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Line 3592, etc. - Commentary Note (CN) More Information

Notes for lines 2951-end ed. Hardin A. Aasand
For explanation of sigla, such as jen, see the editions bib.
3592-3 crib shall stand at the Kings | messe, tis a chough, but as I {say,} <saw> spaci- 
3593-4 ous in the pos|session of durt.
1744 han1
han1
3593 chough] Hanmer (ed. 1744): “or CORNISH CHOUGH, a bird, which frequents the rocks by the Sea-side, most like a Jackdaw, but bigger.”
1753 blair
blair = han1 w/o attribution
3593 chough] Blair (ed. 1753, Glossary): “a bird, which frequents the rocks by the sea=side, most like to a jackdaw, but bigger.”
1755 John
John : ≈ han1
3593 chough] Johnson (1755, chough):” n.s. [ceo, Sax. choucas, Fr.] A bird which frequents the rocks by the sea side, like a jawdaw, but bigger. Hanmer
“‘In birds, kites, and kestrels have a resemblance with hawks, crows with ravens, daws and choughs.’ Bacon’s Nat. Hist.
“‘And choughs and daws, and such republick birds.’ Dryden
1765 john1
john1 : han1 ; John
3593 chough] Johnson (ed. 1765) : “ a kind of jackdaw.”
1773 v1773
v1773 = john1
3593 chough]
1774 capn
capn ≈ John
3593 chough] Capell (1779-83 [1774]1:1:Glossary) : “a simple Bird, like a Daw, but bigger, found upon Rocks. Fre. Chue or Chucas.”
1778 v1778
v1778 = v1773
3593 chough]
1784 ays1
ays1 = v1778 w/o attribution
3593 chough]
1785 v1785
v1785 = v1778
3593 chough]
1787 ann
ann = v1785
3593 chough]
1790 mal
mal = v1785
3593 chough]
1791- rann
rann
3593 chough] Rann (ed. 1791-) : “a jack-daw.”
1793 v1793
v1793 = v1785 + magenta underlined
3593 chough] Steevens (ed. 1793) : See Vol. VIII. p. 430, n.7. STEEVENS”
1803 v1803
v1803 = v1793
3593 chough]
1813 v1813
v1813 = v1803
3593 chough]
1819 cald1
cald1
3593 chough] Caldecott (ed. 1819) : “A vain and idle babbler, but possessed of large landed property. Buffon describes the Cornish chough, or red-legged crow, as ‘elegant in figure, lively, restless. His manners are like those of a jackdaw: it is attracted by glittering objects.’” Bewick’s Hist. of Birds, 8vo. 1797, I. 77. See [2H4 2.3.? (0000) Falst.] [”[2H4 2.2.89(823) Falst.] But Ritson says, the Cornish chough is pronounced by the natives chow , and though the word is not spelt here (as in 1H4 2.2.89 (823) Falst.) chuff , it may yet, from its association with wealth, be much doubted, whether it has, in either instance any relation to that bird" in Addenda et Corrigenda]."
1821 v1821
v1821 = v1813
3593 chough]
1832 cald2
cald2 : cald1; v1821 + magenta underlined (from 1819 corrigenda
3593 chough . . . dirt] Caldecott (ed. 1832) : “i.e. ‘a vain and idle babbler, but possessed of large landed property.’ ‘Few in words, but spacious in effect.’[Tim. 3.5.101 (1357)] 1. Sen.
“Johnson considers this to be a kind of Jackdaw, and Buffon describes the Cornish chough, or red-legged crow, as ‘elegant in figure, lively, restless. His manners are like those of a jackdaw: it is attracted by glittering objects.’ Bewick’s Hist. of Birds, 8vo. 1797, I.77. But Ritson says, the Cornish chough is pronounced by the natives chow , and though the word is not spelt here (as in 1H4 2.2.89 (823) Falst.) chuff , it may yet, from its association with wealth, be much doubted, whether it has, in either instance any relation to that bird. It seems rather to be Chaucer’s rich gnof from gnafan A.S. rodere, to scrape together.’ SKINN [CALDECOTT doesn’t indicate where his quotation begins]
“So that ancient Metre : ‘The catiff Gnof sed to his crue; My menes is many my incomes but few.’
“And that ancient Bard : ‘That Gnof that grub of peasant’s blude Had store of gould, yet did no gude.’ Coment upon two tales of Chaucer . 8vo. 1665. p. 8.
“See II. H. IV . II.2. Falst.
“And near half a century afterwards the word is used by an elegant and popular writer, Barton Holyday, as descriptive of such a character and almost in the same terms: ‘D’yee know Vectidius farmes? He’le say Vectidius? Who? The Chuffe of Cures , he whose grounds they say A Kite can scarce flie ore in a whole day.’ Persius Sat. IV. 8vo. 1650. p. 30.”
