Epilogue.n9087

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n9775   ACT FIVE The City Wit hurtles towards its coup de théâtre (the revelation of Tryman’s true identity) via further frantic plotting and counterplotting. The act is one long, complex scene with several sequences of actions and it begins with a Tryman sequence: Tryman denounces Footwell (Crasy), her supposed fiancé, for misleading her about his wealth, claiming that Pyannet has disabused Tryman and informed her that ‘Footwell’ is actually penniless. As a consequence of this Tryman announces that she will now marry Toby Sneakup. ‘Footwell’ argues that Tryman is betrothed to him and he ought to receive some compensation for his disappointment. Tryman persuades Pyannet to pay off ‘Footwell’ to prevent him making trouble. Toby announces that he wants to get married immediately, that evening in fact, and so Toby, Pyannet and Tryman depart to organise the wedding.

Crasy reflects on the fact that he is actually ‘weary’ of the money which he has been able to accumulate from his con tricks; he quietens his conscience about all the trickery he has used by remembering how ungrateful everyone was towards him, spurning him when he needed help. He recapitulates the details of his plot against Rufflit and Ticket; and he now states that he wrote to Rufflit (not Ticket as he said he would at the end of 4.3.) telling him to visit Josina in disguise as Doctor Pulse-Feel. The wedding procession for Toby and Tryman’s marriage then passes across the stage and Josina is seen pretending to feel ill so that she can retire to her chamber, get away from the celebrations, and attempt to have adulterous sex with several men in one night.

When Crasy is alone again, Rufflit enters disguised as Doctor Pulse-Feel and, encouraged by Crasy-as-Footwell, Rufflit goes in to visit Josina, anticipating that he will have sex with her. Instead he is soundly beaten by Josina and Bridget. Rufflit realises he has been set up and demands that ‘Footwell’ tell him who is responsible; ‘Footwell’ claims it is Ticket and so Rufflit conspires with ‘Footwell’ to give Ticket a beating in return. Ticket then arrives for his rendezvous with Josina and attempts to enter her chamber by climbing up a rope held by ‘Footwell’. ‘Footwell’ ensures that when Ticket is half way up to the balcony he gets stuck, and is left hanging by the rope in mid air. Rufflit then pounces and cudgels Ticket who can do nothing to defend himself. After the beating has finished and ‘Footwell’ has released Ticket, Rufflit arrives on stage without his Doctor Pulse-Feel disguise and embraces Ticket heartily, knowing that this will hurt as Ticket is bruised all over.

The final sequence of action revolves around the entertainment performed to celebrate the marriage of Toby and Tryman. Although Tryman states she is reluctant to participate, it is decided that an entertainment should be presented to the wedding guests featuring performances by the newly married couple. Sarpego has already prepared a scenario and the words will be improvised: the entertainment is to feature emblematic characters: Tryman, despite her protests, is to play Lady Luxury, a whore, and Toby will play The Fool, Lady Luxury’s husband. Crasy-as-Footwell is to play The Prodigal. As the performers go off to prepare themselves, Linsy-Wolsey arrives with Crack who sings to entertain the guests, although Crack’s song seems to suggest some scandal in relation to the marriage. The entertainment begins with Sarpego performing a prologue; Tryman then enters dressed as a courtesan, abusing and kicking her husband, played by Toby. Tryman is so convincing in this performance that both Toby and Pyannet are extremely taken aback. Crasy joins the performance as The Prodigal, but he enters clearly recognisable once more as Crasy, and everyone is astonished. Crasy is wearing, hung about him, all the money and jewellery that he has obtained from the con tricks he has perpetrated. Crasy points out in detail to each of his victims how he has out-manoeuvred them, throwing back at them their words when they refused him help. Josina claims she recognised him in all his disguises and she only acted as she did to help his jesting along. Toby, however, is in despair at finding out he has actually married a whore in marrying Tryman, and Tryman agrees to divorce Toby in exchange for a chain of jewellery. She then tells Pyannet that, as Pyannet wears the metaphorical breeches in her marriage, she ought, like Tryman, to wear real breeches. Tryman hoists up her skirts to reveal breeches underneath. Everyone is astonished again, but this time Crasy is astonished too. Toby is so astonished he actually checks to see if Tryman is male or female by feeling Tryman’s crotch. At this point Tryman pulls off her headdress and reveals herself to be Jeremy, Crasy’s apprentice, in disguise and for the third time in quick succession everyone is astonished. The shock of this revelation induces Pyannet to declare her repentance for domineering over her husband and she kneels and asks for Sneakup’s forgiveness. Sarpego tries to get Bridget to agree to marry him but she declares she wants to marry Crack, who really is Jeremy’s brother. Crasy promises that any money or jewels that he obtained in excess of what was owed to him he will restore to his victims. The play closes with Sarpego delivering the Epilogue.

The major dramaturgical challenges here include the very practical problem of how to stage the sequence which involves Ticket dangling from the balcony and hanging there suspended whilst Rufflit, disguised as Pulse-Feel, beats him. This sequence requires a stage with a reasonable degree of height and good health and safety procedures. There is also the challenge of staging the wedding entertainment which is partly, as always with metatheatrical moments, how to make sure the paying audience can see and hear everything they need to (and this is a crowded scene). The coup de théâtre when Jeremy hoists up his skirts, and then later pulls off his headdress has, to achieve its full potential, to be staged quite carefully partly because it is very fast but also because it is potentially extremely funny and it would be a shame to jeopardise the impact of this moment by poor blocking. The tone of the ending of the play also needs to be determined: is it just a merry end to a night’s jolly japes? Is there a moral? Does anyone learn anything? Who is the wittiest of the citizens? One reason that the ending is very effective is because the audience have been tricked into travelling with Crasy throughout the action and they have great confidence that he knows what is going on. When the truth about Tryman is revealed, Crasy looks as foolish as anyone else (after all, he has been racking his brains trying to remember having sex with Tryman somewhere near London Wall). However, the audience may become slightly distanced from Crasy in advance of Tryman’s revelations at the point where the performer playing Crasy delivers his long speech (939) ticking off each of his victims in turn: the speech risks predictability, and it could easily become hectoring or smug. There is also the question of the location of the action: for most of the scene the notional setting is unspecified: the scene seems to open in Pyannet’s house and it would be reasonable to suppose the marriage entertainment takes place there; however, in between these sequences the action moves outside the house for the sequence where Rufflit and Ticket get beaten. As is almost inevitable with such complex plotting it is possible to find logical inconsistencies (for example, how is it that Sarpego has got just the right morality interlude ready to suit Crasy’s and Tryman/ Jeremy’s purposes?) but it is absurd to dwell on such things in the face of Jeremy’s triumph. In The City Wit the apprentice outwits everyone. [go to text]

n9738   O In the octavo text the O is two lines high. [go to text]

gg1100   varlet, rogue, menial [go to text]

gg1225   unconscionable uncontrolled by conscience; harsh [go to text]

gg4826   miscreant! reprobate [go to text]

gg1611   cozened beguiled, deceived [go to text]

gg5706   cony-catching conning, deceiving, tricking [go to text]

gg5707   civil among the citizens; in the City of London [go to text]

gg5429   skipjack. pert shallow-brained fellow; puppy, whipper-snapper; conceited fop or dandy (OED n. 1) [go to text]

n8762   a hole to put thy head in but upon my courtesy. A house to live in except through my kindness. [go to text]

n8763   this matron’s worship, Tryman is being very polite and playing to Pyannet's snobbery in calling Pyannet 'this worshipful matron'. [go to text]

gg4229   easy compliant, credulous (OED 12a) [go to text]

gg3005   cozenage fraud, duplicity [go to text]

gg5708   generous noble, of good birth or pedigree [go to text]

gg140   sirrah, term of contempt [go to text]

n8764   three hundred That is, three hundred pounds; worth £26,750 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n8765   a The octavo does not have 'a' but it is needed for Pyannet to make sense. [go to text]

gg5710   in esse, in actual existence, a Latin term used in legal contexts [go to text]

n8766   five That is, five hundred pounds a year; worth £44,580 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

gg5712   in posse. potentially; a Latin phrase used in legal contexts [go to text]

gg5718   hunting match. competitive hunting; a cross between a horse race and hunting [go to text]

n8192   Aye, ] I (O) [go to text]

n8770   ride the wild goose chase. This expression was proverbial for wasting time on something (Tilley W390) but Toby speaks as if he thinks he has received an invitation to a social event. [go to text]

n8771   made ladies posies The absurd boast is that Toby has made floral decorations for ladies to put on their cheese platters. [go to text]

gg522   trenchers. plate or piece of wood (flat or circular) on which food was served (OED II 2) [go to text]

n10041   played with countesses at shuttlecock. There are possibilities here for double entendre: count/cunt-esses; and shuttle-cock. Brome has fun with the name Nestlecock in The New Academy. [go to text]

gg5927   shuttlecock. not badminton but the game (more fully battledore and shuttlecock, now played only by children) in which the shuttlecock is hit with the battledore backwards and forwards between two players, or by one player into the air as many times as possible without dropping it (OED 2) [go to text]

gg3741   contracted. formally betrothed, or engaged (in the early modern period, this contract was as binding as a marriage, especially if accompanied by the ritual of handfasting) [go to text]

n8774   law upon Law concerning or legal redress concerning. [go to text]

gg5723   precontracts pre-existing contracts of marriage [go to text]

n7955   hundred angels Around £50, worth £4,458 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

