And turn them out of service. If they do this
(As, if God please, they shall), my ransome then
Will soon be levied, Herald, save thou thy labours
Come thou no more for ransome, gentle herald;
They shall have none, I swear, but these my joints;
Which if they have as I will leave 'em to them,
Shall yield them little, tell the Constable.

Mont. I shall, King Harry. And so fare thee well:

Thou never shalt hear herald any more. [Exit, K. Hen. I fear, thou'lt once more come again for

ransome.

Enter the Duke of York14.

York. My lord, most humbly on my knee I beg The leading of the vaward15

K. Hen. Take it, brave York,-Now, soldiers, march away:

And how thou pleasest, God, dispose the day!

SCENE IV. The Field of Battle.

[Exeunt.

Alarums: Excursions. Enter French Soldier, PISTOL, and Boy.

Pist. Yield, cur.

Fr. Sol. Je pense, que vous estes le gentilhomme de bonne qualité.

Pist. Quality? Callino, castore me1! art thou a gentleman? What is thy name? discuss.

14 "The duke of York. This Edward duke of York has already appeared in King Richard II. under the title of duke of Aumerle. He was the son of Edmond Langley, the duke of York of the same play, who was the fifth son of King Edward III. Richard, earl of Cambridge, who appears in the second act of this play, was younger brother to this Edward duke of York.

15 The vaward is the vanguard.

1 'Callino, castore me! The jargon of the old copies where these words are printed Qualitie calmie custure me-was changed by former editors into 'Quality, call you me? construe me.' Malone found Calen o custure me, mentioned as the burthen of a

Pist. Say'st thou me so? is that a ton of moys4?— Come hither, boy; Ask me this slave in French, What is his name.

Boy. Escoutez; Comment estes-vous appellé?
Fr. Sol. Monsieur le Fer.

Boy. He says, his name is-master Fer.

Pist. Master Fer! I'll fer him, and firk5 him, and ferret him:-discuss the same in French unto him. Boy. I do not know the French for fer, and ferret, and firk.

Pist. Bid him prepare, for I will cut his throat. Fr. Sol. Que dit-il, monsieur?

Boy. Il me commande de vous dire que vous faites vous prest; car ce soldat icy est disposé tout à cette heure de couper vostre gorge.

Pist. Ouy, couper gorge, par ma foy, pesant,
Unless thou give me crowns, brave crowns;
Or mangled shalt thou be by this my sword.

Fr. Sol. O, je vous supplie pour l'amour de Dieu, me pardonner! Je suis gentilhomme de bonne maison: gardez ma vie, et je vous donneray deux cents escus. Pist. What are his words?

Boy. He prays you to save his life: he is a gentleman of a good house; and, for his ransome, he will give you two hundred crowns.

Pist. Tell him,-my fury shall abate, and I The crowns will take.

4 Pistol's moy is probably a vulgar corruption of moydore (itself a corruption of moeda d'oro), at least we have no better solution to offer. The moydore was current in England for about 278. To firk is to beat or scourge; fouetter, to yerk and to jerk are words of the port:I will firk

My silly novice, as he was never firk'd

Since midwives bound his noddle.-Ram Alley.

There has been much discussion concerning the ignorance of the proper pronunciation of the French language evinced by the writer of this scene in Pistol's replies. Some have doubted whether Shakspeare wrote it, and suspected that it was supplied by another hand. Be this as it may, surely an ignorance of the true pronunciation of the language was not inconsistent with a sufficient acquaintance with it for literary purposes. In those times it would possibly have been difficult to acquire the pronunciation in England.

SCENE V.

Another Part of the Field of Battle.

Alarums. Enter Dauphin, ORLEANS, BOURBON, Constable, RAMBURES, and Others.

Con. O diable!

Orl. O seigneur !-le jour est perdu, tout est perdu! Dau. Mort de ma vie! all is confounded, all! Reproach and everlasting shame

Sits mocking in our plumes.-O meschante fortune!—
Do not run away.
[A short Alarum.
Con.
Why, all our ranks are broke.
Dau. O perdurable shame!-let's stab ourselves.
Be these the wretches that we play'd at dice for?
Orl. Is this the king we sent to for his ransome?
Bour. Shame, and eternal shame, nothing but
shame!

Let us die in fight1: Once more back again;
And he that will not follow Bourbon now,
Let him go hence, and, with his cap in hand,
Like a base pander, hold the chamber-door,
Whilst by a slave, no gentler than my dog?
His fairest daughter is contaminate.

Con. Disorder, that hath spoil'd us, friend us now!
Let us, in heaps, go offer up our lives
Unto these English, or else die with fame3.
Orl. We are enough, yet living in the field,
To smother up the English in our throngs,
If any order might be thought upon

Bour. The devil take order now! I'll to the throng; don

Let life be short; else, shame will be too long.

[Exeunt.

The old copy wants the word fight, which was supplied by Malone. Theobald proposed 'let us die instant, which Steevens adopted.

2 i. e. who has no more gentility. 3 This line is from the quartos.