Edg. Pillicock fat on pillicock-hill, Halloo, halloo, loo, loo!

Fool. This cold night will turn us all to fools and madmen.

Edg. Take heed o' th' foul fiend. Obey thy parents. Keep thy word juftly. Swear not. Commit not with man's fworn ipoule. Set not thy fweet-heart on proud array. Tom's a-cold.

Lear. What haft thou been?

Edg. A ferving-man, proud in heart and mind; that curl'd my hair,' wore gloves in my cap, ferv'd the luft of my miftrefs's heart, and did the act of darkness with her; fwore as many oaths as I fpake words, and broke them in the fweet face of heav'n. One that flept in the contriving luft, and wak'd to do it. Wine lov'd I deeply; dice dearly; and in woman, out-paramour'd the Turk. Falfe of heart, light of ear, bloody of hand; hog in floth, fox in stealth, wolf in greediness, dog in madness, lion in prey. Let not the creaking of fhoes, nor the ruftling of filks, betray thy poor heart to woman. Keep thy foot out of brothels, thy hand out of plackets, thy pen from lenders' books, and defy the foul fiend. Still through the hawthorn blows the cold wind: fays fuum, mun, nonny, dolphin my boy, boy, Seffey: let him trot by. [Sterm ftill.

6avore gloves in my cap.] That is, his Mitrefs's favours: which was the fashion of that time. So in the play called Campaffe, Thy men turned to women, thy Joldiers to lovers, gloves worn in velvet caps, inftead of plumes in graven belmets. WARBURTON. 7 light of ear,] i. e. credu. WARBURTON. fays fuum, mun, nonny, &c.] Of this paffage I can make nothing. I believe it corrupt: for wildnefs, not nonfenfe, is the effect of a difordered imagination. The quarto reads, bay no on ny,

lous.

Lear. Thou wert better in thy grave, than to anfwer with thy uncover'd body this extremity of the skies. Is man no more than this? Confider him well. Thou ow'ft the worm no filk, the beast no hide, the sheep no wool, the cat no perfume. Ha! here's three of us are fophifticated, thou art the thing itfelf; unaccommodated man is no more but fuch a poor, bare, forked animal as thou art. Off, off, you lendings. Come. Unbutton here. [Tearing off his clothes.

Fool. Pry'thee, nuncle, be contented; 'tis a naughty night to swim in. Now a little fire in a wild field were like an old letcher's heart, a fmall spark, and all the reft on's body cold. Look, here comes a walking fire.

Edg. This is the foul Flibbertigibbet; he begins at curfew, and walks till the firftcock. He gives the* web and the pin, fquints the eye, and makes the hair lip; mildews the white wheat, and hurts the poor creature of the earth.

9 Saint Withold footed thrice the Wold,
He met the night-mare, and her name told,
Bid her alight, and her troth plight,
And aroynt thee, witch, aroynt thee.
Kent. How fares your Grace?

VII.

SCENE

Enter Glo'fter, with a Torch.

Lear. What's he?

Kent. Who's there? what is't you feek?
Glo. What are you there? Your names?

Edg. Poor Tom, that eats the fwimming frog, the toad, the tadpole; the wall-newt, and the waternewt; that in the fury of his heart, when the foul fiend rages, eats cow-dung for fallets, fwallows the old rat, and the ditch dog, drinks the green mantle of the ftanding pool; who is whipt from tything to tything, and flock-punish'd, and imprifon'd: who hath had three fuits to his back, fix fhirts to his body; Horfe to ride, and weapon to wear;

2

But mice, and rats, and fuch small deer
Have been Tom's food for feven long year.

from a ftory of him in his le-
gend. Hence he was invoked
as the patron faint against that
distemper. And thefe verfes
were no other than a popular.
charm, or night-Spell against the
Epialtes. The laft line is the
formal execration or apostrophe
of the fpeaker of the charm to
the witch, aroynt thee right, į e.
depart forthwith. Bedlams, Gip
fies, and fuch like vagabonds,
ufed to fell these kind of fpells
or charms to the people. They
were of various kinds for vari-
ous diforders. We have another
of them in the Monfieur Thomas of
Fletcher, which he exprefly calls
a night pell, and is in thefe
words,

Saint George, Saint George,
our Lady's Knight,

He walks by day, fo he does by night;

And when he bad her found,

He her beat and her bound;
Until to him her troth fhe

plight,

She would not fir from him that night.