gg4232   angels a gold coin worth around 10 shillings which had an image of the archangel Michael standing on and spearing a dragon [go to text]

gg5724   affied affianced, betrothed [go to text]

n8775   his nose wiped of her, To be cheated of her or by her. Tilley (N244) indicates wiping the nose of someone means cheating or injuring someone. [go to text]

n8776   mother in expectation, Soon to be mother (in-law). [go to text]

gg5725   equally, impartially, equitably, justly (OED adv. 3) [go to text]

n8777   course That is, intention, intended course of action. [go to text]

gg3294   betwixt between [go to text]

gg5726   liberal free, without restraint [go to text]

n8778   of some speech of advantage. That is, in some speech talking about favourable occasions, beneficial opportunities. [go to text]

gg274   amiss, wrong [go to text]

gg5727   fall to proceed to (OED v. 67d) [go to text]

n8068   composition. The sense of compromise, and wheeling and dealing here looks back to Crasy's personification and vilification of Composition in [CW 1.1.speech23]. See also later in the play [CW 5.1.speech 812]. [go to text]

n9032   hundred pounds Worth £8,900 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n8332   a hundred pieces As a piece was worth 22 shillings, (£1 and 2 shillings), this equals £110, which would be worth £9807 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

gg103   presently, immediately (OED adv. 3); without delay [go to text]

n8779   even upon his first consent That is, as soon as he gives his consent. [go to text]

gg5728   but only [go to text]

gg1683   Mum! be silent [go to text]

n8780   A word to the wise... Proverbial: a word to a wise man is enough, or few words to the wise suffice (Tilley W781). [go to text]

n8781   Come, sir, you shall not deservedly exclaim Tryman's indubitably prose speech is set as if it is verse in the octavo. It is possible that the lineation might be indicating that one sentence is delivered aside to Crasy and one sentence not. However, both sentences work perfectly well directed openly to Crasy-as-Footwell. [go to text]

gg5729   deservedly with desert, with good cause [go to text]

gg5730   sometimes former, some time in the past [go to text]

gg5873   Pox, pox on it (or her) [go to text]

gg4902   stays. (v) delays [go to text]

n8809   muck of the world. Money was proverbially seen as the 'muck of the world' (see Tilley M1298). [go to text]

gg5750   consideration, in law, anything regarded as recompense for what one does or undertakes for another's benefit (OED 6) [go to text]

gg3881   pretend lay claim to, profess to have (OED v. 3); intend, plan (OED v. 10); aspire to, have pretensions to (OED v. 12) [go to text]

gg177   marry... a common intensifier or expletive, a contraction of 'By Mary', 'By Mary of God' [go to text]

n9224   marries, Toby is playing on two meanings of 'marry': firstly as a common expletive (a contraction of 'By Mary') here meaning 'indeed'; secondly as a verb 'to get married'. He uses the same joke later in the scene at [CW 5.1.speech953]. [go to text]

n8810   fico That is: fig. The octavo has 'Fice', which I have treated as a misreading for 'Fico' because giving a fico, or fig, for something, proverbially indicated disrespect (see Tilley F210, 211). [go to text]

n8811   black’s thine eye To say black is anyone's eye (or eyebrow, nail, etc.) is to find fault with, to lay anything to his/ her charge (OED black III 12). [go to text]

gg103   presently. immediately (OED adv. 3); without delay [go to text]

gg5328   bear a brain. be cautious, thoughtful (OED brain 4b) [go to text]

n8812   occasion by the forelock. That is, seize an opportunity. Occasion (or sometimes Time) was personified as a woman with a long lock of hair at the front of her head which had to be seized in order to take advantage of any occasion. There was no second chance to grasp the lock of hair as Occasion was bald on the back of her head.
Compare the personification of Occasion in [CW 1.1.speech23] [NOTE n6216]. [go to text]

n10111   Why! I am weary of money now. Video This speech by Crasy comes just before the final phase of action in the play and the last lines of the speech remind the audience of where the plot is heading by recapitulating the plot against Rufflit and Ticket. Before this theatrically pragmatic momnt, however, Crasy considers the subject of revenge and how completely successful he has been in using his wit to extract money from his debtors. The objective in exploring this speech in a workshop was to open up a discussion about tone and to ask how comic or tragic the mood might be: the speech can suggest real self-disgust, almost depression, and possibly that success in wit has temporarily at least poisoned Crasy’s life. A short while after this speech Crasy, in the character of Footwell, will comment on ‘the poison of wit’ [CW 5.1.speech 830]. This is also one moment in The City Wit when Shakespeare and Middleton’s play Timon of Athens might be in circulation. Of course, unlike Timon, Crasy is winning hands down, and, unlike Timon, Crasy is here, to some extent, having to work himself up to carry on with his revenge, when by contrast it is hard to imagine Timon ever relenting. Crasy is reminding himself of his wrongs, of why he embarked on a career in ‘wit’ and conning people out of money, while his conscience baulks slightly at what he is doing.
1. Sam Alexander’s first reading was exploratory and did not look for the bitterness and loathing that could be found here. Sam performed a character who was quite genial and still rather disappointed in his fellow human beings but not really bitter or corrupted by wit. It was as if this Crasy was worn out: he has, after all, been doing a lot of rushing around and if nothing else, the costume changes are enough to wear anyone out. This Crasy was not morally disgusted nor was he witty in a predatory way, nor was he enjoying using wit to extort money out of other characters and to humiliate them. Sam commented that he found change of tone as Crasy gets down to plot business at the end of the speech quite challenging. There was some discussion about the use of couplets in the verse: some are rhymes, or approach rhymes, but the overriding feeling was that what should be stressed is that Crasy is delivering a series of sententiae, even though some of the sententiae got smiles from the audience for being so self-righteous and for failing to reflect what is actually going on in the play. Sam asked if Crasy was a religious man as some of the speech could read almost as a prayer and Crasy is invoking the Ten Commandments. Although grim Old Testament justice was cited by Crasy in 1.2.speech 136, The City Wit is not noticeable for its interest in religion. Sam also felt that if he talked more directly to the audience, this would open up the speech. Crasy is the character who has talked most to the audience during the play and to carry on talking to the audience here makes good theatrical sense.
2. The second performance of the speech worked very well. Sam underlined the ‘moral’ but was able to work a transition from the thundering of ‘whips of steel’ to the ‘meanwhile let’s get on with the show’ tone of Crasy’s next line. There was a suggestion that perhaps a pause here would help, but Sam still felt that working the audience more would be a prime objective. Although the section begins with Crasy on stage, Sam also felt that to begin the speech from coming on, rather than beginning it when already onstage, would give it more impetus, and so he entered as if rushing on from completing his latest piece of exhausting wittiness. There was still little sense that Crasy might have become corrupted by his experiences but there was a much more knowing sense to the sermonising and a gesture in the direction of self parody. [go to text]

gg3005   cozenage fraud, duplicity [go to text]

gg5751   cool of a thing or action: characterized by or exhibiting calmness, composure, or a lack of passionate emotion (OED adj, 2c) [go to text]

gg1450   Gramercy thanks [go to text]

gg438   punk! prostitute [go to text]

gg5752   dead lift. a position or juncture in which one can do no more, an extremity (OED 2) [go to text]

gg5753   plague-spot. a spot on the skin symptomatic of the bubonic plague or of another plague-like illness; often believed to show that the person concerned was about to die (OED 1a) [go to text]

n8813   If holy wisdom Crasy shifts into pentameters to deliver a series of gnomic and moralistic statements. The verse intermittently employs rhymes. [go to text]

n8815   thund’ring cloud That is, the cloud of smoke from which the voice of God spoke to Moses in Exodus 19:18-19 just before listing the Ten Commandments. [go to text]

n8814   more laws than ten, The Ten Commandments given to Moses in Exodus 20. [go to text]

gg5754   lot, what falls to a person by lot or fate (OED n. 2) [go to text]

n8816   thrust upon me. Crasy is saying it is the taunting he was subject to, the claims that he had been lacking in wit, that drove him to revenge; without these taunts being 'thrust' on him he would have been stoically content with his loss of fortune. [go to text]

gg5755   right justly entitled to the name; having the true character of (OED 17) [go to text]

n8817   feigned Crasy's misogynist view is that the ability to feign, or to deceive, is what entitles Josina to be called a 'right woman'. [go to text]

n8818   like Dressed like. [go to text]

gg5874   minister attend to [go to text]

gg5756   jump right accord well with, work well with [go to text]

gg3082   counterfeit pretended, spurious, feigned, acted (OED adj. 2) [go to text]

gg4877   urinal a glass vessel or phial employed to receive urine for medical examination or inspection (OED n. 1) [go to text]

gg797   coxcomb. cap in the shape of a cock’s comb worn by a professional fool (OED 1) [go to text]

n8828   night attire), This does not mean Josina is in a state of near undress as a 'nightgown' could actually be acceptable costume to receive guests in, something indicated by Willett and Cunnington (92) who quote the diary of Lady Anne Clifford as stating she went to church on one occasion in her 'rich night gown and petticoat'. The crucial thing is that Josina would not be wearing her 'corset-like under-bodice' (Willett and Cunnington 92). [go to text]

n8829   rosemary. Rosemary was much used at weddings because it not only symbolised remembrance - the bride and groom would remember their friends and family - but also the fidelity they were promising to each other. [go to text]

n8830   like a doctor. Rufflit is not just dressed like a Doctor he is specifically impersonating Pulse-Feel and so must be dressed to look like Crasy-as-Pulse-Feel.

