Hot. Home without boots, and in foul weather too! How 'scapes he agues, in the devil's name? Glend. Come, here's the map: Shall we divide our right,

According to our three-fold order ta'en?

Mort. The archdeacon hath divided it
Into three limits, very equally:

England, from Trent and Severn hitherto 7,
By south and east, is to my part assign'd:
All westward, Wales beyond the Severn shore,
And all the fertile land within that bound,
To Owen Glendower: and, dear coz, to you
The remnant northward, lying off from Trent.
And our indentures tripartite are drawn:
Which being sealed interchangeably,
(A business that this night may execute),
To-morrow, cousin Percy, you, and I,

And my good lord of Worcester, will set forth,
To meet your father, and the Scottish power,
As is appointed us at Shrewsbury.

My father Glendower is not ready yet,

Nor shall we need his help these fourteen days:---Within that space [To GLEND.] you may have drawn together

Your tenants, friends, and neighbouring gentlemen.
Glend. A shorter time shall send me to you, lords,
And in my conduct shall your ladies come:
From whom you now must steal, and take no leave;
For there will be a world of water shed,

Upon the parting of your wives and you.

Hot. Methinks, my moiety, north from Burton here,

7 i. e. to this spot (pointing to the map).

8 A moiety was frequently used by the writers of Shakspeare's age as a portion of any thing, though not divided into equal parts. Thus Heywood, in his History of Women, 1624:- I would unwillingly part with the greatest moiety of my own means and for

tunes.

In quantity equals not one of yours:
See, how this river comes me cranking 9 in,
And cuts me, from the best of all my land,
A huge half moon, and monstrous cantle 10 out.
I'll have the current in this place damm'd up;
And here the smug and silver Trent shall run,
In a new channel, fair and evenly:

It shall not wind with such a deep indent,

To rob me of so rich a bottom here.

Glend. Not wind? it shall, it must; you see, it doth.
Mort. Yea,

But mark, how he bears his course, and runs me up
With like advantage on the other side;
Gelding the opposed continent as much,
As on the other side it takes from you.

Wor. Yea, but a little charge will trench him here,
And on this north side win this cape of land;
And then he runs straight and even.

Hot. I'll have it so; a little charge will do it.
Glend. I will not have it alter'd.

Hot.

Glend. No, nor you shall not.
Hot.

Glend. Why, that will I.

Hot.

Speak it in Welsh.

Will not you?

Who shall say me nay?

Let me not understand you then,

Glend. I can speak English, lord, as well as you; For I was train'd up in the English court11;

9 To crank is to crook, to turn in and out. Crankling is used by Drayton in the same sense: speaking of a river, he says that Meander

'Hath not so many turns and crankling nooks as she.' Shakspeare, in his Venus and Adonis, says of a hare :

'He cranks and crosses with a thousand doubles.'

10 A cantle is a portion, a part, a corner or fragment of any thing. The French had chanteau and chantel, and the Italians canto and cantone in the same sense.

11 Owen Glendower's real name was Owen ap-Gryffyth Vaughan. He took the name of Glendower from the lordship of which he was

Where, being but young, I framed to the harp
Many an English ditty, lovely well,

t12;

And gave the tongue a helpful ornament 12
A virtue that was never seen in you.

Hot. Marry, and I'm glad of it with all my heart; I had rather be a kitten, and cry-mew, Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers: I had rather hear a brazen canstick 13 turn'd, Or a dry wheel grate on an axle-tree; And that would set my teeth nothing on edge, Nothing so much as mincing poetry; 'Tis like the forc'd gait of a shuffling nag.

Glend. Come, you shall have Trent turn'd. Hot. I do not care: I'll give thrice so much land To any well deserving friend;

But, in the way of bargain, mark ye me,

I'll cavil on the ninth part of a hair.

