 
 derers, Messengers, Soldiers, &c. -w 
 
 SCENE: England* 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 SCENE I. London. A street. 
 Enter RICHARD, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, solus. 
 
 Glou. Now is the winter of our discontent 
 Made glorious summer by this sun of York ; 
 And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house 
 In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. 
 Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths ; 
 
 B 
 
2 'KING &ICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Onr bruised arms hung up for monuments ; 
 
 Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings, 
 
 Pur dreadful marches to delightful measures. 
 
 /Grim-visaged war hath smooth'd his wrinkled front ; 
 
 And now, instead of mounting barbed steeds 
 I To fright the souls of fearful adversaries, 
 i He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber 
 
 To the lascivious pleasing of a lute. 
 
 But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks, 
 
 JNl'or made" to court an amorous looking-glass ; 
 
 I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty 
 
 To strut before a wanton ambling nymph ; 
 
 I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion, 
 
 Cheated of feature by Dissembling nature, 
 
 DejGprin'd unfinished, sent before my tim"5 20 
 
 Into this breathing world, scarce Thalfinade up, 
 And that so lamely and unfashionable 
 That dogs bark at me as I halt by them ; 
 Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace, 
 Jrlave no delight to pass away the time, 
 Unless to spy my shadow in the sun 
 And descant on mine own deformity: 
 Anci therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,! 
 To entertain these fair well-spoken days, 
 I am determined to prove a villain 30 
 
 And Hate the idle pleasures of these days. I 
 Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous, 
 By drunken prophecies, libels and dreams, 
 To set my brother Clarence and the king 
 In deadly hate the one against the other : 
 And if King Edward be as true and just 
 As I am subtle, false and treacherous, 
 This day should Clarence closely be mew'd up, ' 
 About a prophecy, which says that G 
 Of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be. 4 
 
 'Dive, thoughts, down to my soul : here Clarence comes. 
 
 Enter CLARENCE, guarded, and BRAKENBURY. 
 Brother, good day: what means this armed guard 
 
ACT I. SCENE I. 3 
 
 That waits upon your grace f 
 
 Clar. His majesty, 
 
 Tendering my person's safety, hath appointed 
 This conduct to convey me to the Tower. 
 
 Glou. Upon what cause? 
 
 Clar. Because my name is George. 
 
 Glou. Alack, my lord, that fault is none of yours ; 
 He should, for that, commit your godfathers : 
 O, belike his majesty hath some intent 
 That you shall be new-christen'd in the Tower. 50 
 
 But what's the matter, Clarence? may I know? 
 
 Clar. Yea, Richard, when I know ; for I protest 
 As yet I do not : but, as I can learn, 
 He hearkens after prophecies and dreams : 
 And from the cross-row plucks the letter G, 
 And says a wizard told him that by G 
 His issue disinherited should be ; 
 And, for my name of George begins with G, 
 It follows in his thought that I am he. 
 These, as I learn, and such like toys as these 60 
 
 Have moved his highness to commit me now. 
 
 Glou. Why, this it is, when men are ruled by women : 
 'Tis not the king that sends you to the Tower ; 
 My Lady Grey his wife, Clarence, 'tis she 
 That tempers him to this extremity. 
 Was it not she and that good man of worship, 
 Anthony Woodville, her brother there, 
 That made him send Lord Hastings to the Tower, 
 From whence this present day he is deliver'd? 
 We are not safe, Clarence ; we are not safe. ^ ., 70 
 
 Clar. By heaven, I think thefdT'sSio man"" 
 But the queen's kindred anQN^ignt^walking herald 
 That trudge betwixt the king anth MisTTgbb Ghoter- 
 Heard ye not what an humble suppliant 
 Lord Hastings was to her for his delivery ? 
 
 Glou. Humbly complaining to her deity 
 Got my lord chamberlain his liberty. 
 
 B 2 
 
4 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 I '11 tell you what : I think it is our way, 
 
 If we will keep in favour with the king, 
 
 To be her men and wear her livery : 80 
 
 The jealous o'erworn widow and herself, 
 
 Since that our brother dubb'd them gentlewomen, 
 
 Are mighty gossips in this monarchy. . 
 
 Brak. I beseech your graces both to pardon me ; 
 His majesty hath straitly given in charge 
 That no man shall have private conference, 
 Of what degree soever, with -his brother. 
 
 Glou. Even so ; an 't please your worship, Brakenbury, 
 You may partake of any thing we say : 
 We speak no treason, man : we say the king 90 
 
 Is wise and virtuous, and his noble queen 
 Well struck in years, fair, and not jealous ; 
 We say that Shore's wife hath a pretty foot, 
 A cherry lip, a bonny eye, a passing pleasing tongue ; 
 And that the queen's kindred are made gentle-folks : 
 How say you, sir? can you deny all this? 
 
 Brak. With this, my lord, myself have nought to do. 
 
 Glou. Naught to do with Mistress Shore ! I tell thee, 
 
 fellow, 
 
 He that doth naught with her, excepting one, 
 Were best ^ do it secretly, alone. loo 
 
 Brak. What one, my lord? 
 
 Glou. Her husband, knave : wouldst thou betray me ? 
 
 Brak. I beseech your grace to pardon me, and withal 
 Forbear your conference with the noble duke. 
 
 Clar. We know thy charge, Brakenbury, and will obey. 
 
 Glou. We are the queen's abjects, and must obey. 
 Brother, farewell : I will unto the king ; 
 And whatsoever you will employ me in, 
 Were it to call King Edward's widow sister, 
 I will perform it to. enfranchise you. no 
 
 Meantime, this deep disgrace in brotherhood 
 Touches me deeper than you can imagine. 
 
 Clar. I know it pleaseth neither of us well 
 
ACT I. SCENE I. 5 
 
 Glou. Well, your imprisonment shall not be long ; 
 I will deliver you, or else lie for you : 
 Meantime, have patience. 
 
 Clar. I must perforce. Farewell. 
 
 \Exeunt Clarence, Brakenbury, and Guard. 
 
 Glou. Go, tread the path that thou shalt ne'er return, 
 Simple, plain Clarence ! I do love thee so, 
 That I will shortly send thy soul to heaven, 
 If heaven will take the present at our hands. 120 
 
 But who comes here? the new-deliver'd Hastings? 
 
 Enter LORD HASTINGS. 
 
 Hast. Good time of day unto my gracious lord ! 
 
 Glou. As much unto my good lord chamberlain ! 
 Well are you welcome to the open air. 
 How hath your lordship brook'd imprisonment? 
 
 Hast. With patience, noble lord, as prisoners must : 
 But I shall live, my lord, to give them thanks 
 That were the cause of my imprisonment. 
 
 Glou. No doubt, no doubt ; and so shall Clarence too ; 
 For they that were your enemies are his, 130 
 
 And have prevail'd as much on him as you. 
 
 Hast. More pity that the eagle should be mew'd^ // V 
 While kites and buzzards prey at liberty. |r A 
 
 Glou. What news abroad ? 
 
 Hast. No news so bad abroad as this at home ; 
 The king is sickly, weak and melancholy, 
 And his physicians fear him mightily. 
 
 Glou. Now, by Saint Paul, this news is bad indeed. 
 O, he hath kept an evil diet long, 
 
 And overmuch consumed his royal person : 140 
 
 'Tis very grievous to be thought upon. 
 What, is he in his bed? 
 
 Hast. He is. 
 
 -;. Go you before, and I will follow you. 
 
 [Exit Hastings. 
 
 - cannot live, I hope ; and must not die 
 
6 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Till George be pack'd with post-horse up to heaven. 
 I '11 in, to urge his hatred more to Clarence, 
 With lies well steel'd with weighty arguments ; 
 And, if I fail not in my deep intent, 
 
 Clarence hath not another day to live : 150 
 
 Which done, God take King Edward to his mercy, 
 And leave the world for me to bustle in ! 
 For then I'll marry Warwick's youngest daughter. 
 W r hat though I kill'd her husband and her iather ? 
 The readiest way to make the wench amends 
 s to become her husband and her father : 
 which will 1^ not all so much for love 
 r^,^jiothe^secTeT closeT)tntent, 
 By marrying her which I must reach unto. 
 But yet I run before my horse to market : 1 60 
 
 Clarence still breathes : Edward still lives and reigns : 
 When they are gone, then must I count my gains. \Exit. 
 
 SCENE II. i The same. Another street. 
 
 Enter the corpse of KING HENRY the Sixth, Gentlemen 
 with halberds to guard it; LADY ANNE being the 
 mourner. 
 
 Anne. Set dowiy-sertkrwm your honourable load, 
 If honour may J^shroudeol^/n a hearse, 
 Whilst I awhile obsequiously lament 
 The untimely fall of virtuous Lancaster. 
 Poor key-cold figure of a holy king ! 
 Pale ashes of the house of Lancaster ! 
 Thou bloodless remnant of that royal blood ! 
 Be it lawfuFthat I invocate thy ghost, ~- 
 To hear the lamentations of poor Anne, 
 Wife to thy Edward, to thy slaughter'd son, 10 
 
 Stabb'd by the selfsame hand that made these wounds ! 
 Lo, in these windows that let forth thy life, 
 I pour<the JiGlpJflfls-balnj> of my poor eyes. 
 Cursed be the'liahd that made these fatal holes ! 
 
 fiahd 
 
ACT I. SCENE II. 7 
 
 Cursed be the heart that had the heart to do it ! 
 
 Cursed the blood that let this blood from hence ! 
 
 More direful hap betide that "Hated 'wretch, 
 
 That makes us wretched by the death of thee, 
 
 Than I ^cao-Hgsh to adders, spiders, toads, fy 
 
 Or anvcreepingvej)nmM> thing that lives ! 20 
 
 If ever he~teve child, abortive be it, 
 
 Prodigious, and untimely brought to light, L^ 
 
 Whoseu^y^.ajid.^imna^aLaspect 
 
 May fright the hopeful mother at the view ; 
 
 And that be heir to his unhappiness ! 
 
 If ever he have wife, let her be made 
 
 As miserable by the death of him 
 
 As I am made by my poor lord and thee ! 
 
 Come, now towards Chertsey with your holy load, 
 
 Taken from Paul's to be interred there ; 30 
 
 And still, as you are weary of the weight, 
 
 Rqst you, whiles I lament King Henry's corse. 
 
 Enter GLOUCESTER. 
 
 Glou. Stay, you that bear the corse, and set it down. 
 
 Anne. What blacKSnagician conjures up this fiend, 
 To stop devotettncfcantable deeds ? 
 
 Gfou. Villains, set down the corse ; or, by Saint Paul, 
 I '11 make a corse of him that disobeys. 
 
 Gent. My lord, stand back, and let the coffin pass. 
 
 Glou. Unmanner'd dog ! stand thou, when I command : 
 Advance thy halberd higher than my breast, 40 
 
 Or, by Saint Paul, I'll strike thee to my foot, 
 And spurn upon thee, beggar, for thy boldness. 
 
 Anne. What^ do you tremble? are you all afraid? 
 Alas, I blame you not ; for you 
 And mortal eyes cannot endure 
 Avaunt, thou dreadful minister 
 Thou hadst but power over his mortal body, 
 His soul thou canst not have ; therefore, be gone. 
 
 Glou. Sweet saint, for charity, be not so curst. 
 
3 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Anne. Foul devil, for God's sake, hence, and trouble 
 
 us not ; 
 
 For thou hast made the happy earth thy hell, 
 Fill'd it with cursing cries and deep exclaims. 
 [f thou delight to view thy heinous deeds, 
 Behold this pattern of thy butcheries. 
 3, gentlemen, see, see ! dead Henry's wounds 
 Dpen their congeal'd mouths and bleed afresh ! 
 ^lush, blush, thou lump of foul deformity ; 
 For 'tis thy presence that exhales this blood 
 From cold and empty veins, where no blood dwells ; 
 Fliy deed'^mhuman and unnatural, 60 
 
 Provokes this deluge most unnatural. J 
 j God, "which Lllis blood maaest, revenge his death ! 
 3 earth, which this blood drink'st, revenge his death ! . 
 either heaven with lightning strike the murderer dead, 
 Dr earth, gape open wide and eat him qmck, 
 \s thou dost .^wallow up this good king'sblood, 
 kVhich his hell-gpvern'd arm hath butchered ! 
 
 Glou. Dtttyjyou know no rules of charity, 
 kVhich renders good for bad, blessings for curses. 
 
 J /^T s Syillain, thou know'st no law of God nor man : 
 tfo beast 9p fierce but knows some touch of pity. 71 
 
 \^z/0#.^j5Ut I know none, and therefore am no beast. 
 
 Anne. O wonderful, when devils tell the truth ! 
 
 Glou. More wonderful, when angels are so ang 
 /ouchsafe, _djvine perfection of a woman. Jf/yV^ 
 3f these supposed evils, to give me le 
 3y circumstance, but to a 
 
 Anne. Vouchsafe, defusedmfection of a man. " 
 
 ' - *- j? i 
 
 r or these known evUsjJiiit-4e--gTve-irie leave, 'gj 
 
 3y circumstance, to curse thy cursed self. 80 
 
 Glou. Fairer than tongue can name thee, let me have 
 5ome patient leisure to excuse myself. 
 
 Anne. Fouler than heart can think thee, thou canst make 
 Mo excuse current, but to hang thyself. 
 
 Glou. By such despair, I should accuse myself. 
 
ACT I. SCENE II. 
 
 Anne. And, by despairing, shouldst thou stand excused, 
 For doing worthy vengeance on thyself, 
 Which didst unworthy slaughter upon others. 
 
 Glou. Say that I slew them not ? 
 
 Anne. Why, then they are not dead : 
 
 But dead they are, and, devilish slave; by thee. 90 
 
 Glou. I did not kill your husband. 
 
 Anne. Why, then he is alive. 
 
 Glou. Nay, he is dead ; and slain by Edward's hand. 
 
 Anne. In thy foul throat thou liest : Queen Margaret saw 
 Thy murderous falchion smoking in his blood ; 
 The which thou once didst bend against her breast, 
 But that thy brothers beat aside the point. 
 
 Glou. I was provoked by her slanderous tongue, 
 Which laid their guilt upon my guiltless shoulders. 
 
 Anne. Thou wast provoked by thy bloody mind, 
 Which never dreamt on aught but butcheries : v 100 
 
 Didst thou not kill this king? D 
 
 Glou. ^_JLS2J^J5- A*'* ^ ^ O 
 
 Anne. Dost grant me^hedgehogjythen, God grant me 
 
 too ^ 
 
 Thou mayst be damned for that wicked deed ! 
 O, he was gentle, mild, and virtuous ! ,__-'*" 
 
 Glou. The fitter forjLhe Kingjpf hegiYgn^ that hath him. 
 
 Anne. He is i^Jieav^"^here thou shalt never come. 
 
 Glou. Let him thank me, that holp to send him thither : 
 For he was fitter for that place than^S^. ? 
 
 Anne. And thou unfit for any place but (hell, y 
 
 Glou. Yes, one place else, if you will hearlne name it. 
 
 Anne. Some dungeon. 
 
 Glou. Your bed-chamber. in 
 
 Anne. Ill rest betide the chamber where thou liest ! 
 
 Glou. So will it, madam, till I lie with you. 
 
 Anne. I hope so. 
 
 Glou. I know so. But, gentle Lady Anne, 
 
10 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 To leave this keen encounter of our wits, 
 And fall somewhat into a slower method, 
 Is not the causer of the timeless deaths 
 Of these Plantagenets, Henry and Edward, 
 As blameful as the executioner? 
 Anne. Thou art the cause, and mosi accursed effect. 
 
 Glou. Your beauty was the cause or that effect ; 121 
 Your beauty, which did haunt me in my sleep 
 To undertake the death of all the world, 
 So I might live one hour in your sweet bosom. 
 
 Anne. If I thought that, I tell thee, homicide, 
 These nails should rend that beauty from my cheeks. 
 
 Glou. These eyes could never endure sweet beauty's 
 
 wreck ; 
 
 You should not blemish it, if I stood by : 
 As all the world is cjierjdJ^.Asu7^ 
 
 o I by that ; it isony day, my lifeX 130 
 
 Anne. Black night 6'ei^tede~lirf''flay, and death thy life ! 
 
 "GTou.?- Curse^not thyself, fair creature ; thou art both. 
 
 Anne. I would I were, to be_rey.e^nged on thee. 
 
 Glou. It is a quarrel mos^unnatur 
 To be revenged on him that loveth you. 
 
 Anne. It is a quarrel just and reasonable, 
 To be revenged on him that slew my husband. 
 
 Glou. He that bereft thee, lady, of thy husband, 
 Did it to help thee to a better husband. 139 
 
 Anne. His better doth not breathe upon the earth. 
 
 Glou. He lives that loves thee better than he could. 
 
 Anne. Name him. 
 
 Glou. Plantagenet. 
 
 Anne. Why, that was he. 
 
 Glou. The selfsame name, but one of better nature. 
 
 Anne. Where is he ? 
 
 Glou. Here. [She spitteth at him.} Why 
 
 dost thou spit at me ? 
 
ACT I. 
 
 II. 
 
 II 
 
 Anne. Would it were ^mort^poisor^, fj0r /thy sake ! 
 Glou. Never came^oispn from so sweeoa place. n ^ 
 
 Anne. Never hung poison on a^touler tBad^ &"***}/<**' 
 Out of my sight ! thou dosymfect^ qiyjEyt/s. ' ^^j^ 
 
 Glou. Thine eyes, sweet lady, have infected minepr2t4\ 
 Anne. Would they were basilisks, to /strike thee/ dea^ 
 Glou. I would they were, that I midhtt gtieSat once : 
 For now they kill me with a <l-rvfng dear! 
 Those eyes of thine from mine rra/ve otFawn salt tears, 
 Shamed their aspect with store of childish drops : 
 These eyes, which never shed remorseful tear, 
 No, when my father York and Edward wept, - 
 To hear the piteous moan that Rutland made 
 When black-faced Clifford shook his sword at hir 
 Nor when thy warlike father, like a child, 
 Told the sad story of my father's death, 
 And twenty times made pause to sob and weep, 
 That all the standers-by had wet their cheeks, 
 Like trees bedash'd with rain : in that sad time 
 id sTorn an humble tear ; 
 
 And what these sorrows could not thence exhale, r 
 
 Thy beauty hath, and made them blind with weeping/ 
 
 I never sued to friend nor enemy ; 
 
 My tongue could never learn sweet smoothing words ; 
 
 But, now thy beauty is proposed my fee, 
 
 My proud heart sues and prompts my tongue to speak. 
 
 [She looks scornfully at him. 
 
 Teach not thy lips such scorn, for they were made 171 
 For kissing, lady, not for such contempt. 
 If thy revengeful heart cannot forgive, 
 Lo, here I lend thee this sharp-pointed sword ; 
 Which if thou please to hide in this true bosom, 
 And let the soul forth t>atyidoreth thee, 
 I lay it naked to the /leadlt^troke,^^^^- 
 And humbly beg the ^leatjxlipon^my Tcnee. 
 
 \He lays his breast open : she offejt&at it with his sword. 
 /Nay, do not pause ; for I tid knT King Henry, 
 
13 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 But 'twas thy beauty that provoked me. 180 
 
 Nay, now dispatch^twas I that stabb'd young Edward, 
 Bur"*twas th>^Tieavenly>face that set me on. 
 
 [Here she lets fall the sword. 
 Take up the sword again, or take up me. 
 
 Anne. Arise, dissembler: though I wish thy death, 
 I will not be the executioner. 
 
 Glou. Then bid me kill myself, and I will do it. 
 
 Anne* I have already. 
 
 Glou. Tush, that was in thy rage : 
 
 Speak it again, and, even with the word, 
 That hand, which, for thy love, did kill thy love, 
 Shall, for thy love, kill a far truer love ; 190 
 
 To both their deaths thou shalt be accessary. 
 
 Anne. \ I would I knew thy heart. 
 
 Glou. J Tis figured in my tongue. 
 
 Anne. I fear me both are false. * 
 
 Glou. Then never man was true. 
 
 Anne. Well, well, put up your sword. 
 
 Glou. Say, then, my peace is made. 
 
 Anne. That shall you know hereafter. 
 
 Glou. But shall I live in hope ? 
 
 Anne. All men, I hope, live so. 200 
 
 Glou. Vouchsafe to wear this ring. 
 
 Anne. To take is not to give. 
 
 Glou. Look, how this ring encompasseth thy finger, 
 Even so thy breast encloseth my poor heart ; 
 Wear both of them, for botK" of them UrTlhine. 
 And if thy poor devoted suppliant may 
 But beg one favour at thy gracious hand, 
 Thou dost confirm his happiness for ever. 
 
 Anne. What is it? 
 
 Glou. That it would please thee leave these sad designs 
 To him that hath more cause to be a mourner, 211 
 
 And presently repair to Crosby Place ; 
 
ACT I. SCENE II. 13 
 
 Where, after I have solemnly interr'd 
 At Chertsey monastery this noble king, 
 And wet his grave with my repentant tears, 
 I will with all expedient duty see you : 
 For divers unknown reasons, I beseech you, 
 Grant me this boon. 
 
 Anne. With all my heart ; and much it joys me too, 
 TO see you are become so penitent. 220 
 
 Tressel and Berkeley, go along with me. 
 
 Glou. Bid me farewell. 
 
 Anne. 'Tis' more than you deserve ; 
 
 But since you teach me how to flatter you, 
 Imagine I have said farewell already. 
 
 [Exeunt Lady Anne> Tressel, and Berkeley. 
 
 Glou. Sirs, take up the corse. 
 
 Gent. Towards Chertsey, noble lord? ^ 
 
 Glou. No, to White-Friars ; there attend my coming. 
 
 [Exeunt all but Gloucester/* 
 Was ever woman' in this humour woo'd ? 
 Was ever woman in this humour won ? 
 I ; li have her ; but I will not keep her long. 
 What ! I, that kill'd her husband and his father, 230 
 To take her in her heart's gxtremest hate, 
 With/cun;e$ 
 The ^leedmgy^vitness of herliatred by ; 
 
 her conscience, and these bars against me, 
 
 And I nothing to bacl^gry suhrat^all, 
 
 But the plain devil ana dissembling^Iooks, 
 
 And yet to win her, all the world to nothing ! 
 
 Ha! 
 
 Hath she forgot already that brave prince, 
 
 Edward, her lord, whom I, some three months since, 240 
 
 Stabb'd in my angry mood at Tewksbury? ^ 
 
 A sweeter and a lovelierjgentkman, iv^tv 
 
 -Fraffied m "-thejrpdigality ' oT naturey^^^^^V 
 Young, valiant, wise, and, no doubt, right royal, 7 
 The spacious world cannot again afford : / 
 
14 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 And will she yetxtebase her eyes on me, 
 
 That cropp'd th^ goldeiy'prime of this sweet prince, 
 
 And made her witfow-fo a woful bed? 
 
 On me, whose all not equals Edward's moiety ? 
 
 On me, that halt and am unshapen thus ? 
 
 My dukedom to a beggarly denier, 
 
 I do mistake my person all this while : 
 
 Upon my life, she finds, although I cann<j>t,j 
 
 Myself to be a marvellousjDropej. man. ~ 
 
 I '11 be at charges for a lonlring glnos 
 
 And entertain some score pr two of tailors, 
 
 To study fashions to adorn my body : 
 
 Since I am crej>t in favour with myself, 
 
 I will maintain it with some little cost. 
 
 But first I '11 turn yon fellow in his grave ; / (KX 
 
 Shine out, faii^sun/ till I have bought af 
 
 That I may see my shadow as I pass. v / [Exit. 
 
 $y 
 
 SCENE III. The palace. 
 Enter QUEEN ELIZABETH, LORD RIVERS, and LORD GREY. 
 
 Riv. Have patience, madam : there !s uo doubt his 
 
 majesty fyA^ &f\S ^ 
 
 Will soon recover his accustom'd health. 
 
 Grey. ' In that you brook it ill, it makes him worse : 
 Therefore, for God's sake, entertain good comfort, 
 And cheer his grace with quick and merry words. 
 
 Q. Eliz. If he were (dead, What would betide of me? 
 
 Riv. No other harm out loss of such a lord. 
 
 Q. Eliz. The loss of such a lord includes all harm. 
 
 Grey. The heavens have bless'd you with a goodly son, 
 To be your comforter when he is gone. 10 
 
 Q. Eliz. Oh, he is young, and his minority 
 Is put unto the trust of Richard Gloucester, 
 A man that loves not me, nor none of you. 
 
ACT I. SCENE III. 15 
 
 Riv. Is it concluded he shall be protector? 
 Q. Eliz. It is determined, not concluded yet : 
 But so it must be, if the king miscarry. 
 
 Enter BUCKINGHAM and DERBY. 
 
 Grey. Here come the lords of Buckingham and Derby. 
 
 Buck. Good time of day unto your royal grace ! 
 
 Der. God make your majesty joyful as you have been ! 
 
 Q. Eliz. The Countess Richmond, good my Lord of 
 Derby, 20 
 
 To your good prayers will scarcely say amen. 
 Yet, Derby, notwithstanding she's your wife, 
 And loves not me, be you, good lord, assured 
 I hate not you for her proud arrogance. 
 
 Der. I do beseech you, either not believe 
 The envious slanders of her false accusers ; 
 Or, if she be accused in true report, 
 Bear with her weajoie^s, which, I think, proceeds 
 From wayward^sicknessv and no grounded malice. 
 
 Riv. Saw yot*-tfce~1ting to-day, my Lord of Derby ? 30 
 
 Der. But now the Duke of Buckingham and I 
 Are come from visiting his majesty. 
 
 Q. Eliz. What likelihood of his amendment, lords ? 
 
 Buck. Madam, good hope ; his grace speaks cheerfully. 
 
 Q. Eliz. God grant him health ! Did you confer with him? 
 
 Buck. Madam, we did :He desires to make atonement 
 Betwixt the Duke of Gloucester and your brothers, 
 And betwixt them and my lord chamberlain ; 
 And sent to warn them to his royal presence. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Would all were well ! but that will never be : 
 I fear our happiness is at the highest 41 
 
 Enter GLOUCESTER, HASTINGS, and DORSET. 
 
 Glou. They do me wrong, and I will not endure it : 
 Who are they that complain unto the king, 
 That I, forsooth, am stern and love them not ? 
 By holy Paul, they love his grace but lightly 
 
1 6 KING RICHARD THE THL 
 
 That fill his ears with such dissentious run 
 
 Because I cannot flatter and speak fair, 
 
 Smile in men's faces, smooth, deceive and cog, 
 
 Duck with French nods and apish courtesy, 
 
 I must be held a rancorous enemy. , 50 
 
 Cannot a plain man live and think no harm, 
 
 But thus his simple truth must be abused 
 
 By silken, sly, insinuating Jacks ? 
 
 Riv. To whom in all this presence speaks your grace ? 
 
 Glou. To thee, that hast nor honesty nor grace. 
 When have I injured thee ? when done thee wrong ? 
 Or thee ? or thee ? or any of your faction ? 
 A plague upon you all ! His royal person, 
 Whom God preserve better than you would wish ! 
 Cannot be quiet scarce a breathing-while, 60 
 
 But you must trouble him with lewd complaints. 
 
 <2- Eliz. Brother of Gloucester, you mistake the matter. 
 The king, of his own royal disposition, 
 And not provoked by any suitor else ; 
 'Aiming, belike, at yr>nrjr>ten> r hatre^, d 
 > Which in your nnfwprH ^rtirms shows itself 
 
 Against my kindred, brothers^ and myself, 
 / Makes him to send ; that thereby he may gather 
 
 The ground of your ill-will, and to remove it. 
 A Glou. I cannot tell ; the world is^^fov^n so bad, 70 
 1 That wrens make prey where eagfes dare not perch :, 
 I Since every Jack became a gentleman, 
 There's many a gentle person made a Jack. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Come, come, we know your meaning, brother 
 
 Gloucester ; 
 
 You envy my advancement and my friends 7 : 
 God grant we never may have need of you ! 
 
 Glou. Meantime, God grants that we have need of you : 
 Our brother is imprison'd by your means, 
 Myself disgraced, and the nobility 
 
 Held in contempt ; whilst many fair promotions 80 
 
 Are daily given to ennoble those 
 
ACT I. SCENE lit. 17 
 
 That scarce, some two days since, were worth a noble. 
 
 Q. Eliz. By Him that raised me to this careful height 
 From that contented hap which I enjoy 'd, 
 I never did incense his majesty 
 Against the Duke of Clarence, but have been 
 An earnest advocate to plead for him. 
 My lord, you do me shameful injury, 
 Falsely to draw me in these vile suspects. 
 
 Glou. You may deny that you were not the cause 90 ' 
 Of my Lord Hastings' late imprisonment. 
 
 Riv. She may, my lord, for 
 
 Glou. She may, Lord Rivers ! why, who knows not so ? 
 She may do more, sir, than denying that : 
 She may help you to many fair preferments, 
 And then deny her aiding hand therein, 
 And lay those honours on your high deserts. 
 What may she not? She may, yea, marry, may she, 
 
 Riv. What, marry, may she? 
 
 Glou. What, marry, may she ! marry with a king, IJD 
 A bachelor, a Jiandsome striplingMtoo ; <*^ {Jk-? v 
 
 I wis your grandam had a worser match. 
 
 Q. Eliz. My Lord of Gloucester, I have too long borne 
 Your blunt upbraidings and your bitter scoffs : 
 By heaven, I will acquaint his majesty 
 With those gross taunts I often have endured. 
 I had rather be a country servant-maid 
 
 Than a. great queen, with this condition, ^ 
 
 To be thus taunted, scorn'd, and baited at: / T v * 
 
 Enter QUEEN MARGARET, behind./'' 
 Small joy have I in being England's queen. Tio 
 
 Q. Mar. And lessen'd be that small, God, I beseech 
 
 thee ! 
 Thy honour, state and seat is due to me. 
 
 Glou. What ! threat you me with telling of the king ? 
 Tell him, and spare not : look, what I have said 
 I will avouch in presence of the king : 
 
 C 
 
l8 KING RICHARD TUE THIRD. 
 
 I dare adventure to be sent to the Tower. 
 J Tis time to^speak-^rny pains are quite forgot. 
 
 Q. Mar. ^Qut^deyilJL% remember them too well : 
 Thou slewest my husUand Henry in the Tower, 
 And Edward, my poor son, at Tewksbury. 120 
 
 Glou. Ere you were queen, yea, or your husband king, 
 I was a pack-horse in his great affairs ; 
 A weeder-out of his proud adversaries, 
 A liberal rewarder of his friends : 
 To royalise his blood I spilt mine own. 
 
 Q. Mar. Yea, and much bettei^blood than his or thine. 
 I Glou. In all which time you and your husband Grey 
 Were factious for the house of Lancaster ; 
 And, Rivers, so were you. Was not your husband 
 ' In Margaret's battle at Saint Alban's slain? 130 
 
 Let me put in your minds, if you forget, , 
 
 What you have been ere now and what you are ; 
 Withal, what I have been, and what I am. 
 
 Q. Mar. A murderous villain, and so still thou art. 
 
 Glou. Poor Clarence did forsake his father, Warwick : 
 Yea, and forswore himself, which Jesu pardon ! 
 
 Q. Mar. Which God revenge ! 
 
 Glou. To fight on Edward's party for the crown ; 
 And for his meed, poor lord, he is mew'd up. 
 I would to God my heart were flint, like Edward's ; 140 
 Or Edward's soft and pitiful, like mine : 
 I am too childish-foolish for this world. 
 
 Q. Mar. Hie thee to hell for shame, and leave the 
 
 world, 
 Thou cacodemon ! there thy kingdom is. 
 
 Riv. My Lord of Gloucester, in those busy days 
 Which here you urge to prove us enemies, 
 We follow'd then our lord, our lawful king : 
 So should we you, if you should be our king. 
 
 JGlou. If I should be ! I had rather be a pedlar : 
 Far be it from my heart, the thought of it ! 150 
 
ACT I. SCENE III. 19 
 
 Q. Eliz. As little joy, my lord, as you suppose 
 You should enjoy, were you this country's king, 
 As little joy may you suppose in me, 
 That I enjoy, being the queen thereof. 
 
 Q. Mar. A little joy enjoys the queen thereof; 
 For I am she, and altogether joyless. 
 I can no longer hold me patient. [Advancing. 
 
 Hear me, you wrangling pirates, that fall out 
 In sharing that which you have pill'd from me ! 
 Which of you trembles not that looks on me? 160 
 
 If not, that, I being queen, you bow like subjects, - , 
 
 Yet that, by you deposed, you quake like rebels? 
 O Btle-il]ainj do not turn away ! 
 
 Glou. Foul wrinkled witch, what makest thou in my sight ? 
 
 Q. Mar. But repetition of what thou hast marr'd ; 
 That vail I make before I let thee go. 
 
 Glou. Wert thou not banished on pain of death ? 
 <2^-&&w^ I was ; but I do find more pain in banishment 
 Thndeatfc x can yield me here by my abode. 
 A husBaTia and a son thou owest to me ; 170 
 
 And thou a kingdom ; all of you allegiance : 
 The sorrow that I have, by right is yours, 
 And all the pleasures- you^usum are mine. 
 
 The curse my noble father laid on thee, 
 When thou didst fxtzsiQ his warlike brows with paper 
 And with thy scorn, drew'st rivers from his eyes, ', 
 /And then, to dry them, gavest the^duke a clout 
 \Seep ? d in the faultless blood of pretty Rutland, 
 His curses, then from" T>iftfcrn 
 Denounced against thee, are all fall'n upon 
 L And God, not we, hath plagued thy 
 
 Q.Eliz. So just is God, tVright thtTumocent. 
 Hast. O, 'twas the foulest deed to slay that babe, 
 And the most merciless that e'er was heard of! 
 Riv. Tyrants themselves wept when it was reported. 
 Dor. No manbutjDro^ 
 C 2 
 
 i. 
 
20 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Buck. Northumberland, then present, wept to see it. 
 Q. Mar. What ! were you snarling all before I came, 
 Ready to catch each other by the throat, 
 And turn you all your hatred now on me? 190 
 
 Did York's dread^grse prevail so much with heaven 
 That Henry's deatrrpfrty lovely Edward's death^ 
 Their kingdom's loss, my woful banishment, 
 Could all but answer for that peevish brat ? 
 Can curses pierce the clouds and 
 Why, then, giveaway, dull clouds, to my quick curses ! 
 
 ^IJ_Q^t_by_war, by surfeit die your king, 
 As ours by murder, to make him a king ! 
 Edward thy son, which now is Prince of Wales, 
 
 " For Edward my son, which was Prince of Wales, 200 
 Die in his youth by like untimely violence ! 
 Thyself a queen, for me that was a queen, 
 Outlive thy glory, like my wretched self! 
 
 -s Long mayst thou live to wail thy children's loss ; 
 And see another, as I see thee now, 
 Deck'd in thy rights, as thou art stall'd in mine ! 
 Long die thy happy days before thy death ; 
 And, after many lengthen'd hours of grief, 
 Die neither mother, wife, nor England's queen ! 
 Rivers and JJorseJ, you were standers by, 210 
 
 And so wast thou, Lord Hastings, when my son 
 Was stabb'd with bloody daggers : God, I pray him, 
 That none of you may live your natural age, 
 But by some unlook'd accident cut off! 
 
 Glou. Have done thy charm, thou hajefiil wither'd hag ! 
 Q. Mar. And leave out thee ? stay,/dog*, for thou shalt 
 
 hear me. \^J 
 
 If heaven have any grievous plague in store 
 Exceeding those that I can wish upon thee, 
 O, let them keep it till thy sins be ripe, 
 And then hurl down their indignation 220 
 
 On thee, the troubler of the poojLJvnrM's prarp^ 
 The_^gQ^pf conscience still begnaw thy soul I 
 Thy friends suspect for traitors while thou livest, 
 
ACT I. SCENE III. 
 
 230 
 
 And take deep traitors for thy dearest friends ! 
 No sleep close up that deadly eye of thine, 
 Unless it be whilst some tormenting dream 
 Affrights thee with a hell of ugly devils ! p 
 Thou elvish-mark'd, abortive, ronting jiogj 
 TiToiTthat wast seal'd in thy nativity 
 The slave of nature and the son of hell ! 
 Thou slander of thy mother's heavy wombfl 
 Thou loathed issue of thy father's loins I 
 _Thou rag of honour ! thou^detested- 
 ~ar 
 
 Q. Mar. Richard ! 
 
 Glou. Ha ! 
 
 Q. Mar. I call thee not. 
 
 Glou. I cry thee mercy then, for I had thought 
 That t^ou hadst call'd me all these bitter names. 
 
 Q. Mar. Why, so I did ; but look'd for no reply. 
 O, let me make the period to my curse ! - 
 
 Glou. 'Tis done by me, and eikls in ' Margaret.' 
 .^ Q. Eliz. Thus have you breathed your curse against/ 
 ^ yourself. 240* 
 
 j : Q. Mar. .Poor painted queen, vain flourish of my fortune ! 
 
 rWhy strew'st thou sugar on that bottled spider, 
 Whose_deadlv web^ ensnareth thee about? _ 
 P Foolj^ool, thou whet'st a knife to kill thyself. 
 ^ The time will come when thou shalt wish for me 
 ; To help thee curse that poisonous Jin nrh-fra r Vfi toad. 
 Hasf^ F alse-boding womanTend thy frantic curse, 
 Lest to thy harm thou move our patience. 
 
 Q. Mar. Foul shame upon you ! you have all moved mine. 
 Riv. Were you well served, you would be taught your 
 duty. 250 
 
 Q. Mar. To serve me well, you all should do me duty, 
 Teach me to be your queen, and you my subjects : 
 O, serve me well, and teach yourselves that duty i 
 Dor. Dispute not with her ; she is lunatic. 
 
22 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Q. Mar. \ Peace, master marquess, you are malapert : 
 Your fire-new stamp of honour is scarce current. 
 O, that your young nobility could judge 
 What 'twere to lose it, and be miserable ! 
 They that stand high have many blasts to shake them ; 
 And if they fall, they dash themselves to pieces. 260 
 
 Glou. Good counsel, marry: learn it, learn it, marquess. V 
 ^ Dor. It toucheth you, my lord, as much as me. 
 ""T 'Glou. Yea, anTlnucTr"mdl'6i bttt Fwas born so(high,jr 
 / Our aery buildeth in the cedar's 
 
 d allies with the wind and^corns 
 
 Q. Mar.. And turns the.^sun to sh'ade^ alas"Talas 1 
 Witness my son, now in the shade ot aeatfT; 
 Whose bright out-shining beams thy cloudy wrath 
 Hath in eternal darkness folded upT"" 
 Your aery buildeth in our aery's nest. 
 O God, that seest it, do not suffer it ; 
 As it was won with _ tdood t lost be it so! 
 
 Buck. Have done ! for shame, if not for charity. 
 Q. Mar. Urge neither charity nor shame to me : 
 Uncharitably with 'me have you dealt, 
 And shamefully by you my hopes are jjutcher'd. 
 My charity is outrage, life my shame ; 
 \ And in that shame still live my sorrow's rage ! 
 \ Buck. Have done, have done. 
 
 Q. Mar. O princely Buckingham, I '11 kiss thy hand, 
 In sign of league and amity with thee: 281 
 
 Now fair befall thee and thy noble house ! 
 Thy garments are not spotted with our jDloodj 
 Nor thou within the compass of my curse. 
 
 Buck. Nor no one .here ; for curses never pass 
 The lips of those that breathe them in the air. 
 
 Q. Mar. I '11 not believe but they ascend the sky, J 
 And there awake God's gentle-sleepingpeace. 
 O Buckingham, take heed of yonder^dSr! 
 jj Look, when he fawns, he bites ; ancKvhen he bites, 290 
 iHis venom tooth will rankle to the death : 
 
ACT I. SCENE III. 
 
 Have not to do with him, beware of him ; 
 Sin^jieath, and hell have set their marks on him,| 
 
 Ann aTTtVigir 'rat 
 
 Glou. What doth she say, my Lord of Buckingham ? 
 
 Buck. Nothing that I respect, my gracious lord. 
 
 Q. Mar. What, dost thou scorn me for my gentle coun- 
 
 sel? r> 
 
 And soothe the (Jevtt that I warn thee from ? 
 
 O, but remember this another day, 
 
 When he shall split thy very heart with sorrow, 300 
 
 And say poor Margaret was a prophetess ! 
 
 Live each of you the subjects to his hate, 
 
 And he to yours, and all of you to God's ! [Exit. 
 
 Hast. My hair doth stand on end to hear her curses. 
 
 Riv. And so doth mine : I muse why she 's at liberty. 
 
 Glou. I cannot blame her: by God's holy mother^ 
 She hath had too much wrong ; and I repent 
 My part thereof that I have done to her. 
 
 Q. Eliz. I never did her any, to my knowledge. 
 
 Glou. But you have all the vantage of her wrong, 310 
 I was too hot to do somebody good,. 
 That is too cold in thinking of it now. 
 Marry, as for Clarence, he is well repaid ; 
 He is frank'd up to fatting 'for his pains : 
 God pardon them that are the cause of it ! 
 
 Riv. A virtuous and a Christian-like conclusion, 
 To pray for them that have done scathe to us. 
 
 Glou. So do I ever: [Asidelbemg well advised. 
 For had I cursed now, I had cursed myself. 
 
 Enter CATESBY. 
 
 Cates. Madam, his majesty doth call for you ; 320 
 And for your grace ; and you, my noble lords. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Catesby, we come. Lords, will you go with us ? 
 Riv. Madam, we will attend your grace. 
 
 [Exeunt all bitt Gloucester. 
 
24 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Glou. I do the wrong, and first begin to brawl 
 The secret mischiefs that I set abroach 
 I lay unto the grievous charge of others,.-- ^- x I 7 
 Clarence ? whom I, indeed, have laid in^darkness) Ls 
 I do beweep to many simple gulls ; ^~ 
 Namely, to Hastings, Derby, Buckingham ; 
 And say it is the queen and her allies, 330 
 
 That stir the king against the duke my brother. 
 Now, they believe it ; and withal whet me 
 To be revenged on Rivers, Vaughan, Grey: 
 But then I sigh ; and, with a pieeeTof scripture, 
 Tell them that Godjnds u^dog^odfor .evil 
 , thus/l ciotKe""nvy naked villany 
 
 With old* odd ends stolen out of holy 
 And seem a saint,when most Iplay the 
 
 Enter two Murderers. 
 
 But, soft ! here come my executioners. 
 
 How now, my hardy, stout resolved mates ! 340 
 
 Are you now going to dispatch this deed? 
 
 First Murd. We are, my lord; and come to have the 
 
 warrant, 
 That we may be admitted where he is. 
 
 Glou. Well thought upon ; I have it here about me. 
 
 [Gives the warrant. 
 
 When you have done, repair to Crosby Place, 
 But, sirs, be sudden in the execution, 
 Withal obdurate, do not hear him plead ; 
 For Clarence is well-spoken, and perhaps 
 May move your hearts to pity, if you mark him. 
 
 First Murd. Tush ! 350 
 
 Fear not, my lord, we will not stand to prate ; 
 Talkers are no good doers : be assured 
 We come to use our hands and not our tongues. 
 
 Glou. Your eyes drop millstones, when fools' eyes dror 
 
 sssj 
 
 I like you, lads ; about your business straight ; 
 
 / ' ' / 
 
ACT 7. SCENE IV. 25 
 
 Go, go, dispatch. 
 First Murd. We will, my noble lord. [Exeunt 
 
 SCENE IV. London: The Tower. 
 
 Enter CLARENCE and BRAKENBURY. 
 
 Brak. Why looks your grace so heavily to-day? 
 Clar. O, I have pass'd a miserable night, 
 
 So full of ugly sights, of ghastly dreams, 
 
 That, as I am a Christian faithful man, 
 
 I would not spend another jugh j^ night, 
 
 Though 'twere to buy a jvorldo happy_days, 
 
 So full of dismal terror was theTime ! 
 Brak. What was your dream ? I long to hear you tell it. 
 Clar. Methoughts that I had broken from the Tower, ' 
 
 And was embark'd to cross to Burgundy ; 10 
 
 And, in my company, my brother Gloucester; 
 
 Who from my cabin tempted me to walk 
 
 Upon the hatches : thence we iook'd toward England, 
 
 And cited up a thousand fearful times, 
 ' During the wars of York and Lancaster 
 ' JThat had befall'n us. As we paced along 
 pUpon the giddy footing of the hatches, ^^ ^ 
 
 /Methought that Gloucester stumbled ; and, in falling, X^n 
 
 Struck me, that thought to stay him, overboard, *J^ "ft 
 
 Into the tumbling billows of the main. _ - 20 / 
 
 *Lord, Lord! metllOUght, What panTiTwas to drown ! "^\/ 
 
 What dreadful noise of waters in mine ears ! / yC/ 
 
 What ugly sights of death within mine eyes ! ^\J^^ 
 
 Methought I saw a thousand fearful^ wrecks ; 
 
 Ten thousand men that fishes gnaw'd UPQIL^ / 
 
 Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearL y^^o 
 
 Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels, 
 
 All scatter'd in the bottom of the sea : 
 
 Some lay in dead men's skulls ; and, in those holes 
 
 Where eyes did once inhabit, there were crept, 30 
 
26 KINQ RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 As 'twere in scorn of eyes, reflecting gems, 
 Which woo'd the slimy bottom of the deep, 
 And mock'd the dead bones that lay scatter'd by. 
 
 Brak. Had you such leisure in the time of death 
 To gaze upon the secrets of the deep ? 
 
 Clar. Methought I had; and often did I strive 
 To yield the ghost : but still the envious flood 
 Kept in my soul, and would not let it forth 
 To seek the empty, vast and wandering air ; 
 But smothered it within my panting bulk, 40 
 
 Which almost burst to belch it in the sea. 
 
 Brak. Awaked you not with this sore agony? 
 
 Clar. O, no, my dream was lengthened after life ; 
 O, then began the tempest to my soul, 
 Who pass'd, methought, the melancholy flood; ' 
 With that grim ferryman which poets write of, 
 Unto the kingdom of perpetual night. 
 The first that there did greet my stranger soul, 
 Was my great father-in-law, renowned Warwick ; 
 Who cried aloud, 'What scourge for perjury 50 
 
 Can this dark monarchy afford false Clarence ?' 
 And so he vanished : then came wandering by 
 -A shaHfVHfa-UJgeL an_ angel, with bright hair 
 Dabbled in bloodjaiul he squeak'd out aloud, 
 ' Clarence is come ; false, fleeting, perjured Clarence, 
 Jhat stabb'd me in the field by Tewksbury ; 
 Seize on him, Furies, take him to your torments 1' 
 With that, methoughts, a legion of foul fiends 
 Envirori'd me about, and howled in mine ears 
 Such hideous cries, that with the very noise 60 
 
 I trembling waked, and for a season after 
 \Could not believe but that I was in hell, 
 Such terrible impression made the dream. 
 
 Brak. No marvel, my lord, though it affrighted you ; 
 I promise you, I am afraid to hear you tell it. 
 
 Clar. O Brakenbury, I have done those things, 
 Which now bear evidence against my soul, "*s 
 
ACT I. SCENE IV. 37 
 
 For Edward's sake ; and see how he requites me ! 
 
 God ! if my deep prayers cannot appease thee, 
 
 But thou wilt be avenged on my misdeeds, 70 
 
 Yet .execute thy wrath in me alone, 
 
 O, spare my guiltless wife and my poor children ! 
 
 1 pray thee, gentle keeper, stay by me ; 
 My soul is heavy, and I fain would sleep. 
 
 Brak. I will, my lord: God give your grace good rest! 
 
 \Clarence sleeps. 
 
 Sorrow breaks seasons and reposing hours, 
 Makes the night morning, and the noon-tide night. 
 Princes have but their titles for their glories, 
 An outward honour for an inward toil ; 
 And, for unfelt imagination, 80 
 
 They often feel a world of restless cares : 
 So that, betwixt their titles and low names, 
 There's nothing differs but the outward fame. 
 
 Enter the two Murderers. 
 
 First Murd. Ho ! who 's here ? 
 
 Brak. In Go^s name what are you, and how came you 
 hither ? 
 
 First Murd. I would speak with Clarence, and I came 
 hither on my legs. , 
 
 Brak. Yea, are you so brief? 
 
 Sec. Murd. O sir, it is better to be brief than tedious. 
 Shew him our commission ; talk no more. 90 
 
 \Brakenbury reads it. 
 
 Brak. I am, in this, commanded to deliver 
 The noble Duke of Clarence to your hands : 
 I will not reason what is meant hereby, 
 Because I will be guiltless of the meaning. 
 Here are the keys, there sits the duke asleep : 
 I '11 to the king ; and signify to him 
 That thus I have resign'd my charge to you. 
 
 First Murd. Do so, it is a point of wisdom : fare you 
 well. \Exit Brakenbury. 
 
28 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Sec. Murd. What, shall we stab him as he sleeps ? 100 
 
 First Murd. No ; then he will say 'twas done cowardly, 
 when he wakes. 
 
 Sec. Murd. When he wakes ! why, fool, he shall never 
 wake till the judgement-day. 
 
 First Murd. Why, then he will say we stabbed him 
 sleeping. 
 
 Sec. Murd. The urging of that word 'judgement' hath 
 bred a kind of remorse in me. 
 
 First Murd. What, art thou afraid ? 
 
 Sec. Murd. Not to kill him, having a warrant for it ; but 
 to be damned for killing him, from which no warrant can 
 defend us. 112 
 
 First Murd. I thought thou hadst been resolute. 
 
 Sec. Murd. So I am, to let him live. 
 
 First Murd. Back to the Duke of Gloucester, tell him so. 
 
 Sep. Murd. I pray thee, stay a while : I hope my holy 
 , humour will change ; 'twas wont to hold me but while one 
 would tell twenty. 
 
 First Murd. How dost thou feel thyself now ? 
 
 Sec. Murd. 'Faith, some certain dregs of conscience are 
 yet within me. 121 
 
 First Murd. Remember our reward, when the deed is 
 done. 
 
 Sec. Murd. 'Zounds, he dies : I had forgot the reward. 
 
 First Murd. Where is thy conscience now? 
 
 Sec. Murd. In the Duke of Gloucester's purse. 
 
 First Murd. So when he opens his purse to give us 
 our reward, thy conscience flies out. 
 
 Sec. Murd. Let it go ; there 's few or none will entertain it. 
 
 First Murd. How if it come to thee again ? 130 
 
 Sec. Murd. I '11 not meddle with it : it is a dangerous 
 thing : it makes a man a coward : a man cannot steal, but 
 it accuseth him ; he cannot swear, but it checks him ; he 
 cannot lie with his neighbour's wife, but it detects him : 
 
ACT I. SCENE IV. 
 
 'tis a blushing shamefast spirit that mutinies in a man's 
 bosom ; it fills one full of obstacles : it made me once re- 
 store a purse of gold that I found ; it beggars any man 
 that keeps it : it is turned out of all towns and cities for a 
 dangerous thing; and every man that means to live well 
 endeavours to trust to himself and to live without it. 140 
 
 First Murd. 'Zounds, it is even now at my elbow, per- 
 suading me not to kill the duke. 
 
 Sec. Murd. Take the devil in thy mind, and believe him 
 not : he would insinuate with thee but to make thee sigh. 
 
 First Murd. Tut/ 1 am strong-framed, he cannot prevail 
 with me, I warrant thee. 
 
 Sec. Murd. Spoke like a tall fellow that respects his 
 reputation. Come, shall we to this gear ? 
 
 First Murd. Take him over the costard with the hilts 
 of thy sword, and then we will chop him in the malmsey- 
 butt in the next room. 151 
 
 Sec. Murd. O excellent device ! make a sop of him. ? 
 
 First Murd. Hark ! he stirs : shall I strike ? 
 
 Sec. Murd. No, first let's reason with him. 
 
 Clar. Where art thou, keeper ? give me a cup of wine. 
 
 Sec. Murd. You shall have wine enough, my lord, anon. 
 
 Clar. In God's name, what art thou ? 
 
 Sec. Murd. A man, as you are. 
 
 Clan. But not, as I am, royal. 
 
 Sec. Murd. Nor you, as we arejloyaJr"' .^^ 160 
 
 dar.^fhy voice is thumje^jHSut thy lopksare humble. 
 j Sec. Murd. My voice is now the king's, my looks mine 
 own. 
 
 Clari How darkly and how deadly dost thou speak! 
 Your eyes do menace me: why look you pale? 
 Who sent you hither? Wherefore do you come? 
 
 Both. To, to, to 
 
 Clar. To murder me? 
 
 Both. Ay, ay. 
 
30 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Clar. You scarcely have the hearts to tell me so, 
 And therefore cannot have the hearts to do it. 170 
 
 Wherein, my friends, have I offended you ? 
 
 f J\ First Mtird. Offended us you have not, but the king. 
 Clar. I shall be reconciled to him again. 
 Sec. Murd. Never, my lord ; therefore prepare to die. 
 Clar. Are you call'd forth from out a world of men 
 To slay the innocent? What is my offence? 
 Where are the evidence that do accuse me? 
 What lawful quest have given their verdict up 
 Unto the frowning judge ? or who pronounced 
 The bitter sentence of poor Clarence' death ? 180 
 
 Before I be convict by course of law, 
 To threaten me with death is most unlawful. 
 I charge you, as you hope to have redemption 
 By Christ's dear blood shed for our grievous sins, 
 
 That you depart and lay no nands on me J ' * 
 
 The deed YQ1L undertake is damnable. 
 First Murd. What we will do, we do upon command. 
 Sec. Murd. And he that hath commanded is the king. 
 / Clar. Erroneous vassal ! the great King of kings 
 / Hath in the tables of his law commanded 190 
 
 / That thou shalt do no murder : and wilt thou then 
 / Spurn at his edict and fulfil a man's? 
 
 Take heed ; for he holds vengeance in his hands, 
 V To hurl upon their heads that break his law. 
 
 Sec. Murd. And that same vengeance doth he hurl on 
 
 thee, 
 
 For false forswearing and for murder too : 
 Thou didst receive the holy sacrament, 
 To fight in quarrel of the house of Lancaster. 
 
 First Murd. And, like a traitor to the name of God, 
 Didst break that vow ; and with thy treacherous 'blade 
 Unrip'dst the bowels of thy sovereign's son. 201 
 
 Sec. Murd. Whom thou wert sworn to cherish and 
 defend. 
 
ACT I. SCENE IV. 31 
 
 First Murd. How canst thou urge God's dreadful law 
 
 to us, 
 When thou hast broke it in so dear degree ? 
 
 Clar. Alas ! for whose sake did I that ill deed ? 
 For Edward, for my brother, for his sake: 
 Why, sirs, 
 
 He sends ye not to murder me for this ; 
 For in this sin he is as deep as I. 
 
 If God will be revenged for this deed, 210 
 
 O, know you yet, he doth it publicly : 
 Take not the quarrel from his powerful arm ; 
 He needs no indirect nor lawless course 
 To cut off those that have offended him. 
 
 First Murd. Who made thee then a bloody minister, 
 When gallant-springing brave Plantagenet, 
 That princely novice, was struck dead by thee? 
 
 Clar. My brother's love, the devil, and my rage. 
 
 First Murd. Thy brother's love, our duty, and thy fault, 
 Provoke us hither now to slaughter thee. 220 
 
 Clar. Oh, if you love my brother, hate not me ; 
 I am his brother, and I love him well. 
 If you be hired for meed, go back again, 
 And I will send you to my brother Gloucester, 
 Who shall reward you better for my life 
 Than Edward will for tidings of my death. 
 
 Sec. Murd. You are deceived, your brother Gloucester 
 
 hates you. 
 
 Clar. O, no, he loves me, and he holds me dear : 
 Go you to him from me. 
 Both. Ay, so we will. 
 
 Clar. Tell him, when that our princely father York 
 ' Bless'd his three sons with his victorious arm, 231 
 
 And charged us from his soul to love each other, 
 He little thought of this divided friendship: 
 Bid Gloucester think of this, and he will weep^ 
 
 First Murd. Ay, millstones; as he lesson'd us to weep. 
 
33 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Clar. O, do not slander him, for he is kind. 
 
 First Murd. Right, 
 
 As snow in harvest. Thou deceivest thyself: 
 'Tis he that sent us hither now to slaughter thee. 
 
 Clar. It cannot be ; for when I parted with him, 240 
 He hugg'd me in his arms, and swore, with sobs, 
 That he would labour my delivery. 
 
 Sec. Murd. Why, so he doth, now he delivers thee 
 From this world's thraldom to the joys of heaven. 
 
 First Murd. Make peace with God, for you must die, 
 my lord. 
 
 Clar. Hast thou that holy feeling in thy soul, 
 To counsel me to make my peace with God, 
 And art thou yet to thy own soul so blind, 
 That thou wilt war with God by murdering me? 
 Ah, sirs, consider, he that set you on 250 
 
 To do this deed will hate you for the deed. 
 
 Sec. 'Murd. What shall we do ? 
 
 Clar. Relent, and save your souls. 
 
 First Murd. Relent ! 'tis cowardly and womanish. 
 
 'Clar. Not to relent is beastly, savage, devilish. 
 Which of you, if you were a prince's son, 
 Being pent from liberty, as I am now, 
 If two such murderers as yourselves came to you, 
 Would not entreat for life? 
 My friend, I spy some pity in thy looks ; 
 O, if thine eye be not a flatterer, 260 
 
 Come thou on my side, and entreat for me, 
 As you would beg, were you in my distress : 
 A begging prince what beggar pities not ? 
 
 Sec. Murd. Look behind you, my lord. 
 
 First Murd. Take that, and that : if all this will not 
 do, [Stabs him. 
 
 I'll drown you in the malmsey-butt within 
 
 \Exit) 'with the body. 
 
 Sec. Murd. A bloody deed, and desperately dispatch'd ! 
 
//. s-CJEAra /. 
 
 I wash^ my hands \A/> 
 
 Of this most grjevgus^gutllv muffler done ! 
 Re-enter First Murderer. 
 
 First Murd. How now ! what mean'st thou, that thoJ 
 help'st me not? 270 
 
 By heavens, the duke shall know how slack thou art; ! 
 
 Sec. Murd. I would he knew that I had saved his brother! 
 Take thou the fee, and tell him what I say ; 
 For I repent me that the duke is slain. [Exit. 
 
 First Murd. So do not I : go, coward as thou art. 
 Now must I hide his body in some hole, 
 Until the duke take order for his burial : 
 And when I have my meed, I must away ; 
 For this will out, and here I must not stay. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 SCENE I. London. The palace. 
 
 Flourisli. Enter KING EDWARD sick, QUEEN ELIZABETH, 
 DORSET, RIVERS, HASTINGS, BUCKINGHAM, GREY, and 
 others. 
 
 K. Edw. Why, so : now have I done a good day's work : 
 You peers, continue this united league : 
 I every day expect an embassage 
 From my Redeemer to redeem me hence ; 
 And now in peace my soul shall part to heaven, 
 Since I have se my friends at peace on earth. 
 Rivers and Hastings, take each other's hand ; 
 Dissemble not your hatred, swear your love. 
 
 Riv. By heaven, my soul is purged from grudging hate ; 
 And with my hand I seal my true heart's love. 10 
 
 Hast. So thrive I, as I truly swear the like ! 
 
 K. Edw. Take heed you dally not before your king ; > 
 Lest he that is the supreme Kingj>i 
 
 
34 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Confound ynnr fydden falsehood, and award 
 Either of you to be the other's end. 
 
 Hast. So prosper I, as I swear perfect love ! 
 
 &iv. And I, as I love Hastings with my heart ! 
 
 K. Edw. Madam, yourself are not exempt in this, 
 Nor your son Dorset, Buckingham, nor you ; 
 You have been factious one against the other. 20 
 
 Wife, love Lord Hastings, let him kiss your hand ; 
 
 And what you do, do it unfeignedly. j 
 
 ~ .-z xT"""""* 
 Q. Eliz. Here, Hastings^lwill never more remember 
 
 Our former hatred, so thrive I and mine ! 
 K. Edw. Dorset, embrace him ; Hastings, love lord 
 
 marquess. 
 
 Dor. This interchange of love, I here protest, 
 Upon my part shall be unviolable. 
 
 Hast. And so swear I, my lord. [ They embrace. 
 
 K. Edw. Now, princely Buckingham, seal thou this league 
 
 With thy embracements to my wife's allies, 30 
 
 And make me happy in your unity. 
 
 Buck. [To the Queen\ Whenever Buckingham doth turn 
 
 his hate 
 
 On you or yours, but with all duteous love 
 Doth cherish you and yours, God punish me 
 With hate in those where I expect most love ! 
 When I have most need to employ a friend, 
 I And most assured that he is a friend, 
 I Deep, hollow, treacherous, and full of guile, 
 M Be he unto me ! this do I beg of God, 
 / When I am cold in zeal to you or yours. [They embrace. 
 K. Ediv. A pleasing cordial, princely Buckingham, 41 
 Is this thy vow unto my sickly heart. 
 There wanteth now our brother Gloucester here, 
 To make the perfect period of this peace. 
 Buck. And, in good time, here comes the noble duke. 
 
 Enter GLOUCESTER. 
 Clou. Good morrow to my sovereign king and queen ; 
 
ACT II. SCENE I. 35 
 
 And, princely peers, a happy time of day ! 
 
 K. Edw. Happy, indeed, as we have spent the 4ay. 
 Brother, we have done deeds of charity ; 
 Made peace of enmity, fair love of hate, 50 
 
 Between these swelling wrong-incensed peers. 
 
 Glau. A blessed labour, my most sovereign liege: 
 Amongst this princely heap, if any here, 
 By false intelligence, or wrong surmise, 
 Hoid me a foe ; 
 If II unwittingly, or in my rage, 
 Have aught committed that is hardly borne 
 By any in this presence, I desire 
 To reconcile me to his friendly peace : 
 'Tis death to me to be at enmity; 60 
 
 I hate it, and desire all good men's love. 
 First, madam, I entreat true peace of you, 
 Which I will purchase with my duteous service ; 
 Of you, my noble cousin Buckingham, 
 If ever any grudge were lodged between us ; 
 Of you, Lord Rivers, and, Lord Grey, of you ; 
 That all without desert have frown'd on me ; 
 Dukes, earls, lords, gentlemen ; indeed, of all . 
 I .do not know that Englishman alive I/ 
 
 With whom my soul is any jot at odds 70 
 
 More than the infant that is born to-night : / 
 I thank my God for my humility. 
 
 Q. Eliz. A holy day shall this be kept hereafter : 
 I would to God all strifes were well compounded. 
 My sovereign liege, I do beseech your majesty 
 To take our brother Clarence to your grace. 
 
 Clou. Why, madam, have I offer'd love for this, 
 To be so flouted in this royal presence? ^ 
 
 Who knows not that the noble duke is dead? 
 
 \They all start. 
 You do him injury to scorn his corse. 8p 
 
 Riv. Who knows not he is dead ! who knows he is ? 
 Q. Eliz. All-seeing heaven, what a world is this ! 
 
 D 2 
 
36 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Buck. Look I so pale, Lord Dorset, as the rest? 
 
 Dor. Ay, my good lord ; and no one in -this presence 
 But his red colour hath forsook his cheeks. 
 
 K. Edw. Is Clarence dead? the order was reversed. 
 
 Glou. But he, poor soul, by your first order died, 
 And that a winged Mercury did bear ; 
 Some tardy cripple bore the countermand, 
 That came too lag to see him buried. 90 
 
 I God grant that some, less noble and less loyal, 
 'J Nearer in bloody thoughts, but not in blood, 
 Deserve not worse than wretched Clarence did, 
 And yet go current from suspicion ! 
 
 Enter DERBY. 
 
 Der. A boon, my sovereign, for my service done ! 
 
 K. Edw. I pray thee, peace : my soul is full of sorrow. 
 
 Der. I will not rise, unless your highness grant. 
 
 K. Edw. Then speak at once what is it thou demand'st. 
 \ Der. The forfeit, sovereign, of my servant's life ; 
 9\Who slew to-day a riotous gentleman 100 
 
 j. Lately attendant on the Duke of Norfolk. 
 
 K. Edw. Have I a tongue to doom my brother's death, 
 And shall that tongue give pardon to a slave? 
 My brother slew no man ; his fault was thought, 
 And yet his punishment was cruel fleath. 
 Who sued to me for him? who, in my rage, 
 Kneel'd at my feet, and bade me be advised? 
 Who spake of brotherhood ? who spake of love ? 
 Who told me how the poor soul did forsake 
 The mighty Warwick, and did fight for me? no 
 
 Who told me, in the field by Tewksbury, 
 When Oxford had me down, he rescued me, 
 And said, 'Dear brother, live, and be a king'? 
 Who told me, when we both lay in the field 
 Frozen almost to death, how he did lap me 
 Even in his own garments, and gave himself, 
 All thin and naked, to the numb cold night? 
 
ACT 77. SCENE 77. 37 
 
 All this from my remembrance brutish wrath 
 Sinfully pluck'd, and not a man of you 
 Had so much grace to put it in my mind. 
 But when your carters or your waiting-vassals 
 Have done a drunken slaughter, and defaced 
 The precious image of our dear Redeemer, 
 You straight are on your knees for pardon, pardon \ 
 And I, unjustly too, must grant it you : 
 
 
 But for my brother not a man would speak, \s**y 
 Nor I, ungracious, speak unto myself 
 For him, poor soul. The proudest of you all 
 Have been beholding to him in his life ; 
 Yet none of you would once plead for his life. 
 O God, I fear thy justice will take hold 
 On me, and you, and mine, and yours for this ! 
 Come, Hastings, help me to my closet. Oh, poor Clarence ! 
 [Exeunt some with King and Queen. 
 
 Glou. This is_the fruit of rashness.^ Mark'd you not 
 How that theTguilty kindred of the queen 
 Look'd pale when they did hear of Clarence 1 death ? 
 O, they did urge it still unto the king ! 
 God will revenge it. But come, let us in, 
 To comfort Edward with our company. 139 
 
 Buck. We wait upon your grace. [Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE II. The palace. 
 
 Enter the DUCHESS OF YORK, with the two children 
 of CLARENCE. 
 
 Boy. Tell me, good grandam, is our father dead? 
 
 Duck. No, boy. 
 
 Boy. Why do you wring your hands, and beat your breast, 
 And cry 'O Clarence, my unhappy son'? 
 
 Girl. Why do you look on us, and shake your head, 
 And call us wretches, orphans, castaways, 
 If that our noble father be alive? 
 
I 
 
 ./ 
 
 38 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Duck. My pretty cousins, you mistake me much ; 
 I do lament the sickness of the king, 
 As loath to lose him, not your father's death ; 10 
 
 It were lost sorrow to wail one that 'sTost: 
 
 Boy. Then, grandam, you conclude that he is dead. 
 The king my uncle is to blame for this : fl 
 God will revenge it ; whom I will importun 
 With daily prayers all 16 thai 
 
 Girl. And so will 1] 
 
 Duch. Peace, children, peace ! the king doth love you 
 
 well: 
 
 Incapable and shallow innocents, 
 You cannot guess who caused your father's death. 
 
