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Line 2566 - 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. Click here for more information about browsing the entries and here for more information about the special symbols used in Hamletworks. Click the question mark icon above to remove this help message.

Notes for lines 2023-2950 ed. Frank N. Clary

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

2566 Would from a paddack, from a bat, a gib,	3.4.190

1744 han1

han1

2566 paddack] Hanmer (ed. 1744: glossary, paddock): “A paddock, a toad.”

han1

2566 gib] Hanmer (ed. 1744: glossary, gibbe): “A gibbe, any old worn-out useless Animal.”

1745 han2

han2 = han1

1755 Johnson Dict.

Johnson Dict. ≈ han2

2566 paddack ] Johnson (1755): “a great frog or toad.”

Johnson Dict. ≈ han2

2566 gib ] Johnson (1755): “any old worn-out animal.”

1773 mstv1

mstv1 ≈ han1

2566 paddack] Steevens (ms. notes in Steevens, ed. 1773): “paddock, a great frog or toad”

mstv1 ≈ han1

2566 gib] Steevens (ms. notes in Steevens, ed. 1773): “gib, any old worn-out animal.”

1774 capn

capn

2566 paddack] Capell (1774, 1:1: glossary, paddock): “a Toad: also,—the Name of a Witch’s Imp or Familiar”

capn

2566 gib] Capell (1774, 1:1: glossary, gib): “a he Cat; now call’d—a Tom Cat; but, anciently,—Gib, an Abbreviation of—Gilbert: the Word, in both Places, carries also with it the Idea of—old.”

1778 v1778

v1778: Drayton, Chaucer analogues

2566 gib] Steevens (ed. 1778): “So, in Drayton’s Epistle from Elinor Cobham to Duke Humphrey: ‘And call me beldam, gib, witch, night-mare, trot.’ Gib was a common name for a cat. So, in Chaucer’s Rom. of the Rose, ver. 6204: ‘—gibbe our cat, That waiteth mice and rats to killen.’ Steevens.”

1784 ays1

ays1

2566 gib] Ayscouth (ed. 1784): “Gib was a common name for a cat.”

1784 Davies

Davies

2566 paddack] Davies (1784, pp. 96): “See [3.2.284 (2156)]”

1785 v1785

v1785 = v1778

1790 mal

mal = v1785

1791- rann

rann: 1H4 //

2566 gib] Rann (ed. 1791-): “a cat. 1H4 [1.2.74 (185)] Fal.”

1793 v1793

v1793 = mal

1803 v1803

v1803 = v1793

1805 Seymour

Seymour ≈ rann (1H4 //)

2566 gib] Seymour (1805, p. 191): “Falstaff says he is as melancholy as ‘a gib cat’ [1H4 1.2.74 (185)], which is explained by Mr. Steevens ‘a glibbed or gelded cat.’ Does Hamlet mean, among the other opprobria, to impute impotency to his uncle?”

1813 v1813

v1813 = v1803

1819 cald1

cald1 ≈ capn (Mac.//)

2566 paddack] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “Toad. See Mac. [1.1.9 (12)]. Witches.”

cald1 ≈ rann (1H4 //)

2566 gib] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “Gilbert, a he cat. See 1H4 [1.2.74 (185) Falst. 1.2 [185].”

1821 v1821

v1821 = v1813

1822 Nares

Nares: ≈ cald1 (Mac. //); Chapman, Walton analogues

2566 paddack] Nares (1822, glossary, paddock): “A toad, used by Dryden; but perhaps not since. ‘Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gib, Such dear concernings hide.’ Ham. iii.4. . . . . Sometimes a frog: ‘Paddockes, toades, and watersnakes.’ Cæsar & Pompey, Chapm. Iz. Walton talks of ‘the padock, or frog-padock, which usually keeps or breeds on land, and is very large, and boney, and big.’ Part I.ch.viii. By Shakespeare it is made the name of a familiar spirit: ‘Paddock calls; Anon, Anon.’ Mac. [1.1.9 (12)].”

