Bussy D'Ambois and The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois Part 28

Notes To Bussy D'Ambois

_For the meaning of single words see the Glossary._

=Prologue.= The allusions in these lines can be only partially explained. The play had evidently been performed, not long before 1641, by a company which had not possessed original acting rights in it. The performance had been successful (cf. ll. 3-4 "the grace of late It did receive"), and the "King's men," while not claiming a monopoly in it, nor seeking to detract from their rivals' merits, felt bound to revive the play on their own account, lest they should seem to be letting their claim go by default. It is possible that in ll. 11-12, they refer to a performance that in vindication of this claim they had given at Court, while, as further evidence of their priority of interest, they remind the audience of the actors belonging to the company who had appeared in the t.i.tle-role. Nathaniel Field (l. 15), born in 1587, had as a boy been one of the "Children of the Queen's Revels," and had performed in Jonson's _Cynthia's Revels_, 1600, and _Poetaster_, 1601. He seems to have joined the King's players soon after 1614, and his name appears in the list of "the princ.i.p.all actors in all these playes" prefixed to the first Shakespearean Folio of 1623. Not long after this period, Field, who by his _Woman is a Weatherc.o.c.k_ (1612) and his _Amends for Ladies_ (1618) had made a reputation as a dramatist as well as an actor, is believed to have retired from the stage, though he lived till 1633. If, however, he did not appear as Bussy till after 1614, when the play had already been at least seven years, perhaps considerably longer, on the boards, it can scarcely be said with truth that his "action first did give it name" (l. 16). His successor in the part, whom the "gray beard"

(l. 18) of advancing years had now disqualified, cannot be identified; but the "third man" (l. 21) is probably Ilyard Swanston, who, according to Fleay (_Biog. Chron. of Drama_, vol. I, p. 60), was one of the "King's men" from 1625 to 1642. His impersonation of Bussy is favourably referred to by Edmund Gayton in his _Festivous Notes upon Don Quixote_ (1654), p. 25 and his previous role of "Richard" (l. 23) may have been that of Ricardo in Ma.s.singer's _Picture_, which he had played in 1629 (cf. Phelps, _Geo. Chap._ p. 125). The earlier editors thought that Charles Hart was here alluded to, but Wright in his _Historia Histrionica_ states it was the part of the d.u.c.h.ess in s.h.i.+rley's _Cardinal_, licensed 1641, that first gave him any reputation. Hence he cannot at this date have performed Bussy; his fame in the part was made after the Restoration (cf. Introduction, p. xxv).

=5-6=, 1-33. =Fortune . . . port.= This opening speech of Bussy ill.u.s.trates the difficult compression of Chapman's style and the diversion of his thought from strictly logical sequence by his excessive use of simile. He begins (ll. 1-4) by emphasising the paradoxical character of human affairs, in which only those escape poverty who are abnormal, while it is among the necessitous that worthily typical representatives of the race must be sought. The former cla.s.s, under the designation of "great men," are then (after a parenthetical comparison with cedars waxing amidst tempests) likened to statuaries who are satisfied if the exterior of the Colossus they are creating is sufficiently imposing; they are then (by an awkward transition of the imagery) likened to the statues themselves (l. 15) "heroique" in form but "morter, flint, and lead" within. Chapman's meaning is here obvious enough, but it is a singular canon of aesthetics that estimates the worth of a statue by the materials out of which it is made. In l. 18 a new thought is started, that of the transitoriness of life, and the perishable nature of its gifts, and as the ocean-voyager needs a stay-at-home pilot to steer him safely into port, so the adventurer in "the waves of gla.s.sie glory" (ll. 29-30) is bidden look to "vertue" for guidance to his desired haven--not exactly the conclusion to be expected from the opening lines of the speech.

=6=, 23. =To put a girdle . . . world.= The editors all compare _Mid.

Night's Dream_, I, 1, 175, which Chapman probably had in mind.

=7=, 34. =in numerous state.= A play of words, apparently, on two senses of the phrase: (1) the series of numbers, (2) a populous kingdom.

=8=, 59. =gurmundist.= The _N. E. D._ quotes no other example of the form "gurmundist" for "gurmond" = "gourmand."

=9=, 86-87. =set my looks In an eternall brake:= keep my countenance perpetually immoveable. A "brake" is a piece of framework for holding something steady.

=15=, 187. =I am a poet.= This is historically true. A poem of some length, _Stances faictes par M. de Bussy_, is quoted by Joubert in his _Bussy D'Amboise_, pp. 205-09.

=15=, 194-95. =chaine And velvet jacket:= the symbols of a steward's office.

=16=, 207. =his woodden dagger.= The Elizabethan jester carried the wooden dagger or sword, which was often one of the properties of the "Vice" in the later Moralities and the Interludes.

=17=, =Pyra.= Though this character is mentioned here and elsewhere among the _Dramatis Personae_, she takes no part in the dialogue.

=17=, 2. _that English virgin:_ apparently Annable, who is the d.u.c.h.ess of Guise's lady-in-waiting (cf. III, 2, 234-40).

=18=, 15. =what's that to:= what has that to do with.

=18=, 16-27. =a.s.sure you . . . confusion to it.= With this encomium on Elizabeth and her Court compare Crequi's account of Byron's compliments to the Queen (_Byron's Conspiracie_, IV, 1).

=19=, 36. =Which we must not affect:= which change, however, we must not desire to take place.

=19=, 39-43. =No question . . . as they.= The travelled Englishman's affectation of foreign attire is a stock theme of Elizabethan satire.

Cf. (e. g.) _Merch. of Ven._ I, 2, 78-81.

=19=, 44. =travell.= A pun on the two senses, (1) journey, (2) labour, the latter of which is now distinguished by the spelling "travail."