 Boy. Grandam, we can ; for my good uncle Gloucester 
 Told me, the king, provoked by the queen, 21 
 
 Devised impeachments to imprison him : 
 And when my uncle told me so, he wept, 
 And hugg'd me in his arm, and kindly kiss'd my cheek ; 
 Bade me rely on him as on my father, 
 And he would love me dearly as his child. 
 
 Duch. Oh, that deceit should steal such gentle shapes, 
 And with a virtuous vizard hide foul guile ! 
 He is my son ; yea, and therein my shame ; 
 Yet from my dugs he drew not this deceit. 30 
 
 Son. Think you my uncle did dissemble, grandam? 
 
 Duch. Ay, boy. 
 
 Son. I cannot think it., Hark ! what noise is this ? 
 
 .; ~" . .- , ' - 
 
 Enter QUEEN ELIZABETH, with her hair about her ears; 
 RIVERS and DORSET after her. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Oh, who shall hinder me to wail and weep, 
 To chide my fortune, and torment myself? 
 1 11 join with black despair against my soul, 
 And to myself become an enemy. 
 
 Duch. What means this scene of rude impatience ? 
 Q. Eliz. To make an act of tragic violence : 
 
ACT II. SCENE 77. 39 
 
 Edward, my lord, your son, our king, is dead. 
 Why grow the branches now the root is wither'd ? ^ 
 Why wither not the leaves the sap being gone ? 
 | If you will live, lament ; if die, be brief, 
 /That our swift-winged souls may catch the king^j 
 Or, like obedient subjects, follow him 
 To his new kingdom of perpetual rest. 
 
 Duch. Ah, so much interest have I in thy sorrow 
 As I had title in thy noble husband ! 
 I have bewept a worthy husband's death, 
 And lived by looking on his images : 
 But now -two-irdrjx)rejpfja^ 
 Are crack'd in jneces by malignant *"" 
 
 And I for comfort Save -but~-onq 
 Which grieves me when I see 
 Thou art a widow ; yet thou art a mother, 
 And hast the comfort of thy children left thee : 
 But death hath snatch'd my husband from mine arms, 
 And pluck'd two crutches from my feeble -limbs, 
 Edward and Clarence. O, what cause have I, 
 Thine being but a moiety of my grief, 60 
 
 To overgo thy plaints and drown thy cries ! 
 
 Boy. Good aunt, you wept not for our father's death ; 
 How can we aid you with our kindred tears? 
 
 Girl. Our fatherless distress was left unmoan'd ; 
 Your widow-dolour likewise be unwept ! 
 
 Q Eliz. Give me no help in lamentation ; 
 I am not barren to bring forth complaints : 
 All springs reduce their "Currents to mine eyes, 
 That I, being governed by the watery moon, 
 May send forth plenteous tears to drown the world if 
 Oh for my husband, for my dear lord Edward ! 
 
 Chil. Oh "for our father, for our dear lord Clarence ! 
 
 Duck. Alas for both, both mine, Edward and Clarence ! 
 
 Q. Eliz. What stay had I but Edward ? and he 's gone. 
 
 ChiL What stay had we but Clarence? and he's gone. 
 
 Duch. What stays had I but they ? and they are gone. 
 
40 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Was never widow had so dear a loss. 
 
 Ckil. Were never orphans had so dear a loss. 
 
 Duck. Was never mother had so dear a loss. 
 Alas, I am the mother of these moans ! So 
 
 Their woes are parcell'd, mine are general. 
 She for an Edward weeps, and so do I ; 
 I for a Clarence weep, so doth not she : 
 These babes for Clarence weep, and so do I ; 
 I for an Edward weep, so do not they : 
 Alas, you three, on me, threefold distress'd, 
 Pour all your tears ! I am your sorrow's nurse, 
 And I will pamper it with lamentations. 
 
 Dor. Comfort, dear mother : God is much displeased 
 That you take with unthankfulness his doing : 90 
 
 In common worldly things, 'tis call'd ungrateful, 
 With dull unwillingness to repay a debt 
 Which with a bounteous hand was kindly lent ; 
 Much more to be thus opposite with heaven, 
 For it requires the royal debt it lent you. 
 
 Riv. Madam, bethink you, like a careful mother, 
 Of the young prince your son : send straight for him ; 
 Let him be crown'd ; in him .your comfort lives : 
 
 /Drown desperate sorrow in dead Edward's grave, 
 And plant your joys in living Edward's throne. 100 
 
 Enter GLOUCESTER, BUCKINGHAM, DERBY, HASTINGS, 
 and RATCLIFF. 
 
 Glou. Madam, have comfort : all of us have cause^ /^x 
 To wail the dimming of our shining star ; g C \Jur~i 
 But none can cure their harms by wailing them. 
 Madam, my mother, I do cry you mercy ; 
 I did not see your grace : humbly on my knee 
 I crave your blessing. 
 
 Duch. God bless thee, and put meekness in thy mind, 
 Love, charity, obedience, and true duty ! 
 
 Glou. [Aside] Amen ; and make me die a good old 
 man ! 
 
 - 
 
 Of 
 
ACT II. SCENE II. 41 
 
 "That is the butt-end of a mother's blessing: "/ no 
 
 I marvel why her grace did leave it out. 
 
 Buck. You cloudy princes and heart-sorrowing peers, 
 That bear this mutual heavy load of moan, 
 Now cheer each other in each other's love : 
 Though we have spent our harvest of this king, 
 We are to reap thejiarvest of his son. a "' " 
 
 The broken rancouroF~youT high-swolh hearts, jl 
 But lately splinter'd, knit, and join'd together, ' 
 Must gently be preserved, cherish'd, and kept : / ^$A/jr ( 
 Me seemeth good, that, with some little train, 120 
 
 Forthwith from Ludlow the young prince be fetch'd L4*. 
 Hither to London, to be crown'd our king. 
 
 Riv. Why with some little train, my Lord of Bucking- 
 ham? 
 
 Buck. Marry, my lord, lest, by a multitude, 
 The new-heal'd wound of malice should break out ; I 
 Which would be so much the more dangerous, 
 By how much the estate is green and yet .ungovern'd : 
 Where every horse bears his commanding rein, 
 And may direct his course as please himself, 
 As well the fear of harm, as harm apparent, 130 
 
 In my opinion, ought to be prevented. 
 
 Glou. I hope the king made peace with all of us ; 
 And .the compact is firm and true in me. 
 
 Riv. And so in me; and so, I think, in all: 
 Yet, since it is but green, it should be put 
 To no apparent likelihood of breach, 
 Which haply by much company might be urged : 
 Therefore I say with noble Buckingham, 
 That it is meet so few should fetch the prince. 
 
 Hast. And so say I. 140 
 
 Glou. Then be it so ; and go we to determine 
 Who they shall be that straight shall post to Ludlo\v. 
 Madam, and you, my mother, will you go 
 To give your censures in this weighty business ? 
 
42 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 DuT*' \ Wkh a " Ur heartS - 
 
 [Exeunt all but Buckingham and Gloucester. 
 
 Buck. My Lord, whoever journeys to the prince, 
 For God's sake, let not us two be behind ; 
 For, by the way, I '11 sort occasion, 
 As index to the story we late talk'd of, 
 'o part the queen's proud kindred from therkmg^ 150 
 
 'lou. My other self, my counsel's consistory, 
 My oracle, my "proplieft My dear cousin, 
 I, like a child, will go by thy direction. 
 Towards Ludlow then, for we'll not stay behind. [Exeunt. 
 
 To , 
 
 Gi 
 
 SCENE III. London. A street. 
 Enter two Citizens, meeting. 
 
 First Cit. Neighbour, well met : whither away so fast ? 
 
 Sec. Cit. I promise you, I scarcely know myself: 
 Hear you the news abroad? 
 
 First Cit. Ay, that the king is dead. 
 
 Sec. Cit. Bad news, by 'r lady ; seldom comes the better ; 
 I fear, I fear 'twill prove a troublous world. 
 
 Enter another Citizen. 
 Third Cit. Neighbours, God speed ! 
 First Cit. Give you good morrow, sir. 
 
 Third Cit. Doth this news hold of good King Edward's 
 
 death ? 
 
 Sec. Cit. Ay, sir, it is too true ; God help the while ! 
 Third Cit. Then, masters, look to see a troublous wjwtor 
 First Cit. No, no ; by God's good grace' TusTson shall 
 
 reign. 10 
 
 Third Cit. Woe to that land that 's govern'd by a child ! 
 Sec. Cit. In him there is a hope of government, 
 That in his nonage council under 
 
ACT II. SCENE III. 43 
 
 And in his full and ripen'd years himself, 
 
 No doubt, shall then and till then govern well. 
 
 'First Cit. So stood the state when Henry the Sixth 
 Was crown'd in Paris but at nine months old. 
 
 Third Cit. Stood the state so ? No, no, good friends, 
 
 God wot ; 
 
 For then this land was famously enrich'd 
 With politic grave counsel ; then the king 20 
 
 Had virtuous uncles to protect his grace. 
 
 First Cit. Why, so hath this, both by the father and 
 mother. 
 
 Third Cit. Better it were they all came by the father, 
 Or by the father there were none at all ; 
 For emulation now, who shall be nearest, 
 Will touch us all too near, if God prevent not. 
 O, full of danger is the Duke of Gloucester ! 
 And the queen's sons and brothers haught and proud : / 'Q, 
 And were they to be ruled, and not to rule, 
 This^sicklyjand might solace as before. <Q/^ '30 
 
 First Cit. Come, come, we fear the worst ; all shall 
 be well. rfh-~~ <sf?jP 
 
 Third Cit. Wheij clouds appear, wise men^put cin their 
 
 cloaks ; 
 
 When great leaves fall, the winter is at hand ; 
 When the sun sets, who doth not look for night ? <r - 
 Untimely storms make men expect a dearth. 
 All may be well ; but, if God sort it so, 
 'Tis more than we deserve, or I expect. 
 
 Sec. Cit. Truly, the souls of men are full of dread : 
 Ye cannot reason almost with a man 
 That looks not heavily and full of fear. 40 
 
 Third Cit. Before the times of change, still is it so ; 
 By a divine instinct men's minds mistrust 
 Ensuing dangers ; as, by proof, we see 
 The waters swell before a boisterous storm. 
 But leave it all to God. Whither away? / 
 y Sec. Cit. Marry, we were sent for to the justices. 
 
 Q 
 
 % 
 
44 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Third Cit. And so was I : I '11 bear you company. 
 
 \Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE IV. London. The palace. 
 
 Enter the ARCHBISHOP OF YORK, the young DUKE OF 
 YORK, QUEEN ELIZABETH, and the DUCHESS OF YORK. 
 
 Arch. Last night, I hear, they lay at Northampton ; 
 At Stony-Stratford will they be to-night : 
 To-morrow, or next day, they will be here. 
 
 Duch. I long with all my heart to see the prince : 
 I hope he is much grown since last I saw him. 
 
 Q. Eliz. But I hear, no ; they say my son of York 
 Hath almost overta'en him in his growth. 
 
 York. Ay, mother ; but I would not have it so. 
 Diich. Why, my young cousin, it is good to grow. 
 York. Grandam, one night, as we did sit at supper, 
 - ,My uncle Rivers talk'd how I did grow 11 
 
 ^ore than my brother : 'Ay,' quoth my uncle Gloucester, 
 f Small herbs have grace, great weeds do grow apace: 5 
 l\nd since, methinks, I would not grow so fast, 
 Jfeecause sweet flowers are slow and weeds make haste. 
 1 Duch. Good faith, good faith, the saying did not hold 
 In him that did object the same to thee : 
 He was the wretched'st thing when he was young, 
 So long a-growing and so leisurely, 
 
 That, if this rule were true, he should be gracious. 20 
 Arch. Why, madam, so, no doubt, he is. 
 Duch. I hope he is ; but yet let mothers doubt. 
 York. Now, by my troth, if I had been remember'd, 
 I could have given my uncle's grace a flout, 
 To touch his growth nearer than he touch'd mine. 
 
 Duch. How, my pretty York? I pray thee, let me 
 
 hear it. 
 
 York. Marry, they say my uncle grew so fast 
 / That he could gnaw a crust at two hours old : 
 
ACT II. SCENE IV. 
 
 Jb* 
 
 J Twas full two years ere I could get a tooth. \i/^ 
 Grandam, this would have been a biting jest, r 30 
 
 Duch. I pray thee, pretty York, who told thee this ? 
 
 York. Grandam, -his nurse. 
 
 Duch. His nurse ! why, she was dead ere thou wert 
 born. 
 
 York. If 'twere not she, I cannot tell who told me. 
 
 Q. Eliz. A parlous boy : go to, you are too shrewd. 
 
 Arch. Good madam, be not angry with the child. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Pitchers have ears. 
 
 Enter a Messenger. 
 
 Arch. Here comes a messenger. What news ? 
 
 Mess. Such news, my lord, as grieves me to unfold. 
 
 Q. Eliz. How fares the prince ? 
 
 Mess. Well, madam, and in health, 
 
 Duch. What is thy news then ? 41 
 
 Mess. Lord Rivers and Lord Grey are sent to Pomfret, 
 With them Sir Thomas Vaughan, prisoners. 
 
 Duch. Who hath committed them ? 
 
 Mess. The mighty dukes 
 
 Gloucester and Buckingham. 
 
 Q. Eliz. For what offence ? 
 
 Mess. The sum of all I can, I have disclosed ; 
 Why or for what these nobles were committed 
 Is all unknown to me, my gracious lady. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Ay me, I see the downfall of our house ! 
 The tige^jiowja^th seized the gentle hind ; C/y^- 50 
 Insulting tyranny begins 10 je? **** \ 
 
 Upon the innocent and aweless throne : / 
 
 Welcome, destruction, death, and massacre ! / 3^/hxj ^^) ' 
 I see, as in a map, the end of all. 
 
 Duch. Accursed and unquiet wrangling days, 
 How man5T~oi^you have mine tyus-beluM !""" 
 My husband lost his life to get the crown ; 
 And often up and down my sons were toss'd, 
 
46 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 For me to joy and weep their gain and loss : 
 
 And being seated, and domestic broils 60 
 
 Clean over-blown, themselves, the conquerors, 
 
 Make war upon themselves ; blood against blood, 
 
 Self against self: O, preposterous 
 
 And frantic outrage, end thy damned spleen ; 
 
 Or let me die, to look on death no more ! 
 
 Q. Eliz. Come, come, my boy ; we will to sanctuary. 
 Madam, farewell. 
 
 Duch. I '11 go along with you. 
 
 Q. Eliz. You have no cause. 
 
 Arch. My gracious lady, go ; 
 
 And thither bear your treasure and your goods. 
 For my part, I J ll resign unto your grace 70 
 
 The seal I keep : and so betide to me 
 As well I tender you and all of yours ! 
 Come, I'll conduct you to the sanctuary. [Exeunt. 
 
 ACT III. 
 SCENE I. London. A street. 
 
 The trumpets sound. Enter the young PRINCE, the Dukes 
 of GLOUCESTER and BUCKINGHAM, CARDINAL BOUR- 
 CHIER, CATESBY, and others. 
 
 Buck. Welcome, sweet prince, to London, to your 
 
 chamber. 
 
 1 Glou. Welcome, dear cousin, my thoughts' sovereign : 
 The weary way hath made you melancholy. 
 
 Prince. No, uncle ; but our crosses on the way 
 Have made it tedious, wearisome, and heavy : 
 - (1 want more uncles here to welcome me. 
 
 Glou. Sweet prince, the .untainted virtue of your years 
 Hath not yet dived into the world's deceit : 
 
ACT III. SCENE I. 47 
 
 Nor more can you distinguish of a man 
 
 Than of his outward show ; which, God he knows, 10 
 
 Seldom or never jumpeth with the heart. 
 
 Those uncles which you want were dangerous ; 
 
 Your grace attended to their sugar'd words, 
 
 But look'd not on the poison~oTtKeir hearts : 
 
 God keep you from them, and from such false friends!! 
 
 Prince. God keep me from false friends ! but they 
 were none. 
 
 Clou. My lord, the mayor of London comes to greet you. 
 
 Enter the Lord Mayor, and his train. 
 
 May. God bless your grace with health and happy days ! 
 
 Prince. I thank you, good my lord ; and thank you all. 
 I thought my mother, and my brother York, 20 
 
 Would long ere this have met us on the way : 
 Fie, what a slug is Hastings, that* he comes not 
 To tell us whether they will come or no ! 
 
 Enter LORD HASTINGS. 
 
 Buck. And, in good time, here comes the sweating 
 lord. 
 
 Prince. Welcome, my lord : what, will our mother 
 come? 
 
 Hast. On what occasion, God he knows, not I, 
 The queen your mother, and your brother York, 
 Have taken sanctuary : the tender ^Wce 
 Would fain have come with me to meet your grace, 
 But by his mother was perforce withheld. 30 
 
 Buck. Fie, what an indirect and peevish course 
 Is this of hers ! Lord cardinal, will your grace 
 Persuade the queen to send the Duke of York 
 Unto his princely brother presently? 
 If she deny, Lord Hastings, go with him, 
 And from her jealous arms pluck him perforce. 
 
 Card. My Lord of Buckingham, if my weak oratory 
 Can from his mother win the Duke of York, 
 
48 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Anon expect him here ; but if she be obdurate 
 
 To mild entreaties, God in heaven forbid 40 
 
 We should infringe the holy privilege 
 
 Of blessed sanctuary ! not for all this land 
 
 Would I be guilty of so deep a sin. 
 
 Buck. You are too senseless-obstinate, my lord, 
 Too ceremonious and traditional : 
 Weigh it but with the g-rQssne.ss of fois ap^e, 
 You break not sanctuary in seizing him. 
 The benefit thereof is always granted 
 To those whose dealings have deserved the place, 
 And those who have the wit to claim the place : 50 
 
 This prince hath neither claim'd it nor deserved it ; 
 And therefore, in mine opinion, cannot have it : 
 Then, taking him from thence that is not there, 
 You break no privilege nor charter there. 
 Oft have I heard of sanctuary men ; 
 But sanctuary children ne'er till now. 
 
 Card. My lord, you shall o'er-rule my mind for once. 
 Come on, Lord Hastings, will you go with me ? 
 
 Hast. I go, my lord. 
 
 Prince. Good lords, make all the speedy haste you 
 may. \Exeunt Cardinal and Hastings. 
 
 Say, uncle Gloucester, if our brother come, 61 
 
 Where shall we sojourn till our coronation? 
 
 Glou. Where it seems best unto your royal self. 
 If I may counsel you, some day or two 
 Your highness shall repose you at the Tower : 
 Then where you please, and shall be thought most fit 
 For your best health and recreation. 
 
 Prince. I do not like the Tower, of any place. 
 Did Julius Caesar build that place, my lord? 
 
 Buck. He did, my gracious lord, begin that place ; 70 
 Which, since, succeeding ages have re-edified. 
 
 Prince. Is it upon record, or else reported 
 Successively from age to age, he built it ? 
 
 Buck. Upon record, my gracious lord. 
 
ACT III. SCENE I. 
 
 49 
 
 Prince. But say, my lord, it were not registered, 
 Methinks the truth should live from age to age, 
 As 'twere retaiPd to all posterity, 
 Even to the general all-ending day. 
 
 Glou. \Aside\ So wise so young, they say, do never 
 live long. 
 
 Prince. What say you, uncle? 
 
 Glou. I say, without characters, fame lives 
 \Aside\ Thus, like the formal vice, Iniquity, 
 I moralize two meanings in one word. 
 
 Prince. That Julius Caesar was a famous man ; 
 With what his valour did enrich his wit, 
 His wit set down to make his valour live : 
 Death makes no conquest of this conqueror ; 
 For now he lives in fame, though not in life. 
 I'll tell you what, my cousin Buckingham, 
 
 Buck. What, my gracious lord? 
 
 Prince. An if I live until I be a man, 
 I '11 win our ancient right in France again, 
 Or die a soldier, as I lived a king. 
 
 Glou. \Aside~\ Short summers lightly have a forw; 
 spring. 
 
 Enter young YORK, If ASTINGS, and the CARDINAL. 
 
 Buck. Nowj in good time,, here comes the Duke of York. 
 
 Prince. Richard of York ! how fares our loving brother ? 
 
 York. Well, my dread lord ; so must I call you now. 
 
 Prince. Ay, brother, to our grief, as it is yours : 
 Too late he died that might have kept that title, 
 Which by his death hath lost much majesty. 100 
 
 Glou. How fares our cousin, noble Lord of York ? 
 
 York. I thank you, gentle uncle. O, my lord, 
 You said that idle weeds are fast in growth : f 
 The prince my brother hath outgrown me far. 
 
 Glou. He hath, my lord. 
 
 York. And therefore is he idle ? 
 
 E 
 
48 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Anon expect him here ; but if she be obdurate 
 
 To mild entreaties, God in heaven forbid 40 
 
 We should infringe the holy privilege 
 
 Of blessed sanctuary ! not for all this land 
 
 Would I be guilty of so deep a sin. 
 
 Buck. You are too senseless-obstinate, my lord, 
 Too ceremonious and traditional : 
 Weigh it but with the gyossn^ss of_t;fris ap^e. 
 You break not sanctuary in seizing him. 
 The benefit thereof is always granted 
 To those whose dealings have deserved the place, 
 And those who have the wit to claim the place : 50 
 
 This prince hath neither claim'd it nor deserved it ; 
 And therefore, in mine opinion, cannot have it : 
 Then, taking him from thence that is not there, 
 You break no privilege nor charter there. 
 Oft have I heard of sanctuary men ; 
 But sanctuary children ne'er till now. 
 
 Card. My lord, you shall o'er-rule my mind for once. 
 Come on, Lord Hastings, will you go with me ? 
 
 Hast. I go, my lord. 
 
 Prince. Good lords, make all the speedy haste you 
 may. \Exeunt Cardinal and Hastings. 
 
 Say, uncle Gloucester, if our brother come, 61 
 
 Where shall we sojourn till our coronation? 
 
 Glou. Where it seems best unto your royal self. 
 If I may counsel you, some day or two 
 Your highness shall repose you at the Tower : 
 Then where you please, and shall be thought most fit 
 For your best health and recreation. 
 
 Prince.. I do not like the Tower, of any place. 
 Did Julius Caesar build that place, my lord? 
 
 Buck. He did, my gracious lord, begin that place ; 70 
 Which, since, succeeding ages have re-edified. 
 
 Prince. Is it upon record, or else reported 
 Successively from age to age, he built it ? 
 
 Buck. Upon record, my gracious lord. 
 
ACT III. SCENE I. 49 
 
 Prince. But say, my lord, it were not registered, 
 Methinks the truth should live from age to age, 
 As 'twere retail'd to all posterity, 
 Even to the general all-ending day. 
 
 Glou. [Aside'] So wise so young, they say, do never 
 live long. 
 
 Prince. What say you, uncle? 
 
 Glou. I say, without characters, fame lives lo: 
 [Aside] Thus, like the formal vice, Iniquity, 
 I moralize two meanings in one word. 
 
 Prince. That Julius Caesar was a famous man ; 
 With what his valour did enrich his wit, 
 His wit set down to make his valour live : 
 Death makes no conquest of this conqueror ; 
 For now he lives in fame, though not in life. 
 I '11 tell you what, my cousin Buckingham, 
 
 Buck. What, my gracious lord ? 90 
 
 Prince. An if I live until I be a man, 
 I '11 win our ancient right in France again, 
 Or die a soldier, as I lived a king. 
 
 Glou. [Aside] Short summers lightly have a forwar 
 spring. 
 
 Enter young YORK, CASTINGS, and the CARDINAL. 
 
 Buck. NoWj in good time* here comes the Duke of York. 
 
 Prince. Richard of York ! how fares our loving brother ? 
 
 York. Well, my dread lord ; so must I call you now. 
 
 Prince. Ay, brother, to our grief, as it is yours : 
 Too late he died that might have kept that title, 
 Which by his death hath lost much majesty. 100 
 
 Glou. How fares our cousin, noble Lord of York ? 
 
 York. I thank you, gentle uncle. O, my lord, 
 You said that idle weeds are fast in growth : I ^ 
 The prince my brother hath outgrown me far. 
 
 Glou. He hath, my lord. 
 
 York. And therefore is he idle ? 
 
 E 
 
50 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Glou. O, my fair cousin, I must not say so. 
 
 York. Then is he more beholding to you than I. 
 
 Glou. He may command me as my sovereign ; 
 But you have power in me as in a kinsman. 
 
 York. I pray you, uncle, give me this dagger. no 
 
 Glou. My dagger, little cousin? with all my heart. 
 
 Prince. A beggar, brother? 
 
 York. | Of my kind uncle, that I know will give ; 
 And being but a toy, which is no grief to give. 
 
 Glou. A greater gift than that I'll give my cousin. 
 
 York. A greater gift ! O, that 's the sword to it. 
 
 Glou. Ay, gentle cousin, were it light enough. 
 
 York. O, then, I see, you will part but with light gifts ; 
 In weightier things you'll say a beggar nay. 
 
 Glou. It is too heavy for your grace to wear. 120 
 
 York. I weigh it lightly, were it heavier. 
 
 Glou. What, would you have my weapon, little lord? 
 
 York. I would, that I might thank you as you call me. 
 
 Glou. How ? 
 
 York. Little. 
 
 Prince. My Lord of York will still be cross in talk : 
 Uncle, your grace knows how t<5 bear with him. 
 
 York. You mean, to bear me, not to bear with me : 
 Jncle, my brother mocks both you and me ; 
 /Because that I am little, like an ape, 130 
 
 /He thinks that you should bear me on your shoulders. 
 
 Buck. With what a sharp-provided wit he reasons 1 
 To mitigate the scorn he gives his uncle, 
 He prettily and aptly taunts himself: 
 So cunning and so young is wonderful. 
 
 Glou. My lord, will't please you pass along? 
 Myself and my good cousin Buckingham 
 Will to your mother, to entreat of her 
 To meet you at the Tower and welcome you. 
 
 York. What, will you go unto the Tower, my lord? 
 
ACT ///. SCENE I. 51 
 
 Prince. My lord protector needs will have it so. 141 
 
 York. I shall not sleep in quiet at the Tower. 
 
 Glou. Why, what should you fear? 
 
 York. Marry, my uncle Clarence' angry ghost :' 
 My grandam told me he was murder'd there. 
 
 Prince. I fear no uncles dead. 
 
 Glou. Nor none that live, I hope. 
 
 Prince. An if they live, I hope I need not fear.! 
 But come, my lord ; and with a heavy heart, 
 Thinking on them, go I unto the Tower. 150 
 
 [A Sennet. Exeunt all but Gloucester, Buckingham 
 and Catesby. 
 
 Buck. Think you, my lord, this little prating York ,~ 
 Was not incensed by his subtle mother 
 To taunt and scorn you thus opprobriously ? 
 
 Glou. No doubt, no doubt : O, 'tis a parlous boy ; 
 Bold, quick, ingenious, forward, capable : 
 He is all the mother's, from the top to toe. 
 
 Buck. Well, let them rest. Come hither, Catesby. 
 Thou art sworn as deeply to effect what we intend 
 As closely to conceal what we impart : 
 Thou know'st our reasons urged upon the way ; 160 
 
 What think'st thou? is it not an easy matter 
 To make William Lord Hastings of our mind, 
 For the instalment of this noble duke 
 In the seat royal of this famous isle ? 
 
 Cate. He for his father's sake so loves the prince, 
 That he will not be won to aught against him. 
 
 Buck. What think'st thou, then, of Stanley ? what will 
 
 he? 
 
 Cate. He will do all in all as Hastings doth. 
 Buck. Well, then, no more but this : go, gentle Catesby, 
 And, as it were far off, sound thou Lord Hastings, 170 
 How he doth stand affected to our purpose ; 
 And summon him to-morrow to the Tower, 
 To sit about the coronation. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 If thou dost find him tractable to us, 
 
 Encourage him, and show him all our reasons : 
 
 If he .be^ead^n^icy-cold, unwilling, 
 
 Be thou so toojalior^o~iyfea^~off your talk, 
 
 And give us notice of his inclination : 
 
 For we to-morrow hold divided councils, 
 
 Wherein thyself shalt highly be employ'd. 180 
 
 Glou. Commend me to Lord William : tell him, Catesby, 
 His ancient knot of dangerous adversaries 
 To-morrow are let blood at Pomfret-castle ; 
 And bid my friend, for joy of this good news, 
 Give Mistress Shore one gentle kiss the more. 
 
 Buck. Good Catesby, go, effect this business soundly. 
 
 Cate. My good lords both, with all the heed I may. 
 
 Glozt. Shall we hear from you, Catesby, ere we sleep? 
 
 Gate. You shall, my lord. 189 
 
 Glou. At Crosby Place, there shall you find us both. 
 
 [Exit Catesby. 
 
 Buck. Now, my lord, what shall we do, if we perceive 
 Lord Hastings will not yield to our complots? 
 
 Glou. Chop off his head, man ; somewhat we will do : 
 f And, look, when I am king, claim thou of me\ 
 The earldom of Hereford, and 'the moveablesy 
 vJWhereof the king my brother stood possess'dl 
 
 Buck. I '11 claim that promise at your grace's hands. 
 
 Glou. And look to have it yielded with all willingness. 
 Come, let us sup betimes, that afterwards 199 
 
 We may digest our complots in some form. \Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE II. Before Lord Hastings' house, 
 - Enter a Messenger. 
 
 Mess. What, ho ! my lord ! 
 
 Hast. \Withiri\ Who knocks at the door? 
 
 Mess. A messenger from the Lord Stanley. 
 
ACT III. SCENE II. 53 
 
 Enter LORD HASTINGS. 
 
 Hast. What is't o'clock? 
 
 Mess. Upon the stroke of four. 
 
 Hast. Cannot thy master sleep these tedious nights ? 
 
 Mess. So it should seem by that I have to say. 
 First, he commends him to your noble lordship. 
 
 Hast. And then ? 
 
 Mess. And then he sends you word ^> l( \f 
 
 He dreamt to-night the boar had razed his helm : fj /W^ 
 Besides, he says there are two councils held; ~~> 
 -And that may be determined at the one 
 Which may make you and him to rue at the other. 
 Therefore he sends to know your lordship's pleasure, 
 If presently you will take horse with him, 
 And with all speed post with him toward the north, 
 To shun the danger that his soul divines. 
 
 Hast. Go, fellow, go, return^ unto thy lord; 
 Bid him not fear the separated councils : 20 
 
 His honour and myself are at the one, 
 And at the other is my servant Catesby ; 
 Where nothing can proceed that toucheth us 
 Whereof I shall not have intelligence. 
 Tell him his fears are shallow, wanting instance : 
 And for his dreams, I wonder he is so fond 
 To trust the mockery of unquiet slumbers : 
 To fly the boar before the boar pursues, 
 Were to incense the boar to follow us 
 And make pursuit where he did mean no chase. 30 
 
 Go, bid thy master rise and come to me ; 
 And we will both together to the Tower, 
 Where, he shall see, the boar will use us kindly. 
 
 Mess. My gracious lord, I '11 tell him what you say. 
 
 \Exit. 
 Enter CATESBY. 
 
 Cafe. Many good morrows to my noble lord ! 
 
 Hast. Good morrow, Catesby ; you are early stirring : 
 

 54 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 What news, what news, in this our tottering state? 
 
 Cafe. It is a reeling world, indeed, my lord ; 
 And I believe 'twill never stand upright 
 Till Richard wear the garland of the realm. 40 
 
 I Hast. How ! wear the garland ! dost thou mean the 
 
 crown ? 
 Gate. Ay, my good lord. 
 
 LHast. I '11 have' this crown of mine cut from my shoul- 
 ders 
 re I will see the crown so foul misplaced. 
 But canst thou guess that he doth aim at it? 
 
 Gate. Ay, on my life ; and hopes to find you forward 
 Upon his party for the gain thereof: 
 And thereupon he sends you this good news, 
 That this same very day your enemies, 
 The kindred of the queen, must die at Pomfret. 50 
 
 Hast. Indeed, I am no mourner for that newaj* 
 i Because they have been still mine enemies : 
 \ But, that I J ll give my voice on Richard's side, 
 \ To bar my master's heirs in true descent, 
 God knows I will not do it, to the death. 
 
 Gate. God keep your lordship in that gracious mind ! 
 Hast. But I shall laugh at this a twelve-month hence, 
 That they who brought me in my master's hate, 
 I live to look upon their tragedy. 
 
 I tell thee, Catesby, 60 
 
 Gate. What, my lord ? 
 Hast. Ere a fortnight make me elder, 
 I '11 send some packing that yet think not on it 
 
 Gate. 'Tis a vile thing to die, my gracious lord, 
 When men are unprepared and look not for it. 
 
 Hast. O monstrous, monstrous ! and so falls it out 
 With Rivers, Vaughan, Grey : and so 'twill do 
 With some men else, who think themselves as safe 
 As thou and I ; who, as thou know'st, are dear 
 I To princely Richard and to Buckingham. 70 
 
ACT III. SCENE II. 55 
 
 Cate. The princes both make high account of you ; 
 [Aside] For they account his head upon the bridge. 
 Hast. I know they do ; and I have well deserved it. 
 
 Enter LORD STANLEY. 
 
 Come on, come on ; where is your boar^spear, man 
 Fear you theboar, and go so unprovided? 
 
 Stan. Mylortij-go'od morrow ; good morrow, Catesby : 
 You may jest on, but, by the holy rood, 
 I do not like these several councils, I. 
 
 Hast. My lord, 
 
 I hold my life as dear as you do yours ; 80 
 
 And never in my life, I do protest, 
 Was it more precious to me than 'tis now: 
 Think you, but that I know our state secure, 
 I would be so triumphant as I am? 
 
 Stan. The lords at Pomfret, when they rode from 
 
 Loir^Ton, 
 
 re jocund 
 
 1 they in i 
 
 But yet, you see, how soon the day o'ercast. 
 This sudden stab of rancour I rnisdou^T: \ 
 Pray God, I say, I prove a needless coward r 
 
 Were jocund, and supposed their state was sure. 
 And they indeed had no cause to mistrust ; J\ < 
 
 What, shall we toward the Tower ? 'the day is spent. ,~ 
 Hast. Come, come, have with you. Wot you what, my 
 
 lord? 
 To-day the lords you talk of are beheaded. 
 
 Stan. They, for their truth, might better wear their - 
 
 heads 
 
 Than some that have accused them wear their hats. 
 But come, my lord, let us away. 
 
 Enter a Pursuivant. 
 
 Hast. Go on before ; I '11 talk with this good fellow. 
 
 \Exeunt Stanley and Catesby. 
 
 How now, sirrah ! how goes the world with thee ? 
 Purs. The. better than your lordship please to ask. 
 
56 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Hast. I tell thee, man, 'tis better with me now 100 
 Than when I met thee last where now we meet : 
 Then was I going prisoner to the Tower, 
 By the suggestion of the queen's allies ; 
 But now, I tell thee keep it to thyself 
 This day those enemies are put to death, 
 And I in better state than e'er I was. 
 
 Purs. God hold it, to your honour's good content ! 
 
 Hast. Gramercy, fellow : there, drink that for me. 
 
 [Throws him his purse. 
 
 Purs. God save your lordship ! \Exit. 
 
 Enter a Priest. , 
 
 Priest. Well met, my lord; I am glad to see your 
 honour. no 
 
 Hast. I thank thee, good Sir John, with all my heart. 
 I am in your debt for your last exercise ; 
 Come the next Sabbath, and I will content you. 
 
 [He whispers in his ear. 
 
 Enter BUCKINGHAM Aa !*f*r\. sJh 
 
 > V > 
 
 Buck. What, talking with a priest, lord chamberlain?/^,^ 
 Your friends at Pomfret, they do need the priest ; 
 Your honour hath no shriving work in hand; 
 
 Hast. Good faith, and when I mejHiiis holy man, 
 Those men you talk of came into my mind. 
 What, go you toward the Tower? 
 
 Buck. I do, my lord ; but long I shall not stay : 120 
 I shall return before your lordship thence. 
 
 Hast. 'Tis like enough, for I stay dinner there. 
 
 Buck. [Aside} And supper too, although thou know'st 
 
 it not. 
 Come, will you go ? 
 
 Hast. I '11 wait upon your "lordship. [Exeunt. 
 
ACT III. SCENE IV. 57 
 
 SCENE III. Pomfret Castle. 
 
 Enter SIR RICHARD RATCLIFF, with halberds, carrying? 
 RIVERS, GREY, and VAUGHAN to death. 
 
 Rat. Come, bring forth the prisoners. 
 
 Riv. Sir Richard Ratcliff, let me tell thee this : 
 To-day shalt thou behold a subject 
 For truth, for duty, and for loyalty. 
 
 Grey. God keep the prince from all the, pack of you ! 
 A knot you are of damned blood-suckers, f Ari^cr^] 
 
 Vaug. You live that shall cry woe for this hereafter. 
 
 Rat. Dispatch ; the limit of your lives is out. 
 
 Riv. O Pomfret, Pomfret ! O thou jrioody prison, 
 Fatal and ominous to noble peers ! 
 Within the guilty closure of thy walls 
 Richard the second here was hack'd to death ; . 
 And, for more slander to thy dismal seat, // 
 
 We give thee up our guiltless blood to drink. 
 
 Grey. Now Margaret's curse is fall'n upon our heads, 
 For standing by when Richard stabb'd herspji. 
 
 Riv. Then cursed she Hastings, then ^ursecAhe Buck- 
 Then ciirse^she Richard. O, remember, God, 
 To hear"~Iier prayers for them, as now for us 1 
 And for my sister and her princely sons, 20 
 
 Be satisfied, dear God, with our trueJploooV 
 Which, as thou know'st, jyyus&Ljnust be spilt. 
 
 Rat. . Make haste ; the hour of death is expiate. 
 
 Riv. Come, Grey, come, Vaughan, let us all embrace : 
 And take our leave, until we^jcneeMnheaven^ \Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE IV. The Tower of 
 
 Enter BUCKINGHAM, DERBY, HASTINGS, the BISHOP OF 
 ELY, RATCLIFF, LOVEL, with other -s, and take their seats 
 at a table. 
 Hast. My lords, at once : the cause why we are met 
 
58 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Is, to determine of the coronation. 
 
 In God's name, speak : when is the royal day ? 
 
 Buck. Are all things fitting for that royal time? 
 
 Der. It is, and wants but nomination. 
 
 Ely. To-morrow, then, I judge a happy day. 
 
 Buck. Who knows the lord protector's mind herein? 
 Who is most inward with the noble duke ? 
 
 Ely. Your grace, we think, should soonest know his 
 mind. , . 
 
 Buck, Who, I, my lord ! we know each other's faces, 
 
 I But for our hearts, he knows no more of mine, u 
 
 Than I of yours ; 
 
 Nor I no more of his, than you of mine. 
 Lord Hastings, you and he are near in love. 
 
 Hast. I thank his grace, I know he loves me well ; 
 But, for his purpose in the coronation, 
 I have not sounded him, nor he deliver'd , 
 
 His gracious pleasure any way therein : 
 But you, my noble lords, may name the time ; 
 And in the duke's behalf 1 '11 give my voice, 20 
 
 Which, I presume, he'll take in gentle part. 
 
 Enter GLOUCESTER. 
 
 Ely. Now in good time, here comes the duke himself. 
 
 Glou. My noble lords and cousins all, good morrow. 
 I have been long a sleeper ; but, I hope, 
 My absence doth neglect no great designs, 
 Which by my presence might have been concluded. 
 . Buck. Had not you come upon your cue, my lord, 
 William Lord Hastings had pronounced your part, 
 I mean, your voice, for crowning of the king. 
 
 Glou. Than my Lord Hastings no man might be bolder ; 
 His lordship knows me well, and loves me well 31 
 
 Hast. I thank your grace. 
 
 Glou. My lord of Ely ! 
 
 Ely. My lord? 
 
ACT HI. SCENE IV. 
 
 Glou. When I was last in Holborn, 
 I saw good strawberries in your garden there : j 
 I do beseech you send for some of them. 
 
 Ely. Marry, and will, my lord, with all my heart. 
 
 [Exit. 
 
 Glou. Cousin of Buckingham, a word with you. 
 
 {Drawing him aside. 
 
 Catesby hath sounded Hastings in our business, 
 And finds the testy gentleman so hot, 
 As he will lose his head ere give consent 40 
 
 His master's son, as worshipful he terms it, 
 Shall lose the royalty of England's throne. 
 
 Buck. Withdraw you hence, my lord, 111 follow you. 
 [Exit Gloucester ; Buckingham following. 
 
 Der. We have not yet set down this day of triumph. 
 To-morrow, in mine opinion, is too sudden ; 
 For I myself am not so well provided 
 As else I would be, were the day prolong'd. 
 
 Re-enter BISHOP OF ELY. 
 
 . Ely. Where is my lord protector ? I have sent for these 
 strawberries. 
 
 Hast. His grace looks cheerfully and smooth to-day ; 
 There 's some conceit or other likes him well, 5 1 
 
 When he doth bid good morrow with such a spirit 
 I think there J s never a man in Christendom 
 That can less hide his love or hate than he ; ^ 
 
 For by his face straight shall you know his heart. 
 
 Der. What of his heart perceive you in his face 
 By any likelihood he show'd to-day? 
 
 Hast. Marry, that with no man here he is offended ; 
 For, were he, he had shown it in his looks. 
 
 Der. I pray God he be not, I say. 60 
 
 Re-enter GLOUCESTER and BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 Glou. I pray you all, tell me what they deserve 
 That do conspire my death with devilish plots 
 
60 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Of damned witchcraft, and that have prevail'd 
 Upon my body with their hellish charms ? 
 
 Hast. The tender love I bear your grace, my lord, I 
 Makes me most forward in this noble presence 
 To doom the offenders, whatsoever they be : 
 
 say, my lord, they have deserved death. 
 
 Glou. Then be your eyes' the witness of this ill : 
 See how I am bewitch'd ; behold mine arm 
 Is, like a blasted sapling, wither'd up : 
 And this is Edward's "wile, that m6ns!rous witch, 
 Consorted with that harlot strumpet Shore, 
 That by their witchcraft thus have marked me. 
 
 Hast. If they have done this thing, my gracious lord,-^ 
 
 Glou. If ! thou protector of this damned strumpet; j V 
 Tellest thou me of 'ifs'? Thou art a traitor: / Lhfi- 
 
 Off with his head ! Now, by Saint Paul I swear, // 
 I will not dine until I see the same. 
 Lovel and Rat cliff, look that it be done : 80 
 
 The rest, that love me, rise and follow me. 
 
 [Exeunt all but Hastings^ Ratcliff^ and Lovel. 
 
 Hast. Woe, woe for England ! not a whit for me ; 
 For I, too fond, might have prevented this. 
 Stanley did dream the boar did raze his helm ; 
 But I disdain'd it, and did scorn to fly : 
 Three times to-day my foot-cloth horse did stumble, 
 And startled, when he look'd upon the Tower, 
 As loath to bear me to the slaughter-house. 
 O, now I want the priest that spake to me : 
 I now repent I told the pursuivant, 90 
 
 As 'twere triumphing at mine enemies, / 
 How they at Pomfret bloodilywere Jbutcher'd, 
 And I myself secure mgFacel andfavou: 
 O Margaret, Margaret, now thy heavy curse 
 Is lighted on poor Hastings' wretched 
 
 Rat. Dispatch, my lord ; the duke would be at dinner : 
 Make a short shrift ; he longs to see your head. 
 
 Hast. O momentary grace of mortal men, 
 
ACT III. SCENE V. 6 1 
 
 Which we more hunt for than the grace of God ! 
 
 Who builds his hopes in air of your good looks, 100 
 
 Lives like a drunken sailor on a mast, 
 
 Ready, with every nod, to tumble down 
 
 -Into the fatal bowels of the deep. 
 
 Lov. Come, come, dispatch ; 'tis bootless to exclaim. 
 
 Hast. O bloody Richard ! miserablejEngland. 1 
 I prophesy the fearfull'st time to thee 
 That ever wretched age hath look'd upon. 
 - Come, lead me to the block ; bear him my head : 
 They smile at me that shortly shall be dead. [Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE V. The Tower-walls. 
 
 Enter GLOUCESTER and BUCKINGHAM, in rotten armour, 
 marvellous ill-favoured. 
 
 Gldu. Come, cousin, canst thou quake, and change thy 
 
 colour. 
 
 Murder thy breath in middle of a word, 
 And then begin again, and stop again, 
 As if thou wert distraught and mad with terror ? 
 
 Buck. TjU^JLjMjiCQunterfeit the 
 
 Speak and look back, and pry on every side, 
 Tremble and start at wagging of a straw, 
 Intending deep suspicion : ghastly looks 
 Are at my service, like enforced smiles ; 
 And both are ready in their offices^ 
 At any time, to grace my stratagems. 
 But what, is Catesby gone? 
 
 Glou. He is ; and, see, he brings the mayor along. 
 
 Enter the Mayor and CATESBY. 
 Buck. Lord mayor, 
 Glou. Look to the drawbridge there ! 
 Biick. Hark ! a drum. 
 Glou. Catesby, o'erlook the walls. 
 
63 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Buck. Lord mayor, the reason we have sent 
 Glou. Look back, defend thee, here are enemies. 
 Buck. God and our innocency defend and guard us ! 20 
 Glou. N Be patient, they are friends, Ratcliff and Lovel. 
 
 Enter LOVEL and RATCLIFF, with HASTINGS' head. 
 
 Lov. riere is the head of that ignoble traitor, 
 The dangerous and unsuspected Hastings. 
 ^Glou. So dear I loved the man, that I must weep. 
 I took him for the. plainest harmless creature 
 That breathed upon this earth a Christian ; \ . 
 /Made him my book, wherein my soul recorded 
 \The history of all her secret thoughts : 
 So smooth he daub'd his vice with show of virtue, 
 That, his apparent open guilt omitted, . 30 
 
 I mean, his conversation with Shore's wife, 
 He lived from all attainder of suspect. 
 
 Buck. Well, well, he was the covert'st shelter'd traitor 
 That ever lived. . 
 
 Would you imagine, or almost believe, 
 Were't not that, by great preservation, 
 We live to tell it you, the subtle traitor 
 .This day had plotted, in the council-house 
 To murder me and my good Lord of Gloucester ? 
 
 May. What, had he so? . 40 
 
 Glou. What, think you we are Turks or infidels ? 
 Or that we would, against the form of law, 
 Proceed thus rashly to the villain's death, 
 But that the extreme peril of the case, 
 The peace of England and our persons' safety, 
 Enforced us to this execution ? 
 
 May. Now, fair befall you! he deserved his death ; 
 I And you, my good lords both, have well proceeded, 
 To warn false traitors from the like attempts. 
 I never looked for better at his hands, 50 
 
 After he once fell in with Mistress Shore. 
 
 Glou. Yet had not we determined he should die, 
 
ACT III. SCENE V. 63 
 
 Until your lordship came to see his death ; 
 
 Which now the loving haste of these our friends, 
 
 Somewhat against our meaning, have prevented : 
 
 Because^ my lord, we would have had you heard 
 
 The traitor speak, and timorously confess 
 
 The manner and the purpose of his treason ; 
 
 That you might well have signified the same 
 
 Unto the citizens, who haply may 60 
 
 Misconstrue us in him and wail his death. 
 
 May \ But, my good lord, your grace's word shall serve, 
 As well as I had seen and heard him speak : 
 . And doubt you not, right noble princes both, 
 But -I '11 acquaint our duteous citizens 
 With all your just proceedings in this cause. ' 
 
 Glou. And to that end we wish'd your lordship here, 
 To avoid the carping censures of the world. 
 
 Buck. But since you come too late of our intents, 
 Yet witness what you hear we did intend : 70 
 
 And so, my good lord mayor, we bid farewell. 
 
 \Exit Mayor. 
 
 Glou. Go, after, after, cousin Buckingham. 
 The mayor towards Guildhall hies him in all post : 
 There, at your meet'st advantage of the time, 
 Infer the bastardy of Edward's children : 
 Tell them how Edward put to death a citizen, i r 
 
 Only for saying he would make his son 
 Heir to the crown ; meaning indeed his house, 
 Which, by the sign thereof, was termed so. 
 Moreover, urge his hateful luxury, 80 
 
 And bestial appetite in change of. lust ; 
 Which stretched to their servants, daughters, wives, 
 Even where his lustful eye or savage heart, 
 Without control, listed to make his prey. 
 Nay, for a need, thus far come near my person : 
 Tell them, when that my mother went with child 
 Of that unsatiate Edward, noble York 
 My princely father then had wars in France ; 
 
64 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 And, by just computation of the time, 
 Found that the issue was not his begot ; 
 Which well appeared in his lineaments, 
 Being nothing like the noble duke my father: 
 But touch this sparingly, as 'twere far off; 
 Because you know, my lord, my mother lives. 
 
 Buck. Fear not, my lord, I'll play the orator 
 As- if tHe golden fee for which I plead 
 Were for myself: and so, my lord, adieu. 
 
 Glou. If you thrive well, bring them to Baynard's Castle ; 
 Where you shall find me well accompanied 
 With reverend fathers and well-learned bishops. 100 
 
 Buck. I go ; and towards three or four o'clock 
 Look for the news that the Guildhall affords. \Exit. 
 
 Glou. Go, Lovel, with all speed to Doctor Shaw ; 
 [ To Catesby] Go thou to Friar Penker : bid them both 
 Meet me within this hour at Baynard's Castle. 
 
 [Exeunt all but Gloucester. 
 Now will I in, to take some privy order, 
 To draw the brats of Clarence out of sight ; 
 And to give notice, that no manner of person 
 At any time have recourse unto the princes. \Exit. 
 
 SCENE VI. The same. A street.* 
 Enter a Scrivener, with a paper in his hand. 
 
 Scriv. This is the -indictment of the good Lord Hastings ; 
 Which in a set hand fairly is engrossed, 
 That it may be this day read o'er in Paul's. 
 And mark how well the sequel hangs together: 
 Eleven hours I spent to write it over, 
 For yesternight by Catesby was it brought me ; 
 The precedent was full as long a-doing : 
 And yet within these five hours lived Lord Hastings, 
 Untainted, unexamined, free, at liberty. 
 Here 's a good world the while ! Why who 's so gross, 10 
 
ACT III. SCENE Vi 
 
 That seeth not this palpable device? 
 Yet who's so blind, but says he sees it not? 
 Bad is the jwprld ; and all will come to nought, 
 When such bad dealing must be seen in thought. 
 
 SCENE VII. Baynartfs Castle. 
 Enter GLOUCESTER and BUCKINGHAM, at several doors. 
 
 Glou. How now, my lord, what say the citizens?/ 
 
 Buck. Now, by the holy mother of our Lord, 
 The citizens are mum and speak not a word. 
 
 Glou. Touched you the bastardy of Edward's children ? 
 
 Buck. I did ; with his contract with Lady Lucy, 
 And his contract by deputy in France ; 
 The insatiate greediness of his desires, 
 And his enforcement of the city wives ; 
 His tyranny for trifles ; his own bastardy, 
 As being got, your father then in France, 10 
 
 And his resemblance, being not like the duke : 
 Withal I did infer your lineaments, 
 Being the right idea of your father, 
 Both in your form and nobleness of mind ; 
 Laid open all your victories in Scotland, 
 Your discipline in war, wisdom in peace, 
 Your bounty, virtue, fair humility ; 
 Indeed, left nothing fitting for the purpose 
 Untouch'd, or slightly handled, in discourse : 
 And when mine oratory grew to an end, 20 
 
 I bid them that did love their country's good 
 Cry 'God save Richard, England's royal king!' 
 
 Glou. Ah ! and did they so ? 
 
 Buck. No, so God help me, they spake not a word ; 
 But, like dumb statuas or breathing stones, 
 Gazed each on other, and look'd deadly pale. 
 Which when I saw, I reprehended them ; 
 And ask'd the mayor what meant this wilful silence : 
 
 F 
 
66 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 His answer was, the people were not wont 
 
 To be spoke to but by the recorder. 30 
 
 Then he was urged to tell my tale again, 
 'Thus saith the duke, thus hath the duke inferr'd;' 
 But nothing spake in warrant from himself. 
 When he had done, some followers of mine own, 
 At the lower end of the hall, hurl'd up their caps, 
 And some ten voices cried ' God save King Richard ! 
 And thus I took the vantage of those few, 
 
 * Thanks, gentle citizens and friends, 7 quoth I ; . 
 
 * This 'general applause and loving shout 
 
 Argues your wisdoms and your love to Richard : ' 40 
 
 And even here brake off, and came away. 
 
 Glou. What tongueless blocks were they ! would they 
 not speak? 
 
 Buck. No, by my troth, my lord. 
 
 Glou. Will not the mayor then and his brethren come ? 
 
 Buck. The mayor is here at hand : intend some fear ; 
 Be not you spoke with, but by mighty suit : 
 And look you get a prayer-book in your hand, . 
 
 'And stand betwixt two churchmen, good my lord ;>-n 
 For on that ground 111 build a holyjlescant :^cv r> fs 
 ^And be not easily won to our request": . . 50 
 
 Play the maid's part, still answer nay, and take it. 
 
 Glou. I go ; and if you plead as well for them 
 As I can say nay to thee for myself, 
 No doubt we'll bring it to a happy issue. 
 
 Buck. Go, go, up to the leads ; the lord mayor knocks. 
 
 \Exit Gloucester. 
 
 Enter the Mayor and Citizens. 
 
 Welcome, my lord: I dance attendance here; 
 I think the duke will not be spoke withal. 
 
 Enter CATESBY. 
 
 Here comes his servant : how now, Catesby, 
 What says he? 
 
ACT III. SCENE VII. 6j 
 
 Cafe. My lord, he doth entreat your grace 
 
 To visit him to-mprrow or next day : 
 He is within, with two right reverend fathers, 
 Divinely bent to meditation ; 
 And in no worldly suit would he be moved, 
 To draw him from his holy exercise. 
 
 Buck. Return, good Catesby, to thy lord again ; 
 Tell him, myself, the mayor and citizens, 
 In deep designs and matters of great moment, 
 No less importing than our general good, 
 Are come to have some conference with his grace. 69 
 
 Gate. I'll tell him what you say, my lord. [Exit. 
 
 Buck. Ah, ha, my lord, this prince is not an Edward ! 
 He is not lolling on a lewd day-bed, 
 But on his knees at meditation ; 
 Not dallying with a brace of courtezans, 
 But meditating with two deep divines ; 
 Not sleeping, to engross his idle body, \ 
 But praying, to enrich his watchful soul 1 
 Happy were England, would this gracious prince 
 Take on himself the sovereignty thereof: 
 But, sure, I fear, we shall ne'er win him to it. . 80 
 
 May. Marry, God forbid his grace should say us nay ! 
 
 Buck. I fear he will. 
 
 Re-enter CATESBY. 
 
 How now, Catesby, what says your lord ? 
 
 Gate. My lord, 
 
 He wonders to what end you have assembled 
 Such troops of citizens to speak with him, 
 His grace not being warn'd thereof before : 
 My lord, he fears you mean no good to him. 
 
 Buck. Sorry I am my noble cousin should 
 Suspect me, that I mean no good to him : 
 By heaven, I come in perfect love to him ; 90 
 
 And so once more return and tell his grace. 
 
 [Exit Catesby, 
 F2 
 
68 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 When holy and devout religious men 
 
 Are at their beads, 'tis hard to draw them thence, 
 
 So sweet is zealous contemplation. 
 
 Enter GLOUCESTER aloft, between two Bishops. 
 CATESBY returns. 
 
 May. See, where he stands between two clergymen ! 
 
 Buck. Two props of virtue for a Christian prince, 
 To stay him from the fall of vanity : 
 And, see, a book of prayer in his hand, 
 True ornaments to know a holy man. 
 Famous Plantagenet, most gracious prince, 100 
 
 Lend favourable ears to our request ; 
 And pardon us the interruption 
 Of thy devotion and right Christian zeal. 
 
 Glou. My lord, there needs no such apology : 
 I rather do beseech you pardon me, 
 Who, earnest in the service of my God, 
 Neglect the visitation of my friends. 
 But, leaving this, what is your grace's pleasure ? 
 
 Buck. Even that, I hope, which pleaseth God above, 
 And all good men of this ungovern'd isle. no 
 
 Glou. I do suspect I have done some offence 
 That seems disgracious in the city's eyes, 
 And that you come to reprehend my ignorance. 
 
 Buck. You have, my lord : would it might please your 
 
 grace, 
 At our entreaties, to amend that fault ! 
 
 Glou. Else wherefore breathe I in a Christian land ? 
 
 Buck. .Then know, it is your fault that you resign 
 The supreme seat, the throne majestical, 
 The scepter'd office of your ancestors, 
 Your state of fortune and your due of birth, 120 
 
 The lineal glory of your royal house, 
 To the corruption of a blemish'd stock : 
 Whilst, in the mildness of your sleepy thoughts, 
 Which here we waken to our country's good, 
 
ACT III. SCENE VII. 69 
 
 This noble isle doth want her proper limbs ; 
 Her face defaced with scars of infamy, 
 Her royal stock graft with jgnofele plants, 
 And almost shoulder'd in the swallowing-gulf 
 
 Of blind forgetfulness and dark oblivion. 
 
 Which to recure, we heartily solicit 130 
 
 Your gracious self to take on you the charge 
 
 And kingly government of this your land, 
 
 Not as protector, steward, substitute, 
 
 Or lowly factor for another's gain ; 
 
 But as successively, from blood tojjl 
 
 Your-xight^ of birth, your empery, your own. 
 
 For this, consorted with the citizens, 
 
 Your very worshipful and loving friends, 
 
 And by their vehement instigation, 
 
 In this just suit come I to move your grace. 140 
 
 Gtou. I know not whether to depart in silence, 
 Or bitterly to speak in your reproof, 
 Best fitteth my degree or your condition : 
 If not to answer, you might haply think 
 Tongue-tied ambition, not replying, yielded 
 To bear the golden yoke of sovereignty, 
 Which fondly you would here impose on me ; 
 If to reprove you for this suit of yours, 
 So season'd with your faithful love to me, 
 Then, on the other side, I check'd my friends. 150 
 
 Therefore, to speak, and to avoid the first, 
 And then, in speaking, not to incur the last, 
 Definitively thus I answer you. 
 Your love deserves my thanks ; but my desert 
 Unmeritable shuns your high request. 
 First, "if all obstacles were cut away, 
 And that my path were even to the crown, 
 As my ripe revenue and due by birth ; 
 Yet so much is my poverty of spirit, 
 So mighty and so many my defects, 160 
 
 As I had rather hide me from my greatness, 
 Being a bark to brook no mighty sea, 
 
70 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Than in my greatness covet to be hid, 
 And in the vapour of my glory smothered. 
 But, God be thanked, there J s no need of me, 
 A } And much I need to help you, if need were ; 
 The royal tree hath left^us royjilfruit. 
 Which, mellowed by tKestealinghours' of time, 
 Will well become the seat of majesty, 
 And make, no doubt, us happy by his reign. 170 
 
 On him I lay what you would lay on me, 
 The right and fortune of his happy stars ; 
 Which God defend that I should wring from him ! 
 
 Buck. My lord, this argues conscience in your grace ; 
 But the respects thereof are nice and trivial, 
 All circumstances well considered. 
 You say that Edward is your brothers son :. 
 So say we too, but not by Edward's wife ; 
 For first he was contract tp Lady Lucy 
 Your mother lives a witness to that vow 180 
 
 And afterward by substitute betroth'd 
 To Bona, sister to the King of France. 
 These both put by, a po6r petitioner, 
 A care-crazed mother of a many children, 
 fi. beauty-waning and distressed widow, 
 Even in the afternoon of her best days, 
 Made prize and purchase of his lustful eye, 
 Seduced the pitch and height of all his thoughts 
 To base declension and loathed bigamy : 
 By her, in his unlawful Bed, he got ., 190 
 
 This Edward, whom our manners term the prince. 
 More bitterly could I expostulate, 
 Save that, for reverence to some alive, 
 I give a sparing limit to my tongue. 
 \ Then, good my lord, take to your royal self 
 This proffer'd benefit of dignity ; 
 If not to bless us and the land withal, 
 Yet to draw forth your noble ancestry 
 From the corruption of abusing times, 
 Unto a lineal true-derived course. 200 
 
ACT III. SCENE VII. JI 
 
 May. Do, good my lord, your citizens entreat you^ 
 
 Buck. Refuse not, mighty lord, this proffer'd love. 
 
 Cate. O, make them joyful, grant their lawful suit ! 
 
 Glou. Alas, why would you heap these cares on me? 
 I am unfit for state and majesty : 
 I .do beseech you, take it not amiss ; 
 I cannot nor I will not yield to you. 
 
 Buck. If you refuse it, as, in love and zeal, 
 Loath to depose the child, your brother's son ; 
 As well we know your tenderness of heart 210 
 
 And gentle, kind, effeminate remorse, 
 Which we have noted in you to your kin, 
 And egally indeed to all estates, 
 Yet whether you accept our suit or no, 
 Your brother's son shall never reign our king ; 
 But we will plant some other in the throne, , 
 To the disgrace and downfall of your house : 
 And in this resolution here we leave you. 
 Come, citizens : 'zounds ! I '11 entreat no more. 
 
 Glou. O, do not swear, my lord of Buckingham. 220 
 \Exit Buckingham with the Citizens. 
 
 Cate. Call them again, my lord, and accept their suit, f 
 
 Another. Do, good my lord, lest all the land do rue it. \ 
 
 Glou. Would you enforce me to a world of care ? 
 Well, call them again. I am not made of stones,. 
 But penetrable to '.your kind entreats, 
 Albeit against my conscience and my soul. 
 
 Re-enter BUCKINGHAM and the rest. 
 
 Cousin of Buckingham, and you sage, grave men, 
 Since you will buckle fortune on my back, 
 To bear her burthen, whether I will or no, 
 I must have patience to endure the load ; 
 But if black scandal or foul-faced reproach 
 Attend the sequel of your imposition, 
 Your mere enforcement shall acquittance me 
 From all the impure blots and stains thereof; 
 
72 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 For God he knows, and you may partly see, 
 How far I am from the desire thereof. 
 
 May. God bless your grace ! we see it, and will say it. 
 
 Glou. In saying so, you shall but say the truth. 
 
 Buck. Then I salute you with this kingly title : 
 Long live Richard, England's royal king! 240 
 
 May. and Cit. Amen. 
 
 Buck. To-morrow will it please you to be crown'd? 
 
 Glou. Even when you please, since you will have it so. 
 
 Buck. To-morrow, then, we will attend your grace : 
 And so most joyfully we take our leave. 
 
 Glou. Come, let us to our holy task again. 
 Farewell, good cousin ; farewell, gentle friends. \Exeunt. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 SCENE I. Before the Tower. 
 
 Enter, on one side, -QUEEN ELIZABETH, DUCHESS OF 
 YORK, and MARQUESS OF DORSET ; on the other, ANNE, 
 DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER, leading LADY MARGARET 
 PLANTAGENET, CLARENCE'S young Daughter. 
 
 Duck. , Who meets us here ? my niece Plantagenet 
 Led in the hand of her kind aunt of' Gloucester ? 
 Now, for my life, she's wandering to the Tower, 
 On pure heart's love to greet the tender princes. 
 Daughter, well met. 
 
 Anne. God give your graces both 
 
 A happy and a joyful time of day ! 
 
 Q. Eliz. As much to you, good sister ! Whither away ? 
 
 Anne. No farther than the Tower; and, as I guess, 
 Upon the like devotion as yourselves, 
 To gratulate the gentle princes there. 10 
 
ACT IV. SCENE I. 73 
 
 Q. Eliz. Kind sister, thanks : we '11 enter all together. 
 Enter BRAKENBURY. 
 
 And, in good time, here the lieutenant comes. 
 
 Master lieutenant, pray you, by your leave, 
 
 How doth the prince, and my young son of York? 
 
 Brak. Right well, dear madam. By your patience, 
 I may not suffer you to visit them ; 
 The king hath straitly charged the contrary. 
 
 Q. Eliz. The king ! why, who 's that ? 
 
 Brak. I cry you mercy : I mean the lord protector. 
 
 Q. Eliz. The Lord protect him from that kingly title ! 
 Hath he set bounds betwixt their love and me? 21 
 
 I am their mother ; who should keep me from them ? 
 
 Duch. I am their father's mother ; I will see them. 
 
 Anne. Their aunt I am in law, in love their mother ; 
 Then bring me to their sights ; I '11 bear thy blame, 
 And take thy office from thee, on my peril. 
 
 Brak. -No, madam, no ; I may not leave it so : 
 I am bound by oath, and therefore pardon me. \Exit. 
 
 Enter LORD STANLEY. 
 
 Stan. Let me but see you, ladies, one hour hence, 
 And I '11 salute your grace of York as mother, 30 
 
 And reverend looker on, of two fair queens. 
 [To Anne} Come, madam, you must straight to West- 
 minster, 
 There to be crowned Richard's royal queen. 
 
 Q. Eliz. O, cut my lace in sunder, that my pent heart 
 May have some scope to beat, or else I swoon 
 With this dead-killing news ! 
 
 Anne. Despiteful tidings ! O unpleasing news ! 
 
 Dor. Be of good cheer : mother, how fares your grace ? 
 
 Q. Eliz. O Dorset, speak not to me, get thee hence ! 
 Death and destruction dog thee at the heels ; 40 
 
 Thy mother's name is ominous to children. 
 If thou wilt outstrip death, go cross the seas, 
 
74 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 And live with Richmond, from the reach of hell : 
 Go, hie thee, hie thee from this slaughter-house^ ( 
 Lest thou increase the number oTThedead ; 
 And make me die the thrall of Margaret's curse, 
 Nor mother, wife, nor England's counted queen. 
 
 Stan. Full of wise care is this your counsel, madam. 
 Take all the swift advantage of the hours ; 
 You shall have letters from me to my son 
 To meet you on the way, and welcome you. 
 Be not ta'en tardy by unwise delay. 
 
 Duck. O ill-dispersing wind of misery ! 
 
 my accursed womb 7 the bed_of death ! 
 
 A cockatrice hast thou hatch'd to the world, :i 
 Whose unavoided eye is, murderous. 
 Stan. Come, madam, come ; I in all haste was sent. 
 
 Anne. - And I in all unwillingness will go. 
 
 1 would to -God that the inclusive verge 
 Of golden metal that must round my brow 
 Were red-hot steel, to sear me to the brain ! 
 Anointed let me be with deadlyvejiQm, 
 
 And die, ere men can say^GocHsave the queen ! 
 
