Line 1462-3 - Commentary Note (CN) 
Commentary notes (CN):
1. SMALL CAPS Indicate editions. Notes for each commentator are divided into three parts:
In the 1st two lines of a record, when the name of the source text (the siglum) is printed in SMALL CAPS, the comment comes from an EDITION; when it is in normal font, it is derived from a book, article, ms. record or other source. We occasionally use small caps for ms. sources and for works related to editions. See bibliographies for complete information (in process).
2. How comments are related to predecessors' comments. In the second line of a record, a label "without attribution" indicates that a prior writer made the same or a similar point; such similarities do not usually indicate plagiarism because many writers do not, as a practice, indicate the sources of their glosses. We provide the designation ("standard") to indicate a gloss in common use. We use ≈ for "equivalent to" and = for "exactly alike."
3. Original comment. When the second line is blank after the writer's siglum, we are signaling that we have not seen that writer's gloss prior to that date. We welcome correction on this point.
4. Words from the play under discussion (lemmata). In the third line or lines of a record, the lemmata after the TLN (Through Line Number] are from Q2. When the difference between Q2 and the authors' lemma(ta) is significant, we include the writer's lemma(ta). When the gloss is for a whole line or lines, only the line number(s) appear. Through Line Numbers are numbers straight through a play and include stage directions. Most modern editions still use the system of starting line numbers afresh for every scene and do not assign line numbers to stage directions.
5. Bibliographic information. In the third line of the record, where we record the gloss, we provide concise bibliographic information, expanded in the bibliographies, several of which are in process.
6. References to other lines or other works. For a writer's reference to a passage elsewhere in Ham. we provide, in brackets, Through Line Numbers (TLN) from the Norton F1 (used by permission); we call these xref, i.e., cross references. We call references to Shakespearean plays other than Ham. “parallels” (//) and indicate Riverside act, scene and line number as well as TLN. We call references to non-Shakespearean works “analogues.”
7. Further information: See the Introduction for explanations of other abbreviations.
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Notes for lines 1018-2022 ed. Eric Rasmussen
| 1462-3 Ham. Why as by lot God wot, and then you knowe it | came to | |
|---|
1766-70 mwar2
mwar2
1462-1463 as...was] Warner (1766-70): “It seems most likely, that these are scraps of old Ballads, which Hamlet repeats on this occasion.”
1773 v1773
v1773
1463 pious chanson] Steevens (ed. 1773): “The old song, from which these quotations are taken, is printed in the 2nd. of Dr. Percy’s Reliques of ancient English Poetry.”
1778 v1778
v1778=v1773+
1463 pious chanson] Steevens (ed. 1778): “The old song, from which these quotations are taken, I communicated to Dr. Percy, who has honoured it with a place in the second and third editions of his Reliques of ancient English Poetry. In the books belonging to the Stationer’s Company, there is a late entry of this Ballad among the others. ‘Jessa Judge of Israel,’ p. 93. vol. iii. Dec. 14, 1624.”
1783 Ritson
Ritson
1462 as by lot God wot] Ritson (1783, p. 198): “The original ballad, in black-letter, is among Anthony à Woods collections in the Ashmolean Museum.”
1784 ays
ays ≈ mwar2
1462-1463 as...was] Ayscough (ed. 1784): “These were quotations from an old song.”
1793 v1793
v1793=v1785, mal+
1463 pious chanson] Steevens (ed. 1793): “The old song, from which these quotations are taken, I communicated to Dr. Percy, who has honoured it with a place in the second and third editions of his Reliques of ancient English Poetry. In the books belonging to the Stationer’s Company, there is a late entry of this Ballad among the others. ‘A ballet intituled the Songe of Jeptha’s daughter.’ &c. 1567, Vol. I. fol. 162. Again, ‘Jessa Judge of Israel,’ p. 93. vol. III. Dec. 14, 1624.”
“This story, was also one of the favourite subjects of ancient tapestry.”
