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Line 137 - Commentary Note (CN) More Information

Notes for lines 0-1017 ed. Bernice W. Kliman
For explanation of sigla, such as jen, see the editions bib.
137 Mar. Shall I strike <at> it with my partizan?1.1.140
1765 john1
john1 in Ant 7:161n6 defines Partizan as a pike.
137 partizan] Johnson (ed. 1765, 7:161n. 6), for Ant. 2.7.13 (1347) defines partizan as a pike.
1771 han3
han3 = john1, 7:161 n. 6, without attribution
137 partizan] Hawkins (ed. 1771, 6: Glossary): “a pike.”
1807 Douce
Douce: john +
137 partizan] Douce (1807, 2:90-1): <p.90> “Dr. Johnson says the partizan is a pike, and so say many of our dictionaries; but it was in reality a weapon between a pike and a halbert. Not being so long as the former, it was made use of in trenches, in mounting a breach, and in attacking or defending a lodgment; on all which occasions the pike would have been unmanageable. Its upper extremity resembling that of a halbert, but was longer and broader. In more modern times it wanted the cutting axe which belongs to the halbert, though in that used by the old Switzers and Germans it seems to have had it. The etymology of the word has been much controverted, but appears to lie between the Latin pertica and the German bart, an axe, whence bardike, a little axe. Shakspeare himself has distinguished it from the pike, “Let us make <p./90> <p.91> him with our pikes and partizans a grave” [Cym. 4.2.397 (2729)]. </p.91>
1819 cald1
cald1
137 partizan] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “Pertuisane, Fr. halberd.”
ck to make sure Douce is absent.
1832 cald2
cald2 = cald1 + Douce
137 partizan] Caldecott (ed. 1832): “‘A weapon between a pike and a halbert, from Lat.pertica, or Germ. bart, an ave.’ Douce’s Illustr. II. 90.”
1833 valpy
valpy = john via Douce without attribution
137 partizan] Valpy (ed. 1833): “a kind of pike.”
1858 col3
col3
137 at it] Collier (ed. 1858): “The word at is found only in the folios—‘strike at it.’—It affords the regular number of syllables for the line.
1862 cham
cham = cald1 without attribution
137 partizan]
1865 hal
hal
137 partizan] Fairholt (apud Halliwell, ed. 1865): “The partizan may be described as a sharp two-edged sword placed on the summit of a staff for the defence of foot-soldiers against cavalry. One of the earliest examples is preserved in the collection at Goodrich Court, formed by Sir Samuel Meyrick; he dates it to the time of Edward the Fourth. It is the second of the two here engraved. The projections at the base of the blade afterwards became enlarged into scythe-shaped wings, as shewn in the other specimen, which is of the time of Queen Elizabeth.”
Ed. note: Two drawings demonstrate the difference.
1870 rug1
rug1 = Cotgrave without attribution +
137 partizan] Moberly (ed. 1870): “A corruption of the French ‘pertuisane’ (the piercer), as ‘curtle axe’ is for ‘coutelas,’ and the German ‘Armbrust’ for ‘arbalest.’”
1872 cln1
cln1 ≈ Douce def. without attribution, ≈ rug1 without attribution+ Cotgrave, which is ≈ to cald;; //
137 partizan] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “a halbert. Cotgrave (French Dict.) gives ‘‘Pertuisane, a Partisan, or leadingstaffe.’ See [Rom. 1.1.73 (72)]: ‘Clubs, bills, and partisans! strike!’”
1877 v1877
v1877: cln1 (the Rom. ref. only) without attribution
137 partizan] Furness (ed. 1877): “See [Rom. 1.1.73 (72)].”
Ed. note: at Rom. v1877 has various notes, including Fairholt’s
1878 rlf1
rlf1= john // Ant. without attribution; ≈ cln1 gloss, Rom. // without attribution
137 partizan]
1880 Tanger
Tanger
137 strike it] Tanger (1880, p. 121): Q2’s variant “seems to be a simple accidental omission.”