 Q. Eliz. Go, go, poor soul, I envy not thy glory ; 
 To feed my humour, wish thyself no harm. 
 
 Anne. No ! why ? When he that is my husband ndw 
 Came to me, as I followed Henry's corse, 
 When scarce the,Jblooji,,was well wash'd from his hands 
 Which issued from my other angel husband 
 And that dead saint which then I weeping followed ; 70 
 O, when, I say, I look'd on Richard's face, 
 This was my wish : 'Be thou,' quoth I, ' accursed, 
 For making me, so young, so old a widow ! 
 And, when thou wed'st, let sorrow haunt thy bed ; 
 And be thy wife if any be so mad 
 As miserable by the life of thee 
 As thou hast made me by my dear lord's death !' 
 Lo, ere I can repeat this curse again, 
 Even in so short a 'space, my woman's heart 
 
ACT IV. SCENE IT. 75 
 
 Grossly grew captive to his honey words 80 
 
 the, subject of my own soul's curse r ^ 
 
 Which ever since hath kept my eyes from rest ; 
 
 For never yet one hour in his bed f 
 
 Have I enjoy'd the golden dew of sleep, 
 
 But have been waked by his timorous dreams. 
 
 Besides, he hates me for my father Warwick ; 
 
 And will, no doubt, shortly be rid of me. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Poor heart, adieu ! I pity thy complaining. 
 
 Anne. No more than from my soul I mourn for yours. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Farewell, thou woful welcomer of glory ! 90 
 
 Anne. Adieu, poor soul, that takest thy leave of it ! 
 
 Duck. [To Dorset] Go thou to Richmond, and good for- 
 tune guide thee ! 
 
 [To Anne] Go thou to Richard, and good angels guard thee ! 
 [To Queen Elizl\ Go thou to sanctuary, and good thoughts 
 
 possess thee ! 
 
 I to my grave, where peace and rest lie with me ! 
 Eighty odd years of sorrow have I seen, 
 And each hour's joy wreck'd with a week of teen. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Stay, yet look back with me unto the Tower. 
 Pity, you ancient stones, those tender babes 
 Whom envy hath immured within your walls ! loo 
 
 Rough cradle for such little pretty ones ! 
 Rude ragged nurse, old sullen playfellow 
 For tender princes, use my babies well ! 
 So foolish sorrow bids your stones farewell. [Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE II. London. The palace. 
 
 Sennet. Enter RICHARD, in pomp, crowned; BUCKING- 
 HAM, CATESBY, a Page, and others. 
 
 K. Rich. Stand all apart. Cousin of Buckingham! 
 Buck. My gracious sovereign? 
 
76 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 K. Rich. Give me thy hand. [Here he ascendeth his 
 
 throne.] Thus high, by thy advice 
 And thy assistance, is King Richard seated : 
 But shall we wear these honours for a day? 
 Or shall they last, and we rejoice in them? 
 
 Buck. Still live they and for ever may they last ! 
 
 K. Rich. O Buckingham, now do I play the touch, 
 To try if thou be current gold indeed : 
 Young Edward lives : think now what I would say. 10 
 
 Buck. Say on, my loving lord. 
 
 K. Rich. Why, Buckingham, I say, I would be king. 
 
 Buck. Why, so you are, my thrice renowned liege. 
 
 K. Rich. Ha! am I king? 'tis so: but Edward lives. 
 
 Buck. True, noble prince. 
 
 K. Rich. . . O bitter consequence, 
 
 That Edward still should live true noble prince ! 
 Cousin, thou wert not wont to be so dull : 
 Shall I be plain ? I wish the bastards dead ; 
 And I would have it suddenly perform'd. 
 What sayest thou? speak suddenly; be brief. 20 
 
 Buck. Your grace may do your pleasure. 
 
 K. Rich. Tut, tut, thou art all ice, thy kindness freezeth : 
 Say, have I thy consent that they shall die? 
 
 Buck. Give me some breath, some little pause, my lord, 
 Before I positively speak herein : 
 I will resolve your grace immediately. \Exit. 
 
 Gate. [Aside to a stander by\ The king is angry : see, 
 he bites the lip. 
 
 K. Rich. I will converse with iron-witted fools 
 And unrespective boys : none are for me 
 That look into me with considerate eyes : 30 
 
 High-reaching Buckingham grows circumspect 
 Boy! 
 
 Page. My lord? 
 
 K. Rich, fcnow'st thou not any whom corrupting gold 
 
ACT IV. SCENE II. 77 
 
 Would tempt unto a close exploit of death ? 
 
 Page. My lord, I know a discontented' gentleman, 
 Whose humble means match not his haughty mind : 
 Gold were as good as twenty orators, 
 And will, no doubt; tempt him to any thing. 39 
 
 K. Rich. What is his name ? 
 
 Page. His name, my lord, is Tyrrel. 
 
 K. Rich. I partly know the man : go, call him hither. 
 
 \Exit Page. 
 
 ( The deep-revolving witty Buckingham 
 j No more shall be the neighbour to my counsel: 
 ! Hath he so long held out with me untired, 
 kAnd stops he now for breath ? 
 
 Enter STANLEY. 
 
 How now ! what news with you ? 
 
 Stan. My lord, I hear the Marquis Dorset's fled 
 To Richmond, in those parts beyond the seas 
 Where he abides. {Stands apart. 
 
 K. Rich. Catesby ! 50 
 
 Cate. My lord? 
 
 K. Rich. Rumour it abroad 
 That Anne, my wife, is sick and like to die: 
 I will take order for her keeping close. 
 Inquire me out some mean-born gentleman, 
 Whom I will marry straight to Clarence' daughter : 
 The boy is foolish, and I fear not him. 
 Look, how thou dream'st ! I say again, give out 
 That Anne my wife is sick and like to die : 
 About it ; for it stands me much upon, 60 
 
 To stop all hopes whose growth may damage me. 
 
 [Exit Catesby. 
 
 I must be married to my brother's daughter, 
 Or else my kingdom stands on brittle glass. *ur 
 
 Murder her brothers, -and then marry her ! J J If* 
 
 Uncertain way of gain ! But I am in 
 So far in blood that sin will pluck on sin 
 
78 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Tear-falling pity dwells not in this eye. 
 
 Re-enter Page, with TYRREL. 
 
 Is thy name Tyrrel? 
 
 Tyr. James Tyrrel, and your most pbedient subject. 
 * K. Rich. Art thou, indeed ? 
 
 Tyr. Prove me, my gracious sovereign. 
 
 K. Rich. Darest thou resolve to kill a friend of mine ? 
 
 Tyr. Ay, my lord ; 72 
 
 But I had rather kill two. enemies. 
 
 K. Rich. Why, there thou hast it : two deep enemies, 
 Foes to my rest and my sweet sleep's disturbers 
 Are they that I would have thee deal upon : 
 Tyrrel, I mean those bastards in the Tower. 
 
 Tyr. Let me have open means to come to them, 
 And soon I '11 rid you from the fear of them. 
 
 K. Rich. Thou sing'st sweet music. Hark, come hither, 
 Tyrrel : 80 
 
 Go, by this token: rise, and lend thine ear: \Whispers. 
 There is.no more but so : say it is done, 
 And I will love thee, and prefer thee too. 
 
 Tyr. 'Tis done, my gracious lord. 
 
 K. Rich. Shall we hear from thee, Tyrrel, ere we sleep ? 
 
 Tyr. Ye shall, my lord, {Exit. 
 
 Re-enter BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 Buck. My lord, I have considered in my mind 
 The late demand that you did sound me in. 
 
 K. Rich. Well, let that pass. Dorset is fled to Rich- 
 mond. 
 
 Buck. I hear that news, my lord. 90 
 
 K. Rich. Stanley, he is your wife's son : well, look to it. 
 
 Buck. My lord, I claim your gift, my due by promise, 
 For which your honour and your faith is pawn'd ; " 
 The earldom of Hereford and the moveables 
 The which you promised I should possess. 
 
ACT IV. SCENE II. 79 
 
 K. Rich. Stanley, look to your wife : if she convey 
 Letters to Richmond, you shall answer rt 
 
 Buck. What says your highness to my just demand ? 
 
 K. Rich. As I remember, Henry the Sixth 
 Did prophesy that Richmond should be king, 100 
 
 When Richmond was a little peevish boy. 
 A king, perhaps, perhaps, 
 
 Buck. My lord ! 
 
 K. Rich. How chance the prophet could not at that time 
 Have told me, I being by, that I should kill him? 
 
 Buck. My lord, your promise for the earldom, 
 
 K. Rich. Richmond ! When last I was at Exeter, 
 The mayor in courtesy show'd me the castle, 
 And call'd it Rougemont : at which name I started 
 Because a bard of Ireland told me once, 
 I should not live long after I saw Richmond. 
 
 Buck. My lord ! 
 
 K. Rich. Ay, what 's o'clock ? 
 
 Buck. I am thus bold to put your grace in mind 
 Of what you promised me. 
 
 K. Rich. Well, but what's o'clock? . 
 
 Buck. Upon the stroke of ten. 
 
 K. Rich. Well, let it strike. 
 
 Buck. Why let it strike? 
 
 K. Rich. Because that, like a Jack, thou keep'st the 
 
 stroke 
 
 Betwixt thy begging and my meditation. 
 I am not in the giving vein to-day. 120 
 
 Buck. Why, then resolve me whether you will or no. 
 
 K. Rich. Tut, tut, 
 Thou troublest me ; I am not in the vein. 
 
 [Exeunt all but Buckingham. 
 
 Buck. Is it even so? rewards he my 'true service 
 With such deep contempt ? made I him king for this ? 
 O, let me think on Hastings, and be gone 
 To Brecknock, while my fearful head is on ! [Exit. 
 
8o KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 SCENE III. The same. 
 Enter TYRREL. 
 
 Tyr. The tyrannous and bloody deed is done, 
 The most arch act of piteous massacre 
 That ever yet this land was guilty of. 
 Dighton and Forrest, whom I did suborn 
 To do this ruthless piece of butchery, 
 Although they were flesh'd villains, bloody dogs, 
 Melting with tenderness and kind compassion 
 Wept like two children in their deaths' sad stories. 
 'Lo, thus,' quoth Dighton, 'lay those tender babes': 
 'Thus, thus,' quoth Forrest, 'girdling one another 10 
 
 Within their innocent alabaster arms : 
 Their lips were four red roses on a stalk, 
 Which in their summer beauty kiss'd each other. 
 A book of prayers on their pillow lay ; 
 Which once,' quoth Forrest, ' almost changed my mind ; 
 But O ! the devil ' there the villain stopp'd ; 
 Whilst Dighton thus told on: 'We smothered 
 The most replenished sweet work of nature, 
 That from the prime creation e'er she framed.' 
 Thus both are gone with conscience and remorse ; 20 
 They could not speak ; and so I left them both, 
 To bring this tidings to the bloody king. 
 And here he comes. 
 
 Enter KING RICHARD. 
 
 All hail, my sovereign liege ! 
 
 K. Rich. Kind Tyrrel, am I happy in thy news ? 
 
 Tyr. If to have done the thing you gave in charge 
 Beget your happiness, be happy then, 
 For it is done, my lord. 
 
 K. Rich. But didst thou see them dead ? 
 
 Tyr. I did, my lord. 
 
 K. Rich. And buried, gentle Tyrrel ? 
 
 7yr. The chaplain of the Tower hath buried them ; 
 
ACT IV. SCENE IV. 8 1 
 
 But how or in what place I do not know. 30 
 
 K. Rich. Come to me, Tyrrel, soon at after supper, 
 And thou shalt tell the process of their death. 
 Meantime, but think how I may do thee good, 
 And be inheritor of thy desire. 
 
 Farewell till soon. \Exit Tyrrel. 
 
 The son of Clarence have I pent up close ; 
 His daughter meanly have I match'd in marriage ; 
 The sons of Edward sleep in Abraham's bosom, 
 And Anne my wife hath bid the world good night. 
 Now, for I know the Breton Richmond aims 40 
 
 At young Elizabeth, my brother's daughter, 
 And, by that knot, looks proudly o'er the crown, 
 To her I go, a jolly thriving wooer. 
 
 Enter CATESBY. 
 
 Cafe. My lord ! 
 
 K. Rich. Good news or bad, that thou comest in so 
 bluntly ? 
 
 Cate. Bad news, my lord : Ely is fled to Richmond ; 
 And Buckingham, back'd with the hardy Welshmen, 
 Is in the field, and still his power increaseth. 
 
 K. Rich. Ely with Richmond troubles me more near 4 
 Than Buckingham and his rash-levied army. 50 
 
 Come, I have heard that fearful commenting 
 Is leaden servitor to dull delay ; 
 Delay leads impotent and snail-paced beggary: 
 Then fiery expedition be my wing, 
 Jove's Mercury, and herald for a king ! 
 Come, muster men : my counsel is my shield ; 
 We must be brief when traitors brave the field. [Exeunt 
 
 SCENE IV. Before the palace. 
 Enter QUEEN MARGARET. 
 
 Q. Mar. So, now prosperity begins to mellow - 
 And drop into the rotten mouth of death. 
 
 G 
 
82 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Here in these confines slily have I lurk'd, 
 
 To watch the waning of mine adversaries. 
 
 A dire induction am I witness to, 
 
 And will to France, hoping the consequence 
 
 Will prove as bitter, black, and tragical. 
 
 Withdraw thee, wretched Margaret : who comes here ? 
 
 Enter QUEEN ELIZABETH and the DUCHESS OF YORK. 
 
 Q. Eliz. AtTpmy young princes ! ah, my tender babes ! 
 My unblow^i flowersy new-appearing sweets 1 10 
 
 If yet your geritle'souls fly in the air 
 And be not fix'd in doom perpetual, 
 Hover about me with your airy wings, 
 And hear your mother's lamentation ! 
 
 Q. Mar. Hover about her ; say, that right for right 
 Hath dimm'd youronfant morn toaged night. 
 
 Duch. So many miseries have crazed my~voice, 
 That my woe-wearied tongue is mute and dumb,. 
 Edward Plantagenet, why art thou dead? 
 
 Q. Mar. Plantagenet doth quit Plantagenet. 20 
 
 * Edward for Edward pa^s a dying debt. 
 
 .' Q. Eliz. Wilt thou, O God, fly from such gentle lambs, 
 
 And throw them in the -entrails of the wolf? 
 ; When didst thou sleep when such a deed was done? 
 
 Q. Mar. When holy Harry died, and my sweet son. 
 
 Duch. Blind sight, dead life, poor mortal living ghost, 
 Woe's scene, world's shame, grave's due by life usurp'd, ' 
 Brief abstract and record of tedious days, 
 
 -20 R est thywttegj^on England's lawful earth, [Sitting down. 
 Unlawfully made drunk with innocents 7 blood ! 30 
 
 Q- Eliz. O, that thou wouldst as well afford a grave 
 As thou canst yield a melancholy seat ! 
 Then would I hide my bones, not rest them here. 
 O, who hath any cause to mourn but I ? 
 
 [Sitting down by her. 
 
 Q. Mar. If ancient sorrow be most reverend, 
 Give mine the benefit of seniory, 
 
ACT IV. SCENE IV. 83 
 
 And let my woes frown on the upper hand. 
 
 If sorrow can admit society, [Sitting down with them. 
 
 Tell o'er your woes again by viewing mine : 
 
 I had an Edward, till a Richard kill'd him ; 40 
 
 I had a Harry, till a Richard kill'd him : 
 
 Thou hadst an Edward, till a Richard kill'd him ; 
 
 Thou hadst a Richard, till a Richard kill'd him. 
 
 Duch. I had a Richard too, and thou didst kill him ; 
 I had a Rutland too, thou holp'st to kill him. 
 
 Q. Mar. Thou hadst a Clarence too, and Richard kilPd 
 i him. 
 
 From forth the kennel of thy womb hath crept 
 A hell-hound that doth hunt us all to death : 
 That dog, that had his teeth before his eyes, 
 To worry lambs and lap their gentle blood, 
 That foul defacer of God's handiwork, 
 That excellent grand tyrant of the earth, 
 That reigns in galled eyes of weeping souls, 
 Thy^ombjit loose, to chase us to our graves.; 
 O uprtfn^just, and true-disposing God, 
 How do I thank thee, that this carnal cur 
 Preys on the issue of his mother's body, 
 And makes her pew-fellow with others' moan!' 
 
 Ditch. O Harry's wife, triumph not in my woes 1 
 God witness with me, I have wept for thine. 60 
 
 Q. Mar. Bear with me ; I am hungry for revenge, 
 And now I cloy me with beholding it. 
 Thy Edward he is dead, that stabb'd my Edward ; 
 Thy other Edward dead, to quit my Edward ; 
 Young York he is but boot, because both they 
 Match not the high perfection of my loss : 
 Thy Clarence he is dead that kill'd my Edward ; 
 And the beholders of this tragic play, 
 The adulterate Hastings, Rivers, Vaughan, 
 Untimely smother'd in their dusky graves. 
 Richard yet lives, hell's black intelligencer, 
 Only reserved their factor, to buy souls" 
 And send them thither : but at hand, at hand, 
 G 2 
 
84 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Ensues his piteous and unpitied end : 
 
 Earth gapes, hell burns, fiends roar, saints pray, 
 
 To have him suddenly convey'd away. 
 
 Cancel his bond of life, dear God, I pray, 
 
 That I may live to say, The dog is deadj 
 
 Q. Eliz. O, thou didst prophesy the time would come 
 
 That I should wish for thee to help me curse 80 
 
 That bottled spider, that foul bunch-back'd toad ! 
 
 Q. Mar. I call'd thee then vain flourish of my fortune ; 
 
 I call'd thee then poor shadow, painted queen : ^ tl ^/T 
 
 The presentation of but what I was ; 
 
 The flattering index of a direful pageant ; 
 
 One heaved a-high, to be hurl'd down below; 
 
 A mother only mock'd with two sweet babes ; 
 
 A dream of what thou wert, a breath, a bubble, 
 
 A sign of dignity, a garish flag, 
 
 To be the aim of every dangerous shot ; 90 
 
 A queen in jest, only to fill the scene. 
 
 Where is thy husband now ? where be thy brothers ? 
 
 W T here are thy children ? wherein dost thou joy ? 
 
 Who sues to thee and cries ' God save the queen ' ? 
 
 Where be the bending peers that flatter'd thee ? 
 
 Where be the thronging troops that followed thee? 
 
 Decline all this, and see what now thou art : 
 
 For happy wife, a most distressed widow ; 
 
 For joyful mother, one that wails the name ; 
 
 For queen, a very caitiff crown'd with care ; 100 
 
 For one being sued to, one that humbly sues ; : 
 
 For one that scorn'd at me, now scorn'd of me ; 
 % For one being fear'd of all, now fearing one ; 
 \ For one commanding all, obeyed of none. J ~"f~*-/} * 
 
 \ Thus hath the course of justice wheel'd about,/ /. ,-/, / , 
 \ And left thee but a very prey to time ; 
 \ Having no more but thought of what thou wert, 
 .' \To torture thee the more, being what thou art. 
 / y Thou didst usurp my place, and dost thou not 
 / Usurp the just proportion of my sorrow? no 
 
 / Now thy proud neck bears half my burthen'd yoke ; 
 
ACT IV. SCENE IV. 85 
 
 From which even here I slip my weary neck, 
 And leave the burthen of it all on thee. 
 Farewell, York's wife, and queen of sad mischance : 
 These English woes will make me smile in France. 
 
 ^Q. Eliz. O thou well skill'd in curses, stay awhile, 
 And teach me how to curse mine enemies ! 
 
 Q. Mar. Forbear to sleep the nights, and fast the days ; 
 Compare dead happiness with living woe ; 
 Think that thy babes were fairer than they were, 120 
 And he that slew them fouler than he is ; 
 Bettering thy loss makes the bad causer worse : 
 Revolving this will teach thee how to curse. 
 
 Q. Eliz. My words are dull ; O, quicken them with thine 1 
 
 Q. Mar. Thy woes will make them sharp, and pierce 
 like mine. \Exit. 
 
 Duck. Why should calamity be full of words ? 
 
 Q. Eliz. Windy attorneys to their client woes, 
 Airy succeeders of intestate joys, 
 Poor breathing orators of miseries ! 
 
 Let them have scope : though what they do impart 130 
 Help not at all, yet do they ease the heart. 
 
 Duck. If so, then be not tongue-tied : go with me, 
 And in the breath of bitter words let 's smother 
 My damned son, which thy two sweet sons smother'd. 
 I hear his drum : be copious in .exclaims. 
 
 Enter KING RICHARD, marching, with drums and 
 trumpets. 
 
 K. Rich. Who intercepts my expedition ? 
 Duch. O, she that might have intercepted thee, 
 By strangling thee in her accursed womb. 
 
 From all the slaughters, wretch, that thc^fi hast done ! fi 
 Q. Eliz. Hidest thou that forehead with a golden crown, 
 Where should be graven, if that right were right, 141 -' 
 The slaughter of the prince that owed that crown, 
 And the dire death of my two sons and brothers ? 
 Tell me, thou villain slave, where are my children ? 
 
86 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Duch. Thou toad, thou toad, where is thy brother Clarence? 
 -And little Ned Plantagenet, his son ? 
 
 Q. Eliz. Where is kind Hastings, Rivers, Vaughan, Grey?^ 
 
 K. Rich. A flourish, trumpets ! strike alarum, drums ! 
 Let not the heavens hear these tell-tale women 
 Rail on the Lord's anointed : strike, I say ! 1 50 
 
 [Flourish. Alarums. 
 Either be patient, and entreat me fair, 
 Or with the clamorous report of war 
 Thus will I drown your exclamations. 
 
 Duch. Art thou my son ? 
 
 K. Rich. Ay, I thank God, my father, and yourself. 
 
 Duch. Then patiently hear my impatience. 
 
 K. Rich. Madam, I have a touch of your condition, 
 Which cannot brook the accent of reproof. 
 
 Duch. O, let me speak ! 
 
 K. Rich. Do then ; but I '11 not 'hear. 
 
 Duch. I will be mild and gentle in my speech. 160 
 
 K. Rich. And brief, good mother ; for I am in haste. 
 
 Duch. Art thou so hasty ? I have stay'd for thee, 
 God knows, in anguish, pain and agony. 
 
 K. Rich. And came I not at last to comfort you ? 
 
 Duch. No, by the holy rood, thou know'st it well, 
 fThou earnest on earth to make the earth my hell, 
 f A grievous burthen was thy birth to me ; 
 Tetchy and wayward was thy infancy ; 
 Thy school-days frightful, desperate, wild, and furious, 
 Thy prime of manhood- daring, bold, and venturous, 170 
 Thy age confirmed, proud, subtle, bloody, treacherous ; 
 More mild, but yet more harmful ; kind in hatred : 
 What comfortable hour canst thou name, 
 That ever graced me in thy company? 
 
 K. Rich. Faith, none, but Humphrey Hour, that call'd 
 
 your grace 
 
 To breakfast once forth of my company. 
 If I be so disgracious in your sight, 
 
ACT IV. SCENE IV. 87 
 
 Let me march on, and not offend your grace. 
 Strike up the drum. 
 
 Duch. I prithee, hear me speak. 
 
 K. Rich. You speak too bitterly. 
 
 Duch. * Hear me a word ; 180 
 
 For I shall never speak to thee again. 
 
 K.Rich. So. 
 
 . Duch. Either thou wilt die, by God's just ordinance, 
 Ere from this war thou turn a conqueror, 
 Or I with grief and extreme age shall perish 
 And never look upon thy face again. 
 Therefore take with thee my most heavy curse ; 
 Which, in the day of battle, tire thee more 
 Than 'all the complete armour that thou wear'st ! 
 My prayers on the adverse party fight ; 190 
 
 And there the little souls of Edward's children 
 Whisper the spirits of thine enemies 
 And promise them success and victory. 
 Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end ; 
 Shame . serves thy life and doth thy death attend* \Exit. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Though far more cause, yet much less spirit 
 
 to curse 
 Abides in me ; I say amen to all. 
 
 K. Rich. Stay, madam ; I must speak a word with you. v . 
 
 Q. Eliz. I have no moe sons 'of the royal blood 
 For thee to murder : for my daughters, Richard, 200 
 
 They shall be praying nuns, not weeping queens ; 
 And therefore level not to hit their lives. 
 
 K. Rich. YOU have a daughter call'd Elizabeth, 
 Virtuous and fair, royal and gracious. 
 
 Q. Eliz. And must she die for this ? O, let her live 
 And I'll corrupt her manners, stain her beauty; 
 Slander myei~as false^ to Edward's bed ; 
 Throw over her the jyeil of mfamy, ; 
 So she may live unscarr 7 d oiTJleeding slaughter, 
 I will- confess she was not Edward's daughter. / 210 
 
 A 
 
88 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 K. Rich. Wrong not her birth, she is of royal blood. 
 
 Q. Eliz. To save her life, 111 say she is not so. 
 
 K. Rich. Her life is only safest in her birth. 
 
 Q. Eliz. And only in that safety died her brothers. 
 
 K. Rich. Lo, at their births good stars were opposite. 
 
 Q. Eliz. No, to their lives bad friends were contrary. 
 
 K. Rich. All unavoided is the doom of destiny. 
 
 Q. Eliz. True, when avoided grace makes destiny :. 
 My babes were destined to a fairer, death, " 
 If grace had bless'd thee with a fairer life. 220 
 
 K. Rich. You speak as if that I had slain my cousins. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Cousins, indeed ; and by their uncle cozen'd. 
 Of comfort, kingdom, kindred, freedom, life. 
 Whose hand soever lanced their tender hearts, 
 Thy head, all indirectly, gave direction : 
 No doubt the murderous knife was dull and blunt 
 Till it was whetted on thy stone-hard heart, 
 To revel in the entrails of my lambs, 
 But that still use of grief makes'^wiIcT grief tame, 
 My tongue should to thy ears not name my boys 230 
 Till that my nails were anchor'd in thine eyes ; 
 . And I, in such a desperate bay of death, 
 I Like a poor bark, of sails and tackling reft, 
 Rush all to pieces on thy rocky bosom. 
 
 K. Rich. Madam, so thrive I in my enterprise 
 And dangerous success of bloody wars, 
 As I intend more good to you and yours 
 Than ever you or yours were by me wrong'd ! 
 
 Q. Eliz. What good is cover'd with the face of henven, 
 To be discover'd, that can do me good? 240 
 
 K. Rich. The advancement of your children, gentle lady. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Up to some scaffold, there to lose their hc. s? 
 
 K. Rich. No, to the dignity and height of honour, 
 The high imperial type, of this earth's glory. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Flatter my sorrows with report of it ; 
 
ACT IV. SCENE IV. 89 
 
 Tell me what state, what dignity,' what honour, 
 Canst thou derjiise^tlo any child of mine ? 
 
 K. Rich. Even all I have ; yea, and myself and all, 
 Will I withal endow a child of thine ; 
 So in the Lethe of thy angry soul 250 
 
 Thou drown the sad remembrance of those wrongs 
 . Which thou supposest I have done to thee. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Be brief, lest that the process of thy kindness 
 Last longer telling than thy kindness' date. 
 
 K. Rich. Then know, that from my soul I love thy 
 daughter. 
 
 Q. Eliz. My daughter's mother thinks it with her soul. 
 
 K. Rich. What do you think ? 
 
 Q. Eliz. That thou dost love my daughter from thy soul : 
 So from thy soul's love didst thou love her brothers ; 
 And from my heart's love I do thank thee for it. 260 
 
 K. Rich. Be not so hasty to confound my meaning : 
 I mean, that with my soul I love thy daughter, 
 And mean to make her queen of England. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Say then, who dost thou mean shall be her king ? 
 
 K. Rich. Even he that makes her queen : who should 
 be else ? 
 
 g. Eliz. What, thou ? 
 
 K. Rich. I, even I : what think you of it, madam? 
 - Q. Eliz. How canst thou woo her ? 
 
 K. Rich. That would I learn of you, 
 
 As one that are best acquainted with her humour. 269 
 
 Q. Eliz. And wilt thou learn of me ? 
 
 K. Rich. Madam, with all my heart. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Send to her, by the man that slew her brothers, 
 A pair of bleeding hearts ; thereon engrave 
 Edward and York ; then haply she will weep : 
 Therefore present to her, as sometime Margaret 
 Did to thy father, steep'd in Rutland's blood, 
 A handkerchief^ which, say to her, did drain 
 The purple-'jsap jfrom her sweet brother's body. 
 
90 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 And bid her dry her weeping eyes therewith. 
 
 If this inducement force her not to love, 
 
 Send her a story of thy noble acts ; 280 
 
 Tell her thou madest away her uncle Clarence, 
 
 Her uncle Rivers ; yea, and, for her sake, 
 
 Madest quick conveyance with her good aunt Anne. 
 
 K. Rich. Come, come, you mock me ; this is not the way 
 To win your daughter. 
 
 Q. Eliz. There is no other way ; 
 
 Unless thou couldst put on some other shape, 
 And not be Richard that hath done all this. 
 
 K. Rich. Say that I did all this for love of her. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Nay, then indeed she cannot choose but hate 
 
 thee, 
 Having bought love with such a bloody spoil. 290 
 
 K. Rich. Look, what is done cannot be now amended : 
 Men shall deal unadvisedly sometimes, 
 Which after hours give leisure to repent. 
 If I did take the kingdom from your sons, 
 To make amends, I ; 11 give it to your daughter. 
 If I have kill'd the issue of your womb, 
 To quicken your increase, I will beget 
 Mine issue of your blood upon your daughter : 
 A grandam's name is little less in love 
 Than is the doting title of a mother ; 300 
 
 They are as children but one step below, 
 Even of your mettle, of your very blood ; 
 Of all one pain, save for a night of groans 
 Endured of her, for whom you bid like sorrow. 
 Your children were vexatious to your youth, 
 But mine shall be a comfort to your age. 
 The loss you have is but a son being king, 
 And by that loss your daughter is made queen. 
 I cannot make you what amends I would, 
 Therefore accept such kindness as I can. 310 
 
 Dorset your son, that with a fearful soul 
 Leads discontented steps in foreign soil, 
 
ACT IV. SCENE IV. 91 
 
 This fair alliance quickly shall call home 
 
 To high promotions and great dignity : 
 
 The king, that calls your beauteous daughter wife, 
 
 Familiarly shall call thy Dorset brother ; 
 
 Again shall you be mother to a king, 
 
 And all the ruins of distressful times 
 
 Repair'd with double riches of content. 
 
 What ! we have many goodly days to see : 3 2 
 
 The liquid drops of tears that you have shed 
 
 Shall come again, transform'd to orient pearl, 
 
 Advantaging their loan with interest 
 
 Of ten times double gain of happiness. 
 
 Go, then, my mother, to thy daughter go ; 
 
 Make bold her bashful years with your experience; 
 
 Prepare her ears to hear a wooer's tale ; j 
 
 Put in her tender heart the Aspiring flame /^ 
 
 Of golden sovereignty ; acquaint tne princess 
 
 With the sweet silent hours of marriage joys ; 330 
 
 And when this arm of mine hath chastised 
 
 The petty rebel, dull-brain'd Buckingham, 
 
 Bound with triumphant garlands will I come 
 
 And lead thy daughter to a conqueror's bed ; 
 
 To whom I will retail my conquest won, 
 
 And she shall be sole victress, Caesar's Caesar. 
 
 Q. Eliz. What were I best to say ? her father's brother 
 Would be her lord ? or shall I say, her uncle ? 
 Or, he that slew her brothers and her uncles? 
 Under what title shall I woo for thee, 340 
 
 That God, the law, my honour and her love, 
 Can make seem pleasing to her tender years ? 
 
 K. Rich. Infer fair England's peace by this alliance. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Which she shall purchase with still lasting war. 
 
 K. RLh. Say that the king, which may command, entreats. 
 
 Q. Eliz. That at her hands which the king's Kin^forbids. 
 
 K. Rich. Say, she shall be a high and mighty queen. 
 
 Q. Eliz. To wail the title, as her mother doth. 
 
 K. Rich. Say, I will love her everlastingly. 
 
92 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Q. Eliz. But how long shall that title 'ever' last? 350 
 
 K. Rich. Sweetly in force unto her fair life's end. 
 
 Q. Eliz. But how long fairly shall her sweet life last ? 
 
 K. Rich. So long as heaven and nature lengthens it. 
 
 Q. Eliz. So long as hell and Richard likes of it. 
 
 K. Rich. Say, I, her sovereign, am her subject love. 
 
 Q. Eliz. But she, your subject, loathes such sovereignty. 
 
 K. Rich. Be eloquent in my behalf to her. 
 ' :~Qr Eliz. An honest tale speeds best being plainly told. 
 
 K. Rich. Then in plain terms tell her my loving tale. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Plain and not honest is too harsh a style. 360 
 
 K. Rich. Your reasons are too shallow and too quick. 
 - Q. Eliz. O no, my reasons are too deep and dead ; 
 Too deep and dead, poor infants, in their grave. 
 
 K. Rich. Harp not on that string, madam ; that is past. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Harp on it still shall I till heartstrings break. 
 
 K. Rich. Now, by my George, my garter, and my crown, 
 
 Q. Eliz. Profaned, dishonour'd, and the third usurp'd. 
 
 K. Rich. I swear 
 
 Q. Eliz. A / By nothing ; for this is no oath : 
 
 The George, ' profaned, hath lost his holy honour ; 
 The garter, blemish'd,, pawn'd' his knightly virtue ; 370 
 The crown, usurp'd, disgraced his kingly glory. 
 If something thou wilt swear to be believed, 
 Swear then by something that thou hast not wrong'd. 
 
 K. Rich. Now, by the world 
 
 Q. Eliz. . . 'Tis full of thy foul wrongs. 
 
 K. Rich. My father's death 
 
 . Q. Eliz. Thy life hath that dishonour'd: 
 
 K. Rich. Then, by myself 
 
 Q. Eliz. Thyself thyself mjsusest. 
 
 K. Rich. Why then, by God 
 
 Q. Eliz. God's wrong is most of all. 
 
 If thou hadst fear'd to break an^oaflPHy Him, 
 
ACT IV. SCENE IV. 93 
 
 The unity the king thy brother made 
 
 Had not been broken, nor my brother slain : 380 
 
 If thou hadst fear'd to break an oath by Him, 
 
 The imperial metal, circling now thy brow, 
 
 Had graced the tender temples of my child, 
 
 And both the princes had been breathing here, 
 
 Which now, two tender playfellows for dust, 
 
 Thy broken faith hath made a prey for worms. 
 
 What canst thou swear by now? 
 
 K. Rich. JThe time tqjppmer/^ 
 
 Q. Eliz. Thatthou h^st wronged in the time o'erpast; 
 For I myselFTiave many tears to wash 
 Hereafter time, for time past wronged by rtiee. 390 
 
 The children live, whose parents thou hast slaughter'd, 
 Ungovern'd youth, to wail it in their age ; 
 The parents live, whose children thou hast butcher'd, 
 Ojd^witiier'd plants, to wail itwith their age. 
 Sweaf-aioLby time tpcpme ;/ ior""that thou hast 
 Misused ere used, by time misused o'erpast^ 
 
 K. Rich. As I intend to prosper and repent, 
 So thrive I in my dangerous attempt 
 Of hostile arms ! myself myself confound ! 
 Heaven and fortune bar me happy hours ! 400 
 
 Day, yield me not thy light ; nor, night, thy rest ! 
 Be opposite all planets of good luck 
 To my proceedings, if, with pure heart's love, 
 Immaculate devotion, holy thoughts, 
 I tender not thy beauteous princely daughter ! 
 In her consists my happiness and thine;, 
 Without her, follows to this land and me, j 
 To thee, herself, and many a Christian soul, 
 Death, desolation, ruin and decay : 
 
 It cannot be avoided but by this ; 410 
 
 It will not be avoided but by this. 
 Therefore, good mother, I must call you so 
 Be the attorney of my love to her : 
 Plead what I will be, not what I have been ; 
 Not my deserts, but what I will deserve : 
 
 /-/T / 
 
94 KWG RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Urge the necessity and state of times, 
 And be not peevish-fond in great designs. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Shall I be tempted of the devil thus ? 
 
 K. Rich. Ay, if the devil tempt thee to do good. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Shall I forget myself to be myself? 420 
 
 K. Rich. Ay, if yourself s remembrance wrong yourself. 
 
 Q. Eliz. But thou didst kill my children. 
 
 K. Rich. But in your daughter's womb I bury them : 
 Where in that nest of spicery they shall breed 
 Selves of themselves, to your recomforture. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Shall I go win my daughter to thy will ? 
 
 K. Rich. And be a happy mother by the deed. 
 
 Q. Eliz. I go. Write to me very shortly, 
 And you shall understand from me her mind. 
 
 K. Rich. Bear her my true love's kiss ; and so farewell. 
 
 \Exit Qiteen Elizabeth. , 
 Relenting fool, and shallow, changing woman! 431 
 
 Enter RATCLIFF ; Zxwsm following. * 
 
 How now ! what news ? 
 
 Rat. My gracious sovereign, on the western coast 
 Rideth a puissant navy ; to the shore 
 Throng many doubtful hollow-hearted friends, 
 Unarm'd, and unresolved to beat them back : 
 'Tis thought that Richmond is their admiral; 
 And there they hull, expecting but the aid 
 Of Buckingham to welcome them ashore. 
 
 K. Rich. Some light-foot friend post to the Duke of 
 Norfolk : 440 
 
 Ratcliff, thyself, or Catesby ; where is he ? 
 
 Gate. Here, my lord. 
 
 K. Rich. Fly to the duke : [To Ratcliff] Post thou to 
 
 Salisbury : 
 When thou comest thither, [To Catesby] Dull, unmindful 
 
 villain, 
 Why stand'st thou still, and go'st not to the duke ? 
 
ACT IV. SCENE IV. 95 
 
 Cate. First, mighty sovereign, let me know your mind, 
 What from your grace I shall deliver to him. 
 
 K. Rich. O, true, good Catesby : bid him levy straight 
 The greatest strength and power he can make, 
 And meet me presently at Salisbury. 450 
 
 Cate. I go. [Exit. 
 
 Rat. What is't your highness' pleasure I shall do 
 At Salisbury? 
 
 K. Rich. Why, what wouldst thou do there before I go? 
 Rat. Your highness told me I should post before. 
 
 K. Rich. My mind is changed, sir, my mind is 
 
 fc ****^' MIII * ~^$tf ' ' ' * 
 
 Enter LORD STANLEY. X/x) **f* 
 
 How now, what news with you? ^ <shs4>^ 
 
 Stan. None good, my lord, to please you with the 
 
 hearing ; 
 Nor none so bad, but it may well be told. 
 
 K. Rich. Hoyday, a riddle ! neither good nor bad ! 460 
 Why dost thou run so many mile about, 
 When thou mayst tell thy tale a nearer way? 
 Once more, what news ? 
 
 Stan. Richmond is on the /seas. 
 
 K. Rich. There let him sink, and be the sea^ on him ! 
 White-liver'd runagate, what doth he there ? 
 
 Stan. I know not, mighty sovereign, but by guess. 
 
 K. Rich. Well, sir, as you guess, as you guess ? 
 
 Stan. Stirr'd up by Dorset, Buckingham, and Ely, 
 He makes for England, there to claim the crown. 
 
 K. Rich. Is the chair empty ? is the sword unsway'd ? 
 Is the king dead? the empire unpossessed? 471 
 
 What heir of York is there alive but we ? 
 And who is England's king but great York's heir? 
 Then, tell me, what doth he upon the sea? 
 
 Stan. Unless for that, my liege, I cannot guess. 
 
 K. Rich. Unless for that he comes to be your liege, 
 
96 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 You cannot guess wherefore the Welshman comes. 
 Thou wilt revolt, and fly to him, I fear. 
 
 Stan. No, mighty liege ; therefore mistrust me not. 
 
 K. Rich. Where is thy power, then, to beat him back ? 
 Where are thy tenants and thy followers ? 48 1 " 
 
 Are they not now upon the western shore, 
 Safe-conducting the rebels from their ships ? 
 
 Stan. No, my good lord, my friends are in the north., 
 
 K. Rich^ Cold friends to Richard: what do they in the north, 
 When they should serve their sovereign in the west ? 
 
 Stan. They have not been commanded, mighty sovereign : 
 Please it your majesty to give me leave, 
 I'll muster up my friends, and meet your grace 
 Where and what time your majesty shall please. 490 
 
 K. Rich. Ay,' ay, thou wouldst be gone to join with 
 
 Richmond : 
 I will not .trust you, sir. 
 
 Stan. Most mighty sovereign, 
 
 You have no cause to hold my friendship doubtful : 
 I never was nor never will be false. 
 
 K. 'Rich. Well, 
 
 Go muster men ; but, hear you, leave behind 
 Your son, George Stanley : look your faith be firm, 
 Or else his head's assurance is but frail. 
 
 Stan.. So deal with him as I prove true to you. \Exit. 
 Enter a Messenger. 
 
 Mess. My gracious sovereign, now in Devonshire, 500 
 As I by friends am well advertised, 
 Sir Edward Courtney, and the haughty prelate 
 Bishop of Exeter, his brother there, 
 With many moe confederates, are in arms. 
 
 Enter another Messenger. 
 
 Sec. Mess. My liege, in Kent the Guildfprds are in arms ; 
 And every hour more competitors 
 Flock to their aid, and still their power increaseth. 
 
ACT IV. SCENE IV. 97 
 
 Enter another Messenger. 
 
 Third Mess. My lord, the army of the Duke of Buck- 
 ingham 
 
 K. Rich. Gut on you, owls ! nothing but songs of death ? 
 
 [He striketh him. 
 
 Take that, until thou bring me better news. 510 
 
 * Third Mess. The news I have to tell your majesty 
 Is, that by sudden floods and fall of waters, 
 Buckingham's army is dispersed and scatter'd ; 
 And he himself wander'd away alone, 
 No man knows whither. 
 
 K. Rich. I cry thee mercy : 
 
 There is my purse to cure that blow of thine. 
 Hath any well-advised friend proclaimed 
 Reward to him that brings the traitor in ? 
 
 Third Mess. Such proclamation hath been made my 
 liege. 
 
 Enter Another Messenger. 
 
 Fourth Mess. Sir Thomas Lovel and Lord Marquis 
 Dorset, 5 2 
 
 'Tjs said, my liege, in Yorkshire are in arms. 
 Yet this good comfort bring I to your grace, 
 The Breton navy is dispersed by tempest: 
 Richmond, in Dorsetshire, sent out a boat 
 Unto the shore, to ask those on the banks 
 If they were his assistants, yea or no ; 
 Who answer'd him, they came from Buckingham 
 Upon his party : he, mistrusting them, j * 
 
 Hoised sail and made away for Brittany. / 
 
 K. Rich. March on, march on, since we are up in arms 
 If not to fight with foreign enemies, Sf l 
 
 Yet to beat down these rebels here at home. 
 
 Re-enter CATESBY. 
 
 Cafe. My liege,, the Duke of Buckingham is taken* 
 That is the best news : that the Earl of Richmond 
 
 H 
 
98 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Is with a mighty power landed at Milford, 
 Is colder tidings, yet they must be told. 
 
 K. Rich. Away towards Salisbury ! while we reason here, 
 A royal battle might be won and lost : 
 Some one take order Buckingham be brought 
 To Salisbury ; the rest march on with me. 540 
 
 [Flourish. Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE V. Lord Derby's house. 
 
 '"*4r 
 
 Enter DERBY and SIR CHRISTOPHER URSWICK. 
 
 Der. Sir Christopher, tell Richmond this from me : 
 
 I That in the sty of this most bloody boar 
 My son George Stanley is frank'd up in hold : 
 If I revolt, off goes young George's head ; 
 The fear of that withholds my present aid. 
 But, tell me, where is princely Richmond now ? 
 
 Chris. At Pembroke, or at Ha'rford-west, in Wales. 
 
 Der. What men of name resort to him ? 
 
 Chris. Sir Walter Herbert, a renowned soldier ; 
 Sir Gilbert Talbot, Sir William Stanley ; 10 
 
 Oxford, redoubted Pembroke, Sir James Blunt, 
 And Rice ap Thomas, with a valiant crew ; 
 And many moe of noble fame and worth : 
 And towards London they do bend their course, 
 If by the way they be not fought withal. 
 
 Der. Return unto thy lord ; commend me to him : 
 Tell him the queen hath heartily consented 
 He shall espouse Elizabeth her daughter. 
 These letters will resolve him of my mind. 19 
 
 Farewell. [Exeunt. 
 
ACT V. SCENE I. 99 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 SCENE I. Salisbury. An open place. 
 
 ' Enter the Sheriff, and BUCKINGHAM, with halberds^ led to 
 execution. 
 
 Buck. Will not King Richard let me Speak with him? 
 
 Sher. No, my good lord ; therefore be patient. 
 
 Buck. Hastings, and Edward's children, Rivers, Grey, 
 Holy King Henry, and thy fair son Edward, 
 Vaughan, and all that have miscarried 
 By nnderhan^ corrupted foul injustice 
 If that your moody discontented souls 
 Do through the clouds behold this present hour, 
 Even for revenge mock my destruction ! 
 This is All-Souls' day, fellows, is it not ? 10 
 
 Sher. It is, my lord. 
 
 Buck. Why, then All-Souls' day is my body's doomsday. 
 ,This is the day that, in King Edward's time, 
 I wish'd might fall on me, when I was found 
 False to his children or his wife's allies ; 
 This is the day wherein I wish'd to fall 
 By the false faith of him I trusted most ; 
 This, this All-Souls' day to my fearful soul 
 Is the .determined r^spiteoT ' 
 
 That high All-seerThaF I daTliecT with 
 Hath turn'd my feigned prayer on my .head 
 And given in earnest what I begg'd in jest. 
 Thus doth he force the swords of wicked men 
 To turn their own points on their masters' bosoms : 
 JipwMargaret's curse is fallen upon my. hpad^ 
 4 When"" be/ quoth she, * shall split thy heart with sorrow, 
 Remember Margaret was a prephetess^ 
 Come, sirs, convey me to the block of 'shame ; 
 Wrong hath but wrong, 1 and_blame jhe juej)f blame. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 SCENE II. The camp near Tamworth. 
 
 Enter RICHMOND, OXFORD, BLUNT, HERBERT, and others, 
 with drum and colours. 
 
 Richm. Fellows in arms, and my most loving friends, 1 
 Bruised underneath the yoke of tyranny, . . vjJF 
 
 Thus far into the bowels of the land 
 Have we march'd on without impediment ; 
 And here receive we from our father Stanley^ 
 Lines of fair comfort and encouragement. Q^ 
 The wretched, bloody, and usurping boar, / 
 That spoil'd your summer fields and fruitful vines, 
 Swills your warm blood like wash, ami maTEeshis trough 
 In your embowell'd bosoms, this foul swine 10 
 
 Lies now even in the centre of this isle, 
 Near to the town of Leicester, as we learn : 
 From Tamworth thither is but one day's march. /) 
 
 In God's name, cheerly on, courageous friends, TjTJw^sX'' 
 To reap the harvest of perpetual peace f^^^' 
 By this one bloody trial of sharp war. 
 
 Oxf. Every man's conscience is a thousand swords, 
 To fight against that bloody homicide. 
 
 Herb. I doubt not but his friends will fly to us. 
 
 Blunt. He hath no friends but who are friends for fear, 
 Which in his greatest need will shrink from him. 21 
 
 Richm. All for our vantage. Then, in God's name, 
 
 march : 
 
 True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings ; 
 Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings. 
 
 \Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE III. Bosworth Field. 
 
 Enter KING RICHARD in arms, with NORFOLK, the EARL 
 OF SURREY, and others. 
 
 K. Rich. Here pitch our tents, even here in Bosworth 
 field. 
 
ACT V. SCENE III. aOi 
 
 My Lord of Surrey, why look you so sad? 
 
 Sur. My heart is ten times lighter than my looks. 
 
 K. Rich. My Lord of Norfolk, 
 
 Nor. Here, most gracious liege. 
 
 K. Rich. Norfolk, we must have knocks ; ha ! must we 
 not? 
 
 Nor. We must both give and take, my gracious lord. 
 
 K. Rich. Up with my tent there ! here will I lie to- 
 night ; 
 
 But where to-morrow? Well, all's one. for that. 
 Who hath descried the number of the foe ? 
 
 Nor. Six or seven thousand is their utmost power. 10 
 
 K. Rich. Why, our battalion trebles that account : 
 Besides, the king's name is a tower of strength, 
 Which they upon the adverse party want. 
 Up with my tent there ! Valiant gentlemen, 
 Let us survey the vantage of the field ; 
 Call for some men of sound direction : 
 Let 's want no discipline, make no delay ; 
 For, lords, to-morrow is a busy day. \Exeunt. 
 
 Enter , on the other side of the field, RICHMOND, SIR 
 WILLIAM BRANDON, OXFORD, and others.. Some of th$ 
 Soldiers pitch Richmond's tent. 
 
 Richm. The weary sun., hath made a golden set, 
 And, by the bright traeK of his fiery car, .^^^^ 2O 
 Gives signal of a goodly day to-morrow. 4 
 Sir William Brandon, you shall bear my standard. 
 . Give me some ink and paper in my tent : 
 I '11 draw the form and model of our battle, 
 Limit each leader to his several charge, 
 And part in just proportion our small strength. ' 
 My Lord of Oxford, you, Sir William Brandon, 
 And you, Sir Walter Herbert, stay with me. 
 The Earl of Pembroke keeps his regiment : 
 Good Captain Blunt, bear my good-night to him, 30 
 
 And by the second hour in the morning 
 
102 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Desire tb^ earl to see me in my tent : 
 
 Yet one thing more, good Blunt, before thou go'st, 
 
 Where is Lord Stanley quarter'd, dost thou know? 
 
 Blunt. Unless I have mista'en his colours much, 
 Which well I am assured I have not done, 
 His regiment lies half a mile at least 
 South from the mighty power of the king. 
 
 Richm. If without peril it be possible, 
 Good Captain Blunt, bear my good-night to him, 40 
 
 And give him from me this most needful scroll. 
 
 Blunt. Upon my life, my lord, I '11 undertake it ; 
 And so, God give you quiet rest to-night ! 
 
 Richm. Good night, good Captain Blunt. Come, gentle- 
 men, 
 
 Let us consult upon to-morrow's business : 
 In to our tent ; the air is raw and cold. 
 
 [They withdraw into the tent. 
 
 Enter, to his tent, KING RICHARD, NORFOLK, RAJCLIFF, 
 CATESBY, and others. 
 
 K. Rich. What is 't o'clock ? 
 
 Gate. It 's supper-time, my lord ; 
 
 It's nine o'clock. 
 
 K. Rich. I will not sup to-night. 
 
 Give me some ink and paper.. 
 
 What, is my beaver easier than it was ? 50 
 
 And all my armour laid into my tent? 
 
 Gate. It is, .my liege ; and all things are in readiness. 
 
 K. Rich. Good Norfolk, hie thee to thy charge ; 
 Use careful watch, choose trusty sentinels. 
 
 Nor. I go, my lord. 
 
 K. Rich. Stir with the lark to-morrow, gentle Norfolk. 
 
 Nor. I warrant you, my lord. / \Exit* 
 
 K. Rich. Catesby ! 
 
 Gate. My lord? 
 
 K. Rich. Send out a pursuivant at arms 
 
ACT V. SCENE III. 103 
 
 To Stanley's regiment ; bid him bring his power 60 
 
 Before sunrising, lest his son George fall 
 
 Into the blind cave of eternal night. [Exit Catesby. 
 
 Fill me a bowl of wine. Give me a watch. 
 
 Saddle white Surrey for the field to-morrow. 
 
 Look that my staves be sound, and not too heavy. 
 
 Ratcliff! 
 
 Rat. My lord ? 
 
 K. Rich. Saw'st thou the melancholy Lord Northumber- 
 land ? 
 
 Rat. Thomas the Earl of Surrey, and himself, 
 Much about cock-shut time, from troop to troop 70 
 
 Went through the army, cheering up the soldiers. . 
 
 K. Rich. So, I am satisfied. Give me a bowl of wine : 
 I have not that alacrity of spirit, 
 Nor cheer of mind, that I was wont to have. 
 Set it down. Is ink and paper ready? 
 
 Rat. It is, my lord. 
 
 K. Rich. Bid my guard watch.; leave me. A 
 
 Ratcliff, about the mid of night come to my tent 
 And help to arm me. Leave me, I say. 
 
 [Exeunt Ratcliff and the other Attendants. 
 
 Enter DERBY to RICHMOND in his tent. Lords and others 
 attending. 
 
 Der. Fortune and victory sit on thy helm ! 
 
 Richm. All comfort that the dark night can afford 80 
 Be to thy person, noble father-in-law! 
 Tell me, how fares our loving mother? 
 
 Der. I, by attorney, bless thee from thy" 1 mother, 
 Who prays continually for Richmond's good : 
 So much for that. The silent hours steal on, / /, 
 And flaky darkness breaks within the east, /^h^ 
 In brief, for so the season bids us be, 
 Prepare thy battle early in the morning, 
 And put thy fortune to the arbitrement 
 Of bloody strokes and mortal-staring war. 90 
 
104 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 I, as I may that which I would I cannot, 
 
 With best advantage will deceive the time, 
 
 And aid thee in this doubtftll shock of arms : 
 
 But on thy side I may not be too forward, 
 
 Lest, being seen, thy brother, tender George, 
 
 Be executed in his father's sight. 
 
 Farewell : the leisure and the fearful time 
 
 Cuts off the ceremonious vows of love 
 
 And ample interchange of sweet discourse, 
 
 Which so long sunder'd friends should dwell upon : loo 
 
 God give us leisure for these rites of love ! 
 
 Once more, adieu : be valiant, and speed well ! 
 
 Richm. Good lords, conduct him to his regiment : 
 1 7 11 strive, with troubled thoughts, to take a nap, 
 Lest leaden slumber peise me down to-morrow, 
 When I should mount with wings of victory : 4j( 
 Once more, good night, kind lords and gentlem'en. 
 
 {Exeunt all but Richmond. 
 O Thou, whose captain I account myself, 
 Look on my forces with a gracious eye ; 
 Put in their hands thy bruising irons of wrath, iio 
 
 f That they may crush down with a heavy fall 
 The usurping helmets of our adversaries ! 
 Make us thy ministers of chastisement, 
 That we may praise thee in the victory ! 
 To thee I do commend my watchful soul, 
 Ere I let fall the windows of mine eyes : 
 Sleeping and waking, O, defend me still ! \Skeps. 
 
 Enter the Ghost of PRINCE EDWARD, son to HENRY 
 
 the Sixth. (/S~^^*-^I^ 
 
 Ghost. [To Richard} Let me sit heavy on thy soul to- 
 morrow ! 
 
 Think, how thou stab'dst me in my prime of youth 
 At Tewksbury : despair, therefore, and die ! 120 
 
 \To Richmond] Be cheerful, Richmond; for the wronged 
 
 souls 
 
 Of butcher'd princes fight in thy behalf: 
 King Henry's issue, Richmond, comforts thee. 
 
ACT V. SCENE III. 105 
 
 . o/' Enter the Ghost of HENRY the Sixth. ( X^- ^^o- 
 Ghost. [To Richard'} When I was mortal, my anointed 
 
 body 
 
 By thee was punched full of deadly holes : 
 Think on the Tower and me : despair, and die ! 
 Harry the Sixth bids thee despair and die ! 
 [To Richmond} Virtuous and holy, be thou conqueror ! 
 Harry, that prophesied thou shouldst be king, 
 Doth comfort thee in thy sleep : live, and flourish ! n 130 
 
 ^ . Enter the Ghost of CLARENCE/ ^^T 
 
 Ghost. [To Richard] Let me sit heavy on thy soul to- 
 morrow ! 
 
 I, that was wash'd to death with fulsome wine, 
 Poor Clarence, by thy guile betrayed to death ! 
 To-morrow in the battle think on me, 
 And fall thy edgeless sword : despair, and die ! 
 [To Richmond} Thou offspring of the house of Lancaster, 
 The wronged heirs of Y^k Hn pray fn r ffa^ ^ 
 Good angels guard thy battle ! live, and flourish ! 
 
 (^ Enter the Ghosts of RIVERS, GREY, and VAUGHAN. 
 
 Ghost of R. [To Richard} Let me sit heavy on thy 
 
 soul to-morrow, 
 
 Rivers, that died at Pomfret ! despair, and die ! 140 
 
 Ghost of G. [To Richard] Think upon Grey, and let 
 
 thy soul despair ! 
 Ghost of V. [To Richard] Think upon Vaughan, and, 
 
 with guilty fear, 
 
 Let fall thy lance : despair, and die ! 
 All. [To Richmond} Awake, and think our wrongs in 
 
 Richard's bosom 
 Will conquer him ! awake, and win the day ! 
 
 "\ Enter 'the Ghost of HASTINGS. 
 
 . Ghost. [To Richard} Bloody and guilty, guiltily awake, 
 And in a bloody battle end thy days ! 
 Think on Lord Hastings : despair, and die ! 
 
106 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 [To Richmond} Quiet untroubled soul, awake, awake! 
 Arm, fight, and conquer, for fair England's sake ! 150 
 
 Enter the Ghosts of the two young Princes. 
 ,* Ghosts. [To Richard} Dream on thy cousins smother'd 
 
 in the Tower : 
 
 Let us be lead within thy bosom, Richard, 
 And weigh thee down to ruin, shame, and death ! 
 Thy nephews' souls bid thee despair and die ! 
 [To Richmond] Sleep, Richmond, sleep in peace, and wake 
 
 in joy ; 
 
 Good angels guard thee from the boar's annoy ! 
 Live, and beget a happy race of kings ! . / /^l 
 Edward's unhappy sons do bid thee flourish. / y 
 
 Enter the Ghost of LADY ANNE. 
 .0 Ghost. [To Richard\ Richard, thy wife, that wretched 
 
 Anne thy wife. 
 
 That never slept a quiet hour with thee, 160 
 
 Now fills thy sleep with perturbations : 
 To-morrow in the battle think on me, 
 And fall thy edgeless sword : despair, and die ! 
 [To Richmond} Thou quiet soul, sleep thou a quiet sleep; 
 Dream of success and happy victory ! 
 Thy adversary's wife doth pray for thee. 
 
 Enter the Ghost of BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 '\ Ghost. [To Richard} The first was I that help'd thee to 
 
 the crown ; 
 
 The last was I that felt thy tyranny : 
 O, in the battle think on Buckingham, 
 And die in terror of thy guiltiness ! 170 
 
 Dream on, dream on, of bloody deeds and death : 
 Fainting, despair ; despairing, yield thy breath ! 
 [To Richmond} I died for hope ere I could lend thee aid : 
 But cheer thy heart, anfl be^thou not^ dismayed ; 
 
 *God and good angels fight on Richniond's^sTSeT/ 
 And Richard /alls in height of all his pride. J 
 
 [The Ghosts vanish. King Richard starts out of his 
 dream. 
 
ACT V. SCENE III. 1 07 
 
 K. Rich. Give me another horse : bind up my wounds, fj* 
 Have mercy, Jesu ! Soft ! I did but dream. 
 
 coward^conscience, how dost thou afflict me ! 
 Itnrtights' burn blue. ' It is ROW dead midnight.^ 180 
 Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh. 
 
 What do I fear? myself? there's none else by: 
 Richard loves Richard ; that is, I am I. 
 Is there a murderer here ? No. Yes, I am : 
 Then fly. What, from_myself? Great reason why: 
 Lest I revenge. What, myself upon myself? 
 Alack, I love myself. Wherefore ? for any good 
 That I myself have done unto myself? 
 O, no ! alas, I rather hate myself 
 For hateful deeds committed by myself! 190 
 
 1 am a villain : yet I lie, I am not. 
 
 Fool, of thyself speak well : fool, do not flatter. 
 
 My conscience hath a thousand several tongues, 
 
 And every tongue brings in a several tale, 
 
 And every tale condemns me for a villain. 
 
 .Perjury, perjury, in the high'st degree ; 
 
 Murder, stern murder, in the direst degree ; 
 
 All several sins, all used in each degree, 
 
 Throng to the bar, crying all, Guilty ! guilty ! 
 
 I shall despair. There is no creature loves me ; 200 
 
 And if I die, no soul shall pity me : 
 
 Nay, wherefore should they, since that I myself 
 
 Find in myself no pity to myself? 
 
 Methought the souls of all that I had murder'd 
 
 Came to my tent ; and every one did threat 
 
 To-morrow 's vengeance on the head of Richard. 
 
 Enter RATCLIFF. 
 
 Rat. My lord! 
 
 K. Rich. 'Zounds ! who is there ? 
 
 Rat. Ratcliff, my lord ; 'tis I. The early village-cock 
 Hath twice done salutation to the morn; v 210 
 
 Your friends are up, and buckle on their armour. 
 
 K. Rich. D Ratcliff, I have dream'd a fearful dream ! 
 What thinkest thou, will our friends prove all true? 
 
108 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Rat. No doubt, my lord. 
 
 K. Rich. O Ratcliff, I fear, I fear, 
 
 Rat. Nay, good my lord, be^ not afraid of shadows. 
 
 K. Rich. By the apostle Paul, shadows to-night 
 Have struck more terror to the soul of Richard 
 Than can the substance of ten thousand soldiers 
 Armed in proof, and led by shallow Richmond. 
 It is not yet near day. Come, go with me ; 220 
 
 Under our tents I '11 play the eaves-dropper, 
 To see if any mean to shrink from me. \Exeunt. 
 
 Enter the Lords to RICHMOND, sitting in his tent. 
 
 Lords. Good morrow, Richmond ! 
 
 Richm. Cry mercy, lords and watchful gentlemen, 
 That you have ta'en a tardy sluggard here. 
 
 Lords. How have you slept, my lord? 
 
 Richm.^fcYhz sweetest sleep, and fairest-boding dreams 
 That ever enter'd in a drowsy head, 
 Have I since your departure had, my lords.Y^ 
 Methought their souls, whose bodies Richard murder'd, 
 Came to my tent, and cried on victory: 231 
 
 I promise you, my soul is very jocund 
 In the remembrance of so fair a dream. 
 How far into the morning is it, lords ? 
 
 Lords. Upon the stroke of four. 
 
 Richm. Why then 'tis time to arm and give direction. 
 
 His oration to his Soldiers. 
 
 More than I have said, loving countrymen, 
 The leisure and enforcement of the time 
 Forbids to dwell upon : yet remember this, 
 God and our good cause fight urjop our sjde ; 240 
 
 "The prayefs of holy saints and wronged souls, 
 Like high-rear'd bulwarks, stand before our faces ; 
 Richard except, those whom we fight against 
 Had rather have us win than him they follow : 
 For what is he they follow? truly, gentlemen, 
 
ACT V. SCENE III. 109 
 
 A bloody tyrant and a homicide L^- 
 
 One raised in blood, and one irf blood Establish 'd ; 
 
 One that made means to come 5y~wnat he hath, 
 
 And slaughter'd those that were the means to help him ; 
 
 A base foul stone, made precious by the foil 250 
 
 Of England's chair, where he is falsely set ;^ 
 
 One that hath ever been God's enemy : 
 
 Then, if you fight against God's enemy, 
 
 God will in justice wanL you asjiis soldiers} 
 
 If you do sweat to put a tyrant ctown, 
 
 You sleep in peace, the tyrant being slain ; 
 
 If you do fight against your country's foes, 
 
 Your country's fat shall pay your pains the hire ; 
 
 If you do fight in safeguard of your wives, 
 
 Your wives shall welcome home the conquerors ; 260 
 
 If you do free your children from the sword, 
 
 Your children's children quit it in your age. 
 
 Then, in the name of God and all these rights, 
 
 Advance your standards, draw your willing swords. 
 
 For me, the ransom of my bold attempt 
 
 Shall be this cold corpse on the earth's cold face ; 
 
 But if I thrive, the gain of my attempt 
 
 The least of you shall share his part thereof. 
 
 Sound drums and trumpets boldly and cheerfully ; 269 
 
 God and Saint George ! Richmond and victory ! [Exeunt. 
 
 Re-enter KING RICHARD, RATCLIFF, Attendants 
 and Forces. 
 
 K. Rich. What said Northumberland as touching Rich- 
 mond? 
 
 Rat. That he was never trained up in arms. 
 K. Rich. He said the truth : and what said Surrey then ? 
 Rat. He smiled and said 'The better for our purpose.' 
 K. Rich. He was in the right ; and so indeed it is. 
 
 [The clock striketh. 
 
 Tell the clock,4here. Give me a calendar. 
 Who saw the sun/fco-day? 
 
HO KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Rat. Not I, my lord. 
 
 K. Rich. Then he disdains to shine ; for by the book 
 He should have braved the east an hour ago : 
 A^ black day will it be to somebody. 280 
 
 Ratcliff! 
 
 Rat. My lord? 
 
 K. Rich. The sun will not be seen to-day ; 
 
 The sky doth frown and lour upon our army. 
 I would these dewy tears were from the ground. 
 Not shine to-day ! Why, what is that to me 
 More than to Richmond ? for the selfsame heaven 
 That frowns on me looks sadly upon him. 
 
 Enter NORFOLK. 
 
 Nor. Arm, arm, my lord ; the foe vaunts in the field. 
 
 K. Rich. Come, bustle, bustle. Caparison my horse. 
 Call up Lord *" Stanley, bid him bring his power: 290 
 
 I will lead forth my soldiers to the plain, 
 And thus my battle shall be ordered : 
 My fore ward shall be drawn out all in length, 
 Consisting equally of horse and foot ; 
 
 Our archers shall be placed in the midst : 
 John Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Earl of Surrey, 
 Shall have the leading of this foot and horse. 
 They thus directed, we will follow 
 In the main battle, whose puissance on either side 
 Shall be well winged with our chiefest horse. 300 
 
 This, and Saint George to boot ! What think'st thou, 
 , Norfolk? * 
 
 Nor. A good direction, warlike sovereign. lr 
 This found I on my tent this morning. 
 
 [He shelueth him a paper. 
 
 K. Rich. \Reads\ 'Jockey of Norfolk, be not too bold, 
 
 For Dickon thy master is bought and sold.' 
 A thing devised by the enemy. 
 Go, gentlemen, every man unto his charge : 
 Let . not our babbling dreams affright our souls : 
 Conscience is but a word that cowards 
 
ACT V. SCENE III. Ill 
 
 Devised at first to keep the strong in awe : 310 
 
 Our strong arms be our conscience, swords our law. 
 March on, join bravely, let us to 't pell-mell ; 
 If not to heaven, then hand in hand to hell. 
 
 His oration to his Army. 
 
