Notes for lines 0-1017 ed. Bernice W. Kliman
162 No fairy {takes} <talkes>, nor witch hath power to charme
-1761 Rochester?
Rochester
162 No fairy takes] Rochester (-1761, p. 195): “There is nothing to take, in this Speech. And the nocturnal Revels of Fairies consist mostly in treading a Ring upon the Grass.”
1723- mtby2
mtby2
162 takes] Thirlby (1723-): “fsql [weak changeling] walkes sed. v. v. 2. nb changlings”
Ed. note: That is, this weak conjecture is contradicted by Sh.’s use of the idea in 160.
1726 theon
theon re Lr., Wiv, Ham.
162 no fairy takes] Theobald (1726, p. 140), “Here [Lr. 2.4.164 (1446): You taking Airs] again, I think, the Editor [Pope] has degraded a Term, that has the Authority of the Copies, as well as is peculiar to the Author’s Sense, and frequently used by him to signify, blasting, bewitching, &c. So, afterwards, in the very Play before us, [quotes Lr. 3.4.60 (1840); Wiv. 4.4.32 (2154)]. And so in [Ham. 162]. “And in several other Places; From which it is plain, that to take, of old, not only signified to receive; but was equivalent to the attaquer of the French, and the invadere of the Latin; to lay hold on, attack, invade.”
1744 han1
han1 ≈ theon
162 no fairy takes] Hanmer (ed. 1743): “to blast, to strike with infection. Fr. Attaquer.”
1752 Anon
Anon
162 no fairy takes]
Anon. (1752, pp. 14-15): <p. 14>“The Expression
no Fairy takes is something obscure, the Meaning is, that their Wiles and Deceits are frustrated on account of the Sacrednes of the Time. He cannot be supposed to mean the innocent Part of that diminutive Species, who are reported to pass the Night very harmlesly in dancing round the Rings or Circles, we often see in Pastures; but those unlucky and knavish Sprites, who in the different Shapes of Horses, Hogs, Hounds, Bears, Meteors and various other </p. 14><p. 15> Appearances, mislead benighted Travellers, and play a thousand unlucky Pranks. See the Midsummer Night’s Dream.” </p. 15>
1752 Dodd
Dodd ≈ mtby2 without attribution
162 no fairy takes] Dodd (1752, 1: 215): “The poet here plainly alludes to that well-known characteristic of the fairies, their taking away, or changing children: the whole dispute in the Midsummer Night’s Dream, between Oberon and Titania, is concerning a boy she had taken away, or stolen from its mother: the reader will find a pretty fable on this subject in Gay’s Fables: and indeed the thing is so generally known by all read in the oeconomy of these little dapper elves, it needs not insisting on.”
Ed. note: Nevertheless, only Thirlby had this idea before Dodd.
1755 Johnson Dict.
Johnson
162 no fairy takes] Johnson (1755): def. for take: “15 [of 66]. To blast; to infect”
1765 john1
john1 ≈ theon without attribution
162 no fairy takes] Johnson (ed. 1765): “No fairy strikes, with lameness or diseases. This sense of take is frequent in this authour.”
Ed. note: john1 also has notes for the verb in Lr. and Wiv.
1773 v1773
v1773 = john1
162 no fairy takes]
1778 v1778
v1778 = v1773
162 no fairy takes]
1778: Tollet; In Wiv. 1: 341 (4.4.32 (2154), = john1 with // in Lr. +
162 no fairy takes] Tollet (apud ed. 1778, 1:341 n. 4): “So, in Markham’s Treatise of Horses, 1595, chap. 8. ‘Of a horse that is taken. A horse that is bereft of his feeling, mooving, or styrring, is said to be taken, to be striken by some planet or evil-spirit, which is false, &c.’ Thus our poet: —‘No planets strike, no fairy takes.’ Tollet.”
