The Unfortunate Traveller and Other Works (67 page)

148
. quemadmodums
and
quapropters: ‘ln-so-far-ases' and ‘wherefores'.

149
. Imitators of Cicero sought to achieve this particular rhythm at the end of their periods.

150
. Joshua, David, Judas Maccabeus, Hector, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Arthur, Charlemagne and Godfrey of Bouillon.

151
. Term of abuse.

152
. ‘As long as the wild boar loves the mountain ridges' (i.e. for ever) (Virgil).

153
. ‘I have spoken.'

154
. Members of the Corporation.

155
. Taverns, places of resort.

156
. Used as a name for Gabriel Harvey in
Have with You to Saffron Walden
, III,
31
,
10
.

157
. M. suggests variant of ‘broking', a vague term of abuse.

158
. Gadding about.

159
. Frisking, flaunting equivocations.

160
. Contemptuous term for academics.

161
.
Moechi
(Greek): adulterers (with a punning reference later to men of Mecca, where Mahomet's body in its iron coffin was said to have been drawn up to the temple roof by great loadstones).

162
. ‘What an artist perishes in me' (Suetonius).

163
. A play by Gulielmus Gnapheus, or Fullonius, a Dutch scholar written in Latin, translated into English for schools,
1540
. (‘
Acolastus
' means ‘The unpunished'.)

164
. Snapping.

165
.
scolded level coil
: argued, ‘shouted the odds' (‘level coil' from French
lever le cul
, a party game). Luther and Carolostadius are said to have met in a disputation at Lipsia,
1519
.

166
. ‘Things which are above us do not concern us' (proverb).

167
. Expressed himself so ingeniously.

168
. He is reckoned the world champion.

169
. Marius Nizolius (?
1498
–
1576
), author of
Thesaurus Ciceronianus
,
1535
.

170
. Imaginative, quick-witted.

171
. Terrace.

172
.
1486
–
1535
b. Cologne, his lectures on the Cabala gaining him reputation as a magician.

173
. An Italian juggler and conjurer who visited England between
1576
and
1583
.

174
.
half a month's mind
: An inclination, or fancy, to.

175
. Famous oration of the youthful Cicero.

176
. About fifty gallons.

177
. This was printed in
England's Parnassus
,
1600
, signed T. Nash (reading ‘paint' for ‘paints' v.
3
. ‘falls' for ‘flows' v.
3
).

178
. ‘Circuitous ways leading nowhither' (M.).

179
. In spite of.

180
. Perhaps a reference to a character called Bruquell, a dwarf servant in
Palmendos
, a play popular in England from
1589
(M.).

181
. Plausible.

182
. Swooned.

183
. Murdered.

184
. Counterfeit coin.

185
. Noose for hanging, (also meant truant).

186
. In spite of everything.

187
. Rigmarole.

188
.
intrinsical legerdemain
: Secretive trickery.

189
. (?) A name for Puritans (M.).

190
. The opening verse of Psalm
51
, often repeated before an execution.

191
. Informer, spy.

192
. ‘Old so-and-so' (M.).

193
. Was called.

194
. Bergomask, native of Bergamo (M.).

195
. Cuckold him.

196
.
Pawn of wax and parchment
: Written security.

197
. Confederates.

198
. Cheap prostitute.

199
. To one side.

200
. ‘Thalia [one of the Muses] gave me a mind easily moved' (Ovid).

201
. The lowest throw in a dice game.

202
. Encircling.

203
.
beat the bush… caught the bird
: M. quotes Heywood's Proverbs: ‘And while I at length debate and beat the bush, there shall step in other men and catch the bird.'

204
. Simple, plain.

205
. Cuckolded.

206
. ‘Understand' (as used in old grammar books).

207
. (?
1486
–
1555
) accompanied Howard (Surrey) in a naval expedition against the French in
1522
.

208
. Was ledger (resident) ambassador.

209
. (
1492
–
1554
) dedicated Volume II of his letters to Henry VIII in
1542
. There appears no evidence for the appointment Nashe specifies, and Henry's gift was of
300
scudi sent through the ambassador. Later N. confuses Pietro with the poet Bernardo Accolti, called
l'unico Aretino
.

210
. Pedantic expression.

211
. Perhaps a reference to the
Epigrams
, XI,
6
,
12
–
13
. (Translation: ‘I can't achieve anything when too sober, but when in my cups fifteen poets will come to my aid.')

212
. Despised.

213
. An imperfect edition of
1598
contains attacks upon Moses, Christ and Mahomet.

214
. An Italian verse translated ‘Here lies Aretino, a bitter poison to the human race, whose tongue pierced both the living and dead. He said nothing ill of God, excusing himself by saying he did not know Him.'

215
. ‘The Scourge of Princes', ‘The Truthful', ‘The Divine', ‘The Unique Aretino' (properly the title of Bernardo Accolti)

216
.
La Umanità di Christo
,
1535
.

217
. ‘The seven penitential psalms':
I sette Salmi de la Penitentia di David
,
1534
.

218
.
La Vita di San Tomaso, Signor d'Aquino
,
1543
.

219
.
La Vita di Maria Vergine
,
1539
.

220
. Theodore de Bèze, who repented later of the Latin poems written in his dissipated youth.

221
. Splendour.

222
. Literally very high-pitched, above e-la, the highest note of the scale; therefore ‘immoderately'.

223
. ‘Shame and love do not tend in the same direction' (Ovid).