 What shall I say more than I have inferr'd? 
 Remember whom you are to cope withal ; 
 A sort of vagabonds, rascals, and runaways, 
 A scum of Bretons, and base lackey peasants, 
 Whom their o'er-cloyed country vomits forth 
 To desperate ventures and assured destruction. 
 You sleeping safe, they bring to you unrest ; 320 
 
 You having lands, and blest with beauteous wives, 
 They would restrain the one, distain the other. 
 And who doth lead them but a paltry fellow, 
 Long kept in Bretagne at our mother's cost? 
 A milk-sop, one that never in his life 
 Fqlt so much cold as over shoes in snow? 
 Let 's whip these stragglers o'er the seas again ; 
 Lash hence these overweening rags of France, 
 These famish'd beggars, weary of their lives ; 
 , Who, but for dreaming on this fond exploit, 330 
 
 For want of means, poor rats, had hang'd themselves. 
 Ifjve_be conquer'd, let men conquer us, 
 And not these bastard Bretons ; whom our fathers 
 Have in their own land beaten, bobb'd, and thump'd, 
 And in record, left them the heirs of shame. 
 Shall these enjoy our lands ? lie with our wives ? 
 Ravish our daughters'? \Drum afar off^\ Hark ! I hear 
 
 their drum. 
 
 Fight, gentlemen of England ! fight, bold yeomen ! 
 Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head ! 
 Spur your proud horses hard, A y1 '^ T 'y K1r ?Qd,I 34Q 
 Amaze the welkin with your broken staves! 
 
 Enter a Messenger. 
 What says Lord Stanley ? will he bring his power ? 
 
KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 Mess. My lord, he doth deny to come. 
 
 K. Rich. Off with his son George's head ! 
 
 Nor. My lord, the enemy is past the marsh : 
 After the battle let George Stanley die. 
 
 K. Rich. A thousand hearts are great within my bosom : 
 Advance our standards, set upon our foes ; 
 Our ancient word of courage, fair Saint George, 
 Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons ! 350 
 
 Upon them ! Victory sits on our helms. \Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE IV. Another part of the field. 
 
 Alarum : excursions. Enter NORFOLK and forces fighting ; 
 to him CATESBY. 
 
 Cafe. Rescue, my Lord of Norfolk, rescue, rescue ! 
 The .king enacts more wonders than a man, 
 Daring an opposite to every danger : 
 His horse is slain, and all on foot he fights, 
 Seeking for Richmond in the throat of death. 
 Rescue, fair lord, or else the day is lost ! 
 
 Alarums. Enter KING RICHARD. 
 
 K. Rich. A horse ! a horse ! my kingdom for a horse ! 
 Gate. Withdraw, my lord ; I '11 help you to a horse. 
 
 K. Rich. Slave, I have set my life upon a cast, 
 And I will stand the hazard of the die : 10 
 
 I think there be six Richmonds in the field ; 
 Five have I slain to-day instead of him. 
 A horse I a horse ! my kingdom for* a horse ! \Exeunt. 
 
ACT V. SCENE V. 113 
 
 SCENE V. Another part of the field. 
 
 Alarum. Enter RICHARD and RICHMOND ; they fight. 
 RICHARD is slain. Retreat and flourish. Re-enter 
 RICHMOND, DERBY bearing the crown, with divers 
 other Lords. 
 
 Richm. God and your arms be praised, victorious friends ; 
 The day is ours, the bloodv dogis dead. 
 
 Der. Courage5us^Richmona, well iiast thou acquit thee. 
 Lo, here, this long-usurped royalty 
 From the dead temples of this bloody wretch 
 Have I pluck'd off, to grace thy brows withal : 
 Wear it, enjoy it, and make much of it. 
 
 Richm. Great God of heaven, say Amen to all ! 
 But, tell me, is young George Stanley living ? 
 
 Der. He is, my lord, and safe in Leicester town ; 10 
 Whither, if it please you, we may now withdraw us. 
 
 Richm. What men of name are slain on either side ? 
 
 Der. John Duke of Norfolk, Walter Lord Ferrers, 
 Sir Robert Brakenbury, and Sir William Brandon. 
 
 Richm. Inter their bodies as becomes their births : 
 Proclaim a pardon to the soldiers fled 
 That in submission will return to us : 
 And then, as we have ta'en the sacrament, 
 We will unite the white .rose and the red.^x 
 
 ^- "" !""*"""" . ii l/s-*V v ^ 
 
 jSrn^eheaven upon this fair^conj unction, *^ / 20 
 
 nat long nav^~ir^w1fi3^upon their enmity ! 
 What traitor hears me, and says not amen ? 
 England hath long been mad, and scarr'd herself^ 
 The brother blindly shed the brother's blood, ; , 
 The father rashly slaughter'd his own son, j$ 
 The son, compell'd, been butcher to the siret/f 
 All this divided York and Lancaster, 
 Divided in their dire division^ 
 O, now, let Richmond ancT~Elizabeth, 
 The true succeeders of each royal house, 30 
 
 I 
 
114 KING RICHARD THE THIRD. 
 
 By God's fair ordinance conjoin together ! 
 
 And let their heirs, God, if thy will be so, 
 
 Enrich the time to come with smooth-faced peace, 
 
 With smiling plenty and fair prosperous days ! 
 
 Abate the edge of traitors, gracious Lord, 
 
 That would reduce these bloody days again, 
 
 And make poor England weep in streams of blood ! 
 
 Let them not live to taste this J^"ffi increase 
 
 That would with treason woun'd "mis fair^Iand^s peace ! ~ 
 
 Now civil wounds are stopp'd, peace lives again: 
 
 That she may long live here, God say amen ! [Exeunt. 
 
 :/ 
 
 e-t^^u^^ 
 
NOTES. 
 
 ACT I. 
 Scene I. 
 
 THE acts and scenes, with a few exceptions, are marked in the folios 
 throughout the play, but not in the quartos. Rowe was the first to give 
 a list, though imperfect, of the Dramatis Persons. In point of time, the play 
 begins immediately after the conclusion of the Third Part of Henry VI. 
 Henry's murder by Richard took place in the Tower on the night of 
 Tuesday, the 2ist of May, 1471 (Warkworth's Chronicle, p. 21, Camden 
 Society) ; his body was brought to St. Paul's on the eve of Ascension Day, 
 and on the following morning that is, on Ascension Day itself he was con- 
 veyed to Chertsey to be buried there (Gairdner, Life of Richard III, p. 19 
 note). The play therefore opens on Ascension Day, which in 1471 was on 
 May 23 ; unless we suppose that the first and second scenes were on dif- 
 ferent days, in which case the play begins on May 22. 
 
 It will be seen as we proceed, that the dramatist has disregarded for his 
 own purposes the historical order of events. For instance, in the first act 
 we have the funeral of Henry VI, which took place in 1471, the arrest and 
 murder of Clarence, which happened in 1478, and the last illness of Edward 
 IV, in 1483, all welded together 
 
 ' In the quick forge and working-house of thought.' 
 
 The scene, ' London. A street,' is probably near the Tower. 
 
 Enter Richard Duke of Gloucester. In the first year of his reign (1461), 
 Edward IV ' created his two younger brethren dukes, that is to saie, lord 
 George duke of Clarence, lord Richard duke of Glocester ' (Holinshed, 
 ed. 1586-7, vpl. iii. p. 665). See 3 Henry VI, ii. 6. 103, 104. As Richard 
 was born October 2, 1452, he was not nineteen years old when Henry VI 
 was murdered, and could not have fought at the battle of St. Alban's in 1455, 
 or at Wakefield in 1460, or Mortimer's Cross in 1461, as is represented in 
 the Second and Third Parts of Henry VI (2 Henry VI, v. l) ; still less could 
 he have taken part in the scene which is placed immediately after the death 
 of Cade in 1450. 
 
 I. the winter of our discontent. A common poetical figure. Compare 
 Beaumonfand Fletcher, The Prophetess, ii. I : 
 
 I 2 
 
Il5 NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 * He is the sun 
 
 That keeps my blood in a perpetual spring; 
 But, in his absence, cold benumbing winter 
 Seizes on all my faculties.' 
 
 2. this .w of York. The quartos read 'sonne,' the folios 'son,' that 
 the pun might not be missed. See i. 3. 267. The allusion is to the blazing 
 sun adopted by Edward IV as his badge, in commemoration of the three suns 
 which appeared on the day before the battle of Mortimer's Cross, which was 
 fought on Feb. 3, 1461. 'The day before this battayle, about tenne of the 
 clocke before noone, were scene three Suns in the firmament, shyning a like 
 cleare, which after closed togither all in one' (Stow, Chronicles, ed. 1580, 
 p. 709). Compare 3 Henry VI, ii. i. 25-40 : * Dazzle mine eyes, or do I 
 See three suns?' &c. In the coinage of 1465 Edward IV struck Nobles of 
 I os., which were called Rials or Rose Nobles, bearing on the reverse a blazing 
 sun. As the figure of the sun in splendour, or the blazing sun, when rudely 
 represented, was not unlike the rowel of a spur, these rials of Edward IV 
 were commonly called spur-rials. The appearance of the three suns before 
 the battle of Mortimer's Cross is mentioned by Drayton in his Miseries of 
 Queen Margaret (quoted by Steevens), ed. 1631, p. 131 : 
 
 * Three Suns were scene that instant to appeare, 
 Which soone againe shut vp themselues in one, 
 Ready to buckle as the Armies were, 
 Which this braue Duke tooke to himselfe alone.' 
 
 Once more in Edward's career he had reason to associate his badge of the 
 blazing sun with success in war. At the battle of Barnet field, says Stow, 
 * diuers times the Earle of Warwikes men supposed that they had gotte 
 the victorie of the fielde, but it happened that y e Earle of Oxfords men 
 had a starfe w* streames both before & behinde on their liueries, and King 
 Edwards men had the sunne with streames on their lyuerye : whervpon - 
 the Earle of Warwikes men by reason of the myst not well 4ecerning 
 the badges so lyke, shot at the Earle of Oxfordes men that were on their 
 owne parte, and then the Earle of Oxforde and his men cryed treason, and 
 fled with eight hundred men.' (Chronicles, p. 727.) 
 6. our bruised arms. Malone quotes Lucrece, no: 
 
 ' With bruised arms and wreaths of victory/ 
 
 76. hung up for monuments ; like the armour of the Black Prince at 
 Canterbury, and the helmet, shield, and saddle of Henry the Fifth, which 
 once hung over his tomb in Westminster Abbey. The shield is gone, but 
 the helmet and saddle remain. The former, says Dean Stanley, ' is in all 
 probability " that very casque that did affright the air at Agincourt," which 
 twice saved his life on that eventful day still showing in its dints the marks 
 of the ponderous sword of the Duke of Alen9on, the " bruised helmet " 
 which he refused to have borne in state before him on his triumphal entry. 
 
sc. i.] RICHARD III. 117 
 
 into London.' (Memorials of Westminster Abbey, ed. 1868, p. 150.) In the 
 -time of Sir Roger de Coverley (Spectator, no. 329), and even as early as 
 Elizabeth's days, the sword and shield of Edward III were among the relics 
 of the Abbey. (Stanley, p. 141.) 
 
 7. alarums. The ' alarum ' was the trumpet call or beat of drum sum- 
 moning to arms (the Italian all* arme}, to repel an attack. See iv. 4. 148, 
 and note to Coriolanus, i. 4. 9, ii. 2. 74 (Clarendon Press ed.). 
 
 8. There is the same contrast between 4 marches ' and ' measures ' in 
 Lyly's. Campaspe, iv. 3 (Works, ed. Fairholt) : 'But let us draw in, to see 
 how well it becomes them to tread the measures in a daunce, that were 
 wont to set the order for a march.* 
 
 Ib. measures, stately and formal dances. Compare Richard II, i. 3. 291 : 
 ' Suppose the singing birds musicians, 
 The grass whereon thou tread'st the presence strew'd, 
 The flowers fair ladies, and thy steps no more 
 * Than a delightful measure or a dance.' 
 
 And Much Ado, ii. I. 80: 'The wedding, mannerly-modest, as a measure, 
 full of state and ancientry.' 
 
 10. barbed steeds, horses with their warlike trappings. 'Barbed' is a 
 corruption of ' barded,' from the French border, which Cotgrave (Fr. Diet.) 
 defines, ' To barbe, or trap, horses.' He gives also, ' Bard.es : f. Barbes, or 
 trappings, for horses of seruice, or of shew.' At the coronation of Henry VIII, 
 lord Howard appeared with his companions : armed at all points, their bases 
 and bards, or trappers, were of greene veluet' (Holinshed, iii. 802, col. 2). 
 See note on Coriolanus, iii. 2. 99 (Clarendon Press ed.). Reed quotes, in 
 illustration of the present passage, the following from Lyly's Alexander and 
 Campaspe, 1584 : ' Is the warlike sound of drum and trump turned to the soft 
 noise of lyre and lute ? the neighing of barbed steeds, whose lowdnes filled 
 the aire with terrour, and whose breathes dimmed the sun with smoake, con- 
 verted to delicate tunes and amorous glances ? ' (Works, ed. Fairholt, i. 1 10.) 
 
 12. He, War, still personified as a rough soldier. 
 
 13. a lute was a kind of guitar, but superior in tone, 'being larger, and 
 having a convex back, somewhat like the vertical section of a gourd, or 
 more nearly resembling t^iat of a pear. ... It had virtually six strings, be- 
 cause, although the number was eleven or twelve, five, at least, were doubled, 
 the first, or treble, being sometimes a single string. The head, in which the 
 pegs to tune the strings were inserted, receded almost at a right angle.' 
 (Chappell, Popular Music of the Olden Time, i. 102.) 
 
 . 17. ambling, mincing, walking affectedly, with a dancing gait. Compare 
 Hamlet, iii. I. 151 : 'You jig, you amble, and you lisp, and nickname God's 
 creatures, and make your wantonness your ignorance.' I Henry IV, iii. 
 2. 60 : 9 
 
 'The skipping king he ambled up and down.' 
 
Il8 NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 1 8. this fair proportion, the goodly form appropriate to such luxurious 
 indulgence. Compare 2 Henry VI, i. 3. 57 : 
 
 * I thought King Henry had resembled thee 
 
 In courage, courtship, and proportion.' 
 And Titus Andronicus, v. 2. 106 : 
 
 *Well mayst thou know her by thy own proportion, 
 For up and down she doth resemble thee. 1 
 
 19. feature was used by Shakespeare and the writers of his time in a larger 
 sense than at present. It denoted the whole exterior personal appearance, 
 and was not confined as now to the countenance. 'Feature ' was applied to 
 the body as * favour ' to the face. 
 
 76. dissembling nature ; that is, either 'false, fraudulent nature, or nature 
 that disguises virtue and merit by hiding it under a repulsive exterior. War- 
 burton took the latter view ; Johnson, with greater probability, the former. 
 
 20. Deform 'd, unfinished. Compare 3 Henry VI, v. 6. 51 : 'An indi- 
 gested and deformed lump.' Richard 'draws his own portrait both here and 
 in the concluding scene of the Third Part of Henry VI in as unflattering 
 colours as his worst enemies could wish. In this, as in other points of 
 history, the dramatist follows Sir Thomas More's account as given by 
 Holinshed (Hi. p. 712, col. i), where Richard is described as ' litle of stature, 
 
 ^i\\ featured of limmes, crooke backed, his left shoulder much higher than 
 his right, hard -fenoured of visage, and such as is in states called warlie, 
 in other men otherwise/ 
 
 22. .so lamely and unfashionable. In many cases where two adverbs are 
 coupled together, the termination of the one is made to serve for both.' 
 Compare iii. 4. 50, and Richard II, i. 3. 3 : 
 
 * The Duke of Norfolk, sprightfully and bold.' 
 
 23. halt, limp, walk lamely. See i. 2. 250. In Genesis xxxii. 31 it is 
 said that Jacob * halted upon his thigh/ 
 
 24. this weak piping time of peace. The pipe and tabor were signs of 
 peace, as the drum and fife were symbolical of war. Thus Benedick says 
 of Claudio, Much Ado, ii. 3. 13-15, 'I have known when there was no 
 music with 'him but the drum and the fife ; and now had he rather hear the 
 tabor and the pipe/ 
 
 26. to spy. So the quartos. The folios have * to see/ Compare 2 Kings 
 xxiii. 1 6 : 'And as Josiah turned himself he spied the sepulchres that were 
 there in the mount/ 
 
 27. descant, originally a musical term. Mr. Hugh Carleton has pointed 
 out to me that Richard, whose love of music is well known (Sharon 
 Turner's History, ed. 1839, vii. 31), plays upon the terms of his favourite art 
 throughout this speech: ' measures,' ' lute/ ' proportion,' ' piping/ ' descant/ 
 * determined,' ' inductions/ ' set/ ' G/ being all used with a special sense in 
 music. The second part or Morley's Plaine and Easie Introduction to prao- 
 
sc. i.] RICHARD III. 119 
 
 ticall Musicke' (1597) treats of Descant, a term employed by musicians 
 in divers significations, which he enumerates. 'Last of all, they take it for 
 singing a part extempore vpon a playne-song, in which sence we commonly 
 vse it : so that when a man talketh of a Descanter, it must be. vnderstood of 
 one that can extempore sing a part vpon a playnesong ' (p. 70). Richard's 
 deformity is here the plainsong of his descant. 
 
 28-31. Bacon, in his Essay xliv. * Of Deformity/ says ' Deformed persons 
 are commonly even with Nature : For as Nature hath done ill by them ; So doe 
 they by Nature : Being for the most part, (as the Scripture saith) void of 
 Naturall Affection ; And so they have their Revenge of Nature.' 
 
 29. well-spoken days. Malone needlessly suggested ' dames ' instead of 
 * days ' ; for the phrase * well-spoken days ' occurs, as Bos well points out, 
 in the prologue to Ben Jonson's Every Man out of his Humour. 
 
 32. inductions dangerous, the introductions or beginnings of mischief. In 
 this sense ' induction ' is again used in this play, iv. 4. 5, and in I Henry IV, 
 iii. I. 2: t 
 
 'These promises are fair, the parties sure, 
 
 And our induction full of prosperous hope.' 
 
 ' 'the induction, 1 says Johnson, ' is preparatory to the play '; -as in the case 
 of The Taming of the Shrew and 2 Henry IV. See also Ben "Jonson's 
 Cynthia's Revels and Bartholomew Fair; and Beaumont and Fletcher's 
 Woman's Hater, prologue: 'Inductions are out of date/ Marston has 
 parodied the line in his Fawne, ii. I (Works, ii. 32), quoted by Steevens: 
 
 'Plots ha you laid? Inductions, dangerous?' 
 
 33. libels, defamatory writings. 
 
 36. as true and just, and therefore the less likely to entertain any sus- 
 picion of foul play. 
 
 38. mewd />, penned up, imprisoned. See 1. 132, and Midsummer 
 Night's Dream, i. i. 71 : 
 
 * For aye to be in shady cloister mew'd/ 
 A mew or mue was a coop in which fowls were fattened. 
 
 39. a prophecy. See 3 Henry VI, v. 6. 86, and Heywood, Second part 
 of King Edward the fourth (Works, i. 131-134). 'Some haue reported, 
 that the cause of this noble mans death rose of a foolish prophesie, which 
 was, that after K. Edward one should reigne, whose first letter of his name 
 should be a G. Wherewith the king and queene were sore troubled, and 
 began to conceiue a greeuous grudge against this duke, and could not be in 
 quiet till they had brought him to his end. And as the diuell is woont to 
 incumber the minds of men which delite in such diuelish fantasies, they 
 said afterward, that that prophesie lost not his effect, when after king 
 Edward, Glocester vsurped his kingdome/ (Holinshed, p. 703.) When the 
 lords were executed at Pomfret, ' Sir Thomas Vaughan, goyng to his death 
 sayed, A wo worthe them y* toke the prophesie that G. should destroy 
 
NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 king Edwardes children, meanyng y* by the duke of Clarence lord George 
 which for y* suspicion is now dead, but now remaineth Richard G. duke of 
 Gloucester, which now I se is he y* shall and will accomplishe the prophesie 
 & destroye kynge Edwardes children & all their alyes and frercdes.' (Hall, 
 Edward V, p. 364.) Heywood attributes the prophecy to one Friar Anselm 
 of St. Bartholomew's. 
 
 41. Stage direction* Enter Clarence, guarded, and Brakenbury. At the 
 time of Edward's death the Marquis of Dorset is said to have been Constable 
 of the Tower (Bayley's History of the Tower of London, i. 64). Sir Robert 
 Brakenbury was. not confirmed in his office till March 9, 1483-4, his previous 
 appointment being by letters patent, which dated from July 17, 1483 
 (Ryrner, Fcedera, xii. 219). 
 
 43-45. His majesty. . . . Tower. As in Pope. The folios print in two 
 lines, the first ending safety. In the quartos His . . . appointed is one 
 line. 
 
 44. Tendering, having regard for. See iv. 4. 405. 
 
 45. conduct, escort. So in Richard II, iv. I. 157 : 'I will be his conduct.' 
 And Romeo and Juliet, iii. i. 129 : 
 
 * Away to heaven, respective lenity, 
 And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now ! ' 
 
 46. Upon, in consequence of. See Julius Caesar, iv. 3. 152 : 'Upon what 
 sickness?* And King Lear, ii. 2. 124 : 
 
 * It pleased the King his master very late 
 To strike at me, upon his misconstruction.' 
 
 47. Alack, alas I The etymology is very doubtful. It may be a corrup- 
 tion of ' alas/ or, as Professor Skeat suggests, of ' Ah ! Lord ' or ' ah ! Lord 
 Christ ' ; or, as he more doubtfully proposes, it may be referred to the 
 Middle English lak, which signifies loss, defect. 
 
 49. belike, probably. See note on Midsummer Night's Dream, i. i. 130. 
 If ' like ' be regarded as an adverb we may perhaps compare the formation 
 of this word with that of ' beyond,' ' beneath.' 
 
 54. hearkens after ; listens to; and so, enquires about. Compare Much 
 Ado, v. I. 216: 'Hearken after their offence, my lord.' So also * listen 
 after ' is used in the True Tragedie of Richard the Third (Shakespeare's 
 Library, ed. Hazlitt, Part II. vol. i. page 86) : ' But hearst thou Catesbie,. 
 mean'e while I will listen after successe of the Duke of Buckinghame/ 
 
 55. the cross-row, the alphabet. Cotgrave (French Diet.) gives, ' Abece* : 
 m. An Abcee, the Crosse-row, an Alphabet, or orderly list, of all the letters/ 
 And again, * La croix de par Dieu. The Christs-cro?se-row, or, the horne- 
 booke wherein a child learns it.' So also in Calfhill's Answer to Martiall, 
 (Parker Society), p. 52 : 'Adulterous, blasphemous, covetous, desperate, 
 extreme, foolish, gluttons, harlots, ignorants: and so go through the cross 
 row of letters, and truly end it with Est Amen' 
 
sc. i.] RICHARD III. 121 
 
 58. /or, because. So in ii. 2. 95, and tylidsummer Night's Dream, iv. 
 
 1. 187 : 
 
 ' And, for the morning now is something worn, 
 
 Our purposed hunting shall be set aside.' 
 60. toys, trifles, idle fancies. Reed quotes Hamlet, i. 4. 75 : 
 * The very place puts toys of desperation, 
 Without more motive, into every brain/ 
 See also Hamlet, i. 3. 6. 
 
 62. this it is, this is the consequence. So Two Gentlemen of Verona, 
 v. 2.49: 
 
 ' Why, this it is to be a peevish girl. 
 
 Again, Antony and Cleopatra, ii. 7. 12 : 'Why, this it is to have a name in 
 great men's fellowship.' 
 
 64. My Lady Grey. Elizabeth Woodville, daughter of Richard Woodville, 
 Earl Rivers, and Jacqueline widow of the Duke of Bedford. Her husband, 
 Sir John Grey (called Sir Richard Grey in 3 Henry VI), ( was killed at the 
 second battle of St. Alban's in 1461, fighting on the Lancastrian side. She 
 married Edward privately on May 1, 1464, being five years his senior. ' This 
 Elizabeth beyng in seruice with queue Margaret wife to kyng Henry the 
 sixte, was maried to one Ihon Grey Esquire whom kyng Henry made 
 knight at the laste battaill of Sainct Albones, but litle while he enioyed 
 his knighthod, for at the same feld he was slain.' (Hall, Edward V, 
 
 P- 3650 
 
 65. That tempers him . . . extremity. This is the reading of the first 
 quarto, and is undoubtedly correct. In the later quartos ' tempers ' was 
 corrupted into ' tempts ' or ' temps,' and then the folios eked out the line by 
 reading 
 
 * That tempts him to this harsh extremity.' 
 Ib. tempers, moulds, influences. ComparevTwo Gentlemen of Verona, iii. 
 
 2. 64 : 
 
 ' Where you may temper her by your persuasion 
 
 To hate young Valentine and love my friend.' 
 Ib. extremity, extreme measure. So Othello, v. 2. 139: 
 
 ' O, I were damn'd beneath all depth in hell, 
 But that I did proceed upon just grounds 
 To this extremity.' 
 
 66. worship, rank, dignity. Compare Winter's Tale, i. 2. 314: 
 
 'Whom I from meaner form 
 Have bench'd and rear'd to worship.' 
 
 67. Anthony Woodwlle, Earl Rivers, the patron and friend of Caxton. 
 In the Third Part of Henry VI he appears for the first time as Rivers (iv. 
 4. 2), the title which came to him in 1469, on the death of his father, who 
 was Richard Woodville, the lieutenant of the Tower in the First Part of 
 
NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 Henry VI. In consequence of his marriage with * the heir and daughter of 
 Lord Scales f (3 Henry VI, iv. I. 52), Anthony Woodville succeeded to his 
 father-in-law's title. In the folio editions of this play, after ii. I. 67 is added 
 
 4 Of you Lord Wooduill, and Lord Scales of you.' 
 
 But as Lord Rivers had already been mentioned two lines before, and 
 'Lord Woodville' and * Lord Scales' were merely his other titles, the line 
 is properly omitted in the quartos. 
 
 68. The histories say nothing directly of the committal of Hastings to 
 the Tower, although it is implied in the narrative of Sir Thomas More, 
 upon which iii. 2. 100, &c. is founded. * Upon the verie Tower wharfe, so 
 neare the place where his head was off soone after, there met he with one 
 Hastings a purseuant of his owne name. And at their meeting in that place, ' 
 he was put in remembrance of another time, in which it had happened them 
 before to meet in like manner togither in the same place. At which 
 other time the lord chamberlaine had beene accused vnto King Edward by 
 the Lord Riuers the queenes brother, in such wise, as he was for the 
 while (but it lasted not long) farre fallen into the kings indignation, and in 
 great feare' of himselfe.' (Holinshed, p. 723, col. 2.) 
 
 74, 75. Of Shore's wife Sir Thomas More says, she never abused the 
 King's favour * to anie mans hurt, but to manie a mans comfort and releefe. 
 Where the king tooke displeasure, shee would mitigate and appease his mind : 
 where men were out of fauour, she would bring them in his grace.' (Holin- 
 shed, p. 725.) 
 
 77. my lord chamberlain. Soon after his coronation, Edward IV created 
 Sir William Hastings Lord Hastings of Ashby de la Zouch, and appointed, 
 him Lord Chamberlain (Stow, Chronicle, ed. 1580, p. 713). He married 
 Warwick's sister, and yet was euer true to the King his master ' (Holin- 
 shed, p. 675). 
 
 78. our way, our best course, the course for us to take. Compare 
 Comedy of Errors; iv. 3. 93 : 
 
 ' My way is now to hie home to his house.' 
 
 81. o'erworn widow. At the time the play opens, 1471, the queen was 
 only 34. 
 
 82. duWd them gentlewomen. The queen's kindred were ennobled after 
 her marriage, but they were hardly * made gentlefolks' (1. 95), for her father 
 was of a good Northamptonshire family, and had been created Baron Rivers 
 in 1448, and Earl Rivers in 1466 ; and her mother was the Dowager Duchess 
 of Bedford, widow of John Duke of Bedford the brother of Henry V. See 
 3 Henry VI, iv. 1.70. Moreover, her first husband, Sir John Grey, was eldest 
 son of Lord Grey, of Groby. Mistress Shore had never any title of rank 
 conferred upon her. 
 
 83. gossips, a term somewhat of contempt, applied to persons who are on 
 intimate terms and therefore supposed to be possessed of influence with each 
 
sc. i.] RICHARD III. , 123 
 
 other. See Archbishop Trench's English Past and Present, pp. 204-5 
 (4th ed.), quoted in the note to Midsummer Night's Dream, ii. I. 47 
 (Clarendon Press ed.). A gossip or godsib was originally a sponsor. 
 
 84. I beseech. The metre would be improved by omitting the pronoun, as 
 in The Tempest, ii. i. I : 
 
 * Beseech you, sir, be merry ; you have cause.' 
 
 85. The Act for Clarence's attainder was passed in the 17 Edward IV, and 
 on February 8, 1477-8, the Duke of Buckingham was appointed Lord 
 High Steward of England, to see the sentence carried out. Clarence's death 
 was on February 18. 
 
 Ib. siraitly, strictly. So in iv. I. 17, and Genesis xliii. 7: 'The man 
 asked us straitly of our state.' And Matthew ix. 30 : ' And Jesus straitly 
 charged them, saying, see that no man know it.' 
 
 Ib. given in charge, ordered, commanded. See iv. 3. 25, and i Henry VI, 
 ii. 31 : 
 
 ' Porter, remember what I gave in charge.' 
 And The Tempest, v. i. 8 : 
 
 ' In the same fashion as you gave in charge.' 
 
 88. an '/, if it. So Pope altered the * and' or * & ' of the folios and quartos. 
 Similarly, in I Henry VI, v. 4. 10, the folios have ' and please you,' but in 
 this case Pope merely substitutes ' an ' for ' and.' On the other hand, the 
 full form is found in Love's Labour's Lost, v. 2. 584: 'There an 't shall 
 please you.' 
 
 89. partake of, share ; and so, hear. Used absolutely in Coriolanus, iv. 
 4.184: 
 
 ' Third Serv. O slaves, I can tell you news, news, you rascals! ' 
 
 First and second Serv. What, what, what ? Let 's partake.' 
 92. Well struck in years, advanced in years. See above, 1. 8l. Here 
 ' struck ' is from the Anglo-Saxon strican to go quickly, run, Early English 
 striken. In Lajamon's Brut, ed. Madden, 1. 9318, the earlier version has 
 ' & Hamun him to strac,' while the later reads ' Hamund him wende to,' 
 Hamun went towards him. Again, in the Legend of St. Katherine of 
 Alexandria, ed. Morton, 1. 2514 : 
 
 ' & striked a stream 
 
 Ut of stanene Jmrh ' ; 
 
 that is, And there runneth forth a stream out of the stone trough. The 
 present participle occurs at 1. 733 of the same poem : 
 ' Comeri alle strikinde 
 
 ]>e strengeste swiftest'; 
 
 that is, All come running, the strongest quickest. See also Cockayne's Glossary 
 to the Life of Seinte Marharete (Early English Text Society), p. 109. In the 
 Ormulum, 11. 14804, 14810, 'strac inn' is ' went in.' Hence is derived the 
 substantive ' stroke' in the sense of ' pace,' as in ' a good stroke.' Consequently, 
 
1 2,4 NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 * well struck ' or stricken ' is ' far advanced.' Compare The Taming of 
 the Shrew, ii. I. 362 : 
 
 'Myself am struck in years, I must confess.' 
 
 Again, in Sidney's Arcadia, p. 9 (ed. 1598) : * He being already well striken 
 in yeares, maried a young Princesse named Gynecia.' And Grenewey's 
 Annales of Tacitus (ed. 1598), p. 107 : ' Dinis, a man stroken in yeares.' 
 Cotgrave (Fr. Diet.), s. v. Aage, gives, * Avoir de 1'aage, to be strong and 
 lustie: also, to be well in yeares, or well stricken in yeares.' 'Similarly 
 in Sir Thomas More's Utopia (ed. Arber),p. 36, we have ' stricken in age ': 
 
 * He was of a meane stature, and though stricken in age, yet bare he 
 his bodye vpright.' With this may be compared the phrase 'stepped in 
 years ' which occurs in old writers. For instance, in Holland's Pliny, vii. 
 46 : * Now this Aglaus was a good honest man well stept in yeeres.' And 
 Plutarch's Morals (trans. Holland), p. 389 : * Timotheus and Iphicrates> who 
 were farre stept in yeeres.' Again, North's Plutarch, Theseus' and Romulus 
 (ed. 1631), p. 40: ' Againe, being stepped in yeares, and at later age, and 
 past manage, he stole away Helen in her minority.' When Ben -Jonson 
 (Sejanus, iii. i) wrote, 
 
 * Our mother, great Augusta, 's struck with time/ 
 he probably connected the phrase * struck in years ' with the common verb 
 
 * strike,' not knowing its real derivation. 
 
 Ib. jealous. The first and second folios make three syllables of the word 
 by printing it ' iealious,' which is the uniform spelling of the word in the first 
 folio of Othello, eVen where the metre does not require it. ' For example, 
 
 "i. 3- 323 : 
 
 Tr fles light as ayre, 
 
 Are to the iealious, confirmations strong, 
 
 As proofes of Holy Writ.' 
 
 But in 1. 8 1 above, the spelling is as usual. In i. 3. 326 the two late 
 quartos have similarly ' greevious ' or ' grevious.' 
 
 93. Shore's wife. Sir Thomas More, writing in 1513, evidently from per- 
 sonal observation, thus describes her : ' Proper she was & faire : nothing in 
 her. body y* you wold haue changed, but if you would haue wished her 
 somewhat higher. Thus say thei y* knew her in her youthe. Albeit some 
 that now se her (for yet x she liueth) deme her neuer to haue bew wel visaged. 
 Whose iugemewt semeth me somwhat like, as though men should gesse y e 
 bewty of one longe before departed, by her scalpe taken out of the charnel " 
 house ; for now is she old, lene, withered, & dried vp, nothing left but 
 ryuilde skin & hard bone. And yet being euew such : whoso wel aduise 
 her visage, might gesse & deuise which paries how filled wold make it a 
 faire face. Yet delited not men so much in her bewty, as in her pleasawt 
 behauiour. For a proper wif had she, & could bpth rede wel & write, 
 mery in company, redy & quick of auwswer, neither mute nor ful of 
 
sc. i.] RICHARD III. 125 
 
 bable, sometime taunting w*out displesure, & not w*out disport.' (Workes, 
 ed. 1557, p. 570 
 
 97, 98. The difference in spelling between ' nought ' and ' naught,' which 
 marks this equivoque, is preserved in the first quarto and the folios, and in 
 many of the other early copies. 
 
 99, 100. He that doth &c., Were best he do it &c. There is first of all 
 a confusion of construction here, the second 'he* being superfluous, and 
 rendering the previous * He ' with its attendant clause a kind of suspended 
 nominative. Further, the expressions ' I were best,' ' thou wert best, ' he 
 were best,' are possibly corruptions of ' me were best ' = it were best for me, 
 &c. See notes on The Tempest, i. 2. 367, and Hamlet, ii. 2. 508, in the 
 Clarendon Press editions ; and Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar, 230, 352. 
 
 103. / beseech. See above, 1. 84. 
 
 106. ~abjects, rightly explained by Monck Mason as * the most servile of 
 Jjer subjects.' Compare Psalm xxxv. 15 : The abjects gathered themselves 
 together against me,' that is, the outcasts, the most worthless and despicable 
 of men. So Ben Jonson, Poetaster, i. i : 
 
 * All other objects will but abjects prove/ 
 In the present passage the accent is on the last syllable. 
 
 107. / will unto the king. The ellipsis of the verb of motion before a 
 preposition or adverb indicating direction is one of the commonest idioms in 
 Shakespeare. Several instances occu in the present play. See i. i. 147; 
 i. 4. 148 ; ii. 4. 66; iii. 2. 32 ; iii. 5. 106 ; iv. 4. 6; v. 2. 14; v. 3. 46. 
 Also, Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar, 405. 
 
 109. King JSdwartfs widow. So Gloucester contemptuously calls the queen, 
 who was the widow of Sir John Grey. 
 
 TIO. to enfranchise you, to set you at liberty. The word 'enfranchise' 
 is still used in a technical sense in reference to copyhold land, or to persons 
 who have no vote as citizens ; but in its literal meaning it is not employed, 
 though it frequently occurs in Shakespeare. Compare Two Gentlemen of 
 Verona, iii. I. 151 : 
 
 * Silvia, this night I will enfranchise thee/ 
 Timon of Athens, i. i. 106 : 
 
 /Commend me to him: I will send his ransom, 
 And being enfranchised, bid him come to me.' 
 
 Hence ' enfranchisement ' signifies * setting at liberty/ deliverance from 
 prison, in King John, iv. 2. 52 : 
 
 Then I 
 
 heartily request 
 
 The enfranchisement of Arthur/ 
 
 115. lie f with a play upon the two meanings of the word. Reed explains 
 ' lie for you,' be imprisoned in your stead. 
 
 1 16". patience . . . perforce. There is here a reference to the old proverb, 
 
126 NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 Patience perforce is medicine for a mad dog. Compare Romeo and Juliet, 
 i. 5. 91 : 
 
 * Patience perforce with wilful choler meeting 
 Makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting.' 
 
 117. This part of the scene was probably suggested by the following' 
 passage from Sir Thomas More's Life of Richard III (Workes, p. 37) : 
 ' Somme wise menne also weene, that his drifte couertly conuayde, lacked 
 not in helping furth his brother of Clarence to his death : whiche hee resisted 
 openly, hovvbeit somwhat (as menne demed) more famtly then he y* wer 
 hartely minded to his welth. And they that thus deme, think y* he long 
 time in kiwg Edwardes life, forethought to be kig in case that y e king his 
 brother (whose life hee looked that euil dyete shoulde shorten) shoulde 
 happen to decease (as indede he did) while his children wer yonge. And 
 thei deme, that for thys intente he was gladcle of his brothers death y e 
 Duke of Clarence, whose life must nedes haue hindered hym so entendynge, 
 whither the same Duke of Clarence hadde kepte him true to his Nephew 
 the 'yonge king, or enterprised to be kyng himselfe.' 
 
 122. Good time of day, a common mode of salutation (see i. 3. 18, and 
 compare ii. I. 47 ; iv. 1.6), which appears in a fuller form in 2 Henry IV, 
 i. 2. 107*. 'God give your lordship good time of day.' Compare also 
 Henry V, v. 2. 3 : 
 
 * Unto our brother France, and to our sister, 
 Health and fair time of day.' 
 
 131. prevail' d on. The same construction is found in Julius Caesar, ii. 
 
 I. 254: 
 
 1 And could it work so much upon your shape 
 As it hath much prevail'd on your condition, 
 I should not know you, Brutus.' 
 Compare also iii. 4. 63 of the present play. 
 
 132. mewd. See above, 1. 38. 
 
 132, 133. eagle . . . prey. The folios read 'Eagles . . . play' ; but see 
 i. 3. 71. 
 
 137. fear him, fear for him, are anxious about him. Compare I Henry IV, 
 iv. I. 24: 
 
 ' He was much fear'd by his physicians.' 
 
 138. by Saint Paul, Richard's favourite oath. The folios have 'by 
 S. John.' But see i. 2. 36, 41 ; i. 3. 45 ; iii. 4. 78 ; v. 3. 216. 
 
 139. an evil diet. The expression is borrowed from Sir T. More (see above, 
 1. 117): 'whose life hee looked that euil dyete shoulde shorten.' 'Diet' 
 here denotes generally ' mode of life.' 
 
 146. George, Duke of Clarence. 
 
 Ib. post-horse. Mr. Collier, following the Perkins folio, reads 'post-haste.' 
 
 153. Warwick's youngest daughter. Anne Neville, betrothed, if not 
 
sc.i.] RICHARD III. 127 
 
 married, to Edward Prince of Wales, son of Henry VI. In the Third Part 
 of Henry VI, iii. 3. 242, she is wrongly called the eldest : 
 
 I'll join mine eldest daughter and my joy 
 To him forthwith in holy wedlock bands/ 
 And again, iv. i. 118 : 
 
 Belike the elder ; Clarence shall have the younger.' 
 154. her husband. Prince Edward was slain after the battle of Tewkes- 
 bury, but the manner of his death is doubtful. The tradition here followed 
 is that handed down by Hall (Chronicle, Edw. IV, p. 301). After the battle 
 the Prince was brought before Edward, and gave a spirited answer to the 
 ' King's demand. * At whiche wordes King Edward sayd nothyng, but with his 
 hand thrust hym from hym (or as some say, stroke him with his gauntlet) 
 whom incontinent, they that stode about, whiche were George duke of 
 Clarence, Rychard duke of Gloucester, Thomas Marques Dorset, and William 
 lord Hastynges, sodaynly murthered, & pitiously manquelled.' Polydore 
 Vergil (English History, ed. Ellis, p. 153, Camden Society) writes to the same 
 effect. Clarence is represented as the actual murderer in the present play, 
 i. 4. 56, while in i. 2. 242, Richard takes the guilt upon himself. See 
 
 3 Henry VI, v. 5. On the other hand, Buck (History of the Life and Reign 
 of Richard the Third, p. 81) asserts, on the authority of a MS. in Sir Robert 
 Cotton's collection, 'that the Duke of Gloucester onely of all the great 
 persons stood still and drew not his sword/ The author of the contem- 
 porary account of the restoration of Edward IV (edited by Mr. Bruce for the 
 Camden Society) leaves the question doubtful, but appears to imply that the 
 prince was killed on the battle-field. 'Edward, called Prince, was taken, 
 fleinge to the towne wards, and slayne, in the fielde* (p. 31). And in 
 Warkworth's Chronicle (ed. Halliwell, p. 18, Camden Society) it is said, 
 
 4 And ther was slayne in the felde, Prynce Edward, whiche cryede for 
 spcoure to his brother-in-lawe the Duke of Clarence/ 
 
 Ib. and her father. In the battle of Barnet, where Warwick was slain, 
 Richard commanded the vanguard of his brother's army, but the death of 
 Warwick is attributed to one of Edward's soldiers. ' He lept vpon a horse 
 to flie, and comming into a wood where was no passage, one of king 
 Edwards men came to him, killed him, and spoiled him to the naked skin ' 
 (Holinshed, p. 685). See also Warkworth's Chronicle, p. 16. 
 
 159. The which.. See Abbott, 270. 
 
 Ib. not all so much for love. There is good reason however to believe 
 that a strong attachment had existed between Richard and Anne from a 
 Tery early period. But the discrepancies between the play and the history 
 are all but endless. 
 
 158. another' secret close intent, his designs upon the crown. * Close' 
 f and * secret' are synonymous. See iv. 2. 25 : *A close exploit of death'; 
 and Macbeth, iii. 5.7:' The close contriver of all harms/ 
 
128 NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 159. By marrying her . . . reach unto, that is, ' which I must reach unto 
 by marrying her.' It is not clear how Richard's marriage with Anne could 
 be supposed to favour his plans for obtaining the crown. 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 This scene is historically impossible. After the battle of Tewkesbury, Lady 
 Anne Neville, who was with Queen Margaret, was kept in concealment by 
 Clarence, until, according to the continuator of the Chronicle of Croyland, 
 she was discovered in London by Richard in the disguise of a kitchen-maid, 
 and was by him conveyed for safety to the sanctuary of St. Martin's. 
 Holinshed's account of the funeral of Henry VI has in other respects been 
 closely followed. 'The dead corps on the Ascension euen was conueied 
 with billes and glaues pompouslie (if you will call that a funerall pompe) 
 from the Tower to the church of Saint Paule, and there laid on a beire or 
 cofFen bare faced, the same in presence of the beholders did bleed ; where it 
 rested the space of one whole daie. From thense he was caried to the 
 Black-friers, and bled there likewise : and on the next daie after, it was 
 conueied in a boat, without priest or clerke, torch or taper, singing or 
 saieng, vnto the monasterie of Chertseie, distant from London fifteene miles, 
 and there was it first buried : but after, it was remooued to Windesor, and 
 there in a new vawt, newlie intoomed.' (pp. 690, 691.) 
 
 Enter . . . Gentlemen with halberds. The quartos and folios have simply 
 ' Halberds,' which means the same thing, as 'ancient* or 'ensign* is 'ensign- 
 bearer/ and * trumpet ' signifies ' trumpeter.' 
 
 3. obsequiously, as befits funeral obsequies. Compare Hamlet, i. 2. 92 : 
 
 ' Bound 
 
 In filial obligation for some term 
 To do obsequious sorrow.' 
 And Sonnet xxxi. 5 : 
 
 ' How many a holy and obsequious tear 
 Hath dear religious love stolen from mine eye 
 As interest of the dead!' 
 
 5. key-cold was used proverbially to denote extreme cold. Compare 
 Heywood, Proverbs and Epigrams (Spenser Soc. ed.) p. 44 : ' It grew cold as 
 a Kay.' And Lucrece, 1774: 
 
 'And then in key-cold Lucrece' bleeding stream 
 
 He falls/ 
 
 Also Holland's Pliny, vii. 53 : ' In this habite, disguised as he sat, hee was 
 starke dead and keycold before any man perceived it.' Professor Skeat has 
 referred me to Gower's Confessio Amantis, B. vi. (ed. Pauli), vol. iii. p. 9 : 
 ' For certes there was never keie 
 Ne frosen is vpon the walle 
 More inly cold, than I am alle.' 
 
sc. 2.] RICHARD III. 129 
 
 A common remedy for bleeding of the nose was to put a key down one's 
 back, the coldness of the metal being supposed to check the bleeding. 
 8. Be it, printed as two syllables but pronounced as one, as in 1. 21. 
 Ib. invocate, invoke. The word only occurs twice more in Shakespeare, 
 Sonnet xxxviii. 10 : 
 
 ' Be thou the tenth Muse, ten times more in worth 
 
 Than those old nine which rhymers invocate.' 
 And I Henry VI, i. I. 52 : 
 
 * Henry the Fifth, thy ghost I invocate.' 
 
 16. Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 Ib. the blood must here mean the passion or temper, as in Lear, iv. 2. 64 : 
 
 * Were 't my fitness 
 To let these hands obey my blood.' 
 
 17. hap, chance, fortune; Icelandic happ. So in Antony and Cleopatra, 
 
 ii. 3- 3 2 : 
 
 ' Be it art or hap. 
 He hath spoken true. 1 
 
 19. to adders, spiders. The folios have 'to wolves, to spiders.' But the- 
 next line shews that the quartos have the correct reading. 
 
 20. venom d y venomous. So Timon of Athens, iv. 3. 182 : 
 
 ' The gilded newt and eyeless venom 'd worm.' 
 
 Similarly * poisoned' is used for * poisonous' in Lyly's Euphues (ed. Arber), 
 p. 196: *Nylus breedeth the precious stone and the poysoned serpent.' 
 It is also the reading of all the quartos except the first in i. 3. 246. Com- 
 pare * burthen'd' for 'burdensome ' in iv. 4. III. 
 
 22. Prodigious, monstrous, portentous. Compare Midsummer Night's 
 Dream, v. I. 419: 
 
 ' Never mole, hare-lip, nor scar, 
 
 Nor mark prodigious, such as are 
 
 Despised in nativity.' 
 
 Cotgrave (Fr. Diet.) gives : ' Prodigieux . . . Prodigious, wonderous, mon- 
 strous, most vnnaturall or out of course.' 
 
 23. aspect has the accent on the last syllable, as always in Shakespeare. 
 See below, 1. 155, and Lucrece, 452 : 
 
 ' Whose grim aspect sets every joint a-shaking.' 
 
 25. Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 Ib. unhappiness here signifies the active capacity for mischief. Anne 
 wishes that the child which shall succeed to the father's power of doing 
 mischief may be marked at its birth as a monster. The word only occurs 
 once more in Shakespeare and then in the sense of ' mischief-doing.' See 
 Much Ado, ii. i. 361 : 'She hath often dreamed of unhappiness, and waked 
 herself with laughing.' 
 
 27. by the death of him. Sir W. Blackstone conjectured 'life' for 
 
 K 
 
330 NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 'death,' because in iv. I. j6, when Anne repeats the curse which she now 
 pronounces, she says, 
 
 ' And be thy wife if any be so mad 
 As miserable by the life of thee 
 As thou hast made me by my dear lord's death!' 
 But in this passage also the quartos read * death.' 
 
 32. whiles, while. See note on Julius Caesar, i. 2. 209. 
 
 36. Villains. The folios have the plural, the quartos the singular, 
 * Villaine.' The latter may perhaps be the true reading, Richard's speech 
 being addressed to the Gentleman in command of the party of halberdiers. 
 
 37. Johnson quotes Hamlet, i. 4. 85 : 
 
 * By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets me ! ' 
 40. Advance, raise. Compare v. 3. 264; and Coriolanus, i. 6. 6l : 
 
 ' Filling the air with swords advanced and darts.' 
 Ib. halberd, a kind of pole-axe, or long-handled axe, with a pike at- 
 tached. In Icelandic bar&a signifies an axe, and Professor Skeat connects 
 the first part of the word with 'helm/ a helve or handle, the form in 
 Middle High German being helm barte, helmbarte, or helbarte. It may be 
 that the Icelandic barfta is derived from the Middle High German barta, 
 a broad axe, and as this in Old High German is parta, it is also possible 
 that ' halberd ' and * partisan,' as they denote similar weapons, may be 
 etymologically connected. 
 
 42. spurn upon. Elsewhere in Shakespeare 'spurn' is followed by 'at* 
 or 'against.' In Gower, Confessio Amantis, Book iv. (ed. Pauli), vol. ii. 
 p. 44, we find the construction ' spurn on' : 
 
 ' So that within a while I gesse 
 She had on suche a chaunce sporned 
 That all her mod was overtorned.' 
 49. curst, shrewish, spiteful. See Midsummer Night's Dream, iii. 2. 300: 
 
 * I was never curst ; 
 I have no gift at all in shrewishness ' : 
 and the note on the passage in the Clarendon Press edition. 
 52. exclaims* exclamations, outcries. So Richard II, i. 2.2: 
 
 * Alas, the part I had in Woodstock's blood 
 Doth more solicit me than your exclaims.' 
 
 In the note on that passage (Clarendon Press ed.) other examples of substan- 
 tives formed from verbs are given. See also Abbott's Shakesperian Gram- 
 mar, 451. 
 
 54. pattern, example, instance. Compare Othello, v. 2. II : 
 
 'Thou cunning'st pattern of excelling nature.' 
 And Spenser, Faerie Queene, iv. 6. 24 : 
 
 * That peerelesse paterne of Dame Natures pride.* 
 
 55> 56. The belief that the wounds of a murdered person bled afresh in 
 
sc. 2.] RICHARD III. 131 
 
 the presence of the murderer was once prevalent. Sir Walter Scott makes 
 use of it with striking effect in The Fair Maid of Perth, where the body of 
 Oliver Proudfute is exposed in the church of St. John for the purpose of 
 applying this test for the discovery of his slayer. See also the quotation from 
 Holinshed at the beginning of the scene, and Brand's Popular Antiquities 
 (Bohn's Antiq. Library), iii. 229, where the following passage is quoted from 
 King James's Dsemonology, p. 136: ' In a secret murther, if the dead car- 
 kasse be at any time thereafter handled by the murtherer, it will gush out of 
 blood, as if the blood were crying to heaven for the revenge of the murtherer.' 
 
 58. exhales, draws forth. See 166. Shakespeare always uses the word 
 in this sense, as when he speaks of ' some meteor that the sun exhales ' 
 (Romeo and Juliet, iii. 5. 13), connecting the latter part of the word with the 
 English ' hale ' and not with the Latin halare to breathe. In the inflated 
 language of Pistol, Henry V, ii. I. 66, ' exhale' is simply ' draw* : 
 'The grave doth gape and doting death is near; 
 Therefore exhale.' 
 
 60, 61. deed . . . Provokes. So the quartos, and rightly. The first three 
 folios have deeds . . . Provokes. 'Provokes,' however, is not a plural in ' s' 
 but the result of a printer's error. 
 
 64. Either, a monosyllable, as in iv. 4. 182, and Julius Caesar, iv. I. 23: 
 
 ' Either led or driven, as we pk)int the way.' 
 See Abbott, 466, for examples of other words similarly contracted. 
 
 65. quick, alive. There is probably a reference here to Numbers xvi. 30: 
 *But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and 
 swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down 
 quick into the pit ; then ye shall understand that those men have provoked 
 the Lord.' 
 
 67. butchered. It is worth while to draw attention, once for all, to the 
 unusual number of instances in this play in which the participial termination 
 ' -ed ' is accentuated. 
 
 71. No beast. For examples of the ellipsis of 'there is,' see I. 3. 186, 
 ii. I. 84, and Coriolanus, ii. 3. 170 : 
 
 * Not one amongst us, save yourself, but says 
 
 He used us scornfully.' 
 
 76. touch, delicate feeling. Compare Two Gentlemen of Verona, ii. 
 7.18: 
 
 ' Didst thou but know the inly touch of love.' 
 And The Tempest, v. I. 21 : 
 
 ' Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling 
 Of their afflictions?' 
 
 76. evils. The folios have ' crimes ' ; but see 1. 79. 
 
 77. By circumstance, by an elaborate and detailed argument. Compare 
 The Merchant of Venice, i. I. 154 : 
 
 K 2 
 
132 NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 * You know me well, and herein spend but time 
 To wind about my love with circumstance.' 
 
 78. defused infection is a phrase coined to match ' divine perfection,' and 
 the play upon words was more aimed at by the writer than their appro- 
 priateness. ' Defused ' is properly ' disordered/ and must here mean ' shape- 
 less.' Compare Armin's Nest of Ninnies, p. 6 (Shaksp. Soc. ed.) : * It is hard 
 that the taste of one apple should distaste the whole lump of this defused 
 chaios/ See also note on Lear, i. 4. 2 (Clarendon Press ed.). 
 
 84. current, so as to be accepted as genuine. 
 
 92. by Edward's hand. In the Third Part of Henry VI, v. 5, Edward, 
 Clarence, and Richard all stab the young prince. 
 
 95, 96. The which . . . point. See 3 Henry VI, v. 5. 41-43. 
 
 95. bend, aim, direct, point. From the bow, which is bent in preparing to 
 shoot, the word ' bend ' is applied to other weapons. Compare Lear, iv. 2. 74 : 
 
 * Bending his sword 
 To his great master'; 
 
 that is, pointing his sword against him. Again, 3 Henry VI, v. I. 87 : 
 ' To bend the fatal instruments of war 
 
 Against his brother and his lawful king.' 
 And King John, ii. i. 37 : 
 
 * Our cannon shall be bent 
 Against the brows of this resisting town.' 
 
 Also, Stow's Annals (ed. 1580), p. 1082 : 'Which thing was no sooner knowne 
 to the Lieutenant, but that euen the same night, and the next morning, he 
 bent seauen great peeces of Ordinance Culuerings, and Demi Canons, full 
 against the foote of the Bridge.' 
 
 101. Didst thou not kill this king? Sir Thomas More gives the tradition 
 current in his time. ' He slewe with his owne handes king Henry the sixt, 
 being prisoner in the Tower, as menne constantly saye, and that without com- 
 maundemente or knoweledge of the king, whiche woulde vndoubtedly yf he 
 had entended that thinge, haue appointed that boocherly office, to some other 
 then his owne borne brother.' (Workes, p. 37.) 
 
 107. holp, helped; A. S. healp. This form, both of the preterite and 
 the participle, is the more common in Shakespeare. See iv. 4. 45, and 
 Coriolanus, v. 3. 63, ' I holp to frame thee,' with the note on this passage 
 in the Clarendon Press edition. Pope altered it to *help'd* and we find 
 this form also in v. 3. 167. 
 
 117. timeless, untimely. So in 3 Henry VI, v. 6: 42 : 
 
 * Men for their sons, wives for their husbands, 
 And orphans for their parents' timeless death/ 
 
 It appears to have been a favourite word with Shakespeare in his early days, 
 for it occurs in Lucrece and in those plays which must be referred to this 
 first period of his career : 
 
sc. 2.] RICHARD III. 133 
 
 1 20. effect is explained by Dr. Schmidt in his Shakespeare Lexicon as the 
 abstract used for the concrete, as if it signified * efficient cause.' It is 
 difficult in such a quibbling dialogue to attach very strict meanings to the 
 words employed. * Cause and effect ' would seem to be used as a compre- 
 hensive phrase to denote the whole of any action from beginning to end, 
 and Anne perhaps means to imply that the murder of Henry and his son was 
 altogether the work of Richard, who was both prompter and executioner. 
 We have other instances of this play upon words in Hamlet, ii. 2. 101-103 : 
 
 *And now remains 
 
 That we find out the cause of this effect, 
 Or rather say, the cause of this defect, 
 For this effect defective comes by cause/ 
 And 2 Henry IV, i. 2. 133 : * I have read the cause of his effects in Galen.' 
 
 1 24. live. The quartos have ' rest,' but the play upon words between ' live ' 
 and ' death' in the preceding line is more in the manner of this dialogue. 
 
 126. rend. The reading of the quartos. The folios have 'rent,' which 
 is the frequent form of the word in the Authorised Version of 1611, although 
 in modern editions it is only found in Jeremiah iv. 30 : ' Though thou 
 rentest thy face with painting.' It occurs several times in Shakespeare, as 
 for instance in Midsummer Night's Dream, iii. 2. 215 : 
 
 * And will you rent our ancient love asunder ?' 
 
 144. She spitteth at him. The folios have * Spits at him,' while the 
 quartos omit the stage-direction. 
 
 150. basilisks. The glance of the basilisk's eye was supposed to be deadly. 
 Compare Cymbeline, ii. 4. 107 : 
 
 *It is a basilisk unto mine eye, 
 Kills me to look on't.' 
 3 Henry VI, iii. 2. 187 : 
 
 ' I'll slay more gazers than the basilisk.' 
 
 See also 2 Henry VI, ii. 3. 51-53. The basilisk, or cockatrice, is a 
 fabulous creature of which many marvellous stories are told. The name 
 ' cockatrice ' is probably a corruption of ' crocodile,' through Fr. cocatrix, 
 Span, cocatriz, but an explanation of the origin of the animal was invented 
 in order to account for the name. * There is some question amongst 
 Writers, about the generation of this Serpent : for some (and those very 
 many and learned) affirm him to be brought forth of a Cocks Egge . . . 
 which Egge . . . afterward set upon by a Snake or a Toad, bringeth forth 
 the Cockatrice, being half a foot in length, the hind^rpart like a Snake, the 
 former part like a Cock, because of a treble combe on his fore-head . . . 
 Among all living creatures, there is none that perisheth sooner then doth 
 a man by the poyson of a Cockatrice, for with his sight he killeth him, 
 because the beams of the Cockatrices eyes, do corrupt the visible spirit of 
 a man, which visible spirit corrupted, all the other spirits coming from the 
 
134 - XOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 brain and life of the heart, are thereby corrupted, and so the man dyeth.' 
 (Topsell, History of Serpents, ed. 1658, pp. 677, 681.) 
 
 155-166. These eyes . . . weeping. This passage only occurs in the 
 folios, and was perhaps added by Shakespeare to the original draft of the play. 
 
 155. Compare 3 Henry VI, ii. i. 79, 80, where Richard, after hearing the 
 news of the slaughter of his father and brother, exclaims : 
 
 * I cannot weep ; for all my body's moisture 
 
 Scarce serves to quench my furnace-burning heart.' 
 
 In the same scene the news is announced not by Warwick, as here repre- 
 sented, but by a messenger. 
 
 156. ^Vo, altered by Pope to 'Not.' But 'no' is frequently found for 
 'not' in such phrases as 'whether he will or no' (see iii. I. 23). Compare 
 also Comedy of Errors, i. i. 155 : 
 
 ' Beg thou, or borrow, to make up the sum, 
 
 And live ; if no, then thou art doom'd to die.' 
 162. That, so that. See Julius Caesar, i. i. 50: , 
 
 'Have you not made an universal shout, 
 
 That Tiber trembled underneath her banks?' 
 165. exhale. See above, 1. 58. 
 
 1 68. smoothing, flattering. See i. 3. 48. The quartos here hav 
 ' soothing,' which is used in the same sense. Compare i. 3. 298, and 
 Coriolanus, ii. 2. 77: 'You soothed not, therefore hurt not.* In BunyanV 
 Holy War, Mrs. Soothe-up is the wife of Mr. Flatter. 
 
 178. the death, used technically for a judicial punishment, as in Henry V, 
 iv. i. 181 : 'When they have feared the death, they have borne life away.' 
 
 179, 181. for I did kill King Henry . . . 'twas I that stabb'd yoiing 
 Edward. This is the reading of the folios. The quartos have, ' 'twas I that 
 kild your husband . . . t'was I that kild King Henry.' 
 
 187. Tush. See i. 3. 350. 
 
 202. Anne. To take is not to give. Omitted in the folios, probably by . 
 a printer's error. Oechelhauser thinks that it was deliberately left out by 
 the author for aesthetic reasons. 
 
 203. this ring. So the quartos. The folios have ' my ring. 1 
 206. suppliant. So the quartos. The folios read ' servant.' 
 
 212. presently, at once, instantly. In Matthew xxi. 19, 'presently' is the 
 rendering of the Greek irapaxp^^a, which is elsewhere 'straightway' or 
 ' immediately.' 
 
 Ib. Crosby Place. In the folios it is called ' Crosby House,' as in Hey- 
 wood's First part of king Edward the Fourth (Works, i. 57) : 
 ' Likewise, in memory of me, John Crosbie, 
 In Bishopsgate Street, a poore House haue I built, 
 And as my name haue call'd it Crosbie House.' 
 In his account of the parish of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, Stow (Survey of 
 
sc. 2.] RICHARD III. 135 
 
 London, ed. Thorns, p. 65) says : ' Then have you one great house called 
 Crosby place, because the same was built by Sir John Crosby, grocer and 
 woolman, in place of certain tenements, with their appurtenances, letten to 
 him by Alice Ashfed, prioress of St. Helen's, and the convent for ninety- 
 nine years from the year 1466 unto the year 1565, for the annual rent of 
 ill. 6s. 8d. This house he built of stone and timber, very large and beautiful, 
 and the highest at that time in London. He was one of the sheriffs, and an 
 alderman in the year 1470, knighted by Edward IV. in the year 1471, and 
 deceased in the year 1475 . . . Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and lord pro- 
 tector, afterward king, by the name of Richard III., was lodged in this house/ 
 At the time at which the play opens Sir John Crosby was still living in his 
 own house. After various vicissitudes of fortune, during which it was used as a 
 Presbyterian meeting-house and a packer's warehouse, the fine hall of Crosby 
 Place has been in recent times restored, and is an interesting example of the 
 architecture, of the period at which it was built. Sir Thomas More once had 
 the lease of Crosby Place, and after his death his daughter, Margaret Roper, 
 lived there with her husband. There seems to be no reason why the folios 
 should in two passages read 'Crosby house' and in the third (i. 3. 345) 'Crosby 
 place.' Both More and Hall call it ' Crosbies place in Bishops gates strete 
 wher the protectour kept his household' (More, Workes, p. 53). 
 
 215. Wet, wetted. See note on i. 4. 181. 
 
 216. expedient, expeditious. Compare King John, ii. I. 60 : 
 x * His marches are expedient to this town.' 
 
 219. joys, rejoices, gladdens. So in Pericles, i. 2. 9 : 
 
 * Yet neither pleasure's art can joy my spirits.' 
 
 221. Tressel and Berkeley. It is not known who these gentlemen were. 
 Mr. G. R. French, in his Shakespeareana Genealogica, p. 251, conjectures that 
 Tressel may be a misprint for Trussel, the name of an old Warwickshire 
 family, and that Berkeley may have been one of the sons of James sixth Lord 
 Berkeley. More probably the names were the writer's own invention. 
 
 226. White-Friars. According to Holinshed the body of Henry was 
 taken from St. Paul's to the Black-Friars. 
 
 235. nothing. , The folios have 'no Friends,' and ' withall* for *at all,' 
 probably to avoid the repetition of ' nothing ' two lines below. Delius, who 
 holds that the quarto text is the work of an anonymous corrector of the 
 original which exists substantially in the folios, accounts for the alteration 
 by supposing that he did not understand the meaning of 'withal.' The 
 accent on 'nothing' is here on the second syllable, as in Cymbeline, iv. 4. 15 : 
 
 ' This, is, sir, a doubt 
 In such a time nothing becoming you/ 
 
 240. some three months since. Three weeks would have been nearer the 
 mark. The battle of Tewkesbury was fought on the 4th of May 1471, and 
 Henry's body was taken to Chertsey on Ascension Day, May 23. 
 
NOTES. ACT i. 
 
 242. Hall (Chronicle, Edward IV, p. 301) describes Prince Edward as 
 ' a goodly femenine & a wel feautered yonge gentleman,' which Holinshed 
 (p. 688) changes to ' a faire and well proportioned yoong gentleman.' 
 
 244. and, no doubt, right royal. It is hard to believe that this is what 
 Shakespeare wrote. Johnson conjectured * loyal.' Steevens suggests that 
 there is an ironical allusion to the doubt which was supposed to rest upon 
 Prince Edward's legitimacy. See Fabyan's Chronicle (ed. Ellis), p. 628. 
 
 246. debase, lower. The folios read ' abase.' 
 
 247. the golden prime, or sunny spring-time of life. See v. 3. 119, and 
 compare 3 Henry VI, ii. I. 23 : 
 
 * How well resembles it the prime of youth I ' 
 And Sonnet iii. 10 : % 
 
 * Thou art thy mother's glass, and she in thee 
 Calls back the lovely April of her prime : 
 
 So thou through windows of thine age shall see 
 Despite of wrinkles this thy golden time.' 
 
 249. not equals. See Abbott, 305, and The Tempest, v. i. 38 : 
 ' Whereof the ewe not bites.' 
 
 Ib. moiety. A disyllabic both in the quartos ' moity,' and in the folios 
 ' moytie/ 
 
 250. halt. See i. I. 23. 
 
 Ib. unshapen. The folios read ' mishapen.' 
 
 251. My dukedom, &c. Compare 1. 237 above. 
 
 Ib. a beggarly denier. The smallest possible coin, such as would be 
 given to a beggar. Compare I Henry IV, iii. 3. 91 : Til not pay a denier.' 
 Cotgrave has * Denier ; m. A pennie, a deneere ; a small copper coyne valued 
 at the tenth part of an English pennie/ 
 
 254. proper, handsome, good-looking. See Hebrews xi. 23, 'Moses . . 
 was hid three months of his parents, because they saw that he was a 
 proper child.' And Othello, iv. 3. 35 : 
 
 ' Des. This Lodovico is a proper man. 
 Emil. A very handsome man/ 
 
 255. at charges for, at the expense of. Baret, Alvearie, has, ' To be at 
 part of the charges. In partem impensae venire.' Compare Acts xxi. 24 : 
 ' Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them' ; 
 that is, lay out money upon them, or as Tyndale expresses it, * do cost 
 on them.' And I Corinthians ix. 7 ' Who goeth a warfare any time at his 
 own charges ?' 
 