The action of the scene up until this point is probably notionally located in Pyannet's house but it now moves outside so that Rufflit and Ticket can be seen to attempt to enter the house. [go to text]

gg1246   pat. readily, opportunely [go to text]

gg5757   cover verb - to copulate with; usually of a stallion and mare (OED v. 1 6a) [go to text]

n8831   recover The physician's job is to help his patient recover his or her health but here, given Crasy's use of the verb 'cover', to copulate, it also carries the meaning of 'to copulate again with'. [go to text]

gg3747   Hist, 'a sibilant exclamation used to ... call on people to listen' (OED); the predecessor of the modern interjection 'psst!' [go to text]

n8832   Seignior The term is synonymous with lord, indicating a person high in rank or authority (OED 1), thus contrasting with the costume of a physican that Rufflit is wearing. [go to text]

n9768   She As Josina cannot write, the letter was actually written by Crasy-as-Footwell. [go to text]

gg128   habit. clothing [go to text]

n8833   suspect, That is, being suspect, appearing suspicious. [go to text]

gg5874   minister attend to [go to text]

gg1246   pat? readily, opportunely [go to text]

n8834   i’the nick? The primary meaning here is like the modern expression 'in the nick of time', that is, at the precise or exact point of time when something takes place or requires to be done (OED n,1 III 11a); however,'nick' could also mean vagina (OED 2d), a meaning also in play here as Rufflit is setting off, as he thinks, to have sex with Josina. [go to text]

n9235   sings in the right clef, The modern equivalent might be to sing in the right key; the musical clef is the character placed on a particular line of a stave, to indicate the name and pitch of the notes standing on that line (OED). [go to text]

n8835   clef, The octavo has 'Cliff' a variant spelling for 'clef'. [go to text]

gg5758   pullet. a young hen but also figuratively a young or inexperienced person, especially a young woman (OED) [go to text]

n8836   rotten. The implication is that even a relatively inexperienced young city woman might be rotten in the sense of having venereal disease. [go to text]

n8838   Will you in? The way lies open before you. There's plenty of opportunity for double entendre here; Rufflit wants Josina to be open to him so he can go in or enter her. [go to text]

gg1675   tell count [go to text]

n8837   that Rufflit has tipped Crasy-as-Footwell and is telling him to count the money. [go to text]

gg5759   branching the act of furnishing (a cuckold's head) with branching horns [go to text]

gg1331   cuckold, man with an unfaithful wife, traditionally thought of as having horns on his head [go to text]

gg5760   Poor snake, a poor, needy, or humble person, a drudge (OED snake n, 3a) [go to text]

n8839   cast thy skin. As a snake casts its skin as it grows larger, this image suggests that Crasy will have to cast his metaphorical skin as he is made larger in size by the addition of his cuckold's horns on his forehead. [go to text]

gg857   And if [go to text]

n8840   I could pity him. The class hatred here is marked; the only reason Rufflit is unable to have any sympathy for Crasy is, he says, because Crasy is of citizen status. This indicates something of the extent that impoverished aristocrats such as Rufflit felt threatened by the citizen class. [go to text]

gg773   suit (n) petition, supplication [go to text]

n8854   blue gown; Blue was the distinctive colour used for the clothes of servants, tradesmen and charity cases, so a blue gown would mark Crasy out as a tradesman. [go to text]

gg5761   staff-torch a tall thick candle used for ceremonial purposes (OED staff n, 1 26) [go to text]

n10107   Lord Mayor The Lord Mayor of London was (and is) elected for a year in October; the institution of a new Lord Mayor is at the very end of October and the next day is the Lord Mayor's Procession (hence Rufflit's reference to 'All Hallow's Even night). The procession originated in the presentation of the new Mayor to the Sovereign for approval and the swearing of allegiance; consequently the Mayor's route was (and is) from the City up to Westminster. [go to text]

n8842   All Hallow's Even The octavo has 'Allhalloune' which today would be called 'Halloween'. I have kept 'All Hallow's Even', although the conjunction of 'Even' with 'night' is slightly clumsy, because 'Halloween' now has very different associations from the celebration of All Hallows Even (31 October), the night before All Saints Day (1 November), and an occasion for fasting and vigils in memory of departed souls. All Saints Day (and All Souls Day on 2nd November) was associated with Catholicism. [go to text]

n8841   I mount... While the fact that Rufflit is talking of mounting Josina as well as mounting up into the house is very clear, there is a queasy additional suggestion here that Footwell, that is, Crasy, should watch Rufflit mount Crasy's wife. [go to text]

n8856   agitation of my brains should work through my brows. The concern, as usual, is with the risk of acquiring cuckold's horns; Crasy feels so agitated mentally that he feels his brains are bouncing around enough to start working through his skull and forming horns on his forehead. [go to text]

n8857   composition This yet a further instance of the play's concern over composition or compromise, which began with Crasy's vilification of compromise in 1.1.23. Crasy is here concerned that instead of immediately setting about Rufflit-as-Pulse-Feel and beating him, Josina's 'pitiful hand' will refrain from violence and this will provide the opportunity for her to discover it is really Rufflit and not Pulse-Feel who is visiting her. [go to text]

gg904   pate head [go to text]

gg5525   bastinado to beat with a stick, to thrash (OED v. 1) [go to text]

gg5928   charge (n) an impetuous attack (OED n. III 18a) [go to text]

n8858   were not my forehead in apparent danger? That is, would my forehead not be in danger of acquiring cuckold's horns? [go to text]

n8859   in three minutes. Crasy's worry that Rufflit will penetrate Josina in under three minutes perhaps suggests why Josina might be interested in having sex with someone other than her husband; if Crasy thinks sex is a three minute affair then Josina might be looking for something a little more satisfying. However, Josina herself also seems to think sex is a quick business given she has booked so many assignations all in the one night: with Pulse-Feel, Rufflit and Ticket. [go to text]

gg5772   sanguine in humours physiology the state of being 'sanguine' indicated a predominance of the blood over the other three humours, and resulted in a ruddy countenance and a courageous, hopeful, and amorous disposition (OED 3a) [go to text]

n8861   cock sparrow, Sparrows were proverbially lustful (see Tilley S715). [go to text]

n9225   chit, chit, OED (n, 4) defines 'chit' as an obsolete name for the Tit, Titlark, or Meadow Pipit. The name comes from its short and feeble note. Crasy here imagines a cock sparrow, as it were, chitting or chirping just twice before 'away', that is, mounting the hen. [go to text]

gg857   And if [go to text]

n8862   be blown up in mine own mine To be hoist with my own petard, caught in my own trap; explosives were used in opening up mines, an activity that was very dangerous. The repetition of 'mine' seems ungainly but it might work as a pun. [go to text]

n9832   Rufflit within. The speech heading indicates noises off: Rufflit is yelling out offstage. However, Crasy's comment 'the hubbub's raised' suggests some abusive shouting from Josina and Bridget might also be appropriate. [go to text]

gg5773   lays on. deals blows with vigour; makes a vigorous attack, assails (OED v1. 55b) [go to text]

n9226   pisspot-caster! Because Rufflit is disguised as a doctor, Josina is berating him as someone who 'casts' urine in order to diagnose a condition (OED cast v, VI 40) that is, he inspects the contents of the pisspot in order to determine what is wrong with his patient. [go to text]

gg5774   glister-pipe, a pipe for administering enemas (listed in OED under 'clyster') [go to text]

n9227   dishonest That is, to make me have a reputation for dishonesty. Josina is referring to the 'fact' that the doctor has been bragging about his conquest of her which could damage her reputation regardless of whether or not they have had sex. [go to text]

n8069   Exit [JOSINA and BRIDGET]. The octavo has a single 'exit' but both Josina and Bridget must exit here. [go to text]

gg5929   verily. In truth or verity; really, truly (OED adv A) [go to text]

n9859   O, but ’tis, sir. Rufflit appears to put two and two together during this speech and to realise that Footwell must have been involved in setting Rufflit up for the beating he has just received. Crasy-as-Footwell seems to be ready for this realisation and prepared to disarm Rufflit when he draws his sword in anger. [go to text]

gg5776   closes with comes to close quarters or to grips with; engages in hand-to-hand fight, grapples with (OED v. 13) [go to text]

gg262   prithee, (I) pray thee: (I) ask you; please [go to text]

gg3494   suit request or petition [go to text]

n8863   go to the surgeon? That is, he has been so badly beaten he will need his wounds and bruises dressing by a barber surgeon. [go to text]

gg5777   gull to dupe, cheat, deceive (OED v. 3) [go to text]

n8864   have wrong upon you. That is, have brought this wrong upon you. [go to text]

n8192   Aye, ] I (O) [go to text]

gg5778   afore before [go to text]

n8865   both your shoulders go in one livery, That is, the shoulders of both of you (Rufflit and Ticket) in the same livery, or looking the same, that is, bruised from beating. [go to text]

n8866   disclose. That is, disclose the means (to get back at Ticket). [go to text]

n9110   as spiders to monkeys. It was believed that monkeys were attracted to spiders as food and that spiders were nutritious for monkeys despite being believed to be poisonous for humans: see, for example, The Winter's Tale 2.1.41 -47 where Leontes speaks of the horror of drinking from a cup and then realising that there is a spider in the bottom, which means that the drink is poisoned. [NOTE n952] [go to text]

n8867   The poison of wit feeds me. In the play's ongoing discussion of what 'wit' might be (see introduction), the notion of wit as 'poison' is a particularly significant stage. In addition, however, the poison of wit here is characterised as having an addictive element suggesting that once someone has embarked on a career of 'wit' it is hard to break free of that way of behaving.
The octavo has a turned n in 'poison'. [go to text]