1826 sing1

sing1: standard (incl. Mac., 1H4 //s)

2566 paddack . . . gib] Singer (ed. 1826): “For paddock, a toad, see Mac. [1.1.9 (12)]: and for gib, a cat, see 1H4 [1.2.74 (185)].”

1832 cald2

cald2 = cald1

1839 knt1 (nd)

knt1: standard

2566 paddack] Knight (ed. [1839] nd): “toad”

knt1: standard

2566 gib] Knight (ed. [1839] nd): “a cat.”

1843 col1

col1: standard (incl. 1H4 //)

2566 paddack . . . gib] Collier (ed. 1843): “A ‘paddock’ is a toad: see this Vol. p. 99. A ‘gib’ is a cat, and we generally meet with them in combination, as in 1H4 [1.2.74 (185)], ‘I am as melancholy as a gib-cat.’”

1847 verp

verp: standard

2566 paddack . . . gib] Verplanck (ed. 1847): “A paddock is a toad; a gib, a cat.”

1856 hud1 (1851-6)

hud1 ≈ sing1 without attribution

2566 paddack . . . gib] Hudson (ed. 1851-6): “A paddock is a toad; a gib, a cat. See Mac. [1.1.9 (12)]. note 3; and 1H4 [1.2.74 (185)] note 6. H.”

1856b sing2

sing2 = sing1

1857 fieb

fieb: Coles

2566 paddack . . . gib] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “A paddock, a great frog or toad; see p. 122, 1). – A bat, and animal having the body of a mouse, and wings, not of feather, but of a sort of skin which is extended. – A gib, or a gib-cat, a male cat: an expression exactly analogous to that of Jack-ass, the one being formerly called a Gib or Gilbert, as commonly as the other Jack. Tom-cat is now the usual term. Tibert is said to be the old French for Gilbert, and appears as the name of the cat in the old story-book of Reynard the Fox. From Tibert, Tib also was a common name for a cat. Gib is improperly applied to a female cat, according to Coles’ explication of this word, ‘Gib, a contraction of Gilbert;’ and immediately after, ‘a Gib- cat, catus, felis mas.’”

1858 col3

col3 ≈ col1

2566 paddack . . . gib] Collier (ed. 1858): “A ‘paddock’ is a toad: in A. S. it is pad, and we have already had it in Mac. [1.1.9 (12)]. A ‘gib’ is a cat, and we generally meet with them in combination, as in 1H4 [1.2.74 (185)], ‘ I am as melancholy as a gib-cat.’”

1860 stau

stau: standard

2566 paddack . . . gib] Staunton (ed. 1860): “A ‘paddock’ is a toad; for ‘gib,’ ‘a cat,’ see note (b), p. 512, Vol.1.”

1861 wh1

wh1: standard

2566 gib] White (ed. 1861): “i.e., a cat.”

1862 cham

cham ≈ cald minus //s + magenta underlined

2566 paddack . . . gib] Carruthers & Chambers (ed. 1862): “the ‘paddock’ is a toad or frog (in Scotland, it is a common name for the frog); the ‘gib’ is a cat—the male cat, often called Gilbert or Gib.”

1864a glo

glo: standard

2566 paddack] Clark and Wright (ed. 1864a [1865] 9: glossary, Paddock): “sb. a toad. Mac. [1.1.9 (12)].”

glo: standard

2566 gib] Clark and Wright (ed. 1864a [1865] 9: glossary, Gib): “sb. a he-cat.”

1865 hal

hal ≈ verp + magenta underlined

2566 paddack] Halliwell (ed. 1865): “A paddock, that is, a toad. In the provinces the term is also applied to a frog. ‘In Kent we say to a child, your hands are as cold as a paddock.’ MS. Lansd. 1033. To bring haddock to paddock, i.e. to outrun one’s expenses. It is used as a term of contempt in the following passage:—’Boys now blaberyn bostynge of a baron bad, In Bedlam is born be bestys, such bost is blowe; I xal prune that paddock and prevyn hym as a pad, Scheldys and sperys shalle I there sowe.’ Coventry Mysteries, p. 165.”

hal ≈ v1778 (including Chaucer analogue)

2566 gib] Halliwell (ed. 1865): “A gib was a common name for a cat. Chaucer, in the Romaunt of the Rose, speaks of ‘gibbe our cat.’”