Ed. note: Tollet’s note appears also in mtol1 (ms. notes, theo2). The probable date is between 1773 and 1778, because the Tollet note does not appear in v1773.
1784 ays1
ays1: john1 1st sentence only
62 no fairy takes]
1784 Davies
Davies ≈ theon without attribution
162 no fairy takes] Davies (1784, 3: 9): “is explained by Lear’s curse of Goneril, in the second act of the play [2.4.164]: ‘—Strike her young bones Ye taking airs, with lameness!’ ”
Ed. note: Because Davies was a bookseller, he had a better chance than most to come across a copy of theon, though I believe it would have been quite rare by 1780.
1785 v1785
v1785 = v1778 subst.
162 no fairy takes]
1787 ann
ann = v1785
162 no fairy takes]
1790 mal
mal = v1785
162 no fairy takes]
1790 Gent. Mag
Anon: john1 +
162 takes]
Anon. [
As you like it] [Thomas Holt White or
John Loveday,
apud Kuist] (1790, p. 403): “To be planet-struck is a common expression; but the fairy takes, I suppose to mean, when the fairy is supposed to take or exchange a child.”
1791- rann
rann = john1 but in reverse order, without attribution; theon Wiv. // without attribution + in magenta
162 no fairy takes] Rann (ed. 1791-): “infects, blasts. ‘And there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle.” [Wiv. 4.4.32 (2154)] Mrs. Page.
This Wiv.reference had also been in theon, but without act/scene and ref to Mrs. Page.
1793 v1793
v1793 = rann without attribution
162 no fairy takes] Steevens (ed. 1793): “So, in Wiv.: ‘And there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle.’ Steevens.”
1803 v1803
v1803 = v1793
162 no fairy takes]
1805 Seymour
Seymour: standard
162 no fairy takes] Seymour (1805, 2:141): “Thus in King Lear: ‘Strike her young bones, ye taking airs, with lameness’.”
1813 v1813
v1813 = v1803
162 no fairy takes]
1818 Todd
Todd
162 takes] Todd (1818) has definitions that support the idea of Anon in Gent. Mag. 1790, without specific reference to fairies: “v.a. 9 “to entrap,” v. a. 21 “to seize” and others that could support the definition of Anon.
1819 cald1
cald1: v1813, rann
162 no fairy takes] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “Takes, the reading of the quartos, is catches, possesses, blasts. See [Wiv. 4.4.] Mrs. Page.”
1821 v1821
v1821 = v1813
162 no fairy takes]
1826 sing1
sing1 ≈ various others without attribution
162 no fairy takes] Singer (ed. 1826): “i.e. No fairy blasts, or strikes, Thus in [Wiv. 4.4.32 (2154)]:— ‘And there he blasts the tree and takes the cattle.’ See note on that passage.”
sing1 note for Wiv. = theon; Tollet +
162 no fairy takes] Singer (ed. 1826, 1: 268 n. 2): “To take signifies to seize or strike with a disease, to blast. So in [Lr. 2.4.164 (1446)]: ‘Strike her young bones, ye taking airs, with lameness.’ And in [Ham. 162]—‘No planet strike, No fairy takes, no witch has power to charm.’
“‘Of a horse that is taken. A horse that is bereft of his feeling, moving, or stirring, is said to be taken, and in sooth so he is, in that he is arrested by so villainous a disease: yet some farriers, not well understanding the ground of the disease, conster the word taken to be stricken by some planet, or evil spirit, which is false.’ C.vii. Markham on Horses, 1595. Thus also in Horman’s Vulgaria, 1519. ‘He is taken, or benomed. Attonitus est.’ ”
BWK: How interesting that Sh could have read Markham, and have assigned this credulity to Marcellus. I am putting this SING1 note in Marcellus doc.
placed note in check
editions doc.
1832 cald2
cald2 = cald1; sing1 Lr. without attribution
162 no fairy takes]
Caldecott (ed. 1832) adds Edgar’s speech in
Lr. 3.4.60 (1840).