1833 valpy
valpy ≈ standard
3593 chough] Valpy (ed. 1833): “A bird of the jackdaw kind.”
1857 elze1
elze1
3593 chough] Elze (ed. 1857, 253): "Wahrscheinlich die rothschnäbelige Drosseldohle ((Pyrrhocorax graculus)), welche Gräfe Handbuck der Naturgeschichte I, 365 folgendermassen beschreibt: ’Sehr unruhig, lebhaft, scheu; —setzt sich selten auf Bäume, lieber auf Felsenabsätze, um sich zu sonen;—geht auf der Erde sehr behende; schreit viel und laut; schwartz im behaglichen Zustande wie ein Staar; lässt sich leicht zähmen, ist dann possierlich, will immer etwas zu thun haben, u.s.w.’—Es ist unmöglich, einen Hofschranzen treffender zu charakterisiren. Shakespeare hat diese Art Dohlen vermuthlich auf den Klippen bei Dover beobachtet; wenigstens erwähnt er sie bei der Schilderung derselben im K .Lear IV, 6: The crowns, and chouchs, that wing the midway air Show scarce so gross as eetles. Schlegel: Er ist ein Elster." [Certainly the red-beaked thrush (jackdaw?) ((Pyrrhocorax graculus)), which the Gräfe Handbook of Natural History I, 365 describes in the following manner: ’Very loud, lively, showy—It places itself seldom on a branch, desiring a rock ledge, in order to sun. It is very nimble on the ground; it shrieks often and loudly; it chatters in a comfortable way as a star [?]; it allows itself to be easily tamed, then it is funny to want always to have something to do, and so on.’—it is impossible to characterize a court [schranzen?] to the point. Shakesspeare observed this artificial jackdaw presumably at the cliffs of Dover; at least he mentions it in the same description in [Lr. 4.6]: . . .]
1864 ktly
ktly : standard
3593 chough] Keightley (ed. 1864 [1866]: Glossary): “a bird of the jack-daw kind.”
1872 cln1
cln1
3593 chough] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “See note on [Mac. 3.4.125 (1408)] and [Tem. 2.1.265 (961)]: ‘I myself could make a chough of as deep chat.’”
1873 rug2
rug2 ≈ standard
3593 chough] Moberly (ed. 1873): “So Antonio in the Tempest sayd of Gonzalo: ‘Myself could make A chough of as deep chat.’”
1877 v1877
v1877 = john1 ; Harting ; Skinner ; Ritson (through cald2?) ; cald ; Gifford ; Dyce (Glossary)
3593 chough] Furness (ed. 1877): “Harting calls it the Red-legged Crow, or the Cornish Chough, as it is sometimes called, from its being considered a bird peculiar to the south-west coast of England, though now known to be much more widely distributed. As to its pronunciation, Skinner derives the name à sono naturali quem avis edit, and Cotgrave translates Caue (clearly a case of onomatopœia), and Cauvette, by A Chouch or Jacke Daw. Finally, Ritson (p. 92) says that the name of the Cornish bird is pronounced by the natives chow, which is conclusive. Caldecott doubts much if, in the present instance, from its associaton with wealth, it have any relation to that bird, but inclines to think it should be chuff. [Is not Caldecott right here? The chow is, perhaps, applicable to Osr. on the score of chattering, but how about the spacious possession of dirt, the special application made by Ham.? If chuff be here meant its application accords with Cotgrave’s use of the word: ‘Franc-gontier. A substanciall yonker, wealthie chuffe;’ or again, ‘Maschesouyn: A chuffe, boore, lobcocke, lozell; one that is fitter to feet with cattel, then to conuerse with men.’ Gifford (Massinger’ Duke of Milan, 3.1.p. 279, ed. Gifford) says ‘chuff is always used in abad sense, and means a coarse, unmannered clown, at once scordid and wealthy.’ Dyce Gloss, s.v. chuff) adds instances corroborating Gifford from A Gorgious Gallery of Gallant Inventions, 1578, and Marlowe’s Ovid’s Elegies, Whether it be chow or chuff, the whole speech is puzzling.”]
1881 hud3
Hud3
3593 chough] Hudson (ed. 1881): “This is meant as a sarcastic stroke at the King for keeping such a finical sap-head near his person. Let even a biped puppy be rich, the lord or owner of large herds of cattle, and he shall be the King’s bosom friend, and feed at his table.—Chough is a bird of the jackdaw sort; and Osric is aptly so called because he chatters euphuistic jargon by rote.”