n9228   torch. This would be a stick of resinous wood, or of twisted hemp or similar material soaked with tallow, resin, or other inflammable substance (OED n, 1a); however, the torch also informs the playhouse audience that the scene is set at night. [go to text]

n8868   close, Several meanings of 'close' are in play here: 'hidden', 'nearby' and 'quiet'. [go to text]

n8869   by the middle in a rope, That is, Ticket will have a rope tied around his waist and will dangle from the upper level, providing Rufflit with an opportunity to cudgel him whilst Ticket will be completely helpless to resist in any way. This episode owes something to the carefully executed humiliation of Sir Amorous La Foole and Sir Jack Daw in Ben Jonson's Epicoene 4.5., although is it also reminiscent of the hoisting up of the French suitor in a basket in William Haughton's 1598 comedy An Englishman For My Money, or A Woman Will Have Her Will. The sequence offers a serious challenge in terms of stage management; for the performer playing Ticket to dangle helplessly and yet also safely from an appropriate height for him to be beaten by Rufflit makes significant demands on both the theatre space and the performer. A comparably dangerous (from the point of view of the actor) dangling sequence appears in Antony and Cleopatra 4.16, where the dying Antony is hoisted up by a rope to join Cleopatra 'above'. [go to text]

gg1156   soundly. severely [go to text]

n8870   ambitious blows That is, the individual blows will be ambitious or strive in competition to outdo each other in violence. [go to text]

n8871   Good, sir. That is, 'that's a good idea, sir' rather than just a polite form of address. [go to text]

n9229   Exit The octavo places this exit slightly earlier, after 'receive'. This works in early modern playhouse practice if Crasy is at the front of the stage and has to, as part of his exit, travel to the back of the stage in order then to mount the offstage stairs up to the balcony Ticket is to dangle from. 'Do so' is then addressed to Crasy as he walks across the stage. [go to text]

gg5779   ha’ to have [go to text]

gg4462   prevented hinder, thwart, forestall, frustrate (OED v. II 8) [go to text]

gg5780   sirrah, a term of address from a social superior to someone below them in status, marking the distance between them [go to text]

n8872   [Exit BOY] The octavo does not have an exit marked but the boy has to leave or else he ought to come to his master's rescue. Ticket actually dismisses him because he anticipates that he is about to be alone with Josina and does not want the boy around. [go to text]

n9230   once There are two sense here: at once, with the sense of 'get on with it because I am getting cold'; but also 'once you've begun I can get going and attack Ticket' [go to text]

gg3747   Hist, 'a sibilant exclamation used to ... call on people to listen' (OED); the predecessor of the modern interjection 'psst!' [go to text]

n8873   above Dessen and Thomson (p.1) comment that 'above' was 'by far the most common term [...] for the performance area over the main platform' and 'typically one or two figures appear above'. [go to text]

n8874   watched That is, I was on watch, standing here out of my loyalty to you, waiting and watching out for the opportunity to do you a good turn and help out. [go to text]

n8875   mount, a series of puns on the word 'mount' follows; Ticket will not only 'mount' up to Josina's window he will 'mount' her when having sex, remount her and surmount her [go to text]

n8876   surmount. To mount upon, get on the top of (the window sill and then Josina) (OED v, 6) but also to surpass her expectations (as a lover) (OED v, 1). [go to text]

gg857   and if [go to text]

gg5781   ’twere it were [go to text]

n8877   they would beget nothing but fools. That is, citizens can only beget/ father fools with their wives; it is only when gallants are the real fathers of citizens' children that those children show signs of intelligence. [go to text]

n8878   Why, that’s Crasy, That is, this is the case with Crasy: that he could only beget fools and not intelligent children unless the real father is a gallant. Ticket's comment does not indicate that he has suddenly seen through Crasy's disguise as Footwell, although for those in the audience looking forward to seeing a comic beating taking place, the comment could flirt with this possibility, and that the beating might not happen.

Although the octavo does not have a stage direction to indicate when Ticket ties the rope around himself this does have to happen; the main constraint is that it has to happen before Crasy says 'Now mount, sir'. [go to text]

gg3016   coxcomb. conceited ass (the term is derived from the cap worn by professional fools, which was shaped like a cock's crest or comb, which came to be the natural substitute for the word "fool", the emblem representing the man) [go to text]

n8880   my own man The sense here is almost 'my own manhood' or 'me myself as a man'. What Ticket means is 'it would be a pity if my manhood did not enjoy this exeptional woman'. [go to text]

gg5782   rare, exceptional [go to text]

gg5783   proper attractive, fair, elegant (OED adj. III, 7b) but also genuine or real (OED adj. III, 7c); a 'real' woman [go to text]

n8879   a whole corporation That is, a corporate body of citizens like that in the City of London; Ticket is saying that women who are worth seducing are very rare amongst London citizens' wives. [go to text]

gg939   affords supply or furnish from its own resources; give what is asked for [go to text]

n8881   I The octavo habitually represents 'Aye' by 'I'; here it could be 'Aye' ('yes, go on, pluck courageously, mount Josina) or 'I' (I am plucking, or pulling at, the rope as courageously/strongly as I can in order to haul you up). However, speech 847 makes it clear that 'plucking' is being used to refer to hauling in the rope, so the meaning here has to be 'I'. [go to text]

n8882   Hercules In Roman myth Hercules was a hero with extraordinary strength and so an appropriate figure for Crasy to invoke. [go to text]

n8883   my strength fail me not. This is a legitimate concern; to lift a grown man's dead weight and haul him up dangling by a rope requires a considerable degree of strength. The weight issues might not be so critical with a boys' company if Ticket is small and Crasy more robust; however, this sequence still presents a logistical challenge in the theatre. [go to text]

n8895   Save you, A form of greeting, (God) save you, but here also meaning, you need to try and save yourself. [go to text]

gg5789   sensible feeling something acutely or as markedly painful (OED adj, 6) [go to text]

n8896   Pluck, That is, pluck at the rope, pull me up. [go to text]

n8897   Heart, lungs, lights! Ticket may be listing where is he hurting (or being hit?), to be followed by Rufflit listing what he is aiming at, but lungs and lights are referring to the same organs. [go to text]

gg5790   lights! the lungs (OED n. 1a) [go to text]

n8899   Passion of Heaven, an oath referring to Christ's passion, or sufferings [go to text]

n8898   I’ll doctor you away. as this 'doctor' is doctoring Ticket by beating him, then Crasy is saying he will give the doctor some of his own treatment [go to text]

gg5791   Redeem rescue (OED v. 4) [go to text]

n8070   Crasy The octavo has Tra., something clear in some copies such as the BL copy but not so clear e.g. in the Folger and Harvard copy as these two both have smudged ink. Richard Proudfoot points out to me that the mistaking of majuscule C/T is very easy in some contemporary handwriting. [go to text]

gg5792   planet-struck! stricken or afflicted, as by paralysis as a result of the supposed malign influence of a planet (OED) [go to text]

n8901   slit, Although OED lists the first usage of 'slit' to mean vulva as 1648, that meaning is probably in play here: the rope, Footwell claims, stuck in a slit in the wood around Josina's window; but when Ticket exclaims 'A pox o'the slit' he must be alluding to his hopes of having sex with Josina. [go to text]

gg5793   diet prescribed course of food, restricted in kind or limited in quantity, especially for medical reasons (OED n1. 3) [go to text]

n8902   make up your face, Compose your face, try to look as if nothing has happened. [go to text]

n8903   in his own shape. That is, in his own clothes, no longer in disguise as Doctor Pulse-Feel. [go to text]

n8928   hugs and shakes This is, of course, an opportunity for classic comic business whereby Rufflit embraces Ticket by clapping hard on precisely the areas of his body that have just been beaten black and blue, whilst Ticket tries to pretend there is nothing wrong, but fails. [go to text]

gg5794   form’s a long seat without a back, a bench (OED n. II 17) [go to text]

gg5930   Spermaceti, a fatty substance, found in the head of the sperm-whale and used largely in various medicinal preparations (also in the manufacture of candles) (OED 1) [go to text]

n8905   flayed The octavo here, and also at line 2614 (speech 868 in the modernised text), has the spelling 'flead' which nicely evokes fleas as well as flaying, or taking the skin off. [go to text]

gg5796   fly-blows the eggs deposited by a fly in the flesh of an animal, or the maggots proceeding therefrom (OED 1) [go to text]

n8906   caul The octavo has the spelling 'kell'; OED indicates this is the fatty membrane covering the intestines. [go to text]

gg5797   meazell of pig or pork, infected with measles [go to text]

n8930   sense of the lightest colour, The lightest colour is white which was not so automatically associated with weddings in the early modern period as it is today. As the opposite of black, the sign of mourning, and, as a sign of purity, white changes the mood from the slapstick violence of the beating of Ticket and Rufflit to an ostensibly celebratory mood for the marriage of Tryman and Toby. Crasy-as-Footwell is saying the sense of the colour should be put on; Ticket and Rufflit do not start adorning themselves with white. [go to text]

n8929   lights The octavo just has Enter Lights and then lists the characters who enter. I have decided these characters (or at least some of them) could carry lights (lit torches) and place them on stage somewhere. It is also possible that servants could carry on the lights and then stand in attendance or withdraw. The lights remind the audience that this is a night-time celebration as well as having classical associations with marriage as Roman marriage ceremonies featured lit torches. [go to text]

n8931   smooth foreheads That is, no cuckold's or cuckquean's horns sprouting on their foreheads; the wish is that neither of them will commit adultery and cause the other to grow horns.

