Paige Hammock - scene from Henry IV, part 1

Introduction

            For this transcription, I used a 1639 edition from Early English Books Online. Unfortunately, the earlier editions that I found were faded, dull, or too smudged on the lines I was using. The 1639 edition is titled The Historie of Henry IV: With the Battle at Shrewsbury, Between the King, and Lord Henry Percy, Surnamed Henry Hotspur, of the North. With Humorous Conceits of Sir John Falstaff. Newly Corrected by William Shakespeare. I shortened this to The History of Henry IV pt. 1. It was printed by John Norton, sold by Hugh Perry, from his shop next to Ivy Bridge in the Strand. I transcribed from this edition because it was both clear and seemed to be very similar to what I could make out on the earlier edition.

            I first updated the spelling and font, assuring that it was a reflection of modern English. I changed the “u”s to “v”s and the long “s”s to regular “s”s. As for spelling, I left any word (however archaic), but made sure spelling was modern, such as dropping “e” endings from certain words that don’t use them now. I changed punctuation here and there, rarely, such as adding end punctuation in places where it seemed more appropriate and where other editions sometimes deemed it appropriate as well. The insert of the stage direction [He Bows] seems to be added by Bevington only, but I thought it appropriate as well.

The History of Henry IV, Pt. 1

Ed. Paige Hammock

PRINCE: Thy state is taken for a joined stool, thy golden scepter for a leaden dagger, and thy     precious rich crown for a pitiful bald crown.

FALSTAFF: Well, and the fire of grace be not quite out of thee, now shalt thou be moved. Give me a cup of sack to make mine eyes look red that it may be thought I have wept, for I   must speak in passion, and I will do it in King Cambyses’ vein.

PRINCE: Well, here is my leg.                                   [He bows]

FALSTAFF: And here is my speech: stand aside, nobility.

HOSTESS: O Jesu, this is excellent sport, i’faith!

FALSTAFF: Weep not sweet Queen, for trickling tears are vain.

HOSTESS: O, the father, how he holds his countenance!

FALSTAFF: For Gods sake, Lords, convey my tristful Queen; for tears do stop the floodgates of            her eyes.

HOSTESS: O Jesu, he doth it as like one of these harlotry players, as ever I see.

FALSTAFF: Peace good pint-pot, peace good tickle-brain. Harry, I do not only marvel where      thou spendest thy time, but also, how thou art accompanied. For though the camomile,           the more it is trodden the faster it grows; yet youth, the more it is wasted, the sooner it            wears. Thou art my son. I have partly thy mothers word, partly my opinion, but chiefly, a       villainous trick of thine eye and a foolish hanging of thy nether lip that doth warrant me.      If then thou be son to me, here lieth the point: why, being son to me, art thou so pointed   at? Shall the blessed son of heaven prove a micher and eat blackberries? A question not             to be asked. Shall the son of England prove a thief and take purses? A Question to be     asked. There is a thing, Harry, which thou hast often heard of, and it is known to many in our land, by the name of pitch. This pitch (as ancient writers do report) doth defile; so         doth the company thou keepest. For Harry, now I do not speak to thee in drink, but in      tears; not in pleasure, but in passion; not in words, but in woes also. And yet there is a   virtuous man, whom I have often noted in thy company, but I know not his name.

1 - joined stool: a stool made of parts fitted together; common furniture (ORL)

4 - cup of sack: cup of wine (OED)

5 - King Cambyses: referring to story of Cambyses, King of Persia, characterized by pomposity (ORL).

11 - tristful: full of sadness; sorrowful, dreary (OED)

13 - harlotry: obscene talk or behavior (OED)

14 - pin-pot: a person who sells beer (OED)             tickle-brain: potent liquor (OED)

20 - micher: robber, petty thief (OED)

23 - pitch: sticky, resinous black or dark brown substance, “used with reference to the adverse effects of contact with an evil person, deed, or idea” (OED)

Works Cited

Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Oxford University Press. Web. 8 May 2013.

Oxford Reference Literature (ORL). Oxford University Press. Web. 10 May 2013.

Shakespeare, William. The First Part of King Henry the Fourth. Ed. David Bevington. Chicago:   Pearson Longman, 2009. 803-804. Print.

Shakespeare, William. Henry the Fourth, Part 1.Ed. James L. Sanderson. New York: W. W.         Norton & Company Inc, 1962. 46-47. Print.

Shakespeare, William. The Historie of Henry the Fourth. Ed. William Shakespeare. London:          John Norton (Shop next to Ivy Bridge), 1639. 29-30. Print.