1882 elze2
elze2
3593 chough] Elze (ed. 1882): “See Locrine, V,3 (Malone’s Supplement, II, 254)—’Tell me, Assaracus, are the Cornish chuffs In such great number come to Mercia?’ Compare the notes by Prof. skeat and Mr. Harold Littledale on [TNK 1.1.20 (20)], in their respective editions of that play.”
1883 wh2
wh2
3593 chough] White (ed. 1883): “a sort of magpie.”
1885 macd
macd
3593 chough] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “‘a bird of the crow-family’—as a figure, ‘always applied to rich and avaricious people.’ A chuff is a surly clown. In Scotch a coof is ‘a silly, dastardly fellow.’”
3594 durt] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “land.”
1889 Barnett
Barnett
3593 chough] Barnett (1889, p. 63): <p. 63>“a jackdaw. A.S. ceó, a crow; so named from the cawing. Du. kaa, a jackdaw.” </p. 63>
1899 ard1
ard1 ≈ v1877 (Ritson ; Caldecott ) + magenta underlined
3593 chough] Dowden (ed. 1899): “If the Cornish chouch (which Ritson) says is ‘pronounced by the natives chow’) or red-legged crow, be meant, the following, from Carew’s Survey of Cornwall, 1602 (p.110, ed. 1811), may be quoted: ‘His state, when he is kept tame, ungracious, in filching and hiding of money, and such short ends, and somewhat dangerous in carrying sticks of fire.’ Camden also notices this money-loving and his incendiary practices. Chough’s ‘chat’ and ‘gabble’ are spoken of in [Tem.. Tem. 2.1.265 (961)] and [AWW 4.1.22 (1931)]. But Caldecott may be right in thinking that here chuff may be meant. Furness quotes Cotgrave: [cites Cotrave from v1877].”
1900 ev1
ev1=
3593 chough] Herford (ed. 1900): "probably ’chuff,’ a wealthy churl."
1905 rltr
rltr : standard
3593 chough]
1906 nlsn
nlsn : standard
3593 chough] Neilson (ed. 1906, Glossary)
1929 trav
trav
3594 spacious . . . durt] Travers (ed. 1929): “Spacious in the possession, for ‘possessing an ample space’, does sound a little like a first parody of the affected court jargon picked up by the ‘though’ in question IV). But its being ushered in by as I say ((though referring, of course, to 87 [3592-93])) and its leading up to dirt ((which echoes V, i, 108 [3298])) seem to make this doubtful.”
1931 crg1
crg1 ≈ standard
3593 chough]
1934 rid1
rid1 : standard
3593 chough] Ridley (ed. 1934, Glossary):
1934 cam3
cam3
3593 messe] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary): “table.”
cam3 : standard
3593 chough] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary)
1939 kit2
kit2
3592-3 crib . . . messe] Kittredge (ed. 1936): “A disrespectful way of saying ‘He will be sure to be admited to the King’s table.’”
kit2ard1 w/o attribution
3593 chough]
kit2 ≈ standard
3593 chough] Kittredge (ed. 1939, Glossary):
1938 parc
parckit2 w/o attribution
3592-3 crib . . . messe]
parc ≈ standard
3593 chough]
1942 n&h
n&h ≈ standard
3593 chough]
1947 Cln2
Cln2 ≈ standard
3593 chough]
Cln2
3594 spacious . . . durt] Rylands (ed. 1947): “a landlord of many acres.”
1951 alex
Alex ≈ standard
3593 chough] Alexander (ed. 1951, Glossary)
1951 crg2
crg2=crg1
3593 chough]
1954 sis
sis ≈ standard
3593 chough] Sisson (ed. 1954, Glossary):
1957 pel1
pel1 : standard
3593 chough]
pel1 : standard
3593 messe]
1970 pel2
pel2=pel1
3593 chough]
pel2=pel1
3593 messe]
1974 evns1
evns1 ≈ standard
3593 chough]
1980 pen2
pen2
3592 crib] Spencer (ed. 1980): “manger.”
pen2
3593 messe] Spencer (ed. 1980): “((a division of the company at a banquet)).”
pen2 ≈ standard
3593 chough]
pen2cln2 w/o attribution
3594 spacious . . . durt]
1982 ard2
ard2 ≈ standard
3592 crib] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “continues the beast metaphor.”
ard2 : v1877
3593 chough] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “chuff]] ((of which Q2 chough is a variant spelling)) rustic, churl, esp. one who is nevertheless well-to-do. LN [Longer Notes].”