Ticket and Rufflit bury the hatchet rapidly and by [CW 5.1.speeches910-911], it is hard to remember one was buffeting the other earlier in the scene. [go to text]

gg3579   device, entertainments; especially devised or fancifully invented for dramatic representation; ‘a mask played by private persons’ or the like (OED 11) [go to text]

n8932   mother, As Pyannet is now Tryman's mother-in-law, Tryman calls her mother. [go to text]

gg4611   gauds something gaudy; showy ornaments, pieces of finery; gewgaws (OED n2. 2) [go to text]

n8933   fat That is, food, that which fattens them up. [go to text]

n8934   take the wall That is, we'll make your preciseness, your puritanical attitudes, give way to our festivity. Taking the wall meant walking closest to the wall, that is the cleanest part of the street, away from the dirt in the gutter, making anyone else walk further from the wall, that is, nearer the dirt. Pyannet is asserting her dominance as mother-in-law over the new bride, who should be submissive to her. [go to text]

gg5798   preciseness: puritanical behaviour [go to text]

n8935   ballet, This is less of a dance than a theatrical spectacle dramatizing through music and dance some myth or narrative. OED (2) cites 1668 as the earliest usage, but this is clearly the meaning here. Catherine Shaw, Richard Brome p.67 comments of Pyannet's desire to watch such an entertainment 'It is not at all out of character that Mistress Pyannet Sneakup should be the one to demand a masque for her son's wedding in spite of the apparently grave illness of the bride for masque was an aristocratic entertainment and Pyannet now feels assured of her advanced social position. For the audience, the whole performance is predetermined to be a farce'. [go to text]

gg1038   certes, certainly [go to text]

gg5933   conceits notions [go to text]

gg5799   personate to play a role in a play (OED v. 3a) [go to text]

n8936   after the fashion of Italy, Such entertainments were not unknown in England, but the importance of invoking Italy is partly because in that country, as also in Spain and France, women acted. Tryman, as a woman is being asked to act, and although this is a private setting, that was still a taboo for some when The City Wit was first performed; indeed debates over the propriety of Queen Henrietta Maria's participation in such theatricals were heated and politicised. [go to text]

n8937   only the plot premeditated to what our aim must tend. That is, the plot and conclusion will be premeditated, planned, but everything else will be improvised (rather like commedia dell'Arte). The irony is that the one thing which will surprise everyone here, including the offstage audience, is the conclusion of this entertainment. It seems churlish, given that the witty narrative is now galloping towards its comic climax to point out that, were this a realistic play, there would be a continuity problem here as Sarpego suddenly becomes an integral part of Crasy and Tryman's plotting in producing and introducing this performance. [go to text]

gg1021   extempore. improvised [go to text]

n8192   Aye, ] I (O) [go to text]

n8938   Inductor, One who introduces or initiates (OED 1 citing this instance); it is likely that Sarpego's assumption of the role of Inductor, which is a variation on a Prologue, mirrors the actual prologue to this play which was very probably delivered by the actor playing Sarpego, in character. [go to text]

gg3923   fitted. prepared [go to text]

n8939   regenerative? Tending to or characterized by regeneration (OED 1a, citing this instance); Tryman is expressing the pious, but unlikely, hope that a character named Lady Luxury will be working to advance moral and spiritual growth and regrowth. [go to text]

n8940   courtesan, The 'court' element of courtesan can indicate higher class status; a court-mistress, rather than a common whore or street prostitute. However, a courtesan is still selling her body for sex and, on one level, the paying audience 'know' that this is what Tryman used to do before she started scheming to get off the game and settle down with a husband. [go to text]

n8941   open Liberal with her favours, open to offers, willing to open her legs. [go to text]

n8942   Saving your modesties, God save your sense of modesty, that is please excuse me for saying this; Tryman is pretending that she is as modest as, for example, Desdemona in Othello 4.2.121-3, and she is finding it difficult to say the word 'whore'. [go to text]

gg762   strumpet, debauched woman, whore [go to text]

gg5800   figure to give figure to; to form; to embody (OED v. 1a) [go to text]

n8944   she that cannot play the strumpet if she would, can claim no great honour to be chaste. Sarpego's specious argument is that a woman can only claim the honour of being described as chaste if she has been tempted to be unchaste and resisted that temptation; put crudely an alluring woman with many suitors who is beseiged by them and remains chaste would be seen by Sarpego as more chaste than an unalluring woman who did not have to fend off suitors. [go to text]

gg762   strumpet debauched woman, whore [go to text]

n9111   How gravely and sententiously he speaks. The tone of this is difficult to determine; it seems in character with the Bridget who wanted to marry Sarpego and who admired his learning; however, the audience is shortly to learn that Bridget now has her mind set on marrying Crack instead and if the performer playing Bridget has this in mind then the line might be delivered as mocking Sarpego by imitating his mode of speech. [go to text]

gg416   sententiously neatly, concisely; utterance of maxims (wise sayings) [go to text]

gg3754   injunction. the action of enjoining or authoritatively directing; an authoritative or emphatic admonition or order (OED 1) [go to text]

n8192   Aye, ] I (O) [go to text]

n8952   naturally The meanings in play here include: realistically because of my good acting; realistically because I am a fool myself and so don't need to act; in a way that indicates that I am a person of low learning ability - a 'natural' could mean someone of limited intellectual capacity. [go to text]

n8954   Let learning direct; That is, I will be directed, instructed, by learning as it is represented by Sarpego. [go to text]

n8953   Muses. In Greek mythology the Muses were the nine goddesses of the arts. [go to text]

gg5813   tire get dressed [go to text]

gg103   presently. immediately (OED adv. 3); without delay [go to text]

n8955   I fausto pede ... That is, 'travel luckily' (literally travel with a lucky foot). See also [CW 2.1.speech139], where Sarpego uses a variant on this phrase. [go to text]

n9231   expectation. That is, hope, anticipation but not actual possession of money or security etc. The poor serving creature is always dependent on the whims of his masters and mistresses. [go to text]

n8956   husks. Crasy-as-Footwell is comparing his lot as a serving creature to that of the Prodigal Son whose story is told in Luke 15. The son, having spent his inheritance in advance (or in expectation) is reduced to working as a swineherd and eating the pigs' food, which includes husks. [go to text]

n8957   my discharge of the prodigal... That is, my playing the part of the prodigal. [go to text]

n8958   Nil nisi Carmina desunt. This is very close to a line from Virgil's Eclogue 8 l.67 'nihil hic nisi carmina desunt'. The meaning is 'nothing is lacking except for song'. [go to text]

n8959   We want but now some music or a song, The rhyming couplet emphasises Sarpego's shift into verse for the performance of the entertainment. [go to text]

n8961   we’ll imagine music as Master Sarpego bids us. This surreally comic moment has the potential to develop into a comic piece de resistance as the individual characters enact imagining the music they would like to hear. [go to text]

n8963   misrule The upsetting of normal rules, something especially associated with particular festivities such as twelfth night. [go to text]

gg385   short, too late [go to text]

gg4444   wide. astray in opinion or belief, mistaken (now expressed by the full phrase, wide of the mark) (OED adj. 10b) [go to text]

n8965   missed a bridegroom’s part. That is, missed out on playing a bridegroom's part. [go to text]

n8967   wear no willow Wearing willow proverbially indicated disappointment in love (see Tilley W403), so, by pointing out he is not wearing willow, Linsy-Wolsey is emphasising that he is not disappointed as Pyannet expects him to be. [go to text]

gg812   vented give free expression to; utter [go to text]

n8968   Hymeneal That is, pertaining to marriage; Hymen was the Greek and Roman god of marriage. [go to text]

gg222   humour. mood, temper, attitude, frame of mind [go to text]

n8979   Io Hymen, That is, 'hail to Hymen' (god of marriage). This phrase was a traditional part of a Roman marriage song. [go to text]

gg5934   high of exalted rank [go to text]

gg921   wants is without, lacks, is lacking (something) [go to text]

n8981   by her trade. That is, once Toby's money has all been spent, Tryman can go back to prostitution, her trade. Crack is singing the 'truth' on one level and revealing what most onstage characters do not know, and what the offstage audience thinks it does know. This sets the offstage audience up to feel that they are in a position of superior knowledge, something which then potentially adds to the impact of the final revelations about Tryman. [go to text]

n8982   scandalous to the marriage. That is suggests scandal in relation to, brings scandal to. [go to text]

gg1611   cozened beguiled, deceived [go to text]

n8983   Crooked Lane. Prokter and Taylor indicate that Crooked Lane ran north west from New Fleet Street into St. Michael's Lane. The name is as important as the geography in suggesting something crooked is going on. [go to text]

n8984   prolocutor. That is, a person who speaks for another or others (OED n 1). Clearly this role intersects with the role of a prologue, which was probably played by the actor playing Sarpego, in character; consequently it is interesting that the word 'prologue' is not used here when Ticket [CW 5.1.speech917] clearly thinks it is a prologue. This word, as it is in a stage direction, would not intrude on the consciousness of a playhouse audience, but in the context of the publication of the text, a decade after the playhouses had closed, the reader is the only 'audience' available. 'Prolocutor' reads as more Latinate than 'prologue', and has more of a sense of speaking out, speaking openly, which might be appropriate to what is to follow, when, for example, Tryman speaks openly in her role as whore. [go to text]

gg5755   Right justly entitled to the name; having the true character of (OED 17) [go to text]

n8986   country dame and courtly lady, The distinction between the country dame (Pyannet) and courtly lady (Lady Ticket) is presumably not entirely gratifying to Pyannet who has made so much of her move into the city and her increased social clout.

