a) So 4tos 1612, 1622.-Not in 4to 1598.
flying-fish] "The Exocetus. See Plinii Nat. Hist. lib.

ix. 19." REED (apud Dodsley's 0. P.).

" Edm.", Kent] Old eds. "Edw." (a mistake for which is generally the prefix in the old eds. to Kent's speeches). That the present speech belongs to Kent, is proved by the last line of it, -"Against the Earl of Cornwall and my brother."

§ jesses] i. e. the short straps round the legs of the hawk, having small rings (called the varvels), to which was fastened the falconer's leash.-Old eds. "gresses" (a mistake for "gesses").

Gav. The life of thee shall salve this foul dis-
grace.

Y. Mor. Villain, thy life! unless I miss mine
aim.
[Wounds GAVESTON.
Q. Isab. Ah, furious Mortimer, what hast thou
done?

Y. Mor. No more than I would answer, were
he slain. [Exit GAVESTON with Attendants.

K. Edo. Yes, more than thou canst answer,
though he live:

Dear shall you both abide this riotous deed :
Out of my presence! come not near the court.

Y. Mor. I'll not be barr'd the court for Gave

ston.

Lan. We'll hale him by the ears unto the block.

K. Edw. Look to your own heads; his is sure enough.

Y. Mor. My uncle's taken prisoner by the
Scots.

Lan. We'll have him ransom'd, man: be of good cheer.

Y. Mor. They rate his ransom at five thousand
pound.

Who should defray the money but the king,
Seeing he is taken prisoner in his wars?
I'll to the king.

Lan. Do, cousin, and I'll bear thee company.
War. Meantime my Lord of Pembroke and
myself

Will to Newcastle here, and gather head.

Y. Mor. About it, then, and we will follow
you.

Lan. Be resolute and full of secrecy.
War. I warrant you. [Exit with PEMBROKE.
Y. Mor. Cousin, an if he will not ransom him,

War. Look to your own crown, if you back I'll thunder such a peal into his ears

him thus.

Kent. Warwick, these words do ill beseem thy years.

K. Edw. Nay, all of them conspire to cross me
thus:

But, if I live, I'll tread upon their heads
That think with high looks thus to tread me
down.

Come, Edmund, let's away, and levy men:
'Tis war that must abate these barons' pride.

[Exeunt KING EDWARD, QUEEN ISABELLA, and
KENT.

War. Let's to our castles, for the king is
mov'd.

Y. Mor. Mov'd may he be, and perish in his
wrath !

Lan. Cousin, it is no dealing with him now;
He means to make us stoop by force of arms;
And therefore let us jointly here protest
To prosecute that Gaveston to the death.

Y. Mor. By heaven, the abject villain shall not
live!

War. I'll have his blood, or die in seeking it.
Pem. The like oath Pembroke takes.

Lan. And so doth Lancaster.

Now send our heralds to defy the king;
And make the people swear to put him down.

Enter a Messenger.

Y. Mor. Letters! from whence?
Mes. From Scotland, my lord.

[Giving letters to MORTIMER. Lan. Why, how now, cousin! how fare all our friends?

As never subject did unto his king.

Lan. Content; I'll bear my part. Holla! who's there?

Enter Guard.

Y. Mor. Ay, marry, such a guard as this doth
well.

Lan. Lead on the way.
Guard. Whither will your lordships?

Y. Mor. Whither else but to the king?
Guard. His highness is dispos'd to be alone.
Lan. Why, so he may; but we will speak to
him.

Guard. You may not in, my lord.
Y. Mor. May we not?

Enter KING EDWARD and KENT.*

K. Edw. How now!
What noise is this? who have we there? is't
you?
[Going.
Y. Mor. Nay, stay, my lord; I come to bring
you news;

Mine uncle's taken prisoner by the Scots.
K. Edw. Then ransom him.

Lan. 'Twas in your wars; you should ransom
him.

Y. Mor. And you shall ransom him, or else-
Kent. What, Mortimer, you will not threaten

him?

K. Edw. Quiet yourself; you shall have the broad seal,

To gather for him th[o]roughout the realm.

* Enter King Edward and Kent] A change of scene is supposed here to the interior of Tynmouth-Castle.

Lan. Your minion Gaveston hath taught you this.
Y. Mor. My lord, the family of the Mortimers
Are not so poor, but, would they sell their land,
'Twould levy men enough to anger you.
We never beg, but use such prayers as these.
K. Edw. Shall I still be haunted + thus?

Lan. The northern borderers, seeing their
houses burnt,

Their wives and children slain, run up and down,
Cursing the name of thee and Gaveston.

