If we be English deer, be then in blood ? :
Not rascal-like S, to fall down with a pinch;
But rather moody-mad, and desperate stags,
Turn on the bloody hounds with heads of steel',
And make the cowards stand aloof at bay:
Sell every man his life as dear as mine,
And they shall find dear deer of us', my friends.-
God, and Saint George! Talbot, and England's

right!
Prosper our colours in this dangerous fight!

[Exeunt.

SCENE III.

Plains in Gascony.

Enter YORK, with Forces; to him, a Messenger.

York. Are not the speedy scouts return'd again, That dogg'd the mighty army of the Dauphin ? Mess. They are return'd, my lord ; and give it

out,

7 — be then in Blood:] Be in high spirits, be of true mettle.

Johnson. This was a phrase of the forest. See Love's Labour's Lost, vol. iv. p. 352, n. 3 :

“ The

deer was, as you know, in sanguis, blood." Again, in Bullokar's English Expositor, 1616: “Tenderlings. The soft tops of a deere's horns, when they are in blood.”

MALONE. 8 Not RASCAL-like,] A rascal deer is the term of chase for lean poor deer. Johnson.

See vol. xvii. p. 73, n. 4. Steevens.

9 — with heads of steel,] Continuing the image of the deer, he supposes the lances to be their horns. Johnson.

DEAR DEER of us,] The same quibble occurs in King Henry IV. Part I. :

“ Death hath not struck so fat a deer to-day,
“ Though many dearer,” &c. Steevens.

That he is march'd to Bourdeaux with his

power,
To fight with Talbot: As he march'd along,
By your espials were discovered
Two mightier troops than that the Dauphin led;
Which join'd with him, and made their march for

Bourdeaux.
York. A plague upon that villain Somerset;
That thus delays my promised supply
Of horsemen, that were levied for this siege !
Renowned Talbot doth expect my aid ;
And I am lowted? by a traitor villain,
And cannot help the noble chevalier :
God comfort him in this necessity !

And I am LowTED-) To lowt may signify to depress, to lower, to dishonour ; but I do not remember it so used. We may read-And I am flouted; I am mocked, and treated with contempt.

Johnson. To lout, in Chaucer, signifies to submit. To submit is to let down. So, Dryden:

“ Sometime the hill submits itself a while

" In small descents," &c. To lout and underlout, in Gawin Douglas's version of the Æneid, signifies to be subdued, vanquished. STEVENS,

I believe the meaning is : I am treated with contempt like a lowl, or low country fellow. Malone.

Mr. Malone's explanation of the word-lowted, is strongly countenanced by the following passage in an ancient libel upon priests, intitled, I playne Piers which cannot flatter, a Ploweman Men me call, &c. :

“ No christen booke

Maye thou on looke,

“ Yf thou be an Englishe strunt ;
“ Thus dothe alyens us lowtte
By that ye spreade aboute,

“ After that old sorte and wonte.” Again, in the last poem in a collection called The Phænix Nest, 4o. 1593 :

“ So love was louted.” i. e. baffled.

Again, in Arthur Hall's translation of the first book of Homer, 4o. 1581 :

You wel shal know of al these folke I wil not be the lout." Agamemnon is the speaker. Steevens.

If he miscarry, farewell wars in France.

Enter Sir William Lucy'. Lucy. Thou princely leader of our English

strength, Never so needful on the earth of France, Spur to the rescue of the noble Talbot ; Who now is girdled with a waist of iron“, And hemm'd about with grim destruction: To Bourdeaux, warlike duke! to Bourdeaux, York! Else, farewell Talbot, France, and England's ho

nour.

YORK. O God! that Somerset-who in proud

heart Doth stop my cornets—were in Talbot's place! So should we save a valiant gentleman, By forfeiting a traitor and a coward. Mad ire, and wrathful fury, makes me weep, That thus we die, while remiss traitors sleep. Lucy. O, send some succour to the distress'd

lord! YORK. He dies, we lose; I break my warlike

word : We mourn, France smiles; we lose, they daily get; All 'long of this vile traitor Somerset. Lucy. Then, God take mercy on brave Talbot's

soul ! And on his son, young John ; whom, two hours

since. I met in travel toward his warlike father! This seven years did not Talbot see his son ;

3 Enter Sir William Lucy.] In the old copy we have onlyEnter a Messenger. But it appears from the subsequent scene that the messenger was Sir William Lucy. Malone. 4 - GIRDLED with a waist of iron,] So, in King John:

those sleeping stones, “ That as a waist do girdle you about " STEEVENS.

And now they meet where both their lives are

done. YORK. Alas! what joy shall noble Talbot have, To bid his young son welcome to his grave ? Away! vexation almost stops my breath, That sunder'd friends greet in the hour of death.Lucy, farewell: no more my fortune can, But curse the cause I cannot aid the man. Maine, Blois, Poictiers, and Tours, are won away, 'Long all of Somerset, and his delay. [E.rit.

Lucy. Thus, while the vulture of sedition Feeds in the bosom of such great commanders, Sleeping neglection doth betray to loss The conquest of our scarce-cold conqueror, That ever-living man of memory, Henry the fifth :-Whiles they each other cross, Lives, honours, lands, and all, hurry to loss. [Exit.

SCENE IV.

Other Plains of Gascony.

Enter Somerset, with his Forces; an Officer of

TALBOT's with him.
Som. It is too late ; I cannot send them now:
This expedition was by York, and Talbot,
Too rashly plotted; all our general force
Might with a sally of the very town
Be buckled with : the over-daring Talbot
Hath sullied all his gloss of former honour”,

6

5- are done.) i. e. expended, consumed. The word is yet used in this sense in the Western counties. Malone, the VULTURE —] Alluding to the tale of Prometheus.

Johnson. 7 - all his Gloss of former honour,] Our author very frequently employs this phrase. So, in Much Ado About Nothing :

By this unheedful, desperate, wild adventure:
York set him on to fight, and die in shame,
That, Talbot dead, great York might bear the

name.
OFF. Here is sir William Lucy, who with me
Set from our o'er-match'd forces forth for aid.

8

Enter Sir WILLIAM Lucy. Som. How now, sir William ? whither were you

sent ? Lucy. Whither, my lord ? from bought and sold lord Talbot

; Who, ring'd about with bold adversity, Cries out for noble York and Somerset, To beat assailing death from his weak legions'. And whiles the honourable captain there Drops bloody sweat from his war-wearied limbs, And, in advantage ling’ring?, looks for rescue, You, his false hopes, the trust of England's honour, Keep off aloof with worthless emulation '.

8

the new gloss of your marriage.” It occurs also in Love's Labour's Lost, and in Macbeth, &c. Steevens.

from bought and sold Lord Talbot ;] i. e. from one utterly ruined by the treacherous practices of others. So, in King Richard III. :

“ Jocky of Norfolk, be not too bold,

“ For Dickon thy master is bought and sold." The expression appears to have been proverbial. See vol. xv. p. 356, n. 4. Malone. 9 - ring'd about - Environed, encircled.

Environed, encircled. Johnson. So, in A Midsummer-Night's Dream :

Enrings the barky fingers of the elm,” Steevens. 1- his weak legions. Old copyregions. Corrected by Mr. Rowe. Malone.

? - in advantage ling’ring,] Protracting his resistance by the advantage of a strong post. Johnson.

Or, perhaps, endeavouring by every means that he can, with advantage to himself, to linger out the action, &c. Malone.

worthless Emulation.] In this line, emulation signifies merely rivalry, not struggle for superior excellence, Johnson,

3