1833 valpy
valpy = v1821 (i.e. john1, minus the Steevens analogue) without attribution
162 takes] Valpy (ed. 1833): “Strikes with diseases.”
1839 knt1
knt1: standard, theon without attribution
162 takes] Knight (ed. [1839]): “seizes with disease. As in the [Wiv. 4.4.32 (2154)].—‘And there he clasts the tree, and takes the cattle.’ ”
1843 col1
col1 standard
162 takes] Collier (ed. 1843): “To ‘take’ is to blast or infect.”
1844 verp
verp: standard gloss + one new synonym
162 takes]
Verplanck (ed. 1844): “blasts, infects,
injures.”
-1845 mHunter
mHunter
162 takes] Hunter (-1845, fol. 222r): “This expression may be illustrated by comparison with ‘And then the blast returns & takes the Cattle.’ [ref. illeg.].”
He supposes the analogue to be self-explanatory.
1845 Hunter
Hunter: analogues
162 takes] Hunter (1845, 2: 215): “Palsgrave in his table of adjectives has ‘Taken, as children’s limbs be by the fairies: faee.’ Also in Gammer Gurton’s Needle. ‘Then they sit as still as stones in the street, As though they had been taken with fairies, or else with some ill spirit.’ The expression is common in Shakespeare.”
Does taken with mean the same as taken by?
1854 del2
del2 standard; see 161
162 takes]
1856 hud1
hud1 standard
162 no fairy takes] Hudson (ed. 1856): “That is, no fairy blasts, or infects. See [Wiv. 4.4.32 (2154)] note 2.”
1856 sing2
sing2 = sing1; = Hunter without attribution
162 takes] Singer (ed. 1856): “Palgrave has ‘Taken, as children’s limbs be by the fairies, Faée.’ [then continues with Wiv.]
1858 col3
col3 = col1 + mcol1
162 takes] Collier (ed. 1858): “and talks is amended to ‘takes’ in the corr. fo. 1632.”
1860 stau
stau: standard
162 takes] Staunton (ed. 1860): “The folio inadvertently prints talkes. To take has before been explained to mean, to paralyze, to deaden, to benumb.”
1862 cham
cham: standard
162 takes]
1868 c&mc
c&mc: standard on gloss, // in Wiv.
162 takes]
1872 cln1
cln1≈ theo //s only, standard gloss
162 takes] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “infects [quotes Wiv. 4.4.32 (2154)] The adjective ‘taking’ for infectious occurs in [quotes Lr. 2. 4. 164 (1446)]. And ‘taking’ as a substantive in the sense of infection is found in [quotes Lr. 3.4.60 (1840)].”
1872 hud2
hud2 = hud1 except Lr. instead of Wiv.≈ theon
162 no fairy takes]
theon mentioned both plays
1877 v1877
v1877 = dyce; cln1
162 no fairy takes]
1878 col4
col4: cln def infects; theon ref. to Wiv. +
162 takes] Collier (ed. 1878): “i.e., enchants . . . .”
1878 rlf1
rlf1: standard gloss; = v1877 Florio; standard //s Wiv., Lr. + // [Ant.4.2.37 (2458]
162 takes]
1880 Tanger
Tanger
162 takes] Tanger (1880, p. 122): F1 variant“probably owing to the negligence, inattention, or criticism of the compositor.”
1881 hud3
hud3 = hud2
162 no fairy takes]
1883 wh2
wh2
162 takes] White (ed. 1883): “bewitches, exerts injurious power.”
1885 macd
macd ≈ theo without attribution; anon [as you like it]
162 takes] MacDonald (ed. 1883): “Does it mean—carries off any child, leaving a changeling? or does it mean—afflict with evil, as a disease might infect or take?”
1885 mull
mull : standard
162 takes] Mull (ed. 1885): “infects.”
