In short time after, he depos'd the king; And, in the neck of that, task'd the whole state : Blunt. Shall I return this answer to the king? Go to the king; and let there be impawn'd Blunt. I would, you would accept of grace and love. 'Pray heaven, you do! [Exeunt. Blunt. 8 So in Painter's Palace of Pleasure: 'Great mischiefes succedyng one in another's necke. Task'd is here used for taxed: it was common to use these words indiscriminately, says Steevens. Taskes were tributes or subsidies, and should not be confounded with taxes, which are carefully distinguished by Baret. He interprets 'telonium, the place where taskes or tributes are paied.' Philips, in his World of Words, says 'Tasck is an old British word, signifying tribute, from whence haply cometh our word task, which is a duty or labour imposed upon any one.' 9 The old copies read engag'd, which Theobald altered to incag'd without reason: to be engaged is to be pledged as an hostage. So in Act v, Sc. 2: 'And Westmoreland that was engag'd did bear it.' SCENE IV. York. A Room in the Archbishop's House. Enter the Archbishop of York, and a Gentleman. Arch. Hie, good Sir Michael; bear this sealed brief1, With winged haste, to the lord marshalo; I guess their tenor. Like enough, you do. To-morrow, good Sir Michael, is a day, Wherein the fortune of ten thousand men Must 'bide the touch: For, sir, at Shrewsbury, As I am truly given to understand, The king, with mighty and quick-raised power, Meets with Lord Harry: and I fear, Sir Michael, What with the sickness of Northumberland (Whose power was in the first proportion), And what with Owen Glendower's absence, thence (Who with them was a rated sinew too3, And comes not in, o'er-ruled by prophecies), I fear, the power of Percy is too weak To wage an instant trial with the king. Gent. Why, good my lord, you need not fear ; there's Douglas, And Lord Mortimer. Arch. No, Mortimer's not there. Gent. But there is Mordake, Vernon, Lord Harry Percy, 1 A brief is any short writing, as a letter, &c. 2 Thomas Lord Mowbray. 3 A strength on which we reckoned, a help of which we made account. And there's my lord of Worcester; and a head Arch. And so there is: but yet the king hath drawn Gent. Doubt not, my lord, they shall be well oppos'd. Arch. I hope no less, yet needful 'tis to fear; And, to prevent the worst, Sir Michael, speed : For, if Lord Percy thrive not, ere the king Dismiss his power, he means to visit us, For he hath heard of our confederacy. And 'tis but wisdom to make strong against him; Therefore, make haste: I must go write again To other friends; and so farewell, Sir Michael. [Exeunt severally. ACT V. SCENE I. The King's Camp near Shrewsbury. Enter KING HENRY, PRINCE HENRY, PRINCE JOHN of Lancaster, SIR WALTER BLUNT, and SIR JOHN FALSTAFF. K. Hen. How bloodily the sun begins to peer Above yon busky1 hill! the day looks pale At his distemperature. 1. I do not know (says Mr. Blakeway) whether Shakspeare ever surveyed the ground of Battlefield, but he has described the sun's rising over Haughmound Hill from that spot as accurately as if he had. It still merits the name of a busky hill.' Milton writes the word, perhaps more properly, bosky, it is from the French boscageux, woody. P. Hen. The southern wind Doth play the trumpet to his purposes: Trumpet. Enter WORCESTER and VERNON. Of broached mischief to the unborn times? K. Hen. You have not sought for it! how comes it then? Fal. Rebellion lay in his way, and he found it. 2 Shakspeare forgot that he was not at this time old, it was only four years since the deposition of King Richard. 3 A chewet was (as Theobald justly observes) a noisy chattering bird, a pie or jackdaw; called also in French chouette. This simple and satisfactory explanation would not do for Steevens and Malone, who finding that chewets were also little round pies Wor. It pleas'd your majesty, to turn your looks In Richard's time; and posted day and night : made of minced meat, thought that the prince compared Falstaff, for his unseasonable chattering, to a minced pie! The word is a diminutive of chough, pronounced chouh, from the Saxon ceo. Graculus Monedula. Belon, in his History of Birds, describes the chouette as the smallest kind of chough or crow, and this will account for the diminutive termination of its name. |