1866 ktlyn

ktlyn: standard

2566 paddack] Keightley (ed. 1866, glossary): “puttock] a kite.”

ktlyn: standard

2566 gib] Keightley (ed. 1866, glossary): “a name for a cat.”

1867 ktlyn

ktlyn

2566 gib] Keightley (1867, p. 294): “I read gib-cat, as ‘gib’ never occurs alone. We surely would not say a tom for a tom-cat, a jack for a jackass, a jackdaw, etc. See Introd. p. 58.”

1869 Romdahl

Romdahl ≈ cald1 (incl. 1H4 //), hal (Chaucer analogue) + magenta underlined

2566 gib] Romdahl (1869, p. 36): “formerly a common name for a male cat, a tom cat, is a contraction of Gilbert, equivalent to the O Fr. Thibert, which was the name of the cat in Reynard the Fox. ‘Gibbe our cat (Fr. Thibert le cas) That awaiteth mice and rattes to killen.’ Chaucer. Rom of the Rose.

“In the following passage it is used as a term of reproach to a woman: ‘Bring out the cat-hounds, I’ll . . . . then with my tiller bring down your gib-ship.’ Reaum. and Fletch.

“Gib is used also in 1h4 [1.2.74 (185)].”

1870 rug1

rug1: standard

2566 paddack, from a bat, a gib] Moberley (ed. 1870): “A toad, a tom-cat (gib being short for Gilbert).”

1872 hud2

hud2 = hud1 minus //s

2566 paddack] Hudson (ed. 1872): “A paddock is a toad; a gib, a cat. See page 256, note 9.”

1872 cln1

cln1: glo (incl. Mac .//)

2566 paddack] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “a toad. See Mac. [1.1.9 (12)].”

cln1: cald1 (incl. 1H4 //), v1778 (Chaucer analogue) + magenta underlined

2566 gib] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “tom-cat. ‘Gib’ is contraction of ‘Gilbert.’ In Sherwood’s English-French Dictionary, appended to Cotgrave, we find, ‘A gibbe (or old male cat). Macon.’ Gramalkin was the female cat. Compare 1h4 1.2.83 [185]: ‘I am as melancholy as a gib cat,’ and Chaucer’s Romant of the Rose, 6207: ‘Gibbe our cat, That awaiteth mice and rattes to killen.’ The toad, bat, and cat were supposed to be familiars of witches, and acquainted with their mistresses’ secrets.’”

1873 rug2

rug2 = rug1

1877 v1877

v1877 = cln1 (Mac. //)

2566 paddack] Furness (ed. 1877): “A toad. See Mac. [1.1.9 (12)].”

v1877 ≈ v1778, Nares, ktly, cln1 minus analogues, // + magenta underlined

2566 gib] Furness (ed. 1877): “Steevens: A common name for a cat. See Chaucer’s Romaunt of the Rose, 6208: ‘—Gibbe oure cat, That awayteth mice and rattes to kyllen.’ Nares: A male cat. An expression exactly analogous to that of a Jack-ass, the one being formerly called Gib, or Gilbert, as commonly as the other Jack. Tom-cat is now the usual term, and for a similar reason. Tibert is said to be the old French for Gilbert, and in the name of the cat in Reineke Fuchs. In Sherwood’s English-French Dictionarie, appended to Cotgrave, we have ‘A gibbe (or old male cat). Macou.’ [A misprint for Matou; which Nares silently corrects, but which is unnoticed by Dyce and Clarendon. Ed.] Coles has ‘Gib,’ a contraction for Gilbert,’ and ‘a Gib-cat, catus, felis mas.’ Keightley: I read ‘gib-cat,’ as ‘gib’ never occurs alone. We surely would not say a tom for a tom-cat, a jack for a jackass, a jack-daw, &c. Clarendon: Graymalkin was the female cat. The toad, bat, and cat were supposed to be familiars of witches, and acqauainted with thier mistress’s secrets.”