1890 irv2
irv2 = wh2 without attribution
162 takes] Marshall (ed. 1890): “bewitches.”
irv2: standard gloss; [Err. n. 103;
Wiv. 4.4.32 [quotes]; Lr. 3.4.60; contra cln1 gloss; Alvearie; Halliwell, Cotgrave, +
162 takes] Marshall (ed. 1890): “but from all the passages quoted it is evident that the special malignant effect supposed to be produced, whether by stars or by fairies, was a numbing effect on the limbs.”
1900 ev1
ev1: ≈ sing without attribution
162 takes] Herford (ed. 1900): “strikes the limbs with fever or paralysis.”
1903 rlf3
rlf3 = rlf1
162 takes]
1905 rltr
rltr: standard
162 takes] Chambers (ed. 1905): “enchants.”
1909 subb
subb = wh2 without attribution; contra Tollet without attribution
162 takes] Subbarau (ed. 1909): “‘Bewitches,’ ‘charms,’ ‘affects with malignant influence.’”
Actually from Tollet (if he had it from Tollet) he has taken from him what Tollet believes the word does notmean).
1912 dtn3
dtn3: standard gloss; //s Wiv., Lr., Ant. 4.2.37 “of witches”
162 takes]
1913 tut2
tut2 ≈ subb; otherwise fairly standard
162 takes] Goggin (ed. 1913): “‘bewitches, blasts’; the word is used in Elizabethan English of the malignant influence of supernatural powers, which generally showed itself in the form of disease; hence the meaning ‘to strike down with a disease.’”
1931 crg1
crg1: standard
162 take] Craig (ed. 1931): “bewitches, takes evil effect.”
1939 kit2
kit2: standard gloss; //s +
162 takes]
Kittredge (ed. 1939): “ . . . "All kinds of ill effects were ascribed to malicious fairies and elves, from ’pinching black and blue’ [
Err. 2.2. 192 (587)]; (cf [
Wiv. 5.5.54 (2536)]. Cf.
John Webster,
The Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft, 1677, p. 323: ‘The common people, if they chance to have any sort of Epilepsie, Palsie, Convulsions, or the like, do presently perswade themselves that they are bewitched, fore-spoken, blasted, fairy-taken, or haunted with some evil spirit.’;
Gammer Gurton’s Needle, i, 2 (ed. Manly, II, 98) [quotes].”
1947 cln2
cln2: standard
162 takes]
1957 pel1
pel1: standard
162 takes] Farnham (ed. 1957): “bewitches.”
1970 pel2
pel2 = pel1
162 takes] Farnham (ed. 1970): “bewitches”
1982 ard2
ard2: standard gloss w/ analogue Gammer Gurton’s Needle 1.2.25-6 ≈ kit2 without attribution; standard //s Wiv. 4.4.32; Lr. 2.4.164
162 takes] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “bewitches (especially by infecting with disease).
None of the ref. is original.
1987 oxf4
oxf4
162 takes] Hibbard (ed. 1987) says that the absolute use of the verb (without an object) appears to be uniquely Shn. See OED 7.
1992 fol2
fol2: standard
162 takes] Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): “puts under a magic spell“
1993 dent
dent
162 No fairy takes] Andrews (ed. 1993) reminds us that fairies were not always regarded as benign sprites. They might exchange one child for another one imbued with an evil spirit, a changeling.
2002 Kliman
Kliman
162 takes] Kliman (2002): King James, in Daemonology, made witches and fairies equivalent, and talkes in F1 may be responding to that equivalence: charms are words.
Editors who base their eds. on F1 rarely use its variant talkes, but it would go with squeake and gibber in Q2’s 124+9.
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2: macd
162 No fairy takes] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “no supernatural being has effective power. MacDonald asks, ’Does it mean "carries off any child, leaving a changeling" or "affect with evil", as a disease might infect or take?’ He prints F’s ’talkes’ but, despite the fact that Q2’s usage of take without an object is unique, almost all other editors prefer it.”