Are the indentures drawn? shall we be gone? Glend. The moon shines fair, you may away by night:

the owner. He hated the Mortimers because Lady Percy's nephew, Edmund Mortimer, was rightfully entitled to the principality of Wales (as well as to the crown of England), being lineally descended from Gladys, the daughter of Lhewelyn, and sister of David prince of Wales. Owen Glendower himself claimed the principality of Wales. He was esquire of the body to King Richard II. upon whom he was in attendance when that king was taken prisoner at Flint Castle by Bolingbroke. Owen Glendower was crowned prince of Wales in 1402, and for near twelve years was a formidable enemy to the English. He died in great distress in 1415.

12 This disputed passage seems to me to mean that he gave to the language the helpful ornament of verse. Hotspur's answer shows that he took it in that sense.

13 A very common contraction of candlestick. The noise to which Hotspur alludes is mentioned in A New Trick to Cheat the Devil, 1636:

'As if you were to lodge in Lothbury,
Where they turn brazen candlesticks.'.

I'll in and haste the writer 14, and, withal,
Break with your wives of your departure hence:
I am afraid, my daughter will run mad,
So much she doteth on her Mortimer.

[Exit. Mort. Fye, cousin Percy! how you cross my father!

Hot. I cannot choose: sometimes he angers me,
With telling me of the moldwarp15 and the ant,
Of the dreamer Merlin and his prophecies;
And of a dragon and a finless fish,
A clip-wing'd griffin, and a moulten raven,
A couching lion, and a ramping cat,
And such a deal of skimble-skamble stuff
As puts me from my
faith. I tell you what,-
He held me, last night, at least nine hours,
In reckoning up the several devils' names,
That were his lackeys: I cried, humph,—and well,
-go to,-

But mark'd him not a word. O, he's as tedious
As is a tir'd horse, a railing wife ;

Worse than a smoky house;—I had rather live
With cheese and garlick, in a windmill, far,
Than feed on cates, and have him talk to me,
In
any summer-house in Christendom.

Mort. In faith, he is a worthy gentleman;
Exceedingly well read, and profited

14 i. e. the writer of the articles. The old copy reads 'I'll haste the writer, &c. The two necessary words (in and) were suggested by Steevens.

15 The moldwarp is the mole; A.S. molde and weorpan; because it warps or renders the surface of the earth uneven by its hillocks. Holinshed is here Shakspeare's authority :—“ This was done (as some have sayde) through a foolish credite given to a vaine prophecie, as though King Henry was the molde warpe, cursed of God's owne mouth, and they three were the dragon, the lion, and the wolfe, which should divide this realm between them.'

In strange concealments 16; valiant as a lion,
And wondrous affable: and as bountiful
As mines of India. Shall I tell you, cousin?
He holds your temper in a high respect,
And curbs himself even of his natural scope,
When you do cross his humour; 'faith, he does:
I warrant you, that man is not alive,

Might so have tempted him as you have done,
Without the taste of danger and reproof;
But do not use it oft, let me entreat you.

Wor. In faith, my lord, you are too wilful-blame 17; And since your coming hither, have done enough To put him quite beside his patience.

You must needs learn, lord, to amend this fault: Though sometimes it show greatness, courage,

blood,

(And that's the dearest grace
it renders you),
Yet oftentimes it doth present harsh rage,
Defect of manners, want of government,
Pride, haughtiness, opinion 18, and disdain:
The least of which, haunting a nobleman,
Loseth men's hearts; and leaves behind a stain
Upon the beauty of all parts besides,
Beguiling them of commendation.

Hot. Well, I am school'd; good manners be your speed!

Here come our wives, and let us take our leave.

Re-enter GLENDOWER, with the Ladies.

Mort. This is the deadly spite that angers me,My wife can speak no English, I no Welsh.

16 Skilled in wonderful secrets.

17 Shakspeare has several compounds in which the first adjective has the power of an adverb. In King Richard III. we meet with childish-foolish, senseless-obstinate, and mortal-staring. 18 i. e. self-opinion or conceit.

VOL. V.

S