1819 cald1
cald1
1463 pious chanson] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “The ballad of ‘Jepha Judge of Israel,’ imperfectly given in Percy’s Reliques, I. 189, 1794, is printed in Evan’s Old Ballads, 8vo. 1810, I. 7. The first stanza is, ‘I have read that many years agoe, When Jepha, judge if Israel, Had one fair daughter and no more, Whom he loved passing well. And as by lot, God wot, It came to passe most like it was, Great warrs there should be, And who should be the chiefe, but he, but he.’ From the Stationers’ Company Books Steevens states, that ‘ballets’ upon this subject were entered there in 1567 and 1624. To this there is no date. He adds, that this story was one of the favourite subjects of ancient tapestry.”
1841 knt1 (nd)
knt1 (nd)
1462 as . . . wot] Lewes (ms. notes in Knight, ed. 1843): “Sings”
1859 stau
stau
1463 pious chanson] Staunton (ed. 1859): “Hamlet quotes from the opening stanza of an ancient ballad, still preserved, and which will be found in Evan’s Collection, 1810:--[Quotation.] The subject appears to have been popular. In the Stationers’ Registers, 1567-8, a ballad entitled ‘The song of Jefphas dowghter at his [her?] death.’ is licensed to Alexander Lacy; in 1624, another called ‘Jeffa, Judge of Israel,’ was entered on the same records; and from Henslowe’s Diary, we learn that in May, 1602, Decker and Chettle were engaged in writing a tragedy based on the story of Jephthah.”
1865 hal
hal
1462-3 It came to passe, as most like it was] Halliwell (ed. 1865): “These are quotations from the first stanza of the ballad of ‘Jephthah, Judge of Iseral,’ in Percy’s Reliques, vol. i. p. 193. edit. 1812. Steevens informs us, that in the books belonging to the Stationers’ Company, there are entries of this ballad. Among others, ‘A ballet intituled the Songe of Jephthah’s Doughter,’ &c. 1567, vol. i. fol. 162. Again: ‘Jeffa Judge of Iseral,’ p. 93, vol. iii. Dec. 14, 1624. Malone conjectured that there had been an English drama written on the subject, and it appears from Henslow’s Diary that such was the fact, for in May, 1602, Henry Chettle was paid money on account of a tragedy called Jefftha.--Collier. Quotes the first stanza of the ballad.”
1869 Romdahl
Romdahl
1462 wot] Romdahl (1869, p. 26): “Wot is here the third person singular present of the O.E. verb wit, A.S. wîtan (to know).”
1872 hud2
hud2
1462-3 It came to passe, as most like it was] Hudson (ed. 1872): “Here again Hamlet is tantalizing and bewildering the old fox, and quibbling between a logical and a literal sequence. The lines he quotes are from an old ballad, entitled Jephtha, Judge of Israel. A copy of the ballad, as Shakespeare knew it, was reprinted in Evan’s Old Ballads, in 1810; the first stanza being as follows: I have read that many years agoe, | When Jephtha, judge of Israel, | Had one fair daughter and no moe, | Whom he loved passing well; | As by lot, God wot,| It came to passe, most like it was, | Great warrs there should be, | And who should be the chiefe but he, but he.”
1881 hud3
hud3 = hud2 minus ‘tantalizing and bewildering,’ but + teasing
1462-3 It came to passe, as most like it was] Hudson (ed. 1881): “Hamlet is teasing the old fox, and quibbling between a logical and a literal sequence. The lines he quotes are from an old ballad, entitled Jephtha, Judge of Israel. A copy of the ballad, as Shakespeare knew it, was reprinted in Evan’s Old Ballads, 1810; the first stanza as follows: I have read that many years agoe, | When Jephtha, judge of Israel, | Had one fair daughter and no moe, | Whom he loved passing well; | As by lot, God wot,| It came to passe, most like it was, | Great warrs there should be, | And who should be the chiefe but he, but he.”
1882 elze
elze
1462 God wot] Elze (ed. 1882): “See Morris, Historical Outlines of English Accidence, p. 190 (§ 305). The imperative wot occurs in Edward III, III, 3 (ed. Delius, p. 49): Yet wot how I regard thy worthless taunts; the infinitive wit is found in Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy (Dodsley, ed. Hazlitt, V, 161): — rastus, Solyman saluteth thee, And lets thee wit by me his highness’ will.’ Spenser uses the infinitive weet (weete), Faerie Queene, I, 3, 6; I, 3, 17; &c.”
1462 1463