=21=, 85. =Tis leape yeare.= F. G. Fleay (_Biog. Chron._ I, 59) considers that this refers "to the date of production, as Bussy's introduction at Court was in 1569, not a Leap Year," and that it "fixes the time of representation to 1604." See _Introduction_.

=22=, 110. =the groome-porters.= Chapman here transfers to the French Court an official peculiar to the English Royal Household till his abolition under George III. The function of the groom-porter was to furnish cards and dice for all gaming at Court, and to decide disputes arising at play.

=23=, 123. =the guiserd.= The play on words here is not clear; "guiserd"

may be a variant of "gizzard," in which case it would mean the Duke's throat. This is more probable than a "jingling allusion . . . to goose-herd or gozzard," which Dilke suggests.

=23=, 124. =are you blind of that side:= unguarded and a.s.sailable in that direction.

=23=, 130. =Accius Naevius:= the augur who cut a whetstone in pieces in presence of Tarquinius Priscus.

=23=, 133. =mate:= either _match_ or _put down_, _overcome_. The latter sense is more probable, with a punning allusion to the use of the word in chess, at which Guise seems to be engaged with the King. Cf. l. 184.

=23=, 135-36. =of the new edition:= of the recent creation. An allusion to the lavish creation of knights by James, shortly after his accession.

=24=, 141-42. =y'ave cut too many throats.= An allusion to Guise's share in the Ma.s.sacre of St. Bartholomew. Contrast the references to the episode in _The Revenge_, II, 1, 198-234.

=24=, 149. =the Knights ward.= Dilke thought that the allusion here was to the "poor knights of Windsor," but it really refers to a part of the "Counter" prison in London. Cf. _Eastward Hoe_, V, 2, 54, where Wolf says of Sir Petronel Flash, "The knight will i' the Knights-Ward, doe what we can, sir." (See Sch.e.l.ling's note.)

=24=, 163-64. =out a th' presence:= outside the presence of the Sovereign.

=25=, 168. =like a rush.= An allusion to the custom, still prevalent in Chapman's time, of strewing floors with rushes.

=25=, 178-79. =of the place The divers frames.= An obscure expression, which may mean: the varied character in different places of the bed of the sea.

=25=, 180-83. =Bristled . . . fome.= The imagery in these lines also presents difficulty. D'Ambois's heart is likened to the sea, which, once swollen into billows, will not sink into its original calm till it is overspread by the crown or sheet of foam which the waves, after their subsidence, leave behind.

=25=, 184. =You have the mate.= Cf. textual note on I, 1, 153, and note on =23=, 133, p. 148.

=26=, 208. =a blanquet.= To toss D'Ambois in, as is plain from l. 212.

=26=, 211. =carrie it cleane:= comes off easily superior.

=27=, 237-38. =Your descants . . . this ground.= There is a complicated play on words here. _Descant_ in music is the melodious accompaniment to a simple theme, the _plainsong_ or _ground_. Hence arises the derived meaning, _a variation on any theme_, _a comment_, often of a censorious kind. This, as well as the original meaning, is implied here, while _ground_ has, of course, its usual as well as its technical sense.

=28=, 243-44. =Ile be your ghost to haunt you.= May this be an early reference to Banquo's ghost? _Macbeth_ was probably produced in 1606, the year before _Bussy D'Ambois_ was printed.

=28=, 261. =musk-cats:= _civet-cats_, and hence, _scented persons_, _fops_.

=28=, 262. =this priviledge.= The royal presence-chamber, though the King has left it, is still regarded as inviolable.

=29=. =Henry, Guise, Montsurry and Attendants.= The Qq of 1607 and 1608, instead of _Montsurry and Attendants_, read _Beaumond, Nuncius_.

_Nuncius_ is a mistake, as he does not enter till after l. 24.

_Beaumond_ is evidently a courtier, who speaks ll. 105-107 (_Such a life . . . of men_), and who goes out with the King after l. 206. In 1641 and later Qq it was apparently thought desirable to leave out this "single-speech" character and transfer his words to Montsurry; but by an oversight _Beau._ was left prefixed to the second half of l. 105, and the S. D., _Exit Rex c.u.m Beau._, was retained after l. 206. The editor has therefore subst.i.tuted _Mont._ for _Beau._ in either case. Montsurry being thus present at the pardon of Bussy, the 1641 and later Qq leave out ll. 1-50 of the next Scene wherein _inter alia_ Montsurry speaks of the pardon as yet undecided, and Guise enters to announce it to him.

Dilke in his edition in 1814 thought _Beaumond_ a misprint for _Beaupre_, who appears in other scenes, and whom he took to be a man, instead of a woman. Hence he reads _Montsurry, Beaupre and Attendants_ both here and after l. 206. The other editors have not realized that there is any discrepancy to be explained.

=29=, 12-13. =bruits it . . . healthfull:= proclaims it through the world to be sound and wholesome.

=31=, 51-52. =Pyrrho's opinion . . . are one.= A sweeping generalisation, which cannot be accepted as an interpretation of the doctrines of the sceptical philosopher of Elis.

=31=, 54-58. =As Hector . . . speak.= The reference is to _Iliad_, VII, 54 ff., though Hector is there described as keeping back the Trojans with his spear.

=32=, 60. =Ript up the quarrell:= explained the cause and origin of the quarrel (Dilke).

=32=, 63-64. =conclude The others dangers:= might put an end to the risks of their companions by making their single combat cover the whole quarrel. _Conclude_ here unites the Elizabethan sense _include_ with the ordinary meaning _finish_.

=32=, 77-80. =And then . . . never kill.= An antic.i.p.ation, as Lamb and others have pointed out, of Milton's description of angelic wounds, _Par. Lost_, VI, 344-49.