1881 hud3
hud3 : standard + in magenta underlined
137 partizan] Hudson (ed. 1881): “Partisan was a halbert or pike: a weapon used by watchmen.”
1885 mull
mull: standard
137 partizan] Mull (ed. 1885): “pike.”
1899 ard1
ard1: standard
137 partizan]
1903 rlf3
rlf3 = rlf1
137 partizan]
1905 rltr
rltr
137 parizan] Chambers (ed. 1905): “battle-axe.”
1911 Century Dictionary
Century Dictionary [see hamletworks.org homepage]
137 partizan] See definitions and pictures.
1912 dtn3
dtn3: standard gloss; Skeat
137 partizan] Deighton (ed. 1912): “a kind of halberd, or long-handled axe, a weapon borne by foot-soldiers; ‘etymology doubtful; but the word must almost certainly be extended from O. H. G. partá, M. H. G. barte, a battle-axe, which occurs in E. hal-berd’ [[ . . .]] (Skeat, Ety. Dict.).
1913 tut2
tut2: standard + in magenta underlined
137 partizan] Goggin (ed. 1913): “a kind of halberd, a weapon adapted for both striking and thrusting: the handle was 5 or 6 feet long. and the head consisting of a blade resembling that of a battle-axe balanced by a hook, the whole terminating in a point like a spear or pike. The origin of the name partizan is doubtful.”
1929 trav
trav: standard +
137 partizan] Travers (ed. 1929) says that down to the beginning of the 18th century it was a gentleman’s weapon, which “can still be seen in, in England, in the hands of the so-called ‘beef-eaters,’ the Yeomen of the Guard . . . . ” This suggests that Marcellus and Bernardo are officers in the Dane’s guard.”
Ed. note: trav seems to be the 1st to make this a class issue. There is some justification in OED.
1931 crg1
crg1: standard
137 partizan] Craig (ed. 1931): “long-handled spear with a blade having lateral projections.”
1938 parc
parc: Wilson Cranach ed.
137 Mar.] Parrott & Craig (ed. 1938) say that Wilson had changed the SP to Ber. in his Cranach ed.
We have not got this ed. on our list.
parc: cam3
137 at] Parrott & Craig (ed. 1938) believe the F1 addition is appropriate because “it completes the line metrically and seems to give the sense of a menaced rather than an actual blow.” They mention Wilson’s count of at least 54 omissions of necessary words in Q2.
1939 kit2
kit2: standard
137 partizan] Kittredge (ed. 1939): "halberd, pike."
1947 cln2
cln2: standard gloss
137 partizan] Rylands (ed. 1947): “spear with a broad head.”
1957 pen1b
pen1b: standard
137 partizan] Harrison (ed. 1957): “long handled spear, with curved blades projecting at the base of the spearhead.”
1957 pel1
pel1: standard
137 partizan] Farnham (ed. 1957): “pike.”
1970 pel2
pel2 = pel1
137 partizan] Farnham (ed. 1970): “pike”
1982 ard2
ard2: OED; Sh’s Eng. (2 vols, 1916); Cotgrave
137 paritzan] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “ [. . . ] It was borne by officers of the guard. See Sh’s Eng. 1: 137-8, and cf. Cotgrave, peruisane, ‘leading-staff.’”
1999 OED
OED
137 paritzan] OED sb.2, after describing the weapon and citing 16th- to early 18th-sources, says: "sometimes us’d by Lieutenants . . . ."
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2: standard +
137 partizan] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “long-handled spear or halberd. (The metaphorical sense of ’adherent’ or ’party member’ also occurs in the sixteenth century, though not in Shakespeare.)”
2000 Edelman
Edelman
137 partizan] Edelman (2000): “A staff weapon, first appearing in the early sixteenth century, consisting of a long, tapering, two-edged, triangular-shaped blade with two projecting flukes at its base (E & P), The partisan is used only for guard duty in Shakespeare, most notably by Marcellus, who offers to ‘strike at” the Ghost of King Hamlet with it [137].”
137