Y. Mor. When wert thou in the field with
banner* spread,

Y. Mor. Nay, now you are here alone, I'll But once? and then thy soldiers march'd like speak my mind.

Lan. And so will I; and then, my lord, farewell. Y. Mor. The idle triumphs, masks, lascivious shows,

And prodigal gifts bestow'd on Gaveston,

Have drawn thy treasury dry, and made thee

weak; ‡

players,

With garish robes, not armour; and thyself,
Bedaub'd with gold, rode laughing at the rest,
Nodding and shaking of thy spangled crest,
Where women's favours hung like labels down.
Lan. And thereof came it that the fleering
Scots,

The murmuring commons, overstretched, break. § To England's high disgrace, have made this

Lan. Look for rebellion, look to be depos'd :
Thy garrisons are beaten out of France,

And, lame and poor, lie groaning at the gates;
The wild Oneil, with swarms of Irish kerns, ||
Lives uncontroll'd within the English pale;

Unto the walls of York the Scots make road,**
And, unresisted, drive away rich spoils.

jig; t

Maids of England, sore may you mourn,

For your lemanss you have lost at Bannocksbourn,

With a heave and a ho! ||

What weeneth the king of England
So soon to have won Scotland?-

Y. Mor. The haughty Dane commands the With a rombelow I narrow seas,++

While in the harbour ride thy ships unrigg'd.

Lan. What foreign prince sends thee ambassadors?

rombe!ここ

Y. Mor. Wigmore shall fly, to set my uncle

free.

Lan. And, when 'tis gone, our swords shall purchase more.

**

Y. Mor. Who loves thee, but a sort of If you be mov'd, revenge it as you can: flatterers? Look next to see us with our ensigns spread.

Lan. Thy gentle queen, sole sister to Valois, Complains that thou hast left her all forlorn.

Y. Mor. Thy court is naked, being bereft of
those

That make a king seem glorious to the world,
I mean the peers, whom thou shouldst dearly love;
Libels are cast again §§ thee in the street;
Ballads and rhymes made of thy overthrow.

* 'Troould So 4tos 1612, 1622.-2to 1598 "Would."
+ haunted One modern editor prints "taunted."-But
compare, in our author's Faustus, 4to, 1616, "shall I be
haunted still?" see p. 126, sec. col

thy treasury dry, and made thee weak] So 4tos 1612, 1622.-2to 1598 "thy treasure drie, and made the weake." § break] So the modern editors.-Old eds. "hath." || Irish kerns] i. 3. Irish foot-soldiers of the lowest description.

make Old eds. "made," and in the next line "draue"; but the present tense is obviously necessary here.

[Exit with Y. MORTIMER. K. Edw. My swelling heart for tt very anger breaks:

How oft have I been baited by these peers,
And dare not be reveng'd, for their power is
great!

Yet, shall the crowing of these cockerels
Affright a lion? Edward, unfold thy paws,
And let their lives'-blood slake thy fury's
hunger.

If I be cruel and grow tyrannous,
Now let them thank themselves, and rue too
late.

Kent. My lord, I see your love to Gaveston

* banner] So 4tos 1598, 1612.-2to 1622 "banners." † jig] i. e. ballad.

1 Maids of England, &c.] Taken (with very slight variations) from Fabyan's Chron. vol. ii. fol. 169, ed. 1559. § lemans] i. e. lovers.

K. Edw. Traitor, be gone! whine thou with Wait on me, and I'll see thou shalt not want.

His name is Spenser; he is well allied: Kent. No marvel though thou scorn thy noble For my sake let him wait upon your grace; peers, Scarce shall you find a man of more desert.

Q. Isab. Thus do you still suspect me without Come, let's away; and, when the marriage ends,

Gav. Why do you not commit him to the To undermine us with a show of love.
Tower?

K. Edw. I dare not, for the people love him
well.

K. Edw. Would Lancaster and he had both If that will not suffice, farewell, my lords.

K. Edo. O, tell me, Spenser, where is Gaveston?

Y. Spen. I fear me he is slain, my gracious lord.

K. Edw. No, here he comes: now let them spoil and kill.

K. Edw. Farewell, sweet Gaveston; and farewell, niece.

Q. Isab. No farewell to poor Isabel thy queen? K. Edw. Yes, yes, for Mortimer your lover's sake.

* tatter'd] Old eds. "tottered": but towards the end of this play the two earliest 4tos have,

"As doth this water from my tattered robes."

And see note 1, p. 170.

1 to] So 4to 1622-Not in 4tos 1598, 1612.

Enter, severally King Edward, &c.] Scene, within Tynmouth Castle.