 256. enter tain, engage, employ. Comparei.4- 129, and Julius Caesar, v. 5,60: 
 
 ' All that served Brutus, I will entertain them/ 
 
 And Much Ado, i. 3. 60: 'Being entertained for a perfumer'; that is, en- 
 gaged as a perfumer. 
 
 260. in, into. See iv. 4. 23. 
 
sc. 3.1 RICHARD III. 137 
 
 Scene III. 
 
 The palace. ' The scene is laid in the palace at Westminster, which 
 formerly stood on the south side of Westminster Hall. * This hath been,' 
 says Stow, ' the principal seat and palace of all the kings of England since the 
 Conquest ; for here have they in the great hall kept their feasts of corona- 
 tion especially, and other solemn feasts, as at Christmas and such like, most 
 commonly ... A great part of this palace at Westminster was once again 
 burnt in the year 1512, the 4th of Henry VIII.; since the which time it 
 hath not been re-edified.' (Survey of London, ed. Thorns, pp. 172, I74-) 
 
 Enter Queen Elizabeth. The folios have 'Enter the Queene Mother. 1 
 The quartos 'Enter Queene.' Lord Grey was properly only Sir Richard 
 Grey, the youngest son of the queen by her first husband, Sir John Grey 
 (French, Shakespeareana Genealogica, p. 225). But he is called 'Lord 
 Richard Graye' by Sir Thomas More, and by Hall ' the lord Richard.' See 
 ii. I. 66". The date of the Scene is April 1483. 
 
 5. quick, lively, sprightly. Compare Two Gentlemen of Verona, iii. 1.91: 
 
 ' Dumb jewels often in their silent kind 
 More than quick words do move a woman's mind.' 
 
 6. betide is here used loosely for ' become.' It properly means 'to happen, 
 come to pass,' and is sometimes followed by ' to ' and sometimes used with- 
 out any preposition. For * of the folios have ' on.' 
 
 12. According to Polydore Vergil (Historic of England, ed. Ellis, p. 171, 
 Camden Society), Edward IV ' made his Will, wherin he constitutyd his 
 soones his heyres ; whom he comyttyd to the tuytion of Rycherd his brother, 
 duke of Glocester.' 
 
 13. nor none. See iv. 4. 459. For the double negative compare Sonnet 
 cxvi. 14 : 
 
 ' I never writ, nor no man ever loved.' 
 
 15. // w determined, not concluded yet. It is resolved upon, though no 
 formal record of the fact has been made. At Trinity College, Cambridge, 
 the book in which official entries are made of the decisions of the Master 
 and Seniors is called the Conclusion Book. 
 
 1 6. if the king miscarry, if anything happen to, or go wrong with the 
 king; used euphemistically. See v. I. 5, and compare Twelfth Night, iii. 
 4. 70 : 'I would not have him miscarry for the half of my dowry.' And 
 2 Henry IV, iv.-l. 129: 
 
 * All their lives 
 
 That by indictment and by dint of sword 
 Have since miscarried under Bolingbroke.' 
 
 1 6. Stage direction. Enter Buckingham and Derby. Thomas Lord 
 Stanley was not created Earl of Derby till after the battle of Bosworth Field, 
 when on Oct. 27, 1485, he was made, by Henry VII, Earl of Derby and 
 
138 NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 Lord High Steward. In the present play he is called sometimes Lord Stanley 
 and sometimes Derby, but as the variations occur in the old copies no 
 attempt has been made to correct them. Theobald substituted 'Stanley' 
 for 'Derby' throughout. 
 
 1 8. Good time of day. See i. I. 122. 
 
 19. majesty, used here as a disyllabic. 
 
 20. The Countess Richmond, better known as the Lady Margaret, was 
 mother of Henry VII, and daughter of John Beaufort, first duke of Somerset, 
 the grandson of John of Gaunt. She married first Edmund Tudor, Earl of 
 Richmond, the half brother of Henry VI, being the son of Catharine of 
 Valois by her marriage with Owen ap Meredith ap Tudor. Edmund Tudor 
 died Nov. 3, 1456, before the birth of his son, who was born at Pembroke 
 Castle January 28, 1456-7. Shortly after his death the Countess married 
 Lord Henry Stafford, son of Humphrey, first duke of Buckingham, and there- 
 fore uncle of Henry Duke of Buckingham who appears in this play. Lord (or 
 Sir) Henry Stafford died probably in 1482, and his widow soon after went 
 through the form of marriage with Thomas Lord Stanley, a widower with 
 a daughter and three sons, the eldest of whom was the George Stanley of 
 the play. She died July 3, 1509, surviving her husband and her son, and is 
 buried in Henry VH's Chapel at Westminster. 
 
 25. not believe. See i. 2. 249. 
 
 27. in true report. So the quartos: the folios read 'on.' Compare 2 
 Henry VI, iii. 2. 257*. * In pain of your dislike or pain of death.' And 
 Coriolanus, iii. 3. 102 : * In peril of precipitation, &c.' 
 
 31. But now, just now. Compare The Merchant of Venice, iii. 2. 169, 171 : 
 
 ' But now I was the lord 
 Of this fair mansion, master of my servants, 
 Queen o'er myself; and even now, but now, 
 This house, these servants and this same myself 
 ( Are yours, my lord.' 
 
 35. confer, discourse, talk. 
 
 36. Madam, we did. So the quartos. The folios read 'I ( == Ay) 
 Madam/ for the sake of the metre. 
 
 Ib. atonement, reconciliation. Compare 2 Henry IV, iv. I. 221 : 
 ' If we do now make our atonement well, 
 Our peace will, like a broken limb united, 
 Grow stronger for the breaking.' 
 
 Sir Thomas More (Life of Richard III, Workes, p. 41) uses the same 
 expression with reference to the queen's kindred : ' Hauying more regarde 
 to their olde variaunce, than their newe attonement.' See note on ' atone ' 
 in Richard II, i. I. 202. 
 
 37. Betwixt, here and elsewhere in the quartos, is changed in the folios to 
 ' between.' 
 
sc. 3.] RICHARD III. 139 
 
 76. the Duke of Gloucester. Richard is directly charged by Sir Thomas 
 More (Workes, p. 38) with fomenting the quarrels with the queen's family : 
 * And for as muche as hee well wiste and holpe to mayntayn, a long con- 
 tinued grudge and hearte brennynge betwene the Quenes kinred and the 
 kinges blood eyther partye enuying others authoritye, he nowe thought that 
 their deuision shoulde bee (as it was indede) a fortherlye begynnynge to the 
 pursuite of his intente.' 
 
 38. Compare More (Workes, p. 38) : ' He called some of them before 
 him that were at variaunce, and in especyall the Lorde Marques Dorsette 
 the Quenes sonne by her fyrste housebande, and Richarde the Lorde 
 Hastynges, a noble man, than lorde chaumberlayne agayne whome the Quene 
 specially grudged, for y e great fauoure the kyng bare hym, and also for that 
 shee thoughte hym secretelye familyer with the kynge in wanton coum- 
 panye. Her kynred also bare hym sore, as well for that the kynge hadde 
 made hym captayne of Calyce ... as for diuerse other greate giftes whiche 
 hee receyued, y fc they loked for.' 
 
 39. to warn, to summon. See Julius Caesar, v. I. 5 : 
 
 They mean to warn us at Philippi here/ 
 41. highest. Altered in the folios to ' height.' 
 45. By holy Paul. See i. I. 138. 
 
 47. speak fair was apparently considered to be too little different from 
 ' flatter,' and was therefore altered in the folios to * looke faire.' 
 
 48. smooth, cajole. So in Titus Andronicus, v. 2. 140 : 
 
 'Yield to his humour, smooth and speak him fair.' 
 Ib. cog, cheat. See note on Coriolanus, iii. 2. 133. 
 
 49. French nods. There are many allusions in the literature of Shake- 
 speare's time to the affectation of imitating foreign manners and habits. 
 Mercutio, while he addresses Romeo with 'Signor Romeo, bon jour 1 there's 
 a French salutation to your French slop,' has no terms to express his con- 
 tempt of ' such antic, lisping, affecting fantasticoes ' (Romeo and Juliet, ii. 4). 
 Steevens quotes from Churchyard, A tragical Discourse of the Haplesse Mans 
 Life, 1593: 
 
 We make a legge, and kisse the hand withall, 
 (A French deuice, nay sure a Spanish tricke) 
 And speake in print, and say loe at your call 
 I will remaine your owne bothe dead and quicke. 
 A courtier so can giue a lobbe a licke, 
 And dress a dolt in motley for a while, 
 And so in sleeue at silly woodcocke smile.' 
 
 53. Jacks, used contemptuously for low-born fellows, base rogues. See 
 1. 73, and compare i Henry IV, iii. 3. 99 : ' How ! the prince is a Jack, a 
 sneak-cup'; and Much Ado, v. i. 91: 
 
 1 Boys, apes, braggarts, Jacks, milksops ! * 
 
14 NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 54. To whom. The first folio reads 'To who,' as in Othello, i. 2. 52 : 
 ' lago. He's married. 
 
 Cas. To who ? ' 
 
 Ib. in all this presence, in all this assembled company ; generally used of 
 the persons attending on royalty. See ii. I. 58, 78, 84, &c. 
 58. person. So the quartos. The folios have ' grace.' 
 
 60. Cannot . . . scarce. An instance of the double negative, which is per- 
 haps due to the adverb being separated from the verb. 
 
 61. lewd, base, vile. In Anglo-Saxon l&wed signifies ' lay/ and Ipcet Icewede 
 folc means the laity as opposed to the clergy. Hence it came to signify 
 rude, uninstructed, and so, base, low, vulgar. See Professor Skeat's Ety- 
 mological Dictionary, and Archbishop Trench's Select Glossary. In Acts 
 xvii. 5, ' certain lewd fellows of the baser sort/ the word is simply the 
 rendering of the Greek irovrjpovs, wicked. 
 
 64. by any suitor else. Of course ' else ' is superfluous, as in Macbeth v. 
 
 8. 4 : 
 
 'Of alj men else I have avoided thee/ 
 
 The construction may be compared with that in the well-known lines of 
 Milton, Par. Lost, iv. 323, 324: 
 
 1 Adam the goodliest man of men since born 
 His sons ; the fairest of her daughters Eve.' 
 
 Professor Masson in his note on that passage refers to Par. Lost, ii. 
 678, 679, for a similar instance: 
 
 'God and his Son except, 
 Created thing naught valued he nor shunned/ 
 
 65. belike. See i. i. 49. 
 
 67. kindred. So the quartos. The folios read * children,' that is, the 
 Marquis of Dorset and Lord Grey, the queen's children by her first husband. 
 
 Ib. brothers. Pope reads ' brother,' because the only one mentioned in 
 this play is Earl Rivers. But the first Earl Rivers, Elizabeth's father, had 
 seven sons and six daughters. 
 
 68. Makes him to send. The grammar is hopelessly wrong, though the 
 sense is clear. It is as if * his own royal disposition ' were the subject of the 
 sentence instead of ' The king.' Hannier and Capell read * Hath sent for you.' 
 
 69. and to remove it. The reading of the quartos, which Capell changes to 
 * And so remove it.' The folios read 
 
 * Makes him to send that he may learne the ground/ 
 omitting line 69 altogether. The quarto reading is an instance of the con- 
 struction, by which, when two infinitives depend upon an auxiliary verb, the 
 second is often preceded by ' to.' Compare Cymbeline, iii. 2. 64-66 : 
 ' How we may steal from hence, and from the gap 
 
 That we shall make in time, from our hencegoing 
 
 And our return, to excuse/ 
 
sc. 3.] RICHARD III. 141 
 
 Again, in the Prayer Book Version of Psalm Ixix. 26 : ' Let their habitation 
 be void : and no man to dwell in their tents.' And Psalm Ixxviii. 8: 'That 
 they might put their trust in God : and not to forget the works of God.' 
 
 70. / cannot tell, I know not what ' to say. Compare Coriolanus, v. 
 
 6.15= 
 
 ' Sec. Con. If you do hold the same intent wherein 
 You wish'd us parties, we '11 deliver you 
 Of your great danger. 
 
 Auf. Sir, I cannot tell : 
 
 We must proceed as we do find the people.' 
 
 71. make prey. See iii. 5. 84. 'Make' is frequently joined with a sub- 
 stantive so as to be equivalent to the cognate verb. So * make pursuit ' = 
 pursue, iii. 2. 30; 'make abode' = abide, Two Gentleman of Verona, iv. 
 3. 23; 'make answer ' = answer, King John ii. I. 121 ; 'make thought ' = 
 think, Othello, i. 3. 26; 'make prepare ' = prepare, 3 Henry VI, iv. I. 131. 
 
 80. whilst many fair promotions. The reading of the quartos, altered 
 in the folios for the sake of the metre to ' while great promotions.' 
 
 82. a noble. A very obvious pun, to which a worthy parallel may be 
 found in i Henry VI, v. 4. 23 : 
 
 * Puc. Peasant, avaunt ! You have suborn'd this man 
 
 Of purpose to obscure my noble birth. 
 Shep. 'Tis true I gave a noble to the priest 
 The morn that I was wedded to her mother.' 
 
 83. careful, full of care, anxious. Compare Richard II, ii. 2. 75: 
 
 ' O, full of careful business are his looks 1 ' 
 
 84. hap. See i. 2. 17. 
 
 89. in, into. See i. 2. 260. 
 
 Ib. suspects, suspicions. See iii. 5. 32, and Sonnet Ixx. 13 : 
 ' If some suspect of ill mask'd not thy sho\y.' 
 
 90. deny . . . not. Another instance of the double negative noted above, 
 1. 60, where the negative is added to a word which itself contains a negation. 
 Compare Comedy of Errors, iv. 2. 7: 
 
 ' First he denied you had in him no right.' 
 
 Ib. cause. So the quartos. The folios read 'meane.' 
 
 98. marry, originally an oath by the Virgin Mary, is used in strengthen- 
 ing affirmations. See note on Julius Caesar, i. 2. 229. 
 
 102. / wis, certainly, from the A.S. gewis, certain (comp. Germ, gewiss), 
 and not from / wisse, I teach. See The Merchant of Venice, ii. 9. 68 : 
 ' There be fools alive, I wis/ 
 
 Ib. worser. For instances of this double comparative see The Tempest, 
 i. 2. 439, iv. I. 27, and notes. Also Abbott, II. 
 
 106. With. So the quartos. The folios read ' Of.' For the latter con- 
 struction compare Winter's Tale, ii. 2. 48 : 
 
142 NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 ' I'll presently 
 
 Acquaint the queen of your most noble offer.' 
 
 109. thus taunted . . . at. So the quartos. The folios read 'so baited, 
 scorn'd, and stormed at.' 
 
 Ib. Stage direction. The folios have ' Enter old Queene Margaret.' 
 
 113. What! In the folios there is a note of interrogation, which com- 
 monly does duty for one of exclamation. Taking * What ' in the sense of 
 
 * Why ' we might dispense with any punctuation after it. 
 
 114. Tell . . . said. This line is omitted in the folios, probably by the 
 carelessness of the printer. 
 
 121. or your husband king. In 1460, when Edward first became king, 
 Richard was eight years old ; but the dramatist has disregarded the facts 
 of history throughout the play. 
 
 122. a packhorse, a drudge, with a reference perhaps to the proverb 
 recorded by Heywood (Spenser Soc. ed.) p. 34 : 
 
 * Whan ought was to doo, I was common hackney, 
 Folke call on the horse that will cary alwey.' 
 
 125. royalise. This is the only instance given by Johnson. Florio (A 
 Worlde of Wordes, 1598) has, ' Realizzare, to royalize or make kinglie.' 
 
 128. Were factious for the house of Lancaster. In the Third Part of 
 Henry the Sixth, the queen's first husband, Sir John Grey (there called Sir 
 Richard), is represented as having fallen ' in quarrel of the house of York ' 
 (Hi. 2. 6). The error occurs in The True Tragedie of Richard Duke of 
 Yorke, the original of the Third Part of Henry VI. Sir John Grey com- 
 manded Margaret's cavalry. 
 
 130. In Margaret's battle at St. Alban's. The second battle of St. Alban's, 
 which was fought on Shrove Tuesday, February 17, 1461. It is called 
 
 * Margaret's, battle' because she was victorious in it, to distinguish it from 
 the first battle, fought on Thursday, May 22, 1455, in which Henry was 
 defeated. Ritson says Margaret's battle ' means * Margaret's army.' No 
 doubt there are plenty of instances in which * battle ' signifies ' army,' but 
 this is not one. 
 
 135. Poor Clarence did forsake his father, Warwick. See 3 Henry VI, 
 v. i. 81, &c., and Hall's Chronicle, Edward IV, p. 293. Clarence was 
 Warwick's son-in-law, having married his elder daughter, Isabel. 
 
 138. on Edwards party, or side. See iii. 2. 47, iv. 4. 528, and King 
 John, i. I. 34: 
 
 'Till she had kindled France and all the world, 
 Upon the right and party of her son.' 
 
 139. meed, reward (A.S. mid). See i. 4. 223, 278. 
 
 Ib. mtivd. See i. i. 38. The pun is exceedingly bad, though perhaps 
 not worse than those which abound in the three parts of Henry the Sixth. 
 144. cacodemon, evil demon, evil spirit. The word occurs nowhere else 
 
sc. 3.] RICHARD III. 143 
 
 in Shakespeare, and savours rather of a playwright who had been to the 
 University. It had made its way into Italian. Florio (A Worlde of Wordes, 
 1598) gives, * Cacodemone, an euill spirit or ditiell.' It appears also to have 
 been used in the language of astrology. See Beaumont and Fletcher, The 
 Bloody Brother, iv. 2 ; 
 
 * The sun and Mercury, 
 
 Mars with the Dragon's tail in the third house, 
 And pars For tuna in the I mo Cceli, 
 Then Jupiter in the twelfth, the Cacodemon* 
 
 147. lawful. The reading of the quartos. The folios have ' Soueraigne.' 
 155. As little joy. So Dyce. The quartos and folios read 'A little,' 
 Mr. Grant White has 'And little.' 
 
 157. patient. A trisyllable. Compare 1. 248. 
 
 158. Hear me, &c. Two distinguished commentators appear to have been 
 very differently affected by this part of the play. On the one hand, War- 
 burton says : * This scene of Margaret's imprecations is fine and artful. She 
 prepares the audience, like another Cassandra, for the following tragic revol- 
 utions.' Steevens, on the contrary, observes with great justice : ' Surely 
 the merits of this scene are insufficient to excuse its improbability. Margaret 
 bullying the court of England in the royal palace is a circumstance as absurd 
 as the courtship of Gloster in a publick street.' But the extravagance of the 
 situation is in harmony with the exaggeration of the principal character. 
 If we once accept Richard as a reality, nothing else in the play is out of 
 proportion. In his world such things would not appear incongruous. 
 
 159. sharing, dividing into shares. *To share,' in modern language, 
 signifies to have as a share or portion. For the earlier and literal (A. S. 
 sceran, to divide) sense compare Timon of Athens, iv. 2. 23 : 
 
 ' The latest of my wealth I'll share amongst you.' 
 
 So also i Henry IV, ii. 2, 104 : 'Come, my masters, let us share, and then 
 to horse before day.' 
 
 Ib. pilled, pillaged, plundered. ' To pill ' is properly to strip, and is 
 familiar in the form * peel.' Compare Richard II, ii. I. 246 : 
 
 * The commons hath he pill'd with grievous taxes. 1 
 
 And Hall, Edward IV, p. 302 : ' But what soeuer their outward wordes 
 were, their inward cogitacions were onlye hope of spoyle, and desyre to 
 robbe and pyll.' 
 
 161. If not, that, I being queen, &c. So the quartos. In the folios it is 
 altered to ' If not that I am queen, &c.' In either case the sense is quite 
 clear, although the construction is imperfect. 
 
 163. O gentle villain. This evidently ironical expression is taken quite 
 literally by Johnson, who explains ' gentle ' as highborn, and observes that 
 'an opposition is meant between that and villain, which means at once a 
 wicked and a low-born wretch.' 
 
144 NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 164. what makest thouf what dost thou ? Compare Hamlet, i. 2. 164: 
 
 * And what make you from Wittenberg, Horatio?' 
 
 The temptation to pun upon * make ' and * mar ' seems to have been 
 irresistible. Compare Love's Labour's Lost, iv. 3. 190-192 : 
 
 * King. What makes treason here? 
 
 Cost. Nay, it makes nothing, sir. 
 King. If it- mar nothing neither, 
 
 The treason and you go in peace away together.' 
 And As You Like it, i. I. 31-34 (26-29 Clar. Press ed -)- 
 
 167-169. Glou. Wert thou . . . abode. These lines are omitted in the 
 quartos. They connect the play with the end of 3 Henry VI, but otherwise 
 are not essential. 
 
 167. banished on pain of death. After the battle of Tewkesbury Margaret 
 fled to a religious house, where she was found by Edward's troops and taken 
 to the Tower. * Quene Margaret lyke a prisoner was brought to 
 London, where she remayned tyll King Reiner her father raunsomed her with 
 money, which summe (as the French writers afferme) he borowed of kyng 
 
 Lewes y e xi After the raunsom payed, she was conueyed into Fraunce 
 
 with smal honor, which with so great triumphe and honorable enterteyn- 
 mewt was w* pompe aboue all pryde, receyued into this Realme .xxviii. yeres 
 before.' Hall, Edward IV, p. 301. According to this statement the date 
 of Margaret's release would be 1473, but the true date is Nov. 13, 1475. She 
 died in 1482, and therefore before the time of Act iv, Scene 4. 
 174-180. The curse, &c. Compare 3 Henry VI, i. 4. 
 176. scorn. So the quartos. The folios have the plural, but the singular 
 is less dissonant in a line already abounding in sibilants. Otherwise ' scorns,' 
 in the sense of scoffs, expressions of scorn, has plenty of authority, Compare 
 Hamlet, iii. I. 70 : 
 
 ' For who would bear the whips and scorns of time ? ' 
 And Othello, iv. I. 83: 
 
 ' And mark the fleers, the gibes, and notable scorns.' 
 
 181. plagued, punished. Compare Richard II, iii. I. 34: 
 
 * My comfort is that heaven will take our souls 
 
 And plague injustice with the pains of hell/ 
 
 Steevens says, ' To plague, in ancient language, is to punish. Hence the 
 scriptural term the plagues of Egypt.' But the verb is rather derived from 
 the substantive than the contrary. 
 
 182. So just is God, to right the innocent. Ritson quotes from the play of 
 Thomas, Lord Cromwell (1602) : 
 
 * How just is God, to right the innocent.' 
 
 The author of Thomas Lord Cromwell must have copied from our play or 
 repeated himself. 
 
 183. that babe. Edmund earl of Rutland is described as 'scace of y e age 
 
sc. 3.] RICHARD III. 145 
 
 of.xii. yeres' in Hall (Chronicle, p. 251). But he was older than both 
 Clarence and Richard. 
 
 1 86. No man but prophesied. See note on i. 2. 71. 
 "187. Northumberland. See 3 Henry VI, i. 4. 150. 
 
 194. Could all but answer, that is, were able when all put together only 
 to answer. Mason's conjecture of ' not ' for * but ' is unnecessary. 
 
 Ib. peevish brat. For 'peevish* in the sense of 'childish, silly,' see iv. 
 2. 101. It is used contemptuously, as in As You Like It, iii. 5. no: 
 
 'Tis but a peevish boy; yet he talks well/ 
 
 Compare Gosson's School of Abuse (ed. Arber), p. 27 : 'We haue infinite 
 Poets, and Pipers, and such peeuishe cattel among vs in Englande, that Hue 
 by merrie begging.' 
 
 201. like untimely. For this use of 'like* with an adjective compare 
 The Tempest, iii. 3. 66 : . My fel!ow . ministers 
 
 Are like invulnerable.* 
 And Henry V, ii. 2. 183 : . The enterprise whereof 
 
 Shall be to you, as us, like glorious.' 
 
 204. loss. For this reading of the quartos the folios have ' death.' 
 206. stalVd, installed, invested. See Greene, Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay, 
 ii. II: 
 
 'A friar newly stall'd in Brazen-nose.' 
 
 210. Rivers and Dorset. See note on i. i. 154. Rivers is not mentioned 
 by Hall among the bystanders. 
 
 212. God, I pray him. For the construction compare 3 Henry VI, i. 4. 6: 
 
 ' My sons, God knows what has bechanced them.' 
 214. But (each of you be) by some unlooJid accident, &c. 'Unlocked ' 
 in the sense of ' unlocked for ' is peculiar to this play. 
 
 217. heaven is here used as a plural; see 1. 219. Compare v. 5. 20, and 
 Richard II, i. 2. 6: 
 
 ' Put we our quarrel to the will of heaven ; 
 Who, when they see the hours ripe on earth, 
 Will rain hot vengeance on offenders' heads.' 
 
 222. the worm of conscience. In the margin of the Geneva version of 
 
 Isaiah Ixvi. 24, ' their worm shall not die ' is explained as ' a continual torment 
 
 of conscience, which shall ever gnaw them, and never suffer them to be at rest.' 
 
 Ib. begnaw. In such compounds, where the second part is a verb, the 
 
 prefix ' be- ' has an intensive force. So ' beweep,' 1. 328. 
 
 227. ugly, spelt ' ougly ' in the first and second folios, and probably pro- 
 nounced so. The same form occurs in the earliest quarto of Venus and 
 Adonis, 1041 ; and 'ouglie' or 'ougly' is found in the first five quartos of 
 Lucrece, 1082. Again, in The Tempest, iv. i. 191, the first folio has 
 ' ouglier ' for ' uglier,' but the spelling is very much a matter -of caprice. 
 
 L 
 
146 NOTES. [ACT I. 
 
 228. elvish-mar Vd, marked by malignant fairies with some 'vicious 
 mole of nature.' In Scotland, according to Allan Ramsay, cattle which were 
 supposed to be bewitched by fairies were called ' elf-shot/ Compare what 
 Margaret says of Richard in 3 Henry VI, ii. 2. 135 &c. : 
 
 ' But thou art neither like thy sire nor dam ; 
 But like a foul mis-shapen stigmatic, 
 Mark'd by the destinies to be avoided.' 
 
 Birth-marks, in connexion with the old belief in planetary influence, were 
 thought to be indications of character. The Wife of Bath in Chaucer 
 justifies the very explicit confession she makes of her experiences by saying, 
 
 ' I had the prynte of Seynte Venus sel.' 
 
 Ib. rooting hog ! A fine expression, according to Warburton, ' alluding 
 (in memory of her young son) to the ravage which hogs make, with the 
 finest flowers, in gardens.' It is hardly worth while discussing whether the 
 expression be fine or coarse ; the allusion is to the white boar which was the 
 cognizance of Richard (compare iii. 2. II &c., iv. 5. 2, v. 2. 7 &c.), and to 
 the well-known lines for which Collingbourne suffered. Hey wood has pre- 
 served them with additions of his own in the second part of Edward IV 
 (Works,!. 177, ed. 1874): 
 
 The Cat, the Rat, and Louell our dog, 
 Do rule all England vnder a hog. 
 The crook-bakt Boare the way hath found 
 To root our Roses from the ground. 
 Both flower and bud will he confound, 
 Till King of beasts the swine be crownde: 
 And then the Dog, the Cat, and Rat, 
 Shall in his trough feed and be fat.' 
 
 230. The slave of nature. There is possibly here, as in the word Astigmatic' 
 applied to Richard by Margaret (3 Henry VI), a reference to the Roman 
 custom of branding thievish or runaway slaves. Malone quotes Lucrece, 
 
 537- 
 
 'Worse than a slavish wipe, or birth-hour's blot/ 
 
 But ' slave ' is also used as a term of contempt. See i. 2. 90. 
 
 Ib. the son of hell is a phrase applied to war in 2 Henry VI, v. 2. 33. 
 Here Margaret implies that Richard is branded as a slave during his lifetime 
 and doomed to perdition after death. 
 
 231. slander. Compare Richard II, i. I. 113: 
 
 ' Till I have told this slander of his blood, 
 
 How Goid and good men hate so foul a liar.' 
 And King John, iii. I. 44 : 
 
 ' Ugly and slanderous to thy mother's womb/ 
 
 Ib. thy mother's heavy womb. So the quartos. The folios read 'thy 
 heauie mother's womb/ In this case ' heavy ' means ' sad/ 
 
sc. 3.] RICHARD III. 147 
 
 233. Thou rag of honour. 'Rag* is used contemptuously, as in v. 3. 
 328, and in The Taming of the Shrew, iv. 3. 112 : 
 
 * Away, thou rag, thou quantity, thou remnant ! ' 
 See Timon of Athens, iv. 3. 271. 
 
 241. Poor painted queen. 'Painted' is here used to describe that which 
 exists only in appearance and has no reality, as in King John, iii. I. 105 : 
 
 * The grappling vigour and rough frown of war 
 Is cold in amity and painted peace/ 
 
 Compare As You Like It, ii. 1 . 3 : 
 
 * Hath not old custom made this life more sweet 
 Than that of painted pomp ? ' 
 
 Ib. vain flourish of my fortune, mere empty ornament of that rank 
 which is rightly mine. Similarly in Hamiet, ii. 2. 91, the 'outward 
 flourishes ' are the external details of a speech, mere ornaments, which have 
 nothing to do with the matter. 
 
 242. bottled, bloated, swoln with venom. See iv. 4. 81. 
 
 246. To help thee curse. See iv. 4. 80. For the construction compare 
 Troilus and Cressida, iii. I. 163: 
 
 ' I must woo you 
 To help unarm our Hector.' 
 And Romeo and Juliet, iv. 2. 44: 
 
 ' To help me sort such needful ornaments.' 
 
 Ib. poisonous. So the first quarto and the folios. All the other quartos 
 read ' poison'd,' the sense being the same. See the quotation from Lyly in 
 note to i. 2. 20. 
 
 Ib. bunch-back* d, hunch-backed, hump-backed ; an epithet appropriate to 
 Richard and not to the animal to which he is compared. Florio (A Worlde 
 of Wordes, 1598) has: 'Scrignuto, crookt-backe, croopt, bunch-backt, as 
 camels be.' 
 
 248. patience. See above, 1. 157. 
 
 255. malapert, saucy. See 3 Henry VI, v. 5. 32 : 
 
 'Untutor'd lad, thou art too malapert.' 
 
 256. fire-new, brand-new ; fresh from the mint, like a coin newly struck 
 and not yet in circulation. Compare Lear, v. 3. 132 : 
 
 'Despite thy victor sword and fire-new fortune/ 
 
 And Twelfth Night, iii. 2. 23: 'You should then have accosted her; and 
 with some excellent jests, fire-new from the mint, you should have banged 
 the youth into dumbness/ Thomas Grey, the queen's eldest son by her 
 first husband, was created Marquis of Dorset April 18, 1475. 
 
 264. aery, the brood of an eagle or hawk. Compare King John, v. 2. 149 : 
 * No : know the gallant monarch is in arms, 
 And like an eagle o'er his aery towers, 
 To souse annoyance that comes near his nest/ 
 L 2 
 
148 NOTES. [ACT i, 
 
 Cotgrave (Fr. Diet.) gives, Herage : m. An ayrie of hawkes : and hence, 
 a brood, kind; stocke, linage.' 
 
 Ib. the cedar s top. Compare 3 Henry VI, v. 2. u, 12 : 
 ' Thus yields the cedar to the axe's edge, 
 Whose arms gave shelter to the princely eagle.' . 
 And Marlowe, Edward the Second (ed. Dyce, 1862, p. 195) : 
 * A lofty cedar-tree, fair flourishing, 
 
 On whose top branches kingly eagles flourish.' 
 
 267. my son. The quibble between * son ' and * sun ' is not unfrequent in 
 Shakespeare. See Romeo and Juliet, iii. 5. 127: 
 
 * When the sun sets, the air doth drizzle dew ; 
 But for the sunset of my brother's son 
 It rains downright.' 
 
 Ritson remarks of\ Margaret, 'Her distress cannot prevent her quibbling,* nor 
 did the grief of Constance in King John. Gaunt on his death-bed is made to 
 pun on his own name, and to Richard's question 
 
 ' Can sick men play so nicely with their names ? ' 
 
 Coleridge answers, * Yes ! on a death-bed there is a feeling which may make 
 all things appear but as puns and equivocations. And a passion there is that 
 carries off its own excess by plays on words as naturally, and, therefore, as 
 appropriately to the drama, as by gesticulations, looks, or tones/ 
 
 273. Have done! The folios read Teace, peace,' perhaps on account of 
 the repetition of 'Have done' in Buckingham's next speech; and Sidney 
 Walker doubts whether this should be spoken by Buckingham at all. As it 
 is, we must suppose that the first line of Margaret's next speech is addressed 
 to Buckingham, and that she then turns to Richard and the rest. 
 
 281. amity, friendship. So in The Merchant of Venice, iii. 2. 30: 
 
 'There may as well be amity and life 
 'Tween snow and fire, as treason and my love.' 
 
 Cotgrave (Fr. Diet.) gives: 'Amitie: f. Amitie, friendship, loue, kindnesse, 
 good will.' 
 
 282. fair befall thee, may good fortune happen to thee. Compare 
 Richard II, ii. I. 129: 
 
 ' My brother Gloucester, plain well-meaning soul, 
 Whom fair befall in heaven 'mongst happy souls ! ' 
 
 286. in, into. See i. 2. 260. 
 
 287. Til not believe. The folios have 'I will not thinke.' 
 291. venom, used as an adjective, as in 3 Henry VI, ii. 2. 138 : 
 
 'As venom toads, or lizards' dreadful stings.' 
 
 Ib. will rankle to the death. So the folios. The quartos have 'will 
 rankle thee to death/ but 'rankle' is intransitive, as in Richard II, i. 3. 
 302: 
 
sc. 3.] RICHARD III. 149 
 
 ' Fell sorrow's tooth doth never rankle more 
 
 Than when he bites, but lanceth not the sore.' 
 In both passages it signifies ' to breed corruption.' 
 
 293. Sin, death, and hell. Sir W. Blackstone suggested that 'possibly 
 Milton took from hence the hint of his famous allegory' in Paradise Lost, 
 ii. 648 &c., where he describes the meeting of Satan with Sin and Death, 
 who sit on eitber side the gates of Hell. But though Milton was a student 
 of Shakespeare he read his Bible as well, and the combination of these three 
 words could hardly have accidentally suggested any new idea to a mind 
 thoroughly familiar with the theology of his time. 
 
 296. respect, regard, care for. Compare Julius Caesar, iv. 3. 69 : 
 
 * For I am arm'd so strong in honesty, 
 That they pass by me as the idle wind, 
 Which I respect not.' 
 
 298. soothe, flatter. See note on i. 2. 168, and King John, iii. I. 121 : 
 
 'Thou art perjured too, \ 
 
 And soothest up greatness.' \ 
 
 And Holland's Plutarch, p. 86 : * Cogging and soothing vp their good masters 
 at everie word.' 
 
 304. on end. The folios have * an end,' where * an ' is a preposition, 
 which appears in the contracted form in * a-fishing ' &c. 
 
 305. / muse, why. The quartos have *I wonder.' Compare King 
 John, iii. I. 317: 
 
 * I muse your majesty doth seem so cold.' 
 
 309. The first and second folios assign this speech to Margaret instead of 
 to Elizabeth, as the first five quartos. The remaining quartos give it to 
 Hastings, and the third and fourth folios to * Der.' that is, Derby, which 
 Rowe alters to * Dors.' or Dorset. 
 
 313. Marry, a monosyllable. 
 
 314. frantfd, confined as in a frank or sty. See iv. 5. 3, and 2 Henry IV, 
 ii. 2. 1 60: * Where sups he? Doth the old boar feed in the old frank?' 
 Baret (Alvearie, ed. 1580) has: * Franked, or fedde, to be made fatte. 
 Altilis.' Of the tame boar, Harrison in his Description of England (ed. 1586), 
 p. 222, says : ' the husbandmen and farmers neuer franke them for their owne 
 vse aboue three or four moneths, or halfe a yeere at the most.' Cotgrave 
 (Fr. Diet.) gives, ' Franc : m. A franke, or stie to feed, and fatten hogs in.' 
 
 317. scathe, injury, harm; from A. S. scedan or sceddan, to injure. Com- 
 pare King John, ii. I. 75 : 
 
 * To do offence and scath in Christendom.' 
 
 In the first folio the word is spelt ' scath ' as in the present passage, but the 
 spelling is not uniform. Cotgrave has, * Offenser. To offend, hurt, wrong, 
 iniure, abuse, harme, damnific, doe scathe vnto.' 
 
 318. The stage direction in the folios is ' Speakes to himselfe.' 
 
150 NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 319. Catesby, who now enters and plays such a conspicuous part in the 
 drama, was Sir William Catesby of Ashby St. Leger, who was Sheriff 06 
 Northampton 18 Edward IV, and under Richard was Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer and either Attorney General or Speaker of the House of Com- 
 mons, for on this point authorities are not agreed. (French, Shakspeareana 
 Genealogica, p. 235.) 
 
 321. and you, my noble lords. The folios read 'and yours, my gracious 
 Lord.' 
 
 325. set abroach, been the cause of, set agoing. A figure of speech 
 taken from a beer barrel. Compare 2 Henry IV, iv. 2. 14: 
 
 * Alack, what mischiefs might he set abroach 
 In shadow of such greatness!' 
 
 And Romeo and Juliet, i. I. in : 
 
 * Who set this ancient quarrel new abroach ? ' 
 
 326. grievous, spelt in some of the old copies'' greevious ' or ' grevious, 1 
 which may be defended by the advocates of 'rariety,' 'jealious,' 'enormious,' 
 and other eccentricities of spelling. 
 
 327. whom. The first folio reads 'who.' See 1. 54. 
 
 Ib, laid. The folios have ' cast.' If such changes are supposed to 
 have the authority of Shakespeare's supervision it would seem that a less 
 appropriate word has here been substituted. Richard's influence is through- 
 out supposed to be concealed, arid ' laid ' expresses this much better than 
 * cast,' which implies more direct action on his part. The phrase ' laid in 
 darkness ' was perhaps borrowed from the Prayer-Book version of Psalm xliii. 
 3 : ' He hath laid me in the darkness, as the men that have been long dead.' 
 
 328. beweep. See note on ' begnaw,' 1. 222. 
 
 Ib. gulls, dupes, fools. In Cheshire a gull is a callow or unfledged 
 nestling, and so may denote a person inexperienced and easily imposed on. 
 Compare i Henry IV, v. I. 60, and Timon of Athens, ii. I. 31. The 
 animal creation has furnished many synonymous terms. Cotgrave (Fr. Diet.) 
 has, ' Besmus : m. A sot, a doult, gull, woodcocke, lobcocke, asse.' And 
 again, 'Niais: m. A neastling; a young bird taken out of a neast; hence 
 a youngling, nouice, cunnie, ninnie, fop, noddie, cockney, dotterell, pea- 
 goose ; a simple, witlesse, and vnexperienced gull.' In Herefordshire, Shrop- 
 shire, Surrey and Sussex a ' gull ' is a gosling ; and in other dialects we find 
 'golling' (Swaledale), ' gollock,' 'gollin,' ' gollop,' or ' golly' (Holderness), 
 in the same general sense as ' gull ' is used in Cheshire. 
 
 329. Hastings, Derby. The folios transpose these names, and in the next 
 line read ' tell them 'tis ' for ' say it is.' 
 
 333. Vaughan. Sir Thomas Vaughan, Chamberlain to Edward IV, is 
 buried in Westminster Abbey (Brayley's Westminster Abbey, ii. 181, 182). He 
 suffered at Pomfret with Rivers and Grey (iii. 3), who are here mentioned 
 with him. For * Vaughan ' the folios read ' Dorset.' 
 
sc. 4.] RICHARD III. 151 
 
 334. with a piece of scripture. Compare The Merchant of Venice, 
 i. 3. 99-103. 
 
 337. odd ends, detached fragments; here, quotations not specially 
 appropriate. Compare Much Ado, ii. 3. 244: 'I may chance have some 
 odd quirks and remnants of wit broken upon me.' And The Merchant of 
 Venice, ii. 2. 66: * According to Fates and Destinies and such odd sayings/ 
 
 338. Enter two Murderers. This is the stage direction in the folios. The 
 quartos have * Enter Executioners.' 
 
 340. resolved, resolute. Compare King John, v. 6. 29 : 
 * A monk, I tell you ; a resolved villain/ 
 
 346. sudden, quick. So in The Tempest, ii. I. 306: 'Then lat us both 
 be sudden/ And Julius Caesar, iii. I. 19 : 
 
 Casca, be sudden, for we fear prevention/ 
 
 Hence 'suddenly* signifies hastily or rashly, as in I Timothy v. 22 : 'Lay 
 hands suddenly on no man,' where the Greek is raxfoos. 
 
 349. if you mark him, if you attend to him. Compare Love's Labour's 
 Lost, v. I. 172: 
 
 ' They do not mark me, and that brings me out/ 
 
 350, 351. Tush! Fear not. For the metre's sake the folios read 'Tut, 
 tut/ * Tush ' is an expression of scornful impatience, as in the Prayer-Book 
 version of Psalm x. 6 : ' For he hath said in his heart, Tush, I shall never be 
 cast down/ 
 
 354. drop tears. The folios read fall tears/ For the sentiment Steevens 
 quotes from the play of Caesar and Pompey (1607) : 
 
 * Men's eyes must mill-stones drop, when fools shed tears/ 
 
 Scene IV. 
 
 The stage direction, ' Enter Clarence and Brakenbury,' is from the quartos, 
 which have ' Enter Clarence, Brokenbury/ The folios read ' Enter Clarence 
 and Keeper,' and Brakenbury is not brought in till 1. 75, where the stage 
 direction in the folios is ' Enter Brakenbury the Lieutenant/ and lines 76-83 
 are spoken by him. The change was made apparently because it was felt 
 incongruous in an official of Brakenbury's rank to discharge the office of 
 a gaoler. But it must be remembered that his prisoner was a prince of 
 the blood. Tradition associates the scene of Clarence's murder with the 
 Bowyer Tower. See Knight's London, ii. 239. 
 
 I. heavily ; sadly, sorrowfully. See ii. 3. 40. 
 
 3. of ugly sights, of ghastly dreams. The folios have 'of fearefull 
 Dreames, of vgly sights/ 
 
 4. faithful man, used here in the technical sense of a believer in the truth 
 of Christianity, one who is not an infidel or ' faithless/ See The Merchant 
 of Venice, ii. 4. 38. 
 
1 52 NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 8. / long to hear you tell it. The folios read ' What was your dream 
 my Lord, I pray you tel me/ 
 
 9. Methoughts. The folios and early quartos have this corrupt form, 
 which occurs again in Winter's Tale, i. 2. 154: 
 
 Looking on the lines 
 Of my boy's face, methoughts I did recoil 
 Twenty-three years.' 
 It is evidently formed on the false analogy of ' methinks/ 
 
 9, 10. The quartos have only * Me thoughts I was imbarkt for Burgundy.' 
 
 10. to Burgundy. After the battle of Wakefield, where their father was 
 slain, Richard and Clarence with their mother found refuge at the court of 
 the Duke ; and when the Duchess of Clarence died there was an attempt 
 made to bring about a marriage between Clarence and the heiress of 
 Burgundy. 
 
 14. fearful. The folios read * heavy/ 
 
 18. falling. The quartos have ' stumbling/ 
 
 24. Methought. Here again the folios read * Methoughts/ 
 
 25. Ten thousand. So the quartos. The folios have ' A thousand/ 
 
 26. great anchors. It has been suggested to me by a learned friend that 
 as the rest of the description refers to precious things, gold, pearls, and so on, 
 we should here read ' great ingots J instead of * great anchors/ The word 
 was known to Shakespeare and is used by him in Measure for Measure, 
 iii. i. 26: * Like an ass whose back with ingots bows/ It was moreover 
 the technical word for the bars of unwrought silver, such as might be found 
 in the wreck of a plate ship from the Spanish main. 
 
 27. unvalued, that cannot be valued, invaluable. See Chapman's Homer, 
 Iliad, xvi. 221 : 
 
 'He took a most vnvalued bowl, in which none drank but he/ 
 So f unavoided ' for * unavoidable,' in iv. 4. 217. 
 
 28. All . . . sea. Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 36, 37. and often . . . ghost. These words also are omitted in the 
 quartos. 
 
 37. To yield the ghost. So I Henry VI, i. i. 67 : 
 ' If Henry were recall'd to life again, 
 
 These news would cause him once more yield the ghost/ 
 39. seek. The first two quartos have ' seeke,' the rest ' keepe,' which 
 was changed in the folios to ' find,' just as in the previous line ' Kept' was 
 altered to ' Stop'd/ The soul is compared to a fine essence. 
 
 Ib. vast, waste, desolate ; and in a secondary sense, limitless. Compare 
 Titus Andronicus, iv. I. 53 : 
 
 ' Forced in the ruthless, vast, and gloomy woods/ 
 And again, in the same play v. 2. 36 : 
 
 ' No vast obscurity or misty vale/ 
 
sc.4-] RICHARD III. 153 
 
 Malone proposed to consider * vast ' as a substantive and to punctuate the line 
 thus, 
 
 * To seek the empty vast, and wandering air ' ; 
 comparing Pericles, iii. I. I : 
 
 'Thou God of this great vast, rebuke these surges.' 
 40. bulk, the chest, body. Compare Lucrece, 467, and Hamlet, ii. I. 95 : 
 'He raised a sigh so piteous and profound 
 As it did seem to shatter all his bulk.' 
 
 Of the heart John Davies of Hereford says, in his Microcosmus (ed. Grosart), 
 p. 28, col. 2 : 
 
 'And in the bulke it is so situate 
 As that its Base is Center of the Brest/ 
 
 45. Who passd. The folios have ' I past.' 
 
 Ib. the melancholy flood, the Styx. For ' flood ' in the sense of * river,' 
 see Joshua xxiv. 2 : * Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in 
 old time'; that is, beyond the river Euphrates. 
 
 46. that grim ferryman, Charon. In the folios his epithet is altered to 
 ' sowre/ Which should be preferred it is difficult to say, both being used in 
 the sense of morose, crabbed. 
 
 47. the kingdom of perpetual night. See ii. 2. 46. 
 
 49. renowned. Spelt * renowmed ' in the first five quartos. See Cotgrave 
 (Fr. Diet.), 'Renomm4 . . . Renowmed, famous, of much note.' 
 
 50. perjury. Compare the scene 3 Henry VI, v. I. 80, &c., where War- 
 wick in the flesh calls him 
 
 'O passing traitor, perjured and unjust/ 
 
 54. squeatfd. The reading supported by the quartos. The folios have 
 1 shriek'd/ Although the former word has a somewhat grotesque sound to 
 a modern ear, it was employed to describe the thin shrill voice in which 
 ghosts were supposed to speak. Compare Hamlet, i. I. 116: 
 
 'The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead 
 
 Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets/ 
 And Julius Caesar, ii. 2. 24 : 
 
 'And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets/ 
 See the note on the latter passage in the Clarendon Press edition. 
 
 55. fleeting, fickle, unstable, inconstant. Compare Antony and Cleopatra, 
 
 V. 2. 240*. 
 
 ' The fleeting moon 
 No planet is of mine/ 
 The moon was the emblem of inconstancy. See Romeo and Juliet, ii. 2. 109. 
 
 56. See note on i. I. 154. 
 
 57. to your torments. The folios read 'unto torment/ 
 
 58. methoughts. See 1. 9. 
 
 59. The folios omit ' about/ 
 
154 NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 65. I promise you, I am afraid. For this reading of the quartos the 
 folios substitute * I am afraid (me thinkes).' 
 
 66. O Brakenbury. As Brakenbury in the folios does not enter till after 
 1. 75, they read here 'Ah Keeper, Keeper/ 
 
 67. bear evidence. For this the folios have the more familiar phrase 
 'give evidence.' We still retain 'bear witness.' 
 
 69-73- O God! . . . children! These four lines are in the folios but not 
 in the quartos. 
 
 71. in me, on me. See above, 1. 28, and compare I Henry IV, i. 3. 149 : 
 ' Whose wrongs in us God pardon!' 
 
 72. my guiltless wife. Clarence's wife Isabel, the eldest daughter of 
 Warwick, died Dec. 12, 1476, before the time of this scene. 
 
 73. I pray thee, gentle keeper, stay by me. For this line, which is adapted 
 to the arrangement of the quartos, where Brakenbury is the interlocutor 
 in the dialogue, the folios substitute ' Keeper, I prythee sit by me a-while.' 
 
 So. for unfelt imagination, instead of what they dream of but never 
 realise. The folios have the plural here. 
 
 82. names. The folios read 'name,' making the soliloquy end with a 
 rhyming couplet. 
 
 84. The quartos omit this line. 
 
 85. In God's name what are you &c. Perhaps to avoid the Act of 3 
 James I 'to restrain the abuses of players' and a prosecution for profanity, 
 the folios here substitute ' What would'st thou, Fellow ? And how camm'st 
 thou hither.' 
 
 89, 90. The folios, assigning this speech to the first Murderer, as they 
 give 86, 87 to his companion, read, 
 
 *'Tis better (Sir) then to be tedious: 
 Let him see our Commission, and talke no more.' 
 
 93. reason, argue, discuss. 
 
 94. guiltless of the meaning. Compare Macbeth, iii. 2. 45 : 
 
 'Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck.' 
 
 95. Here . . . asleep. The folios have 
 
 'There lies the Duke asleepe, and there the Keyes.' 
 
 96. /'// . . . him. So the folios. The quartos read 
 
 'He to his Maiestie, and certifie his Grace.' 
 
 97. my charge to you. The folios have 'to you my charge' which 
 perhaps is better on account of the ending ' to him ' in the previous line. 
 
 98. Do so, it is. The folios read ' You may sir 'tis ' &c., and the quartos 
 omit * fare you well.' In the first folio the spelling ' Far you well ' fyrobably 
 represents the pronunciation of the time. 
 
 Ib. a point of wisdom, a proceeding which argues wisdom. Compare 
 i Henry IV, v. 1. 122 : ' Hal, if thou see me down in the battle and bestride 
 me, so ; 'tis a point of friendship.' 
 
sc. 4.] RICHARD III. 155 
 
 101. In this dialogue there are many small variations between the quartos 
 and folios which are not worth recording. I shall only notice the more im- 
 portant. 
 
 115. Back, &c. The folios read, * He backe to the Duke of Glouster, and 
 tell him so.' 
 
 1 16, ii 7. my holy humour. The folios have *this passionate humor of mine.' 
 1 1 8. tell, count. 
 
 1 20. some certain dregs. So I Henry IV, iv. 3. 79 : 
 
 'To reform 
 
 Some certain edicts and some strait decrees.' 
 
 124. 'Zounds, softened to 'Come ' in the folios. See above, note on I. 85. 
 For the same reason they omit ' Faith ' 1. 120. 
 
 1 29. will entertain it, or take it into their service, give it employment. 
 See i. 2. 256. 
 
 131. it is a dangerous thing. Omitted in the folios, perhaps because of the 
 repetition, 1. 139. 
 
 132. it makes a man a coward. See Hamlet, iii. I. 83: 
 
 * Thus conscience does make cowards of us all.' 
 
 135. shamefast. This spelling, which gives the correct form of the 
 word (from A. S. scam/ast or sceamfast), is supported by the au- 
 thority of the majority of the quartos. But the corruption which has 
 prevailed to this day was already countenanced by the reading of the folios 
 ' shamefac'd.' In the same way in 3 Henry VI, iv. 8. 52, 'shamefac'd' is 
 the spelling of the folios, while in the original play, The True Tragedie of 
 Richard Duke of Yorke, it is * shamefast.* The corruption is at least as 
 early as Sidney's Arcadia (quoted in Richardson's Dictionary). 
 137. that I found. The folios have 'that (by chance) I found.' 
 
 143. Take the devil in thy mind, seize hold of him in thy imagination. 
 Warburton explains it, ' Take the devil into thy nearer acquaintance, into 
 thy mind, who will be a match for thy conscience, and believe it not.' But 
 conscience and the devil ' are here the same. 
 
 144. would insinuate with thee, would wind himself into thy confidence, 
 ingratiate himself with thee. Compare Venus and Adonis, 1012 : 
 
 * With Death she humbly doth insinuate.' 
 
 145. strong-framed. The quartos have ' strong in fraud.' 
 
 147. a tall fellow is an active vigorous fellow. We use the adjective 
 which describes the other dimension, ' stout,' to denote the same thing. Sir 
 Toby says of Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Twelfth Night, i. 3. 20), 'He's as 
 tall a man as any's in Illyria.' 
 
 148. shall we to this gear? shall we set about this business? or, as the 
 folios read, Shall we fall to worke ? ' Compare 2 Henry VI, i. 4. 17 : 'To 
 this gear the sooner the better/ ' Gear' is literally dress, apparatus; from 
 A.S. gearu, ready ; whence gearwe, preparation, clothing. 
 
156 NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 149. Take him, strike him, fetch him a blow. Compare Measure for 
 Measure, ii. I. 189 : * If he took you a box o' the ear, you might have your 
 action of slander too.' That take ' should mean ' give ' appears strange, 
 but in Early English instances are not uncommon. In Robert of Gloucester's 
 Chronicle (ed. Hearne), p. 9 1 : 
 
 ' Some seyde j>at hym wer beter take ys neuew conan 
 J>e kyndom of Jris lond': 
 
 Some said that it were better for him to give (bestow upon, entrust to) 
 his nephew Conan the kingdom of this land. And again, p. 92: 
 
 * ]>at god yt were to al J?e lond to take hym J>e kindom' ; 
 that is, that it were good for all the land to give him the kingdom. Further, 
 p.i3: 
 
 *)je kyng tok Brut ys owne body in ostage as yt were'; 
 the king entrusted to Brute his own body as it were in hostage. 
 
 Ib. costard, properly a kind of apple, is a humorous expression for the 
 head. So in Lear, iv. 6. 247 : ' Ise try whether your costard or my ballow 
 be the harder.' 
 
 Ib. the hilts, used of a single weapon, as in Julius Caesar, v. 3. 43 : 
 ' Stand not to answer ; here, take thou the hilts.' 
 
 150. and then we will chop him in, &c. The folios have ' and throw 
 him into, &c/ 'Chop' is used very much as in familiar language we use 
 ' clap.' Compare The True Tragedie of Richard the Third (Shakespeare's 
 Library, ed. Hazlitt, v. 84) : * He spares none whom he but mistrusteth to 
 be a hinderer to his proceedings, he is straight chopt vp in prison.' 
 
 Ib. malmsey. In Hall's Chronicle (Edward IV, p. 326) it is said that 
 Clarence ' was priuely drouned in a But of Maluesey.' In Holinshed, and in 
 a later passage of Hall (p. 342), this is changed to ' malmesie' ; for the two 
 are identical, the wines deriving their name from Napoli di Malvasia in the 
 Morea, where they were originally made. Cotgrave has ' Malvoisie : f. 
 Malmesie' ; and ' Malvesie' is the form used in Chaucer. 
 
 152. a sop was properly the cake or wafer which was put into a cup of 
 prepared drink and floated at the top. 
 
 153. 154. Hark / . . . him. The folios have here, 
 
 ' i Soft he wakes. 
 2 Strike. 
 I No, wee'l reason with him.' 
 
 154. reason, talk, speak. See ii. 3. 39, iii. I. 132, iv. 4. 537. 
 
 165. Who sent . . . come f The quartos read 
 
 'Tell me who are you, wherefore come you hither?' 
 
 1 66. Both. To, to, to In the folios this is given to * 2,' that is, the 
 second murderer. 
 
 177. Where are the evidence that do accuse me ? The folios read ' Where 
 is the evidence that doth accuse me ? ' In the quarto reading ' evidence ' is 
 
sc. 4-1 RICHARD III. 157 
 
 plural, and is used in the collective sense of ' the body of witnesses.' In the 
 folios it signifies 'testimony.' For the former compare Lear, iii. 6. 37 : 
 ' I'll see their trial first. Bring in the evidence.' 
 
 1 78. quest, inquest or jury, Compare Sonnet xlvi. io : 
 * To 'cide this title is impanneled 
 
 A quest of thoughts.' 
 
 And Hall's Chronicle, Hen. VIII, p. 573: 'Wyllyam Barnewell crowner of 
 London, the daye and yere aboue sayde within the warde of Castylbaynerd 
 of London assembled a quest, whose names afterwarde doo appere.' 
 
 181. convict, convicted. Compare * acquit ' for * acquitted,' v. 5. 3: 
 'contract' for 'contracted,' iii. 7. 179; 'deject* for 'dejected,' Hamlet, iii. 
 I. 163 ; 'infect ' for 'infected,' Troilus and Cressida, i. 3. 187. See Abbott, 
 342, where more instances are given of the omission of the -ed in participles 
 which are formed from verbs ending in d or t. This may have been due 
 either to a desire for euphony or to assimilate the form of the English to 
 the Latin participle from which it is derived. 
 
 76. by course of law. Clarence was actually attainted of high treason. 
 See note on i. I. 85. 
 
 183. to have redemption. The folios read ' for any goodnesse,' but they 
 omit the following line, perhaps to avoid the Act against profanity. 
 
 187. upon command, by command. See i. I. 46, iv. I. 9. 
 
 196. forswearing, perjury. See i. 3. 136. 
 
 197. 198. The folios mend the metre by reading, 
 
 ' Thou did'st receiue the Sacrament, to fight 
 In &c.' 
 
 198. in quarrel of the house of Lancaster. So in 3 Henry VI, iii. 2. 6 : 
 in quarrel of the house of York.' 
 
 201. Unrip'dst. Rowe restored the grammatical form of the word, which 
 is printed ' unripst ' or ' unrip'st ' in the older copies, probably on account of 
 the difficulty in pronunciation caused by so many consonants. Similarly in 
 The Tempest, i. 2. 333 : ' Thou strokedst me and madest much of me,' the 
 first folio has ' Thou stroakst me, & made much of me.' 
 
 204. in so dear degree. * Dear ' occurs frequently in Shakespeare as an 
 emphatic adjective, the exact equivalent of which is suggested by the context. 
 Compare Henry V, ii. 2. 181 : 
 
 ' True repentance 
 Of all your dear offences.' 
 And King John, i. I. 257 : 
 
 'Thou art the issue of my dear offence.* 
 Again, Richard II, i. 3. 151 : 
 
 ' The dateless limit of thy dear exile.' 
 And Timon of Athens, v. i. 231 : 
 
158 NOTES. [ACT i. 
 
 ' Let us return, 
 
 And strain what other means is left unto us 
 In our dear peril.' 
 
 208. ye. The folios more correctly read ' you/ which is the proper form 
 of the accusative ; but 'ye* so commonly takes its place, where the pronoun 
 is not emphatic, or where it is used familiarly, that what was originally an 
 error has become a rule of grammar. See Abbott, 236. 
 211. O know . . . publicly. Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 216. gallant-springing, putting forth the fair promise of his youth. The 
 figure is the same as that employed in 3 Henry VI, ii. 6. 46-51 : 
 
 * Revoke that doom of mercy, for 'tis Clifford ; 
 Who not contented that he lopp'd the branch 
 In hewing Rutland when his leaves put forth, 
 But set his murdering knife unto the root 
 From whence that tender spray did sweetly spring.' 
 
 Malone quotes, not quite correctly, from Spenser's Shepheards Calender, 
 Februarie, 1. 51 : 
 
 * Ah, foolish old man ! I scorne thy skill, 
 That wouldest me my springing youngth to spil.' 
 
 217. novice, one new to the world, just entering upon life. Cotgrave 
 (Fr. Diet.) gives, ' Nouice : com. A nouice, a young Monke, or Nunne ; one 
 thats but newly entred into th' Order ; also, a yongling, or beginner, in 
 any profession.' 
 
 218. My brother s love, love for my brother. 
 
 220. Provoke us . . . thee. As in the folios. The quartos read 
 
 * Haue brought vs hither now to murder thee,' 
 which perhaps should be retained. 
 
 223. meed, reward. The reading of the first quarto and all the folios. The 
 other quartos have ' neede.' 
 
 232. And charged us . . . other. Omitted in the folios. 
 235. Ay, millstones. See i. 3. 354. To weep millstones was a proverbial 
 expression for not weeping at all. See Troilus and Cressida, i. 2. 158 : 
 
 .' Pan. But there was such laughing I Queen Hecuba laughed that her 
 eyes ran o'er. 
 
 Ores. With mill-stones.' 
 Ib. lesson' d, taught. So Coriolanus, ii. 3. 185 : 
 
 * Could you not have told him 
 As you were lesson'd ? ' 
 
 238. .4s snow in harvest, referring to Proverbs xxvi. i : 'As snow in 
 summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool.' The 
 first murderer understands * kind ' in the sense of ' natural.' 
 238, 239. Thou deceivest . . . thee. The folios read, 
 
sc. 4.] RICHARD III. 159 
 
 * Come, you deceiue your selfe, 
 
 'Tis he that sends vs to destroy you heere.' 
 
 240. when I parted with him. See i. I. 115. The folios have here 'he 
 bewept my fortune,' and read ' And* for ' He' in the next line. 
 242. labour, effect. See Much Ado, v. I. 292 : 
 
 * If your love 
 
 Can labour aught in sad invention.' 
 
 252-263. Sec. Murd. What . . .pities not? The arrangement of this 
 passage which is here given was first suggested by Tyrwhitt, and adopted by 
 Steevens in his edition of 1793. It is a combination of the readings of the 
 quartos and folios. In the first quarto the passage stands thus : 
 '2 What shall we doe? 
 Cla. Relent, and saue your soules. 
 I Relent, tis cowardly and womanish. 
 Cla. Not to relent, is beastly, sauage, diuelish, 
 My friend. I spie some pitty in thy lookes : 
 Oh if thy eye be not a flatterer, 
 Come thou on my side and intreat for me, 
 A begging Prince, what begger pities not ?' 
 As expanded in the folios it reads, 
 * 2 What shall we do ? 
 Cla. Relent, and saue your soules : 
 Which of you, if you were a Princes Sonne, 
 Being pent from Liberty, as I am now, 
 If two such murtherers as your selues came to yoii, 
 Would not entreat for life, as you would begge 
 Were you in my distresse. 
 
 1 Relent? no: 'Tis cowardly and womanish. 
 Cla. Not to relent, is beastly, sauage, diuellish : 
 My Friend, I spy some pitty in thy lookes: 
 O, if thine eye be not a Flatterer, 
 
 Come thou on my side, and intreate for mee, 
 A begging Prince, what begger pitties not. 
 
 2 Looke behinde you, my Lord.' 
 
 The additional lines were probably written in the margin and inserted by the 
 printers in the wrong place. Mr. Spedding would put them at the end of 
 Clarence's speech, after 'A begging prince, &c.' leaving the sentence un- 
 finished at * distress ' where ' The second murderer, who has begun to 
 relent, seeing the other preparing to stab Clarence from behind, interrupts 
 him, and tries to put him on his guard.' But if the second murderer is 
 influenced by Clarence's words, this seems to be a reason why a special 
 appeal to him should follow the lines addressed to both. 
 
l6o NOTES. [ACT n. 
 
 752. relent in the sense of 'repent* is used by Spenser, Faery Queen 
 iii. I. 25 : 
 
 'Whom whenas Venus saw so sore displeased, 
 She inly sorry was, and gan relent 
 What 'shee had said.* 
 
 259. Clarence turns to the second murderer, who is the softer hearted of 
 the two. 
 
 266. drown . . . within. The quartos have ' chop thee ... in the next 
 roome/ 
 
 268. like Pilate. See Matthew xxvii. 24. 
 
 269. this . . . done. The folios have only ' this most greeuous murther/ 
 
 270. How ... wo/ ? The quartos read 'Why doest thou not helpe me/ 
 277. take order, take measures, give directions. See iv. 2. 53 ; iv. 4. 
 
 539 ; and compare 2 Henry VI, iii. I. 320 : 
 
 ' I am content : provide me soldiers, lords, 
 Whiles I take order for mine own affairs/ 
 The folios in the present passage read Till that the Duke giue order/ 
 
 ACT II. 
 Scene I. 
 
 In the stage direction of the folios Grey is omitted, and Catesby and 
 Woodville introduced. But Catesby does not appear in the scene, and Wood- 
 ville is the same as Earl Rivers, the queen's brother. The authority for this 
 portion of the play is again More's Life of Richard III, as incorporated both 
 in Hall's and Holinshed's Chronicles. From the latter we learn that the king 
 had long been troubled by the dissensions in his court, though while he was 
 in health he did not regard them. ' But in his last sicknesse, when he per- 
 ceiued his naturall strength so sore infeebled, that he dispaired all recouerie, 
 then he, considering the youth of his children, albeit he nothing lesse mis- 
 trusted than that that hapned ; yet well foreseeing that manie harmes might 
 grow by their debate, while the youth of his children should lacke discretion 
 of themselues, & good counsell of their freends, of which either partie 
 should counsell for their owne commoditie, & rather by pleasant aduise to 
 win themselues fauor, than by profitable aduertisement to doo the children 
 good, he called some of them before him that were at variance, and in 
 especiall the lord marquesse Dorset the queenes sonne by hir first husband. 
 
 * So did he also William the lord Hastings a noble man, then lord cham- 
 berleine, against whome the queene speciallie grudged, from the great fauour 
 the king bare him .... When these lords, with diuerse other of bothe the 
 parties, were come in presence, the king lifting vp himselfe, and vnderset 
 
sc. i.] RICHARD III. l6l 
 
 with pillowes, as it is reported, on this wise said vnto them.' Then follows 
 * The oration of the king on his death-bed.' (Holinshed, iii. 713.) 
 
 3. embassage, the old form of * embassy,' in the sense of message. Com- 
 pare Richard II, iii. 4. 93 : 
 
 'Nimble mischance, that art so light of foot, 
 
 Doth not thy embassage belong to me, 
 
 And am I last that knows it ?' 
 
 The word, together with the Italian ambasciata, or imbasciata, and the 
 French embassade, is from the Low Latin ambassiata, which is ultimately 
 connected with the Gothic andbahts, a servant. 
 
 7. Rivers and Hastings. The folio reading ' Dorset and Rivers ' is 
 obviously wrong, for these were nephew and uncle, and of course of the 
 queen's party. 
 
 8. Dissemble not your hatred, do not merely conceal your hatred under 
 a mask of friendship. 
 
 9. soul. The quartos read 'heart,' but this is changed in the folios on 
 account of ' heart f in the next line. 
 
 12. dally, trifle, play the fool. Compare I Henry IV, v. 3. 57 : ' What, 
 is it a time to jest and dally now ?' 
 
 13. supreme, with the accent on the first syllable, as always in Shake- 
 speare, except Coriolanus, iii. I. no. See iii. 7. 118. 
 
