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Line 162 - 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.”

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Notes for lines 0-1017 ed. Bernice W. Kliman

For explanation of sigla, such as jen, see the editions bib.

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.

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.’ ”

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.].”

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.”

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]

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.’”

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).

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.”