Sarpego shifts into rhyming couplets for his prologue. [go to text]

n8987   base shrinkings. That is, cowering away or being too scared to speak out - because speaking out is exactly what is going to happen in the entertainment. [go to text]

n8988   your verdict’s bridle, That is, keep a hold, or bridle, on your verdict; don't judge too quickly. [go to text]

n8989   the close may show it, This promises a strong ending to the entertainment, thus mirroring The City Wit itself. [go to text]

n8995   loosely dressed like a courtesan, Tryman's costume change has taken place in the space of just over two pages of the octavo text. While loose dressing was read as signifying a courtesan, with loose clothes indicating easy accessibility for sex, Tryman cannot be too loosely clothed as her skirts must still be substantial enough to hide the breeches she will reveal in the final moments of the play, and the stage direction at that point [CW 5.1.speech955] reveals that her skirt has 'coats', that is, her costume includes an overskirt, designed to be opened at the front to display a fancy petticoat. Tryman must be wearing these coats closed at this point in order to make the opening of the overskirt later so effective. A traditional signifier for a courtesan was also loose hair and certainly swopping wigs - from a demure puritanical wig to a more flamboyant and loosely flowing wig - would be relatively straightforward. [go to text]

n8996   a bowl of wine The bowl of wine is to signify debauchery, which will be confirmed shortly when Tryman drinks it off all in one go; however, it is also part of the the strong visual contrast that would have existed in Caroline performances between the sober matron who had recently exited, dressed demurely and exhibiting modest body language, and the bold, racy figure who has just swaggered on stage. Dessen and Thomson (p.36) comment that in stage directions of the period a bowl was 'usually a container linked to wine'. [go to text]

n8997   a fool’s cap and coat. The fool's cap is the coxcomb, a headress with the shape of cock's comb or crest on it; the traditional fool's coat was in motley, that is particoloured material and could have bells attached. As Toby's appearance is emblematic he might also carry the traditional fool's bauble. [go to text]

n8998   Lechery and Folly, Luxury I would say. Tryman's character was introduced as 'Dame Luxury' and 'Lady Luxury'; the OED (1) has lasciviousness and lust as a contemporary meaning of 'Luxury'; however, of all the possible excesses implied by the term 'Luxury', none covers the actual characteristic exhibited most by Tryman in her new manifestation as a foul-mouthed fish-wife, which is scolding. This, and violence, were characteristics associated with prostitutes working the lowest levels of society. [go to text]

n8999   prompt This is used here is in the technical theatrical sense, prompting an actor who has forgotten lines, as well as in the more general sense of prompting the characters' actions. [go to text]

gg3883   Out an exclamation expressing grief, abhorrence, or indignant reproach: alas!, woe is me!; get out!, curses upon you! (OED out int, 1) [go to text]

gg295   base contemptible, degraded, unworthy [go to text]

n9000   muddy OED (II 4a) offers the definition of being not clear in mind, being confused or muddled; however, given that both 'base rascal' and 'slave' attach Toby's class status as well, 'muddy' may also imply low statuts, or a slave who has to deal with the mud and dirt on behalf of his master or mistress. [go to text]

n9002   thou Tryman's use of 'thou', 'thee' and 'thy' are impolite and indicate contempt. [go to text]

n9001   cuckoldmaker... That is, to my lover-to-be who will make you into a cuckold. [go to text]

gg578   ’Sfoot an oath, short for ‘God’s foot’ [go to text]

n9003   under-hearted, That is, lacking in heart in the sense of being cowardly and generally lacking in traditional manliness. [go to text]

n9004   dull-blooded The term suggestive of a lack of liveliness, not 'full-blooded', and so unable to control, let alone satisfy his wife. [go to text]

n9005   pantaloon! This is a commedia dell'arte term for a character representing authority and the older generation, typically depicted as a lean, foolish old man (OED 1a). The main function of the pantaloon is to be outwitted by everyone. [go to text]

gg1331   cuckold! man with an unfaithful wife, traditionally thought of as having horns on his head [go to text]

n9006   copyholder The insult here is that Toby's father does not own land freehold but only copy-hold. That is, he has tenure of lands which are part of a manor and so his tenure is subject to the whim of the lord of the manor (OED copyhold 1a). [go to text]

n9007   pudding-pie woman’s daughter, That is, the daughter of a woman who makes and sells pudding pies for a living (not a socially exalted profession). [go to text]

gg496   vouchsafe 'to show a gracious readiness or willingness, to grant readily, to condescend or deign, to do something' (OED v. 6b) [go to text]

n9834   to love to do anything but laugh at thee? Tryman really piles the insults on here; there is not only no question of her ever loving Toby but the only thing she will really enjoy doing is laughing at him. [go to text]

gg5834   poltroon! an utter coward, a mean-spirited person, a worthless wretch (OED n. 1) [go to text]

n9008   Thy voice sounds not so far as thy breath stinks... The insult here is that Toby has such a weak voice that he cannot be considered a manly creature as his voice carries only the same distance as the smell of his bad breath. [go to text]

n9009   goodman This was normally a polite term of address but combined with 'fool' it turns into something on the lines of 'Master Fool'. [go to text]

gg3016   coxcomb, conceited ass (the term is derived from the cap worn by professional fools, which was shaped like a cock's crest or comb, which came to be the natural substitute for the word "fool", the emblem representing the man) [go to text]

gg5835   ninnyhammer, a blockhead, a fool or braggart (OED) [go to text]

n9232   clotpold The octavo does not use a comma to separate 'clotpold' and 'country gentleman' although it does use a comma after 'fool', 'coxcomb' and 'ninnyhammer'; this suggests some attention to separating out the items in Tryman's list of nouns. This raises the possibility that clotpold is not a noun - meaning a blockhead - but a participle. The meaning would then be: a country gentleman who is a 'clot', or dull fellow, who has been 'polled', that is he has his hair cut short or even shaven (OED poll v, I 1a and b). Short hair, when The City Wit was written, could be read as a sign of uncourtliness as many courtiers sported long, flowing hair, sometimes accompanied by the newly fashionable fringe; by contrast short hair suggested rusticity or someone who had to work for a living or someone of puritanical sensibilities.
Clotpoll is a character in The Weeding of Covent Garden. [go to text]

n9010   country gentleman, Another instance of the town versus country hostility in the play. [go to text]

n9016   greediness.... The ellipsis may indicate further violence by Tryman against Toby. [go to text]

n9011   daughter? That is, daughter-in-law. [go to text]

n9012   his own habit, That is, visibly recognisable as the jewel merchant he was at the beginning of the play. [go to text]

n9014   hung with Crasy appears as a perfectly acceptable emblem of prodigality and profligate spending; however, he is also displaying all the money and jewels that his wit has managed to extract during the play from his debtors and those who stole from him, and so his appearance is also emblematic, for the audience, of his wit. Catherine Shaw (Richard Brome p.63) points out that, at the beginning of the play, Crasy is in fact 'an interesting variant on the usual stage prodigal' as he has brought about his decline 'by bankrupting himself for his so-called friends'. [go to text]

n9013   chains, That is, chains of jewelry. [go to text]

n9015   rank There are several meanings in play here: the whore is loathsome as a wife, indecent (OED III, 11); she is licentious (OED III, 16); she is also the source of rankness, the corruption of disease. [go to text]

n9017   Dii boni! 'Good gods!' [go to text]

n9018   Domine Master [go to text]

n9019   a kiss and so forth? Crasy starts a series of comments where he quotes words back at different characters, often quoting what he said to them or what they said to him. This quotes Pulse-Feel's speech and Josina's agreement with it in [CW 2.3.speeches192-193]. [go to text]

gg5836   free liberal, generous, but also with overtones of being too free and easy, morally speaking [go to text]

n9020   proper That is, handsome young men, distinguishing Ticket and Rufflit from the clearly more mature (in terms of age) characters such as Sneakup and Sarpego. [go to text]

n9021   mother; That is, mother-in-law. [go to text]

gg4039   Ha’ have [go to text]

n9022   singles and your doubles, your fallings back, and your turnings up, This refers back to [CW 4.1.speech554], although the only dance step listed here that is actually mentioned then is 'falling back'. As in Act 4 there is plenty of opportunity for double entendre around the names of the dance steps. [go to text]

n9024   dost think me so simple that I did not know thee all the while? Josina's timely (and witty) riposte has a classic comic ancestry and looks back to, among others, May in Chaucer's The Merchant's Tale and Falstaff in Shakespeare's 1 Henry IV. 2.5.270.
The octavo has a turned 'n' in 'know'. [go to text]

n9233   counterfeit, That is, to act or pretend. Josina's claim is unlikely, although not impossible, but she deserves credit for her quick wit and improvisational skills in offering this response. However, if Josina is telling the truth about seeing through Crasy's disguises, she is shortly, like Crasy, to be genuinely startled, and outwitted, by the revelations about Jeremy's activities. See [CW 5.1.speech964]. [go to text]

n9023   duck ... The ellipsis posibly indicates Josina kisses Crasy. [go to text]