1877 dyce3

dyce3 = dyce2

1878 rlf1

rlf1 ≈ v1877

2566 gib] Rolfe (ed. 1878): “A male cat. Nares says: “An expression exactly analogous to that of a Jack-ass, the one being formerly called Gib, or Gilbert, as commonly as the other Jack. Tom-cat is now the usual term, and for a similar reason. Coles has ’Gib, a contraction for Gilbert,’ and ’a Gib-cat, catus, felis mas.’” The female cat was called Graymalkin or Grimalkin; Malkin being originally a diminutive of Mall (Moll) or Mary. We find gib-cat in 1H4 [1.2.74 (185)].”

1881 hud3

hud3 ≈ hud2

2566 paddack] Hudson (ed. 1881): “A paddock is a toad; a gib, a cat. See vol. xi. page 16, note 17.”

1883 wh2

wh2: standard

2566 paddack] White (ed. 1883): “toad.”

1885 macd

macd ≈ cham

2566 paddack] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “a toad; in Scotland, a frog.”

macd: standard

2566 gib] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “an old cat.”

1889 Barnett

Barnett: standard

2566 paddack] Barnett (1889, p. 53): “a toad.”

Barnett: standard

2566 a gib] Barnett (1889, p. 53): “a tom-cat. Gilbert, or Gibbe was the male cat, and gray Malkin, the female cat.”

1890 irv2

irv2 ≈ cln1 (incl. Mac. //)

2566 paddack] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “toad.”

2566 paddack] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “Compare Mac. [1.1.9 (12)]: ‘Paddock calls,’ and see note 3 to that play.”

irv2 ≈ cln1(1H4 //), v1778 (Chaucer analolgue), Nares , Boyer, Coles

2566 gib] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “tomcat.”

2566 gib] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “For gib compare 1H4 [1.2.74 (185)]: ‘I am as melancholy as a gib cat.’ Gib, the contraction of Gilbert, was the equivalent to our tom-cat. Steevens quotes Chaucer Roumaunt of the Rose, 6207: ‘Gibbe our cat, That awaiteth mice and rattes to killen—’ where the original has ‘Thibert le cas’—Tib, from Tibert, being also, as Nares observes, a common name for a cat. (See Nares, s.v.). Boyer, French Dictionary, has ‘Gib, Subst. (a gib-cat) Un chat;’ and Coles, Latin Dictionary, has ‘Gib, for Gilbert,’ and below, ‘A gib cat, catus, felis mas.’”

1891 dtn

dtn ≈ ard1 (Mac. //)

2566 paddock] Deighton (ed. 1891): “toad; cp. Mac. [1.1.9 (12)].”

dtn: standard

2566 gib] Deighton (ed. 1891): “more commonly gib-cat, a male cat.”

1899 ard1

ard1 ≈ cln1 (incl. Mac. // )

2566 paddack] Dowden (ed. 1899): “toad, as in Mac. [1.1.9 (12)].”

ard1 ≈ cln1minus Sherwood

2566 gib] Dowden (ed. 1899): “tom-cat; so ‘gib-cat,’ 1H4 [1.2.74 (185)]. Clar. Press notes: ‘The toad, bat, and cat were supposed to be familiars of witches and acquainted with thier mistresses’ secrets.’ Perhaps the ideas of venom, blindness, and lust are suggested.”

1903 rlf3

rlf3 = rlf1 for paddack and gib

1905 rltr

rltr: standard

2566 paddack] Chambers (ed. 1905): “toad.”

rltr: standard

2566 gib] Chambers (ed. 1905): “male cat.”

1906 nlsn

nlsn: standard

2566 paddack] Neilson (ed. 1906, glossary): “toad.”

nlsn: standard

2566 gib] Neilson (ed. 1906, glossary): “an old tom-cat.”