 19. Nor your son Dorset. The folios read ' Nor you sonne Dorset.' 
 27. unviolable. The folios have the modern from 'inviolable.* 
 30. embracements, embraces. See Henry VIII, i. I. 10 : 
 
 'How they clung 
 
 In their embracement, as they grew together.' 
 33. but . . . Doth = and doth not. 
 
 37. And most assured. For a similar elliptical construction compare 
 I Henry IV, ii. 4. 279, 280: ' We two saw you four set on four, and bound 
 them, and were masters of their wealth.' And 3 Henry VI, ii. 2. 99 : 
 
 Ay, and old York, and yet not satisfied.' 
 45. And t in good time, . . . duke. The folios read, 
 
 'And in good time, 
 
 Heere comes Sir Richard Ratcliffe, and the Duke.' 
 
 The following stage direction is consequently ' Enter Ratcliffe, and Gloster.' 
 Ib. in good time, opportunely. See iii. i. 24, 95 ; iv. i. 12. Cotgrave 
 (Fr. Diet.) has, ' A la bonne heure. Happily, luckily, fortunately, in good 
 time, in a good houre.' 
 
 47. a happy time of day ! Compare i. I. 122. 
 
 51. swelling, inflated with passion. Compare Richard II, i. I. 201 : 
 
 ' The swelling difference of your settled hate/ 
 
 64. my noble cousin Buckingham. Buckingham's grandmother and 
 Richard's mother were sisters. Henry Stafford, second duke of Buckingham, 
 
 M 
 
1 63 NOTES. [ACT n. 
 
 was the grandson of Humphrey the first duke, who married Anne Neville, 
 sister of Cicely Neville, Duchess of York, both of them being daughters of 
 Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmoreland. Buckingham married Katherine 
 Woodville, the queen's sister. His father Humphrey, Earl Stafford, was 
 killed at the first battle of St. Alban's in 1455. 
 
 66. Lord Grey, or, more correctly, Sir Richard Grey, was the queen's 
 second son by her first husband. He is called Lord Richard Grey in Hall's 
 Chronicle (Edward V, p. 349) : * And therwith in y e kinges presence they 
 picked a quarel to the lord Richard Grey the quenes sonne, and brother to 
 the lord Marques & halfe brother to the kyng.' The folios here read * Of 
 you, and you, Lord Riuers and of Dorset,' which Mr. Spedding adopts, 
 supposing the first ' Of you ' to be addressed to Grey, in order to avoid the 
 awkwardness of using ' all ' in the next line when only two persons have 
 been mentioned. We might get rid of this difficulty by transposing lines 
 67 and 68. 
 
 67. After this line the folios insert, 
 
 ' Of you, Lord Wooduill, and Lord Scales of you.' 
 
 But Lord Scales was only another title of Antony Woodville, Earl Rivers, 
 the queen's brother. * Her brother lorde Anthony, was married to y e sole 
 heire of Thomas lord Scales, & by her he was lord Scales.' (Hall, Edward IV, 
 p. 264.) See note on i. i. 67. 
 
 69-72. Steevens has pointed out that these lines are quoted by Milton in 
 his Eikonoklastes or reply to the Eikon Basilike which was attributed to the 
 king, as an illustration of the truth that the poets are so far consistent in 
 their representations of character * As to put never more pious words in the 
 mouth of any person than of a tyrant ' ; and * that the deepest policy of a 
 tyrant hath been ever to counterfeit religious/ 
 
 70. jot. See note on Coriolanus, ii. 2. 139 (Clarendon Press ed.). 
 
 Ib. at odds, at variance. Compare Romeo and Juliet, i. 2. 5 : 
 
 *And pity 'tis you lived at odds so long.' 
 And Macbeth, iii. 4. 127 : 
 
 * Almost at odds with morning, which is which.' 
 
 8l. Who knows not he is dead! This speech is given to the king in the 
 folios. 
 
 84, 85. no one . . . But. See i. 2. 71, i. 3. 186. 
 
 85. forsook, forsaken. Shakespeare uses both forms of the participle. So 
 in Richard II, ii. 3. 26 : 
 
 'No, my good Lord; he hath forsook the Court.' ; 
 There are many instances of preterites used as participles. 
 90. too lag, too tardily. Compare Lear, i. 2. 6 : 
 
 'For that I am some twelve or fourteen moonshines 
 Lag of a brother.' 
 In i Henry IV, v. I. 24, 'the lag end of my life ' is the last part of my life. 
 
sc. i.] RICHARD III. 163 
 
 Florio (Ital. Diet.) gives ' Dirieto, lag, last, behind, hindmost.' The verb is 
 common. 
 
 92. Nearer in bloody thoughts, but not in blood. As Steevens points out, 
 there is the same play upon words in Macbeth, ii. 3. 146 : 
 
 'The near in blood, 
 The nearer bloody.* 
 Richard of course refers to the queen's kindred. See i. 3. 330. 
 
 99. The forfeit . . . of my servant's life, the life of my servant which he 
 has forfeited. 
 
 1 02. The hint for this speech was supplied by Hall's Chronicle, Edward IV, 
 p. 326: ' But sure it is that although kyng Edward were consentyng to his 
 death and destruccion, yet he much dyd bothe lamente his infortunate chaunce, 
 and repent his sodayne execucion. Inasmuche, that when any person sued 
 to hym for Pardon or remission, of any malefactor condempned to the 
 punishment of death, he woulde accustomably saye, & openly speke, O in- 
 fortunate brother, for whose lyfe not one creature would make intercession, 
 openly spekyng, and apparantly meanynge, that by the meanes of some of 
 the nobilitie, he was circumuented, and brought to hys confusion.' 
 
 103. the same. The folios have ' that tongue/ which is a better reading. 
 107. bade. The folios have ' bid.' Both forms occur. So in Midsummer 
 
 Night's Dream, iv. I. 200 (wrongly numbered 192 in the Globe edition) : 
 
 'Did you not think 
 
 The Duke was here and bid us follow him ? ' 
 
 Ib. be advised, be deliberate, reflect, consider. Compare Richard II, 
 i. 3. 188 : * by advised purpose.' And King John, iv. 2. 214: 
 
 ' More upon humour than advised respect.' 
 
 112. When Oxford had me down. This is a touch which history did not 
 supply. Although, in the Third Part of Henry VI, Oxford is represented as 
 being present at Tewkesbury, yet, according to Hall, he fled after the battle 
 of Barnet into Wales, and afterwards took St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall, 
 which he held for the queen. 
 
 115. lap, wrap. Compare Macbeth, i. 2. 54: *Bellona's bridegroom, 
 lapp'd in proof.' And Cymbeline, v. 5. 360 : 
 
 * He, sir, was lapp'd 
 In a most curious mantle.' 
 
 Cotgrave has 'Plisser. To plait, fould, lap vp, or one within another.' 
 Etymologically ' lap ' is only another form of * wrap,' which in Middle 
 English was wlappen or wlappe, and is of frequent occurrence in the 
 Wicliffite Versions. See Professor Skeat's Etymological Dictionary. 
 
 116. The folios have, 'Euen in his Garments, and did giue himselfe.' 
 
 117. thin, thinly covered. Compare Richard II, iii. 2. 112 : 
 
 'White-beards have arm'd their thin and hairless scalps 
 Against thy majesty.' 
 
 M2 
 
164 NOTES. [ACTH. 
 
 129. beholding, indebted. See note on Julius Caesar, iii. 2. 63 (Clarendon 
 Press ed.). 
 
 133. Hastings, as Malone remarks, was Lord Chamberlain. See i. I. 77. 
 Ib. closet, a private apartment or chamber. Compare King John, iv. 2. 267 : 
 'O answer not, but to my closet bring 
 
 The angry lords with all expedient haste.' 
 1 38. But come, let us in. f . The folios have ' Come Lords will you go.' 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 Stage direction. The two children of Clarence were Edward Plantagenet 
 Earl of Warwick, who was beheaded by Henry VII, Nov. 21, 1499, and 
 Margaret Plantagenet, afterwards Countess of Salisbury and mother of the 
 famous Cardinal Pole. She suffered the same fate as her brother May 27, 
 1541. The Duchess of York was Cicely Neville, daughter of Ralph Earl 
 of Westmoreland. 
 
 I. Tell me, good grandam. So the quartos, spelling grandam 'Granam,' 
 as pronounced. The folios have ' Good grandam tell vs.* 
 
 8. cousins is used loosely of any persons who are not within the first 
 degree of relationship to each other. Here it signifies ' grandchildren/ as in 
 King John, iii. 3. 17, where Elinor says to the Bastard Falconbridge, a 
 natural son of Richard Cceur de Lion, ' Farewell, gentle cousin.' See note 
 on Hamlet, i. 2. 64 (Clarendon Press ed.). 
 
 12. Then . . . conclude that he &c. The folios read Then you conclude, 
 (my grandam) he &c.,' and 'it' for 'this ' in the next line. 
 
 15. daily. The folios have 'earnest.' 
 
 1 8. Incapable, unable to understand or feel. Compare Hamlet, iv. 7. 
 1 79 ; where Ophelia's death is described : 
 
 ' Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes ; 
 As one incapable of her own distress.' 
 
 21. provoked. The folios add ' to it.' 
 
 24. hugged me in his arm. The folios mend the metre by reading 
 'pitied me.' It would have been a simpler and better change to omit 'kindly.' 
 
 28. vizard, mask. Properly speaking it was the front part of a helmet 
 which protected the upper part of the face and was pierced with holes for 
 the wearer to see through. Hence its name, which is derived from the 
 French visiere, defined by Cotgrave (Fr. Diet.) as ' the viser, or sight of an 
 helmet.' 
 
 33. The stage direction is taken from the folios. 
 
 38. impatience, a quadrisyllable. See i. 3. 157. This play contains many 
 such feeble expedients for eking out the metre. 
 
 41, 42. now the root is withered? . . . the sap being gone. The folios 
 read ' when the root is gone . . . that want their sap.' 
 
sc. 2.] RICHARD III. 165 
 
 43. be brief, be speedy, quick about it. 
 
 46. perpetual rest. The folios read * nere-changing night.' It is hard to 
 say which is the worse phrase. See i. 4. 47. 
 
 51. two mirrors, two glasses reflecting his likeness, Edward and Clarence. 
 The Duchess has forgotten Rutland. Malone compares Lucrece, 1758-64, 
 where the same figure is employed by Lucretius in apostrophizing his 
 daughter's body : 
 
 ' Poor broken glass, I often did behold 
 In thy sweet semblance my old age new born; 
 But now that fresh fair mirror, dim and old, 
 Shows me a bare-boned death by time outworn : 
 O, from thy cheeks my image thou hast torn, 
 And shiver'd all the beauty of my glass, 
 That I no more can see what once I was ! ' 
 57. husband. The quartos have * children.' 
 61. overgo, exceed, surpass. See Sonnet ciii. 7: 
 
 'A face 
 
 That overgoes my blunt invention quite.' 
 
 66. lamentation, as a word of five syllables, makes up half the verse. See 
 above, 1. 38. 
 
 68. reduce, bring back, as into the ocean. For this sense of ' reduce ' see 
 v- 5- 36. 
 
 69. That 7 ... moon &c. The queen wishes herself a sea, that being 
 fed by the streams which flow into it her eyes might give expression to her 
 grief in tears * of so floodgate and o'erbearing nature J that they would drown 
 the world. The figure is extravagant enough ; but, as Johnson remarks, 
 'the introduction of the moon is not very natural,' and does not help the 
 figure at all, unless we suppose that the queen desires to find a period to her 
 sorrows in madness, when like the sea to which she compares herself she 
 would be subject to the influences of the moon. 
 
 Ib. the watery moon, controlling the ebb and flow of tides ; elsewhere 
 (Hamlet, i. I. 118, 119) called 
 
 ' The moist star 
 
 Upon whose influence Neptune's empire stands/ 
 
 Compare Midsummer Night's Dream, ii. I. 103 : ' The mon, the governess 
 of floods,' and 162, 
 
 * Quench'd in the chaste beams of the watery moon.' 
 
 80. moans. The folios have ' greefes ' or * griefs.' 
 
 81. Their woes are parcelVd or divided among them severally; mine are 
 general and include them all. There is a reference to the old division of 
 land, part of which was parcelled out among individuals and the rest was 
 lield in common by the community. The same idea occurs in Macbeth, iv. 
 3.196: 
 
1 66 NOTES. [ACT n. 
 
 'What concern \hey? 
 The general cause? or is it a fee-grief 
 Due to some single breast?' 
 
 84, 85. and so do I ; I for an Edward weep. These words are omitted 
 in the folios, making the passage absolute nonsense. 
 
 89-10x5. Dor. Comfort . . . throne. These two speeches are found in 
 the folios only. They could well be spared even in this scene. 
 95. For. See i. I. 58. 
 
 101. Madam. The folios make him fulfil his promise of calling her 
 'Sister/ See i. I. 109. The appearance of Gloucester in this scene is 
 unhistorical. He was in the north when he received the news of his 
 brother's death. See Hall's Chronicle, Edward V, p. 347. 
 
 103. cure their harms. The folios have ' helpe our harmes.' See note 
 on * help* in this sense, iv. 4. 131. 
 
 112. cloudy, sullen, moody. Compare Macbeth, iii. 6. 41 : 
 
 'The cloudy messenger turns me his back.' 
 And i Henry IV, iii. 2. 83 : 
 
 'Slept in his face, and rendered such aspect 
 As cloudy men use to their adversaries.' 
 
 117. The broken rancour must properly mean the breach caused by 
 rancour. 
 
 Ib. hearts. The folios read ' hates.' 
 
 1 1 8. splintered, bound up with splints, like a broken limb. Compare 
 Othello, ii. 3. 329 : * This broken joint between you and her husband 
 entreat her to splinter.' 
 
 121. from Ludlow, which being on the marches of Wales, was the 
 proper residence of the Prince. ' The younge kynge at the deathe of his 
 father kepte housholde at Ludlowe, for his father had sente hym thether 
 for Justice to be dooen in the Marches of Wales, to the ende that by the 
 autoritee of his presence, the wilde Welshemenne and eiuell disposed 
 personnes should refrain from their accustomed murthers and outrages.' 
 (Hall's Chronicle, Edward V, p. 347.) He was in the charge of earl 
 Rivers. 
 
 121. fetch' 'd. The folios have 'fet/ which is the form both of the past 
 tense and past participle in Early English. In the Authorised Version of 
 1611 * fet ' occurs several times, but always for the preterite. For instance, 
 in 2 Samuel ix. 5 : ' Then King David sent, and fet him out of the house of 
 Machir/ In the Geneva Version of Deuteronomy xix. 12, it is found for 
 the infinitive : ' Then the Elders of his citie shall send and fet him thence.' 
 Shakespeare again uses it for the participle in Henry V, iii. i. 18 : 
 ' Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof.' 
 
 123-140. Riv. Why . . . say I. These speeches are in the folios only. 
 
 129. as please himself, as it may please himself. So in As You Like It, 
 
sc. 3.] RICHARD III. 167 
 
 Epilogue, 14 : * I charge you, O women, ... to like as much of this play as 
 please you.' 
 
 130. apparent ', evident, manifest. See iii. 5. 30. 
 
 133. compact, with the accent on the last syllable, as it is everywhere 
 else in Shakespeare except I Henry VI, v. 4. 163 : 
 
 1 And therefore take this compact of a truce.' 
 See Julius Caesar, iii. I. 215 : 
 
 'But what compact mean you to have with us?' 
 
 137. haply, perchance. So Mark xi. 13; * He came, if haply he might 
 find anything thereon.' 
 
 142. Ludlow. The folios have 'London,' as again in 1. 154, which is 
 clearly a mistake. 
 
 143. mother. Here again the folios have 'sister.' See 1. 101. In the 
 following line they omit ' weighty/ reading ' business ' as a trisyllable. 
 
 145. The folios omit this line. 
 
 147. be behind. The folios have * stay at home.' 
 
 148. sort occasion, arrange an opportunity. See ii. 3. 36, and compare 
 Lucrece, 899 : 
 
 'When wilt thou sort an hour great strifes to end?' 
 
 149. index, an introduction or prelude. Compare iv. 4. 85, and Hamlet, 
 iii. 4.52: 
 
 *Ay me, what act, 
 That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?' 
 
 150. king. The folios have 'Prince/ as in 146. 
 
 151. consistory, a court of assembly ; properly a spiritual court. Cotgrave 
 (Fr. Diet.) gives, Consistoire : m. A Consistorie : a Counsell house of, 
 or Counsell held by, Prelats ; a session, sitting, or assemblie of Ecclesiasticall 
 persons.' The expression is copied in The Ghost of Richard the Third 
 (Shakespeare Society), p. 33 : 
 
 ' My working head (my counsells consistory).' 
 
 Scene III. 
 
 I. Neighbour, well met. The folios have 'Good morrow Neighbour.' 
 Z. I promise you, I assure you. See i. 4. 65. 
 
 4. by V lady, by our lady : printed in the old copies, ' byrlady,' and some- 
 times ' birlady J or ' berlady.' 
 
 Ib. seldom comes the better. A proverbial expression which occurs in 
 Heywood's Three Hundred Epigrammes, vpon three hundred prouerbes 
 (1562), in (Spenser Soc. ed. p. 144). 
 
 ' The better cumth seldome. 
 
 Se'eldome cumth the better, come or go who will, 
 One nayle driueth out an other, we*e se still.' 
 
1 68 NOTES. [ACT n. 
 
 5. troublous, altered in the folios to giddy,' perhaps on account of the 
 occurrence of ' troublous ' in 1. 9. 
 
 II. Woe to that land that's governed by a child ! See Ecclesiastes x. 16, 
 quoted in The Vision of Piers Plowman (B text), prol. 190 : 
 
 * )?ere )?e catte is a kitoun . J>e courte is ful elying ; 
 ]>at witnisseth holiwrite . who-so wol it rede, 
 
 Ve terre vbi puer rex est, t?c. 
 
 The text is quoted again by Buckingham in his speech at the Guildhall, 
 * Wo to that realme whose kyng is a child' (Hall, p. 371), and in his conversa- 
 tion with Morton Bishop of Ely, * I remembred an olde prouerbe worthy of 
 memorye, that often ruithe the realme, where chyldren rule, and women 
 gouerne.' (Ibid. p. 386.) 
 
 13. nonage, minority. Cotgrave (Fr. Diet.) has 'Pupilarite : f. Nonnage/ 
 
 15. shall then and till then; that is, himself shall then, in his ripened 
 years, and council under him shall till then govern well. 
 
 1 6. Henry must here be a trisyllable. See iv. 2. 99. 
 
 21. virtuous uncles, the Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester. 
 28. brothers. See note on i. 3. 67. For * sons and brothers' the quartos 
 read ' kindred/ and * hauty ' for * haught/ 
 
 Ib. haught, haughty. Compare 3 Henry VI, ii. I. 169 : 
 *The proud insulting queen, 
 With Clifford and the haught Northumberland/ 
 30. solace, have comfort, take delight. Compare Cymbeline, i. 6. 86 : 
 
 'What, 
 
 To hide me from the radiant sun and solace 
 I' the dungeon by a snuff/ 
 And Ben Jonson, Sad Shepherd, ii. I : 
 
 ' Under whose shade I solace in the heat/ 
 
 35. make is the reading of all the quartos but the eighth, and of all the 
 folios but the first. These have ' makes/ which is given as an instance of 
 the survival of a plural in ' s ' in Shakespeare's time. See Abbott, 333. 
 
 38. souls. The folios read hearts ' and transpose dread ' and ' fear ' in 
 this line and 1. 40. 
 
 39. cannot almost = can scarcely. So in Othello, iii. 3. 66 : 
 
 ' And yet his trespass, in our common reason 
 Save that, they say, the wars must make examples 
 Out of their best is not almost a fault 
 To incur a private check/ 
 And Comedy of Errors, v. i. 181 : 
 
 'I have not breathed almost since I did see it/ 
 
 See note on Coriolanus, i. 3. 24 (Clarendon Press ed.). For almost reason* 
 the folios have ' reason (almost)/ 
 Ib. reason. See i. 4. 154. 
 
so.*] RICHARD III. 169 
 
 41. This speech of the Third Citizen, as Toilet pointed out, was ap- 
 parently suggested by a passage in More's Richard the Third, quoted by 
 Holinshed, iii. 721 : * Yet began there here and there abouts, some maner of 
 muttering among the people, as though all should not long be well, though 
 they neither wist what they feared, nor wherefore : were it, that before such 
 great things, mens hearts of a secret instinct of nature misgiue them ; as 
 the sea without wind swelleth of himselfe sometime before a tempest/ Hall, 
 who copies the same passage, has a very odd mistake, for instead of ' the 
 sea without wind,' he substitutes * the south wynde.' 
 
 43. Ensuing dangers. The folios read ' Pursuing danger,' although in the 
 first folio the catchword on the previous page is ' Ensuing.* 
 
 Ib. by proof \ by experience. See Julius Caesar, ii. I. 21. 
 
 Scene IV. 
 
 Enter the Archbishop of York, Sec. The folios have simply 'Arch-bishop,' 
 and the quartos * Cardinall.' The Archbishop was Thomas Rotherham, Lord 
 Chancellor of England. He was made Cardinal of St. Cecilia about 1480. 
 (See French, Shakspeareana Genealogica, p. 218.) 
 
 I, 2. The reading in the text is that of the quartos. The folios transpose 
 Northampton and Stony- Stratford, as if Northampton were a stage nearer to 
 London than the latter place, and read the lines thus : 
 
 Last night I heard they lay at Stony Stratford, 
 
 And at Northampton they do rest to-night.' 
 
 This reading corresponds with the rumour which reached the Archbishop on 
 the night that the queen took sanctuary. The same night there came to 
 docter Rotheram Archebyshop of Yorke and lorde Chauncelour, a messenger 
 from the lord Chambrelayne to Yorke place besyde Westminster: the mes- 
 senger was brought to the bishoppes bedsyde, and declared to him that the 
 dukes were gone backe with the young kyng to Northampton.' (Hall's 
 Chronicle, Edward V, p. 350.) And forthwith they arrested the lorde 
 Rychard and sir Thomas Vaugham & sir Richard Hawte Knyghtes, in the 
 kyngs presence, & broughte the kyng and all back to Northampton.' (Ibid, 
 p. 349.) The house is still shown at Stony Stratford where, tradition says, 
 the young king lodged. 
 
 9. cousin. See ii. 2. 8. 
 
 13. Compare Heywood's Proverbs (Spenser Society ed.), p. 164 : 
 ' 111 weede growth fast, that is showyng 
 In the show of thy fast growyng.' 
 
 20. if this rule were true. The first and second quartos have * if this were 
 a true rule* ; the folios, ' if his rule were true.' 
 
 Ib. gracious, full of grace, virtuous. So in Hamlet, v. 2. 86 : 
 Ham. Dost know this water-fly ? 
 
170 NOTES. [ACT ii. 
 
 Hor. No, my good lord. 
 
 Ham. Thy state is the more gracious.' 
 
 23. had been remember* d, had remembered. So As You Like It, 
 
 in. 5- 131 s 
 
 *And, now I am remembered, scorn' d at me.' 
 
 24. a flout, a mocking jest. Compare Love's Labour's Lost, v. 2. 854: 
 
 * The world's large tongue 
 Proclaims you for a man replete with mocks, 
 Full of comparisons and wounding flouts.' 
 
 28. Richard was born, ' as the fame ranne, not vntothed ' (Hall's Chron- 
 icle, Edward V, p. 343). See also 3 Henry VI, v. 6. 75 : 
 
 'The midwife wonder'd, and the women cried 
 " O, Jesus bless us, he is born with teeth ! " ' 
 
 35' parlous, dangerous, mischievous; a corruption of 'perilous.' In 
 iii. I. 154 most of the old copies read ' perilous ' or ' perillous.' See As You 
 Like It, iii. 2. 45 : 'Thou art in a parlous state, shepherd.' 
 
 Ib. shrewd, sharp-tongued ; literally, mischievous. See note on Midsum- 
 mer Night's Dream, iii. 2. 323, and compare The Taming of the Shrew, 
 i. i. 185 : 
 
 'Her eldest sister is so curst and shrewd'; 
 that is, she was ill-tempered and a scold. 
 
 36. Good madam, &c. The folios give this speech to the Duchess. 
 
 37. Pitchers have ears, a common proverb, quoted again in The Taming 
 of the Shrew, iv. 4. 52. The full form is usually ' Little pitchers have large 
 ears,' to which is sometimes added ' and wide mouths.' 
 
 42. Lord Rivers and Lord Grey, Sec. * The duke of Gloucester sent y 
 lorde Ryuers, the lord Richard and Sir Thomas Vaugham, and sir Richarde 
 Hawte into the Northparties into diuerse prisons, but at last, al came to 
 Pouwfret where they all foure were beheaded without Judgement.' (Hall's 
 Chronicle, Edward V, p. 350.) 
 
 45. Gloucester and Buckingham. At the time of the king's death Buck- 
 ingham was on the Welsh Marches and Richard at York. They met at 
 Northampton, each with a strong body of horse, on th day that the young 
 king left for Stony Stratford. See Hall, Edward V, pp. 347-350. 
 
 51. to jet is commonly to strut, to walk proudly, to throw the body about 
 in an affected manner ; and hence it has been supposed to have in this pas- 
 sage the secondary sense of to be ostentatious. But ' jet ' and ' jut,' which 
 represents the reading of the folios, are the same in origin, and signify to 
 stick out, project, and so, to encroach upon. So Cotgrave interprets the 
 French Iette*e, ' a iettie or iuttie, a bearing out or leaning ouer in buildings.' 
 Compare Titus Andronicus, ii. I. 64: 
 
 ' Think you not how dangerous 
 It is to jet upon a prince's right?' 
 
sc.4-] RICHARD 111. 171 
 
 And again in the old play of Sir Thomas More (Shakespeare Society), 
 p. 2 : 'It is hard when Englishmens pacience must be thus jetted on by 
 straungers/ 
 
 52. aweless, inspiring no awe or reverence. 
 
 59. to joy and weep their gain and /oss, to rejoice in their gain and weep 
 for their loss. For this kind of distribution compare ii. 3. 15, and Macbeth, 
 i. 3. 60, 6 1 : 
 
 ' Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear 
 
 Your favours nor your hate/ 
 62, 63. blood . . . self. The folios have 
 
 4 Brother to Brother ; 
 Blood to blood, selfe against selfe.' 
 
 65. death. The folios read * earth.* See Preface, p. Ix. 
 
 66. will to sanctuary. See i. I. 107. According to the history the 
 Archbishop's interview with the Queen was not till after the latter had taken 
 refuge in the Sanctuary. When the news reached her that the King was in 
 the hands of the Duke of Gloucester, and that her brother and son were ar- 
 rested, says Sir Thomas More, she ' gate her selfe in al the haste possible with 
 her yonger sonne and her dough ters out of the Palyce of Westminster in 
 whiche shee then laye, into the Sainctuarye, lodginge her selfe and her coum- 
 panye there in the Abbotes place.' The Archbishop came to Westminster 
 before daybreak, and the scene he there witnessed is admirably described by 
 More. ' Hee tooke the greate Scale with him, and came yet beefore daye 
 vnto the Queene. Aboute whome he found muche heauinesse, rumble, haste 
 and businesse, carriage and conueyaunce of her stuffe into Sainctuary, chestes, 
 coffers, packes, fardelles, trusses, all on mennes backes, no manne vnoccupyed, 
 somme lading, somme goynge, some descharging, somme commynge for 
 more, somme breakinge downe the walles to bringe in the nexte waye, and 
 somme yet drewe to them that holpe to carrye a wronge waye. The Quene 
 her self satte alone alowe on the rishes all desolate and dismayde.' (More, 
 Workes, p. 43.) Dean Stanley suggests (History of Westminster Abbey, 
 p. 368) that after the interview she withdrew into the fortress of the 
 Sanctuary itself. 
 
 70. * And here is the great Scale, whiche in like wise as that rioble prince 
 your housebande deliuered it vnto me, so here I deliuer it vnto you, to the 
 vse and behoofe of youre sonne, and therewith hee betooke her the greate 
 Scale, and departed home agayne, yet in the dauninge of the daye.' (More, 
 
 p. 43.) 
 
.173 NOTES. [ACT m. 
 
 ACT III. 
 Scene I. 
 
 The Lord Mayor met the young king at Hornsey Park, on Sunday 4 May, 
 
 1483- 
 
 1. to your chamber. Compare Buckingham's speech to the citizens as re- 
 ported by More (p. 63) : ' this noble citye, as his special chamber.' Accord- 
 ing to Camden (Britannia, p. 427, trans. Holland, ed. 1637), London acquired 
 this title soon after the Conquest. See Ben Jonson, Part of King James's 
 Entertainment, in passing to his coronation. 
 
 2. cousin. See note on ii. 2. 8. 
 
 9. distinguish of a man. Compare Hamlet, iii. 2. 69: 
 
 ' Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice 
 And could of men distinguish.' 
 
 10. God he knows. See 1. 26. The pronoun is redundant, as in Joshua 
 xxii. 22 : * The Lord God of Gods, the Lord God of Gods, he knoweth, and 
 Israel he shall know.' 
 
 11. jumpeth, agreeth, accordeth. So I Henry IV, i. 2. 78 : * And in some 
 sort it jumps with my humour as well as waiting in the court.' 
 
 13. sugar'd words. See i. 3. 242, I Henry VI, iii. 3. 18, and 3 Henry VI. 
 iii. 2. 45. Mr. Rushton (Notes and Queries, 4th series, x. 369) compares 
 Spenser, Faery Queen, iii. 6. 25 : 
 
 * So her she soone appeasd 
 With sugred words and gentle blandishment.' 
 22. a slug. Compare Comedy of Errors, ii. 2. 196 : 
 
 'Dromio, thou drone, thou snail, thou slug, thou sot.' 
 
 30. perforce. See i. I. 116. 
 
 31. peevish. See i. 3. 194. 
 
 32. Lord cardinal. Thomas Bourchier, or Bouchier, Archbishop of 
 Canterbury from 1454 to 1486. He was made Cardinal in 1464 by Pope 
 Paul II, but did not assume the title till the following year (Hook, Lives 
 of the Archbishops of Canterbury, v. 345). In Holinshed (p. 717, col. i) 
 it is Richard and not Buckingham who suggests that the Cardinal should 
 take upon him the office of persuading the queen to give up her son. 
 * Wherefore me thinketh it were not worst to send vnto the queene, for x the 
 redresse of this matter, some honorable trustie man, such as both tendereth 
 the kings weale and the honour of his councell, and is also in fauour and 
 credence with her. For all which considerations, none seemeth more 
 meetlie, than our reuerend father here present, my lord cardinall, who may 
 in this matter doo most good of anie man, if it please him to take the paine.' 
 In More's narrative, which Holinshed copies, it is left uncertain who the 
 
sc. I.] RICHARD III. 173 
 
 ' Lord Cardinal * is, and in the sequel we find that the Archbishop of York 
 undertakes the mission. But in the corresponding passage of Hall's 
 Chronicle the Cardinal is expressly identified as the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, who * tooke vpon hym to moue her, and therto to dp his vttermooste 
 endeuoure. Howbeit yf she coulde in no wise be intreated with her good 
 wyll to delyuer hym, then thought he and such of the spiritualtie as wer 
 present, that it were not in any wyse too bee attempted to take hym out 
 againste her wyll, for it woulde be a thynge that should turne to the grudge 
 of all men and high displeasure of God, yf the pryuilege of that place should 
 be broken . . . and therefore quod the Archebishop, God forbid that any 
 manne shoulde for any yearthely enterprise breake the immunite and 
 libertie of that sacred sanctuary.' (Hall's Chronicle, Edward V, p. 352.) 
 39. Anon. Steevens would omit this word. 
 
 44. Buckingham's speech is almost literally from Holinshed (p. 718) : 
 'I haue often heard of sanctuarie men, but I neuer heard earst of sanc- 
 tuarie children. And therefore, as for the conclusion of my mind, who so 
 maie haue deserued to need it, if they thinke it for their suertie, let them 
 keepe it. But he can be no sanctuarie man, that neither hath wisdome to 
 desire it, nor malice to deserue it ; whose life or libertie can by no lawfull 
 processe stand in ieopardie. And he that taketh one out of sanctuarie to doo 
 him good, I saie plainlie, that he breaketh no sanctuarie.* 
 Ib. senseless-obstinate, unreasonably obstinate. 
 
 46. Weigh it but with the grossness of this age. Johnson explains, 'com- 
 pare the act of seizing him with the gross and licentious practices of these 
 times, it will not be considered as a violation of sanctuary, for you may give 
 such reasons as men are now used to admit.* He here in reality gives two 
 interpretations, which turn upon the different meanings of which the ex- 
 pression * weigh with J is capable : weigh this act against the violent practices 
 of these times, and so, compare it with them; or, weigh it as such 
 actions are weighed in this gross age, and so, estimate it by that standard. 
 Mr. Grant White understands by 'grossness' the gross judgement, the 
 blunted perception of this age. See note on 4 gross,' iii. 6. 10. 
 
 63. // seems. So the first and second quartos. The rest have * thinkst,* 
 and the folios ' think'st.* Sidney Walker conjectured * thinks.* See note on 
 Hamlet, v. 2. 63 (Clarendon Press ed.). 
 
 66. and shall be thought, that is, and where it shall be thought &c. 
 68. of any place, of all places I dislike the Tower most. For the con- 
 struction compare Macbeth, v. 8. 4 : 
 
 * Of all men else I have avoided thee ' ; 
 and 2 Henry VI, i. 3. 167 : 
 
 'That York is most unmeet of any man,' 
 
 which might have been expressed by ' more unmeet than any man,' or 
 ' most unmeet of all men/ See also the quotation from Holinshed given 
 
174 NOTES. [ACT in. 
 
 above in note on 1. 32 : ' who may in this matter doo most good of anie 
 man.' 
 
 69. Julius Caesar. See Richard II, v. I. 2 : 
 
 'This is the way 
 To Julius Caesar's ill-erected tower.' 
 
 * lohn Lydgate, lohn Rouse and others write, that lulius Caesar builded in this 
 lande the Castels of Douer, of Canturburie, Rochester and the Towre of 
 London, the Castell and towne of Caesars Burie, taking his name after Caesar, 
 the which is now called Salisburie.' (Stow's Chronicles, ed. 1580, p. 34.) 
 
 71. re-edified^ rebuilt. This word only occurs again in Titus Andronicus, 
 i. I. 351: 
 
 * This monument five hundred years hath stood, 
 Which I have sumptuously re-edified.' 
 
 Compare Spenser, Faery Queen, ii. 10. 46 : 
 
 ' The ruin'd wals he did reaedifye 
 Of Troynovant.' 
 
 * Edify' was formerly used not unfrequently in its literal sense as equivalent 
 to ' build.' So we find it in Spenser's archaic language (Faery Queen, 
 
 i. I.34)'- 
 
 'A litle wyde 
 There was an holy chappell edifyde/ 
 
 72. record, with the accent on the last syllable, as in iv. 4. 28, v. 3. 335, 
 and Hamlet, i. 5. 99 : 
 
 Til wipe away all trivial fond records.' 
 Ib. or else. ' Else ' is redundant, as in The Taming of the Shrew, iv. 
 
 5- 7is 
 
 * But is this true ? or is it else your pleasure, 
 Like pleasant travellers, to break a jest 
 Upon the company you overtake?' 
 
 See also Genesis xlii. 16 : 'Or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.' 
 77. retailed, related, reported. See iv. 4. 335, and 2 Henry IV, i. 
 
 I. 3 2 : 
 
 'And he is furnish'd with no certainties 
 More than he haply may retail from me.' 
 
 79. So wise, so young, they say, do never live long. This sentiment is 
 attributed by Pliny to Cato the Censor. 'Jor Cato that famous Censor, 
 writing to his sonne as touching this argument, hath delivered, as it were out 
 of an Oracle, that there is an observation of death to be collected even 
 in them that are in perfect health. For (saith hee) youth resembling age, 
 is an undoubted signe of untimely death, or short life.' (Nat. Hist. vii. 51, 
 Holland's trans.) 
 
 81. characters has the accent on the second syllable only in this passage 
 in Shakespeare. In Hamlet, i. 3. 59, the verb has the same accent : 
 
sc. i.] RICHARD III. 175 
 
 *And these few precepts in thy memory 
 See thou character.' 
 
 Ib. lives long. This expression must be what Richard refers to when he 
 says that he moralizes two meanings in one word. The young king had 
 caught the concluding words of his former speech, and Gloucester, suspecting 
 this, repeats them in a phrase of different purport. 
 
 82. the formal vice, Iniquity. * Formal* appears to be used very much 
 as we now use ' conventional,' to describe that which was regular and in 
 accordance with ordinary rule and custom. The Vice of the stage was a 
 familiar figure to the audience, and they were thoroughly accustomed to his 
 proceedings. He is to some extent represented in modern times by the 
 harlequin of the pantomime, whom Douce regards as his illegitimate descend- 
 ant. Shakespeare again refers to this character in Hamlet, Hi. 4. 98, ' a vice 
 of kings,' that is, a mere buffoon among kings ; and Twelfth Night, iv. 
 
 2. I34 : 
 
 'Like to the old Vice . . . 
 
 Who, with dagger of lath, 
 
 In his rage and his wrath, 
 
 Cries ah, ha ! to the devil.' 
 
 With this compare 2 Henry IV, iii. 2. 343: 'And now is this Vice's dagger 
 become a squire ' ; the wooden sword or dagger being an invariable part of 
 the Vice's equipment. Again, in I Henry IV, ii. 4. 499, Prince Hal calls 
 Falstaff ' that reverend vice, that grey iniquity,' with a side reference to the 
 well-known figure on the stage. The Vice appears to have been first intro- 
 duced in the early moral plays in which he is found always in company with 
 the Devil, who was a survival from the ancient mysteries. * It was a prety 
 part,' says Harsnet (Declaration of Popish Imposture, p. 114), 'in the old 
 Church-playes, when the nimble Vice would skip vp nimbly like a lacke an 
 Apes into the deuils necke, and ride the deuil a course, and belabour him 
 with his woodden dagger, til he made him roare, wherat the people would 
 laugh to see the deuil so vice-haunted.' But in the end virtue, as represented 
 by the Devil, triumphed, and the Vice was carried by a fiend to hell. We learn 
 further from Harsnet that he had a cap with ass's ears, and from Ben Jonson 
 (The Devil is an Ass, i. l) that he wore a ' long coat,' or * a juggler's jerkin, 
 with false skirts, like the knave of clubs' (The Staple of News, II, Intermean), 
 and that besides acting the part of Iniquity he appeared as * Fraud, or 
 Covetousness, or lady Vanity.' In The Trial of Treasure he is Inclination ; 
 in Lupton's All for Money he appeared as Sin, and in Tom Tiler as Desire. 
 In later plays he was introduced alone, as Ambidexter in Cambyses, without 
 his companion the Devil, but his business still being to make the audience 
 laugh he became simply the buffoon or jester. It would appear from the 
 present passage that one of his devices for effecting this object was to 
 play upon the double meanings of words. In Holland's Pliny, vii. 48, 
 
176 NOTES. [ACT m. 
 
 ' vice ' is the rendering of the Latin mima : 'Luceia a common vice in a 
 play, followed the stage and acted thereupon TOO yeeres.' 
 
 83. / moralize two meanings in one word. As the moral of any circum- 
 stance or narrative is the meaning which lies hidden in it, to * moralize* 
 signifies to draw out or interpret this meaning. Compare As You Like It, 
 ii. I. 44: 
 
 ' Did he not moralize this spectacle ? * 
 
 that is, deduce from it some moral sense. And hence, to expound generally, 
 as in Lucrece, 104 : 
 
 ' Nor could she moralize his wanton sight.' 
 And The Taming of the Shrew, iv. 4. 81 : 
 
 ' Eton. Faith, nothing; but has left me here behind, to expound the 
 meaning or moral of his signs and tokens. 
 
 Luc. I pray thee, moralize them.' 
 
 Richard is afraid that his villainy should not be sufficiently apparent, and in 
 his * Asides ' to the audience becomes his own expositor. 
 
 91. An iff redundantly used for 'if; 'an* or 'and* and 'if* being 
 equivalent. Compare ' for because, and ' or ere.' See below, 1. 148, The 
 Tempest, v. I. 117, Midsummer Night's Dream, ii. 2. 153, &c. 
 
 94. lightly, generally, usually. So in Holland's Pliny, vii. 50 : ' But in 
 this place, observed usually it is by experience, That a pestilence beginning 
 in the South parts, goeth alwaies toward the West ; and never lightly but in 
 winter, neither continueth it above three moneths.' 
 
 Ib. Enter young York &c. In the history the young Duke was brought 
 to his uncle in the Star chamber and afterwards taken to join his brother 
 at the Bishop of London's palace at St. Paul's. 
 
 96. our loving brother. The folios here read ' our Noble brother,' and 
 in the following line substitute ' deare ' for ' dread/ 
 
 99. late, lately, recently. See ii. 2. 149. 
 
 114. which is no grief to give, to part with which causes no regret. 
 
 121. 7 weigh it lightly, I think it but a trifling gift. 
 
 123. as you call me. The folios have ' as, as,' apparently to indicate a 
 hesitation on the part of the speaker. But this makes the verse redun- 
 dant. 
 
 130, 131. like an ape &c. Johnson says, ' The reproach seems to consist 
 in this : at country shows it was common to set the monkey on the back of 
 some other animal, as a bear. The Duke therefore in calling himself ape 
 calls his uncle bear* Douce thinks that, as the monkey was frequently the 
 companion of the domestic fool, and would often get upon his shoulders, 
 ' York may thereupon mean to call his uncle a fool.' (Illustrations of Shake- 
 speare, ed. 1833, p. 336.) 
 
 132. sharp provided, quick and ready. 
 
 147. Nor none. So in Midsummer Night's Dream, iii. 2. 135 : 
 
sc. i.] RICHARD III. 177 
 
 'Lys. I had no judgement when to her I swore. 
 Hel. Nor none, in my mind, now you give her o'er/ 
 150. Stage direction. 'A Sennet* was a set of notes played on a trumpet 
 as the signal for the arrival or departure of a procession. See notes on 
 Macbeth, iii. I. 10 (Clarendon Press edition), and King Lear, i. I. 35. 
 
 152. incensed, instigated, provoked. Compare Much Ado, v. I. 242 : 
 ' How Don John your brother incensed me to slander the Lady Hero.* Nares 
 (Glossary, s. v.) considers that here ' incense ' = insense, which in Staffordshire 
 provincial usage means to instruct or inform, and not to stimulate or provoke. 
 But although this may be the meaning in Henry VIII, v. i. 43, 
 
 * I think I have 
 
 Incensed the lords o' the council, that he is ... 
 A most arch heretic/ 
 
 the usual signification of the word gives very good sense in the present 
 passage. 
 
 154. parlous. See ii. 4. 35. 
 
 155. capable, quick of apprehension. Compare TroUus and Cressida, 
 iii. 3. 310: ' Let me bear another to his horse ; for that's the more capable 
 creature. ' 
 
 157. let them rest, let them be. See 2 Henry VI, i. 3. 95 : 
 
 ' So, let her rest : and, madam, list to me/ 
 
 158. Thou art sworn. These words should perhaps be placed by them- 
 selves, or, omitting * hither/ be read with the previous line. 
 
 159. closely, secretly. 
 
 164. the seat royal. Compare Hall's Chronicle (Richard III, p. 375) : 
 1 and the morow after, he was proclaymed kyng and with great solempnite 
 rode to Westminster, and there sate in the seate roial.' 
 
 165. for his father's sake. See the quotation from Holinshed in the note 
 on i. I. 77. 
 
 169 &c. See quotation from Hall's Chronicle in the Preface, p. xvi. 
 172, 173. And summon . . . coronation. Omitted in the quartos, which 
 read: 
 
 * Well then no more but this : 
 Go gentle Catesby, and as it were a farre off, 
 Sound thou Lo : Hastings, how he stands affected 
 Vnto our purpose, if he be willing, 
 Encourage him &c/ 
 
 176. icy-cold. Dr. Ingleby conjectured that these words should be 
 connected by a hyphen. In the old copies they are separated by a comma. 
 
 177. your talk. The folios have ' the talk/ The MS. had probably ' y r ' 
 or 'y 6 / 
 
 1 79. divided councils. When the protectour had both the chyldren in 
 his possession, yea & that they were in a sure place, he then began to 
 
 N 
 
178 NOTES. [ACTinr 
 
 thirst to se the ende of his enterprise. And to auoyde all suspicion, he 
 caused all the lordes whiche he knewe to bee faithfull to the kyng to 
 assemble at Baynardes Castle to cowmen of the ordre of the coronacion, 
 whyle he and other of his complices & of his affinitee at Crosbies place 
 contriued the contrary and to make the protectour kyng : to which counsail 
 there were adhibite very fewe, and they very secrete.' Hall's Chronicle, 
 Edward V, p. 358. In Holinshed's narrative (p. 721, col. 2), which is 
 here taken from More, we read the further particulars, * But the protector 
 and the duke, after that they had sent the lord cardinal!, the archbishop of 
 Yorke then lord chancellor, the bishop of Elie, the lord Stanleie, and the lord 
 Hastings then lord chamberlaine, with manie other noble men to common 
 and deuise about the coronation in one place, as fast were they in an other 
 place, contriuing the contrarie, and to make the protector king.' 
 
 185. Mistress Shore. According to Hall (Chronicle, Edward V, p. 363) 
 who follows Sir Thomas More, ' When the kynge dyed, the lorde Hastynges 
 toke her, whiche in the kynges dayes albeit that he was sore enamoured 
 with her yet he forbare, either for a pryncely reuerence or for a certayne 
 frendely faithfulnesse.' See also p. 360. 
 
 Ib. gentle. The quartos read ' gentile,' a spelling which illustrates the 
 quibble in The Merchant of Venice, ii. 6. 51, between 'gentile' and 'gentle' : 
 'Now, by my hood, a Gentile and no Jew/ 
 
 190. Crosby Place. The folios have 'Crosby House.' See note on 
 i. 2. 212. 
 
 192. complots, plots. See line 200 and 2 Henry VI, Hi. i. 147 : 
 
 ' I know their complot is to have my life.' 
 
 Besides these passages the word only occurs in Shakespeare in Titus Andro- 
 nicus. Cotgrave has, ' Complot : m. A complot, conspiracie, couin, con- 
 federacie, packe, or compacting together.' 
 
 193. Chop . . . do. The folios read, 
 
 Chop off his Head : 
 Something wee will determine/ 
 
 194. 195. claim thou of me, Sec. See iv. 2. 94. See Holinshed (p, 721, 
 col. 2) : 'Then it was agreed, that the protector shuld haue the dukes aid 
 to make him king, and that the protectors onlie lawfull sonne should marrie 
 the dukes daughter, and that the protector should grant him the quiet 
 possession of the earldome of Hereford, which he claimed as his inheritance, 
 and could neuer obteine it in king Edwards time. Besides these requests 
 of the duke, the protector of his owne mind promised him a great quantitie 
 of the kings treasure, and of his houshold stufte.' Buckingham claimed the 
 earldom of Hereford in virtue of his descent from Thomas of Woodstock, 
 who married Eleanor daughter and coheiress of Humphrey de Bohun. 
 
 196. stood possessed. The folios have 'was possest,' and in the two 
 following lines read 'hand 1 and 'kindnesse.' 
 
sc. 2.] RICHARD III. 179 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 See the quotation from Hall in the Preface. The date of the scene was 
 Friday, 13 June, 1483. 
 
 6. thy master. So the quartos. The folios have ' Lord Stanley,' reading 
 as prose. 
 
 7. should seem. The folios have ' appeares.' 
 
 10. ii. And then . . . the boar, &c. The folios read, 
 
 ' Then certifies your Lordship, that this night 
 He dreamt, the Bore had rased off his Helme.' 
 
 11. razed. In the passage of Hall from which this scene is taken the 
 same expression is used : ' he thought that a bore with hys tuskes so rased 
 them bothe by the heades that the bloud ran aboute bothe their shoulders/ 
 
 Ib. helm, helmet. So in Coriolanus, iv. 5. 131 : 
 
 * Unbuckling helms, fisting each other's throat.' 
 
 12. two councils held. See iii. I. 179, and Hall, Edward V, p. 359 : 
 ' In so much as the lorde Stanley whiche aftervvarde was erle of Derby 
 wysely mistrusted it and saied to the lord Hastynges, that he muche mis- 
 liked these two seuerall counsailes, for while we qwod he talke of one 
 matter at the one place, litle wote we whereof they talke in the other.' 
 
 Ib. held. The folios read * kept.' 
 
 1 6. presently you will. The folios have 'you will presently.' 
 
 25. wanting instance, having no motive to cause them. Compare 
 Henry V, ii. 2. 119: 
 
 * But he that temper'd thee bade thee stand up, 
 Gave thee no instance why thou shouldst do treason.' 
 
 26, 27. so fond To trust, &c., so foolish as to trust, &c. So in The 
 Merchant of Venice, iii. 3. 9, 10 : 
 
 ' I do wonder, 
 
 Thou naughty gaoler, that thou art so fond 
 To come abroad with him at his request.' 
 30. make pursuit. See i. 3. 71. 
 
 34. My gracious lord, I'll tell him, &c. The folios have 'He goe, my 
 Lord, and tell him,' &c. 
 
 40. wear the garland, or crown. Compare 2 Henry IV, iv. 5. 202 : 
 
 'So thou the garland wear'st successively.' 
 
 And Buckingham's speech as given in Hall's Chronicle, Edward V, p. 370 : 
 * In whose tyme, and by whose occasion, what about the gettyng of the 
 garlande, kepyng it, lesyng and winnynge agayn, it hath coste more 
 Englishe blud then hath the twise winnynge of Fraunce.' 
 47. Upon his party. See i. 3. 138. 
 
 52. still, constantly. Compare The Merchant of Venice, iii. 2. 74: 
 'The world is still deceived with ornament.' 
 N 2 
 
l8o NOTES. [ACT in. 
 
 Ib. mine enemies. The folios have ' my adversaries,* perhaps on account 
 of the occurrence of ' enemies' in 1. 49. See iii. I. 182. 
 53. voice, vote. See iii. 4. 20. 
 58. in. See i. 2. 260. 
 60-62. The folios read, 
 
 'Well Catesby, ere a fort-night make me older/ 
 
 72. the bridge. London Bridge, where the heads of traitors were exposed 
 on a tower which stood at the north end of the drawbridge. When this was 
 taken down they were placed over the gate at the Southwark end. See 
 Knight's London, vol. i. p. 82. 
 
 77. by the holy rood! The rood was the cross or crucifix which was 
 generally placed in churches over the screen dividing the nave from the 
 chancel. 
 
 79-82. My lord . . . now. The folios read in three lines, 
 * My Lord, I hold my Life as deare as yours, 
 And neuer in my dayes, I doe protest, 
 Was it so precious to me, as 'tis now.' 
 
 91. the day is spent. Yet the scene is supposed to open at four in the 
 morning. This is not in the quartos, which read, 
 
 ' But come my Lo : shall we to the tower ? 
 
 Hast. I go: but stay, heare you not the newes, 
 This day those men you talkt of, are beheaded.' 
 
 92. have with you, come along, let me go with you. See note on Corio- 
 lanus, ii. i. 260 (Clarendon Press edition). 
 
 Ib. Wot, know ; from wdt, the preterite of A.S. witan to know, used as a 
 present tense. Compare the Greek oTSa and Latin novi. The 3rd person 
 singular is therefore wrongly inflected ' wots ' or * wotteth.' See note on 
 Midsummer Night's Dream, iv. I. 163 (Clarendon Press ed.). 
 
 96. Enter a Pursuivant. According to More (see quotation from Hall in 
 the Preface) his name also was Hastings. A * pursuivant ' was a messenger 
 or attendant upon a herald. See iii. 4. 90, v. 3. 59. Cotgrave has ' Pour- 
 suivant d'armes. A Herauld extraordinarie, or yong Herauld, a Batcheler in 
 the art of Herauldrie ; one thats like to be chosen when a place falls/ 
 
 103. the suggestion, the prompting or urging; used in a bad sense. 
 Compare Macbeth, i. 3. 1 34 : 
 
 * Why do I yield to that suggestion 
 
 Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair ? ' 
 And Lear, ii. i. 75 : 
 
 I 'Id turn it all 
 
 To thy suggestion, plot, and damned practice/ 
 
 1 08. Gramercy, from Fr. grand merci, much thanks. Compare The. 
 Merchant of Venice, ii. 2. 128: * Gramercy! wouldst thou aught with 
 me?' 
 
s c. 3.] RICHARD III. l8l 
 
 109. God save your lordship! The folios have 'I thanke your Honor,' 
 which, having regard to lines 107 and no, cannot be considered as an 
 instance of the scrupulous care which the editor of the folio exercised in 
 correcting the quartos. 
 
 111. Sir John. As a title of priests 'Sir' was applied to those who had 
 taken the bachelor's degree at a University. See note on As You Like It, 
 iii. 3. 34, ' Sir Oliver Martext.' 
 
 112. / am . . . exercise. So the folios. The quartos read, *I am be- 
 holding to you for your last daies exercise.' 
 
 Ib. exercise appears to have had the technical sense of an exposition of 
 scripture, such as was also called * prophesying,' and is described in Arch- 
 bishop Grindal's letter to Queen Elizabeth. (Remains, Parker Soc. Publ. 
 
 PP. 383-6-) 
 
 113. I will content you, I will satisfy you, pay you. 'Content,' like 
 * gratify* (Merchant of Venice, iv. I. 406), was a euphemistic word. 
 Compare Othello, iii. I. I : 
 
 ' Masters, play here : I will content your pains.' 
 
 Ib. Enter Buckingham. According to Hall's narrative this conversation 
 was held with Sir Thomas Howard, who appears in the play as Earl of 
 Surrey. 
 
 1 1 6. no shriving work, no work that needs confession. Compare 
 Hamlet, v. 2. 47 : 
 
 'He should the bearers put to sudden death, 
 Not shriving time allow'd.' 
 
 'Shrive' is from the A. S. scrifan, to receive confession, to impose 
 penance. 
 
 122. stay dinner. So in Romeo and Juliet, iv. 4. 150: 'Come, we'll in 
 here ; tarry for the mourners, and stay dinner.' 
 
 Scene III. 
 
 The date of this scene is the same as that of the last, according to the 
 Chronicle which the dramatist followed. But Rivers did not make his will 
 till June 23, ten days after the death of Hastings, and was probably beheaded 
 about June 25. (See Gairdner, Richard the Third, 91, 92.) 
 
 1. Rat. Come . . . prisoners. Omitted in the folios. 
 
 2. Sir Richard Ratcliff was governor of Pomfret. See French's 
 Shakespeareana Genealogica, p. 234. 
 
 5. God keep the prince. For 'keep 'the folios read 'blesse.' Compare 
 Coriolanus, i. 3. 48 : 
 
 'Heavens bless my lord from fell Aufidius!' 
 8. limit t assigned period. So in Richard II, i. 3. 151 : 
 'The dateless limit of thy dear exile.' 
 
182 NOTES. [ACT m. 
 
 11. closure, enclosure, compass. See Sonnet xlviii. II : 
 
 'Within the gentle closure of my breast.' 
 
 12. Richard the second. See Richard II, v. 5. 
 
 15. Margaret's curse. See i. 3. 210, &c. 
 
 16. After this line the folios insert, 
 
 'When shee exclaimM on Hastings you, and I.* 
 
 1 7. 1 8. In the folios ' Hastings ' and ' Richard ' are transposed in these lines. 
 17. Buckingham. In the previous scene Margaret specially excepts 
 
 Buckingham from her curse. See i. 3. 280-284: 
 
 * Thy garments are not spotted with our blood, 
 
 Nor thou within the compass of my curse.' 
 
 It is only when he rejects her solemn warning that she includes him in a 
 general malediction with the rest. 
 
 23. expiate, terminated. A doubtful word which occurs again in Sonnet 
 
 xxn. 4: <Then look I death my days should expiate.' 
 
 For * expiate,' which is the reading of the first folio only, the later folios 
 have 'now expir'd.' Steevens conjectured ' expirate,' which was adopted by 
 Singer. The quartos read the whole line differently, 
 
 ' Come, come, dispatch, the limit of your lives is out.' 
 But this is too much a repetition of 1. 8. 
 
 24. all. The folios read 'here/ and for the next line have 
 
 ' Farewell, vntill we meet againe in Heauen.' 
 
 Scene IV. 
 
 The Tower of London. The scene is laid in tile great room in the upper 
 story of the White Tower, which was formerly the Council chamber. 
 
 Enter . . . table. The stage direction in the folios is * Enter Buckingham, 
 Darby, Hastings, Bishop of Ely, Norfolke, Ratcliffe, Louell, with others, at a 
 Table.' The quartos have simply, * Enter the Lords to Councell.' 
 
 The time of this scene, according to Hall (see Preface), was 9 o'clock in 
 the morning of Friday June 13, 1483. Richard's second appearance was 
 between 10 and II o'clock. 
 
 1 . My lords, at once. The folios read, ' Now Noble Peeres.' For ' at 
 once,' in the sense of 'without more ado,' compare 2 Henry VI, iii. I. 66: 
 
 ' My lords, at once : the care you have of us . , . 
 Is worthy praise.' 
 
 2. to determine of, to decide about. See Coriolanus, ii. 2. 41 : 'Having 
 determined of the Volsces.' 
 
 4. Are all things fitting, &c. The folios have ' Is all things ready/ 
 
 having regard to Derby's answer. Compare 2 Henry VI, iii. 2. II : 'Is all 
 things well ? ' 
 
 8. inward, intimate, familiar. Compare Bacon, Essay xi. p. 42 (ed. 
 
sc. 4.] RICHARD III. 183 
 
 Wright) : * A Servant, or a Favorite, if hee be inward, and no other apparant 
 Cause of Esteeme, is commonly thought but a By-way, to close Corruption.' 
 10-13. Who, I, my lord! . . . mine. So the quartos. The folios read, 
 'We know each others Faces: for our Hearts, 
 He knowes no more of mine, then I of yours, 
 Or I of his, my Lord, then you of mine.' 
 
 19. noble. The folios have 'Honorable.' 
 
 20. voice. See iii. 2. 53. 
 
 22. Now in good time. See iii. I. 95. The folios have ' In happie time.' 
 25. neglect, cause to be neglected. 
 
 27. upon your cue. The last words of a speech, which indicate to an 
 actor when his part is coming, are called his ' cue ' (Fr. queue, a tail). See 
 Midsummer Night's Dream, iii. i. 103. Compare Henry V, iii. 6. 130 : 
 ' Now we speak upon our cue, and our voice is imperial' ; that is, now that 
 the right time has come for us to speak. For this use of ' upon,' compare 
 Hamlet, i. I. 6: 'You come most carefully upon your hour.' 
 
 28. part. Another players' word. 
 
 32. The folios omit the words given to Hastings and the Bishop of Ely. 
 
 Ib. My lord of Ely. John Morton, Bishop of Ely, and afterwards Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury. Sir Thomas More in his younger days lived in his 
 household, and is supposed to have been indebted to him for much of the 
 details in his Life of Richard the Third. The incident of the strawberries, 
 which is related by More, shews that Richard affected to be in an unusually 
 good humour that morning. 
 
 33, 34. in Holborn . . . in your garden there. Ely Place still remains as 
 evidence that the palace of the Bishops of Ely occupied its site. Sir Christo- 
 pher Hatton lived and died there, and from him what was formerly the 
 garden of the palace acquired the name of Hatton Garden. 
 
 36. Marry, and will, &c., and so I will. Compare Troilus and Cressida, 
 iii. 2. 142: 
 
 4 Cres. Stop my mouth. 
 
 Tro. And shall, albeit sweet music issues thence. 
 
 40. As. The folios read * That.' The same change is made in the folios 
 of Hamlet, ii. i. 95 : 
 
 ' He raised a cry so piteous and profound 
 As it did seem to shatter all his bulk.' 
 
 41. son. The folios have 'child,' and ' worshipfully ' for 'worshipful.' 
 43. Withdraw . . . you. The folios read, 
 
 'Withdraw your selfe a while, He goe with you.' 
 45. mine opinion. The folios have ' my Judgement.' 
 47. prolong 1 d t postponed. So in Much Ado about Nothing, iv. I. 256: 
 
 ' This wedding day 
 Perhaps is but prolong'd.' 
 
1 84 NOTES. [ACT m. 
 
 50. cheerfully and smooth. See i. I. 22. 
 
 Ib. to-day. The folios read ' this morning,' a change for which there ap- 
 pears to be no obvious reason. 
 
 51. some conceit, some conception or idea, something in his mind. See 
 The Merchant of Venice, iii. 4. 2 .: 
 
 'You have a noble and a true conceit 
 
 Of godlike amity.' 
 
 Ib. likes, pleases. Compare Troilus and Cressida, v. 2. 102: 'But that 
 that likes not you pleases me best.' 
 
 52. When he doth bid, &c. The folios have When that he bids good- 
 morrow with such spirit/ and in 1. 54, * Can lesser' for ' That can less.' All 
 the quartos except the eighth read That can lesser.' 
 
 5 7. By any likelihood, or sign from which any probable inference could be 
 drawn. Compare All's Well, i. 3. 128 : ' Many likelihoods informed me of 
 this before.' The folios in the present passage read ' liuelyhood.' 
 
 60. Derby's speech is omitted in the folios. 
 
 63, 64. prevail 'd Upon. See i. I. 131. 
 
 69. this ill. The folios read ' their euill.' 
 
 73. Consorted, associated. See iii. 7. 137, and Romeo and Juliet, it. i. 31 : 
 ' Come, he hath hid himself among these trees, 
 To be consorted with the humorous night.' 
 
 77. Tellest thou me of 'ifs'f See quotation from Hall in the Preface, 
 p. xxii. 
 
 78-80. The text is here from the folios. The quartos read, 
 
 * Off with his head. Now by Saint Paule, 
 I will not dine to day I sweare, 
 
 Vntill I see the same, some see it done.' 
 
 80. Lovel and Ratcliff. Theobald substituted ' Catesby ' for ' Ratcliff,' 
 who at this very time was at Pomfret, carrying out the sentence of execution 
 upon the three lords who suffered there. The stage-direction of the quartos 
 at 1. 81, * Exeunt, manet Cat. with Ha.,' justifies Theobald's alteration here. 
 But in the next scene Ratcliff and Lovel are made to appear with Hastings's 
 head, while Catesby overlooks the walls of the Tower. If we imagine that 
 Catesby left the stage for this purpose, although there is no exit marked in 
 the old copies, we may explain the confusion by supposing that the same 
 player took the parts both of Ratcliff and Catesby. 
 
 83. fond, foolish. See iii. 2. 26. 
 
 84. raze his helm. See iii. 2. n. The folios have ' rowse our Helmes.' 
 
 85. In this line the folios read, 
 
 * And I did scorne it and disdaine to flye.' 
 
 86. my foot-cloth horse. Compare 2 Henry VI, iv. i. 54: 
 
 4 Bare-headed plodded by my foot-cloth mule.' 
 A foot-cloth was the name given to the housings or caparison of a horse, 
 
sc. 5.] RICHARD III. 1 85 
 
 which being long and coming nearly to the ground was only adapted for 
 quiet riding. One of Cade's charges against Lord Say was that he rode ' in 
 a foot-cloth ' (2 Henry VI, iv. 7. 54) : 
 ' Say. What of that ? 
 
 Cade. Marry thou oughtest not to let thy horse wear a cloak, when 
 honester men than thou go in their hose and doublets.' 
 Bacon, in his will, says, * I give to Mr. Thomas Meautis, some jewel, to be 
 bought for him, of the value of fifty pounds, and my foot-cloth horse.' 
 (Letters and Life, ed. Spedding, vii. 542.) 
 
 87. startled, started, as the folios and two latest quartos read. Compare 
 As You Like It, iv. 3. 13 : 
 
 ' Patience herself would startle at this letter/ 
 89, 90. See iii. 2. loo-no. 
 91, 92. The folios read, 
 
 ' As too triumphing, how mine Enemies 
 To-day at Pomfret &c.' 
 94. thy heavy curse. See i. 3. 302. 
 
 96. Dispatch, my lord. The folios read, ' Come, Come, dispatch.' This 
 speech is given by the quartos to * Cat.' that is, Catesby. See above, 
 1.8o. 
 
 97. shrift, confession. See note on iii. 2. 116, and Romeo and Juliet, 
 ii. 5.68: 
 
 'Have you got leave to go to shrift to-day?' 
 
 98. momentary, lasting but a moment, short-lived. Compare Midsummer 
 Night's Dream, i. I. 143, where the folios read, 
 
 'Making it momentarie, as a sound.' 
 
 104107. Lov. Come *. . upon. Omitted in the quartos, inasmuch as 
 in those copies Lovel does not appear at all in the scene. 
 
 Scene V. 
 
 Enter Gloucester. . . . The folios have this stage direction, except that 
 they put ' Richard' for 'Gloucester.' It is taken from the narrative of 
 More as given in Hall's Chronicle, Edward V, p. 362 : ' hymselfe with the 
 duke of Buckyngham stode, harnessed in olde euill fauored briganders.' 
 See the Preface, p. xxiii. 
 
 4. distraught, distracted. See Romeo and Juliet, iv. 3. 49 : 
 
 ' O, if I wake, shall I not be distraught, 
 Environed with all these hideous fears?' 
 
 5. Tut. So the folios. The quartos have ' Tut feare not me.' 
 
 Ib. the deep tragedian. Buckingham appears to have had a gift for what 
 is now called melodrama. 
 
1 86 NOTES. [ACT m. 
 
 7. wagging, moving ; generally of moving backwards and forwards. But 
 in Titus Andronicus, v. 2. 87, it is used as here : 
 
 'The empress never wags 
 But in her company there is a Moor/ 
 
 8. Intending, pretending, counterfeiting. Compare Lucrece, 121 : 
 
 * Intending weariness with heavy spright.' 
 10-21. In the first quarto the passage stands as follows : 
 * And both are ready in their offices 
 To grace my stratagems. Enter Maior. 
 Glo. Here comes the Maior. 
 
 Buc. Let me alone to entertaine him. Lo : Maior, 
 Glo. Looke to the drawbridge there. 
 Buc. The reason we have sent for you. 
 Glo. Catesby ouerlooke the wals. 
 Buck. Harke, I heare a drumme. 
 Glo. Looke backe, defend thee, here are enemies. 
 Buc. God and our innocence defend vs. Enter Catesby 
 Glo. O, O, be quiet it is Catesby. with Hast, head. 9 
 
 13. Enter the Mayor . . . The Lord Mayor of London on this occasion 
 was, according to Hall, Edmund Shaa or Shaw, the brother of Dr. Ralph 
 Shaw, who is mentioned at 1. 103, and was chaplain and confessor to 
 Edward IV. 
 