n9025   five hundred That is, five hundred pounds, worth £44,580 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n9833   they had nothing for it, Crasy is suggesting Lady Ticket should not get jealous because although her husband attempted to have sex with Josina he didn't manage it. This focuses entirely on the technicality of penetration (or not) and does not take into account the possibility that an emotional betrayal, or the attempt to have sex with another woman, might concern Lady Ticket as much as an actual penetration of another woman. However, Lady Ticket is given no lines to indicate how she might respond to this; she might clobber her husband; she might shrug her shoulders with worldly weariness; she might (very unlikely) seem distressed. [go to text]

n9026   by this light. Given Rufflit's reaction, it is possible that Crasy may hold up gold or jewels at this point. [go to text]

n9027   Ticket The octavo erroneously has La. T. but it is clearly her husband who is speaking here. [go to text]

n9028   We have but one capacity in the law, As man and wife Crasy and Josina are viewed as one unit in terms of contemporary property law. [go to text]

n9034   [To JOSINA] This is the first of many stage directions I have added to this speech to try to make it immediately clear to a reader which character Crasy is speaking to at any one time, as he works through everyone who slighted and insulted him and reminds them of how successfully he has outwitted them. The more he exults and triumphs over those who let him down, the more comic the release when he finds out that he (along with, probably, most of the audience) has also been outwitted, or surpassed in wit, by Jeremy. [go to text]

gg5837   swaddling beating, cudgelling (OED vbl n, 3) [go to text]

gg2454   salves healing ointments for wounds or sores; remedies [go to text]

n9767   city wit Crasy identifies himself as the eponymous hero of the play, the supreme wit amongst London citizens, just as he is about to find out he has been outdone in wit by Jeremy. [go to text]

gg5838   costard, applied humorously or derisively to the head (OED 2); literally an apple [go to text]

n9030   slit, See [CW 5.1.speeches860-861]. [go to text]

n9112   To SARPEGO] This refers back to the language used in the sequence between Sarpego and Crasy as a lame soldier in 2.1. [go to text]

n5927   Phœbus, Apollo, who was the Greek and Roman god of, among other things, poetry and music. [go to text]

gg254   minion favourite (of the king or queen) (OED n. I 1a); popular favourite (OED n. I 1c) [go to text]

gg4259   muses, the nine Greek goddesses of the arts who inspired poets, musicians, artists etc. [go to text]

n5932   Helicon, This Greek Mountain was sacred to the Muses. Poetic inspiration was supposed to be derived from its streams. [go to text]

gg5263   preferment, advancement to an office or position, promotion (OED n. 4) [go to text]

n9234   borne a brain, Crasy is mocking Pyannet who thought she was bearing a brain, being thoughtful and careful in her plotting, when she planned to outwit Footwell and deprive him of his rich bride (see [CW 4.1.speech572]; this is an aside but Crasy-as-Footwell is onstage). [go to text]

n9032   hundred pound, Worth £8,900 in 2009 (National Archives currency converter). [go to text]

n9033   laughed at among your neighbours. This is picking up on Linsy-Wolsey's speech [CW 1.2.speech123]. [go to text]

gg438   punk? prostitute [go to text]

gg935   beholden grateful [go to text]

gg5931   cast away. ruined (OED v. XIII 72d) [go to text]

n9037   O no, you shall be no loser by me. You shall be a gainer by me, brother. Get wit, brother, mark you, wit. This refers back fairly precisely to Toby's speech in [CW 1.2.speech110]: 'But, brother, you shall be no loser by me. Purchase wit, get wit, look you, wit.' [go to text]

n9036   a handsome young fellow with a pretty beard and a proper bodied woman to his wife and cannot bear a brain! This looks back to Rufflit's speech in [CW 1.2.speech116], which is quoted fairly precisely: 'A handsome straight young fellow, grown into a pretty beard, with a proper bodied woman to his wife, and cannot bear a brain!' where bearing a brain means to be cunning, careful, thoughtful, to use one's brain. [go to text]

gg5843   mumping grumbling (OED 1c); grimacing (OED 1a); also chewing as if with toothless gums (OED 3a) [go to text]

n9039   French-hood, Willet and Cunnington includes an image of a French-hood (p.109) which they comment was in use by women 1530-1630 but 'after 1600 unfashionable and chiefly worn by widows and the elderly' (p.108). It consisted of a small, closely fitted hood, which was worn at the back of the head with a flap falling below to at least shoulder level. [go to text]

gg5844   flagon-bracelets, chain-bracelets to which a smelling-bottle could be attached (OED flagon, 4) [go to text]

n9040   snout. Tryman is being rude to Pyannet in a variety of ways: she is saying she is ugly (mumping whether in the sense of grimacing or chewing as if one has no teeth cannot be done beautifully); she wears an old-fashioned French-hood; and the implication of 'advance thy snout' is that she is pig-like; this could imply ugliness, or greediness. [go to text]

gg5845   battledore, an instrument like a small racket used in playing with a shuttlecock (OED n. 2) [go to text]

n9041   snort That is, snore, or sleep while Tryman is having sex with her lovers, who will give her gifts that she and Toby can live on. [go to text]

n9042   survey the hangings, That is, stand gazing at the tapestry hangings (to occupy the time while his wife is having sex with a lover). [go to text]

n9043   Cupid’s Cony-burrow, The octavo has Cony-bery, a variant spelling for Cony-burrow, which literally means a rabbit burrow but also has associations with cony-catching or conning people out of money. A whole range of ballads and pamphlets on the theme of Cupid's ... exist such as Cupid's Revenge; Cupid's Academy; Cupid's Courtesy; however, the title Cupid's Cony-burrow is probably invented here, as are the suggestive titles The Park of Pleasure and Christian Love-Letters. [go to text]

n9044   his brows are turning into gold? The cuckolded husband is acquiring horns as his wife has sex with another man but because the man is giving the wife presents, which both husband and wife live off, the horns are a source of wealth or gold. [go to text]

gg5846   match marriage [go to text]

n9045   with any loss. Pyannet is willing to pay dearly for the chance of terminating the marriage and will countenance 'any loss' to achieve this end. [go to text]

n9046   he thinks scorn to That is, he does not deign to, he will not stoop to (being made a cuckold). [go to text]

gg1331   cuckold? man with an unfaithful wife, traditionally thought of as having horns on his head [go to text]

n9047   make frustrate this marriage That is, annul this marriage; this is possible, as the marriage has not been consummated. [go to text]

n9048   no more marries Toby employed a very similar wordplay at [CW 5.1.speech797]; he is playing on two meanings of the word 'marry'; firstly as a common intensitive or expletive (a contraction of 'By Mary'); secondly as a verb 'to get married'. [go to text]

n8192   Aye, ] I (O) [go to text]

n9049   coats the coats of her skirts. Many fashions at the time included petticoats that were intended for display and skirts were worn open over the top of the petticoat, rather like a coat. If Tryman were wearing a coat style skirt, but wearing it as if closed, it would only take a deft flick open of the coats to reveal the breeches underneath. [go to text]

n9050   O horrible! All the characters presumably react with shock, if not horror, when confronted with this iconic image evoking the subtitle of the play: 'the woman wears the breeches'. However, it is important to note that the characters initially believe they are confronted with an unbecomingly mannish woman, and nobody realises that the person in question is a young man, Jeremy, in woman's clothing. The longstanding debate over so-called mannish behaviour in women and womanish behaviour in men is well represented in the 1620 pamphlets Hic Mulier (the mannish woman) and Haec Vir (the womanish man). Hic Mulier in particular fulminates against women wearing items of clothing that the author deems to be masculine; the title page to Haec Vir has an illustration of a woman wearing masculine dress and a man wearing feminine clothing. However, even the mannish woman does not appear to be wearing breeches. A woman who wore man's clothing, of course, was issuing a more serious challenge to patriarchal power structures which privileged men comprehensively at the expense of women, especially if that woman could realistically pass as a man. Wearing mannish clothing was also something associated with whores, which is something Tryman has just been revealed to be. [go to text]

n9055   sir, The deferential 'sir' signals clearly the change away from the character of Tryman as foul-mouthed whore. [go to text]

n9052   stuffing This cues Toby's subsequent action in checking out that Tryman really is physically a man. Stuffing could mean simply the materials used to stuff out padded breeches; however, in the context of trying to assess the virility or otherwise of Tryman, the stuff, or the body, contained within the breeches is what is at stake, especially as, on one level, Jeremy is saying 'I'm as good a man as you are'. The name 'Tryman' has generally operated in the play in terms of trying out or testing men and women; at this point, however, the meaning includes 'try out or test if I am a man'. [go to text]

n9053   satin. Breeches of expensive and difficult to maintain cloth such as satin would mark out a high class ranking; breeches made of everyday, functional cloth, such as wool, would indicate someone who has to work for a living. [go to text]

n9054   Come and feel else. Toby's suggestion is that his mother should come and grope Tryman in order to check out Toby's claim that Tryman really does have a penis. [go to text]

gg5847   else. if it is not believed; if you don't believe me (OED adv. 4b) [go to text]

n9057   headdress.] The headdress might simply be the wig, or dressed hair, that Jeremy is wearing as Tryman in the character of Lady Luxury, a courtesan-like figure. This probably indicates that Jeremy takes off a wig of long, flowing hair, creating a spectacular visual moment. Dessen and Thomson list 'Plucks off his headtire' from a comparative moment in Nathan Field's c.1610 play Amends for Ladies. [go to text]

n9058   master, Jeremy was freed from his apprenticeship by Crasy in Act 1 and yet, when not in character as Tryman, he always calls Crasy 'Master'. [go to text]