WARBURTON.

In the old quarto the corrup tion is fuch as may deferve to be noted. Swithold footed thrice the old another night Moore and ber nine fold bid her, O light, and her troth plight, and arint thee, with arint thee.

fmall deer] Sir Thomas Hanmer reads geer, and is followed by Dr. Warburton. But deer in old language is a general word for wild animals.

Be

Beware my follower. Peace, Smolkin, peace, thou

fiend!

Glo. What, hath your Grace no better company? Edg. The Prince of Darkness is a gentleman; Mo bu he's called, and Mahu.

Glo. Our flesh and blood, my Lord, is grown fo vile, That it doth hate what gets it.

Edg. Tom's a-cold.

Glo. Go in with me; my duty cannot fuffer
T'obey in all your daughters' hard commands;
Though their injunction be to bar my doors,
And let this tyrannous night take hold upon you,
Yet have I ventur'd to come feek you out,

And bring you, where both fire and food is ready.
Lear. First let me talk with this Philofopher.
What is the cause of thunder?

Kent. My good Lord, take his offer.

Go into th' houfe.

Lear. I'll talk a word with this fame learned Theban. -What is your study?

Edg. How to prevent the fiend, and to kill vermin. Lear. Let us afk you one word in private.

Kent. Importune him once more to go, my Lord. His wits begin t'unfettle.

Glo. Canft thou blame him.
[Storm ftill.
His Daughters feek his death. Ah, that good Kent!-
He faid, it would be thus-poor banish'd man!→→→→
Thou fay'ft, the King grows mad; I'll tell thee, friend,
I'm almoft mad myfelf; I had a fon,

Now out-law'd from my blood; he fought my
But lately, very late; I lov'd him, friend,
No father his fon dearer. True to tell thee,

life,

The grief hath craz'd my wits. What a night's this! I do befeech your Grace.

Lear. O cry you mercy, Sir.

-Noble Philofopher, your company.

Edg. Tom's a-cold.

Glo. In, fellow, into th' hovel; keep thee warm.

Lear.

Lear. Come, let's in all.

Kent. This way, my Lord:
Lear. With him;

I will keep ftill with my Philofopher.

Kent. Good my Lord, footh him; let him take the fellow.

Glo. Take him you on.

Kent. Sirrah, come on; along with us.

Lear: Come, good Athenian.

Glo. No words, no words, hufh.

Edg. Child Rowland to the dark tower camė,

His word was ftill fy, foh, and fum,

I fmell the blood of a British man.

Corn.

I

SCENE. VIII.

Changes to Glo'fter's Caftle.

[Exeunt

Will have revenge, ere I depart his house. Edm. How, thy Lord, I may be cenfur'd that Nature thus gives way to loyalty, fomething fears me to think of.

Corn. I now perceive, it was not altogether your brother's evil difpofition made him feek his death; 4 but a provoking merit, fet a-work by a reprovable badness in himself.

3 Child Rowland- In the maker tranflated, Child Reland. old times of chivalry, the noble WARBURTON. youth who were candidates for This word is in fome of our knighthood, during the feafon ballads. There is a fong of of their probation, were called Child Walter, and a Lady. Infans, Varlets, Damoyfels, Bacheliers. The most noble of the

youth particularly, Infans. Here a ftory is told, in fome old ballad, of the famous hero and giant-killer Roland, before he was knighted, who is, therefore, called Infant; which the ballad

4 but a provoking merit,] i.e. a merit which being neglected by the father, was provoked to an extravagant act. The Oxford Edi.or, not understanding this, alters it to provoked jpirit. WARBURTON.

Edm.