224
. Piece of wood fastened to the leg.

225
. First mover: this sonnet was printed in
England's Parnassus
,
1600
, signed Th.N.

226
. ‘Gods of the earth'.

227
. Sayings from Ovid's
Amores, Heroides
and
Metamorphoses
translated: ‘A girl is a sweet evil', ‘I pursue what flies from me', ‘Love is the reason for my following', ‘O unhappy me', ‘Why have I seen? Why have I perished?', ‘I do not love patiently', ‘Only let her be patient to be loved'.

228
. ‘From tears, more tears'.

229
. Leap in a curvet.

230
. Swollen, inflated.

231
. Fitted, suited.

232
. ‘Winged by a sting'.

233
. ‘Every lover is a soldier' (Ovid).

234
. ‘Ultimately it is sufficient'.

235
. ‘Wonderful because monstrous'.

236
. ‘Liberality carries the seeds of its own destruction' (St Jerome).

237
. ‘You can't take anything at face value' (Juvenal).

238
. ‘Care is a thing of the future' (Ovid).

239
. ‘My white hairs are my fetters.'

240
. A light shield or buckler.

241
. Fauxbourdon (here ‘theme' or ‘motto').

242
. ‘We hope, they shine.'

243
. Jaundice.

244
. Device, motto.

245
. Word, ‘mot'.

246
. Ovid,
Metamorphoses
, XV,
40
.

247
. ‘I am sustained by hope.'

248
. ‘Monuments of grief will remain.'

249
. ‘I flourish not without wound' (from Plautus).

250
. ‘Wisdom, the conqueror of fortune'.

251
. Literally ‘No one else unfolds'.

252
. ‘Abundance has made me needy' (Ovid).

253
. Adapted from Ovid,
Metamorphoses
, III,
470
.

254
. Ill-tempered, shrewish.

255
. ‘What use are kingdoms without the ability to enjoy them?' (Ovid).

256
. Cowlstaff.

257
. ‘Leavings' (M.).

258
. Either Alexander del Medici, ruler of Florence from
1530
to
1537
, or Cosimo (
1537
–
74
) (M.).

259
. ‘Kiss the hands' (Spanish: ‘
beso las manos
').

260
. Plural of cimex, a bed-bug.

261
. Augustine.

262
. Meaning unknown. The Sistine Chapel has five sibyls with scrolls, painted by Michelangelo; Dover Wilson suggests Nashe may be drawing on a traveller's story referring to these.

263
. Emendation of ‘the jems piazza', suggested by M., referring to the Piazza Giudea.

264
. Probably a printer's mistake for Gregory XI (suggestion by E. S. de Beer and J. C. Maxwell).

265
. De Beer suggests this may be a mistake for the burial place of S. Francesca Romana.

266
.
The Gorgeous Gallery of Gallant Inventions
, a poetical miscellany by Thomas Proctor,
1578
(M.).

267
. M.'s suggested emendation for ‘lineally'.

268
. Like a syringe.

269
. Sycophants.

270
. The horn was held to be an antidote for poison.

271
. ‘
Vet erat aeternum
' (
Metamorphoses
, I,
107
).

272
. Gerardus Mercator designed a pair of globes,
1541
–
51
, in common use in England in
1592
.

273
. In case.

274
. Fiery.

275
. T. Lanquet (
1545
). M. quotes ‘a pestilence in Rome which consumed an
100
thousand' under the year
1522
.

276
. Into practice.

277
. Mattress.

278
. At his mercy (the period for prayer and confession before execution).

279
. Tried, tempted.

280
. Without delay.

281
. As long as it takes to say the Lord's Prayer.

282
. Crush.

283
. Hell.

284
. Pander.

285
. Puritanical.

286
. Literally a swelling of the abdomen.

287
. Ovid,
Metamorphoses
, II,
447
.

288
. M. quotes Cornelius Agrippa: ‘King Agamemnon, also going to the Trojan war, left at home a musician that played the Dorian tune, who with the foot spondeus preserved his wife Clitemnestra in chastity and honesty, wherefore she could not be deflowered by Aegisthus before he had wickedly slain the musician.'

289
. Release, free.

290
. The slip knot.

291
. Fawning, jeering.

292
. Epicharmus, Greek comedian, born
c
.
540
B.C.

293
.
Fed in their humours
: Encouraged in their peculiarities.

294
. ‘A poisoned fig used as a secret way of destroying an obnoxious person' (NED).

295
. Ovid,
Ars Amatoris
, II,
123
.

296
. cf. ‘
Patientia longa memorum
' (Ovid,
Tristia
, V,
12
,
31
).

297
. Wizened, sickly-looking.

298
. Tumult, disturbance.

299
. ‘Loops or straps on a sword-belt from which the sword was hung' (OED).

300
. Grogram, coarse silk fabric.

301
. Strutting.

302
. Sop made with breadcrumbs.

303
.
play
…
aloft
: Recite mumbo-jumbo as before conjurer's tricks.

304
. The forty-nine daughters of Danaus murdered their husbands md were condemned to collect water in sieves for ever.

305
.
Pitch and pay
: Pay cash.

306
. Ovid,
Tristia
, III,
3
,
53
.

307
. Penthouses.

308
. Arrested.

309
. A legal charge, a difficulty, a scrape.

310
. Blood-letting, ‘bleeding'.

311
. Usually medicines to help a wound to heal.

312
. Pimple.

313
. Antidote against poisons.