n9059   the livery of wit Jeremy was initially apprenticed to Crasy to learn to become a jeweller; Crasy freed Jeremy from this apprenticeship, but Jeremy has reconfigured this action as Crasy taking him on as an apprentice in city wittiness. Jeremy's performance as Tryman is his masterpiece, the piece of work that demonstrates he has mastered his trade, and that he need not be an apprentice any more as he needs no further training. He thus is entitled to be viewed as a free man and to wear the livery (or suit of clothes or badge indicating which company he belongs to) of the company of wits; indeed Jeremy has actually far outperformed Crasy in terms of wittiness. [go to text]

gg5239   ensign sign, token, characteristic mark (OED n. 2) [go to text]

n9060   freedom. freedom means here: becoming a freeman of a company; being released from apprenticeship; being able to practise a trade; being able to take on apprentices himself; being able to take advantage of the privileges that went with membership of a guild etc. [go to text]

gg68   ever always [go to text]

n9063   too hard for ... That is, difficult to deal with, manage, control, or resist (OED a, 7); presumably Toby was about to say 'too hard for us' or 'too hard for me'. The Eton copy has 'me' added here in black ink. [go to text]

n9062   Jeremy The octavo continues to use the speech heading Tryman for the rest of the play but this edition uses Jeremy because this is the character the actor now needs to play. [go to text]

n9064   Except at spoon-meat, sir. spoon-meat was used for invalids, as it was nutritious but very easy to eat and digest, and it is soft in contrast to the 'hard' of Toby's 'too hard'. [go to text]

gg1456   spoon-meat, custard, made of milk, sugar, and flavouring [go to text]

n9065   indeed, forsooth. Like Crasy, Jeremy uses words which will evoke moments earlier in the play; here he is evoking Josina's attempt to seduce him in 1.1, the repetition of the word 'forsooth', and [CW 1.1.speeches78-82]. [go to text]

n9066   give me thy hand. I will love thee This must be addressed to Jeremy ; Crasy is telling Jeremy he will love him/ appreciate him (presumably) for his wit, loyalty etc. [go to text]

n9067   as long as there is swiftness in meditation, smoothness in flattery or constancy in malice. The tone is kept astringent by Crasy's choice of words which gets progressively more cynical; while it is neutral for meditation to be swift, as thought is swift (see Tilley T240), it is less positive to be looking for smoothness in flattery, as this involves not telling the truth (and so Crasy may not be telling the truth when he says that he will 'love'; he may be flattering); and it is even worse to use constancy in malice as a marker rather than constancy in love. [go to text]

n9069   And for the cure There is a shift to blank verse for Pyannet's recantation and Sneakup's response. [go to text]

n9068   he Jeremy [go to text]

n9070   I must loathe myself, This abrupt change ensures the gender politics of the play keep in line with conventional wisdom; the unruly woman has to be tamed and chastened. Pyannet, however, is one of the major sources of theatrical energy in the play, and the audience certainly do not loathe her. They might not want to spend time with a real life version of her, but onstage Pyannet is entertaining, and her submission here suggests that she is about to become less entertaining. It is also interesting to note that Sneakup does not seize the opportunity to acquire the breeches, or exert traditionally masculine modes of power: he says 'I have no words'. This may be because he is so full of joy that he is at a loss for words to express it; however, the fact that he does not speak is in some ways continuing the status quo in this marriage. Indeed, although Sneakup is worried about being beaten by Pyannet when he has loses the jewels at court, he doesn't actually complain about her domination of him and it is entirely possible that the dominant/ submissive arrangement portrayed in this marriage may be one that can work. Sneakup's inability to find words to express his feelings, however, leaves the moment open for performers to interpet. [go to text]

gg5932   purged. to clear onself of an accusation (OED v.1 1a); but also, given that The City Wit includes a medical range of reference, to rid one's body of waste or harmful material; to vomit or to empty one's bowels, especially by taking a laxative (OED v1. 2b) [go to text]

n9071   kneels] Sneakup's request to Pyannet to 'rise' indicates she has actually knelt. [go to text]

n9072   kiss] The text strongly implies that Sneakup and Pyannet kiss. [go to text]

n9073   Tempora mutantur. A Latin proverbial phrase, 'times change'. [go to text]

gg5849   Conjoin, unite in marriage (OED v. 1c) [go to text]

gg2861   catastrophe. a climactic change or reversal of fortune which brings about the conclusion of the plot, the denouement [go to text]

gg5850   horn-book, a leaf of paper containing the alphabet (often with the addition of the ten digits, some elements of spelling, and the Lord's Prayer) protected by a thin plate of translucent horn, and mounted on a tablet of wood with a projecting piece for a handle, much used for teaching in schools (OED) [go to text]

n9075   gaskins The octavo has 'Gascoines'; gaskins are the lower part of a horse's thigh and here the meaning is transferred to refer to breeches or hose. What Bridget means by 'let down your gaskins' refers to the way in which a schoolboy would be expected to drop his breeches or hose in order that his schoolmaster could inflict more pain when beating the child. Bridget is suggesting that Sarpego would be regressing, as if to childhood, if he returned to her. [go to text]

n9076   Dionysius? presumably Dionysius of Halicarnassus a 1st century BC historian and rhetorician who taught in Rome. Bridget's range of reference has suddenly become very learned. [go to text]

gg885   leave, permission [go to text]

n9077   Jeremy’s brother. This is a surprise for the audience as Bridget and Crack have not been given any lines to indicate they have even met, let alone decided to marry. It is crucial not to over-psychologise characters in a play which is always driven primarily by plot rather than coherent or realistic characterisation; however, Bridget's relationship with Crack might raise the possibility that she has been party to Crack's and Jeremy's plot, or that she has known at least some of the truth well in advance of the supposedly witty Crasy. This could complement the fact that play is very grounded in the wittiness and cleverness of servants (Jeremy, Crack) and their ability to be wittier than their masters. Alternatively this announcement could just be another enjoyably implausible moment in the denouement of a farce. [go to text]

gg5846   match, marriage [go to text]

n9078   something That is, a dowry of some kind. [go to text]

n9079   Take the security of my hand. This is the equivalent of shaking hands on an agreement; Crasy is saying his hand (shake) is a pledge of his good faith, despite the fact that such informal agreements were precisely what had got him into trouble at the beginning of the play. [go to text]

n9080   this man’s Linsy-Wolsey's [go to text]

n1859   Bridewell. A former palace on the west side of the Fleet Ditch near the River Thames, originally bequested by Edward IV as a workhouse for the poor, it was by the Caroline period a prison for women and with a particular association with punishment relating to sex crimes and prostitution. [go to text]

n9081   I will have nothing to say to man, woman, or child, while I live again. The tone of this last speech by Linsy-Wolsey might be light-hearted, with an element of 'nothing will ever surprise me in my life again'. However, the tone seems rather darker, and indeed darker than might be expected given that Linsy-Wolsey, compared with most other characters, hasn't lost that much in terms of money. It is important to remember that Linsy-Wolsey is the stock character of the miser, and so any financial loss will hit him hard pyschologically. There may also be a somewhat unassimilated echo of the end of Ben Jonson's Epicoene here; there Morose is similarly embittered but he has rather more reason than Linsy-Wolsey to feel completely misanthropic towards the whole world. [go to text]

n9082   Fortuna nihil aufert sapienti: 'Fortune brings nothing to the wise'. [go to text]

n9083   Sirs, you shall have none, Crasy moves into rhyming couplets for his final speech. [go to text]

n9084   mine own. That is, my own money, property, jewels etc. [go to text]

gg3196   slights, craft or cunning employment [go to text]

gg5217   timely in good time [go to text]

n9085   will restore again to you. This may suggest that Crasy has not been tainted by learning to be an expert con artist; it might also suggest he has not learnt much about whom he can or can't trust; however, he does promise to return only his profits and only in good time ('timely') so there might be a probation period before those who let Crasy down will recover their losses. [go to text]

n9086   Gratias vel ingentes, Domine Crasy. Sarpego is translating what everyone has said in the previous line: 'or enormous thanks Master Crasy'. [go to text]

n9087   Epilogue. To be spoken by Sarpego. [go to text]

n9088   scholasticwise Scholastic can mean of or pertaining to the teaching or methods of the Schoolmen (OED 2). While this meaning works here, there is also also an element of a meaning OED (1) dates from 1641: having the characteristics of the scholar or student, as distinguished from the man of affairs, an attribute that carries with it the notion of not being pragmatic or businesslike. [go to text]

n9089   epiloguise: This term is verbalising the noun 'epilogue' and means 'to speak an epilogue'. [go to text]

n9092   quit our suspense That is, release us from our suspense (as to whether the play has been a success or not). [go to text]

n9093   applaused catastrophe. That is, an ending to the plot/ play that is successful in prompting applause from the audience. [go to text]

n9094   I am short, w’ye I am speaking concisely to you (with ye); there is also yet another joke about Sarpego being short, or, possibly, a diminutive boy actor. The figure that Sarpego notes in his next line is presumably the pun on the two meanings of 'short': concise and not tall. [go to text]

gg2401   figure, figure of speech, piece of rhetoric [go to text]

n9095   Sic valete valetote. 'So goodbye, goodbye'; Sarpego's phrase also looks back to the 'salvete salvetote' used by the prologue. Brome also uses this phrase in The Queen's Exchange [QE 2.2.speech267]. [go to text]

n9096   Gratias reddo cuicunque. 'I repeat my thanks to each one of you.' [go to text]

n9098   Valetote iterumque. 'and once again goodbye.' [go to text]

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