 27. Made him my book, &c. Compare Coriolanus, v. 2. 14, 15 : 
 
 * I have been 
 The book of his good 1 acts.' 
 
 30. apparent, manifest. See ii. 2. 130, and King John, iv. 2. 93 : 'It is 
 apparent foul play.' * 
 
 31. conversation, intercourse. Compare Hamlet, iii. 2. 60: 
 
 * Horatio, thou art e'en as just a man 
 
 As e'er my conversation coped withal.' 
 
 Ib. Shore's wife. See iii. I. 185, and the quotation from Hall in the 
 Preface, p. xxii. 
 
 32. from, free from. 
 
 Ib. attainder, staining, taint, such as would rest upon a man convicted of 
 such a charge. Compare Richard II, iv. I. 24: 
 
 * Either I must, or have mine honour soil'd 
 With the attainder of his slanderous lips.' 
 Ib. suspect, suspicion. See i. 3. 89. 
 
 33. coverfst, most secret. See Julius Caesar, iv. I. 46: 
 
 1 How covert matters may be best disclosed.' 
 
 With ' covert'st shelter'd ' compare * plainest harmless,' 1. 25, the first word in 
 each case being an adverb. 
 
 35. almost, even. Compare King John, iv. 3. 43 : 
 
sc. 5.] RICHARD III, 187 
 
 ' Or could you think ? 
 
 Or do you almost think, although you see, 
 That you do see?' 
 40. What, had he sof The folios read * Had he done so ?' 
 
 43. to. The folios have ' in.' 
 
 44. extreme has the accent on the first syllable, as it always has in 
 Shakespeare, except Sonnet cxxix. 4, 10. See iv. 4. 185, and I Henry IV, 
 
 ' 3- 3i : 
 
 'When I was dry with rage and extreme toil.' 
 
 47. fair befall. See i. 3. 282. 
 
 48. you my good lords. The folios have ' your good Graces.' 
 
 50, 51. I never . . . Shore. These two lines, as well as Gloucester's speech 
 which follows, are given in the folios to Buckingham. 
 53. death. The folios read ' end.' 
 
 55. Somewhat against our meaning. The folios read ' Something against 
 our meanings.' 
 
 Ib. have prevented. The incorrect construction is due to the intervention 
 of the plural * friends ' between the subject and the verb. 
 
 56. We would have had you heard. Keightley conjectured ' hear,' and 
 this no doubt is the correct construction. Dr. Abbott (Shakespeare Gram- 
 mar, 411) thinks that it is more probably for * we would have had you (to 
 have) heard.' Compare Hall's Chronicle, p. 418 : * Many whiche had leuer 
 had the kyng destroyed then saued.' 
 
 60. haply, perchance. So the folios. In the quartos it is spelt ' happily/ 
 See Twelfth Night, iv. 2. 57, where the first folio reads, * That the soule of 
 our grandam, might happily inhabite a bird.' 
 
 61. Misconstrue. In most of the old copies spelt ' misconster,' as it was 
 pronounced. So in As You Like It, i. 2. 277, the folios read, 
 
 4 Yet such is now the .Dukes condition, 
 That he misconsters all that you haue done.' 
 
 63. as 7, as if I. Compare Julius Caesar, iii. I. 98 : 
 
 * Men, wives and children stare, cry out and run 
 As it were doomsday.' 
 
 64. doubt you not. The folios have * doe not doubt.' 
 
 66. cause. The folios read 'case.' In Bacon's Advancement of Learning, 
 Book II, 23, 5, p. 220, there is a similar instance of the interchange of 
 these words : 'So as there is a wisdom of counsel and advice even in private 
 causes, arising out of an universal insight into the affairs of the world ; which 
 is used indeed upon particular cases propounded, but is gathered by general 
 observation of cases of like nature.' In the first edition (1605) ' cases ' is 
 the reading where the word first occurs, while the other editions read ' causes ' ; 
 while on the second occasion of its occurrence all the early editions read 
 ' causes/ See note in the Clarendon Press edition. 
 
1 88 NOTES. [ACT m. 
 
 67. And to that end. ' And ' is here used as it frequently is in dialogues, 
 to give an emphatic assent to the words of the previous speaker. See Abbott, 
 
 97- 
 
 68. the carping censures of the world. The folios read 'the Censures of the 
 carping World.' 
 
 69. But. The folios read ' Which ' and intent ' for ' intents.' 
 
 Ib. too late of our intents, too late for our purposes. See Abbott, 166. 
 
 70. 71. Yet . . .farewell. So the folios. The quartos read, 
 'Yet witnesse what we did intend, and so my Lord adue.' 
 
 73. in all post, in all haste, like a post or messenger. Compare Lucrece, I : 
 
 ' From the besieged Ardea all in post.' 
 And 3 Henry VI, i. 2. 48: 
 
 *But, stay: What news? Why comest thou in such post?* 
 
 74. meet'st advantage, most fitting favourable opportunity. The folios 
 read ' meetest vantage.' 
 
 75. Infer, allege, employ as an argument. See iii. 7. 12, 32, iv. 4. 343, 
 and 3 Henry VI, ii. 2. 44 : 
 
 'Full well hath Clifford play'd the orator, 
 
 Inferring arguments of mighty force.' 
 And again in the same play, iii. I. 49. 
 
 76-79. The citizen here referred to was one Burdet, whose story is told 
 by Hall, but is not in Holinshed. See the Preface. The Burdet, whose fate 
 Holinshed records (p. 703, col. i), was a Warwickshire squire, who was be- 
 headed in the reign of Edward IV for a hasty speech. 
 
 80. luxury, lust, lasciviousness. On this word Archbishop Trench, in his 
 Select Glossary, remarks, ' " Luxuria " in classical Latin was very much 
 what our " luxury" is now. The meaning which in our earlier English was 
 its only one, namely, indulgence in sins of the flesh, is derived from its use 
 in the medieval ethics, where it never means any thing else but this. The 
 weakening of the influence of the scholastic theology, joined to a nearer 
 acquaintance with classical Latinity, has probably caused its return to the 
 classical meaning.' 
 
 82. stretched to. The folios have ' stretcht vnto.' 
 
 83. lustful, changed in the folios to ' raging,' because in the following 
 line they read * lusted to make a prey.' 
 
 84. listed, lusted, desired (Anglo-Saxon lystan). Compare Venus and 
 Adonis, 564 : 
 
 'While she takes all she can, not all she listeth.' 
 
 85. for a need, in case of necessity, upon a pinch. See Hamlet, ii. 2. 566: 
 ' You could, for a need, study a speech of some dozen or sixteen lines.' 
 
 87. unsatiate, insatiate, which is the reading of the folios. See iii. 7. 7, 
 where, on the contrary, the folios read ' unsatiate.' 
 
 88. My princely father then had wars in France. According to Holinshed 
 
sc. 6.] RICHARD III. 189 
 
 (p. 623, col. i) Edward was born 29 April 1442 at Rouen, 'his father being 
 the Kings lieutenant in Normandie.' 
 
 89. just. The folios read ' true.' 
 
 95. Fear. The folios have 'Doubt.' 
 
 97. And so, my lord, adieu. Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 98. BaynarcTs Castle, which stood on the north bank of the Thames, be- 
 tween Paul's Wharf and Blackfriars, was the residence of Richard Duke of 
 York. It had been rebuilt after a great fire in 1428, by Humphrey, Duke 
 of Gloucester. * By his death and attainder, in the year 1446, it came to 
 the hands of Henry VI, and from him to Richard, Duke of York, of whom 
 we read, that in the year 1457 he lodged there, as in his own house' (Stow's 
 Survey of London, ed. Thorns, p. 25). It 'was called Baynard's Castle, of 
 Baynard, a nobleman that came in with William the Conqueror* (Ibid. p. 136). 
 
 JOi, 102. For these lines the quartos have, 
 
 ' About three or foure a clocke looke to heare 
 What news Guildhall affordeth, and so my Lord farewell.' 
 
 103-105. Go ... Castle. Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 103, 104. Doctor Shaw . . . Friar Penker. ' Of spirituall men they tooke 
 such as had wit, and were in authentic among the people for opinion of their 
 learning, and had no scrupulous conscience. Among these had they John 
 Shaw clearke, brother to the maior, and frier Penker, provinciall of the Augus- 
 tine friers, both doctors of divinitie, both great preachers, both of more learning 
 than vertue, of more fame than learning.' (Holinshed, p. 725, col. 2.) Hall 
 calls them Raffe Shaa and Pynkie. In this case the folios follow Holinshed. 
 
 1 06. in. The folios have ' goe. J 
 
 76. take order. See i. 4. 277. 
 
 108. notice. The folios have 'order,' and omit 'of after 'manner,' in 
 accordance with the old construction. For instance, in Robert of Gloucester's 
 Chronicle (ed. Hearne), p. 130, 'a maner gostes ' means 'a kind of spirits.' 
 And in Chaucer, Wife of Bath's Tale (ed. Tyrwhitt), 1. 6709, 'in swiche 
 maner rime ' is 4 in such a kind of metre.' 
 
 109. At any time have, &c. The folios read ' Have any time/ for the 
 sake of the metre. 
 
 Scene VI. 
 
 In Hall's narrative, quoted in the Preface, similar reflections are put into 
 the mouth of ' one that was scolemayster at Paules.' 
 
 I. This. The folios have ' Here.' 
 
 3. this day. So the quartos. The folios read ' to-day.' 
 
 5. 7 spent. The folios read ' I have spent,' and in the next line ' sent* for 
 1 brought.' 
 
 8. lived Lord Hastings. The folios have ' Hastings liu'd.' 
 
190 NOTES. [ACT in. 
 
 9. Untainted, not stained by any charge of crime. See note on 'at- 
 tainder,' iii. 5. 32. 
 
 10. Why, who's so, &c. For this the folios read Who is so, &c.' 
 Ib. gross, dull of perception. Compare Henry V, iv. i. 299 : 
 
 ' The slave, a member of the Country's peace, 
 Enjoys it ; but in gross brain little wots 
 What watch the king keeps to maintain the peace.' 
 12. who's so blind to the danger of observing it. The folios alter this 
 to ' Who so bold.' 
 
 14. bad, changed in the folios to ' ill,' probably on account of the oc- 
 currence of the word in the previous line. 
 
 Ib. must be seen in thought and not spoken of. 
 
 Scene VII. 
 
 Buckingham's speech was delivered in the Guildhall on Tuesday, June 1 7, 
 1483 (Hall's Chronicles, Edward V, p. 368). 
 
 I. my lord. The folios repeat 'How now,' as shewing greater impatience 
 on Richard's part. 
 
 3. mum is elsewhere in Shakespeare used as an interjection, enjoining 
 silence. 
 
 Ib. and speak. The folios have only ' say.' 
 
 5, 6. his contract . . . France. Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 5. contract has the accent on the last syllable, as in Romeo and Juliet, 
 ii. 2. 117: 
 
 ' I have no joy of this contract to-night.' 
 Ib. Lady Lucy. See the quotation from Hall given in the Preface. 
 
 6. in France, to the lady Bona. See 3 Henry VI, iii. 3. 
 8. And . . . wives. Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 11. And . . . duke. Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 12. infer. See iii. 5. 75. In the history this point is urged in Dr. Shaw's 
 sermon at Paul's Cross : ' This is (quod he) the fathers awne figure, this is 
 his awne countenaunce, the verie print of his visage, the sure vndoubted 
 ymage, the playne expresse likenesse of that noble duke.' (Hall, p. 368.) 
 
 13. idea, image. Compare Much Ado, iv. I. 226 : 
 
 * The idea of her life shall sweetly creep 
 Into his study of imagination.' 
 
 15. in Scotland. Richard commanded the army which invaded Scotland 
 in 1482. See Holinshed, p. 705. 
 
 18. the purpose. The folios read 'your purpose.' 
 
 20. And when . . . end. The folios have 'And when my Oratorie drew 
 toward end.' 
 
 23. Ah ! Omitted in the folios. 
 
sc. 7.] RICHARD III. 191 
 
 24. they spake not a word. Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 25. statues, a trisyllable, as in Julius Caesar, ii. 2. 76 : 
 
 * She dreamt to-night she saw my statue.' 
 See note in the Clarendon Press edition. 
 
 Ib. This incident is also taken from the account of Shaw's sermon as 
 related by Hall from More : ' But the people wer so far from criynge kynge 
 Richard, that they stoode as they had been turned into stoones for wonder 
 of this shamefull sermonde/ (p. 368.) 
 
 Ib. breathing stones, endowed with life but without the power of speech. 
 The later quartos read 'breathlesse/ 
 
 26. Gazed. The folios read ' Star'd/ 
 
 30. the recorder at this time was Thomas Fitz-William. 
 32. inferr'd. See above, 1. 12. 
 
 34. some followers of mine own. A bushement of the dukes seruauntes 
 and one Nashfeelde and other belonging to the protectour with some pren- 
 tices and laddes.' (Hall.) 
 
 35. At the lower end. The folios omit ' the/ Compare iif. 5. 2 ; .Corio- 
 lanus, iv. 5. 204, 'At upper end o' the table'; and see note on The Tempest, 
 ii, 2. 59 (Clarendon Press ed.). 
 
 37. And thus . . .few. Not in the quartos. 
 
 40. your wisdoms. The folios have the singular, but in such cases the 
 plural is very commonly employed. See note on 'behaviours' in Julius 
 Caesar, i. 2. 42 (Clarendon Press ed.). The later quartos also read Moves' 
 for ' love.' 
 
 43. Buckingham's speech is omitted in the folios. 
 
 45. intend. See iii. 5. 8. 
 
 48. churchmen, ecclesiastics. Compare 2 Henry VI, i. 3. 72: 'Beaufort 
 the imperious churchman.' And Bacon, Essay viii. p. 27 (ed. Wright) : 'A 
 Single Life doth well with Churchmen : for Charity will hardly water the 
 Ground, where it must first fill a Poole.' 
 
 49. on that ground Til build a holy descant. See note on ' descant,' 
 i, I. 27, the 'ground' here being the same as the plainsong there mentioned. 
 
 51. the maid's part, who 'whispering *' I will ne'er consent," consented.' 
 Compare The Passionate Pilgrim, 340 : 
 
 *Have you not heard it said full oft, 
 
 A woman's nay doth stand for nought/ 
 
 Ib. still answer nay, and take it. The quartos read, ' say no, but take it.' 
 53. As I can say nay to thee for myself. Richard was confident of being 
 able to play his part in the farce without rehearsal. 
 
 56. Welcome, my lord. The quartos have ' Now my Lord Maior/ 
 Ib. I dance attendance. I wait to be admitted. See Henry VIII, v. 2. 31 : 
 1 To dance attendance on their lordships' pleasures, 
 And at the door too, like a post with packets/ 
 
192 NOTES. [ACT m. 
 
 57. withal, with, at the end of a clause. See Abbott, 196. 
 
 58. 59. Here ...he? So the quartos. The folios read, 
 
 'Now Catesby what sayes your Lord to my request?' 
 
 59. My lord . . . grace. The folios read, 'He doth intreat your Grace, my 
 Noble Lord.' 
 
 65. to thy lord again. The folios have ' to the gracious Duke,' and in 
 the next line read Aldermen ' for Citizens.' 
 
 67. In deep designs and matters, &c. The folios read, 'In deepe designes, 
 in matter &c.' 
 
 70. /'// . . . my lord. The folios have ' He signifie so much vnto him 
 straight.' 
 
 72. lolling. Spelt Mulling' in all the early copies. 
 
 Ib. day-bed, a couch or sofa, used generally for the after-dinner nap. 
 Compare Twelfth Night, ii. 5. 54 : ' Having come from a day-bed, where I 
 have left Olivia sleeping.' And Heywood, The second part of the Iron Age, 
 v. I (Works, iii. 415): 
 
 'To tumble with her on a soft day-bed/ 
 The folios in the present passage read ' love-bed.' 
 
 76. to engross, to fatten, pamper. Harrison, in his description of England 
 (New Shakspere Society ed. p. 142), says of. the Scotchmen: 'They far 
 exceed vs in ouer much and distemperate gormandize, and so ingrosse their 
 bodies that diuerse of them doo oft become vnapt to anie other purpose 
 than to spend their times in large tabling and bellie chere.' 
 
 8l. God forbid. The folios read 'God defend ' (Fi.defendre),zs in 1. 173, 
 and Richard II, i. 3. 1 8 : 
 
 Which God defend a knight should violate ! ' 
 
 See the note on the latter passage in the Clarendon Press edition. Pope 
 substituted 'God shield ' on account of the metre, forgetting that ' Marry' 
 is frequently counted as a monosyllable. 
 82-84. The folios have here, 
 
 ' Buck. I feare he will : here Catesby comes againe. 
 
 Enter Catesby. 
 Now Catesby, what sayes his Grace ? 
 
 Catesby. He wonders &c.' 
 85. speak with. The folios read ' come to.' 
 87. My lord, he fears. The folios have ' He fears, my lord.' 
 90. I come . . . to him. So the quartos. The folios alter to we come to 
 him in perfit love,' thus avoiding the same ending as in the previous line. 
 
 93. beads of the rosary, so called because they were used for counting the 
 number of prayers (A. S. bed, a prayer) recited. See 2 Henry VI, i. I. 27 : 
 
 'In courtly company or at my beads.' 
 And in the same play, i. 3. 59 : 
 
 ' To number Ave-Maries on his beads.' 
 
sc. 7.] RICHARD III. 193 
 
 76. hard. The folios have ' much.' Compare I Henry VI, iv. i. 192 : 
 ' 'Tis much when sceptres are in children's hands.' 
 
 94. Enter Gloucester, &c. The introduction of the Bishops is due to 
 Hall, and is not mentioned by Holinshed : * At the last he came out of his 
 chambre, and yet not doune to theim, but in a galary ouer them with a 
 bishop on euery hand of him ' (p. 372). Delius identifies them with Dr, 
 Shaw and Friar Penker, but these were not Bishops. 
 
 95. See . . . clergymen. The folios have, * See where his Grace stands, 
 tweene two Clergie men.' 
 
 98, 99. And, see . . . man. Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 99. ornaments. Dyce corrected this to ' ornament/ but the plural includes 
 the attendant bishops. 
 
 76. to know a holy man, that is, to know a holy man by. For the omis- 
 sion of the preposition in such cases, compare Julius Caesar, i. 2. 314: 
 * Thy honourable metal may be wrought 
 
 From that it is disposed/ 
 
 And see the note on that passage in the Clarendon Press edition. 
 107. Neglect. The folios read ' Deferr'd.' 
 
 112. disgracious, wanting in grace, unpleasing. See iv. 4. 177. 
 1 1 8. supreme has the accent on the first syllable, as in ii. i. 13. Compare 
 King John, Hi. i. 155 : 
 
 * But as we, under heaven, are supreme head.' 
 
 76. majestical, majestic, belonging to majesty or royalty. Compare 
 Henry V, iv. I. 284 : 
 
 1 Not all these laid in bed majestical, 
 
 Can sleep so soundly as the wretched slave.' 
 1 20. Your state . . . birth. Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 125. This . . . her proper limbs. The folios read ' The ' for * This' and 
 'his' for 'her' in this and the following line, a change which could hardly 
 have been a correction by the author. 
 
 127. Her . . . plants. Omitted in the quartos. Pope corrected the ' His* 
 of the folios to * Her.' 
 
 76. graft, the participle of the verb 'to graff' (Fr. grejfer). Compare 
 2 Henry VI, iii. 2. 214: 
 
 * Thy mother took into her blameful bed 
 Some stern untutor'd churl, and noble stock 
 Was graft with crab-tree slip.' 
 
 The modern verb to ' graft ' has been formed from the participle, as ' hoist ' 
 from ' hoise.' Malone points out that there is a reference in this line to the 
 text from which Dr. Shaw preached his famous sermon at Paul's Cross, 
 * Bastarde slippes shall neuer take depe roots.' (Hall, p. 367.) 
 
 128. shoulder' d, thrust violently out of place, as by one shouldering 
 another in a crowd. See Drayton, Polyolbion, i. 500 : 
 
 O 
 
194 NOTES. [ACT m. 
 
 ' So that his violent fall, 
 
 Strooke Neptune with such strength, as shouldred him withall ; 
 That where the monstrous waues like Mountaines late did stand, 
 They leap't out of the place, and left the bared sand/ 
 And Spenser, Ruines of Rome, 1. 213 : 
 
 * Like as ye see the wrathfull Sea from farre 
 
 In a great mountaine heap't with hideous noyse, 
 Eftsoones of thousand billowes shouldred narre, 
 Against a Rocke to breake with dreadfull poyse/ 
 Ib. in, into. See i. 2. 260. 
 
 129. Of blind forgetfulness and dark oblivion. The folios change this to 
 
 'Of darke Forgetfulnesse, and deepe Obliuion/ 
 
 If Shakespeare authorised this alteration it can hardly be said that his second 
 thoughts were best. 
 
 1 30. to recure, to cure, heal again. Cotgrave gives Recurer. To recure, 
 to heale againe/ Compare Venus and Adonis, 465 : 
 
 *A smile recures the wounding of a frown/ 
 
 In Spenser ' recure ' is used as the equivalent of 'recover/ See Faery Queen, 
 iv. 6. 9 : 
 
 * And, if I hap to fayle, you shall recure my right/ 
 And iv. 8. 44 : 
 
 * But ere his hand he could recure againe 
 
 To ward his bodie from the balefull stound/ 
 
 131. 132. For the charge . . . land the quartos read * the soueraingtie 
 thereof.' 
 
 135. successively, in due order of succession and inheritance. Compare 
 2 Henry IV, iv. 5. 202 : 
 
 *For what in me was purchased, 
 Falls upon thee in a more fairer sort, 
 So thou the garland wear'st successively/ 
 
 136. empery, empire, dominion. Cotgrave has, 'Empire : m. An Empire 
 or Emperie/ Compare Cymbeline, i. 6. 120: 
 
 <A lady 
 
 So fair, and fasten'd to an empery, 
 Would make the great'st king double/ 
 
 137. consorted. See iii. 4. 73. 
 
 141. I know not whether to depart, &c. The folios have 'I cannot tel 
 if to depart, &c/ an alteration which fits more closely with ' If not to 
 answer' in 1. 144, which with the following lines down to 1. 153 is omitted 
 in the quartos. When these were struck out for the purpose of shortening 
 the play, 1. 141 was perhaps altered as we find it in the quartos. 
 
 144. If not to answer best fitted the occasion. 
 
 150. I checked my friends. For this use of the indicative for the subjunc- 
 
so. 7.] RICHARD III. 195 
 
 tivesee 2 Henry VI, in. 2.399, anc ^ note 11 Coriolanus, iv. 6. 1 12 (Clarendon 
 Press ed.) : 
 
 * For his best friends, if they 
 
 Should say "Be good to Rome," they charged him even 
 As those should do that had deserved his hate.' 
 155. unmeritable, devoid of merit, undeserving. See Julius Caesar, iv. i. 12 : 
 
 * This is a slight unmeritable man.' 
 
 158. my ripe revenue, the possession ready for me to inherit. This 
 reading is that of the first quarto only. The other quartos have ' my right 
 revenue,' and the folios the ripe revenue,' the latter also reading con- 
 sequently * of birth ' instead of ' by birth.' 
 
 161. As, that, which is the reading of the folios. See iii. 4. 40. 
 Ib. had rather. The folios have ' would rather.' 
 
 166. And much . . . need were. Johnson interprets this, And I much 
 need the ability requisite to give you help, if help were needed.' 
 1 68. stealing, stealthily moving. Compare Hamlet, v. I. 79 : 
 ' But age, with his stealing steps, 
 
 Hath claw'd me in his clutch.' 
 And Comedy of Errors, iv. 2. 60 : 
 
 ' Have you not heard men say, 
 That Time comes stealing on by night and day?' 
 I'j^.Jhe respects thereof, the considerations by which }'ou support your 
 argument. Compare Hamlet, iii. I. 68 : 
 
 1 There 's the respect 
 That makes calamity of so long life.' 
 Ib. nice, fanciful, insignificant. Compare Romeo and Juliet, v. 2. 18 : 
 
 'The letter was not nice, but full of charge.' 
 
 179. contract, contracted, betrothed. This form of the participle does 
 not occur again in Shakespeare. We have elsewhere contracted,' as in 
 Lear, v. 3. 228: '' 
 
 ' I was contracted to them both ; all three 
 
 Now marry in an instant.' 
 
 181. by substitute, by proxy, or deputy. Compare The Merchant of 
 Venice, v. I. 94 : 
 
 * A substitute shines brightly as a king 
 Until a king be by. 11 
 
 183. See 3 Henry VI, iii. 2. 
 
 Ib. put by, set aside. The folios have ' put off/ 
 
 184. a many. This use of * many ' with the indefinite article was once 
 common, and still survives in provincial usage. Compare The Merchant of 
 Venice, iii. 5. 73: 
 
 'I do know 
 
 A many fools, that stand in better place, 
 2 
 
196 NOTES. [ACT m. 
 
 Garnish'd like him, that for a tricksy word 
 
 Defy the matter.' 
 
 For ' of a many children/ the folios read ' to a many sonnes.' Buckingham, 
 being an orator, puts in this touch on his own authority. Lady Grey had 
 three children only by her first husband, a daughter and two sons. See 
 3 Henry VI, iii. 2. 29. The sons appear in the present play as the Marquis 
 of Dorset and Lord Grey ; the daughter probably died young. 
 
 1 88. pitch was a technical word denoting the highest point in the flight of 
 a hawk or falcon. Compare I Henry VI, ii. 4. 1 1 : 
 
 'Between two hawks, which flies the higher pitch.' 
 And 2 Henry VI, ii. I. 6: 
 
 * But what a point, my lord, your falcon made, 
 
 And what a pitch she flew above the rest!' 
 
 Hence used metaphorically, as in Hamlet, iii. I. 86, where the quartos 
 read, 
 
 ' And enterprises of great pitch and moment.' 
 Ib. of all his thoughts. The folios read ' of his degree.' 
 
 189. To base declension and loathed bigamy. Marriage with a widow 
 was regarded as bigamy by the canon law, as was also a second marriage of 
 any kind. Shakespeare has here followed the narrative of More (copied by 
 Hall), in which the Duchess of York, who was strongly opposed to the 
 marriage of Edward with Elizabeth Grey, urged this as an argument against 
 it. * The onely widowhed of dame Elizabeth Grey (although she were in all 
 other poinctes and thynges conuenient for you) should suffice as me thynketh 
 to refrain you from her mariage, sith it is an vnfittying thynge and a greate 
 blemishe to the sacred maiestie of a prince, that ought as nere to approche 
 priesthode in clennesse, as he doeth in dignitie, to be defiled with bigamy 
 in his first mariage.' (Hall's Chronicle, Edward V, p. 366.) 
 
 192. expostulate, set forth in detail. Compare Two Gentlemen of Verona, 
 iii. i. 251 : 
 
 'The time now serves not to expostulate.' 
 So also 3 Henry VI, ii. 5. 135 : 
 
 * Nay, stay not to expostulate, make haste.' 
 And Hamlet, ii. 2. 86: 
 
 'To expostulate 
 
 What majesty should be, what duty is, 
 Why day is day, night night, and time is time, 
 Were nothing but to waste night, day and time.' 
 See also Beaumont and Fletcher, The Queen of Corinth, iv. 4 : 
 ' Crates, to expostulate your wrongs to me 
 Were to doubt of 'em.' 
 
 193. for reverence to some alive, remembering Richard's caution, iii. 5. 
 93, 94- 
 
sc. 7.] RICHARD III. 197 
 
 198. to draw . . . ancestry. The quartos read 'to draw out your royall 
 stocke.' 
 
 202. The quartos omit Buckingham's speech. 
 
 204. these cares. The folios have ' this care.' 
 
 205. majesty. The reading of the folios. The quartos have * dignitie/ 
 207. / cannot nor I will not. Compare, for the double negative, Venus 
 
 and Adonis, 409 : 
 
 ' I know not love, quoth he, nor will not know it.' 
 211. remorse, pity, tenderness of feeling; not, as in modern usage, com* 
 punction. Compare Macbeth, i. 5. 45 : 
 
 'Stop up the access and passage to remorse.' 
 
 213. egally is modernised to * equally* in the later quartos and folios. 
 In The Merchant of Venice, iii. 4. 13, the first folio reads, 
 
 'Whose soules doe beare an egal yoke of loue.' 
 
 Compare also Titus Andronicus, iv. 4. 4: 'egal justice.' 'Egal' (Fr. egal) 
 appears to have been the earliest form of the word, but ' equally ' is found 
 in Chaucer (Sompnoures Tale, 1. 7819), though in the Parson's Tale he 
 uses ' egalness ' for * equality.' Nares quotes from Puttenham's Arte of English 
 Poesie (1589), Book I. ch. 20 (p. 57, ed. Arber) : 'In euerie degree and 
 sort of men vertue is commendable, but not egally : not onely because mens 
 estates are vnegall, but for that also vertue it selfe is not in euery respect of 
 egall value and estimation.' 
 
 214. Yet whether you accept, &c. The folios have 'Yet know, where 
 you accept,' &c. 'where' being the abbreviated form of 'whether.' See 
 229. 
 
 219. 'zounds! /'// entreat, &c. The folios change this to 'we will 
 entreat,' to avoid the penalties of the Act of Parliament, and of course omit 
 the following line. 
 
 220. Exit ... In the quartos Buckingham and the citizens do not leave 
 the stage. 
 
 221. Call them. The folios have 'Call him,' and for the sake of the 
 metre omit ' and.' 
 
 222. Another. The quartos have 'Ano.', but the folios continue the 
 speech to Catesby, reading 
 
 ' If you denie them, all the Land will rue it.' 
 
 224. Well, omitted in the folios. 
 
 Ib. stones. Compare Lear, v. 3. 257 : 
 
 ' Howl, howl, howl, howl ! O, you are men of stones ! ' 
 In both passages Pope substituted ' stone.' 
 
 225. entreats, altered in the folios to 'entreaties.' The word occurs twice 
 in Titus Andronicus, i. I. 449, 'Yield at entreats'; and 1. 483, 'at my 
 lovely Tamora's entreats.' 
 
 229. whether, printed 'where' in the first folio, as is frequently the case 
 
19 8 NOTES. [ACT iv. 
 
 when it is pronounced as a monosyllable. See above, 1. 214, Abbott, 
 466, and note on Julius Caesar, i. i. 62 (Clarendon Press ed.). 
 
 233. acquittance, acquit. In Theobald's Shakespeare Restored, pp. 8-n, 
 many examples are given of verbs formed from substantives. 
 
 235. God he knows. See iii. i. 10. The folios have 'God doth know. 1 
 
 239. kingly. The folios have * Royall.' 
 
 240. Long live . . . king. The folios read, 
 
 *Long Hue King Richard, Englands worthie King/ 
 247. Farewell, good cousin. This is of course addressed to Buckingham. 
 The folios have altered it to ' Farewell my Cousins.' 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 Scene 7. 
 
 Johnson suggested that this Scene should be added to the previous Act 
 so as to give time for the Coronation in the interval, which took place on 
 Sunday, 6 July, 1483. 
 
 i. niece is here used for 'granddaughter* as ' nephew* for 'grandson.' In 
 the earlier of the Wicliffite Versions of Genesis xxxi. 43 we find, ' and what 
 may Y do to my sones, and to my neces?' as the rendering of the Vulgate, 
 'quid possum facere filiis et nepotibus meis?' Compare Holland's Pliny, 
 vii. 13 : *C. Crispinus Helarus, a gentleman of Fesulae, came with a solemne 
 pompe caried before him into the Capitoll, attended upon with his nine 
 children, seuen sonnes and two daughters ; with seven and twentie nephewes, 
 the sonnes of his children : and nine and twentie nephewes more, once 
 removed, who were his sonnes nephewes, and twelue neeces besides, that 
 were his childrens daughters, and with all these solemnly sacrificed.' In the 
 stage direction Theobald was the first to add ' leading Clarence's young 
 Daughter,' in order to give effect to this line and the following. 
 
 2-6. Led . . . day. Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 i. in the hand. Compare Genesis xxi. 18: ' Arise, lift up the lad, and 
 hold him in thine -hand'; which does not mean that Hagar was to carry 
 Ishmael in her arms but to lead him by the hand. 
 
 4. princes is the reading of Theobald. The quartos and folios have 
 'Prince.' The change was made on account of 11. 10, 14, but it is not 
 absolutely necessary. 
 
 10. gratulate, congratulate. So in Titus Andronicus, i. i. 221 : 
 ' To gratify the good Andronicus, 
 
 And gratulate his safe return to Rome.' 
 Compare Marston, Antonio and Mellida (ed. Halliwell), p. 2 : 
 
sc. i.] RICHARD III. 199 
 
 * The prince of Millane, and young Florence heir, 
 
 Approach to gratulate your victorie.' 
 And Ford, Lover's Melancholy, i. r : 
 
 ' Dangers ! how mean you dangers ? that so courtly 
 
 You gratulate my safe return from dangers ? ' 
 
 II. Enter Brakenbury. The first and second quartos have 'Enter 
 Lieutenant'; the others, 'Enter the Lieutenant of the Tower.' The folios 
 have Enter the Lieutenant.' 
 
 14. How . . . York? The quartos have only ' How fares the Prince? ' 
 
 15. By your patience, by your leave. See Coriolanus, i. 3. 8 1 : 'Indeed, 
 no, by your patience ; I'll not over the threshold till my lord return from 
 the wars.' In the present passage the quartos read 
 
 'Well madam, and in health, but by your leave,' &c. 
 
 17. straitly, strictly, which is the reading of the folios. See i. I. 85. 
 
 1 8. why, omitted in the folios, as are the words ' I cry you mercy* in the 
 next line. 
 
 22. should keep. The folios read 'shall barre.' 
 
 25. sights. See note on Richard II, iv. I. 315 (Clarendon Press ed.) : 
 
 ' Whither you will, so I were from your sights.' 
 
 For ' Then bring me to their sights' the quartos read ' Then feare not thou.* 
 27, 28. No . . . me. For these lines the quartos have, 
 ' I doe beseech your graces all to pardon me : 
 I am bound by oath, I may not doe it.' 
 
 31. reverend is the spelling of the folios. The quartos have 'reuerente' 
 or 'reuerent.* See note on Richard II, v. 6. 25. 
 
 34. in sunder. The folios have 'asunder'; the prefix 'a* being the 
 remains of a preposition. Compare ' asleep' and ' on sleep.' 
 
 35. swoon, spelt 'sound' in the quartos. The folios have the modern 
 form. See note on As You Like It, iii. 5. 17. 
 
 36. dead-killing. Compare Lucrece, 540: 
 
 ' Here with a cockatrice' dead-killing eye 
 He ronseth up himself and makes a pause.' 
 
 37. Anne. Despiteful . . . news! Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 38. Be . . . mother. The quartos read ' Madam, have comfort.' 
 
 39. hence. The folios have ' gone/ 
 
 40. dog. The folios read 'dogges* or 'dogs'; a not uncommon con- 
 struction, 'death and destruction' being considered as one idea. 
 
 42. cross may either be a verb or a preposition, as in 2 Henry VI, 
 iv. I. 114: 
 
 'I charge thee waft me safely cross the channel.' 
 
 43*.jvitk Richmond, who after the battle of Tewkesbury fled with his 
 tinck Jasper Earl of Pembroke and took refuge in Brittany. 
 
 46. Margarets curse. See i. 3. 209. 
 
200 NOTES. [ACT iv. 
 
 49. hours. The quartos read 'time.' 
 
 50. jny son. Thomas Lord Stanley had married the Lady Margaret, and 
 was therefore Richmond's stepfather. See note on i. 3. 20. 
 
 51. To meet . . . you. The folios read 
 
 ' In your behalfe, to meet you on the way.' 
 
 52. taen tardy, caught lagging. 
 
 55. cockatrice. See the quotation from Lucrece above, 1. 36, and note on 
 i. 2. 150. Compare also Twelfth Night, iii. 4. 215: 'This will so fright 
 them both that they will kill one another by the look, like cockatrices.' 
 
 59. inclusive, encircling. 
 
 60. round, surround, encompass. Compare Richard II, iii. 2. 161 : 
 
 ' The hollow crown 
 That rounds the mortal temples of a king.' 
 
 61. red-hot steel. Steevens says, 'She seems to allude to the ancient 
 mode of punishing a regicide, or any other egregious criminal, viz. by 
 placing a crown of iron, heated red-hot, upon his head.' 
 
 76. sear, scorch, burn. So in Macbeth, iv. 1. 113 : ' Thy crown does sear 
 mine eyeballs.' 
 
 62. Anointed. The anointing was one of the most important parts of 
 the coronation ceremony. See Dean Stanley's Memorials of Westminster 
 Abbey, p. 42 (ed. 1868). In Hall's account of the coronation of Richard 
 and his queen (Chronicle, Richard III, pp. 375, 376) it is said : ' After diuerse 
 songes solemply songe, they bothe discended to the highe altare and were 
 shifted from their robes, and had diverse places open from the middle 
 vpward, in whiche places they were anointed/ 
 
 75. See i. 2. 26 &c. 
 
 76, 77. As . . . As. The folios read ' More. . . Then' ( = Than). 
 76. life. The quartos read 'death,' as i. 2 V . 27. 
 
 79. Even . . . space. The folios have ' Within so small a time.' 
 
 80. Grossly, stupidly. See iii. 6. 10 ; and King John : 
 
 ' Though you and all the Kings of Christendom 
 Are led so grossly by this meddling priest.' 
 
 82. Which . . . rest. The folios have 
 
 'Which hitherto hath held mine eyes from rest.' 
 
 83. hour, a disyllabic, as in v. 3. 31, and Hamlet, i. 4. 3 : 
 
 'Ham. What hour now? 
 Hor. I think it lacks of twelve.' 
 
 84. Have I enjoyed. The folios read ' Did I enjoy.' 
 
 85. But . . . dreams. The folios have 
 
 ' But with his timorous Dreames was still awak'd.' 
 Ib. his timorous dreams. In Sir Thomas More's account of Richard as given 
 in Hall's Chronicle (Richard III, p. 379) it is said that after the murder of 
 the princes ' he toke euill reste on nightes, laye long wakyng and musyng, 
 
sc. 2.] RICHARD III. 201 
 
 forweried with care and watche, rather slombred then slept, troubled with 
 fearefull dreames, sodeinly somtyme stert vp, leapte out of his bed and loked 
 about the chambre.' 
 
 93. guard. The folios read * tend.' 
 
 96. Eighty odd years. The Duchess of York was born May 3, 1415, 
 and therefore at the date of this scene (June 1483) was only sixty-eight. 
 She lived for twelve years afterwards, and died at Berkhampstead in 1495. 
 
 97. teen, sorrow, grief. Compare Venus and Adonis, 808 : 
 
 ' My face is full of shame, my heart of teen.' 
 
 See note on The Tempest, i. 2. 64 (Clarendon Press ed.). It is derived from 
 the A. S. teona, injury, wrong. 
 
 98-104. Q..Eliz. Stay, . . .farewell. Omitted in the quartos, 
 loo. envy, malice, hatred. Compare Richard II, i. 2. 21 : 
 
 *By envy's hand and murder's bloody axe.' 
 
 102. ragged, rugged, rough. See Richard II, v. 5. 21: 'My ragged 
 prison walls' ; and 2 Henry IV, Ind. 35: 
 
 'And this worm-eaten hold of ragged stone.' 
 
 104. sorrow bids. The first folio reads 'sorrowes.' This is another 
 example of a very common error of the press, which might have been 
 quoted in support of the theory of the existence of the plural in *s' in 
 Shakespeare. See ii. 3. 35. 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 Sennet. The first folio has ' Sound a Sennet,' the rest ' Sound a Sonnet.* 
 The quartos have simply * The Trumpets Sound.' See note on iii. i. 150. 
 
 Enter Richard . . . The quartos have ' Enter Richard crownd, Buckingham, 
 with other Nobles'; the folios, 'Enter Richard in pompe, Buckingham, 
 Catesby, Ratcliffe, Louel.' 
 
 3. For ' Here he ascendeth his throne' the folios have simply ' Sound.' 
 
 5. honours. The folios have ' Glories/ 
 
 8. play the touch, play the part of the touchstone which was used to test 
 the genuineness of any metal which had the appearance of gold. ' The 
 present touchstone,' according to Mr. King (Natural History of Gems, 
 P- I 53) 'is a black Jasper of a somewhat coarse grain, and the best pieces 
 come from India.' In his last will Bacon left to his wife all tables of 
 marble and towch.' Timon (iv. 3. 390) apostrophizes gold, ' O thou touch 
 of hearts !' Compare also The Ghost of Richard the Third (Shakespeare 
 Society), p. 14 : 
 
 ' Whose percell guylt my touch will not endure.' 
 
 16. That Edward . . .prince I Here I have ventured to restore the 
 reading of the quartos and folios. Since the time of Theobald the line has 
 always been printed 
 
202 NOTES. [ACT vi. 
 
 * That Edward still should live ! True, noble prince !' 
 making 'Richard simply repeat Buckingham's words in the sense in which he 
 used them himself, though in a mocking tone. But where then is the 
 ' bitter consequence,' if we thus separate the last words of the line from the 
 preceding? It was not Buckingham's unsympathetic reply, or the mere fact 
 that Edward lived, but that he lived as the ' true noble prince,' and legiti- 
 mate heir to the Crown. Thus does Richard, * like the formal vice, Iniquity,' 
 again ' moralize two meanings in one word.' 
 
 20. sayest thou f The folios read * say'st thou now ?' 
 
 76. be brief, be quick. See ii. 2. 43. 
 
 24-26. Give . . . immediately. The folios have 
 
 ' Giue me some litle breath, some pawse, deare Lord, 
 
 Before I positiuely speake in this : 
 
 I will resolue you herein presently/ 
 
 26. resolve, answer. See 121, and 3 Henry VI, iii. 2. 19 : 
 
 * May it please your highness to resolve me now.' 
 
 27. he bites the lip. The folios read 'he gnawes his Lippe.' Hall 
 (Chronicle, Richard III, p. 421) says of him, 'when he stode musing he 
 would byte and chew besely his nether lippe, as who sayd, that his fyerce 
 nature in hys cruell body alwaies chafed, sturred and was euer vnquiete.' 
 
 29. unrespective, unobservant, heedless. 
 
 30. considerate, thoughtful, observant. 
 
 32. Boy! The page here addressed was not, as Mr. French conjectures 
 (Shakespeareana Genealogica, 242), John Green, who had been sent by 
 Richard to sound Sir Robert Brackenbury about the murder of the princes. 
 The two are quite distinct in Hall's narrative. See Preface, p. xxxix. 
 
 35. close, secret. See i. I. 158. 
 
 36. My lord. Omitted in the folios. 
 
 37. mind. The folios read 'Spirit.' 
 
 40. Tyrrel. Sir James Tyrrel was the son of William Tyrrel of Gipping, 
 who was High Sheriff of Suffolk, 24 Henry VI. See French, Genealogica 
 Shakespeareana, p. 236, and the quotation from Hall in the Preface. 
 
 42. witty, sharp-witted, clever, cunning. Compare Much Ado, iv. 2. 27 : 
 ' A marvellous witty fellow I assure you.' And Lever's Sermons (ed. Arber), 
 p. 1 06 : ' Paule dyd dyspose the secretes of God by the preachynge of the 
 Gospell, whych was euer secretly hydde from the wyttye, wyse, and learned 
 in the worlde.' See also Proverbs viii. 12 : 'I wisdom dwell with prudence, 
 and find out knowledge of witty inventions' ; and the quotation from Hall 
 in the note to iv. 3. 46. 
 
 45. And stops . . . breath ? The folios complete the line with ' Well, be 
 it so.' 
 
 46. How now ! what news with you ? The folios have ' How now, 'Lord 
 Stanley, what's the newes ?' 
 
sc. 2.] RICHARD III. 203 
 
 47-53. Stan. My lord . . . like to die. The first quarto has here, 
 
 ' Darby. My Lord, I heare the Marques Dorset 
 
 Is fled to Richmond in those partes beyond the seas where he abides/ 
 In the folios the passage stands thus : 
 
 * Stanley. Know my louing Lord, the Marquesse Dorset 
 As I heare, is fled to Richmond, 
 Irr*the parts where he abides. 
 
 Rich. Come hither Catesby, rumor it abroad, 
 That Anne my Wife is very grieuous sicke, 1 &c. 
 
 52. The story of this rumour of his wife's death is told by Hall. See 
 Preface, p. xliv. 
 
 53. like, likely. See iii. 2. 122. 
 
 55. Some mean-born gentleman. The folios for 'mean-born' read 
 ' meane poore/ 
 
 56. The marriage was not carried out. Margaret Plantagenet, who was 
 now not ten years old, lived to become Countess of Salisbury, and married 
 Sir Richard Pole, whose mother was half sister to the Lady Margaret, the 
 mother of Henry VII (Hunter, Illustrations of Shakespeare, ii. 91). 
 
 57. The boy is foolish. Holinshed (p. 787, col. 2) says of Edward 
 Plantagenet Earl of Warwick that he had been ' kept in prison within the 
 Tower almost from his tender yeares, . . . out of all companie of men & 
 sight of beastes, insomuch that he could not discerne a goose from a capon.' 
 The side-note to this passage is, ' Edward Plantagenet earle of Warwike a 
 verie innocent/ 
 
 59. my wife. The folios here read ' my Queene/ 
 
 60. About it. See i. 3. 355. 
 
 Ib. it stands me much upon, it is very important for me, incumbent upon 
 me. Compare Richard II, ii. 3. 138: 
 
 ' It stands your grace upon to do him right/ 
 65, 66. Compare Midsummer Night's Dream, iii. 2. 48, 49: 
 ' Being over shoes in blood, plunge in the deep, 
 
 And kill me too/ 
 And Macbeth, iii. 4. 136-138 : 
 
 ' I am in blood 
 
 Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more, 
 Returning were as tedious as go o'er/ 
 67. Tear-falling, shedding tears. 
 70. sovereign. The folios read ' Lord/ 
 72. Ay, my lord. The folios change this to 'Please you/ 
 74. there. The folios have ' then. 
 
 76. deal upon, deal with. Compare Ben Jonson, Every Man out of his 
 Humour, v. 4 : What, will he deal upon such quantities of wine alone ?' 
 82. There is no more but so, that is, to carry out Richard's whispered 
 
204 NOTES. [ACT iv. 
 
 instructions. Compare The Taming of the Shrew, i. i. 167 : 
 
 ' If love have touch 'd you, nought remains but so/ 
 
 And Hamlet, i. 3. 10, where Laertes says that Hamlet's passion for Ophelia 
 is but 
 
 1 The perfume and suppliance of a minute ; 
 No more. 
 
 Oph. No more but so?' 
 
 83. prefer; promote. Compare Cymbeline, v. 5. 326 : 
 
 * Ere I arise, I will prefer my sons.' 
 
 84. 'Tis done, my gracious lord. The folios read ' I will dispatch it 
 straight,' and omit the two following lines. 
 
 88. demand both here and in 1. 98 is changed in the folios to ' request.' 
 
 94, 95. See iii. I. 194, 195. 
 
 95. The folios read 
 
 * Which you haue promised I shall possesse.' 
 
 96, 97. if she convey Letters to Richmond. Of Lord Stanley and his wife, 
 says Hall, ' yt was geuen him in charge to kepe her in some secrete place at 
 home, without hauynge enie seruaunte or companye, so that from thence 
 foorthe she shoulde neuer sende letter nor messenger to her sonne nor any 
 of his frendes or confederates, by the whyche the kynge myght be molested 
 or troubled, or any hurte or preiudice might be attempted againste his 
 realme and comimnaltie.' (Richard III, p. 398.) 
 
 97. shall ansiver it, shall be responsible for it. Compare I Henry IV, iv. 2.8: 
 'Bard. This bottle makes an angel. 
 
 Fal. An if it do, take it for thy labour ; and if it make twenty, take 
 them all ; I'll answer the coinage.' 
 
 99. As I remember. The folios have * I doe remember me,' thus making 
 * Henry' a disyllabic. 
 
 Jb. Henry the Sixth. See 3 Henry VI, iv. 6. 68, &c. 
 
 101. peevish. See i. 3. 194. 
 
 102. perhaps, perhaps, The folios omit one of these words, and the 
 following speeches as far as 1. 1 20. 
 
 104. How chance the prophet, &c., how chance it that, &c. So in Mid- 
 summer Night's Dream, i. I. 129 : 
 
 'How chance the roses there do fade so fast?' 
 
 107-111. Richmond] . . . Richmond. Richard visited Exeter in the first 
 year of his reign. * And during his abode here he went about the citie, & 
 viewed the seat of the same, & at length he came to the castell : and when 
 he vnderstood that it was- called Rugemont, suddenlie he fell into a dumpe, 
 and (as one astonied) said ; Well, I see my daies be not long. He spake 
 this of a prophesie told him, that when he came once to Richmond, he 
 should not long liue after.' (Holinshed, p. 746, col. I.) This is not 
 mentioned by Hall. 
 
sc. 3.] RICHARD III. 205 
 
 1 1 8. like a Jack, the figure which in old clocks struck the hour upon the 
 bell. See Richard II, v. 5. 60 : 
 
 ' But my time 
 
 Runs posting on in Bolingbroke's proud joy, 
 While I stand fooling here, his Jack o' the clock.' 
 
 Such figures were formerly to be seen at St. Dunstan's church in Fleet Street. 
 Douce says, ' At Horsham church in Sussex, there was a figure dressed in 
 scarlet and gold, that struck the quarters. He was called Jack o* the clock- 
 house.' Jack o' the clock or clockhouse came to be the nickname for a 
 busybody. ' Fretillon : m. A little nimble dwarfe, or hop-on-my thombe ; 
 a Jacke of the Clocke-house ; a little busie-bodie, meddler, Jacke-stickler ; 
 one that hath an oare in euery mans Boat, or his hand in euery mans dish/ 
 (Cotgrave.) 
 
 Ib. keep'st the stroke, keepest on striking. 
 
 121. Why ... wo. The folios read ' May it please you to resolue me in 
 my suit.' 
 
 Ib. resolve. See 1. 26. 
 
 122. Tut, tut. Omitted in the folios. 
 
 123. 124. 7s it . . . contempt ? The folios have : 
 
 ' And is it thus ? repayes he my deepe seruice 
 
 With such contempt?' 
 
 127. To Brecknock. ' Morton bishop of Elie was committed to the duke 
 of Buckingham to keepe in ward, which sent him to his manour of 
 Brecknocke in Wales, from whence he escaped to king Richard his con- 
 fusion.' (Holinshed, p. 733, col. i.) 
 
 Scene III. 
 
 1,2. deed . . . act. These words are transposed in the folios, possibly 
 because ' arch act' was thought ill-sounding. 
 
 2. arch, literally, chief; hence, conspicuous, notorious. 
 
 4. Dighton and Forrest. John Dighton was horsekeeper to Sir James 
 Tyrrel, and Miles Forrest was one of the four attendants whom he had 
 placed in charge of the young princes. The subsequent fate of the mur- 
 derers is recorded by More. 'Miles Forest at sainct Martens pecemele 
 rotted away. Dighton in dede yet walketh on aliue in good possibilitie to bee 
 hanged ere he dye. But sir James Tirel dyed at Tower hill, beheaded for 
 treason.' (Workes, p. 69.) Hall says, ' Ihon Dighton lyued at Caleys long 
 after, no lesse disdayned and hated then poincted at, and there dyed in great 
 misery' (p. 379). 
 
 Ib. whom. The first folio has ' who.' See i. 3. 54. 
 
 5. ruthless piece of butchery. The folios have 'peece of ruthfull Butchery.' 
 There are many other variations of no importance. 
 
2O6 NOTES. [ACT iv. 
 
 6. flestid villains, trained, hardened in villainy. Sir Thomas More de- 
 scribes Forrest as ' a felowe fleshed in murther before time.' Compare 
 Henry V, iii. 3. 1 1 : ' The flesh'd soldier, rough and hard of heart.' The 
 term is taken from the chase. To 'flesh' a dog or falcon was to reward it 
 with a portion of the first game which it killed. Hence it came to signify to 
 train, inure, harden by practice. Compare Beaumont and Fletcher, The 
 Custom of the Country, iv. 2: 
 
 *A flesh'd ruffian, 
 
 That hath so often taken the strappado, 
 That 'tis to him but as a lofty trick 
 Is to a tumbler.' 
 
 Again, in The Spanish Curate, iv. 2 : 
 < Tush, he's flesh'd, 
 
 And knows what vein to strike for his own credit.' 
 8. like two children. The folios have * like to children.' 
 II. innocent alabaster arms. The folios have * Alablaster innocent 
 Armes.' 
 
 18. replenished, complete, perfect. Compare Winter's Tale, ii. I. 79: 
 
 * The most replenish'd villain in the world.' 
 
 19. prime, first; used both of time and dignity. Compare The Tempest, 
 i. 2. 72 : * Prospero the prime duke.' And in Pericles, iv. 3. 27, it is used as 
 here, in the sense of ' original' : 
 
 ' To such proceeding 
 Who ever but his approbation added, 
 Though not his prime consent, he did not flow 
 From honourable sources.' 
 
 22. this tidings. The later folios read * these tidings,' and in Shakespeare 
 ' tidings,' like ' news,' is both singular and plural.. Compare King John, 
 iv. 2. 115: 
 
 * The tidings comes that they are all arrived.' 
 And Antony and Cleopatra, ii. 5. 87: 
 
 'But let ill tidings tell 
 Themselves when they be felt.' 
 
 25. you gave in charge, you ordered, commanded. See i. i. 85. 
 30. how or in what place I do not know. In Hall's narrative, taken from 
 More, ' he caused the murtherers to burye them at the stayre foote, merely 
 depe in the grouwde vnder a great heape of stones ' (p. 378). Richard or- 
 dered them to be more honourably buried. * Wherupon a priest of sir 
 Robert Brakenburies toke them vp & buried them in such a place secretely 
 as by the occasion of his death (which was very shortely after) which onely 
 knewe it, the very trueth could neuer yet be very wel and perfightly knowen. 
 For some saye that kynge Richard caused the priest to take them vp and 
 close them in lead and to put them in a coflyne full of holes hoked at the 
 
sc. 3.] RICHARD III. 207 
 
 endes with .ii. hokes of yron, and so to cast them into a place called the 
 Blacke depes at the Themes mouth, so that they should neuer rise vp nor be 
 sene agayn.' (Ibid.) On the iyth of July 1674, during the alterations at 
 the White Tower which were conducted by Sir Christopher Wren, ' as they 
 were taking away the stairs leading from the King's lodging into the Chapel 
 of the White Tower, the workmen discovered about IO feet deep in the 
 ground some small human bones in a wooden chest ; which bones being 
 nicely examin'd, were found to have been those of two boys, the one of 13, 
 the other of 1 1 years of age. . . This being brought to the ears of Charles II. 
 his Majesty ordered them to be put in a marble urn and rcposited here' ; 
 that is, in the north aisle of Henry the Seventh's chapel, where a tablet 
 commemorating the. discovery is to be seen on the east wall. (Dart's History 
 of St. Peter's Westminster, i. 169.) The designs for the urn and the tablet 
 were entrusted by the King to Sir Christopher Wren who was Surveyor 
 General of the Royal buildings. (See Parentalia, p. 333.) 
 
 31. soon at after supper. It is not quite certain how this phrase is to be 
 understood. We may either regard 'after supper* as a compound word, 
 equivalent to ' rear-supper,' and denoting the banquet which followed 
 the more substantial meal (compare Midsummer Night's Dream, v. i. 34); 
 or we may take 'at after* as equivalent to 'after,' as in Chaucer, C. T. 
 (ed. Tyrwhitt), 10616: 
 
 'At after souper goth this noble king'; 
 and 11531: 
 
 ' At after souper fell they in tretee.' 
 
 and again in Ascham's Toxophilus (ed. Arber) I, p. 28 : 'They were both left 
 bente tyll the nexte daye at after dyner.' But although 'at after' in this 
 sense is not unfrequently found, it does not elsewhere occur in Shakespeare, 
 while 'soon' followed by 'at' is very common. For instance, in The Merry 
 Wives, i. 4. 8 : ' Go, and we'll have a posset for 't soon at night/ And in 
 the same play, ii. 2. 295, 298. Again, Measure for Measure, i. 4. 88 : 
 
 ' Soon at night 
 
 I'll send him certain word of my success.' 
 
 The same phrase occurs in 2 Henry IV, v. 5. 96, Romeo and Juliet, ii. 5 
 78, and Othello, iii. 4. 198, and appears to be equivalent to ' this very night.' 
 See also The True Tragedie of Richard the Third (Hazlitt, Shakespeare's 
 Library, v. 87) : ' With him my Lord will I so worke, that soone at night 
 you shall speake with him.' ' Soon' is also found in other phrases, as for 
 example, Comedy of Errors, i. 2. 25 : 
 
 ' Soon at five o'clock, 
 
 Please you, I'll meet with you upon the mart.' 
 And in the same play, iii. 2. 179: 
 
 4 And soon at supper-time I'll visit you.' 
 Compare also The Merchant of Venice, ii. 3. 5. In the present passage the 
 
208 NOTES. [ACT iv. 
 
 editor of the text of the play in the folios altered the phrase to ' soone, and 
 after supper.' Perhaps it is worth while to mention that in Ray's Collection 
 of English Words (1674) we find 'Soon: the Evening; A Soon^at Even/ 
 recorded as a North-country word. In Grose's Provincial Glossary the usage 
 is attributed to the West of England. 
 
 32. process, story, narrative. See iv. 4. 253, and compare Hamlet, i. 
 
 5- 37 = 
 
 ' So the whole ear of Denmark 
 
 Is by a forged process of my death 
 Rankly abused.' 
 And The Merchant of Venice, iv. I. 274: 
 
 ' Tell her the process of Antonio's end.' 
 
 35. Farewell till soon. The folios read : 
 
 * Farewell till then. 
 
 Tir. I humbly take my leave.' 
 
 36. The son of Clarence was kept prisoner by Richard at Sheriff Hutton 
 Castle in Yorkshire 'durynge the tyme of his vsurped reigne.' (Hall, Henry VII, 
 p. 422.) After the battle of Bosworth Field he was removed to the Tower 
 by Sir Robert Willoughby, acting under Henry's orders. 
 
 38. Abraham's bosom. See Luke xvi. 22, and Richard II, iv. I. 104: 
 
 'Sweet peace conduct his sweet soul to the bosom 
 Of good old Abraham.' 
 
 39. Anne, Richard's queen, died March 16, 1485. 
 
 40. the Breton Richmond. Richard calls him ' Breton,' because he had 
 taken refuge in Brittany. It was on Christmas Day 1483, according to Hall, 
 that Henry met the Marquis of Dorset and the other English nobles who had 
 joined him in the cathedral of Rennes. ' The erle hymselfe fyrste tooke a 
 corporall othe, and on his honour promysyng that incontynente after he, 
 shoulde be possessed of the crowne and dignytie of the realme of Englande, 
 he woulde be conioyned in matrymonye wyth the lady Elizabeth daughter to 
 kynge Edwarde the fourthe.' (Hall, Richard III, p. 397.) 
 
 43. Enter Catesby. The folios have ' Enter Ratcliffe.' See note on 
 iii. 4. 80. 
 
 46. Ely. The folios read ' Morton,' that is, John Morton. Bishop of Ely. 
 See note on iii. 4. 32. He was kept in the Custody of Buckingham at 
 Brecknock Castle, but made his escape. * The byshop beiyng as wyttye as the 
 duke was wylie dyd not tarie tyll y e dukes compaignie were assembled, 
 but secretlie disguysed, in a nyghte departed (to the dukes great displeasure) 
 and came to his see of Ely, where he found monye and frendes, and so sailed 
 into Flaunders, where he dyd the earle of Richemonde good seruice and 
 neuer retourned agayne tyll the erle of Richemonde after beynge kyng, sent 
 for hym, and shortely promoted him to the see of Cauntorbury.' (Hall, 
 Richard III, p. 390.) 
 
ic. 4-] RICHARD III. 209 
 
 . s 
 
 50. army. The folios have 'Strength,' and in the next line Mearn'd* for 
 * heard.' 
 
 Scene IV. 
 
 i, 2. Steevens pointed out that the same idea is found in Marston, Antonio 
 and Mellida, second part, v. I : 
 
 ' Now is his fate growne mellow, 
 Instant to fall into the rotten jawes 
 Of chap-falne death.' 
 
 As Antonio and Mellida was not written till 1602 Marston may have bor- 
 rowed from this play. 
 
 5. induction. See i. I. 32. 
 
 6. the consequence, the sequel. Compare iv. 2. 15. 
 
 10. unblown flowers, unopened. The first folio reads * uriblowed.' 
 
 15. right for right, measure for measure, a just punishment for an offence 
 against justice. 
 
 17-19. In the quartos this speech is placed after 1. 34, and lines 20, 21 
 are omitted. 
 
 18. mute and dumb. The folios read ' still and mute.' If Shakespeare's 
 pen produced either expression it might be worth while to enquire why one 
 was substituted for the other. 
 
 21. doth quit, pay or compensate for. See 1. 64. So in Measure for 
 Measure, v. I. 416: 
 
 * Like doth quit like, and measure still for measure.' 
 23. in. See i. 2. 260. 
 
 26. Blind sight, dead life. In the folios these expressions are transposed. 
 
 28. record. See note on iii.'l. 72. This line is omitted in the quartos. 
 
 29. Rest thy unrest. Professor Delius quotes Titus Andronicus', iv. 2. 31 : 
 
 ' But let her rest in her unrest awhile.' 
 
 30. innocents'. The folios read ' innocent.' 
 
 31. O ... well afford. The folios have * Ah that thou wouldst assoone 
 afford,' &c. 
 
 34. O . . . but If The folios have * Ah ... but wee.' 
 
 35. reverend, spelt * reverent' in all the old copies. See iv. I. 31. 
 
 36. seniory, superiority of claim, priority. In the old editions the word is 
 spelt 'signorie,' * signiorie,' 'signeurie,' 'signiory,' 'signeury,' forms all of 
 which point to the feudal ' signer' as containing the original idea of the 
 word. 
 
 39. Tell . . . mine. Omitted in the folios, which end the sentence at the 
 previous line, reading 
 
 * And let my woes frown on the upper hand 
 If sorrow can admit society.' 
 
 41. Harry, the reading of the Cambridge edition. The quartos have 
 
2IO NOTES. [ACT iv. 
 
 ' Richard/ the folios ' Husband.' Rann and afterwards Malone adopted 
 CapelPs suggestion ' Henry.' 
 
 45. holp'st. Spelt 'hopst' in the first two quartos and 'hop'st' in the first 
 folio. See i. 2. 107. 
 
 49. See 3 Henry VI, v. 6. 75 : 
 
 * The midwife wonder'd and the women cried 
 " O, Jesus bless us, he is born with teeth!'" 
 
 51. handiwork, workmanship; from A. S. handgeweorc. See note on 
 Julius Caesar, i. I. 27 (Clarendon Press ed.). 
 
 52. 53. That excellent . . . souls. These lines, which are omitted in the 
 quartos, are transposed in the folios. The present arrangement is Capell's. 
 
 53. galled eyes, eyes sore with weeping. Compare Hamlet, i. 2. 155 : 
 
 ' Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears 
 
 Had left the flushing in her galled eyes.' 
 56. carnal, flesh-devouring, cruel. 
 
 58. pew-fellow, an intimate associate ; originally, one who sits in the same 
 pew at church. Compare Webster, Westward Ho, ii. i : * Mistress Wafer, 
 and Mistress Tenterhook, being both my scholars, and your honest pew- 
 fellows.' And Northward Ho, ii. I : ' 'Sfoot, if he should come before a 
 churchwarden, he would make him pew-fellow with a lord's steward at least.' 
 See also Gregory Martin, A Discoverie of the manifold corruptions of the 
 Holy Scriptures by the Heretikes of our daies (1582), Preface to the Reader 
 29 : ' Thirdly, that we speake indifferently against Protestants, Caluinistes, 
 Bezites, and Puritans, without any curious distinction of them, being al 
 among themsejues brethren and pewfellowes/ The old spelling in Shake- 
 speare is pue-fellow.' <;' , ' 
 
 59. triumph, with the accent on the second syllable, as in iii. 4. 91, and 
 I Henry IV, v. 4. 14: 
 
 ' And rebels' arms triumph in massacres/ 
 
 63. stabb'd. The folios have 'kill'd/ and to .compensate for it read 
 'stab'd* in 1. 67. 
 
 64. to quit. See 1. 20. 
 
 65. boot; literally, addition; something thrown in to make up a bargain. 
 Compare Winter's Tale. iv. 4. 690 : * What an exchange had this been with- 
 out boot ! What a boot is here with this exchange 1' See v. 3. 301. 
 
 68. tragic. The folios read ' franticke.' 
 
 69. adulterate, adulterous. Compare Hamlet, i. 5. 42 : 
 
 * Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast/ 
 
 71. intelligencer, agent or go-between, by means of whom communica- 
 tions are held. Compare 2 Henry IV; iv. 2. 20: 
 
 ' The very opener and intelligencer 
 Between the grace, the sanctities qf heaven 
 And our dull workings/ 
 
sc. 4.] RICHARD III. 
 
 72. their factor. The plural of respect is used in speaking of the evil 
 principle as in the case of its opposite. Compare Othello, iv. 2. 48 : 
 
 ' Had it pleased heaven 
 To try me with affliction; had they rain'd 
 All kinds of sores and shames on my bare head,' &c. 
 See note on Richard II, i. 2. 7 (Clarendon Press ed.). 
 
 75. This imperfect line was completed by Capell, who inserted 'for him* 
 after ' roar.' Pope reads ' pray for vengeance.' 
 
 77. Cancel his bond of life. Compare Macbeth, iii. 2. 49: 
 ' Cancel and tear in pieces that great bond 
 
 Which keeps me pale.' 
 
 The employment of this legal metaphor has countenanced the theory that 
 Shakespeare had at one period of his life been engaged in an attorney's 
 office. 
 
 79. The reference is to i. 3. 245. 
 
 84. the presentation , the mere semblance, without the reality. 
 
 85. The flattering index of a direful pageant. Steevens says, * Pageants 
 are dumb shows, and the poet meant to allude to one of these, the index of 
 which promised a happier conclusion. The pageants then displayed on pub- 
 lick occasions were generally preceded by a brief account of the order in 
 which the characters were to walk. These indexes were distributed among 
 the spectators, that they might understand the meaning of such allegorical 
 stuff as was usually exhibited. The index of every book was anciently placed 
 before the beginning of it.' Nares (Glossary) suggests that ' An index to a 
 pageant was, probably, a painted emblem carried before it.' The explanation 
 given by Steevens receives some support from Ford's Lover's Melancholy, iii. 3, 
 in which, before the performance of The Masque of Melancholy, Corax 
 hands Palador a paper which explains the dumb show : 
 
 * Pray, my lord, 
 
 Hold, and observe the plot : 'tis there express'd 
 In kind, what shall be now express'd in action.' 
 