1931 crg1

crg1: standard

2566 paddack] Craig (ed. 1931): “toad.”

1934 rid

rid: standard

2566 paddack] Ridley (ed. 1934): “toad.”

rid: standard

2566 gib] Ridley (ed. 1934): “cat.”

1934 cam3

cam3 ≈ cln1

2566 paddock...bat...gib] Wilson (ed. 1934): “The toad, the bat, and the tom-cat—all forms assumed by spirits attendant on witches (Clar.).”

1939 kit2

kit2: standard

2566 paddack] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “toad.”

kit2 ≈ cald1 (incl. Mac., 1H4 //s )+ magenta underlined

2566 gib] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “tomcat. The word is a contraction of Gilbert and was common as a cat’s name. The animals here mentioned were regarded as unclean or uncanny. Cf. Mac. [1.1.9 (12); 4.1.14-15 (1541-42)].”

1942 n&h

n&h: standard

2566 paddack] Neilson & Hill (ed. 1942): “toad.”

n&h: standard

2566 gib] Neilson & Hill (ed. 1942): “tom-cat.”

1957 pel1

pel1 = n&h for paddack and gib

1974 evns1

evns1 = pel1 for paddack and gib

1980 pen2

pen2 = evns1 for paddack and gib

1982 ard2

ard2 ≈ evns + magenta underlined

2566 paddock . . . gib] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “frog or toad . . . tom-cat. All these creatures had a sinister obloquy as being the familiar spirits of witches.”

1984 chal

chal ≈ ard2

2566 paddack . . . gib] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “toad....tomcat, which like the bat, were witches’ familiars.”

1987 oxf4

oxf4: Mac. //; xref.

2566 from a paddack . . . gib] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “The toad, bat and tom-cat, all regarded as unclean or venomous, were supposed to be the familiars of witches, and so privy to their secrets. See Mac. [4.1.14-15 (1541-42)], where all three have their places in the Witches’ incantations. Hamlet’s contempt and loathing of Claudius unite here with his recollection of the Ghost’s charge that Claudius seduced Gertrude ‘With witchcraft of his wit’ [1.5.43 (730)].”

1988 bev2

bev2: standard

2566 paddack] Bevington (ed. 1988): “toad.”

bev2: standard

2566 gib] Bevington (ed. 1988): “tomcat.”

1993 dent

dent

2566 from] Andrews (ed. 1993): “In this line from has the force of ‘even from [so base a husband and king as]’."

1997 evns2

evns2 = evns1

1998 OED

OED

2566 gib] OED (Sept. 14, 1998): “2. A cat, esp. a male cat (cf. Gib a male ferret in Chester Gloss.); in later dialectal use, one that has been castrated. to play the gib: (of a woman) to act the cat (see CAT AND DOG). 1561 Schole-ho. Wom. 508 in Hazl. E.P.P. IV. 124 Nature she foloweth, and playeth the gib, And at her husband dooth barke and ba[w]ll, As dooth the Cur. 1600 Dr. Dodypoll III. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. III. 129 This is Melpomene, that Scottish witch, Whom I will scratche like to some villanous gibb. 1602 SHAKS. Ham. III. iv. 190 Who..Would..from a Bat, a Gibbe, Such deere concernings hide? a 1616 BEAUM. & FL. Knt. of Malta V. ii, Wee’l call him Cacodemon, with his block gib there. 1668 WILKINS Real Char. II. viii. §1. 199 Male..Dog, Gib, Cock, [etc.]. 1804 J. DUNCUMB Herefordsh. I. 213 Gib, a male cat, castrated.”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2: Hibbard

2566 paddock. . . bat. . . gib] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “’The toad, bat and tom-cat, all regarded as unclean or venomous, were supposed to be the familiars of witches, and so privy to their secrets’ (Hibbard).”

ard3q2

2566 gib] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “pronounced with hard ’g’ as in ’give’.”