Which they upon the adverse party want.
Up with my tent there! Valiant gentlemen,
Let us survey the vantage of the field;
Call for some men of sound direction:
Let's want no discipline, make no delay;
For, lords, to-morrow is a busy day. [Exeunt.

Enter, on the other side of the field, Richmond, Sir William Brandon, Oxford, and others. Some of the Soldiers pitch Richmond's tent.

Richm. The weary sun hath made a golden set,
And by the bright track of his fiery car
Gives signal of a goodly day to-morrow.
Sir William Brandon, you shall bear

20

my stand

ard.
Give me some ink and paper in my tent:
I'll draw the form and model of our battle,
Limit each leader to his several charge,
And part in just proportion our small strength.
My Lord of Oxford, you, Sir William Bran-
don,

And you, Sir Walter Herbert, stay with me.
The Earl of Pembroke keeps his regiment:
Good Captain Blunt, bear my good-night to
him,

And by the second hour in the morning

Desire the earl to see me in my tent:

30

22. "Sir William Brandon, you shall bear my standard"; so Ff.; Qq. read, "Where is Sir William Brandon, he shall beare my standerd."-I. G.

23-26. In Qq. these lines are inserted between 11. 43 and 44, and 11. 27, 28, 43 are omitted.-I. G.

29. "Keeps"; remains with.-H. N. H.

Yet one thing more, good Blunt, before thou go'st,

Where is Lord Stanley quarter'd, dost thou
know?

Blunt. Unless I have mista'en his colors much,
Which well I am assured I have not done,
His regiment lies half a mile at least

South from the mighty power of the king.
Richm. If without peril it be possible,

Good Captain Blunt, bear my good-night to

him,

40

And give him from me this most needful scroll. Blunt. Upon my life, my lord, I'll undertake it; And so, God give you quiet rest to-night! Richm. Good night, good Captain Blunt. Come, gentlemen,

Let us consult upon to-morrow's business:

In to our tent! the air is raw and cold.

[They withdraw into the tent.

Enter, to his tent, King Richard, Norfolk, Ratcliff, Catesby, and others.

K. Rich. What is 't o'clock?

Cate.

It's supper-time, my lord;

It's nine o'clock.

40. "Good Captain Blunt, bear my good-night to him"; so Qq.; Ff., “Sweet Blunt, make some good meanes to speak with him.”—I. G. 48. "It's nine o' clock"; so the folio; the quartos,—“It is six o'clock, full suppertime." The carefulness of the revisal is well shown in this change of the hour. Six o'clock greatly disorders the time of the scene; for Richmond has before said, "The weary sun hath made a golden set," and at that season, August, the sun did not set till after seven. We are not to suppose, though, that nine o'clock was the usual supper-time at that period: on the contrary, Harri

K. Rich.

I will not sup to-night.

Give me some ink and paper.

What, is my beaver easier than it was!
And all my armor laid into my tent?

50

Cate. It is, my liege; and all things are in readi

ness.

K. Rich. Good Norfolk, hie thee to thy charge;
Use careful watch, choose trusty sentinels.

Nor. I go, my lord.

K. Rich. Stir with the lark to-morrow, gentle Nor

folk.

Nor. I warrant you, my lord.

K. Rich. Catesby!

Cate. My lord?

K. Rich.

[Exit.

Send out a pursuivant at arms

To Stanley's regiment; bid him bring his power
Before sunrising, lest his son George fall

Into the blind cave of eternal night.

61

[Exit Catesby.

Fill me a bowl of wine. Give me a watch.

son tells us in the Preface to Holinshed,—“The nobilitie, gentrie, and students ordinarilie go to dinner at eleven before noone, and to supper at five, or betweene five and six, at afternoone." Mr. Verplanck, with apparent good reason, remarks upon the matter thus: "It seems, then, that the Poet, perceiving that the conduct of the scene required a later hour, and wishing to preserve the incident of Richard's refusing to sup, altered the time to what, though not the common supper hour, might well be that of an army, which had just encamped, after a march."-H. N. H.

63. "Watch"; modern editions, generally, make Richard speak these words to Catesby, for which there is no authority, nor any need. In calling for a watch Richard eivdently does not mean a sentinel; for that guard should be kept about his tent was a matter of course. The watch called for is, no doubt, a watch-light, which was a night candle so marked as to indicate how long it had burned, and thus serve the purpose of a modern watch.-H. N. H.

Saddle white Surrey for the field to-morrow.

Look that my staves be sound, and not too heavy.

Ratcliff!

Rat. My lord?

K. Rich. Saw'st thou the melancholy Lord Northumberland?

Rat. Thomas the Earl of Surrey, and himself,

Much about cock-shut time, from troop to troop Went through the army, cheering up the soldiers.

71

K. Rich. So, I am satisfied. Give me a bowl of wine:

I have not that alacrity of spirit,

Rat.

Nor cheer of mind, that I was wont to have.
Set it down. Is ink and paper ready?

It is, my lord.

65. "Staves"; that is, the staves or poles of his lances. It was the custom to carry more than one into the field.-H. N. H.

68. "The melancholy lord"; Richard, though not without suspicions of Northumberland, describes as "melancholy" his sullen disaffection. Northumberland took no part in the battle.-C. H. H.

70. "Cock-shut time"; that is, twilight. Thus Ben Jonson, in The Satyr:

"For you would not yesternight
Kiss him in the cock-shut light."

A cock-shut was a large net stretched across a glade, and so suspended upon poles as easily to be drawn together, and was employed to catch woodcocks. These nets were chiefly used in the twilight of the evening, when woodcocks "take wing to go and get water, flying generally low; and when they find any thoroughfare, through a wood or range of trees, they venture through." The artificial glades made for them to pass through were called cock-roads. Hence cock-shut time and cock-shut light were used to express the evening twilight.-H. N. H.

K. Rich. Bid my guard watch. Leave me.
cliff,

About the mid of night come to my tent,
And help to arm me. Leave me, I say.

Rat

[Exeunt Ratcliff and the other attendants.

Enter Derby to Richmond in his tent, Lords and others attending.

81

Der. Fortune and victory sit on thy helm!
Richm. All comfort that the dark night can afford
Be to thy person, noble father-in-law!
Tell me, how fares our loving mother?
Der. I, by attorney, bless thee from thy mother,
Who prays continually for Richmond's good:
So much for that. The silent hours steal on,
And flaky darkness breaks within the east.
In brief, for so the season bids us be,
Prepare thy battle early in the morning,
And put thy fortune to the arbitrement
Of bloody strokes and mortal-staring war.
I, as I may-that which I would I cannot,-
With best advantage will deceive the time,
And aid thee in this doubtful shock of arms:
But on thy side I may not be too forward,
Lest, being seen, thy brother, tender George,
Be executed in his father's sight.

Farewell: the leisure and the fearful time
Cuts off the ceremonious vows of love,

And ample interchange of sweet discourse,

90

95. "tender George"; George Stanley was at this time already married, though Shakespeare, following Hall and Holinshed, makes him a child.-I. G.