 Shakespeare elsewhere uses 'index' in the sense of prologue or introduction. 
 Sec ii. 2. 149, and Hamlet, iii. 4. 52 : 
 
 ' Ay me, what act, 
 That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?' 
 
 86. a-high, on high; which is Pope's reading. Delius prints 'o' high,' 
 just as we find in v. 3. 47 the folios have 'a clocke' for 'o'clock.' Mr. 
 
 Spedding would place lines 87, 88, 'Another bubble,' after line 
 
 90. 
 
 88-90. A dream . . . shot. The folios arrange and read thus : 
 ' A dreame of what thou wast, a garish Flagge 
 To be the ayme of euery dangerous Shot; 
 A signe of Dignity, a Breath, a Bubble.' 
 
 P 2 
 
212 NOTES. [ACT iv. 
 
 89. garish, gaudy. Compare Romeo and Juliet, iii. 2. 25 : 
 
 'And pay no worship to the garish sun'; 
 which is imitated by Milton, II Penseroso, 141 : 
 
 * Hide me from day's garish eye.' 
 
 93. Where are thy children f The folios read, ' Where be thy two 
 Sonnes?' 
 
 94. Who . . . cries, &c. The folios have, ' Who sues and kneeles, and 
 sayes, &c.' 
 
 97. Decline all this, go through it all, from beginning to end, repeat it as 
 a schoolboy would decline a Latin noun. Compare Troilus and Cressida, 
 ii. 3.55: ' I'll decline the whole question.' 
 
 100, 101. For queen . . . sues. These lines are transposed in the folios. 
 
 100. caitiff, wretch, through the Old French caitif, which appears in various 
 forms, is derived from the Latin capfivus, originally, captive, and hence ap- 
 plied to what was mean, base, wretched. Compare All's Well, iii. 2. 117 : 
 ' I am the caitiff that do hold him to 't.' 
 
 102-104. In the quartos line 103 is omitted, and line 10 < placed before 
 line 102. In all three lines the folios read ' For she' instead of * For one.' 
 
 105. wheeVd. The folios read 'whirl'd.' 
 
 111. my burthen d yoke, the yoke which is a burden to me. *Burthen'd* 
 in the sense of 'burdensome' is formed from the substantive 'burthen' and 
 not from the verb. See note on ' venom'd,' i. 2. 20. 
 
 112. my weary neck. The folios have ' my wearied head.' 
 
 1 20. fairer. The folios read 'sweeter,' but 'fairer' contrasts better with 
 'fouler' in the next line. 
 
 122. Bettering thy loss, amplifying or exaggerating thy loss. 
 
 127. Windy attorneys, &c. Malone compares Venus and Adonis, 333- 
 
 336: 
 
 * So of concealed sorrow may be said ; 
 Free vent of words love's fire doth assuage ; 
 But when the heart's attorney once is mute, 
 The client breaks, as desperate in his suit.' 
 
 An attorney is one who acts in the turn or place of another as his proxy or 
 tepresentative. Compare Holinshed (iii. 510) : ' lohn lord Latimer, although 
 he was vnder age, for himselfe and the duke of Norfolke, notwithstanding that 
 his possessions were in the king's hands, by his atturnie Thomas Graie 
 knight, claimed and had the office of almoner for that daie.' 
 
 Ib. their client woes. Hanmer's reading. The quartos have, ' your client 
 woes'; the folios, ' their clients woes.' The original MS. probably had *y r .' 
 
 128. Airy succeeders of intestate joys. The joys being dead and having 
 left no will, mere words succeed as next of kin to an empty inheritance. 
 The folios read 'intestine* for 'intestate,' which makes worse nonsense still. 
 
 1 29. Poor is here an adverb. 
 
sc. 4-] RICHARD III. 213 
 
 131. Help not at all; that is, have no power to cure, but simply to relieve 
 the heart. ' Help' is found frequently in this sense. See The Tempest, ii. 2. 
 97 : 'If all the wine in my bottle will recover him, I will help his ague.' 
 The folios read ' Help nothing else,' that is, are of no other use ; a change 
 which appears to have been due to a misunderstanding of the word ' help.' 
 
 135. I hear his drum. The folios have 'The Trumpet sounds.' 
 Ib. exclaims. See i. 2. 52. 
 
 Ib. The stage direction is given as in the quartos. The folios have only, 
 'Enter King Richard, and his Traine.' 
 
 136. The folios read: 
 
 4 Who intercepts me in my Expedition ? ' 
 
 141. Where should be graven. The folios read ' Where 't should be 
 branded.' 
 
 142. owed, owned, possessed. Compare The Tempest, i. 2. 407 : 
 
 ' This is no mortal business, nor no sound 
 That the earth owes.' 
 
 147. Where is kind Hastings, Rivers, &c. The queen is not likely to 
 have spoken so of Hastings, who was always opposed to her family. The 
 corrector of the folio therefore changes the text to 
 
 ' Qu. Where is the gentle Rivers, Vaughan, Gray ? 
 Dut. Where is kinde Hastings ? ' 
 
 As it appears to me highly improbable that Shakespeare wrote either the one 
 or the other I have left the reading of the earlier copies. 
 
 148. alarum. See i. i. 7. 
 
 151. entreat me fair, treat, use me well. Compare 3 Henry VI, i. I. 271 : 
 
 ' I'll write unto them and entreat them fair.' 
 
 157. a touch of your condition, a dash, a spice of your temper or disposition. 
 Compare Twelfth Night, ii. I. 13: 'But I perceive in you so excellent a 
 touch of modesty.' For ' condition* see As You Like It, i. 2. 276: 
 ' Yet such is now the duke's condition 
 That he misconstrues all that you have done.' 
 159. Duch. O let . . . hear. Omitted in the quartos. 
 163. in anguish, pain and agony. The folios read 'in torment, and in 
 agony/ 
 
 165. by the holy rood! See iii. 2. 77. 
 
 1 68. Tetchy, fretful, irritable : said to be corrupted from 'touchy.' See 
 Romeo and Juliet, i. 3. 32 : 
 
 * To see it tetchy and fall out with the dug !' 
 
 170. Thy prime of manhood, thy early manhood, the springtime of thy 
 manhood. 
 
 171. Thy age confirmed, the full vigour of thy manhood. 
 
 Ib. bloody, treacherous. The folios have ' slye, and bloody.' 
 
 1 75. Humphrey Hour. If this expression ever had any meaning it is now 
 
214 NOTES. [ACT iv. 
 
 completely lost. Malone conjectured that it was ' used in ludicrous language, 
 for " hour," like " Tom Troth" for " truth/'' Steevens thought that Shake- 
 speare might 'by this strange phrase have designed to mark the hour at 
 which the good Duchess was as hungry as the followers of Duke Humphrey.' 
 
 * To dine with Duke Humphrey* was an expression for going without one's 
 dinner, because needy gallants were in the habit of spending the dinner hour 
 in walking up and down the aisles in St. Paul's, in one of which was the 
 monument of Sir John Beauchamp, popularly attributed to Humphrey 
 Duke of Gloucester who was buried at St. Alban's. But if this explanation 
 be correct, it is not clear how * Humphrey Hour* can mean the hour at 
 which the Duchess was summoned to breakfast. The spelling in the quartos 
 
 * Houre ' and in the folios ' Hower * does not throw much light upon the 
 question. 
 
 177. disgracious. See iii. 7. 112. 
 
 Ib. sight. The folios read ' eye,' and in the next line ' and not offend you 
 Madam.' 
 
 179. Strike up, strike aloud. See King John, v. 2. 164: * Strike up the 
 drums.' So * blow up' signifies * blow aloud' in the expression ' Blow up the 
 trumpet in the new moon,' Psalm Ixxxi. 3. On this emphatic use of 'up* 
 see Professor Ward's note on Greene's Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay, iii. 22. 
 
 179-182. Duch. I prithee ... K. Rich. So. As in the folios. The 
 quartos have : * Du. O heare me speake for I shal neuer see thee more.' 
 
 183. Either is a monosyllable. Pope, not recognising this, reads 'thou'lt' 
 for * thou wilt.' 
 
 185. extreme with the accent on the first syllabje, as in iii. 5. 44. 
 
 1 86. never look upon. The folios have 'neuer more behold,' and 'gree- 
 uous* for 'heavy' in the next line. 
 
 189. complete has the accent on the first syllable, as in Hamlet, i. 4. 52 : 
 * That thou, dead corse, again in complete steel 
 Revisit'st thus the glimpses of the moon.' 
 
 198. Johnson remarks, ' On this dialogue 'tis not necessary to bestow much 
 criticism, part of it is ridiculous, and the whole improbable.' Monck Mason, 
 on the other hand, says, 'I see nothing ridiculous in any part of this dialogue, 
 and he defends it from the charge of improbability. My own sympathies, 
 I confess, are with Johnson's opinion. 
 
 199. moe. So the first quarto. The other quartos and the folios have 
 ' more.' In the 1611 edition of the Authorised Version of Numbers xxii. 15, 
 we find 'And Balak sent yet againe Princes, moe, and more honourable 
 than they.' See notes on As You Like It, iii. 2. 243, and Julius Caesar, ii. 
 I. 72, Clarendon Press editions. 
 
 200. murder. The folios have ' slaughter.' 
 
 202. level, aim. See 2 Henry IV, iii. 2. 286: 'The foeman may with as 
 great aim level at the edge of a penknife.' And in the secondary sense 
 
sc. 4.] RICHARD III. 315 
 
 of ' guess,' The Merchant of Venice, i. 2. 41 : ' According to my description, 
 level at my affection.* 
 
 211. of royal blood. The folios have ' a Royall Princesse/ 
 
 213. only safest. These words are transposed in the folios. But the 
 present order is in accordance with the usage of the time. Compare Much 
 Ado, iii. I. 23 : * That only wounds by hearsay* ; that is, wounds by hearsay 
 only. 
 
 217. unavoided, unavoidable, inevitable. Compare 'unvalued/ i. 4. 27. 
 
 221-234. K. Rich. You speak . . . bosom. Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 222. Cousins . . . cozened. * Cousin* and 'cozen* are in reality the same 
 word, but for convenience distinguished in spelling. Cotgrave has ' Cousiner. 
 To clayme kindred for aduantage, or particular ends ; as he, who to saue 
 charges in trauelling, goes from house to house, as cousin to the owner of 
 euerie one.' Hence to ' cousin ' or ' cozen ' came to signify to beguile or 
 deceive generally. 
 
 224. lanced. Spelt Manch'd ' in the folios, and no doubt so pronounced, as 
 it was as late as Dryden's time. See note on Lear, ii. 1.52 (Clarendon Press 
 ed.), and Antony and Cleopatra, v. i. 36, where the folios read, 
 
 ' But we do launch 
 Diseases in our bodies.* 
 In Spenser, Faery Queen, vi. 2. 6, we find, 
 
 ' And in his left he held a sharpe bore-speare, 
 With which he wont to launch the salvage hart 
 Of many a Lyon and of many a Beare.* 
 
 225. all indirectly, gave direction. Steevens points to a similar play upon 
 words in Hamlet, ii. i. 66 : 
 
 'By indirections find directions out.* 
 Delius quotes King John, iii. I. 275, 276 : 
 
 Though indirect, 
 
 Yet indirection thereby grows direct/ 
 
 227. on thy stone-hard heart. Compare The Merchant of Venice, iv. I. 
 123, 124: 
 
 ' Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew, 
 
 Thou makest thy knife keen/ 
 
 229. still, constant. Compare Titus Andronicus, iii. 2. 45 : 
 ' But I of these will wrest an alphabet, * 
 
 And by still practice learn to know thy meaning/ 
 233. tackling ', cordage, rigging. See 3 Henry VI, v. 4. 1 8, where a 
 nautical figure like the present is elaborated with much greater detail : 
 
 ' The friends of France our shrouds and tacklings/ 
 Ib. reft, bereaved, deprived; the participle of 'reave* (A.S. redfian, to 
 rob). So in Comedy of Errors, i. i. 116: 
 
 'And would have reft the fishes of their prey/ 
 
2l6 NOTES. [ACT iv. 
 
 2 35' 2 36. wzy enterprise . . . wars. So the folios. The quartos have 
 ' my dangerous attempt of hostile armes/ 
 
 238. were by me wrong 1 d. The folios read ' by me were harm'd/ 
 
 243. No, to . . . honour. In the folios, 
 
 'Vnto the dignity and height of Fortune/ 
 
 244. type, badge, distinguishing mark. Compare Richard's speech to his 
 soldiers as reported in Hall's Chronicle (p. 414) : ' By whose wisedom & 
 polecie, I haue obteyned the crowne & type of this famous realm & noble 
 region.' Also Montaigne's Essayes (trans. Florio, 1603), P- 335 : 'I besought 
 fortune above all things, that she would make me a knight of the order of 
 Saint Michell, which in those dayes was very rare, and the highest tipe of 
 honour the French Nobilitie aymed at/ And North's Plutarch (1631), 
 Alexander, p. 694 : ' Are you ignorant, that the tipe of honour in all our 
 victory consisteth, in scorning to do that which we see them do, whom we 
 have vanquished and ouercome? ' See also 3 Henry VI, i. 4. 121 : 
 
 ' My father bears the type of King of Naples/ 
 
 247. demise, grant, transfer. As a law term it is usually applied to real 
 property, which is ' demised ' by will, just as personal property is ' bequeathed/ 
 The word does not occur elsewhere in Shakespeare. 
 250. Lethe. Compare Twelfth Night, iv. I. 66: 
 
 * Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep/ 
 
 In the Greek mythology Lethe was one of the rivers of hell, the waters of 
 which produced forgetfulness. Hence it figures in Milton's description in 
 Paradise Lost, ii. 582-586 : 
 
 ' Far off from these, a slow and silent stream, 
 Lethe, the river of oblivion, rolls 
 Her watery labyrinth, whereof who drinks 
 "^ Forthwith his former state and being forgets 
 ^Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain/ 
 
 253. process. See iv. 3. 32. 
 
 254. date, period of duration. Compare Sonnet xviii. 4 : 
 
 ' And summer's lease hath all too short a date/ 
 And Midsummer Night's Dream, iii. 2. 373 : 
 
 * With league whose date till death shall never end/ 
 259. from thy souPs love. A poor quibble, but not unworthy of the 
 dialogue. Elizabeth purposely makes Richard say the opposite of what he 
 intends, which the double meaning of ' from ' allows her to do, Compare 
 The Tempest, i. 2. 65, and Julius Caesar, i. 3. 35 : 
 
 4 But men may construe things after their fashion 
 Clean from the purpose of the things themselves/ 
 263. England is here a trisyllable, but the corrector of the folio regarded 
 it as a disyllabic, and substituted ' do intend ' for * mean,' to avoid the re- 
 petition of the latter word. 
 
EC. 4.] RICHARD III. 317 
 
 269. that are best acquainted. The folios have 'being best acquainted/ 
 
 274. as sometime Margaret. See 3 Henry VI, i. 4. 79-83. 
 
 275-277. steep 1 d . . . body. For these words the first quarto reads, 'a 
 handkercher steept in Rutlands bloud.' The others have ' handkercheffe.' 
 
 278. And bid . . . therewith. The folios, with an unpleasant alliteration, 
 read 
 
 And bid her wipe her weeping eyes withall.' 
 
 280. a story of thy noble acts. The folios read *a Letter of thy Noble 
 deeds.' 
 
 283. Modest quick conveyance with, &c., didst speedily remove, get rid of, 
 &c. See note on i. 3. TVI. 
 
 284. Come, come, you mock me. The folios read 'You mocke me 
 Madam. 
 
 288-342. K. Rich. Say . . . tender years? Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 289. she cannot choose but, she must of necessity. Compare The Tempest, 
 ii. 2. 24: * Yond same cloud cannot choose but fall by pailfuls.' And Merry 
 Wives, v. 3. 1 8 : ' That cannot choose but amaze him.' 
 
 292. shall deal unadvisedly, must deal, cannot help dealing, unadvisedly. 
 Compare As You Like It, v. i. 13 : 'We that have good wits have much to 
 answer for; we shall be flouting'; that is, we cannot help flouting, we must 
 have our joke. See Abbott, 315. 
 
 76. unadvisedly, rashly, without due consideration. Compare Psalm cvi. 
 33 : ' Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with 
 his lips.' 
 
 293. Which. The antecedent is the rash dealing implied in the previous 
 sentence. 
 
 76. give. The folios read * gives,' a frequent misprint when the preceding 
 word ends in ' s.' See note on iv. I. 104, and compare The Tempest, iii. 3. 2 : 
 'My old bones aches'; and in the same play, v. I. 16: * His tears runs.' 
 Again, Coriolanus, iv. 7. 28 : * All places yeelds.' But these are not instances 
 of the plural in ' s.' 
 
 302. mettle. Compare Macbeth, i. 7. 73 : 
 
 ' Bring forth men-children only, 
 For thy undaunted mettle should compose 
 Nothing but males.' 
 
 In the first folio it is spelt ' mettall,' and no distinction is consistently made 
 in spelling between the literal and metaphorical meanings of the word. See 
 note on Julius Caesar, i. I. 62 (Clarendon Press edition). Like the Lat. 
 metallum, from which it is derived, it primarily denotes that which is dug 
 out of a mine, and so, stuff or substance generally. Hence it is applied to 
 that which forms the basis of character, and so disposition, or temper. 
 
 304. of her, by her. Compare 11. 102, 103, 418. 
 
 76. bid, suffered, bore. 
 
2l8 NOTES. [ACT iv. 
 
 322. orient, bright, shining; properly, eastern, as pearls were first brought 
 from the East. See note on Midsummer Night's Dream, iv. I. 59 (53 
 Clarendon Press ed.). 
 
 323. Advantaging their loan, &c. The folios read ' loue,' which Theobald 
 corrected to * loan,* and at the same time resolved the unmeaning compound 
 * often-times ' into its parts ' of ten times.' He adds, * My emendation gives 
 this apt and easy Sense. The tears, that you have lent to your Afflictions, 
 shall be turned into Gems; and requite you, by way of Interest, with 
 Happiness twenty times as great as your sorrows have been.' Compare 
 Hamlet, v. I. 270: 
 
 ' O treble woe 
 Fall ten times treble on that cursed head!' 
 
 331. chastised. The accent is on the first syllable, as it is in all other 
 passages of Shakespeare, except Troilus and Cressida, v. 5. 4: 
 * Tell her I have chastised the amorous Trojan.' 
 
 335. retail. See iii. I. 77. 
 
 343. Infer. See iii. 5. 75. 
 
 353, 354. lengthens . . . likes. In the one case * heaven and nature ' are 
 regarded as one idea, as 'hell and Richard' are in the other. See iv. I. 40. 
 Pope reads ' lengthen . . . like.' 
 
 355. love. So the quartos. The folios read ' low,' but this gives no 
 opportunity for the play on words contained in ' loathes ' in the next line. 
 
 359. Then in plain terms tell her. The folios have, * Then plainly to her tell.' 
 
 361. Y~our reasons. So in the folios. The quartos have, ' Madame your 
 reasons.' 
 
 364, 365. These lines are transposed in the folios. 
 
 366. Now. by my George, my garter, and my crown. The George and 
 garter were both insignia of the order of the Garter, but the former was not 
 added till the reign of Henry the Seventh. See Bowtell's Heraldry, 3rd ed. 
 p. 341. 'The George, executed in coloured enamel, is a figure of St. 
 George on his charger, in the act of piercing the dragon with his lance.' 
 (Ibid. 342.) 
 
 369. holy. The folios read 'Lordly,' and 'Thy' for 'The' at the 
 beginning of this and the two following lines. 
 
 376. These two speeches in the folios are placed before 1. 374. 
 
 377. God . . . God's. The folios, to avoid the penalties of the Act 
 against profanity read ' Heaven . . . Heavens.' 
 
 379. thy brother is the reading of the two latest quartos. The others 
 have ' my brother,' and the folios ' my Husband.' 
 
 380. Had . . . slain. The folios read, 
 
 ' Thou had'st not broken, nor my Brothers died.' 
 
 But Lord Rivers was the only brother of the queen's for whose death Richard 
 was responsible. 
 
sc. 4.] RICHARD III. 219 
 
 382. brow. The folios have ' head.' 
 
 385. two. Capell reads ' too.' 
 
 Ib. playfellows. The folios read Bed-fellowes.' 
 
 387. The time. The quartos have * By the time.' 
 
 388. The quartos read ' wrongd in time.' 
 
 390. time past wrong 'd by thee. The quartos read ' time by the past 
 wrongd.' 
 
 396. by time misused o'erpast. The folios read ' by times Ul-vs'd repast. 
 400. Heaven . . . hours ! Omitted in the quartos. 
 405. I tender* I regard, have regard for. See i. i. 44, ii. 4. 7 2 
 407, 408. Without . . . soul. The folios read these lines, 
 
 * Without her, followes to my selfe, and thee; 
 Her selfe, the Land, and &c.' 
 
 409. Death, desolation. The principal quartos read ' Sad desolation.' 
 
 413. attorney. See iv. 4. 126, v. 3. 83. 
 
 417. peevish-fond, childishly foolish. Malone conjectured that the words 
 as they stand in the quartos should be hyphened. The folios have ' peevish 
 found.' 
 
 424. in that nest of spicery. Like the phoenix of fable, which made itself 
 a nest of spices as a funeral pile upon which it was consumed, a new phcenix 
 rising from its ashes. Richard's father refers to the same popular belief in 
 3 Henry VI, i. 4. 35 : 
 
 * My ashes, as the phcenix, may bring forth 
 A bird that will revenge upon you all.' 
 
 425. recomforture, comfort. The word occurs nowhere else in Shake- 
 speare, and the prefix 're-' is probably rather intensive, as in 'recure' 
 iii. 7. 30, than used to denote repetition. Compare 3 Henry VI, v. 7. 19 : 
 
 'That thou mightst repossess the crown in peace/ 
 
 Cotgrave has 'Reconfort: m. Great solace, or comfort, much consolation.' 
 And * Reconforter. To comfort, or solace much ; to ease, or cheere vp, 
 exceedingly.' 
 
 426. go win. See Abbott, 349, and compare Julius Caesar, i. 2. 25 : 
 
 * Will you go see the order of the course ? ' 
 
 427. And be, &c. The affirmative particle is omitted, as in Hamlet, 
 iii. 2. 53: 
 
 * Ham. Will the king hear this piece of work ? 
 Pol. And the queen too?' 
 
 See Abbott, 97. 
 
 429. And . . . mind. Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 431. At the close of the narrative which suggested this scene, Hall has 
 the following profound remark : * Surely the inconstancie of this woman 
 were muche to be merueled at, yf all women had bene founde constante, 
 
220 NOTES. [ACT iv. 
 
 but let men speake, yet wemen of the verie bond of nature will followe 
 their awne kynde.' (p. 406.) 
 
 432. How now ! what newsf Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 433' My gracious sovereign. The folios have ' Most mightie Soveraigne.' 
 
 434. puissant, powerful. See Julius Caesar, iii. I. 33 : 
 
 ' Most high, most mighty, and most puissant Caesar/ 
 438. they hull, they lie with no sails set, drifting with the tide. Compare 
 Twelfth Night, i. 5. 217 : 
 
 * Mar. Will you hoist sail, sir ? here lies your way. 
 
 Vio. No, good swabber ; I am to hull here a little longer.' 
 And Henry VIII, ii. 4. 199 : 
 
 ' Thus hulling in 
 
 The wild sea of my conscience, I did steer 
 Toward this remedy.' 
 440. light-foot, swift-footed. 
 
 442, 443. Gate. Here, my lord . . . Salisbury. The folios have : 
 ' Cat. Here, my good lord. 
 Rich. Catesby, fiye to the Duke. 
 Cat. I will, my Lord, with all conuenient haste. 
 Rich. Catesby come hither, poste to Salisbury.' 
 Rowe in the last line read ' Ratcliffe' for ' Catesby/ 
 
 446. First . . . mind. The folios read ' First, mighty Liege, tell me your 
 Highnesse pleasure.' 
 
 450. presently. See. i. 2. 212. The folios read * suddenly/ that is* 
 speedily; as in iv. 2. 19. 
 
 451. Gate. I go. Omitted in the quartos. 
 
 452. What . . . do. The folios read 'What, may it please you, shall 
 I doe/ &c. 
 
 456, 457. My mind . . . with you f The folios have 
 ' My minde is chang'd : 
 
 Enter Lord Stanley. 
 Stanley, what newes with you?' 
 
 458. None good, my lord. The punctuation is Theobald's, though he 
 reads ' liege' for lord/ The quartos have * None good my lord' ; the folios, 
 ' None, good my Liege/ 
 
 459. but it may well be told. The folios have 'but well may be re- 
 ported/ 
 
 460. Hoyday. So in Troilus and Cressida, v. I. 73: 'Hoy-day! spirits 
 and fires/ 
 
 461. Why . . . about. The folios read ' What need'st thou runne so many 
 miles about/ 
 
 462. a nearer way. In the folios ' the neerest way/ 
 
sc. 4.] RICHARD III. 221 
 
 465. White-liver' d. Compare Macbeth, v. 3. 15 : 
 
 'Go prick thy face, and over-red thy fear, 
 Thou lily-liver'd boy.' 
 
 In Lear, iv. 2. 50, Goneril calls her husband ' Milk-liver'd man !' The liver 
 was regarded as the seat of courage. See The Merchant of Venice, iii. 2. 86. 
 A liver white and pale was 'the badge of pusillanimity and cowardice.' 
 2 Henry IV, iv. 3. 113. 
 
 Ib. runagate, vagabond. See Romeo and Juliet, iii. 5. 90: 'Where that 
 same banish'd runagate doth live.' And the Prayer-Book Version of Psalm 
 Ixviii. 6 : ' but letteth the runagates continue in scarceness.' 
 
 467. as you guess is not repeated in the folios. 
 
 468. Ely. The folios have ' Morton.' See note on iii. 4. 32. 
 470. the chair, the throne. See v. 3. 251. 
 
 Ib. the sword of state, with which the monarch is still girt at coronation. 
 474. what doth he upon the sea f The folios read ' what makes he vpon 
 the Seas.' 
 
 476. Unless for that he comes, &c. Richard as before 'moralizes two 
 meanings in one word.' 
 
 477. the Welshman, being the grandson of Owen Tudor. 
 
 479. mighy liege. The folios read ' my good Lord.' 
 
 480. power, force, army. So in Lear, iv. 4. 21 : 
 
 ' The British powers are marching hitherward.' 
 
 485. Cold friends to Richard. The folios read very lamely, 'Cold friends 
 to me,' which destroys what little force there was in the line. 
 
 487. They have not been commanded, they have received no orders. 
 
 488. Please it. The folios have 'Pleaseth' = may it please. Compare 
 2 Henry IV, iv. I. 225 : 
 
 ' Pleaseth your lordship 
 To meet his grace just distance 'tween our armies.' 
 
 496. Go ... behind. The folio has ' Goe then, and muster men : but leaue 
 behind/ 
 
 497. your son, George Stanley. ' For when the sayde lorde Stanley 
 woulde haue departed into his countrey to visite his familie, and to recreate and 
 refreshe his spirites (as he openly sayde) but the truth was to thenent to be 
 in a perfight readines to receaue the erle of Richmond at his first arriuall in 
 England : the kyng in no wise woulde suffre hym to departe before that he 
 had left as an hostage in the courte George Stanley lorde straung his first 
 begotten sonne and heire.' Hall, Richard III, p. 408. 
 
 Ib. faith. The folios read ' heart.' 
 
 500. 'Sir Edwarde Courtney and Peter his brother bishop of Exsetter 
 reised another army in deuonshire and cornewall. In kente, Richarde 
 Guylforde and other gentlemen, collected a great companye of souldyoures 
 and openly beganne warre.' Hall, Richard III, p. 393. These Courtenays 
 
222 NOTES. [ACT iv. 
 
 were not brothers but cousins. See French, Shakespeareana Genealogica, 
 p. 249. 
 
 504. moe. See 1. 199. 
 
 506. hour, a disyllabic, as in 1. 173. To avoid this Pope read 'still more 
 competitors.' 
 
 Ib. competitors, associates, confederates ; persons who seek the same ob- 
 ject and are on the same side. See Antony and Cleopatra, ii. 7. 76 : 
 
 * These three world-sharers, these competitors, 
 Are in thy vessel.' 
 
 And in Twelfth Night, iv. 2. 12, when Sir Toby and Maria appear the clown 
 says, ' The competitors enter.' 
 
 507. Flock . . . increaseth. The folios read 
 
 * Flocke to the Rebels, and their power growes strong/ 
 
 509. owls, whose cry portended death. Compare Lucrece, 165 : 
 
 * No noise but owls' and wolves' death-boding cries.' 
 And Macbeth, ii. 2. 4: 
 
 * It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman, 
 Which gives the stern'st good night.' 
 
 510. Take . . . news. The folios read 
 
 ' There, take thou that, till thou bring better newes.' 
 
 511. See the quotation from Hall in the Preface, p. xlv. The quartos 
 here read: 
 
 ' Mes. Your grace mistakes, the newes I bring is good 
 My newes is that by sudden floud, and fall of water, 
 The Duke of Buckinghams armie is disperst and scattered, 
 And he himselfe fled, no man knowes whether. 
 
 King. O I crie you mercie, I did mistake, 
 Ratcliffe reward him, for the blow I gaue him/ 
 
 518. that brings the traitor in. The quartos have 'that brings in 
 Buckingham/ 
 
 519. Richard's proclamation against the rebels was dated Oct. 23, 1483. 
 
 520. Sir Thomas Lovel. ' And by this meanes almooste in one momenta 
 Thomas Marques Dorcet came out of sanctuarye where he sith the begyn- 
 nynge of Richardes dayes had contynued, whose lyfe by the onely helpe of 
 sir Thomas Louell esquyer was preserued from all daungier and perell in this 
 troubleous worlde, gathered together a greate bande of menne in Yorkeshire/ 
 Hall, Richard III, p. 393. Sir Thomas Lovel was Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer and Treasurer of the Household to Henry VII, and was one of the 
 Lady Margaret's Executors. In the play of Henry VIII he appears as 
 Constable of the Tower. 
 
 522. Yet . . . grace. The folios read ' But . , . Highnesse/ 
 
 523. by tempest. These words are omitted in the quartos, which read as 
 one line The Brittaine . . . Dorshire/ 
 
sc. 5.J RICHARD III. 3#f 
 
 524, 525. sent . . . banks. The quartos read : 
 
 * Sent out a boate to aske them on the shore.' 
 
 526. yea or no. The rule laid down by Sir Thomas More that yea and 
 nay were used together, and yes and no, was not observed in Shakespeare's 
 time. See the note on Coriolanus, iii. I. 145. 
 
 528. Upon his par fy. See iii. 2. 47. 
 
 529. Hoised . . . Brittany. The quartos have Hoist . . . Brittaine.' The 
 folios, ' Hoys'd saile, and made his course againe for Brittaine.' 
 
 76. Hoised. Usually derived from Fr. haulser or hausser. Cotgrave has, 
 * Hausser. To hoise, raise, eleuate, heave vp, lift high ; set aloft, aduance.* 
 In Hall's narrative we find, * he weyed vp his ancors and halsed vp hys 
 sayles.' Professor Skeat, perhaps rightly, connects the word with the Old 
 Dutch hyssen % modern hijschen, and the Swedish hyssa, to hoist. 
 
 535. landed at Milford. A gap of two years in the history is here 
 bridged over by the dramatist. Richmond embarked on his first fruitless 
 expedition to join Buckingham on October 12, 1483, but his actual landing 
 at Milford did not take place till about the 7th or 8th of August 1485. 
 (Gairdner, Richard the Third, p. 269.) 
 
 536. Is colder tidings, yet, &c. The folios have 'Is colder Newes, but 
 yet/ &c. 
 
 537- reason, talk. See i. 4. 154. 
 
 538. a royal battle, a battle on which a kingdom depends. 
 
 539. take order. See i. 4. 277; iii. 5. 103. 
 
 Scene V. 
 
 Sir Christopher Urswick was chaplain to the Lady Margaret and was trusted 
 by her to carry on the negotiations with Richmond in Brittany. * In the 
 meane ceason the countesse of Richemond toke into her seruice Christopher 
 Vrswike an honest and a wise priest, and after an othe of hym for to be 
 secret taken and sworne she vttred to him all her mynde & councell, 
 adhibityng to him the more confidence and truth that he al his life had 
 fauoured and taken part with kyng Henry the .vi. and as a special iuell put 
 to her seruice by sir Lewes her physician.' Hall, Richard III, p. 392. 
 The title 'Sir' which is here given him is out of place (see iii. 3. in), for 
 Urswick was at this time LL.D. and master of King's Hall, Cambridge 
 (1483-1488). He held various ecclesiastical offices and was Dean of York 
 (1488-1494), chancellor of Exeter (1493), and Dean of Windsor (1496). 
 He refused the bishopric of Norwich, and died at Hackney, where he was 
 rector, Oct. 24, 1521. See Cooper's Athenae Cantabrigienses, vol. i. 
 
 The scene is probably at Knowsley in Lancashire, where the Lady 
 Margaret was living when Morton first opened negotiations with her for the 
 return of her son. But it is a little uncertain, because when the queen pro- 
 posed the marriage of Richmond with the Princess Elizabeth, the Lady 
 
^24 NOTES. [ACT iv. sc. 5. 
 
 Margaret was at her husband's house in London, afterwards Derby House, 
 the site of which is occupied by the Heralds' College. See below, note on 
 
 1.17. 
 
 2. this most bloody. The folios read ' the most deadly.' 
 
 3. franVd. See i. 3. 314. 
 
 Ib. in hold, in prison. See Acts iv. 3. So in Measure for Measure, iv. 3. 91 : 
 
 'Put them in secret holds, both Barnardine and Claudio.' 
 Lord Stanley, as Richard approached, retired with five thousand men to Ather- 
 stone, ' there abydynge the commyng of the Earle, and this wilye foxe dyd 
 this acte to aduoyde all suspicion, beynge afraied least yf he shoulde be sene 
 openly to bee a fautoure or ayder to the Earle his sonne in lawe before the 
 daie of the battayle, that kynge Richarde whyche yet dyd not vtterly put in 
 him diffidence and mystruste woulde put to some cruell deathe his sonne and 
 heire apparaunt George Lorde Straunge whome kynge Rycharde as you haue 
 heard before kept with hym as a pledge or hostage to thentent that the 
 lorde Stanley his father shoulde attempte nothing preiudiciall to hym.' (Hall, 
 p. 412.) 
 
 5. withholds. The folios have 'holds off,' and after this line they insert 
 the following: 
 
 ' So get thee gone : commend me to thy Lord. 
 Withall say, that the Queene hath heartily consented 
 He should espouse Elizabeth hir daughter.' 
 
 ,7. 'In the calendes of August he sailed from harflet with so prosperous 
 a wynde that the .vii. daye after his departure he arryued in Wales in the 
 euenyng at a porte called Mylford Hauen, and incontinent tooke land and 
 came to a place called Dalle . . . And the earle at the sonne rysyng remoued 
 to harfford west . . . Here he heard newes which were as vntrue as they 
 truly were reported to hym in Normandie, that Rice ap Thomas and Ihon 
 Sauage wythe body and goodes were determined to aide kyng Richard. 
 While he and his compaignie were somewhat appalled of these newe tydynges, 
 trier came such message from thinhabitauntes of the toune of Pembroke y* 
 refresshed and reuyued their frosen heartes and daunted courages.' (Hal!, 
 Richard III, p. 410.) 
 
 9. Sir Walter Herbert, ' a man of an aunciente stocke and greate powre 
 emongest the Welshemen.' (Hall, p. 410.) 
 
 10. Sir Gilbert Talbot, called Sir George here by Hall, but afterwards 
 Sir Gilbert, joined Henry at Newport. He was uncle to the young Earl of 
 Shrewsbury. 'In the euenynge, the same daie came to hym sir George 
 Talbott with the whole powre of the younge Earle of Shrewsburye then 
 beynge in warde, whiche were accompted to the nombre of twoo thousande 
 men.' (Hall, Richard III, p. 411.) 
 
 Ib. Sir William Stanley. The brother of Thomas Lord Stanley. ' And 
 thus his powre increasynge he arryued at the towne of Stafforde and there 
 
ACT v. sc. I.] RICHARD III. 22$ 
 
 pawsed. To whome came Sir Wyllyam Stanley accompaignied with a fewe 
 persones.' (Hall. p. 411.) 
 
 11. Oxford . . . Sir James Blunt. John de Vere Earl of Oxford was im- 
 prisoned by Edward IV in the castle of Hammes. See 3 Henry VI, v. 5. 2. 
 'While kynge Richard was thus troubled and vexed with ymaginacions of the 
 tumulteous time that was like to come : Loo, euen sodeinly he herde newes 
 that fyer was sprong oute of the smoke, and the warre recently begonne, and 
 that the castell of hammes was deliuered into the handes of the earle of 
 Rychemonde by the meanes of the earle of Oxenforde, and that not only he 
 but also lames Blount capiteine of the castel, were fled into Fraunce to aide 
 the Earle Henry.' (Hall, p. 408.) 
 
 Ib. redoubted Pembroke. Jasper Tudor, earl of Pembroke, uncle to 
 Richmond. He afterwards married Katharine Woodville widow of the 
 Duke of Buckingham. 
 
 12. Rice ap Thomas. As Richmond marched towards Shrewsbury, * there 
 met & saluted him Rice ap Thomas with a goodly band of Welshmen/ 
 (Hall, p. 411.) 
 
 Ib. with a valiant crew. See Hall, p. 411: * sir Walter Herberd which 
 laie w* a greate crewe of menne at Carmarden/ 
 
 13. moe. The folios have 'other,' reading 'great* instead of * noble.* 
 
 14. they do bend their course. The folios have, ' do they bend their power/ 
 17. Tell him the queen, &c. The queen, who was in sanctuary at 
 
 Westminster, after hearing from Master Lewis, the Lady Margaret's physician, 
 the proposal for the marriage of Richmond to the princess Elizabeth, desired 
 ' that he would with all diligente celerite resorte to her then lodgyng in her 
 husbandes place within the cyte of London, and to declare on the Quenes 
 behalfe to the countesse, that all the frendes and fautoures of kyng Edward 
 her husbande, should assiste and take parte with the earle of Richemonde 
 her sonne, so that he would take a corporall othe after the kyngdome 
 obteyned to espouse and take to wife the ladye Elizabeth her daughter, or 
 els lady Cecile, yf theldest daughter were not then lyuynge/ (Hall, p. 391.) 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. 
 
 The historical date of this scene was Nov. 2, 1483. 
 
 Buckingham was betrayed by Humphrey Bannister, in whose house near 
 Shrewsbury he had taken refuge, to John Mitton, Sheriff of Shropshire, 
 'whyche sodaynely with a stronge power of mennn harnes apprehended the 
 duke in a litle groue adioynynge to the mansion of Homfrey Banaster, and 
 in greate hast and euyll spede conueighed him appareled in a pilled black 
 cloke to the cytie of Salsburie where kynge Richard then kepte his houshold 
 
 Q 
 
226 NOTES. [ACT. v. 
 
 . . . The duke beyng by certayne of the kynges councel diligently vpon 
 interrogatories examined what thynges he knewe prejudicial to y e kynges 
 person, opened and declared frankely and frely all the coniuracion without 
 dissimulynge or glosynge, trustynge because he had truely & playnly 
 reueled and confessed all thinges that were of hym required, that he should 
 haue lycence to speke to y e kyng which (whether it wer to sue for perdon 
 and grace, or whether he being brought to his presence would have sticked 
 him with a dagger as men then judged) he sore desyred and required. But 
 when he had confessed the whole facte and conspiracye vpon Allsoulen day 
 without arreignemente or iudgemente he was at Salsburye in the open 
 merket place on a newe skaffolde behedded and put to death.' (Hall, p. 395.) 
 Holinshed places the scene of the execution at Shrewsbury. Johnson pro- 
 posed to add this scene to the preceding act. 
 
 I. The failure of Buckingham's attempt to obtain an interview with 
 Richard is referred to in Henry VIII, i. 2. 195 &c. 
 
 3. Rivers, Grey. The folios have ' Gray & Riuers.' 
 
 4. Holy King Henry. See iv. 4. 25. Douce says, 'King Hemy the 
 Sixth, though never actually canonized, was regarded as a saint, and miracles 
 were supposed to have been performed by him.' Henry VII found the 
 expense of canonization too great. 
 
 5. miscarried. See i. 3. 16. 
 
 13. in King Edward's time. See ii. I. 32, &c. 
 
 19. the determined respite of my wrongs, the fixed period to which the 
 punishment of my wrong-doing is postponed. 
 25. Margaret's curse. See i. 3. 300. 
 
 28. Come, sirs, convey me. The folios read * Come leade me Officers.' 
 
 29. wrong hath but wrong, wrong-doing has brought retribution though 
 unjust. Compare ' right for right/ iv. 4. 15. 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 The Camp near Tamworth. ' The Earle of Rychmonde reised his campe 
 and departed from Lychefelde to the town of Tomwoorth therto nere 
 adionynge/ (Hall, p. 413.) 
 
 Enter Richmond, &c. The quartos have only 'Enter Richmond with 
 drums and trumpets.' 
 
 5. from our father Stanley. When Richmond's army arrived at Tamworth 
 at night, he himself lost his way and took shelter in a little village three 
 miles off. Next morning on joining his men he made excuses for his 
 absence, and ' preuely departed agayn from his host to the tonne of Ader- 
 stone, where the lord Stanley and sir William his brother with their bandes 
 were abidynge. There the Earle came firste to his fatherinlawe in a lytle 
 close, where he saluted hym and Sir William his brother.' (Hall, p. 413.) 
 
sc. 3.] RICHARD III. 227 
 
 7. Compare Beaumont and Fletcher, The Prophetess, ii. 3 ; where Diodes, 
 addressing Aper, says 
 
 ' Thou art like thy name, 
 A cruel boar; whose snout hath rooted up 
 The fruitful vineyard of the commonwealth.' 
 
 8, 9. That spoiVd . . . Swills. This change of tense from past to present 
 is not uncommon in animated descriptions. See The Tempest, i. 2. 148 
 (Clarendon Press ed.), and Winter's Tale, v. 2. 83: * She lifted the princess 
 from the earth, and so locks her in embracing, as if she would pin her to her 
 heart.' Malone gives an example of the opposite change from the Argument 
 to the Rape of Lucrece : ' The same night he treacherously stealeth into her 
 chamber, violently ravished her, and early in the morning speedeth away.' 
 
 10. swine (A. S. swin) is here singular, as in Venus and Adonis, 616 : 
 
 'Thou know'st not what it is 
 With javelin's point a churlish swine to gore.' 
 And The Taming of the Shrew, Ind. i. 34 : 
 
 ' O monstrous beast ! how like a swine he lies 1* 
 
 n. Lies. The folios read 'Is, 1 but * Lies' suits better with the figure of 
 the boar. * Centre' is spelt ' Gentry* in the first folio. 
 
 12. Near to the town of Leicester. 'In the mean ceason kyng Richard 
 . . marshed to a place mete for twoo battayles to encountre by a village 
 called Bosworth, not farre from Leycester, and there he pitched his fclde, 
 refreshed his soldioures and toke his reste.' (Hall, p. 414.) 
 
 13. one day's march. Tamworth is 15 or 16 miles from Bosworth Field. 
 
 14. cheerly, cheerfully. So in As You Like It, ii. i. 19 : 'Cheerly, good 
 Adam !' 
 
 1 7. Oxf. This speech is given in the quartos to ' I Lo.' and in those 
 which follow, instead of 'Herb.' and * Blunt' they have merely ' 2 Lo.' and 
 ' 3 Lo -' 
 
 Ib. swords. The folios have * men,' and instead of ' that bloody homi- 
 cide' in the next line they read 'this guilty Homicide,' probably on account 
 of ' bloody' in 1. 16. 
 
 18. fly. The folios change this to ' turne' and read ' flye' for ' shrink' in 
 
 1. 20. 
 
 20. who, they who. 
 
 21. his greatest need. The folios read 'his deerest neede,' that is, his 
 greatest extremity. See note on ' dear* in i. 4. 204. 
 
 Scene III. 
 
 Enter King Richard, &c. The quartos have 'Enter King Richard, 
 Norffolke, Ratcliffe, Catesbie, with others.' The folios, 'Enter King Richard 
 in Armes, with Norfolke, Ratciiffe, and the Earle of Surrey.' The Duke of 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 NOTES. [ACT.V. 
 
 Norfolk commanded Richard's vanguard at the battle of Bosworth Field. 
 
 See 1. 296. 
 
 2. My Lord . . . sad? The first quarto has, * Whie, how now Catesbie, 
 
 whie lookst thou so bad.* The other quartos change ' bad ' to * sad,' and all 
 
 give the next line to ' Cat.' 
 
 4. My Lord . . . liege. The quartos have only ' Norffolke, come hither.' 
 6. my gracious lord. The folios alter this to ' my louing lord,' and omit 
 
 * there ' in 1. 7. 
 
 8. all's one for that, no matter for that, never mind. Compare Mid- 
 summer Night's Dream, i. 2. 51 : 
 
 * Flu. Nay, faith, let not me play a woman ; I have a beard coming. 
 Quin. That's all one: you shall play it in a mask/ 
 
 9. descried, observed, reconnoitred. Compare Lear, iv. 5. 13: 'To 
 descry the strength o' the enemy.' And Judges, i. 23 : 'And the house of 
 Joseph sent to descry Bethel.' 
 
 Ib. foe. The folio reads ' traitors.' 
 
 10. Six or seven thousand. ' For all his hole nowzber exceeded not .v. 
 thousande men beside the powr of the Stanleys, wherof .iij. thousande were 
 in the felde vnder the standard of sir William Stanley : the kynges nomber 
 was doble as muche & more.' (Hall, p. 414.) 
 
 11. our battalion. So the quartos. The folios read 'our battalia.' 
 Similarly in Hamlet, iv. 5. 79, the first folio has, 
 
 ' When sorrowes comes, they come not single spies, 
 
 But in Battaliaes.' 
 
 Ib. trebles. Richard's army was about twelve thousand men, and he 
 reckoned upon the assistance of the Stanleys besides. 
 Ib. account, reckoning. 
 
 12. a tower of strength. Douce quotes Proverbs xviii. 10: 'The name of 
 the Lord is a strong tower/ 
 
 13. party. The folios read ' faction/ 
 
 14. Up with . . . gentlemen. In the folios the line stands, 
 
 'Vp with the Tent: Come Noble Gentlemen/ 
 We have had * adverse party ' before. See iv. 4. 190. 
 
 15. field. The folios have ' ground/ 
 
 1 6. of sound direction, skilled in ordering military movements. See lines 
 236, 302 of this scene for the sense of 'direction'; and Othello, ii. 3. 128: 
 
 ' He is a soldier fit to stand by Caesar 
 
 And give direction/ 
 
 1 8. Enter . . . The stage direction in the folios is, 'Enter Richmond, Sir 
 William Brandon, Oxford, and Dorset/ The quartos have only, 'Enter 
 Richmond with the Lordes, &c/ But Dorset had been left behind at Paris. 
 Richmond had borrowed money for his expedition of the French King. 
 
 * For the whiche he left as debter or more likelyer as a pledge or hostage lord 
 
sc. 3.] RICHARD III. 229 
 
 Thomas Marques Dofsett (whome he halfe mistrusted) and Sir Ihon Burchier/ 
 (Hall, p. 409.) 
 
 19. set, sunset, as in Henry V, iv. i. 289 : 
 
 * But, like a lackey, from the rise to set 
 Sweats in the eye of Phcebus/ 
 
 20, 21. The folios read * tract' for * track* and ' token* for ' signal.' The 
 former spelling is also found in Richard II, iii. 3. 66 : 
 
 * To dimme his glory, and to staine the tract 
 
 Of his bright passage to the Occident.' 
 
 22. Sir William . . . standard. The quartos read, ' Where is Sir William 
 Brandon, he shall beare my standerd.' 
 
 23-26. These four lines stand as in the folios. In the quartos they are 
 inserted after 1. 43, thus, 
 
 1 Blunt. Vpon my life my Lord, lie vndertake it. 
 Rich. Farewell good Blunt. 
 Give me some inke 
 
 our small strength. 
 
 Come, let vs consult vpon to morowes busines, 
 In to our tent, the aire is rawe and cold/ 
 The quartos also omit lines 27, 28, and 43. 
 
 25. Limit, fix strictly, appoint, each leader to his command. So in 
 Macbeth, ii. 3. 56 : 
 
 I'll make so bold to call, 
 For 'tis my limited service ' ; 
 that is, the duty appointed me. 
 
 29. keeps. The quartos read * keepe,' which, if correct, must be taken as 
 an imperative. 
 
 33. good Blunt, before thou gtfst. The folios have ' (good captain) do 
 for me/ 
 
 40. In the folios this line stands, 
 
 ' Sweet Blunt, make some good meanes to speak with him,' 
 and in the following line they read 'Note* for 'scroll/ For 'make means,' 
 in the sense of * contrive means or opportunity,' see Two Gentlemen of 
 Verona, v. 4. 137 : ' To make such means for her as thou hast done/ 
 
 46. The folios have, 
 
 * Into my Tent, the Dew is rawe and cold/ 
 
 47, 48. What is't . . . nine o'clock. The quartos read, 
 
 ' What is a clocke. 
 
 Cat. It is sixe of (or of the) clocke, full supper time/ 
 But it is clearly after sunset, and the date was August 21. 
 
 50. my beaver. The beaver was properly the front part or faceguard of 
 the helmet (Fr. baviere), and is here used for the helmet itself, as in 
 I Henry IV, iv. I. 104: 
 
 Q3 
 
230 NOTES. [ACTV. 
 
 ' I saw young Harry, with his beaver on.' 
 And 3 Henry VI, i. I. 12 : 
 
 * I cleft his beaver with a downright blow.' 
 
 In Hamlet, i. 2. 230, the ghost 'wore his beaver up,' so that his face was 
 seen. 
 
 58,59. Cafesby I Cute. My lord! So Pope corrected the quarto reading, 
 'Catesby! Rat. My lord.' The folios substitute ' Ratcliffe' for * Catesby,' 
 but in this case no one takes the message to Stanley. 
 
 59. pursuivant at arms. See note on iii. 2. 96. 
 
 63-65. The following orders are addressed to various attendants. 
 
 63. a watch; that is, a watch-light. See 1. 180. Johnson, who explains 
 the word thus is a little doubtful, in consequence of what follows, * Bid my 
 guard watch,' whether watch is not here a sentinel ; but Steevens thinks that 
 the word * give ' decides the question in favour of ' watch-light.' 
 
 64. white Surrey. Richard in his march from Nottingham was ' mounted 
 on a greate white courser.' (Hall, p. 412.) 
 
 65. my staves, that is, the shafts of my lances. See 1. 341. 
 
 68. the melancholy Lord. Malone says, ' Richard calls him melancholy, 
 because he did not join heartily in his cause.' He took no part in the battle, 
 and afterwards was promoted by Henry VII. 
 
 70. cock-shut time, ^ twilight. See Cotgrave, French Dictionary, s. v. 
 Chien : * Entre chien & loup. In twilights, or cock-shoot time, (when a 
 man can hardly discerne a dog from a wolfe).' Whalley, in his note on Ben 
 Jonson's Masque, The Satyr 
 
 ' For you would not yesternight 
 
 Kiss him in the cock-shut light' 
 
 says, * There is a method of catching woodcocks in a kind of clap-net, which 
 is called a cock-shut ; and as the time of taking them in this manner is in the 
 twilight, cock-shut light may very properly express the evening.' To this 
 Gifford adds, *The cock-shut is a large net suspended between two long 
 poles, and stretched across a glade, or riding, in a wood, where a man is 
 placed to watch when the birds rise or strike against it.' 
 
 73. that alacrity of spirit. ' Not vsynge the alacrite and myrth of mynde 
 and of countenauiice as he was accustomed to do before he came toward the 
 battaile.' (Hall, p. 414.) 
 
 77. mid, middle ; not used elsewhere by Shakespeare as a substantive. 
 
 79. This interview took place near Atherstone. See note on v. 2. 5. 
 
 Si. father-in-law, that is, stepfather; an error equally common in the 
 present day. In this case the expression is taken from the Chronicle. 
 
 83. by attorney. See note on iv. 4. 127. 
 
 86. flaky, broken into flakes by the rays of light piercing it. 
 
 88. Prepare thy battle t set thine army in battle array. See 11. 24, 292, 
 299. 
 
sc. 3.] RICHARD III. 231 
 
 90. mortal-staring war, as Steevens interprets, ' War that looks big, or 
 stares fatally on its victims.' 
 
 95. tender George was at this time a married man, and had been 
 summoned to Parliament since 1482 as Lord Strange, in right of his wife 
 Johanna le Strange, the only daughter and heiress of John eighth Baron 
 Strange of Knockyn. But the dramatist followed the chroniclers ; for Hall, 
 and Holinshed after him, both speak of Lord Strange as a child. 
 
 97. the leisure, the time at our command. See 1. 238, and Richard II, 
 i. i. 5 : 
 
 ' The boisterous late appeal, 
 Which then our leisure would not let us hear.' 
 
 104. with troubled thoughts. The folios have ' With troubled noise ' 
 which leads Mr. Grant White to his reading ' troubled with noise/ Richmond 
 being represented as entirely untroubled in mind. 
 
 105. leaden slumber. Malone compares Lucrece, 124: 
 
 4 Now leaden slumber with life's strength doth fight.* 
 See also Julius Caesar, iv. 3. 268 : 
 
 * O murderous slumber, 
 
 Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy?' 
 Ib. peise, weigh. Cotgrave has, * Peser. To peise, poise, weigh.* 
 no. bruising irons. Referring to the heavy iron maces used in battle. 
 116. the windows of mine eyes. Compare Venus and Adonis, 482 : 
 
 ' Her two blue windows faintly she upheaveth.' 
 And Antony and Cleopatra, v. 2. 319 : * Downy windows, close.* 
 
 125. deadly is omitted in the folios and in all the quartos except the first. 
 129. See 3 Henry VI, iv. 6. 68, &c. 
 135. fall, let fall. Seel. 163. 
 
 143. thy lance. Capell reads 'thy hurtless lance '; Mr. Collier, following 
 the corrector of the Perkins folio, ' thy pointless lance.' 
 
 145. In the first and second quartos the ghosts of the young princes 
 appear before the ghost of Hastings. 
 151. cousins. See ii. 2. 8, iii. I. 2. 
 160. See iv. 2. 83. 
 
 I 73- f or hope, as regards hope ; and hence it is almost equivalent to ' for 
 want of hope.' So in Macbeth, i. 5. 38 : 
 
 ' Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more 
 
 Than would make up his message.' 
 
 The reading in the present passage, from having been misunderstood has been 
 questioned, and words have been invented to substitute for it. Theobald 
 read ' for Holpe,' which he explains ' for that Help, which I had intended 
 and was preparing to lend thee.' Steevens proposed ' forholpe,' that is 
 unhelped. But Dyce shewed that the text is right by a quotation from 
 Greene's James the Fourth, v. 6 : 
 
NOTES. [ACT v. 
 
 * War then will cease when dead ones are reviv'd ; 
 Some then will yield when I am dead for hope/ 
 
 We may also compare As You Like It, ii. 4. 75 : faints for succour'; and 
 ii. 6. 2 : 'I die for food.' 
 
 1 80. The lights burn blue. This was believed to be a sign of the presence 
 of a spirit. Steevens quotes from Lilly's Gallathea, iii. 3 (ed. Fairholt 
 vol. i. p. 235) : *I thought there was some spirit in it because it burnt so 
 blew. For my mother would often tell me that when the candle burnt 
 blew, there was some ill spirit in the house.' So when the ghost of Caesar 
 appears Brutus exclaims 'How ill this taper burns!' (Julius Caesar, iv. 3. 
 
 275X 
 
 Ib. now. The first quarto alone has the true reading. All the other 
 early copies have * not.' 
 
 1 86. Lest I revenge . . . myself? Capell omitted * What,' leaving the 
 punctuation unchanged. Dyce, in his second edition, adopted Lettsom's 
 conjecture, 
 
 * Lest I revenge myself upon myself.' 
 
 204-206. Methought . . . Richard. Johnson proposed to place these 
 lines after 1. 192 ; Mason after 1. 214, * I fear, I fear,' where they would take 
 the place of the lines omitted in the folios. 
 
 208. 'Zounds. Omitted in the folios. See note on i. 4. 124. 
 
 209. Ratcliff should probably be omitted, as in the two latest quartos, 
 being merely a repetition of the speaker's name. 
 
 212-214. K. Rich. Ratcliff '. . . my lord. These lines are omitted in 
 the folios, and Ratcliffe's next speech thereby becomes unintelligible. 
 
 219. in proof, armour which is proof against weapons. Compare Mac- 
 beth, i. 2. 54 : * Bellona's bridegroom, lapp'd in proof.' 
 
 220. It is. So Pope. The quartos and folios have * 'Tis,' and in this 
 case * near ' is a disyllabic, like fire, hour, year, and other words. 
 
 221. eaves-dropper. This is the spelling of the fourth folio. The first 
 quarto and first three folios have ' ease-dropper ' ; the other quartos read 
 * ewse dropper/ ' eawse-dropper,' and ' ewese-dropper.' 
 
 222. Sitting in his tent. This part of the stage direction is added in the 
 folios. 
 
 224. Cry mercy, I beg pardon. The pronoun is omitted, as in Lear, iii. 
 6. 54 : * Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint-stool.' 
 
 225. ta'en a tardy sluggard. See iv. I. 52. 
 
 231. cried on victory. To 'cry on ' is to ' utter the cry of,' Othello, v. 
 I. 48 : 'Whose noise is this that cries on murder ?' And Hamlet, v. 2. 
 375 : ' This quarry cries on havoc.' Pope read ' Cried out victory,' and 
 Warburton ' Cried On ! Victory.' 
 
 232. my soul. The folios have ' my heart,' perhaps on account of ' souls ' 
 just before. 
 
sc. 3.] RICHARD III. 233 
 
 237. For these speeches see the Preface, pp. 1-lii. 
 
 248. made means. See note on 1. 40. 
 
 251. Englands chair. See iv. 4. 470. 
 
 254. ward, guard, protect. So in Titus Andronicus, iii. i. 195 : 
 
 ' A hand that warded him 
 From thousand dangers.' 
 
 259. in safeguard of, in the defence of, for the safety of. 
 
 262. quit, requite. See iv. 4. 20, 64. The quartos and folios have 
 1 quits' which is only a printer's error and not a plural in s.' See ii. 3. 35, 
 iv. i. 104, iv. 4. 293. 
 
 264. Advance. See note' on i. 2. 40. 
 
 276. Tell, count ; as in The Tempest, ii. I. 289 : 
 
 * They'll tell the clock to any business that 
 We say befits the hour/ 
 
 277. Who saw. We should say 'hath seen.' Compare Genesis xliv. 28 : 
 ' And I said, Surely he is torn in pieces ; and I saw him not since.' And 
 Julius Caesar, v. 5. 3 : 
 
 'Statilius shew'd the torch-light, but, my lord, 
 He came not back : he is or ta'en or slain.' 
 
 279. should have braved, should have adorned, made brave or fine. 
 Steevens quotes The Taming of the Shrew, iv. 3. 125 : ' Thou hast braved 
 many men ; brave not me.' 
 
 289. Caparison, put on his trappings. The caparison of a horse was a 
 long cloth covering the saddle. See note on Coriolanus, i. 9. 12. 
 291-300. See the passage from Hall in the Preface, p. xlviii. 
 
 292. battle. See 1. 88. 
 
 293. foreword, vanguard. The word is used by Hall. 
 
 298. we will follow. To complete the verse we might read ' follow 
 after.' Hall says ' After this long vantguard folowed King Richard himself.' 
 Or we might read ' follow on ' and omit ' on ' in the next line. 
 
 299. puissance, force; in a military sense. So in King John, iii. i. 
 
 339^ 
 
 ' Cousin, go draw our puissance together.' 
 
 300. well winged. ' Hauyng horsmen for wynges on both y e sides of his 
 battail.' (Hall.) 
 
 301. to boot, besides, over and above ; A.S. to bote, from bot, compensation, 
 amends, advantage. 
 
 302. direction.' See 1. 16. 
 
 304. too bold. So Capell from Hall and Holinshed. The folios and 
 earliest quartos have ' so bold.' 
 
 305. bought and sold, deceived, imposed upon. A proverbial phrase. See 
 King John, v. 4. 10 : 
 
 'Fly, noble English, you are bought and sold.' 
 
234 NOTES. [ACT v. 
 
 And Comedy of Errors, iii. i. 72 : 'It would make a man as mad as a buck, 
 to be so bought and sold/ 
 
 309. Conscience is but, &c. The folios read, ' For conscience is ' &c. 
 314. inferred. See iii. 5. 75 ; iii. 7. 12, 32. 
 
 316. A sort, a set, a pack ; used contemptuously. Compare 2 Henry VI, 
 iii. 2. 277: 
 
 * He was the lord ambassador 
 Sent from a sort of tinkers to the king.' 
 
 319. -ventures. So Capell. The folios and quartos have 'Adventures.' 
 322. restrain the one, that is, keep them from us. Hanmer read 
 ' distrain.' 
 
 Ib. distain, stain, defile. Compare Lucrece, 789 : 
 
 * The silver-shining queen he would distain.' 
 
 324. our mother's cost. This is from the second edition of Holinshed. 
 Hall has * brought vp by my brothers meanes and myne/ 
 
 325. Richard expresses as much contempt for Richmond as lago did for 
 Cassio. See Othello i. i. 
 
 328. rags. See i. 3. 233. 
 
 334. bobb'd differs from ' beaten* and 'thump'd' only perhaps in being a 
 more contemptuous word. Hence a *bob' is a smart rap or dry jest. See 
 As You Like It, ii. 7. 55. 
 
 335. in record \s the reading of the first and second quartos. The other 
 quartos and the folios have 'on record.' For the accent see iii. I. 72. 
 
 341. Amaze the welkin, &c. That is, says Johnson, fright the skies with 
 the shivers of your lances. * Welkin' is from A.S. wolcn, cloud, sky. See 
 Midsummer Night's Dream, ii. 2. 356 : 
 
 The starry welkin cover thou anon 
 
 With drooping fog as black as Acheron.' 
 343. deny, refuse. So in Lear, ii. 4. 89 : 
 
 * Deny to speak with me? They are sick? they are weary ?' 
 345. Me enemy is past the marsh. 'Betweene both armies there was a 
 great marish there (but at this present, by reason of diches cast, it is growne 
 to be firme ground) which the earle of Richmond left on his right hand ; for 
 this intent, that it should be on that side a defense for his part, and in so 
 dooing he had the sunne at his backe, and in the faces of his enimies. When 
 King Richard saw the carles companie was passed the marish ; he did com- 
 mand with all hast to set vpon them/ Holinshed, p. 758. 
 
 350. the spleen of fiery dragons. Compare King John, ii. i. 68 : 
 
 ' With ladies' faces and fierce dragons' spleens/ 
 
 The spleen was supposed to be the seat of anger, and hence it was used 
 figuratively to denote that passion. 
 
SC.4-] RICHARD III. 235 
 
 Scene IV. 
 
 3. an opposite, an opponent, adversary. Compare Hamlet, v. 2. 62 : 
 * 'Tis dangerous when the baser nature comes 
 Between the pass and fell incensed points 
 Of mighty opposites.' 
 
 Tyrwhitt found a difficulty in the passage, and proposed to read with the 
 eighth quarto * Daring and opposite.' But the text means simply that 
 Richard is everywhere challenging an opponent to every danger in the 
 chances of battle. 
 
 5. the throat of death. So in iv. 4. 2, ' the mouth of death.' 
 7. A horse I a horse I In the old play of The True Tragedie of Richard 
 the Third, almost the only line having anything in common with Shakespeare 
 is Richard's exclamation, ' A horse, a horse, a fresh horse.' 
 
 9, 10. Compare, but rather for the sake of contrast, Macbeth, v. 7. 
 i, 2 : 
 
 * They have tied me to a stake : I cannot fly, 
 But, bear-like, I must fight the course.' 
 
 10. die is the true reading, as is shown by the word ' cast ' in tjie previous 
 line. The quartos have * day.' 
 
 Scene V. 
 
 3. acquit, acquitted. Verbs ending in a dental frequently drop the par- 
 ticipial termination -ed. 
 
 5. this long -usurped royalty. All the quartos after the first read 'roialties' 
 while they retain 'this.' The folios in addition changed ' this ' to 'these.' 
 * When the lord Stanley sawe the good will and gratuite of the people he 
 toke the crowne of kynge Richard which was founde amongest the spoyle 
 in the felde, and set it on theerles hed.' (Hall, p. 420.) Tradition relates that 
 it was found in a hawthorn bush, and in Henry the Seventh's Chapel ' the 
 stained-glass retains' the emblem of the same crown hanging on the green 
 bush in the fields of Leicestershire.' (Stanley, Memorials of Westminster 
 Abbey, p. 159.) 
 
 13, 14. 'Of the nobilitie were slayne Ihon Duke of Norfolke . . . There 
 were slayne besyde hym Water lorde Ferrers of Chartley, Sir Rychard 
 Ratclyffe, and Robert Brakenburie Lieutenant of the Tower and not many 
 gentlemen mo ... On therle of Richmonds part were slain scace one 
 hundred persones, amongest whome the pryncipall was Sir William Brandon 
 his standard bearer.' (Hall. p. 419.) 
 
 1 8. See note on iv. 4. 40. 
 
1 36 NOTES. [ACT v. sc. 5. 
 
 21, 22. Smile heaven . . . That long have frowrfd, &c. * Heaven' is 
 used as a plural, just as in Hamlet, iii. 4. 173 : 
 
 * But heaven hath pleased it so ... 
 That I must be their scourge and minister/ 
 Compare iv. 4. 71. 
 
 25, 26. In the Third Part of Henry VI among the characters introduced 
 are ' A Son that has killed his father ' and ' A Father that has killed his son.' 
 See 3 Henry VI, ii. 5. 55 &c. 
 
 35. Abate, dull, blunt; literally to beat down (Fr. abbattre}. Hence 
 generally, to weaken, dimmish the force of anything. Compare 2 Henry IV, 
 i. I. 117: 
 
 ' For from his metal was his party steePd ; 
 Which once in him abated, all the rest 
 Turn'd on themselves, like dull and heavy lead. 7 
 
 36. reduce, bring back. See ii. 2. 68, and Henry V, v. 2. 63: 
 
 'Which to reduce into our former favour 
 You are assembled.' 
 
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