3593 chough] Jenkins (ed. 1982, Longer Notes, 559): <p. 559> “The boorish connotations are often held inappropriate for the fantastical Osric, but a country fellow of more wealth than worth exactly fits the context. Cf. Cotgrave, ‘Maschefouyn, A chuffe, boore . . . one thats fitter to feed with cattell, then to converse with men’; but also ‘Frenc-gontier, A good rich Yeoman, substantiall yonker, wealthie chuffe’. A chuff is thought of as ‘rich’ ((Woodstock, MSR, l. 1527; Nashe, ii. 107; Marlowe, Ovid’s Elegies, III.vii.9)) or ‘fat’ ((Nashe, I. 163)). Cf. [1H4 2.2.86], ‘ye fat chuffs; I would your store were here’. But always implicit in the word is the paradox of riches possessed by one unfit to have them. See Marlowe’s Ovids, III.vi.50, ‘Chuffe-like had I not gold and could not use it?’; Nashe, iii. 211, ‘countrey chuffes which make their bellies and their bagges theyr Gods’; 2 Return from Parnassus, l. 226, ‘thick-skin chuffes laugh at a schollers neede’; Every Man Out of his Humour, The Characters, ‘sordido. A Wretched hob-nail’d Chuffe’; Massinger, Duke of Milan, III.i.22, ‘To see these chuffs, that every day may spend A soldier’s entertainment for a year’. With the variant spelling attested in OED, this interpretation seems to me beyond question. Cf. the character Chough ((Q Chaugh, Chawgh)) in Middleton and Rowley, A Fair Quarrel, ‘a Cornish gentleman’, ‘a rich simplicity of great estate’ ((II.ii)). Many editors, however, assume the different word chough, a bird of the crow family, esp. a jackdaw, and hence a chatterer. This, punned on in A Fair Quarrel, occurs some half-dozen times in Shakesepare and might be relevant to a description of Osric, though not to the present context. The linguistic excesses ((preciosities rather than mere chatter)) are not yet begun, or unanticipated. It is no doubt because it seems at odds with the portrait of Osric that Furness finds this whole speech ‘puzzling’. It may well be that Shakespeare’s conception of the character changed as he proceeded.”
1984 chal
chal : standard
3592 crib]
chal : standard
3593 chough]
chal :
3593 messe] Wilkes (ed. 1984): "banquet ((i.e. a large estate will ensure reception a court for the most uncouth))."
1985 cam4
cam4 ≈ standard
3592 crib]
cam4 ≈ ard2
3593 chough]
1987 oxf4
oxf4
3593 chough] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “((I)) chuff ((of which it is a variant spelling)), i.e. churl, rustic ((2)) a kind of jackdaw, much given to chatter and imitation. Hamlet begins by calling Osric a water-fly, alluding to his fashionable appearance; then switches over at this point to the first meaning of the word; and then exploits the courtier’s jackdaw-like readiness to repeat whatever he is told. Chuffs, usually referred to as rich or fat—rich choughs are mentioned in Woodstock 3.3.2-3; and Falstaff describes the men he robs at Gadshill as gor-bellied knaves and fat chuffs ((1 Henry IV 2.2.85-6))—were a very common object of satire c. 1600, because come of them sought to use their wealth as a means of rising in the social scale. Tourneur (9or Middleton?)) puts the matter with characteristic incisiveness when he writes of farmers’ sons who agreed ‘To wash their hands, and come up gentlemen’ ((The Revenger’s Tragedy 2.1.241)). At the time when Shakespeare wrote Hamlethis company had recently played Jonson’s Every Man Out of His Humour, in which rich chuffs figure prominently. Three of the leading characters are ‘Sordido, a weretched hob-nailed chuff’, his son Fungoso, who extracts money from his father ‘to put him in the Courtier’s cut’, and Sogliardo, Sordido’s brother, ‘an essential clown . . . yet so enamooured of the name of a gentleman, that he will have it, though he buys it.’ And buy it he does, paying good money in order to learn ‘all the rare qualities, humours, and complements of a gentleman’ ((I.2.22-3)). There is, therefore, no contradiction between Osric the chuff’spacious in the possession of dirt’, and Osric the chough who has ‘got the tune of the time’.”
1988 bev2
bev2: standard (ard2)
3593 chough]
1992 fol2
fol2≈ standard
3592 crib]
fol2≈ standard
3593 messe]
1993 dent
dent ≈ standard
3593 chough]
1998 OED
OED
3593 chough] OED (1. A bird of the crow family; formerly applied somewhat widely to all the smaller chattering species, but especially to the common Jackdaw. [c 1000 ÆLFRIC Gram. IX. (Z.) 70 Haec cornix, [th]eos ceo. -- Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 132/4 Gracculus, vel monedula, ceo.] c 1305 E.E.P. (1862) 76 Blake monekes he se[z] As hit crowen & cho[z]en were. c 1381 CHAUCER Parl. Foules 345 The thefe the Chowgh [v.r. crow(e, chough(e, choghe, chowhe, clough] and eke the iangling py. [etc.]
3592 3593 3594